I finally finished painting my first warband for Shadespire – settling on Steelheart’s Champions, as much for the low model count (only three figures) as for the large flat surfaces and a chance to try out some different painting techniques.
As the previous posts have shown, this type of gold spends a lot of time looking like brown and yellow paint… I’m still figuring out the right balance between dark shadows and bright highlights, but I owe a lot to this excellent video tutorial from Painting Buddha. You can find individual photos of each of the figures below:
Leader: Severin Steelheart. I decided to go for a posthuman superhero look for the Champions, as they’re supposed to be far more than mortal – hence the glowing eyes and gleaming wargear. After a few experiments I added some weathering pigments to the bases and legs, helping to tie the models in to their environment.
Overwhelming damage: Obryn the Bold. The last model added – I like the way the steel warhammer turned out, and the sharp contrasts on the blue and gold armour. I tried to introduce some green and orange-brown shades to the gold, as it felt a bit too monochrome.
Full defence: Angharad Brightshield. The very first model painted – I learned a lot after this one, and might go back to sharpen up the helmet and torso. I like the way the bright specular highlight running down the shield has turned out – it helps emphasise where the light is meant to be coming from.
I’ve really enjoyed painting these – they’re my first foray into the Stormcast, and provided a good canvas for learning and practicing new techniques. Not sure what I’ll paint next, but I think some more 40k Eldar may be in my future…
