The Miniature of the Month for August is actually a choice between one of three Age of Sigmar miniatures: a Hobgrot Slitta, an Ironjawz 'Ardboy or a Bonesplitterz Savage Orruk Boy. As you can probably tell from the title of this post, I've opted for a Hobgrot Slitta.
Before we coat our blades in venom and slink into the wilds of Ghur, I'll just mention that as with my other Miniature of the Month Masterclasses, this isn't a step by step tutorial. Rather than having photos of each and every stage of the process, there are only pictures of the finished miniature; although I try and plan out painting projects in advance of picking up brushes, there can be quite a lot of jumping between the various elements of the miniature to build things up so it's a bit tricky doing a full step by step guide. However, I will go through how everything on the miniature was painted in detail and all of the colours used are highlighted in bold.
To get best use out of this guide, you'll need to have a little bit of painting knowledge already as it makes use of a couple of more advanced techniques, but as a quick note; glazing is using a diluted paint to apply a tint to an existing colour. Stippling is using the brush to apply paint in a 'stabbing' motion so as to create or accentuate texture and feathering is using the same brush as you've just applied paint to the miniature with—without reloading paint—to drag the paint out and over the existing colour. This spreads the new paint, thinning it and blending it in with the rest of the area.
Hobgrots have been seen armed with 'scrap-grenades' - hand-held explosives whose destructive power is belied by their crude appearance. Should fighting get up close and personal, Hobgrots will switch to pairs of wickedly sharp 'slitta-knives' which are often coated with foul poisons so that even the slightest graze of their blades can prove fatal.
Some have suggested that Hobgrots might play an important role in what passes for society among the Kruleboyz, perhaps acting as intermediaries between the them and Hashut-worshipping Duardin who are said to be intensely distrustful of the greenskins yet place significant value in the exchange of captives and resources with them nonetheless. If nothing else, this supposition could explain some of the similarities in the simple but undeniably effective weapons and armour sported by both Hobgrots and Kruleboyz..."
Taxonigies of the Varied Creatures of the Mortal Realms: The Greenskins and Their Kin
Vorgen Higspayne
Assembly
Like the Skink Warrior, Lumineth Auralan Warden and Assault Intercessor, the Hobgrot Slittas are taken from an existing kit in the Citadel Miniatures range. I was able to select the miniature I wanted to use for mine, so I opted for the one carrying a Scrap Totem Banner which gives some more metal areas to play with than the rank and file Hobgrots.
The Hobgrots are all 'easy to build' style miniatures consisting of a few components that can be pushed together, but I'd recommend using some plastic cement to glue them together so that they're a bit more secure. Once I had the miniature assembled and glued to the base, I added a skull from the Citadel Skulls kit and a couple of small chunks of slate before applying texture paint to the base.
Once the texture paint had fully dried, the final step of assembly and preparation was undercoating the miniature with a grey spray primer.
Painting
When deciding how to paint the Hobgrot up, I mainly drew inspiration from the scheme that 'Eavy Metal painted for the box art, though some of the metals are slightly different hues to suit my personal tastes. To make things a little bit easier to follow, I've divided the rest of this guide into four sections: the Hobgrot, the Scrap Totem, the Weapons, Armour and Accessories and finally, the Base.
I've also included a short Battle Ready Painting Guide at the end, so if you're looking to get your kunnin and brutal Hobgrots painted up and on the table as quickly as possible, then feel free to skip to the bottom of the page to check it out.
The Hobgrot
Skin
Hobgrots don’t wear a lot of clothing, so the ochre tone of their skin is one of the most prominent features of the miniature. Thankfully, painting up Da Kunnin’ Krew not so long ago gave me the opportunity for a practice run at the Scrap Totem bearer. I started out by basecoating the skin with a few thinned layers of Hobgrot Hide. Once I was happy that I’d got a nice, even coverage with this, I shaded the skin with Agrax Earthshade, being careful not to let it pool too heavily to avoid tidemarks.
Once the shade was fully dry, I then went back and feathered Hobgrot Hide onto the skin, using it to define the muscles and facial features as this would help reduce the harshness of the highlights I was going to apply. This was a bit of a gradual process, and the stopping point is more down to personal taste than anything else, but I like the slightly green tone to Hobgrot Hide, so I used quite a few thinned layers of it during this step.
From here, I moved on to highlighting and starting off with Morghast Bone I refined the definition of all of the areas of skin, paying particular attention to the Hobgrot’s face as it’s one of the focal points of the model. Once this was done, I moved on to using an extreme highlight of Ushabti Bone to pick out the most prominent areas of skin such as the knuckles and tendons in the hands, the tendons and toes of the feet and the muscles on the back and shoulders as well as all the facial features.
Facial features
With the skin now pretty much done, there were a few things left to do to help imbue the miniature with a little more ‘life’, beginning with its’ eyes. In keeping with other greenskins, Hobgrot eyes are quite a bright red which is handy as it contrasts well so they stand out. I began by basecoating the eyeballs with Mephiston Red which was shaded with Agrax Earthshade. From here, I carefully added a layer of Evil Sunz Scalet to each eye before adding a wee dot of Wild Rider Red as a highlight.
With the eyes now done, I moved on to adding a bit more definition to the Hobgrot’s lower eyelid with a glaze of thinned Coelia Greenshade mixed with a little Ushabti Bone. Once this had dried, I used some pure Ushabti Bone to pick out the very edge of the eyelids again.
Next up was the lower lip, which was glazed with a thinned down mix of Berserker Bloodshade and Ushabti Bone. Once I was happy with the pinker tone, I thinned down a little pure Ushabti Bone and used it to paint some thin lines perpendicular to the lip to add some texture to it.
Scars
The scars were highlighted up in the same way as the rest of the skin but were finished off with glazes to help make them look a bit more ‘realistic’. For the first step, I thinned down Targor Rageshade and glazed all of the scars twice, being sure to let the first glaze dry before applying the next. Once this was done, I thinned down some Carroberg Crimson and repeated the processes, but kept the application of the glaze more controlled so that some of the Targor Rageshade would remain visible, suggesting that there was some bruising around the scars. To finish them off, I highlighted the most prominent parts of each scar with a touch of Ushabti Bone.
Teeth and Claws
In contrast to the bright tone of the Hobgrot’s skin, their teeth and claws are much darker, so I started out with a basecoat of Mechanicus Standard Grey for them. I shaded this with Nuln Oil before feathering on a layer of Mechanicus Standard Grey once the shade had fully dried. Over this I applied a highlight of Dawnstone and finished off with an extreme highlight of Administratum Grey which was mostly focused on the tips of the teeth and claws to help accentuate that they’re sharp and pointy
The Scrap Totem
As you can probably tell, Scrap Totems act much like the banners and standards of the other denizens of the Mortal Realms, so they’re designed to stand out and act as rallying points for mobs of Hobgrot Slittas on the battlefield. However, unlike the billowing solarsilk banners of the Lumineth or the masterwrought marvels of the Cities of Sigmar, Scrap Totems make use of far more disparate elements like crudely carved metal plates and roughly hewn lengths of wood.
Copper Plates
The ruddy copper of plates hanging from the Scrap Totem were basecoated with thinned layers of Warplock Bronze until they were smoothly and evenly covered. Once this was done they were shaded with Agrax Earthshade making sure not to let it pool heavily on the flat areas of the plates. The next step was to feather on some thinned Warplock Bronze focusing the application towards the top of each plate where they would reflect the most light. I repeated this a couple of times until I was happy with how it was looking and then used Hashut Copper to highlight all of the edges of the plates as well as the edges of the runes that have scratched into them. As a final highlight, I used Sycorax Bronze to highlight the uppermost edges of each plate and to pick out some of the lower edges of the runes.
Brass Plates
The yellower tone of the Brass plates on the Totem started out with a basecoat of Runelord Brass. Despite being a Base paint, it is a little bit lacking in opacity at times, so it can take about 3-4 thin layers to get consistent coverage. With the basecoat in place, I applied a shade of Agrax Earthshade to all of the brass areas and then once this had dried, feathered on some thinned Runelord Brass in the same way that I described for the Copper plates above. Once I was happy with this, I then used Sycorax Bronze to highlight all of the edges of the plates and the runes before adding an extreme highlight to the areas of the plates that catch the most light with Canoptek Alloy.
Blackened Iron
All of the blackened ironwork on the Scrap Totem was painted in the same way as the armour and helmet as described below.
Corrosion
The patinas on the various metals of the Scrap Totem was created by carefully painting Nihilakh Oxide around the areas where moisture would accumulate, like the various bolts, rivets and nails. To help tie it into the rest of the model and suggest that the skull has been nailed to the top of the Totem for a little while, I painted some thin streaks of Nihilakh Oxide descending from the nails hammered into it as well. I kept this all quite restrained though as I think it's really easy to go overboard with weathering like this and it's far easier to add more weathering than it is to remove it!
Bone
The giant skull that's been impaled on the top of the Scrap Totem started out with a basecoat of Morghast Bone. Although this paint has reasonable coverage for such a light colour, it will take at least two thin layers to get a smooth basecoat, but in some cases three or four will give you a better result. Once this was in place, Agrax Earthshade was painted directly into the eye sockets, nasal cavities and the deeper cracks that are evident in the bone. After allowing this to fully dry, the whole skull was shaded with Seraphim Sepia. I then thinned some Morghast Bone with water and layered it onto the skull before adding highlights using Ushabti Bone followed by Screaming Skull.
Wood
In my mind's eye, the wood used for the upright and crossbeam of the Scrap Totem has either been looted from something (or someone) else or comes from a sapling that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Either way, the wood started out with a basecoat of Thondia Brown which I then shaded with Agrax Earth. After allowing the shade to fully dry, I reapplied a rough layer of Thondia Brown to add a little tonal variation across the surface of the wood. From here, I then picked out all of the carved and splintered edges with Blood Reaver Flesh, before using Gorthor Brown to highlight the most prominent edges. To finish off, I added some wee dots of Baneblade Brown to some of the points where the edge highlights met or crossed one another as well as to the ragged splinters at either end of the crossbeam.
Weapons, Armour and Accessories
Armour Plates and Helmet
Unusually for the more diminutive greenskin species, Hobgrots are comparatively well armoured, though I doubt that the iron that they use to manufacture their protective garb is of particularly good quality... In any case, the blackened colouration is pretty quick and easy to achieve, starting with a basecoat of a couple of thinned layers of Iron Warriors. Once this is in place, I shaded it firstly with Agrax Earthshade and then once this was completely dry, shaded it again with Nuln Oil. With a nice grimy dark iron colour now achieved, I set about picking out the edges of all the armour and the panels of the helmet with Ironbreaker. Because I wanted the edges to look a bit scuffed and chipped, I wasn't too precise while doing this, but did keep larger scrapes to a minimum as I didn't want the armour looking too battered. To finish up, I used a little Runefang Steel to add some very selective highlights to the sharpest corners of all of the armour.
The studs on the armour plates were then painted and weathered in the same way as the Brass panels on the Scrap Totem.
Slitta-knives (blades, grips and furniture)
Like their Kruleboy allies, Hobgrots often coat their blades in various foul, toxic substances so that even the merest graze can cripple or perhaps even kill their unfortunate victims. This offered the opportunity to try out something I don't do very often, which is to tint the metal of the blades to give the impression that they've been slathered in venom of some kind. I started out by basecoating and shading the blades of the slitta-knives in the same way as the armour plates and helmet as described above. With the basic tone of the metal in place, it was time to get glazing, and I began by thinning some Gal Vorbak Red with water and then glazing the blades of both knives from the cross-guard to about halfway along the blade. After repeating this glaze a couple of times until I was happy with how it looked, I then thinned some Word Bearers Red in the same way and glazed the blades from the cross-guard somewhere between half and two thirds of the area that was already glazed. Finally, I thinned down some Bugmans Glow and used it to glaze the surface of the blades closest to the cross-guard to finish things off. I then highlighted the knife blades in the same fashion as the armour and helmet - picking out all of the edges with Ironbreaker and then adding a dot of Runefang Steel to the sharpest points.
To contrast the warmer tone of the envenomed blades, I painted the grips of of the knives in a cooler green colour, which began with a basecoat of Incubi Darkness. To make it look a little more grimy, I shaded it with Agrax Earthshade and then dulled it down a bit further with a controlled shade of Nuln Oil. With this done, I carefully layered the grips with Incubi Darkness before highlighting them first with Kabalite Green and then with Sybarite Green. To tie everything together and soften the highlights a little, I finished up by glazing the grips with thinned Coelia Greenshade.
The last aspect of the slitta-knives is the pommel and cross-guard which were both picked out with Balthasar Gold before being shaded with Agrax Earthshade. With the shade fully dried, I feathered Hashut Copper on to the pommels and cross-guards and then sparingly used some Nihilakh Oxide to add some corrosion around the rivets. To finish up, I picked out the corners and rivets with Runefang Steel.
Clothing (such as it is)
Hobgrots don't really seem to go in for clothing, preferring to wear little more than a pair of pants or shorts which I reasoned would probably be made of some kind of leather. Given the Hobgrots' proclivities it's probably best not to dwell too much on where the leather comes from...
For the tan leather that I opted to paint the 'pants' in, I started out by basecoating them with Mournfang Brown and picking out the stitching with Rakarth Flesh. After shading them both with Agrax Earthshade, I feathered some Mornfang Brown back onto the leather to create a little texture, before highlighting the edges of the pants with Skrag Brown and then using Deathclaw Brown to add an extreme highlight.
The stitching was then highlighted with Rakarth Flesh followed by Pallid Wych Flesh while the copper and brass plates worn at the Hobgrot's waist were painted in the same way as the plates on the Scrap Totem.
Cords and straps
The strap supporting the Hobgrot's breastplate,as well as its' belt and the twine securing the crossbar of the Scrap Totem looked to be made out of something similar to raffia so I thought I'd paint them in a dun kind of colour to play into this. I began by basecoating all of these areas with Steel Legion Drab and then shading them with Agrax Earthshade. From here, I layered them back up with Steel Legion Drab, before highlighting them with Tallarn Sand. Once I was happy with this, I used Karak Stone to apply an extreme highlight to some of the individual strands as well as any loose ends that were sticking out.
In contrast to the raffia strap and belt, the cords hanging from the Hobgrot's belt are presumably woven from some kind of wool or other fabric that has been dyed using natural pigments either by the Hobgrots themselves or one of the other races in the Mortal Realms that they trade with or steal from. To get the rich crimson colour that stands out nicely from the earthy tones of the rest of the Hobgrot's garb, I started off with a basecoat of Khorne Red which I shaded down with Agrax Earth. When the shade was dry, I went back and layered the cords with Khorne Red and then refined this with a highlight of Wazzdakka Red. To finish up, I used Squig Orange to pick out the tips of the strands of cord below the knots as well as the most prominent parts of the twists and knots.
The Base
Earth
To fit in with some of the other Age of Sigmar miniatures I've painted up, I decided to paint the Hobgrot's base in a muddy brown, so started out by applying a basecoat of Dryad Bark over the textured area to get a nice flat earthen colour. I applied this using a couple of layers both of which were thinned with a little water so they would flow in around the texture on the base more evenly.
Once the basecoat was completely dry, I then lightly drybrushed the earth first with Baneblade Brown and then with Karak Stone.
Rocks
The chunks of rock on the base were basecoated with Dawnstone before being shaded with Agrax Earth. Once this was dry, I took some thinned Dawnstone and over the course of a few layers built up a grey tone I was happy with, being careful to leave some of the shaded grey showing though in places so the stone has a slightly weatherworn appearance. Once this was done, the next step was to start to add some highlights to the edges of the stone with Administrum Grey, I also stippled a little onto some of the flat areas of the stone to add a bit more variation to the tone. I then added a finer, final highlight of Grey Seer, paying particular attention to the corners of the stone.
Skull
The half buried skull was painted in the same way as the one displayed on the Scrap Totem, beginning with a basecoat of Morghast Bone. Once this was in place, Agrax Earthshade was painted directly into the eye sockets and nasal cavity and once that had dried, the whole skull was shaded with Seraphim Sepia. I thinned some Morghast Bone and layered it onto the skull before adding highlights using Ushabti Bone followed by Screaming Skull. Finally, I applied a glaze of Dryad Bark to the areas of the skull nearest the ground to help to bed it into the base.
To finish the base off, I added a few grass tufts, before painting the rim with a few thinned layers of Abaddon Black and with that the Hobgrot Slitta was complete.
Battle Ready Guide
If you're looking to get your Hobgrots battle ready and on the table as quickly as possible, then you can follow these quick steps:
- Paint the skin Hobgrot Hide
- Paint the armour as well as any weapons Iron Warriors
- Paint the hilts and pommels of the slitta-knives Balthasar Gold
- Paint the teeth and claws Mechanicus Standard Grey
- Paint the belt, straps holding the armour in place and any twine Steel Legion Drab
- Paint the eyes and any cords Khorne Red
- Paint the pants and any pouches or bags on the belt as well as the grips of the slitta-knives Mournfang Brown
- Paint the diamond shaped panel at the Hobgrot's waist with either Warplock Bronze or Runelord Brass
- Apply a texture paint like Stirland Mud, Astrogranite Debris or Agrellan Badlands to the base
- Shade the whole model, including the base with Agrax Earthshade.
- Paint the base rim with either Abaddon Black or Steel Legion Drab
If you want a slightly brighter red for the cords at the Hobgrot's waist you could switch Khorne Red for Mephiston Red and you could also swap the Mournfang Brown with Thondia Brown if you want a slightly darker leather. If you want your Hobgrots to look a little more varied you could even vary the shades of red and brown across the unit so that they don't all look the same. Either way, this method could work well for batch painting so would be perfect if you wanted to get a a full mob painted up to a good basic standard quite quickly and of course you could always go back and add some highlights and extra details at a later date if you wanted to.
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