“I’m a big fan of the Stormcast Eternals,” says James, “really, since the launch of Warhammer Age of Sigmar. When it came to choosing a Stormhost to paint, I picked the Hammers of Sigmar as I enjoyed their exploits in the Realmgate Wars books.”
“Painting the army took around six day-long sessions – most of that was spent on the Celestant-Prime and the Lord-Celestant on Stardrake, who took about two days each. Everything in the army was painted using simple techniques – for example, the gold was basecoated with Retributor Armour spray, washed with Reikland Fleshshade Gloss, drybrushed with Retributor Armour, then drybrushed Stormhost Silver. To finish the gold off, I gave it a line shade of thinned Rhinox Hide. Almost everything else in the army was painted with only a basecoat, a wash and a drybrush.”
“The Hammers of Sigmar have a particularly effective colour scheme – it lets you get a strong look just using simple painting techniques. Choosing the right mix of contrasts and strong, eye-catching colours means you don’t need to use advanced techniques for a good result – you just have to keep things neat.”
James based the army around the Lords of the Storm warscroll battalion, which collects the heroes of the Stormcast Eternals together as a single force of Sigmarite might. James made sure to include at least one of every Hero, including a Lord-Veritant, Lord-Castellant, two Knights-Venator and two Knights-Heraldor.
Ruins of the Realms
“To paint the board, I started with Chaos Black spray,” says James, “then drybrushed the tile itself Mechanicus Standard Grey – I went for a few coats to give it a bit of depth. The ruins were drybrushed Kabalite Green to help them stand out from the wastes. I then mixed a pot of Rhinox Hide with a pot of Lahmian Medium, applied that mix across the entire thing with the L Scenery Brush and wiped the excess off with a tissue. To finish the whole board, I gave it a drybrush of Screaming Skull.”
“There are, in fact, only two parts of the army I didn’t drybrush,” says James. “The white on the armour panels and the Celestant-Prime’s swirling orrery were painted with traditional highlights. His wings, however, were drybrushed.”
“My favourite model in the whole army has to be the Lord-Celestant on Stardrake,” says James. “I’ve always found him a very striking model and he works brilliantly with the Hammers of Sigmar colours.”
The Arcanabulum
“The idea behind the board was ancient celestial machinery,” says James. “I envisioned it being powered by celestial energy, brought back into operation by the presence of the Stormcasts and now floating across the ruins of the realms. I cut the Arcanabulum from one of the Shattered Dominion board tiles and linked the parts together with plasticard rings. I stuck to a simple, strong colour scheme here, too, and painted it to resemble worn, ancient machinery. It also serves as a contrast to the ruins and board below.”
