These miniatures ended up being abandoned as I couldn't get the armour to complement the skin, and still have them fit in with a Thousand Sons Kill Team. If I went for Black Legion armour or non-traditional colours, I think this could have worked well. I'm still pretty proud of the work I did here.

Skin

1. Basecoat with 1:1 Karak Stone & Thunderhawk Blue .
2. Add some Dark Reaper into your base mix and add general shading to the skin.
3. Deep Shade with Dark Reaper .
4. Increase the amount of Karak Stone in your basemix, so it is now roughly 2:1 with the Thunderhawk Blue . Apply highlights to all of the skin and block in the lighter chest (and a bit of the neck) with a couple of glazes, pulling your brush towards the centre.
5. With an equal parts mix of Karak Stone , Thunderhawk Blue . and White , add fine highlights to the skin, ignoring the chest.
6. Now mix 1:1 Karak Stone and White , then selectively highlight the skin.
7. You can finish off with specular highlights of White in a few places if you like, but don't overdo it.

Flesh Tentacles

1. Glaze Stegadon Scale Green over the whole tentacle, pulling the brush towards the tip.
2. Mix some Stegadon Scale Green and Black 2:1, glaze over 75% of the tentacles, pulling the brush towards the tip.
3. Add some more Black to your Stegadon Scale Green so it is roughly 2:1, then glaze over half of the tentacles, pulling the brush towards the tip.
4. Finish of the transition with pure Black glaze over the last 25% of the tentacles, pulling the brush towards the tip.
5. If you are feeling fancy, you can highlight the tips. I used the Fenrisian Grey and Blue Horror from the hooves later in the guide.

Chest

1. Now highlight the muscalature more selectively toward the centre with Flayed One Flesh .
2. Finally apply even smaller highlights of Pallid Wych Flesh .
3. For the spines on the chest, carefully wash them with a purple, like Shyish Purple .
4. Now edge highlight them with Pink Horror .
5. Highlight the tip with :1:1 Pink Horror and Kislev Flesh .
6. Now finish off the tip with a dot of Kislev Flesh .

Ears and Knuckles

1. Glaze Kislev Flesh over the tips of the ears and the knuckles.
2. Finish with a specular highlights of Pallid Wych Flesh .

Hooves, Claws and Beaks

1. Basecoat with Stegadon Scale Green . Where the skin runs into these hardened areas, glaze the transition.
2. Shade with Stegadon Scale Green mixed with a little Black .
3. Edge highlight with Fenrisian Grey .
4. Add selective and specular highlights of Blue Horror .

While you have these paints out, now is probably a good time to tackle the weird shoulder spines. Wash them with a mix of Stegadon Scale Green and Black . The edge highlight with Fenrisian Grey and pop a specular highlight of Blue Horror on the end.

Yellow Eyes

1. Before I start, I like to wash the eyes with a purple, like Druchii Violet , into the surrounding recess. I think this really makes them stand out better.
2. Now pick out the eyeballs with Averland Sunset .
3. Highlight the area closest to the beak with a small highlight of Averland Sunset mixed 1:1 with Ice Yellow . You could use Dorn Yellow if you wanted to stick to Citadel paints.
4. Now add a dot of pure Ice Yellow close to the beak.

Pink Tongue

1. Basecoat with Screamer Pink .
2. Edge highlight with 1:1 Screaming Bell and Pink Horror , pulling the brush towards the tip.
3. Highlight two thirds, dragging the brush towards the tip, with Pink Horror .
4. Mix the Pink Horror 1:1 with Kislev Flesh and selectively highlight the tip.
5. Finish with a specular highlight of Kislev Flesh .

Magenta Feathers

1. Basecoat with Screamer Pink .
2. Thin some 1:1 Screamer Pink and Abaddon Black down and use it to shade between feathers.
3. Mix Screamer Pink and Ushabti Bone and edge highlight the feathers.
4. Selectively highlight the ends with Ushabti Bone .
5. Mix the Ushabti Bone and White 1:1 and add specular highlights to the tips of the feathers.

Horns

1. Basecoat with Ushabti Bone .
2. Wash with Skeleton Horde , thinned 1:2 with Contrast Medium .
3. Thin some XV-88 heavily and glaze the top two thirds,pulling the brush towards the tip.
4. Repeat on two thirds of the previously painted area, this time with Mournfang Brown .
5. Now mix your Mournfang Brown 1:1 with Rhinox Hide and paint two thirds of the remaining area.
6. Finish with a glaze of Rhinox Hide on the tip.

Whilst this looks good, highlighting edges and ridges can go a long way. I like to use Screaming Skull and :white for the lightest parts, and the previously used browns for the darker parts.