Nurgle Chaos Chosen [Completed]

Frustration doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. Three months into the year and I only have one painted miniature to show for it. Sadly, the Bandai Stormtrooper and Millennium Falcon crew doesn't count - the former was more assembly than paint while the latter is part of a larger model kit. I haven't felt this unproductive hobby-wise in years. For what it's worth, here's a look at the miniature which belatedly kick-starts my 2016 miniature painting programme - the Nurgle Chaos Chosen.  

Nurgle Chaos Chosen, eyes all aglow with hate

What's changed from my last Nurgle Chaos Chosen update? Quite a lot actually - his eyes, marking on the right pauldron, breathing hose, weapons, and base. Also in this set of photographs, I have tried to make minor adjustments to the white balance in order to truly capture the colour scheme that I had painted. If you compare this set with past photos, you will notice the colours here are less saturated. 

Nurgle Chaos Chosen in arguably his best pose

Colours are less saturated in keeping with the sickly diseased hues of Nurgle

Let's begin with the Chosen's eyes. If you know your colour triads then you would know that the orange hues of his eyes practically chose itself. Initially I wanted the rust on his weapons to be the predominant orange hue for the miniature. But things rarely pan out the way you planned so in the end it was the eyes that completed the orange-green-violet triumvirate. Meanwhile for the pauldron marking, I chose a simple Nurgle design to paint freehand (see below). Nothing fancy. More a marking that you would barely glimpse at i.e. one which blends into the overall colour scheme.

A hint of the Nurgle symbool is visible on the right pauldron from this angle

Symbol of Nurgle - a simple design painted freehand

As for weapons, the Chosen had many. His primary one though is presumably the power axe on his right hand. At first I was shooting for an ancient and rusted look but this was not in keeping with how the axe was sculpted. So instead I went with a weapon in the early stages of deterioration. This came in the form of a light rust and verdigris on the power axe. There were even less signs of degradation on the bolter, heavy bolter and blade as perhaps befitting a newly minted chosen of Nurgle who's still subconsciously holding on to his humanity. Or maybe I was just too lazy to do any weathering!  

Nurgle Chaos Chosen's main weapon is his power axe

Closeup of the power axe with the beginnings of verdigris and rust

Funnily enough, the spot with the most detail work was on the Chosen's back. I especially loved how the sculpted spine fused into the jump pack. An equally nice touch was in seeing what I think is the lower lumbar protrude out as a mutated pincer. And then there is the heavy bolter strapped to the pack and incorporated with organic elements. A great sculpt whichever way you look at it.

Back view of the Nurgle Chaos Chosen

As mentioned above, the other weapons carried by the Nurgle Chaos Chosen were a bolter on his left hand and a blade (the knife not the vampire ... ba-dum-ching .... groan) strapped to his waist. Other than the loin cloth, these two weapons had the most purplish violet hues painted on them.

Closeup of the Nurgle Chaos Chosen's bolter and blade

With so much going on in the miniature itself, I kept the base to an absolute minimum - a layer of Citadel's Agrellan Earth and a sepia wash. Nothing else. Zero, zilch, zip, nada, nothing.

Nurgle Chaos Chosen, a custom paint job of the miniature from the Dark Vengeance board game

As part of a visual ode to the Chaos gods, this Nurgle warrior is the first in a set of four. While my next W40K miniature will likely be another Chaos Chosen, a semi-assembled Ork Trukk gathering dust in the corner of my workstation is suddenly looking appealing thanks to a screenshot shot I saw of the Mad Max Fury Road truck called War Rig. Now I haven't seen the movie yet but that truck sure looks cool as hell. So next up might be one or the other or even both. Now that would be cool.