Resurrecting the Old School Undead

[Lord of the Dish Pit]

For the better part of this year, I've been going through something of a creative funk and it's been driving me a bit mad. (well more than usual anyway) So after thinking upon it for awhile, and taking the advice of the opening track of White Zombie's Astro Creep 2000, (Perhaps you'd better start at the beginning...) I've decided to embrace the madness....

By the power vested in me by the Great Pumpkin I hereby declare it to be 1996. The world is a saner place and I've just gotten my mitts on the first minis that weren't part of a boxed set or boardgame and soon shall rise a mighty skeletal horde. (To those of you who may not have been alive in '96, fret not I have decided that you exist. Ia! Ia! Ingenti Cucurbia!)

Anyway, first up are these guys.

A Heartbreaker Miniatures Army Pack that I think might be Phil Lewis sculpts. Like all of my older metal Undead, they were given a bath in Simple Green awhile back. The original Undead army had been repainted several times over the years, not yet knowing about the wonders of the Green, they had several rather thick layers on them from this. So the decision to restart from a clean slate on the whole lot was quite easy.

An Armorcast Ruined Mausoleum. Also painted several times, but I'm leery as to how the Green would react with the resin. But even with the new black undercoat, the detail isn't obscured that I can see. Now to find my Painting Flannel Of Necromancy...

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by Lord of the Dish Pit

[Glitterwolf]

Oh yes!

Let the vintage Undead rise!

 

 

[Lord of the Dish Pit]

Undercoating is done.

Black, Dirty Bone, and Steel Legion Drab.

Concrete Craft paint and Steel Legion Drab on the rocks/moss. 

The old flock and gravel still attached made navigating the brush a bit tricky, but I'm not too worried about it, the addition layer of paint seems to have stuck it down and it'll provide a bit of texture. 

[Lord of the Dish Pit]

Began getting into my stash of terrain supplies...

Carved on the foam a bit and attempted a stone pathway from the scrap bits and mounted it to a balsa wood disc. Once this dries, I'll begin experimenting with wood filler as a landscape medium. This is my first attempt at proper terrain in many a moon, so I've only a rough idea how it'll turn out. 

[Lord of the Dish Pit]

First layer of armor. Shadowed Steel on the paldroon, Honed Steel on the mail, and Hashut Copper on quivers, buckles, and rivets.

Same three colors, I put a thin line of Hashut Copper on the edges of the armor to further seperate it from the mail.  The cloth was based in Rainy Grey, the idea being to portray a burial shroud beneath the armor. 

[Lord of the Dish Pit]

Added a 50/50 mix of Stormy and Cloudy Grey.

Unlike the Reaper Graveyard pieces I did last year, I didn't want to lighten the stone much further here.

Abused the washes again, watered down Black Wash on the bones and cloth bits, P3 Armor Wash on the metal.

Which led to similar on the mausoleum.

Picked out the rest of the moss with Steel Legion Drab, then hit the whole piece with some Agrax Earthshade. Followed that with heavily watered down Christmas Wreath, giving it a nice greenish tint that refuses to be photographed.

Other than adding a quick drybrushing of Steel Legion Drab to the moss, I'm calling it done. Once it's attached to the base, there'll be some flock added to smooth the transition. 

 

[Glitterwolf]

Good progress!

[Lord of the Dish Pit]

Finally got cool enough in the garage, so I got around to experimenting with the wood filler.

There's a few parts I'll go back over with a second layer, but other than a tendency to be rather clumpy, it went on easy enough. I wouldn't recommend it for fine applications, but it seems to work well for unhallowed graveyard earth. 

It claims on the package to be sandable and to resist cracking, so we'll see what it looks like tomorrow.

[Lord of the Dish Pit]

Reinforcements! Some Grenadier Skeleton Archers. The far left one had to have his arm pinned and glued back on, seems to be holding up well. Originally, they came on round bases, but I switched them over to old GW squares, so they rank up with the others. 

Base/Undercoat of Dirty Bone, Pure Black, and Steel Legion Drab.

[Lord of the Dish Pit]

The Grenadiers received a lathering of watered down Black Wash, and Shadowed Steel highlights on the heavier armor of the Heartbreakers.

Now to dirty it up some. Orange Brown was drybrushed/dabbed over both the heavy armor and the mail.

Then a watered down Brown Wash to tie it in.

This also toned down the shininess of the copper edging nicely and made the Orange Brown look less like applied dirt.

Hashut Copper and Black Wash on the quivers. Now everyone's pretty much on the same level and it's time to start doing more with the bones. Which is something that doesn't really need doing, they're fine as is, but I have some ideas I want to try out. 

[Lord of the Dish Pit]

Well the packaging did not lie. Sandpaper smoothed things out nicely. Did a test fit with the mausoleum, a GW gravestone from a skeleton sprue, and a RAFM? grave statue. Looking back I probably should've pushed them in when the filler was wet, but once the flock goes on, it ought to blend. 

I wanted to leave a bit of open space on the front to perch minis on.

Turns out the gaps I feared on this side were a lot smaller than expected, so a bit a gravel should even things out. The slope going to be interesting when it comes to cover. The plan is to make some dead shrubs out of floral wire, and have them along the edge of the mausoleum with root systems tangling down the sides. 

Stone has been blocked in with Pavement craft paint. 

[Glitterwolf]

Good progress!

 

[Lord of the Dish Pit]

Inspirational pics, especially the ground cover.

[Lord of the Dish Pit]

Steel Legion Drab on the filler. It takes paint quite well.

And a hearty slathering of Agrax Earthshade on both dirt and stone.

[Sharkbelly]

These are great!