Painting one of The Longsnouts

Every Man is an Enemy.

Ever since getting into Warhammer 40,000 at the tail end of the 2nd Edition of the game, orcs have held a special place in my heart. The artwork for the 2nd Edition Codex book was filled with character, with notable work by greats like Mark Gibbons, Wayne England, and John Blanche. The template for the orc designs seen in the 2nd Edition codex was established earlier in the Rogue Trader era by artists like Paul Bonner, where the orcs were lanky, with wide lower jaws and long, slanting upper jaws. Brian Nelson gave the orcs a noticeable image change in the 3rd Edition of Warhammer 40,000, giving them a hunched, muscled, and aggressive look. It is this Nelson design that really captured my imagination. Games Workshop has slightly updated the orc aesthetics over the years, but never quite captured the magic that Nelson harnessed with his designs. Much to my excitement, sculptor Carlos Pérez Bugedo started a project designing his own orc models that take aspects of Paul Bonner’s orcs (somewhat lanky and long in the face) and combine them with the hunched aggression of the Nelson designs. This project is fittingly called The Longsnouts, and had an earlier Kickstarter campaign for STL files of some of his initial designs. To stir up some excitement for his second Longsnouts Kickstarter, he held a painting competition to paint one of his models. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to break out the paints and paint another model.

I experimented with painting in deep shadows on the orc’s skin. These were done with Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue (Model Color 70.899). This deep blue transitioned into a much more vibrant green painted with a series of Scale75 greens (Riff Green, Merm Green, Slimer Green, Toxic Waste Green).

Similar to the green, I painted the shadows of the orc’s red tunic with a mixture of Prussian Blue and red. The sculpt is particularly nice and very clearly delineates shadows, making the model a joy to paint.

Using plasticard, I fashioned a series of spikes to add to the front of the orc’s shield. I also sculpted some flagstones to add some detail to the base of the model.

It has been several years since I have painted an orc model, and I forgot how fun it is to experiment with their skin tones. Painting this model has certainly piqued my interest in painting more orcs in the future. Who knows, maybe I will work on creating an orc Mordhein warband or even begin exploring a Gorkamorka warband? If you like this longsnout model and are interested in printing your own, you can back Carlos Pérez Bugedo’s current Kickstarter: The Longsnouts Vol.2!

-Adam Wier