Thorn Moons Crusade: Elder One Othalanga Painted

From Throne to Thorne.

Elder One Othalanga is complete! At times it seemed like he would never be done, with all the  sculpting, casting, and experimentation on the proportion of Space Marines, but after 8 long months, he is done. He was created for Iron Sleet’s upcoming Thorn Moons Crusade, a collaborative event where the Imperium, led by a horde of Vlka Fenryka, is attempting to the expunge the Green Mechanicvm from existance. The Elder Ones are a mysterious Space Marine chapter dating back from the time of the Great Crusade, who were separated from the wider Imperium until the late 41st millennium due to warp storms. Although few in number, each Elder One is a prodigious warrior that towers above most Astartes, fitting well with the gigantic marine I sculpted. All of the other Elder Ones were created by the esteemed FPOA (who is now a member of Iron Sleet), and painted mossy greens and browns, suggesting their ancient lives amongst trees and thorns. When painting Othalanga, I wanted to achieve a similar look to FPOA, so that he would fit along side his brethren. To do this, I experimented with a few different techniques, focusing on using stippling to create variation in color rather than traditional highlighting. Below I will talk a little about the paints I used and how I went about the entire process.

To tie this Elder One to FPOA’s others, I painted small details blue, such as the vials on his side and the skull’s bionic eye.

I started the painting process by airbrushing the entire model black, followed by airbrushing on a series of greens and browns in no particular order. With the foundation finished, I went about painting each armor plate individually using a wide array of drab military greens and browns from Vallejo (some of my favorites being: Cam. Black Brown; Olive Drab; Khaki Brown; Russian Green, Yellow Green; Panzer Ochre). I applied the colors using a stippling technique where I would randomly dot on the paint in thin layers, successively building up lighter and lighter colors. With this done, I went a little further by applying some green and brown enamels from AMMO by Mig Jimenez to create weathering and mossy effects.

I decided to paint the roses on his armor white, edged in red to suggest his skill in horticulture, but also to break up the muted greens and browns.

All of the metallics on the model were painted using Scale75 metallic paints (look into them if you have never used them). For both the gold and the silver I always started with the darkest metallic of the two ranges, Necro gold and Black Metal respectively. With the base coats down, I applied a few GW shades. For the golds, I would typically use Agrax Earthshade and Athonian Camoshade and for the silvers, Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade. With the shades dry, I went back in with brighter and brighter metallics using the stippling technique I used for the greens and browns earlier, this time being a little more controlled with the pattern.

His base was painted primarily grey to contrast with the greens and browns of his armor, without standing out too much and distracting from the model himself.

To give his servo arm a weathered look, I painted it with a few Scale75 metallics before providing definition with Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade, as well as a few Ammo of Mig enamels.

Song of Othalanga, Cerberin Brier

With a Thousand Sons I walked betwixt a profusion of petals

Until lymph and serum congealed sweet and thick

Until my marrow drained and flesh transmogrified

For a thousand years I spurned the flesh change

But I had lived as half a being

Until the celestial tides wrought our metagenesis.

I am an envenomed barb, a binary poison

Cerberin brier, a wordless hex

The heart arrests and vision fades

Wreathed in white, brass, and iron

I forge adamantium and steel with branch and bough

I shape a truth that had been sleeping

As the Thousandth Son I am reborn

I am a wanderer of moons, a changer of ways.

From Throne to Thorne.

I must live, I must die, and live again

I am the memory of all that came before,

I am the worlds soil, and the world anew.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I am thrilled to have finally completed this Elder One. It was a great experience, pushing me to learn many new things. Although still a little way off, I cannot wait to see the Thorn Moon Crusade continue to advance, and what part Othalanga might play in it. If you are interested, make sure to visit Iron Sleet to see the latest developments!

- Adam Wier