Forge World Bloodthirster completed


I'm finally done with the Blodthirster Bloodbath formation project. It's taken me a few months to get the whole thing done, but it looks absolutely stunning when you set all the models together on the table. I get to use the army in an upcoming game (battle report coming!) before I give it over to my friend... I want him to know what it's like to face off against it and besides, when am I ever going to get to use an army like this again? It comes in right around 3000 points for 8 models for those who are wondering.

This post just has some shots of the finished Forge World Bloodthirster. I'll be getting some pics of the other seven come battle time. This one is tough to photograph since he's such a large model, so I have some pics of different areas of him. It's the best I can do with my limited skills and equipment. Enjoy.

This guy is huge compared to everything else on the table. I borrowed a 25mm based model from someone playing on another table to give you an idea of his sheer size. He sits on a 5.5 inch (about 120mm I think)round base.



I'm getting better at my "marble" technique. Here's how I built the bases for the whole force and how I painted them as well. I went with the grey, urban scheme for two reasons. First, my friend wanted them painted that way and they're his models. That one's a no-brainer. Second, the cool, light value greys make for a nice contrast to the warm, dark reds on the model and really make it pop. I'm a big advocate of using your base to make your model stand out and really create a feeling to your army.


The wings are simple. They fade to black as you get to the bottom to make them look a little worn torn and weathered. I kept the majority of the wing red since I didn't want the model ending up more black than red. I have a couple smaller Bloodthirsters that are more black than red and while it makes for a bit of variety, red is the color of Khorne.
I started with a basecoat of red, added a series of washes to darken it and kept adding layers towards the bottom of the wings until I got them to straight black. Then I went in and highlighted the tips of the wings with a couple lighter shades of red and used grey to highlight the bottoms.

The wings are pinned in two places which makes them removable for transportation. Both hands are pinned as well so the whip and axe can be taken off. This guy would be too big to transport any other way honestly.


Here's his axe. I don't have a pic of his whip since there's nothing really to see with it. The axe though has been painted to look like bone. This is the only "bone" weapon in the formation. The rest of the models have metal or black blades.
I painted this by starting with a medium brown color and washing it with Devlan Mud. Then I went back with the original color and started working up the highlights. I kept adding lighter and lighter shades until I got to a real light bone color along the edge. I used a series of short, straight brush strokes that I left visible to add some texture to the surface of the weapon.


And a close up shot of his torso.
The gold is done by starting with GW Shining Gold and adding a series of Devlan Mud washes along with Black in the recessed areas. Then I go back and highlight (light drybrush along the edges and upper surfaces) with a metal color and then wash with Gryphonne Sepia. Then a final highlight of gold mixed with silver along the very edges and upper parts of the armour plates.

The horns are four browns and black. Each one covering slightly less of the horn. I started by painting the entire thing the lightest color and kept working my way back towards his head. It's just a series of straight brush strokes with a little space between each one.

His skin is painted similar to how I did my Space Hulk terminators. I started with a red, washed it with Baal Red, Devlan Mud (thinned) and then one more coat of Baal Red. I went in with Black to define the recessed areas on this guy. Since he has so much texture on his skin, I carefully drybrushed some of the areas by starting with the original red and slowly adding a light orangish-tan color to the mix to add contrast to his face.

The face took a few minutes to get the right look. I painted it "normal" at first and then saw a picture of this guy in Imperial Armour Seven with glowing eyes and thought it would be a cool effect to duplicate. I tried to make sure I kept the lighting consistent on his face and started by adding orange to his eyes and cheeks. From there I worked up to yellow and then white on his eyes.
At first, I had too much "glow" so I went back in with red and toned down the edges and closed everything in a little bit. It's only his eyes that are glowing, it's not like he has some high powered spotlights mounted to his forehead.

And that's it for this project. I'll post some battle report picture in the coming weeks along with some shots of his guy's seven little brothers.

My Project Link: Bloodthirster Bloodbath


Ron, From the WarpIf you've got any questions about something in this post, shoot me a comment and I'll be glad to answer. Make sure to share your hobby tips and thoughts in the comments below!