Currently I have two units of eight Dryads converted out of metal Chaos Daemonettes. They were some of the first models I did for the army and they've stood the test of time. But now I have a problem. They don't make the metal daemonettes anymore, and I'm inevitably going to want more or larger units in the future. Blister packs of them are going on eBay for ridiculous money, I'm not paying £100 to add nine core models to my army.
So the plastic Dryads then. They're great models, no doubt, but I've always struggled to paint them. If you drybrush them, it looks like you haven't bothered, if you laboriously highlight them, they either look too monotone or take years per model. Not cool for a unit that's been so effective for me in the past and is an obvious cornerstone of most armies.
Then I found Corai's wonderful forest spirit army in the asrai.org hall of fame. These guys are great as they are quick, simple, and striking. I decided to see if I could adapt the technique for an autumn theme.
Now, the following guide may waffle a bit, but I hate guides that tell you what to do, and not how to do it, so here goes. You may also find I skip back and forth between parts of the model. This is because I've designed this process to be as time efficient as possible, and cuts down on "watching paint dry" time.
Assemble the dryad as normal. You will see, I take care to use as many 'plain' pieces as possible, as the ones with additional leaves and details mean more work. Include them if you like, I like to add them to just one who could be a branchwraith if necessary.I mount the Dryad on a piece of stone out of the garden, with little dots of green stuff to keep it in place.
Undercoat the model chaos black. Now, using PVA glue, stick the sand to the base.
Coat the entire dryad in Denab Stone. Do it in two or three thin layers to make sure you don't obscure any detail. Also at this stage, wash the rock with watered down catachan green. When this is dry, Drybrush the entire model with a 50/50 mix of skull White and bleached bone.
Highlight around the eye sockets, mouth, and the few branches above the forehead with skull White. Keep the paint thin and apply hardly and pressure to the brush, or you'll end up with thick garish White lines
When this is dry, take Baal Red, and apply it in patterns on the Dryad.
I try to vary it in the unit. They always get a spot on their 'core' (I.e. Centre of their torso) and 'loincloth' area, and over and spirals in the wood. The rest I make up as I go, but I avoid doing the tips of the limbs, as it tends to look like that "blood on the sword" effect that just sucks. Here are some example patterns. If they are all the same, the unit loses it's wild look.
Next, lightly drybrush the Baal red areas with fiery orange. Don't worry too much if you get little bits on surrounding areas, but try to be neat. Whilst this isn't a heavy drybrush, keep brushing over the same area till you can see the orange more than the red.
Next, lightly drybrush the same areas with bubonic brown. I stress, lightly, you still want your eyes to say 'orange' when you look at it.
Now, stain the whole model with devlan mud. With a stain, it's similar to a wash but you want the whole model to change colour with the ink. To achieve this, use the devlan mud neat from the pot, and using a large brush spread it over the areas till you have complete coverage. Use the brush to make sure areas of natural shading get a good amount of colour, but also that no bubbles form and you don't get overly thick pools. Also ink the sand with devlan mud at this point.
Whilst this is drying, overbrush the rock with scorched brown.
Then, do successive drybrushes of codex grey, fortess grey, and a light drybrush of rotting flesh. You can, when the devlan mud is dry, drybrush the sand vomit brown. Then bleached bone. Using PVA glue, attach patches of static grass to the sand. When they arrive in the post, I'll add some leaves to the bases like the rest of my army.
Now for the final stages. Drybrush the whole model LIGHTLY with bleached bone. If you get streaks you've got too much paint left on the brush and/or your applying too much pressure. Paint the eyes with regal blue/enchanted blue/ice blue/skull White. Paint Nyvleaves shining gold. Wash with devlan mud, highlight with mithril silver.
Voilà, a happy medium between speed and looks. I'll probably turn this unit of 12 into a unit of 16, then I can use the old dryads as smaller units, or both as big units of 15 or 16
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