River Trolls - Stage One WIP

Two very different River Trolls here, illustrating my further experiments in approaches to painting. The first I worked on last night; the second is work undertaken back in December. I made sure that I got some photos of these during the day so that I could get good comparison shots. I absolutely adore these models and I'll be very tempted to get some more in the future.

1. Experimental-Type Brownness Troll

Here, as with all my models now, I primed in white. I find that this gives the best blank canvas for my tastes and allows me to develop the colours in any direction I want.

I didn't really have a plan with this guy other than to start off with some of the Model Color range.

So I based all over in Natural Wood, which is a very subdued yellowish light brown - only slightly watered down as this is a thin paint to begin with.

This was followed by a full coat of Woodgrain, one of the transparent acrylics in the MC range, even though you won't find it with the others on their stands in shops (it's with the other wood/brown shades).  

*A side note - I've taken to using 50mm square bases as temporary stands for WIPs - it's very useful to have them on a proper base so I can think about how I'll eventually base them properly, and it provides a good platform for painting all over*

On the club I used the MC Brown Glaze. I really like the way the glazes work - more control than a wash if you're patient and a very pleasing full tone from the outset. Practice is required but I highly recommend giving them a try.

Over the scales I've started to hint at how the layers will work by applying a thin wash with GW Thraka Green. 

At the moment it all looks far more 'woody' than I'm aiming for. However, the layering will deal with that. Also, it's been very useful to use the wood tones and think about how this might work on - for example - buildings, war machines, or black power weapons. 

Currently pondering what to do next...

2. Standardish Greenskined Troll

A more conventional approach with this one and more in line with how GW presents studio work. Beginning with thinned Orkhide Shade base I applied several layers of Gretchin Green (thinned again), eventually mixing in some Astronomican Grey - all foundation paints, because I find these better to work with than the standard Citadel colours.

I mixed silver (don't remember which) with a little white for picking out the edges of the scales. A Badab Black wash toned the highlights down. If you're wondering about the shoulder pad, then this chap is destined to feature in Blood Bowl as well as WFB.