Plaguebearer Painting Techniques, part 1

I did a similar couple of posts to this with the Death Guard a while back, and as I’m now also painting up some Age of Sigmar Plaguebearers, now might be a good time to show how I’m painting them, and a few ideas to help them all look a little different, and a lot horrific. While the paint jobs that Games Workshop give plaguebearers are really crisp, clean, and really detailed, I can’t help but think that they should be dirty and bloodied. Maybe it’s a daemonic power that keeps them clean. Either way, I want them to look revolting.

For this tutorial you’ll need the following things:

Citadel Abaddon Black
Citadel Mephiston Red
Citadel Rakarth Flesh
Citadel Ushabti Bone
Citadel Nurgling Green
Citadel Emperor’s Chldren
Citadel Elysian Green
Vallejo White (or a Citadel White)
Citadel Carroburg Crimson
Citadel Druchii Violet
Citadel Seraphim Sepia
Citadel Fuegan Orange
Citadel Athonian Camoshade
Citadel Drakenhof Nightshade
Citadel Casandora Yellow

Varnish:
Citadel ‘Ardcoat Gloss Varnish

Brushes:
Citadel Medium Layer Brush – New
Citadel Medium Layer Brush – Old

Skin

Two of my earlier posts were about painting up Plaguebearers, the blog post can be found here, and the video here. For the skin in these I used Vallejo Russian Uniform WW2 –  which is a really dark, olive green. I wanted a regiment of thirty, so a few different skin tones would stop them looking too uniform. I’ve also used Citadel Elysian Green for them, but in this tutorial I’ll be working with Nurgling Green. This section only covers the skin, blemishes, pox, scrapes and chafes, etc are further down.

1, Undercoated with Citadel Death Guard Green spray
2, Washed with Athonian Camoshade
3, First skin colour of Nurgling Green
4, White added to Nurgling Green, and a first highlight was made
5, More white added to Nurgling Green mix and a final highlight added.

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As with the Nurglings, I used a number of different shades to give the squad more variety, and below a few are shown with the shades on the left, and their finished skin on the right. In the full regiment I’ve also used Seraphim Sepia and Druchii Violet shades.

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Guts

One thing the plaguebearers have in abundance is horrific open wounds and scarcely concealed innards. What better way to give the miniature an element of horror than to make the wounds look fresh.

1, Undercoat (in this case it’s Death Guard Green)
2, Paint wounds, etc with Mephiston Red
3, Paint any protruding parts. In this case I used Emperor’s Children for the innards
4, Wash the Mephiston Red with Druchii Violet and the Emperor’s Children with Carroburg Crimson
5, Paint the wounds with ‘Ardcoat gloss varnish to give the wounds a wet look.

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Mouths

There’s a nice variety of mouths and faces on the plaguebearers, so it’s worth taking the time to make them look good, as they’ll catch the eye as much as the gaping holes in their skin.

1, Undercoat
2, Paint with Mephiston Red. Tongues can be painted with Emperor’s Children.
3, Wash with Druchii Violet, and use Carroburg Crimson on the tongue
4, Paint the teeth using Rakarth Flesh
5, Highlight the tips of the teeth with Ushabti Bone
6, Use ‘Ardcoat gloss varnish to give the teeth and mouth a wet look.

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Horns and spines

Horns and spines are a common feature of plaguebearers too. They can be painted up in the same way.

1, Undercoat, then base coat with Rakarth Flesh
2, Wash with Seraphim Sepia
3, Reapply some Rakarth Flesh, leaving the Sepia in the recesses and at the base of the horn
4, Lightly add some Ushabti Bone to the top section of the horn and some of the ridges to highlight them
5, Mix a little white with the Ushabti Bone and add some extreme highlight so the horn.

Horns:

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Spines

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If you are able to do so, we’d really appreciate your support. You can buy us a coffee here. We want our tutorials to be free for anyone who wants to use them, but any support is greatly appreciated.

That’s all for this post. Part two can be found here with the final Plaguebearer techniques to get your Nurgle army looking hideous.