My ripper dactyls have been sitting half finished for an inordinate amount of time, so I pulled them up from the depths of that hobby backlog and voila they are finished! The kit is a multi-build, giving you the option to create either Ripperdactyls or Terradons. I have multiple of the kit, so I made both variations. The Rippers are a much more vicious looking animal, but they are paired with the adorable bloat toad, which also gets some coverage in today's post.
I had started painting these just about the time Contrast Paints were announced (I know it's been awhile), and as such, it made me think of how to achieve a similar effect. A lot of the washes and glazes sold by various companies behave in a similar manner to Contrast Paint, and that's the avenue that I went with.
Now, some prep before we get to the painting. Firstly, this kit is much easier to work with if you keep the rider and the dino separate from each other until both are painted.
Secondly, I primed with my trusty Vallejo Grey, and if you want to achieve a similar color as I did, you have to prime with a light color as well, white or grey whichever you have available. This layer has to be smooth, I know white primers have a tendency to go on fuzzy. If that happens to you, try scrubbing the model with a toothbrush, otherwise you may have to strip the paint and try again.
Thirdly, I've painted the alpha in a traditional method (basecoat, wash, highlight) to provide a comparison between the two techniques.
With that out of the way, here we go:
Part 1: The Ripperdactyl
For the photo-Contrast method, the grey-primed body, but not the wings, of the Ripper was given an all around thin, and I do mean thin, coat of Cassandora Yellow. This is why it was important to have a smooth first layer, otherwise the wash would pool around the fuzzy primer and ruin the look (you can see something like this on the tail of the Ripperdactyl to the right in the above picture).
You'll have to babysit this coat as it dries and watch for any pooling on the flat portions of the skin. Cassandora Yellow has a tendency to dry orange if left concentrated, which, while fine for the crevices and recesses of the model, we want yellow for the skin. Once dry, that's it! The body is done, and looks good as well.
For the traditional method, basecoat the body with Averland Sunset, then wash with Cassandora Yellow. Once dry, dry brush with Flash Gitz Yellow. Not difficult, it just takes longer to account for drying time.
From here, the rest of the models are painted using traditional methods.
The crests are achieved by wet blending Lava Orange into Pure Red. Start with a watered down layer of Lava Orange, this will cover the widest area on the crest, and provides a transition from yellow to orange. Gradually reduce the amount of water in each coat and the area it covers until the top of the crest is bright orange. While this layer is still wet, feather in a bit of Pure Red and blend it together.
Now that the body itself is done, you can do some of the detail work. The claws are Ash Grey washed with Dark Tone. Ordinarily I'd paint claws with a bone color, but that wouldn't contrast well enough against the yellow body. Case in point, the teeth are Skeleton Bone but it's hard to distinguish in the picture.
The inside of the mouth is Barbarian Flesh washed with Reikland Flesh Shade.
The eyes are just Matt White, and the pupils are a small dot of Pure Red with an even smaller dot of Matt Black inside of that.
The collars are Shining Silver washed with Dark Tone and Brass Scorpion detailing.
With that done, it's time to move on to the wings.
Although I painted each wing with a different pattern, the core concept is the same for each.
Start with a basecoat of Necrotic Flesh, washed with Green Tone. Then wash with Green Tone again, this time only covering the from half of the wing.
The patterns are just different variations of Pure Red, Red Tone, and Green Tone, either to make stripes or spots. The major difference is with the alpha, which uses some different hues of green to get that striped look.
Really at this point, the patterns on the wing are what make these models yours, so I would encourage you to paint them as you see fit. Once finished, you can stick the Ripperdactyl onto its flight stand/base and start painting the rider.
Part 2: The Skink Riders
The skinks themselves are done in my basic Seraphon paint scheme, so I won't cover that too much here. In summary, Crystal Blue Base, Blue Tone wash, Electric Blue highlight, and an extra Dark Tone wash on the scales. Since this is a skink, he has a crest unlike the Saurus warriors, which is a Pure Red washed with Red Tone.
The gold trinkets and visors worn by the skinks are painted with Retributor Armor, then washed with Dark Tone. The spear tip is a simple coat of Plate Mail Metal. The spear haft is Monster Brown.
Feathers are another area where you can personalize the model. I went for an Incubit Darkness basecoat highlighted with Flash Gitz Yellow to get a really nice contrast in colors.
Once all the little details are done, glue the skink to the ripperdactyl and you're all done!
Part 3: The Cutest of Toads
If you thought we were toad-ally done (sorry) then you were wrong. Age of Sigmar players know that Ripperdactyls get a decent buff when in the presence of a Bloat Toad, and the kit comes with a single cute little toad to represent this.
Naturally, I decided that it should be painted like a poison dart frog. The lower half is Talassar Blue over grey primer, which gives a very vibrant blue color. The back and part of the front legs are Flash Gitz Yellow. The dots are just Matt Black. The tongue is Barbarian Flesh and his eyes are Pure Red.
The final step before basing was to coat him in Ardcoat, which gives it a nice glossy wet shine.
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