Bleach's: Four Riders of the Ape O.K. Elipse and Maybe Other Pony People [Tutorial]

[Evilbleachman]

It is time for another one of my corny threads. You may know me from my main WIP thread here and/or my undead skin tutorial. Now I present to you a new kind of tutorial?

Basically what comes down to this thread is how I will paint the famous four horsemen plus ponies. One reason why I am doing this is that I think it is kind of important to emphasize the model's 'heritage' and depict the riders and especially their mounts as relatable to the mythical legends we have come to love and dread.

I will not be able to do all four horsemen at once or in a row, as I will only purchase them as I need them for my crews in progress. So please bear with me, should I not post a specific horseman you are looking into.

I hope you guys enjoy this thread and I am especially keen on your opinions, criticisms and tips! So let me hear it!

[Evilbleachman]

The first horseman I will attempt is going to be one I can relate to the most: DEATH. Mostly because he belongs to the Ressurrectionists (My main faction.) and because I like this model the most of all (Close call against the Mechanical Rider...).

I will begin as I do with all of my models: With the skin portions. The mount of death is usually depicted in a pale/white color. Sometimes you get a little greenish/yellow in there, which could possibly well depict the decay, followed by death. I will attempt to achieve something like this in the following steps.

However, I will not make it too bright/pale. A good white is fun, but not fun enough. So I will add some color to help remind people that this is a thing that once lived and not necessarily a spectre or ghost. Hold your seats, this ride is going to be deadly!

Step One: The Base Coat

In this step you will want to base coat the skin. since I wanted to get an undead look, but something pretty pale, I grabbed my usual GC's Dead Flesh and mixed it with GW's Ulthuan Grey in a 1:2 mix. Then I applied the paint, thinned of course, to the skin parts of the death pony. Easy peasy.

Step Two: Shading

At first I wanted to wash this sucker in a greenish color, which technically would fit well with the paint I chose for its skin. I then decided against it, as it would add a strong green hugh which I did not want on my model. So I went for a thinned wash of SWW's Black Green and SSW's Amethyst in a 2:1 ratio. Looks pretty nifty!

Step Three: Paler

So the skin is actually pretty dark after the wash and there is only one counter measure to make it light: paint it lighter! Hah! Caught you off guard there, didn't I?

Anyway, what I first did was drybrush the skin with pure Ulthuan Grey. When you do this make sure to take your time and not rush it. Use little paint several times over a gloop of paint once or twice. Gentle dry brushing works wonders.

After that I did the first highlights with the same color to accentuate parts where the bones are visible underneath the skin and of course to highlight muscle portions of the pony.

Step Four: Loads of Small Stuff

What comes next is quite a lot of small steps, which I basically combined into one. I first went after those nasty pimple like growths on the animal and painted them with MC's Ice Yellow. These I then washe gently in a 1:1 mix of GW's Baal Red and SWW's Amethyst. Top those dried suckers with the same yellow tone as before and you have a nasty case of death pimples. The purplish tone to the wash will also help the yellow pop more than before. A side note: Wyrd, why the heck does this thing have so many of these growths in its crotch region?

The next mini step was to fill in the wounds with another wash made of GW's Devlan Mud and Baal Red in a 1:2 mix. The wounds look reddish but also kind of dry. Like they are scabbing already. I like this! Now use this same wash to wash the sections where the metals conjoin with the animal's skin. I always liked this effect, as it looks like it has been recently added. Bloody mess!

After that take Amethyst and thin it a lot to wash a few select portions of the model. I mostly went for sections where limbs overlap eachother and other similar portions of the model. A few more for a nasty case of bruising helps to add to the effect. I also added the wash to the recess between the saddle and the skin. Looks like Death is riding this guy pretty hard!

Step Five: Final Highlight

Here I took a thinned GW's Skull White and did some final highlights on the skin. This helps clean up some of the purple wash that went overboard here and there. With that step the pony's skin is finished!

[ttsgosadow]

Looking forward to the rest of the tutorial! So far me eye is drawn towards the base, which is very fitting for this specific rider. Did you make it yourself?

[Omenbringer]

Damn it another of your threads to watch with eager anticipation. Looking forward to these ones as much as I did your Seamus one.

[Rhonlore]

Jaw, meet floor.

This is impressive to say the least. I feel as though the same model I own has significantly less detail! Might be time to take more care priming these bad boys.

I will definitely be monitoring this thread with the intent improve my handiwork.

Amazing work, I eagerly await future updates.

Edit: I see what I did. I overlooked / did not notice many of the finer details due to the poor lighting in which I work. Articulated lamps should hopefully provide a better work space.

Edited January 1, 2013 by Rhonlore

[Evilbleachman]

Looking forward to the rest of the tutorial! So far me eye is drawn towards the base, which is very fitting for this specific rider. Did you make it yourself?

Thanks and yes I did! I used this funky paste that basically cracks when it dires up. Awesome stuff!

Damn it another of your threads to watch with eager anticipation. Looking forward to these ones as much as I did your Seamus one.

Thank you! Which Seamus one? This is my third thread. lol

Jaw, meet floor.

This is impressive to say the least. I feel as though the same model I own has significantly less detail! Might be time to take more care priming these bad boys.

I will definitely be monitoring this thread with the intent improve my handiwork.

Amazing work, I eagerly await future updates.

Edit: I see what I did. I overlooked / did not notice many of the finer details due to the poor lighting in which I work. Articulated lamps should hopefully provide a better work space.

Oh yeah I forgot you were painting yours now too! For a beginner you already have a great eye for more details than most. I do have to say though, that I paint in ****ty lighting as well. The lighting used in my photos is at least twice as brigt as the light I use to paint in (really bad for the eyes...). I am going to pick up one of those snap on desk lamps and use that soon. So more brightness for me, yay!

Now I will continue with the model at hand. Next parts coming up are the hairs in the model's tail and mane. At first I wanted to go for a cooler white tone, but after looking at some images of white horses online, I came to realize that the little jerks have a yellowish tint to those hairs, meaning a warm tone instead of a cold one. It being that hint of yellow also causes some issues as the model's skull is going to be a bright white bone color, meaning they would be nearly the same colors and I want to avoid that somehow. So here is what I did:

Step 1: Base Coat

I base coated the hairs underneath its head, on its rear and tail with GW's Karak Stone. This is basically a much darker version of a bone color and exactly what I needed to make for a darker set of hair than originally planned.

Step 2: Washing

Now, which wash will I use? The skull will get a dark brown wash and if I use the same tone on the tail, I will basically have the same tone, which is what I want to prevent. So I went with another color, one that will help bond the color range from the hairs to the flesh: SWW's Amethyst. Thinned a lot it will help tie down the color to the purples used in the model's flesh tones.

Step 3: Applying Layers

Next came two simple drybrushing steps. First was Karak Stone mixed with GW's Bleached Bone in a 1:1 mix. After that I dry brushed again with a pure Bleached Bone. Add some final highlights with slightly thinned bone paint to the tips of the hairs and you get this:

Step 4: Final highlights

Grab that Ulthuan Grey and just dab some paint on the tips of the hairs again and you are basically good to go. What I got here is a bunch of hair in the same color range as the flesh tone, just darker. Like a real white horse with pure white fur(?) and a slightly darker white for the mane and tail hairs. Now nothing stands in the way to get that nice looking skull I so desire!

[Evilbleachman]

I got another portion of the model finished today. As mentioned before I was going to paint the skull/head very light. I opted against it, as it wouldn't stand out neough, in my opinion. Thus I went for a darker wash than originally planned and got an eye popping undead horse skull ready for mayhem!

Step One: Base Coat

Here I tossed a lovely Bleached Bone paint on the entirety of the skull. Simple step!

Step Two: Washing Bones

Bone color pops best with a dark brown tone. I used GW's Devlan Mud (Best wash ever made!) and as you can see was very generous. I didn't thin it down either.

Step Three: First Layers

I took a thinned Bleached Bone and applied it to the protuding parts of the bons and horns. As you can see it already helps make the skull pop a lot and I love this effect on bones! On the horns I left a little bit of the Devlan Mud stained bone color at the base. When painting horns and highlighting them, always leave a little bit of the older color further down the length of the horn. It helps for a gradual highlight.

Step Four: Final Highlights

This is a process I mentioned above briefly. You keep adding more and more Skull White to the bone color and apply more and more highlights and work your way up to the tips of the horns as well. This is the result!

Step Five: Eyes

I first applied a pure Skull White to the eyeballs and then washed them gently in Amethyst, just to get more purple on the model. Apparently this will be a kind of a painted theme on this model, so I figured I would help out here. I took a picture from the other side, because I like how the eye turned out there better than on the other one.

Some of you may wonder why I left out those huge horns leading towards the Dead Rider himself. The reason to this is that I intend to give them a special paint job, as they have these funky arcanic runes etched into them. Since these kinds of horns do not look natural either, I intend on giving them a metallic sheen as well. So a whole different color pallett than the boney head.

[FoeRender]

so far looking awesome .

[Boshea]

Thanks and yes I did! I used this funky paste that basically cracks when it dires up. Awesome stuff!

Can I get a name for the product? Assuming its just a simple paint medium.

[LupusFerreus]

Really good man, thanks a bunch. He's a bit of a daunting model so I'm really grateful for this.

[Evilbleachman]

so far looking awesome .

Thank you!

Can I get a name for the product? Assuming its just a simple paint medium.

http://www.shop.battlefield-berlin.de/index.php/katalog/artikelinfo/1871-1-show-tote-erde-paste.html

That is the stuff I used. It comes with two bottles. One is kind of a white glue like stuff that you apply to the area first, so the paste doesn't fall off. Then you apply the paste and let it dry for a few hours (took about 4 hours on that base) and you're good to go.

Really good man, thanks a bunch. He's a bit of a daunting model so I'm really grateful for this.

Thanks and I hope it can help! As the Blue Oyster Cult once sang "Don't Fear the Reaper"! It may seem like a chore but it actually doesn't have to be. Take your time and enjoy the details it has to offer. Step by step and it will eventually turn out nice!

[Omenbringer]

Thanks for the link on that crackling paste product. It sure seems to be a lot easier than the way I normally do that type of effect.

[Evilbleachman]

Thanks for the link on that crackling paste product. It sure seems to be a lot easier than the way I normally do that type of effect.

How do you usually do it? :0

[Omenbringer]

Green Stuff and the blade portion of a metal scuplting tool (tedious as hell by the way).

By the way cudos on including a BOC reference (one of my favorite groups and songs).

[Evilbleachman]

Green Stuff and the blade portion of a metal scuplting tool (tedious as hell by the way).

By the way cudos on including a BOC reference (one of my favorite groups and songs).

That does sound like hell. Plus I am sure it is really hard to pull it off with a natural look to it. Got any images of a base or terrain piece with it?

Haha thanks. lol It popped into mind when I read his post. Dead Rider isn't scary to me. Only to my opponents.

[Omenbringer]

Unbeliveably I dont have many photos of my Menoth models however I was able to find one that shows it (and keep your mind out of the gutter).

It does take some work to get them to look natural (mainly gentle pushes with the rounded end of the scuplting tool) after they have been cut and smoothed.

Got the method from the Menoth in 10 Days article on the BrushThralls site.

[Evilbleachman]

Looks pretty cool. Can't really see it too well though (small photo). The model is nice too, btw.

[loudo]

Looks great, I have loads of resser models waiting to be painted that i can try this on, thanks

[Evilbleachman]

Glad you like it! I do have an undead flesh painting tutorial as well, if you are undecided on your zombie's flesh. It works with other colors too, if you're after a specific tint/look!

[Evilbleachman]

Here comes the next steps in painting the Dead Rider! Now we're getting all metal heavy and prepare to keep those metals clean, as we will wash them quite a lot! ;D

A side note to the finished result of this model: It will not turn out as you may expect. I wanted to keep the metal pretty light to kind of match the whole pale horse thing. It isn't a pale metal but it is definitely light and it matches well with the model and future additions to it later.

Step One: Base Coat

The first step is always some sort of corny base coat! Haha. In this case it is GW's Boltgun Metal, probably my favorite metal tone of any out there. I paint so much in it, it is almost sickening. But I love it, so all is good!

Step Two: Highlight

Yes, usually I highlight AFTER the wash, in this step I will highlight before I wash. The reason is the wash will discolor the metal and highlighting with a metallic color later on will not help match the washed tone. So in order to achieve this just paint on the highlights first. Here I used another GW paint: Mithril Silver.

Step Three: First Wash

I used Badab Black from the GW line to wash this model. Focusing mostly on recesses and sections between metal parts overlapping eachother. YOu can already tell the metal has grown darker from the black wash!

Step Four: Discoloring Time

I used another wash in this step. One of my favorite washes: Flesh Wash from SWW. Use it generally to actually stain the model and change its color greatly. This is actually a method I like to use to paint a yellowish metal, similar to gold. It is not as red as a classical gold tone, but more dark and gloomy. Feel free to add more of the wash to certain points to make these look darker and help contrast the metal sections amongst the model.

Step Five: Finishing Touches

I used Devlan Mud around the bolts and chains linked into the metallic plates to help create an even darker contrast around those sections. This is especially important with the bolts, as these will need a dark background to achieve their final effect later on.

After that I just used Mithral Silver to paint the chains and little spikes on the metals and it is good to go!

Some of you may be asking "What about the bolts, Bleach?". I will tell you what I have intended for them. As I am painting this model for my undead hordes, I plan to keep and uphold my two usual colors on the model. Since I do not want to make orange a prominant color on the rider himself, I will have to make do by doing so on the mount. On other models I have painte dthe bolts orange before which gives it some great contrast. It will also help me stick to my principles and scheme.

If you do not want to paint these in orange, feel free to paint them in a light metallic color to pop out more. Stay tuned to the next section: Orange Parts!

[Piranhamoose]

It looks amazing so far. I can't wait to see the finished product.

If I am remembering correctly, the pale horse bit came about from a translation with the german texts. It was originally green (due to the fungus and mold you got on decaying bodies in warmer climates), but the translators thought that must have been a mistake because the bodies in their colder climates were pale. They had never seen a mold covered corpse before. This is why it's sometimes still depicted with the green.

In my opinion the pale rider thing sounds better anyway and I haven't seen anyone paint it better than you.

[Evilbleachman]

Thank you for the praise. Really generous praise too! <3

That is actually very interesting. I did know that people often depicted it as a greenish/yellow horse but also a pale white one. That does make sense in why it has the different names. Thanks for sharing that information. Got any more on the other riders? I might have more insight when incorporating them into this thread. (The next rider will definitely be War, I just cannot say at what time I will purchase the model and paint it. Too many other Malifaux projects on the run...).

[Piranhamoose]

It's been awhile since I read up on the four horsemen. There was the one with the pale/green horse, which was named Death. Then the other three weren't given names in the texts, but they're commonly known as War, Famine, and Pestilence, and their horses I think were white, red, and black. In some christian sects, instead of Pestilence, they have Conquest on the white horse, War on the red, and Famine on the black. I don't think there's that much actual lore on them, to be honest. Though, I believe that some people equate Death with one of the various Angels of Death, (Samael, Micheal, or Abbadon in Judaism and Christianity, Azrael in Islam).

[Evilbleachman]

Yeah. War has the red horse, Famine the black and Pestilence has the white one. I also know the white horses rider had a bow of some sorts with him, which is probably why the Pale Rider from the Guild has a rifle instead of some melee weapon like the other horsemen.

[Evilbleachman]

The next two sections are basically how I paint my two main scheme colors on my Ressurrectionists. A nice orange and a grey/orange. I am only painting these onto the model to help give them a little color to fit in with the rest of my models. Otherwise feel free to paint them any way you like. BAsed on my color scheme I would recommend a dark brown saddle and a bright purple tubing + bolts. Anyway, here we go~

Step One: Base Coat

Just base the places carefully, since it is small details, with GC's Light Orange. Simple as that.

Step Two: Combined Littleuns

After basing the parts with orange, add a small speck of Flesh Wash onto the bolts so it goes into the recesses. Then highlight with a small bit of Light Orange mixed with Light Flesh (1:1). Add a bit more Light Flesh to the mix for the final highlight. On tubing, I would recommend to focus the highlights in a little portion of the tubing and highlight the same portion on the other tubes. This will give a gradual highlight crossing over onto the other tubings.

Step Three: Base Coat Again

This time I used Light Grey to paint the saddle. Nothing really to mention here besides that.

Step Four: Multiples

I wash the grey with Badab Black and then reapply the grey as a highlight. After that I apply more Light Orange to the grey to paint more and more of the saddle. It kind of looks like a light leather tone, if you have a lot of imagination. Haha.