Shikami Devils - Month 2
The model I selected to paint this month may surprise people who have followed these kind of 'tale of gamers' projects before; as I selected Katakros. This may seem an unusual choice to paint this early on, especially as he is a whopping 500 points, however, let me explain.
A lot of army painters tend to follow the same process of slog, and reward. What I mean by this is starting with either masses of models (Battleline options for example) or models which would not be 'fun' to paint (maybe only a few models but high in detail) so as to make solid progress with completion of the army visually, and then treating themselves to a character model or monster. This is a process I commonly use, pretty much without thought, and has certainly helped me complete armies, however I decided against this approach this time.
This all comes down to motivation, I am attempting to paint the army to a high standard without cutting corners; which can be very difficult to maintain focus on. My motivation for painting the army was beginning to wane simply due to the reaction people were having to Petrifex Elite on the gaming table. The negativity regarding the strength of Petrifex Elite was really starting to erode away at my own motivation, although I run Mortis Praetorians I was still becoming frustrated with the comments. So to regain my buzz, I decided to paint the model that inspired me the most inspired - Katakros
Month 1
Bone-Tithe Nexus
Vokmortian - 180
10 Mortex Guard - 130
Month 2
Katakros - 500
Horrorghast - 60
Total = 870
Katakros is certainly not a single model, with his 4 attendants he is basically a small unit! I decided to tackle his attendants first, which did mean multiple sub assemblies, including keeping the bird in the cage and the side of the cage separate as these would be almost impossible to paint when fully assembled! I also painted his shield and Katakros's back piece as sub assemblies so I could gain access to all the key areas with a paint brush. Fortunately I didn't have to change my colour scheme at all on these models, or introduce any additional colours. Each model was so full of character that I genuinely enjoyed working on them, I have also decided not to convert any element of Katakros at all as it lends itself so well to the Japanese theme already.
Once Katakros was painted I magnetized all the attendants to the base, this was achieved with tiny N52 strength magnets that I picked up off eBay. This means that as he loses access to abilities as the attendants are defeated (they don't really die) I can show this by removing the relevant model!
Teaser video of my WIP Katakros for From Ember to Inferno 2 #FETI2 and fun with magnets! #Warmongers #PaintingWarhammer pic.twitter.com/MhCBwH33gq
— Pro Painted Podcast (@ProPainted) January 26, 2020
I also kind of cheated this month, as I am hoping to complete the army for the South Coast Grand Tournament in April I have a list in mind which uses my Horrorghast that I painted as a test piece before the release of the army.
So with Month 2 out the way I am already making progress on Month 3, I have 3 Stalkers and 5 Deathriders on my painting desk and cannot wait to share them all with you.