Sister Hazel, Plague Nurse

If anyone can think of a more apt mini to paint at this point in time, I'd love to hear it. Maybe a Plaguebearer wearing a MAGA hat?

Back in the 17th century it was believed that "miasma" — basically, bad air — was what caused diseases to spread. Plague doctors wore a waxed coat with a leather mask stuffed with herbs and spices as these were thought to protect from this miasma. The doctor would usually carry a cane so they could prod the patient from a safe distance. In other words, people who didn't even know how diseases worked took better precautions than the morons you see on Facebook these days.

Reaper's Sister Hazel was released alongside Brother Lazarus, another plague doctor, as part of the Dungeon Dwellers range. Both minis are really cool but didn't buy them as I didn't think I could do them justice with my painting, but a couple of weeks ago I gave in to temptation and bought Hazel.

As I couldn't think of a scheme, I ripped off Sister Hazel's colours from the painted figure on Reaper's site. I used Olive Green for her skirts (handy tip: Vallejo Model Colour Olive Green is EXACTLY THE SAME as Vallejo Game Colour Goblin Green. That was $3.50 I didn't need to spend.) I shaded it with Army Painter Green Tone and used Olive Green mixed with Green Yellow for the highlights, which were a combination of layering and drybrushing. I'm really happy with how it came out.

From looking around on t'interwebs it appears that plague doctors' masks were usually black. This was tempting as it would be easy, but I went for Silver Grey to add a lighter shade, washed with Flesh Tone, and Flat Earth for the stitches.

Her shirt and leggings are Army Painter Moon Dust. I had an entire internal debate about doing the stripes on her arms and leg and in the end decided to get over my fear of freehanding and just go for it. I used Army Painter Black as for some reason it's thin and flows well without having to add water, and with my 10/0 brush I did my best. I had to touch up the yellow here and there but they worked better than I thought.

Hazel's cloak is black, highlighted with several greys (Dark, Sombre, Neutral and Ash) layered on just like I did Benedikt's. Layering always worries me a bit as my skill at it seems to come and go, but I just took my time and made sure I'd thinned the paints to buggery and back. I used photos of painted examples to help guide me as to where the highlights should go and pretty much hoped for the best, and it worked OK.

I wasn't even going to attempt to paint the flasks she's holding to look like glass, so like Billy Joe's I did them to look more like pottery, which is probably more realistic anyway.

I didn't want the usual sand-painted-green base, so I used one of my resin flagstone ones. It's just painted black and drybrushed with a couple of greys.

For those of you wondering when I'm going to publish the second installment of the Warhammer Cottage (tentatively titled "Kill Me Now"), it's coming. Soon. Soonish. Honest.