Shadespire - Sepulchral Guard Finished

These lads were supposed to be deep in the heart of battle at this moment, but life sometimes makes plans without consulting us, so instead I found myself with the time to take some photos of my finished Sepulchral Guard. The last three I painted were the Warden, Champion and Prince of Dust.

The Warden is a cool looking skeleton. I love his pose, the armoured boots, the fur, the shield, all suitably epic. That cloak in particular is mightily heroic. I painted him in two parts so I could get at his armour, shield and cloak. There was no way I could have levered my brush into some of those crannies without severe mental damage. As a grognard, I was not raised with all these holes in cloaks and super dynamic poses. My undead had to rank up, by Nagash!

I'm not really a fan of assembly after painting, it's always a risk. This time though, he went together just dandy. Look at that cloak though, what a sculpt.

The second of these final three was the Prince of Dust. Less detailed than the Warden, the Prince is still a great mini. The slightly askew jaswbone is a nice touch, it makes him look like a bit of a madman. I reckon he's the skeleton that charges in with the high pitched scream, Harryhausen style. This guy was also painted in two parts so I could get at his shield and cloak.

The final of the three is the Champion. The goth of the group. He's got that art nouveau thing going on with the pointed helm, tall elegant broadsword and flowing cloth. He was also painted in two parts, and was a true bastard to put together after.

You know, I've been at this miniature painting lark for a long time. Over thirty years. I like to think I'm a bit of a veteran. I know a few things. Like how to dry fit parts, I know how to do that. I shaved the plug on this guy before I started painting so that it would fit nice and easy after I'd finished painting both parts. Did it? No. It did not. It did not.

So, with the plug half way in I think 'I'll pull it out, shave it some more and go again.' Nope. No budging. I did scrape the paintwork trying too. The only thing for it was to push it and hope it moved far enough. By the grace of the Gods, it did. Not perfectly though, it left a gap of two or so millimetres where the hand joins the wrist. Some glue (glue on painted parts, good Christ) and I held that sucker tight for about five minutes. More paint damage. With the parts finally together I repaired the damage to the paint and hit him with a fresh coat of varnish. A close call.

With the Champion defeated that was the warband complete. I'm pretty happy to have a Shadespire warband ready to go, and I fancy doing another in the near future. Skaven perhaps, maybe even Stormcast. They're such great little painting projects. Before that though, I think I'll have a crack at some terrain for blocked hexes. I have lots of ruins and statuary that's crying out for use in something like Shadespire ruins.

Next up though, something from the circus.