Age of Sigmar - Estenna of Brighthall

As I had the Retributor Armour spray out for the Custodes I figured that I could get this Stormcast Eternal done as well. I had only recently picked her up as well, being that she is the Age of Sigmar store anniversary miniature for this year (2025). With that in mind, I broke her out of the little cardboard box that Games Workshop seems to be shifting to and got her assembled. Ordinarily I might leave the head separate for ease of painting but in this case, I attached the head but left the right shoulder pauldron separate. It’s quite chunky, as it should be, but does rather get in the way of the face. The model and shoulder pad were then primed with the aforementioned Retributor Armour spray any areas missed I tidied up with Scale75 Dwarven Gold.

Backdrop by Jon Hodgson Backdrops

To start the painting proper, I gave the face a couple coats of Two Thin Coats Dwarven Skin. The face and any armour that was to remain gold was then given a wash of Reikland Fleshshade. I decided to stick with the armour for the time being and come back to the face later. With that in mind, I then used Dwarven Gold to brighten the raised flat areas of the armour and the edges I highlighted with Scale75 Elven Armour.

Before moving onto the rest of the model, I decided to do the face to take advantage of the wash. So, from my Dwarven Skin basecoat and Reikland Fleshshade I started by bringing brightness back to the skin by layering the raised areas with Dwarven Skin. From there, I mixed progressively more and more Scale75 Golden Skin into Dwarven Skin for my subsequent layers. For the highlights I mixed some Scale75 Pale Skin into my Golden and Dwarven Skin mix. To shift the skin tone away from the default caucasian a little bit I painted some Scale75 Arabic Shadow into the recesses and glazed across the rest of the skin. I attempted to glaze Evil Sunz Scarlet onto the cheeks to give the face a more feminine appearance but I can’t say that it turned out too well. To finish off the face I carefully painted the eyes with Ulthuan Grey and then gave them a coat of Pylar Glacier to make them look like they glow with an inner light. For the final details on the head, I painted the hair with a couple thin coats of Jokaero Orange before giving it a coat of Army Painter Speedpaint Burnished Red.

Backdrop by Jon Hodgson Backdrops

My Stormcast Eternal models have a purple theme to them, rather than Games Workshops’ usual blue. With that in mind I basecoated the cloak and tuft on the spear with a few layers of Two Thin Coats Sorcerers Cloak until I had a solid coat. I then gave the cloak another thin coat of Sorcerers Cloak and while it was still wet I blended Two Thin Coats Amethyst Rayne into the shadows and folds of the fabric. For the tuft on the spear I instead elected to give it a wash of Army Painter Purple Tone. I then highlighted the edges with Two Thin Coats Runic Purple.

To finish off the cloak I painted the fur mantle with a basecoat of Two Thin Coats Dungeon Stone, the cool grey contrasting nicely with the warmer purple and gold tones. To bring out the texture and to darken it a fair bit, I then gave it a coat of Army Painter Speedpaint Gravelord Grey. I then highlighted the fur with Dawnstone.

For similar reasons I painted the crossbow on her hip with Two Thin Coats Death Reaper and the metal components with Scale75 Thrash Metal. Like the fur mantle, the cooler tones help to not make the model seem too busy. While I had it out I painted the blades of the weapons with Thrash Metal as well. These areas I then washed with Army Painter Dark Tone.

As Estenna is an assassin her armour isn’t all encompassing like frontline Stormcast, so she has a fair amount of the undersuit showing. I painted this with a couple coats of Army Painter Skeleton Bone. The leather details meanwhile, like the straps and weapon handles, I painted with Two Thin Coat Cuirass Leather. Both of these areas I then washed with Army Painter Strong Tone.

Lastly I needed to do the base. I painted the stone with Two Thin Coats Dungeon Stone. The flat area of the base and the bit of tree I painted with Two Thin Coats Scorched Earth. I then washed the stone and wood with Army Painter Strong Tone. For the flat areas of the base I covered it with PVA glue before dunking it in a tub of Geek Gaming Scenics Base Ready Patchy Plains. I then sealed this down with Geek Gaming Scenics Matt Sealant and finished things off by painting the rim with a matt black.

Backdrop by Jon Hodgson Backdrops