How I approached the job: Using my Aldi airbrush I (re-)primed in black then used further prime of white over the exposed surfaces*. Then I applied a yellow in a similar manner to the majority of the mini's exposed surface clothing (e.g., cloaks). Following that I used a combination of yellow, brown and red washes until I achieved the desired look to the clothing - it was a bit of an experiment - which generated a greenish hue. Base coats were then applied to otherings (e.g., metallics to guns, flesh tones, bandages, masks) and I followed up with detail (e.g., buckles, tattoos, pendants). Some more washes followed (e.g., browns on boots) and finally I finished with some very restrained dry-brushing e.g., the heavy weapon guy's mask has a hit of orange to bring out the red and most of the guns were only dealt with 2 or 3 strokes. I used a matt sealer which I feel lost some of the subtle detail but then again altered the look for what amounts to a net improvement.
Would I do anything differently? Well, these models were already primed and I wanted to get stuck into the painting. On my next 'fresh' batch, I'll definitely spend a bit of time to file out the mold lines etc. Also, I want to bash/modify some units to provide a little more differentiated than is purely afforded by the paint - these particular models weren't really suited for bashing... or so I thought. Once I'd finished this batch, I've now got a better appreciation as to what I could try and I think I will try altering heads, load-outs (weapons) before the year's out.
I've also been using Trello to plan and track my hobby work - a bit of fun because it's similar to the way we manage work in the office (being Agile and all that). The job's detailed on this Card which you're able to click it open and explore:
Chaos Cultists
As there was some experimentation colour-wise, unfortunately, there was a casualty. One of the dudes with a morning star and pistol ended up looking really bad (a foul mix of bright yellow and dark brown 😝) so it's off to the Dettol baths for that heretic! The end result was 10 new miniatures for the collection and lots of good ideas scenario-wise during the whole preparation process.
So how long does such work take? Some people likely do pump out that sort of output, at a much better/higher standard, in a single sitting e.g., a few hours. Alas in terms of effort and duration, it process took me considerably longer. I'd estimate there was maybe 60 minutes of effort (work) applied to each miniature but that was applied over a number of weeks. It's not a race however: the satisfaction is in both the journey and outcome. I'm pleased and proud of the outcome and really feel my skills are improving with each and every job.
*"exposed surfaces" refers to those parts of the mini that are usually visible when looking at the figure ~45 degrees from ~30cm distance e.g., the tops of heads, shoulders, much of the arms. Areas 'underneath' the miniature are largely avoided as they are naturally (relatively speaking) draped shadows e.g., lower legs, inside cloaks, under their arms. There's most certainly a technical term for that approach, it's just that I don't know it!
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