As I outlined in my last blog update, I had ground to a halt with painting the Snakemen as I was'nt happy with my chosen paint scheme. So I have chosen to go for a different paint scheme, that of mixed skin colours. Instead of just one colour, I have chosen a mix of real life snake colours, and some bright random colours to suggest their Chaos origins. I want each of the Snakemen to have an individual look to them as regards their skin colour, most of their equipment and shields.
However to keep some coherence, and because I like the look, I kept their plate armour gold. As the Snakemen plate armour has some beautifully sculpted shoulder pads, in the form of faces, I have occasionally painted some of them in different colours. This brings out their detail, breaks up the gold plate, and adds that Chaos individuality. I feel it also gives them their 1980's feel, linking in with the mid/late 1980's Chaos/Goblinoid aesthetic.
With the basing I went for the same approach as before. The bulk of the base is Citadel's Agrellan Earth (although I do have some of their thicker Agrellan Badlands to use too), with dead looking grasses and the occasional rock or tufts of long grass. I may add the odd skull or creature to some of my Snakemen in the pipeline. The bigger lipped 40mm round bases seem to work well with them. I have painted edges black to both give definition and to allow me to add names to their bases later on. I think it's going to fun thinking up names for 40+ Snakemen!
Finally, despite my slowing up in blog updates recently, I am close to 300k views. As of today I have had 298,771 views, which is amazing! :)
Enjoy :)
13 Snakemen.
(Sorry about the blurry photograph).
(Sorry about the blurry photograph).
S'lon Life Smasher.
I painted the face on his shoulder pad green, as well as the face on his sword hilt.
I painted the face on his shoulder pad green, as well as the face on his sword hilt.
S'Sirron Fangthrane, painted as a 'Banded Krait' Snake.
Another S'Sirron Fangthrane, this time orange.
Another S'lon Life Smasher, loosely based on a 'Rattle Snake'.
Higgat Dwarf Slicer, based on a 'Milk Snake'.
Purple coloured S'lon Life Smasher. To my knowlage there are no purple snakes, so I painted this one up as a Chaos influenced Snakeman.
A repainted and converted S'lararet Splintered Fang standard bearer.
I painted him with some of the bright green tropical snakes in mind, and used Vallejo Fluorescent Green. Some of the green snakes can be quite bright, but this Snakeman could also be influenced by the glow of Warpstone.
A third S'Sirron Fangthrane.
I will be using him as a unit leader, and have painted him up using Citadel's 'Warpfiend Grey, normally used on Slaaneshi miniautres, to suggest a Slaaneshi allegiance to this Snakeman. I have also used a purple-pink on the axe and the fur cape on his back (see further below), and a pale blue on the shoulder pad and axe shaft.
I don't want the Snakemen to have a specific Chaos allegiance, but consider them leaning of mine more towards Slaanesh and Tzeench.
I don't want the Snakemen to have a specific Chaos allegiance, but consider them leaning of mine more towards Slaanesh and Tzeench.
Another S'lon Life Smasher.
I originally converted him to use him as an independent hero. I repostioned his tail, and added a bow and quiver to his back. I have an idea to have two of the Snakemen to be aspects of Michael Moorcocks Eternal Champion concept. One of the Snakemen I am going to paint as an albino in black armour (as this Snakeman was orginally). The second, which is this Snakeman, is to be an representation of Rakhir the Red, the archer who adventured with Elric on occasion.
Yet another S'lon Life Smasher!
He is painted up to be a generic brownish snake. I did twist his tail so he stands more at an angle. I also painted his shoulder pad up as a bone skull.
He is painted up to be a generic brownish snake. I did twist his tail so he stands more at an angle. I also painted his shoulder pad up as a bone skull.
A second Higgat Dwarf Slicer.
He is painted similar to Corn Snake as I wanted a nice and bright colour. I kept the armour, even the lovely sculpted faced breastplate, gold. However several of the other Higgat Dwarf Slicer Snakemen on my painting table will have different colored breastplates.
The final S'Sirron Fangthrane.
I wanted a plain, muted brown, to give depth and offset the bright axe shaft.
I like him as he is understated.
Rear views of the Slaaneshi S'Sirron Fangthrane unit leader on the left, show his purple-pinkish fur cape. Higgat Dwarf Slicer on the right shows off his snake skulled shield.
I took these photographs as you cannot see the backs of the Snakemen in catalogue pages. Unless you own the miniatures you can't appreciate the sculpting at the back.
S'lon Life Smasher, looking like you're his next lunch!
He is also showing off his skull face shoulder pad.
S'Sirron Fangthrane with a screaming faced shoulder pad.
S'lon Life Smasher other shoulder pad, with grinning shoulder pad.
The shoulder pad of S'lararet Splintered Fan.
Next update will be more Snakemen!!
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