Madrak Ironhide, World Ender

On the back of my success with the Legion Swordsmen, I was asked if I could squeeeeze in Madrak Ironhide before the CanCon 2012 tournament at the end of the month. I think it’s safe to say I could …

Madrak Ironhide - World Ender

It was going to be close though. I still had 2 Forsaken to paint for my first client before the same tournament – and I would lose 3 days as he had to borrow the models back. Still, I rationed out my time to ensure that I would have plenty of time, and with a week to go, I’m pretty happy that I’ve gotten both commissions finished (shots of the Forsaken were posted on Twitter).

After talking with the client, and taking some shots of his Fennblades, I knew I had to paint Madrak with darkish armour, grey/blue albino skin and use red as the base for the tartan (I refuse to attempt proper tartans, my hand is not that steady). In a lot of ways, the model was similar to the Fell Caller I painted up as a present earlier in the year. Chatting with the client, I decided to go with a red trim for the armour, just to bring out some variation from all that metal. Unfortunately, after basing the cloth there was FAR TOO MUCH RED. Something had to go. On the plus side, by drybrushing the red trim with gold – I could get a really nice effect that kept close to the original concept, but (I feel) added more punch.

I am also really happy with how the flesh came out (recipe below) – I’ve attempted albino skin before, and it came out looking very … poorly. Taking inspiration from the concept art, I floated the idea of making it more “ashen”. I think the overall effect, while not true albinoism, is rather striking.

Now, on to the good stuff.

Armour

  • Basecoat of Black Primer
  • Heavy Drybrush of Pig Iron
  • Drybrush of Chainmail (Citadel)
  • Drybrush of Mithril Silver (Citadel)
  • Runes were done with Arcane Blue

Dark Leather

  • Basecoat of Battlefield Brown
  • Shade of Battlefield Brown + Cygnar Blue Base
  • Highlight of Battlefield Brown + Rucksack Tan

Cloth

  • Basecoat of Khador Red
  • Shade of Khador Red + Sanguine Base
  • Shade of Sanguine Base (limited to the darkest regions)
  • Highlight of Khador Red + Khador Red Highlight

Flesh

  • Basecoat of Underbelly Blue
  • Wash of Bastion Grey + Mixing Medium + Water
  • Mix of Underbelly Blue + Previous Wash
  • Bring back to Underbelly Blue
  • Highlight with Underbelly Blue + Menoth White Highlight
  • Highlight extremities with pure Menoth White Highlight
  • Shade of Battlefield Brown + Cygnar Blue Base
  • Highlight of Battlefield Brown + Rucksack Tan

Kriel Stone

  • Basecoat of Bastion Grey
  • Drybrush of Menoth White Highlight + Trollblood Highlight
  • Drybrush of Menoth White Highlight
  • Shade with glaze of Greatcoat Grey
  • Shade with glaze of Bastion Grey

Comment, suggestions and questions are welcomed.