So week 4 has come and flown past in a flurry of bones as I’ve worked on the Deathrattle Skeletons horde for my Death army, with the aim of fielding them as part of a new Death army I’d like to run in a tournament the beginning of March.

Because I’m pretty tight on time, I decided that it made sense to bolster my unit of Deathrattle Skeletons from 30 up to 40, so I picked up another box of 10 and added these to the proverbial pile of models I’m working on which has impacted on what I had originally planned for last week.

Last weeks progress

• Pick out details on skeleton warriors
• Get 34 skeletons ready
• Paint bone on 34 skeletons (2 x batches of 17)
• Final drybrush on Bloodthirster wings
• Horns on wings and hooves

Yeah, not very impressive really despite clocking up 22 hours worth of hobby.  Now in reality what I actually got done was to get the bone done on 44 deathrattle skeletons and 10 black knights, including assembling the additional 10 skeletons and 10 black knights (neither of which were on the list).  I have also started picking out the details on the first 20 skeletons (more on this shortly), so despite not achieving many of my goals, I did achieve quite a bit and most importantly made progress on my March deadline.

Black Knights

Just to forewarn you, I’m about to vent about the 10 black knights I assembled over the weekend.  These have to be the most frustrating kit that I’ve assembled for years.  I appreciate that they’re not new models, but the deathrattle skeletons box set goes together far more efficiently (and I’d hazard those molds have had more usage).  The hooves on the horses don’t end up square, the armour on the horses has to be glued on (complete with rider legs) before the head resulting in a tricky and awkward paint job and it’s insanely fiddly.

Yes I did get them assembled and the bone completed, however the amount of detail on them is telling me that finishing them for my tournament in March isn’t going to happen if I want them to look good.

Details on the Deathrattle Skeletons

First off I did something a bit different on the additional box of deathrattle skeletons that I purchased.  Instead of using the skulls that came in the box, I used some from the massive box of skulls that Games Workshop produces – and would thoroughly recommend everybody does this!  You’ve a good dozen and a half different skulls and the casting is superior to the ones that come in the deathrattle skeleton warriors box.  Well worth the money – plus some of the skulls will fit on the banners so you could have a plaguebearer skull being carried round 😀

The bone I managed to knock out in about 6 hours or so in total which I felt was pretty decent.  I’m keeping the details pretty simple, Rhinox Hide belts, Leadbelcher Swords (with a brassy colour for the spear heads) and purple for the cloth – or at least that’s what I planned.  Upon painting the first model using the Naggaroth Night, I realised that it just doesn’t stand out at all, because it’s so dark.  I didn’t really want to go much lighter as Naggaroth Night wasn’t happy at coverage over the bone undercoat let alone a lighter colour.  Sadly what this has meant is that I’ve accepted that Red is the best colour to do the cloth for my deathrattle skeletons.  The coverage is superior and they really pop from a distance.  A light Agrax wash and Evil Sun Scarlet should make them look super vibrant (appropriate for Age of Sigmar).

This Weeks Hobby Targets

• Details on all 60 Skeletons

OK, that doesn’t look particularly adventurous!  This week I’m much lower on hobby time than I have been the past couple of weeks.  Both days this weekend are largely busy leaving me with a bit of the evening if I’m lucky, so I’m largely constrained to just a few evenings and Friday afternoon.  My ideal goal would be to have the above done by the weekend, but I know that painting 60 tassels of cloth and 60 belts over a light undercoat, without going onto the bone isn’t a task that can be rushed particularly.

If I can get the skeletons done, then I’ve a few choices – I could assemble Neferata (and some Spirit Hosts) or start on painting some characters.  Ultimately it depends on when I finish as next week I’ve next to no hobby time as it’s the Horus Heresy/Necromunda Weekender and I’m travelling up on the Friday!