In this latest update on Horus Ascended, I’m excited to share the progress on this highly detailed model with you here on Tale of Painters. I’ve recently finished painting the base and the left shoulder pauldron. Here are my thoughts and observations on the process so far.
Horus’ body is now largely complete, with only the glowing effect around his head left to add. I’ll do this at the end, as I might also add a similar effect to his talons. Find out more in the first WIP post. For now, I’ve been focusing on the base.
I debated which Legion colours to paint the mutilated legionnaires on the base to fit with the Horus Heresy lore. After asking for advice on Reddit, I was told that Horus personally fought against garrisoned Blood Angels and Ultramarines on Morech, where he also “ascended.” So, I decided to go with Blood Angels but also plan to include some dead Sons of Horus when I paint the larger display base. For the Blood Angels, I chose a cool, pinkish red tone to contrast with the warm Eye of Horus ornaments on Horus’ armour. I washed the armour with Speedpaint Poppy Red over a zenithal black to white basecoat, then added highlights of Warpaints Fanatic Blood Chalice and WPF Raging Rouge, before I applied Vallejo Pigments Dark Slate Grey weathering powder. Though I’m still uncertain if I’m satisfied with this choice, I might want to repaint with a warmer red.
I painted the left shoulder pad red, deviating from the studio model, as a nod to the Justaerin Terminators, who also have red shoulder pads. However, I’m still unsure if this makes the model too colourful; I’ll decide on that at the end.
You can find more recipes and guides for my Sons of Horus colour scheme in my masterclass tutorial, where I also explain in detail how I do the weathering on the bases:
You can grab the complete step-by-step tutorial for my Sons of Horus scheme here in my Patreon shop (or by becoming an Autarch tier member). I also got other “grimdark” tutorials for Imperial Fists, Emperor’s Children, and Blood Angels there.
While posting this, I’ve already started working on Horus’s fur cloak. However, I have to take a longer break now to paint some Clanrats from Skaventide and the Teratic Cohort of the Ossiarch Bonereapers from Warcry: Briar and Bone (review here) is also calling to me.
Feel free to leave a reaction, or drop a comment below, I’m also happy to answer any questions on our friendly hobby Discord server. Thanks a lot, and happy hobbying!
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