Can it really have been two years since I returned to my Skaven army and committed to adding at least one model to it every month? How my rat army has grown in that time! This past year has been nicely productive, with the collection reinforced by mighty war machines such as the screaming bell, the plague furnace and the warp lightning cannon, alongside dubious “heroes” such as Lord Skrolk.
For those who are just encountering this project now; I realised back at the tail end of 2016 that my long dreamed of Skaven army was gathering dust in unpainted shame and might well continue to do so forever. My solution was to challenge myself to add at least one completed model to the force every month in 2017. So successful was this that I repeated the trick this year and indeed I’m aiming to do the same thing in 2019. Had I not given in to temptation I would probably have finished that original army by now but alas the lure of new models grew too strong and, combined with finding a few unexpected bargains, the heap of models to paint has grown a little over the past few months.
Before we take a look at the whole force however it’s time for this month’s recruits. I’ve been chipping away at batch painting another unit of clanrats over the last couple of months and now at last they’re all finished. Batch painting really isn’t my strong suit, indeed it’s the polar opposite to the way I’m usually inclined to paint, but having had such success with my Night Goblins a couple of months ago I decided to apply the same technique to the clan rats. In tackling all these I was greatly assisted by the advice of The Actual Colin who wrote a very useful piece on how to tackle batch painting, and which I’d very much recommend to anyone who had a lot of troops they need to deal with.
It’s strange to think that with these models completed I may have painted my last clanrats (unless of course I buy some more, which is always possible). I’ve been painting them on and off since the kit was first released over a decade ago and can now boast a hoard of over one hundred of the little vermin. Of course whilst I’ve been keen to get them finished off so I can concentrate on some of the other additions to the army I’ll definitely miss working on them, there’s something comfortably familiar about painting them so who knows, they often turn up cheap on eBay so perhaps I’ll find myself led into temptation by nostalgia. For now however I’m calling this little lot done which of course means a group shot is in order.
…And here’s the full verminous horde, one hundred and five clanrats (plus weapon teams) pouring forth from their warrens!
However that is not all. Inspired by fellow blogger Azazel’s latest monthly challenge Dauntless-Diabolical-December, which called for participants to paint heroes or villains (alongside a wide range of other possibilities), I also decided to paint up this warlord. I’m not sure exactly where he originated from, he came to me with a large number of other models which I received from a friend, but I thought he would make a fine scheming and untrustworthy lieutenant for the army’s as yet unpainted commander.
With these latest additions in place this is also a fine opportunity to look back at the way in which the army has grown over the past couple of years. Here’s how it all began when I committed to growing the army properly at the beginning of 2017.
And here it is by the end of 2017.
By June 2018 it had developed even further…
And here it is now…
They say that no army is ever truly finished, a maxim I’ve always held to, but my ambition is to have the unpainted pile (as it stands currently) completely defeated before the end of 2019. Of course that may go out of the window if GW decides to bless us with more Skaven models in the next 12 months (and before you accuse me of wishful thinking – have I not been harping on about the need for new squigs lately?). There’s no rest for the wicked, or the verminous, quite yet.
December 28th, 2018 at 9:15 am
Brilliant mate – so cool to see the progress made over the last two years, and beautifully done too! High fives dude 🙂
December 29th, 2018 at 10:54 am
Cheers mate – looking back at these annual group shots helps me see that the army really is progressing. I’m looking forward to seeing how it looks at the end of 2019 now 🙂
December 28th, 2018 at 3:35 pm
Glorious. Those Isle of Blood figures really are the prototypical Skaven sculpts. So much better than the multi-part clanrats. Well done on this project!
December 29th, 2018 at 10:57 am
Thank you! Oh yeah, those old Skaven models really were pretty rough. Such a shame that only about half the range has been updated to the new modern look and the rest are still languishing with duff old models, but who knows – the new Night Gobbos really show that GW hasn’t given up on old classics so their time may come yet.
December 28th, 2018 at 8:11 pm
The new clanrats look great, I especially appreciate the rusted and worn effects on their weapons and metal gear. Seeing how much that army has grown in the last two years – especially this year is fantastic!
December 29th, 2018 at 10:59 am
Thank you! Well, credit where it’s due, several of those models were pushed across the finish line by your monthly challenges as much as anything else. It really has jumped forward in the last year though hasn’t it. Fingers crossed 2019 can be equally productive.
December 29th, 2018 at 8:55 pm
Hopefully you fond 2019’s challenges to be equally as motivating. 🙂
December 28th, 2018 at 9:05 pm
Great impressive brilliant and superb painting congratulations !
December 29th, 2018 at 10:43 am
Thank you very much! 😀
December 28th, 2018 at 10:38 pm
Excellent work, and really impressive progress over the last couple of years!
December 29th, 2018 at 10:43 am
Thank you! 😀
December 29th, 2018 at 12:28 am
Great work- I was particularly taken by the weathered metal effect you got.
Cheers,
Pete.
December 29th, 2018 at 11:05 am
Thanks Pete. I’d like to claim that the tarnished metal is terribly complicated to paint but truth be told it’s ludicrously easy. Quick coat of leadbelcher, wash of agrax earthshade and a highlight and you’re done. For bigger areas I use a mix of agrax and nuln oil so you end up with a differentiation in the look of the tarnished metal (so for something like Ork armour or Nurgle), but I don’t bother on a Skaven model as it’s really too small to show up properly. Then if I want some rust I just stipple on browns going from dark to light and ending with orange.
January 11th, 2019 at 6:33 pm
Hello from the future, there are new squigs! ;P
Nice looking bunch and such an accomplishment. I once again, love seeing the old rusted metal on these. Never gets old!
January 12th, 2019 at 9:52 am
Fantastic news! Are there new Skaven in the future as well? I’m sensing a Warlock Engineer with some kind of rocket?
Glad you like them, stick with me mate – it’s going to be a wall of non-stop rusty metal from here to eternity!
January 15th, 2019 at 7:24 am
[…] from Convert or Die has Snuggles the Sump-Croc for us this month, not to mention this Skaven commander. I’d also consider the various Goliath gangers of the Irondogs that he finished in December […]