A Grimdark Guide to Peeling Necrotic Flesh

Greetings denizens of the dark catacombs and captives of the dungeons of mind and matter!

Flesh and decay, rust and viscera - as a figure and miniature painter I strive to draw out the viewer’s primal reactions with works that portray blends of vice and violence, beauty and horror. An eternal journey through macabre passageways where I seek inspiration from the likeminded, and opposite souls that create works of art - in all forms - upon these stone dungeon walls.

Seeking textures, effects, and results that drive our minds towards the dim light at the ends of the grim dungeon tunnels within which we endlessly roam.

With the Harrowed Slave Giant, I wished to portray not only the endless torturous atmosphere for this sculpt, but also to add some of my home-made effects to its flesh.

This step by step guide will walk us through the basic recipes of the model as a whole - and a focus point on the PVA Flesh Peeling Technique - Necrotic version.

Venture on, come scour the Dungeons with me, despair and delight!!

Those named beneath ruined stars - let us discover together what we may apply to recreate such wounds, such sores, such decay of the body and rot of the flesh.

For this work shall describe what we will call; The Flesh Peel technique - Version: Necro-Flesh along with the standard most version of a skin, metal, and effect recipe.

There should be no defined routes of your creations, apply these steps and notes to any creation of yours. Ideas and principles. Not rigid rules.

The dungeons and catacombs of worlds forgotten and forsaken hold forms and flesh of many kinds. But all portray the eternal suffering in which they dwell.

Before Priming the model in Wraithbone, or any similar off-white, we make sure to add textures and scratches to the metal and iron parts of this unfortunate being.

• Considering where decay and rust may build up, we add Typhus Corrosion to the upper areas of metal where the elements might have taken hold and weathered the shackles and parts that of The Caged as it traverses its eternity through the catacombs and dungeons wherein it exists in torment.

• For the lower parts of metal, as well as where heavier moisture may have gathered over time, we add some select and controlled spots of Mordant Earth. This crackle paint will eventually read as heavy rust later on at that step of painting this unfortunate soul.

When ready and dry - we prime the model fully.

We will perform a simple and effective way to render metallics using a 2:1 mixture of Black Legion contrast and Lahmian Medium (I have a pot premixed as I use this on all metallics on my models). This will allow us to quickly pick out the metallic areas, and place the recesses into shadow. No need to fully base paint in metallics at all, as we are looking for a weathered and tarnished look to these materials which we will achieve from the next dry brushing step.

• We take a large drybrush and simply use Iron Warriors for the chains, and Balthazar’s gold for the rest of the steel that has been augmented in torturous fashion to the ever wandering creature. No need to be too accurate, just drybrush as you would normally pick out the raised edges - and you’ll automatically catch all the pre-primer weathering from the previous step also.

• Once the drybrush is done and dry, wash those areas with Aggrax Earthshade - make sure to not let it pool up, a thin layer is enough to push the warm tones which we seek here.

This step is the basic most version of my flesh recipe, and its principle is applied to any rendition - we may change the colours, and we may use a different method for veins - but we can practice and apply this method to any flesh that we seek to render in semi-realistic and dark fashion.

Veins and Arteries: Nowadays I opt for using Faber Castell Polychromos oil pencils for this step, as it allows great control and thinness. But for simplicity we will omit this method here to stay true to the factual paintjob of this particular model.

• Using a plastic well-palette we add ratios of approximately 3 parts wash, to 1 part water, and 1 single drop of acrylic drying retarder.

• Washing the entire surface in Reikland Fleshshade first- utilising the extensive working time from the drying retarder to then blend in Carroburg Crimson wash, and Coelia Greenshade wash to areas of warmth and cold respectively. 

We seek to have a (bio)logical mindset here, considering the model, its suffering, its journey, and thus where those heatmapped areas may be. Are the extremities devoid of warmth or are they sore and active from labor? Is blood flow normal in areas such as armpits, inner thighs, neck cold from the diminished, or even absent, pumping of its sanguine fluids?

• With the basic heatmap of the flesh tissue done, we can now add some thin arteries and veins to the skin. Using the same Corroburg Crimson shade for thin veins, and Coelia Greenshade for thicker arteries. Load a small amount on your brush, and take your time - you don't want them too opaque, a thin line in an organic pattern is more than enough to sell the effect at the end.

• At this stage we add some light spattering to the skin using Aggrax Earthshade by flicking it from a semi-stiff brush across a sewing needle (or other similar tool). This will add to the illusion of the painted surface having variety and imperfection as not only regular skin would have, but especially the sunlight deprived and unhealthy flesh of a being dwelling through dungeonous caverns for times long forgotten.

At this stage we are ready to plan ahead, and to add the first step of the Necro Flesh Peel technique. Where do we want the open sores and wounds to be later? Choose them for yourself, and to those areas we add a simple layer of Nazdreg Yellow contrast paint. Just a thin amount is all we need here. The border of these areas will serve later on as your guide for the application of the PVA.

Time for everyone’s favorite part! Adding the first layers of enamels where we not only pull together the colours with a unifying wash, but also start adding the blends and effects of the previous heatmap on the skin. Personally I avoid washing the metals I have done nowadays, but on this model we went full scale so lets walk through it all!

• On your palette add some Villainy Ink: Goon’s Grime, and have some de-aromatized mineral spirits ready also.

• Apply Goon’s Grime 1:1 with spirits across the entire model.

Personally I don’t mix the spirits and enamel, I just load a brush, place it on a clean area of my palette, and load the brush with some spirits, then I mix that small pile and apply it to the model. This lets me not only fully control the dilution level, it also leaves the neat Goon’s Grime untouched, and saves on product in case I overestimated the amount.

• Let this layer stain the acrylics for about 30 - 45 min. Note that the longer you let the enamel wash sit the darker it will stain the underlying paint job. So if you want it lighter and less filtered, just remove it sooner - even right away after hitting it with a hairdryer on low heat at arms length.

• After about 30 min and applying low heat air to it, I then remove the excess enamel using an eye makeup applicator. Of course a Q-tip works fine, and is often a matter of preference.

• Once the amount is reduced that you wish to, and harsh edges are feathered out a bit using a dry q-tip/applicator or a brush for the hard to reach areas flash off the excess mineral spirits with the hair dryer for a few seconds.

Now it’s time for the secondary washes.

• I apply a neat layer of Goon’s Grime to most, but not all, areas. Only the flesh, and only parts I wish to have either darker, or areas that will transition into tonal variety following the heatmap colours.

• Once applied, hit with medium heat at arms length with your trusty hairdryer.

• Now we reduce and remove the excess enamel once more with your tool of choice dampened in mineral spirits, BUT this time we do not flash off any excess spirits.

• Go back in directly with V.I. Carrion Crimson, adding it to the areas that are infected, irritated, or organically warmer- The heatmap, and especially to the areas just around the Nazdreg Yellow of the wounds you marked.

• Blend and feather out harsh edges dabbing your q-tip/applicator gently.

• Add V.I. Coelia Green (5:1 with spirits - go real thin here) to those colder areas you heat mapped also, and blend and feather as before.

• For the chains we go in with layers of V.I. Sector Rust starting with high dilution of 4:1, dry it slightly, reduce, add a layer of 3:1, dry slightly. Reduce, layer of 2:1 until neat V.I. Sector Rust - Build this up in gentle and rich layers and always consider where moisture, and thus rust, settles on the metals.

The previously added texture paints help as a guide here also! - Those areas with Typhus Corrosion especially for this step.

• For the cages, bands, spikes etc. that we painted in Balthazar’s Gold - we do the same process but with V.I. Coelia Green starting from 5:1 dilution, down to max 3:1.

• Finally for the verdegris effect to pop nicely we add a small amount of V.I. Decay of Death into the Coelia Green mixture at the end and add it to some select areas where also the decay would have built up the most. Less is more here. (As is often the case, and restraint is a challenge - I know!)

• Use the Decay of Death in one hand, and hair dryer in another. You dont need much, and dont need very high levels of brush control, simply dab a bit on an area - hit it with the hairdryer, repeat that step to build up the dusty nature of the enamel effect paint. - If the effect is too stark, no worries, we can fix that later on at the end still.

Now, the basic idea of this technique is to add a layer of skin that we peel open to reveal what is underneath.

There is a 'Goldilocks' drying time for this, and it may be different for everyone, so as always practicing it on either some plasticard, or a test model is best so that you get a feel for it based on your climate conditions etc.

We want to make sure to varnish and cure the area underneath fully, so there is no damage that happens to the layer underneath once we start poking and scraping it with our trusty toothpick.

For visual reference, here is a link to my Instagram story highlight that shows the application and peeling step. (mind you this short doesn't include the ‘painting’ step that we do for this necro-flesh version, and also that the model in the video is a different model not by Bestiarum Games.)

Let’s walk through it:

• Add a layer of Matte varnish to the wound areas, covering it fully with a thin layer and let it dry well for about 60 to 90 min.

• Add some Greenstuff World PVA to a bottle cap, in small amounts (to avoid over-drying and waste)

Plan to do 1 (max 2) areas of predetermined wounds at a time. You want the Goldilocks zone for its drying time, so adding this step to too many areas in one go can result in areas over-drying, and no longer peeling back correctly.

• Load a whatever-brush with neat Greenstuff World PVA glue and dab it onto the area. Don't brush it, just dot and dab it on the area covering it until slightly beyond the border of the Nazdreg Yellow.

• Once that 1 (max 2) area is applied - hit it with a hairdryer on low heat for about 20-30 seconds or so.

• You will see the glue slightly dry, losing some of its gloss from being wet. If its going transparent already you’ve dried it too much. - Practice and observe, learn and master!

• Take some Abbadon Black and dab and stipple it onto the PVA layer - don't brush it, just nice dabs covering it all entirely.

• We again hit it with the hair dryer for about 10-15 seconds, now just to dry the paint slightly.

• With your toothpick or tool of choice, gently, carefully, poke and push and open up the skin.

You may have some paint that's wet underneath, and perhaps even some glue. This is fine for the most part and with practice of finding the ideal drying times this will be less and less.

• If you have too much excess skin that's pushed aside that you don't want, simply snip it off, or let it bundle up - or even hang in grotesque flaps.

• Change out your toothpick often so you don't push around wet glue or paint too much.

• In the Model in this example I did not yet have the right kind of brush control to do this well, but you can opt to draw out some black veins to replicate the necrosis leading from the dead area of flesh into the surrounding tissues.

Now just rinse and repeat this across all the areas where you pre-planned all the wound areas. The next thing we do to really sell the puss, rot, and decay is we add some more colour to that revealed layer of Nazdreg Yellow:

• I blend into the wound some Nurgle’s Rot, some Cassandora Yellow, and some Athonian Camoshade.

Dot and blend and add as you like - just don’t go too overboard.

A fully optional step of course, but for the Harrowed Slave Giant where in my mind he traverses not only an endless Dungeon-scape, he does so eternally - and in utmost agony, tragedy, and suffering.

Thus I opted to add his own intestines being hung across his hooks and nails, pulled from his cut open body which was stapled closed after.

• Roll out some greenstuff or other applicable putty of choice, and simply attach it to the body, and drape it across the nails and hooks on the sculpt in any desired fashion.

I do this step near the end often, as even if I envision wanting to do so at the start - I give myself the freedom to perhaps change my mind later on. Some might be cautious or concerned about adding this after all the hard work we put into the paintjob, but in reality there is little risk of messing anything up.

• Once the greenstuff or putty fully cures, and gravity does its work to pull it into place in a natural way, we just give it a good coat of Wraithbone trying our best to make it opaque, and not hit too many of the surrounding parts. (some mistakes are fine, and can simply be covered by blood effects later)

• We wash the intestines in neat Reikland Fleshshade in a thin coat.

• Let dry, and we are ready for the final blood and general gore effects. 

Where does the blood originate from, and how old is it?

This is always my first question when adding blood effects. Arterial blood is brighter red as it is oxygen rich. Venous and surface tissue blood is more maroon, sometimes even purplish as it has already carried oxygen to the organs and tissues.

Pooled blood is often very dark, near black in deep areas. Intestinal and inner organ blood is often mixed in with bodily wastes, especially if they are the result of traumatic damage, cuts, and other “less delicately” inflicted wounds.

To keep things simple here though, we go with a basic mix that reads well.

• First we reinforce the lacerated and stitched abdomen using V.I. Carrion Crimson.

We reapply this also again to the outer edges of the Flesh Peel wounds, but also let it go across the painted black necro flesh a bit, as well as parts where we imagine the iron bands are damaging and infecting the skin we now add this layer.

Tip: In a small palette-well, add some V.I. Carrion Crimson, and tilt the well so gravity can separate the pigments from the paint - this way you can add heavy pigment grains to certain areas with your brush.

• If you have stark lines you can feather them out as before using a dry clean brush or q-tip/applicator.

• No need to reduce anything. But let this layer dry and cure well before proceeding adding acrylics - as the waterbased paints will otherwise ‘bead up’ due to the change in surface tension from the enamels (This IS however a very useful purposeful technique to replicate in-scale splatter, but that’s for another day, and another poor corpus).

Once dry:

• We apply the UhU technique here first, drawing strings and slime across areas such as between the intestines, the concave abdomen and the groin. On a small piece of cardboard I add some drops of UhU, stick in my trusty toothpick, and while mixing and noticing its less liquid, and more stringy, I then add it to the model by touching one part of it, and pulling to the next point. There are so many videos on this by so many creators, that I feel you should be able to find many examples of this online.

Ready to paint it all up:

• I used a mixture of Blood for the Blood God with a dot or so of Abbadon Black in it to darken it up.

• We mix on a palette, and brush it across the intestines as well as gently across the strands of UhU.

With a little bit of water we can also create the illusion here of the blood being smeared and thinner in certain areas if desired.

• We add some of this mixture to the deepest parts of any wounds, abdomen, etc where we feel some coagulated and thicker blood may pool and sit.

• With a small dollop on your brush you can transfer those droplets to the UhU strands also.

• For the UhU strands across its rotten and infected groin area we gently paint it up using Athonian Camoshade, and adding some small dabs of Cassandora Yellow here and there. Yum!

Q-Tips are great for your ears. Quite useful. But they are also great for your hair! Albeit not yours, but that of your models.

Whether you use Q-tips for the reductive steps of your enamel washes, or like me, just use them to clean my palette with - these soaked and grimey q-tips are great to then use for general (humanoid) hair application.

• With some tweezers we pluck small tufts off the q-tip and lay them on some kitchen paper.

• Do more tufts than you need, you might fail at some, you might find some that are shaped nicer than others, so just give yourself the extras.

• With some matte varnish we wet the area where we are looking to add hair.

• Pick up some ‘hair’ with your brush and smartly add it to the area, working from bottom upwards so as to layer it naturally.

• Once applied - you can ‘brush’ it into shape with a dry clean brush, or if need be dampen your brush slightly.

• Trim and snip away excess if needed.

The very final steps are usually simply some crevice or pin washes using V.I. Ichor of the Damned.

• Areas that need that extra hit of separation or contrast - add some there: edges of matte or dusty armor, dark recesses that we can then drop into shadow more. But also areas of blood we wish to give a deeper richer red colour. And as mentioned before at this stage you can also knock back areas of verdigris if you need to still.

The Harrowed Slave Giant was an absolutely amazing sculpt to paint up in my style. Its textures and design really let me go to town with various effects and techniques. Honestly I’ve considered painting it up again after all this time with the newly acquired skills I’ve built up since this piece.

I hope that this guide was helpful to those to paint this, but really any Bestiarum sculpted where you wish to create horrific skin, rich textures and effects that evoke primal reactions.

I’ve enjoyed much inspiration from many of the artists in the wider hobby community such as Black Chalice Studio, Grim & Darker, Carlos Bilis, The Feral Painter, Bene Crafts, and many more. There is inspiration everywhere, absorb everything from all angles and methods, and strive to make it your own style!

Always Experiment & Embrace Failure!
 
 Pictor Nox - @pictornox

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