Perhaps He's Best Unclean One

I finally assembled my Great Unclean One kit, and ... wow. Color me very impressed. There are tons of options, and Rotigus, the kit's alternate build (I built a bog-standard GUO), gives plenty of options that can easily be folded into a large-scale conversion. (I've got an idea for a Contemptor conversion I've been kicking around for a while that might incorporate those pieces.) When I've knocked out more of my army, I fully plan to purchase this kit again and massively convert it.

But there's one thing that makes me a little sad about the kit: just how much it outclasses the Forge World Great Unclean One. To wit:

Left: Forge World Great Unclean One. Right: Games Workshop Great Unclean One. Both are stock, except for a repaired horn on the FW model — I bought it second hand and the original owner had lost the piece long ago.

It's hard to really showcase just how much larger the GW plastic kit is from a straight-on angle, but you can still see just how much taller and bulkier the new kit is. Here's a top-down angle:

The same models as noted above.

I still prefer the Forge World piece — it's far more detailed and has a real sense of menace about it. I'm just a little bummed that it has so much less heft — a sense of bulk makes a huge impact on the tabletop, and the GW piece has way more body. Both great kits, though — and GW should absolutely keep pushing the envelope.

Some details (read: Nurglings) from the plastic GW kit:

You're only guided to add one of these to the GUO if you
follow the kit's instructions. Don't be slaves to the instructions, kids.

I absolutely love this detail. I'm deeply ambivalent about the Lord of Contagion
stepping on a Nurgling — it belies a cruelty that I'm not sure works for a follower
of Nurgle — but carelessness and a sort of jovial pragmatism fit his fluff very well.
I can imagine the GUO noticing this unfortunate and chuckling to himself as he shifts
his bulk so it can skitter away — or, alternatively, after noticing that he'd shifted
a little too late to save the little daemon, shrugging and moving on, none too worried
about the fate of a single Nurgling.

I applied the base color to the plastic GUO with an airbrush. I'm trying to force myself to learn how to use that tool more effectively, and I figured it would be easier to reapply a bad application to the plastic model than to the resin one.

Base color applied to the plastic GUO.

I started with my standard priming, all applied via airbrush: Golden High Flow Acrylic Carbon Black in several thin layers to completely cover the plastic; Neutral Gray applied overall (this is NOT a zenithal, or light-source-based, application); and Titanium White applied to portions that I want to emphasize or that I plan to apply lighting effects to.

I then applied Quinacridone Magenta and Game Color's Ultramarine Blue in alternating layers. In some places, I wanted the blue to be the deepest color; in others, I wanted the purple to be the deepest color. Most of the open sores would be primarily purple, and I wanted his jowls to be a foul mockery of rosy cheeks — so they got a good dose of purple, too.

Then I hit the entire model with Com-Art Transparent Forest Green (which, to be honest, was a little too dark — thankfully, it was transparent). I went over everything again with Golden High Flow Acrylics Green Gold and highlighted with Hansa Yellow Medium.

The base colors applied to the back.

The next step — which I'm unlikely to get to any time soon — will be using inks to deepen the shadows; glaze the foul, infested wounds; punch up and broaden the highlights; and really sharpen some of the pustules that I want to pop. Gross, sorry; I want them to visually pop, that is.

I'll probably move onto this model after I'm done with the autumn plaguebearers and the Chaos Decimator. Whatever lessons I learn from it will be applied to the Forge World Great Unclean One — if we're lucky, my next apocalypse game will feature a pair of fully painted GUOs!