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by Kaïo, The Chosen of Sigmar
A little history:
I started Empire with the release of the sixth edition box. The general in the box was used for a sergeant of the spearmen regiment so I set search for a suitable general. The first hero I bought was Luthor Huss. I found the model rather imposing and a year later, when I had read the Empire rulebook, I had decided he would always be one of my favorite models. However, since then and today (10th of February 2007), he has undergone some minor changes.
At first I had painted him rather
straightforward. Then he was the centerpiece of my army. I didn't play a battle
without him. The few small tournaments I played he was my general, a job he did
considerably well. I even was so found of the model and the character of Luthor
Huss I adapted the name of the Chosen of Sigmar to use it on internet. And
believe me: I am renowned!
At a later stage, in fact when the 6th Edition Bretonni
Knights came in the stores, the plan arose to mount him on a Bretonni warhorse
and to field him with some Bretonni knights representing a knightly order of
Warrior Priests. The Knightly Order never really found it's way to the table
top, my second version of Luthor Huss however did... He was placed on the
warhorse and on his barding a shield, a sword and a helmet were attached. Some
religious manuscripts were added to create a divine feeling... The shield, the
sword and the helmet were added because I field Luthor a lot as a Warrior Priest
with a shield, some kind of magical sword or the Helmet of the Skaven Slayer on
tournaments where you get extra points for WYSIWIG.
The Final Version:
The Model:
And now, I'm restyling him again. I have placed him back on a Empire horse. No, not of the new Empire General sprue although the thought has crossed my mind. He is now placed on a rearing warhorse with at his feet a zombie that raises from the grave. Only a shield was kept. I also used some green stuff to create parchment on the horse to give a real 'Chosen of Sigmar' feeling. I always found that Luthor Huss has some kind of darker side over him and this I want to emphasize a bit by keeping the warhorse, the armor and barding black. For the rest some gold will be worked into the armor and barding while the robe will be kept white with some red details as in the past...
The paint job:
After having it primed black I found out that some of the details are vanishing, probably due to the fact that I never had seemed to get off all the paint of the model. This will make it extra difficult for me but I'm determined to make the best of it. I'm not gonna say what I use for the zombie because that will be more a kind of trial and error-job until I got the result I like.
As basecoats I chose the following:
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Scorched Brown: all the parchment parts and the saddle on Luthor.
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Bestial Brown: all the parts that will be leather, the face.
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Black: the metal parts and the warhorse of course.
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Codex Grey: the robe and the middle of the saddle cloth.
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Scab Red: all the parts that require red (ribbons, seals, book)
The Warhorse:
For the horses skin a really light drybrush of codex grey over the black was all I needed to create the dark steed I had in mind. The tomb stone was given a some what brighter dry brush with the same paint giving it a nice result... Luthor's horse has a specific head covered with a chainmail which of course I drybrushed with chainmail. The barding was painted Chaos Black. To give it a shiny appearance a wash with black ink was painted over it. On the barding I did some ornament with Shining Gold. Areas that were a little wider were highlighted a little with Burnished Gold. The parchment parts got a drybrush of Bleached Bone to give it a more worn look. The center of the Parchment was painted over again with Bleached Bone after which these parts received a drybrush with Skull White. The harness was then painted with Snakebite Leather while the metal parts of the harness were done with Shining Gold. Some Blood Red for the saddle cloth and some Chaos Black to create some 'text' on the parchment finished the horse off. As it stands on my Paint Station I really like the look and feel of the warhorse... Let's hope Luthor gives me the same satisfaction...
Luthor Huss:
OK. Luthor's Armour and the shield were to remain Black so I wasn't going to do much about that. To not make it all black and to get a nice fit with the warhorse I did some edges with Shining Gold. The Armour and shield then received a wash of Black ink to give them a shiny look. The chains holding the book of Sigmar were also painted in Burnished Gold. The ribbon of Luthor's seal was painted with a drybrush of Blood Red over the original basecoat. The robe was drybrushed Fortress Grey. On top of that several brushes of Skull White followed. To finish it off a trim in blood red was painted. The parchments on Luthor were done in the same manner as those on the warhorse. The face was a drybrush of Elf Flesh over a layer of Brzonzed Flesh. And then he hammer: I settled just for a drybrush of Boltgun Metal for the metal part. The Skulls on it were done with a drybrush of Burnished Gold over a layer of Shinig Gold. I did comet on the shield in the same way. A layer of Mithril Silver was added over the edges of the Hammer. The hilt was then covered with Snakebite Leather with a wash of Chestnut ink in the recesses. And this is the result:
Special thanks to Alexander Kösters for taking the picture of my last version of Luthor Huss on the 'Full Tilt V'-tournament.
