SHOWCASE: Nârik Dreygur, Consul-Praevian of the Iron Warriors

Nârik Dreygur, Consul-Praevian of the Iron Warriors

For the last couple of months, I've been gradually doing more and more work on this project. This is Nârik Dreygur, The Gravewalker, Strategos-Minor of the Apolakron, and Consul-Praevian of the Iron Warriors. With such a short, catchy and easily-memorable title, you'd expect a suitably imposing miniature... and this is it. This is a limited edition model, available exclusively at the events that Forge World attended last year... or to anybody, like me, who couldn't make it to the events, but found one on eBay. I loved the model when I saw it, but toyed for a while with whether it was worth getting, mainly because I don't collect Iron Warriors (but do collect their mortal enemies: the Imperial Fists). It's such a good model, however, that I eventually decided to relent. I'm glad I did. As well as being a joy to paint, as of yesterday, it became my first ever entry into the Golden Demon painting competition, and earned me a finalist badge for my efforts.

Left side view

Obviously I didn't win. That was never an expectation. The standard at these events is phenomenal. How some of the entrants achieve the effects they do is as much a mystery to me as how rockets and space stations work. I'm sure there's an element of science, but I'm convinced the rest is down to magic and fairy dust. I did, however, attempt to do the best work I could on this model, as much to push myself and my abilities as to achieve anything in the competition itself. Regardless of whether the judges gave my entry much more than a casual glance, I'm extremely proud of how the model turned out. It would have been nice to walk away with a trophy to show for it, but there were far more worthy entrants on the day and I can't wait to see close-up pictures of their entries in the magazines in a few months' time.

Staring down the barrel of a gun

I painted this model with a variety of techniques. The first, and biggest, decision was to use non-metallic metal throughout. Given that the character is part of an IRON Warriors army, this should be a clue as to the amount of metal work involved. They wear iron armour. Iron is metal. That basically means that more or less the whole model was going to need painting in what is quite a complex and labour-intensive technique. To make it manageable, I broke it down into sections (and worked on other models in between for some variety). I painted one limb at a time, with things like the torso, backpack, head, shoulder pads and base painted separately. Doing this meant I wasn't spending ages applying one colour on the whole model and running the risk of getting very bored. I was able to work each item up almost to completion before moving on and starting again. It was often daunting, but I'm glad I did it this way and think it was worth the effort.

A slightly blurred rear view,
showing the metal on the legs

The 'iron' is painted from black up to white with two tones of grey in between. Each layer is thinned right down until it's the consistency of very thin milk and applied in multiple almost translucent coats to build up the colour. Often I'd use glazes to enhance the colour or tone it back down to match. The effect relies on contrast from dark to light, with an emphasis on very sharp edge highlights. The brass is painted from dark brown up to ivory in the same way. The predominant spot colour is yellow, which I've used on the chevrons on the kneepads and power fist, and echoed on the discarded backpack and helmet from an unfortunate Imperial Fist on the base. Some of the details, like the parchment use neutral brown and bone tones. I've also worked in some green and red on cabling, the latter of which is reflected in the base (beneath a generous layer of dust!). Finally, the flesh tones of the face finish the model with a very muted hue, tinged with purples to emphasise that there is life, however bruised and damaged, within all that armour.

Right side view,
showing the detail of the power fist I'm so pleased with

Even though I didn't walk away with a trophy, I'm really happy with the quality of this model and very proud of the work I put into it. I'm particularly pleased with the reflective look of the armour and the tarnished yellow of the freehand chevrons on the power fist. I'm also glad to have finally experienced Golden Demon as an entrant, having followed the competition for many years as a spectator. I hope you like the model.