"Aw, Crap" - Hellboy - Part 1

 Hellboy : Look, Sammy, I'm not a very good shot...
[holds up his huge revolver] 
Hellboy : ...but the Samaritan here uses really big bullets.

Hellboy (2004) film

Well well well, this came out of nowhere! Welcome back to The Art of Caesura!

I've been working on a big hobby project for the past couple of months (one of my big hobby goals from last year) which will eventually turn up as a series of posts on the blog. I'm taking a little break from it at the moment, and I was looking for something quick and fun to paint. (Re-)enter Hellboy: The Boardgame. 

This was a Kickstarter that I backed a few years ago. I actually painted a bunch of stuff from it at the time before moving on to other things. Returning to these models is really rekindling my excitement for this game! After I've painted a few more of the models I definitely plan to get a few more sessions of the game in with my wife. 

I decided to paint Hellboy himself!

My goal for this paint job was just to have fun, enjoy the process, and not linger too long on it. Check out this post for more of my thoughts on being real with yourself about what you are trying to accomplish with any paint job. 

So, from a zenithal undercoat (spray whole model black, then spray down from 45 degrees with Grey Seer (or any white, or off-white).

I then blocked in his skin with Contrast Baal Red. And yes, I had a little helper for this part. 

For his trench-coat, I used Rakarth Flesh...

...and I used Steel Legion Drab for his gloves and..."boots".

The final paint used for his base coat was Black Templars, and I painted this on his shorts, and gubbins hanging from his belt as well as his hair and gun. I has also painted his Right Hand of Doom and horn stumps with Flesh Tearers Red. 

I coated his coat with Agrax Earthshade, and at this point I could have called him finished. 

I decided to press on by highlighting the skin. Over the Contrast Baal Red I worked up through Evil Sunz Scarlet and added more and more Orange Fire from Vallejo. 

The initial zenithal highlight made it very easy to decide on placement of each successive layer of highlights. 

The last couple of things I did were to paint his gun (dubbed The Samaritan in the films, but unnamed (I believe) in the comics) with Vallejo Gunmetal (and then a coat of Nuln Oil, which was also applied to his right hand). I picked out his eyes in yellow and highlighted the folds of his jacket with Rakarth Flesh. 

The whole thing (minus the zenithal spray) took under an hour and I succeeded in my goal of having fun!

Tune in next week for more Hellboy on The Art of Caesura!

Reading: The Danish Way of Parenting - Alexander and Sandahl

Listening: The Link is About to Die - Los Bitchos

Next Week:

Hellboy in the dark...