Heresy & Heroes

Well that was fun! My summer holiday (away from painting Mortifactors) is now in full swing and Mamon, the Daemon Prince of Nurgle is now done, and it was so enjoyable to do! Is it my best work ever? No. Categorically, no. However, this was a bucketload of bubonic bliss and brilliant bile. I got to crack out the technical paints, go really over the top, and just have loads and loads of fun.

This chap has been haunting me for over a year now. I bought Mamon ages ago when I was still a confirmed follower of Nurgle, before my Mortifactors obsession had kicked in, and after painting the herald that came with him, I did nothing with the big man himself. He is a solid unit of resin and covered in a billion and one details and I guess I just got intimidated and distracted. So I have no idea what I was thinking on saturday morning when I slathered him in brown primers, having cleaned, clipped and undercoated, but as soon as I put down the first base coat of Straken Green I was hooked. I then worked up the layers, washing with Agorax Earthshade on the under parts and the Flesh wash (can’t remember its name right now) on the upward facing surfaces to bring in some definition, before mixing Ogryn Camo and eventually Ushabti Bone to the Straken Green to bring the skin up. Once that was all done, I got to work on the tonne of details on this big fella, and break open the technical paints.

As this project was all about enjoying my painting, I wasn’t worrying too much about holding back with the gimmicks and, in truth, Nurgle lends itself greatly to all of the technical paints that GW do, as well as the use of pigments which were used relatively conservatively on the barrel on Mamon’s back, and the barrels of his gun. You can see a lot of Nurgle’s Rot of course, but the rust and oxide paints were used heavily on the barrel too, and Blood For The Blood God made a lot of appearances as well. Especially gross is the BftBG used at the base of each toenail, as if it’s about to pull off. Made myself gag a little just thinking of that.

It should be said that this is a proper FW kit too, in that it’s a ball-ache to get every piece to sit together and stay flush. A lot of cutting and Green Stuff went in to getting that barrel and those tubes to sit properly on his back. Also, I love the tine lines of maggots crawling around on that thing – another great little detail. I almost clipped off the flies that are crawling up his arm (you can just about make them out in the pic above – on the right side) because I didn’t realise that’s what they were – I thought they were just casting imperfections but it goes to show just how full of detail this guy is!

I think I’d forgotten how much fun Nurgle is to work on. Getting all gross and disgusting with your painting is so much fun and these days, I know more about what I’m doing than I used to. From weeping sores to blisters and boils, it’s all so disgusting and that’s so much fun to work on! On this model, I really like the effects I got on the leather apron, the barrel and weapons, and those toes. So filthy and awful. And my favourite details include the Nurgling birthing pods on the shoulders and the intestine leaking from the stomach wound. If you want to have loads of enjoyable times with your paint brushes, I do recommend getting this guy and having some (yes, I’m going to use the word again) fun with your technical paints. I can’t wait to see what I do with the rest of my summer holidays now! Onwards!