How I Paint - Blades of Khorne - Kamandora's Blades

When Kamandora's Blades were initially previewed, I was a little underwhelmed, much like the rest of the community. However, as time passed, I began to form a clearer image in my head of how I wanted them to look. I took inspiration from my other Khorne miniatures, especially my other Underworlds warbands, and decided to draw on their background of hunting for worthy skulls to guide the warband’s aesthetic. I imagined them roaming through the scorched wastelands left behind by the Blades of Khorne, littered with burnt-out structures and charred corpses. From this, the idea struck me: these madmen could use bone ash and charcoal to ‘decorate’ their faces with skull-like paint. And that’s how the concept for my Blades was born.

This is my take on Kamandora’s Blades.

Paints required: 

• Chaos Black (spray primer)
• Rakarth Flesh
• Bugman’s Glow
• Khorne Red
• Brass Scorpion
• Rhinox Hide
• Thondia Brown
• Abaddon Black
• Zandri Dust
• Leadbelcher
• Cadian Fleshtone
• Kislev Flesh
• Mournfang Brown
• XV-88
• Karak Stone
• Screaming Skull
• Pallid Wych Flesh
• Dawnstone
• Mechanicus Standard Grey
• Ironbreaker
• Runelord Brass
• Stormhost Silver
• Evil Sunz Scarlet
• Wild Rider Red
• Gorthor Brown
• Eshin Grey
• Reikland Fleshshade
• Agrax Earthshade
• Nuln Oil
• Athonian Camoshade
• Blood for the Blood God
• Lahmian Medium
• Black Templar
• Matt White

Method

1.

I began by undercoating the miniatures with Chaos Black spray.

Since the flesh would sit at the lowest level of detail, I painted it first. I applied a couple of thin coats of Rakarth Flesh, mixed with a small amount of Bugman’s Glow to add warmth to the base tone.

2.

Next, I washed the flesh with Reikland Fleshshade. Once dry, I highlighted the skin with Cadian Fleshtone, again mixing in a little Rakarth Flesh to cool the tone. This was followed by a highlight using Kislev Flesh, also with a touch of Rakarth Flesh. I didn’t bother highlighting the face at this point, as I had other plans for it.
 

I then moved on to the rest of the basecoats. I painted the armour panels with Khorne Red, it would’ve felt wrong not to.

3.

I followed that by applying Brass Scorpion to the trims of the armour panels and the skull topknot holder. The leather straps and vambrace were painted with Rhinox Hide. The cloth was done in Thondia Brown, while the hair was painted Abaddon Black. I painted the knife handle with Zandri Dust and used Leadbelcher for the blade, the belt buckles, and the metal studs on the vambrace.

At this stage, it’s important to keep everything as tidy as possible.

4.

I then carefully applied an Agrax Earthshade wash to everything except the flesh, the knife blade, and the hair. The hair and knife blade received a wash of Nuln Oil instead. I took care to avoid getting any wash on the flesh, if any did spill, I used a damp brush to remove it immediately. 

Since I was batch-painting the warband, I left the washes to dry overnight.

5.

Once everything was dry, I began the highlights, working one colour at a time.

Starting with the red armour, I first re-established the Khorne Red, leaving the shade in the recesses. I edge-highlighted the panels with Evil Sunz Scarlet. In areas without sharp edges, I painted thin lines around the panel’s contours, again keeping the recesses dark. I added a second, more limited edge highlight with Wild Rider Red, focusing on the parts of the panel that would catch the most light.

For the brass areas, I began by reapplying Brass Scorpion, then layered on highlights with Runelord Brass. I added small final highlights using a mix of Runelord Brass and a touch of Stormhost Silver, limited to the sharpest edges and light-catching points.

The brown leather straps and vambrace were simply highlighted with Gorthor Brown.

The hair was highlighted with a 50:50 mix of Abaddon Black and Eshin Grey, using the side of a small synthetic brush to catch the strands. I followed this with a highlight of pure Eshin Grey, focused toward the tips of the hair. Once dry, I glazed the hair with a heavily thinned layer of Nuln Oil, using Lahmian Medium as the thinner.

The brown cloth made up a large portion of the model. I began by re-establishing the Thondia Brown, leaving only the deepest recesses shaded. I highlighted with Mournfang Brown, then moved to a 50:50 mix of Mournfang Brown and XV-88, applying this to the higher folds. The final highlight was pure XV-88. I picked out the stitches on the cloth using Rakarth Flesh.

For the bone handle, I built up the highlights with vertical lines of Karak Stone, followed by Screaming Skull, and finally Pallid Wych Flesh. I aimed to leave some of each layer visible, creating a sense of texture.

The knife blade’s edges, including the dividing line between flat and sharpened sections, were highlighted with Ironbreaker. I added small perpendicular lines along the blade’s edge with Ironbreaker to create a worn, sharpened look. The sharpest parts were then edge-highlighted with Stormhost Silver. The belt buckles and the studs on the vambrace were also picked out with Ironbreaker.

Around the back of the head, I mixed a small amount of Dawnstone into Kislev Flesh and thinned it with water, applying it to the scalp to subtly indicate the darker tone of a recently shaved head.

6.

With the rest of the miniature complete, I turned to the most character-defining feature: the skull-painted face. I wanted the warriors to appear as if their faces were smeared with ash and charcoal in a ritualistic mimicry of the skulls they hunt.

I painted the whole face with Administratum Grey, then built up the highlights with a 50:50 mix of Administratum Grey and Army Painter Matt White. Using Black Templar (though Abaddon Black would work as well), I carefully painted in the eye sockets, nose cavity, and a line across the mouth—being sure to avoid the teeth for now. I then tidied up the black areas and reapplied highlights with Matt White. I used a fine brush to paint vertical lines, of Black Templer, along the mouth to suggest teeth. Once everything was dry, I washed the entire face with heavily thinned Nuln Oil. I finished with another pass of white highlights on the eyebrows, cheekbones, and other prominent facial features.

7. 

I removed the miniature from the base to finish the basing separately. I cleaned up the base with Abaddon Black. The rocks were drybrushed first with Mechanicus Standard Grey, then Dawnstone. Once dry, I applied a heavy wash of Athonian Camoshade—though Agrax Earthshade or Nuln Oil would also work. After the wash dried, I went back and drybrushed the rocks with Dawnstone and then Administratum Grey.

The skulls and surrounding blood on the base were first painted with Zandri Dust and washed with Agrax Earthshade. Once dry, I drybrushed the skulls with Karak Stone, followed by Screaming Skull, and finally Pallid Wych Flesh. Larger bone areas were also given a coat of Screaming Skull, thinned to a milky consistency with water, to unify the colour. For the gore, I used none other than Blood for the Blood God!

Finally, I reattached the miniature to the base and painted the rim with Abaddon Black to tidy everything up.

The result is a warband that not only fits seamlessly into the aesthetic of my other Blades of Khorne collection but also exudes a psychotic, obsessive drive for skulls. The ash-and-charcoal facial paint pushes them firmly into the realm of the deranged, a visual narrative that captures both my extension of their lore and madness.

How did you find the method? Have you any questions? Let me know in the comments. Happy Hobbying.

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