Ok, so that is really reaching for a song-based title for this post, but hey, KLF is gonna rock you :-) Right, down to business. First up, my apologies for not getting this post out sooner – busy busy, blah blah blah… but good news my friends, since we last spoke I painted my first mini from WQ Silver Tower, and this represents the start point of my latest project – to paint the whole set! Now I know there are a few OldHammerers who frequent this blog, and that WQ-ST is the kind of subject that gets beards wagging, and true aficionado lead-heads grumbling into their Bugmans XXXXXX, but hear me out peeps! First up, the game is pretty darn cool to play – not as focussed on advancement as the original Warhammer Quest was of course, but the gameplay is slick co-op and is really good fun. Secondly, the models are (mostly) really cool, with some lovely old-school touches – the familiars and the Tzaangors for example. Ok, so the Dwarf and the Gobbo-spiders to be pretty meh, but the rest is solid if you ask me. Thirdly, at least for me, the set is a good motivator to paint up some stuff that is way out of my usual stomping ground, so it’s good practice from a pure painting perspective.
Anyhow, enough of the justification trip, let’s look at what I did! I decided to tackle the Stormcast Eternal first up, (hence the tenuous song link in the title), and I don’t mind admitting that I chose him because I thought he would be fairly easy… Yeah right… I found him really tough to paint – such a heroic model deserves a clean and crisp paintjob, which is very different to my usual grungy look, and therefore way out of my comfort zone. That said, he was a joy to paint – clean lines, great pose, and some really lovely detail. I was determined to go with my own colour scheme rather than one of the official Chapter Stormhost ones, and I settled on this rather nice Red & Silver, with gold sort of acting as a spot colour:
(Oooh, grown-up photography too!) The red armour plates actually started out gold as well, and were painted/washed/highlighted in the usual way before being painted over with the new red gem paint from GW. This is a continuation of my coloured metallics experiment from my last post, and I’m much happier with the results this time around. The rest of the painting is straight forward enough, the only other thing noteworthy is the work on the base. I had a ridiculous amount of fun gluing old watch parts together to give the effect of complex clockwork machinery – it took ages, but I thought this look might work well in a Silver Tower setting, and so I persevered. I’m really glad I did, and I like it well enough to carry the theme through for the whole set, (though probably not as complex for the less important figures).
Anyway, that’s all for this week folks – it isn’t much, but hey, better than nothing right? I’m happy with how he turned out, but what do you guys think? ‘Stormcast Eternal’, or ‘Cloudy with a chance of drizzle’? Also, which of the Silver Tower heroes will be next??? Tell you what – put your vote in below and I’ll go with the most popular answer :-)
Leadballoony - It's a lead thing 
I really like him. My only problem with him, more of a concern actually. If he’s a hero he must be on dress parade because he doesn’t look like he’s ever seen any action haha. A fantastic paint job as expected from you sir but I’ve always like a little damage. Unless of course he is so good he has remained completely untouchable or has he just run away and told every the opposite? Great work man!!
Haha – yeah, he is squeaky clean in his disco armour… I like to think the cleanliness is ‘because magic’! Thanks for the kind words dude, any thoughts on who to tackle next?
Darkoath Chieftain. 100%. I like the model but haven’t seen him painted well, or should I say, to my liking yet. You’re the man to do it. No pressure haha.
Ahhh… there will be no clean paint job for that guy!
So that’s one vote each for dark elf, dwarf and barbarian! Painting to start this evening…
Lovely colour-scheme on the Stormcast and the base looks great, well worth the effort I’d say.
As for who to tackle next, are you counting the Gaunt Summoner as a hero? Otherwise what about the dwarf? I’ll admit he’s never grabbed me as much as some of the other characters but if you’re looking to keep practicing ‘clean’ looking models then he’d be a natural follow-up to the Stormcast. Reckon there’s some really interesting effects could be created using the runes on his back as well.
Thanks mate, much appreciated :-)
I must admit, I am pretty chuffed with the scheme myself – it certainly pops!
My wife has proposed I do the dark elf assassin next, but I would quite like to paint the Dorf… if only to get the fugly bugger out of the way! ;-)
Nicely done but I also think you could have made it work in your usual “grungy” style. Sometimes it’s nice to try something new though!
Cheers mate, glad you like. Yeah, it would’ve worked no doubt, (and it did cross my mind!), but it seemed somehow ‘wrong’ if you know what I mean? It’s good to push it sometimes :-)
While I think GW has overdone the Stormcast Eternals faction a bit, this guy is easily my favourite Stormcast Eternal to date and actually seems like a proof of concept for the entire army, if you will. And you have definitely done the model justice, especially in how you have managed to mainly use metallics and still have the model look excellent and suitably defined — very nice! Could you tell us a bit more about the gemstone paints at some points, because so far I fail to see their point, yet I would love to hear more from other people’s firsthand experience! Oh, and that clockword base rocks, btw! ;)
As for the matter of Silver Tower VS. the Oldhammer scene: I am not an Oldhammerer by any stretch of the imagination, yet I certainly share a certain nostalgia for the vintage models from my early years in the hobby. That being said, I cannot see how Silver Tower should be such a divisive thing among the Oldhammer fans — it’s more retro than GW has been in decades, for crying out loud…
Hey, thanks for the kind workds Krauty, glad you like him mate :-) Honestly, I’m not sure what the point of the gemstone paints is – I can only guess it’s an easy way to paint gems for those that don’t know how to do it the ‘normal’ way… It is basically a coloured gloss, so I’m just having a play really! I may end up doing a test card and see what the different colours look like over different metalics and primaries… yeah, that sounds like a good idea!
Oh, I agree with you btw – I like the retro appeal of the game too, just that I also appreciate it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea ;-)
1) 3am (Stormcast) Eternal is a great name for a post.
2) Ancients of Mu Mu would be a great name for a stormhost. I might steal it, unless I invented it, in which case HANDS OFF JELLEY! ;)
3) as Krautscientist mentioned, that is one of the most appealing Stormcast miniatures available. Your colour scheme is one of the most appealing that I have seen on that figure too. Fantastic work.
I also plan to primarily go with silver on my Knight Questor (I have started a Silver Tower painting project myself, but you know that). Entirely gold armour is a step to far for me. The silver as you used it gives a (slightly) more believable look to the figure, being reminiscent of a classic knight, rather than say, Ali G for example.
4) I would like to see the dwarf painted next, although Im really probably more interested to see how you tackle the various adversaries.
Haha – ‘Ancients of Mu Mu’ is all yours dude… Justified ;-)
Thanks for the kind words mate, and yeah, I felt that the full C3PO would be a step too far… I’m not too keen on the matt colour examples I’ve seen either, but I’m pleased with the silver. Glad you approve mate, and looking forward to seeing yours!
Oh, and your vote pushes the Dorf to the top of the queue… *sigh*… I’m strangely apprehensive about painting a short, naked, angry ginger dude…
Brilliant model. Brilliant title.
Kick out the JAMs!
Cheers mate – on all counts ;-)
Great work here – the red gemstone paint has given a nice “candy enamel” look to those red panels that I’ll absolutely rip off down the line on something. Yours is easily one of the top silver schemes I’ve seen and I think that’s because of the red and gold accents. I’m not too taken with the coloured ones, either. A bit too much Space Marine in the SigMarines, I think – though I do admit I like the gold ones. Call it Bronze overlay and it’s all good (though I think the official explanation is closer to “gold because magic” or “we painted them gold because they look good – don’t think too much!”.
And besides -who doesn’t love some Ali-G, innit? ;)
Thanks for the kind words Azazel, glad you like him mate :-) Silver just seemed the right way to go for me, and the red enamel was a happy coincidence. I have to admit that the standard gold/blue Stormcast does look pretty damn good… The new gold paint is bloody lovely, (and very addictive once you get going), but I really struggle with ‘because magic’…
Unsurprising that sci-fi is my main thing really! ;-)
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It looks beautiful! Can you run us through the paints you used on various parts quickly, or a how to? I’m about to start my first Stormcast and this is a great colour scheme inspiration.
Thanks man, and wow, now I need to try and remember! I think that the silver would be Iron Breaker highlighted with storm-host silver, probably with a light nuln oil wash and an edge highlight of runefang. Gold was definitely Retributor Armour, washed with flesh-shade & highlight with Liberator Gold. The red enameled areas are spiritstone red gem paint over a gold base – be sure to highlight the gold up properly before the gem paint goes on, and apply it thinly (it’s a gloopy paint, so several thin coats needed). The red cloth & leather will just be mephiston red, shaded with crimson wash and highlighted up through evilsunz scarlet to wildrider red, and then a couple of red glazes to help blend it all together. Hope that helps mate – good luck!!