Making the Plague Hulk:
I started the Plague Hulk by asking myself, "what have I got myself into here?" It's just such a mad project. Without any further thought, I got on with the deed at hand.
I started by looking at the modelling instructions for the Soul Grinder. When I'd finished laughing, I hit upon the idea of Green Stuff all the way (you can see what effect this project has had on my dwindling sanity!). I started assembling the Plague Hulk by following the basic frame work of the Soul Grinder... and hold on to your hats, 'cause it gets bumpy from here on in. The first thing that I did was put the front claws from the Defiler kit onto the front of the Plague Hulk, as this is one of the major changes from the Soul Grinder. I then started to assemble the rot cannon, and quickly found myself thinking "what on earth can I use?" I say this because my Death Guard Army is now so large, I just did not want to repeat myself (sorry fellow FlashGitz, I'm not boasting, honest guys).
I decided to use the antenna from the Planet Strike Bastion box set... yes, you heard me right, the antenna! I then cut off the end of the antenna and reversed it, making a rather good gun barrel. I then lowered the head of the Plague Hulk and changed the horns on the model, so it was more in line with a Nurgle theme, resulting in the model having custom 'rhino horns'.
After all this, I had a Plague Hulk with so many holes in it you could call it swiss cheese. So I rolled out the Green Stuff. I set about filling the holes, bulking out the model and enlarging the stomach, complete with split hide and intestines spilling out. After all this, I still thought the Plague Hulk was looking too clean. So out came my trusty files; after hours filing away, the model was starting to look a little more worn, so heading in the right direction. The final stage was my ace card: Copydex. I coated the entire Plague Hulk in Copydex. After the Copydex went clear (but not dry), I went over the model with an old brush, roughing up the Plague Hulk even more and making the metal look warped, rotten and decayed. I was now satisfied with the Hulk. What came next was the real challenge, painting...
Painting the Plague Hulk:
I started by undercoating the Plague Hulk in Chaos Black. I then went about dry-brushing the model first with Red Gore, then Blood Red, before building up through layers of Fiery Orange and then Blazing Orange. Next came a light coat of Boltgun Metal, followed by a mixed wash of Brown and Black Ink. After the ink had dried, I gave the model a light drybrush of Chainmail, before another light wash of Brown Ink.
I then went over the claws, painting them a rusty metal colour acheived by mixing Chainmail and Scorched Brown, as well as a little Chaos Black. I then went over a lot of the rents and dents in the armour, making them look like weeping sores or red rust with varying shades of red. After that I went over the pipes, first in Chaos black, then these were highlighted in Codex Grey. With the main bulk of the Plague Hulk finished, the time had come to take on the Daemon half!!
I began by painting the flesh of the Plague Hulk with Cameo Green, highlighted with Rotten Flesh. I then went over the model in a mixed wash of Brown and Black Ink. The next stage was to go over the flesh in Dwarf Flesh and then Elf Flesh. The flesh was again given a light coat of Cameo Green, followed by a dry-brushing of Bleached Bone. The cuts in the flesh were painted Red Gore mixed with Blood Red, then given another Brown/Black Ink wash. The last details on the flesh were the eyes and teeth, picked out in red and Bleached Bone, and that finished the body of the Plague Hulk.
The last thing to paint was the sword, which I went over with Dark Angels Green, highlighted with with Snot Green, then dry-brushed in Bleached Bone. The sword was then given a light wash of Thrakka Green, then after the wash was dry another coat of Bleached Bone was used.
With that the Plague Hulk was finished. After being matt varnished, the Plague Hulk was given a coat of Bright Varnish on the flesh and weapons, and all over the cuts, as well as around the rents and dents.
And with that the project came to an end. It was most enjoyable, and I must say I'm happy with the finished result. Next up for me is a 40K project to end all others that I've done (and that is saying something (lol)):- a Chaos REAVER TITAN!!!! Yes, a REAVER!!!!! Of course, when this project starts, the FlashGitz will be on hand with a blow by blow account of the REAVER!!! (Stop yelling Reaver! - ~Blue) project. Until then, happy modelling and gaming.
~Virus
