Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Night Gobbos Assemble!

"Ere now! Wot do you think you're doin'?" bellowed the big Black Orc Boss. Furtive Goblin faces turned round and flinched instinctively. 

"Nuffink Boss, just 'aving a bit of grub is all," whimpered the bravest of the greenskins.

"Don't give me that. Yer up to sumfink..." The towering Orc looked around suspiciously. "Where's Ratgash? You 'aven't et im?" There was a shocked silence.

"Et Ratgash," the Goblin sounded hurt. "'Et Ratgash. That's disgustin' Boss. E's one of us ladz."

"Besides," squeaked another greenskin "'E's all grease and gristle 'im. Give us all innagestion e' would." 

"Then who is this then?" The Black Orc pointed a damning claw towards the meal. "And none of yer lies or I'll give yer sumfink a whole lot worse than innagestion."

"er... Gitter, Boss. One of Maggot's lot. But 'e was dead when we found 'im." The Goblin paused a moment. "Course 'e claimed 'e was just sleepin'...but that lots is all liars ain't they." The Goblins nodded reassuringly on this point. No Goblin really trusted another, and with good reason.

"Well that's all right then," pronounced the Black Orc. "Carry on. And you'll save me a leg if you know what's good for you."


One of the things I've been working on a lot more than I was expectating lately are my Night Goblins, now known as the Gloomspite Gitz. Even though I'm a die hard dwarf lover, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for these little guys, especially after reading the story above from the Fourth Edition rulebook (although I am sure it has been used elsewhere). Previously I had 40 or so painted up, a mix of the old Kev Adams' models, the monopose Skull Pass plastics, and the current multi-part plastics. 




One of the things I've been playing with is how to paint these little buggers a lot faster. You need them in units of 40-60 after all. So I decided to do two things. First, I would rebase them all for Age of Sigmar (Gasp!) but I was probably never going to play them in older editions anyway. Second, I was going to bring up the models to a higher standard while simultaneously trying to figure out faster ways of painting them.


And I have had some success with this. Not all my units were at least 20, so I had to bring them up to that number. Thus, I also got to do a bit of practice from the ground up. In other words, lot of practice to be had! It's harder to notice here because lots of different things were tried out. But I'm working on two other blog posts where the methods will be much more noticeable. 




I've settled on a method for the black robes that is quite quick...and stolen wholesale from George Ratković on the Gloomspite Gitz Facebook page. First, I airbrush the robes black, then hit them zenithally with a light grey, usually Uthulan Grey but if I'm lazy Celestra Grey will do. Then after that is dry, I do a quick edge and other high point highlight with pure white. Once that is dry, I make a mix of Army Painter Dark Tone and Army Painter Blue Ink and let it sit and thicken up. The amount of time depends on the amount mixed--the more you use, the longer it takes. I usually end up waiting 20-30 minutes. Then I slather that all over the robes and let dry. At this point, if necessary, I will do a quick edge highlight with Fenris Grey, but I've found it frequently isn't needed. (For the record, George's look way better, but he was painting characters and I'm not!)



For the tones, I have also chosen to steal someone else's technique. In this case, from maxfaleij on Instagram. The flesh is first base coated in a 50/50 mix of Averland Sunset and Skarsnik Green. Then, I give it a wash of Biel Tan Green, followed by highlights with the base coat, Ogryn Camo, and Krieg Khaki. The red noses, which I don't do for everyone, are just a few thinned glazes of Warcolours Red Glaze.


So in the end, here are my completed mobs. Although I noticed that I didn't quite have enough Standard Bearers and Musicians. I doubled up for the photos, but I think another set of them and a bunch of netters are next on the list!




7 comments:

  1. Oh man you cranked these out, and they look good. Going to try them at warcry or more for AoS?

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    1. Bit of both. I'm sure they're much more likely to see War Cry action though 😂

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  2. Wow, those are def cool! Pink noses are perfect too.

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  3. I can spot some seriously amazing pieces here. I have to say you have done an outstanding job with these, I love them!
    (apparently you may have to think about square bases again, but that's another whole different issue...)

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    1. Thanks! And I was more than a little annoyed when they announced that 😂

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