Sedition Wars Strain Painted

I have painted the first batch of Sedition Wars figures, eight of the Strain figures. This is the minimum figures I need for the first scenario in the game (along with five Vanguard, which I hope to paint in the next couple of weeks).

The Strain are created when lifeforms are infected by nano-virus. In this case, human subjects have been infected. The figures go through several stages of enhancement, starting quite human-like and evolving into machine/flesh constructs. In the early scenarios there are just phase 1 and phase 2 Strain, so the human elements are still pretty obvious.

When it came to painting I wanted to avoid a zombie rotted flesh look and aim more for a cool skin contrasting with dark weapons aesthetic. However, in the early stages there is a lot of ripped skin, exposed muscle, broken bones and the like, so the sleek futuristic look is only hinted at. The models are very detailed so there is a danger that the colour scheme will be very confusing. I tried to keep it coherent by sticking to black weapons, white skin, red flesh and blood. I wish I had stuck to cool colours on the trousers, the browns and greens don't work as well. I am also unsure about the boils being a garish yellow, maybe I should have made them a purple (as in bruised skin).

Here are a couple of close-ups, showing phase 2 models in the two palettes, cool on the left, warm on the right. The cool palette definitely works better for me.

Next in line are five Vanguard models. I will be much bolder with these figures, sticking with a very stark black and white scheme. As I said, I hope to have them finished by month end, so I can get to play the first scenario. However, I also have a single figure competing for painting time, so it's going to be a tight fit in the schedule.