Paint Recipe | When you watch the new Castlevania show on Netflix (Spooktober)

Before we get started, a disclaimer: I have never actually played Castlevania. My knowledge and enjoyment of the setting starts and ends with the Netflix Castlevania show, of which there are now two. The original featuring Trevor Belmont and had four seasons, and the latest series featuring Richter Belmont. I quite like both shows, so when it came time to paint a Vampire Lord for the Soulblight Gravelords, I took some loose inspiration from the show. 

Black and white just sets the mood for the season...

I decided not to go for the stereotypical silver armor, and instead opted for a tarnished gold with green hues as the basis for the model. This lead to an overall muted color tone, as I didn't use very saturated colors. It was actually a fun exercise in trying to create contrast when everything was so muted, and resulted in using a green glaze to bring a bit of color in without going to bright. 

The armor was basecoated with Tainted Gold (AP) and washed with Nuln Oil (GW). I then went in with a drybrush of Liberator Gold (GW) all over the metal, being quite heavy handed in some places like the breastplate. The scratchiness of the brush gave the metal a brushed texture, which was a nice added bonus. I did a very, very light drybrush with Shining Silver (AP). Finally, I took diluted Biel-Tan Green (GW) and glazed it in the center of panels, avoiding the edges and some of the flanges to provide a bit of contrast across the model. 

The hair was also particularly fun, as I've struggled with blonde hair in the past where it comes out way too...yellow. I think I fixed it by introducing a lot more of a pale skin tone from Flayed One Flesh (GW) mixed in with just a dab of a rich, more ochre yellow in Averland Sunset (GW). This was followed up with a very light wash with Soft Tone (AP). I then highlighted with successively less and less yellow, eventually making its way to pure Matt White (AP). It results in a more believable blonde, which is the method I'll be using from here on out. 

I was a little worried the pale white face would be too similar to the hair, but Alucard makes it work so I just went for it. I actually started from the bare plastic grey, as I applied only a very thin, handbrushed layer of Vallejo Grey primer. It was enough to let paint stick, but translucent enough to let some of the plastic grey come through. This would serve as my shadow, as I highlighted up from there, first with Pallid Wych Flesh (GW) and then to Matt White (AP). I dabbed two dots of Pure Red (AP) onto the eyes and called it a day. 

Maybe it's Maybelline...

The shield was based with Matt Black (AP), and along the edge I used Gunmetal (AP). The dragon icon was painted with Gemstone (AP) right over the pale grey primer, so as not to be too vibrant. I glazed with Carroburg Crimson (GW) to select areas to give more depth and shadow. Then I took a sponge, dipped it into Shining Silver (AP) and dappled it across the whole shield to give it some weathering and visual interest. 

The bats were just Matt Black (AP) drybrushed with Uniform Grey (AP). The mace head was Gunmetal (AP) washed in Nuln Oil (GW) with highlighting with Shining Silver (AP), pretty standard stuff. I did use thin lines along the blades to give it some interest, similar to the sickle blade of last year's Knight of Shrouds. The handle was painted with Rough Iron (AP) then drybrushed with, you guessed it, Shining Silver (AP). 

Now with less stupid skateboard rock

Then I just based the model to match the rest of my Soulblight Gravelords army, and it's now ready to terrorize the battlefield.

-The Space Dinosaur

This also checks off the "Paint a model in color scheme you normally don't use" box, as I don't ever really do this kind of armor.