Heresy & Heroes

The twisted monster that is Fabius Bile has emerged from the warp (and my painting table) and my debt to the mad apothecary is now paid. I’m pretty happy with this guy – I got to try a lot of new things, and the guilt I had from my last attempt (aged 12) is now gone. Let’s take a closer a look at Fabius Bile (or should that be “Fabulous” Bile? Eh? Eh? …no, it shouldn’t) now.

One of my favourite parts of this chap is his billowing cloak of flayed skin (sentences you can only say when you do this hobby – hopefully). I worked out a really nice way of getting the colours right for it which involved looking at ancient, preserved skin, and working with washes and glazes. If there are people interested in it, I can put a tutorial up here (with bad iphone photography included of course!). I did get rid of the gimpy little faces in the cloak though. A little shave with a craft knife and some green stuff sorted those out.

I went a little off-piste with the Rod Of Torment. I wanted to give it a sense of containing the Warp itself within it, and went for a purple galaxy motif which, I think, worked out quite well. One thing that’s a little out of place is the head that hangs at his back from its hair. I went for a really nice rotting flesh look, but it would be more at home if the model itself was done in perhaps a more “Blanchian” style. Other than that though, I don’t think there are any parts of the model I don’t like.

One thing I’m particularly thrilled with is the blending of the purples which goes from Naggaroth Night to Xereus Purple. It was nice to bring back a bit of the insane surgeon’s Emperor’s Children heritage, and it turned out really well too.

The Chirurgeon on his back and the Xyclos needler in his hand are a symphony in metallics. I wanted to do things a bit different to the normal silver-coloured arms, so I went for a brass effect that ended up giving him a very retro and almost steampunk feel which I’m happy about. Lots of washes, a little dry brushing and plenty of fun. That being said, this was another reminder of how much finecast needs to die – so many little tags and lines and general flimsiness.

And of course a skull on the base for good measure. Sorry the pictures aren’t particularly great this time around – not sure what happened there but they’re still a heck of a lot better than the old days (eh, regular readers?). Anyway, it was a fun model to work with, and my debt is now settled with Fabius. No idea what I’m going to work on next, but it’ll be fun finding out. Onwards!