Danger lurks in every corner of the Mortal Realms. The malevolent forces of Chaos bring ruin in their wake, Nagash sends his legions of undead to usher in an age of perfect stillness, the warbands of Destruction rampage across the land. How will the mortal Cities of Sigmar stand against such terrible foes? 

By building a legion of huge, articulated, walking castles and sticking MASSIVE CANNONS on top of them of course! 

The 2023 Cities of Sigmar refresh got me back into Warhammer after a twenty year hiatus. I absolutely adored the aesthetic and the vibe of the new kits. Something about a bunch of normal humans fighting gods and monsters with just steel, grit and gunpowder really speaks to me. 

As soon as I saw the Cogforts, I knew I needed one. I’ve been taking part in the Woehammer Woepoints community for a few years as a way to encourage me to get through my backlog and avoid buying piles of plastic I’ll never paint. Pre-ordering anything comes with a hefty penalty, but I managed to cut a deal; If I finished the Cogfort within a month, took some lovely photos and wrote up a project diary, then Peter would give me a couple of bonus points. 

And so I invite you to come with me on a journey, as I turn a pile of grey plastic into the mighty Steel Valliant.

How to build a moving castle

I had an absolute blast building this. It easily ranks as one of my all-time favorite Games Workshop kits. It has so many bits! It’s so customisable! THE CANNON SECTION ROTATES, IT HAS A RETRACTABLE DRAWBRIDE! Incredible. I’m a sucker for miniatures with articulation and this kit has so much of it. 

I elected to do the entire thing in sub assemblies. About 32 different sub assemblies if you count all the tiny accoutrements like the stove, assorted hammers and oil bottles, etc. Doing it this way meant the painting process took a bit longer, but it let me get into all the nooks and crannies and it ended up being far less frustrating than it could’ve been had I tried to manhandle the entire thing throughout the paint job. I also got a little dopamine hit whenever I glued a finished piece onto the main body. 

The entire thing was base coated with Pro Acryl Dark Neutral Grey primer via an airbrush and safely stored in my Cities of Ash box, while the Cities of Ash miniatures sit on my painting shelf, unpainted, judging me. 

Bottoms up

I started by painting up the feet. I figured I’d get the feet done, then handle the wooden underside of the body before gluing them on. This let me get to all the fiddly bits behind the feet without losing my mind and it also allowed me to liberally drybrush almost all of the underside without worrying about neatness.

The wood was painted with Steel Legion Drab followed by a 50/50 Wildwood + Contrast Medium mix with a bit of extra Wildwood in the deepest recesses. I then drybrushed the wood with Steel Legion Drab followed by a very light drybrush of Zandri Dust to finish. I repeated this recipe for almost all of the non-yellow wood on the model.

The darker metal was painted with Iron Warriors followed by a wash of Black Legion mixed with a bit of Lahmian Medium. The chains were painted with Iron Warriors followed by a Rattling Grime wash. All of the metal pieces were drybrushed back up with Iron Warriors mixed with a little Vallejo silver. I then selectively highlighted some of the more angular parts with Vallejo Aluminium. 

I repeated this process on the underside of the fort, ensuring that I painted all of the wooden and metal bits, even the bits that nobody will ever see (all glory to the Society of Hidden Paint).

Getting stoned

I wanted to get the stone painted before attaching the feet. Mostly so I could go crazy with the drybrush and not worry about the mess. I did make the mistake of painting the wooden door and metal portcullis before starting on the stone. Don’t do this… That was a very silly idea and I obviously had to repaint them afterwards. 

Hot tip: If you want to manipulate your Cogfort while painting but you don’t want to get your grubby mitts all over your lovely paintwork, you can just jam your hand in the hollow middle and use it as a painting handle. 

I base coated the stone using Vallejo Gorgon Brown, followed by a heavy drybrush of XV-88. This gives the stone a bit more depth after you’ve built up the classic grey stone layers.

Speaking of classic grey stone: Once the base layers were dry, I broke out my biggest drybrush and liberally drybrushed every bit of stone I could find. Starting with Vallejo Charcoal and mixing in Vallejo Stonewall Grey in stages until I was satisfied with the overall tone. I then finished with a very light Vallejo Deck Tan highlight. Once that was all dry, I glued the feet in place and lamented the fact that I was going to have to repaint all of the bits I stupidly painted before drybrushing the stone. 

Hot tip: if you forget which foot is which before gluing them on, Foot #7 has a tiny notch on the ankle ball. The others are easily identifiable based on the height of the horizontal section or the tactical rock.

Painting details, fixing mistakes

With the legs glued on, I superglued the entire thing to the base so I could manipulate the model without ruining the paintwork. Then I fixed any drybrush overspill and repainted the door and portcullis. 

All of the iron metal details used the same recipe: Iron Warriors with a Black Templar contrast wash, followed by some selective highlights using a mix of Iron Warriors and Silver. The bronze details were base coasted in Runelord Brass, followed by a wash of Agrax Earthshade + Lahmian medium, then highlighted with a Runelord Brass + Silver mix. 

The hatchments got a base layer of Vallejo German Camo Beige, followed by a few coats of Vallejo Deck Tan. Ready for transfers once everything else was finished.

And it was (partially) yellow

Next up, I painted all of the yellow wood. The rest of my Cities are painted in the Greywater Fastness scheme, but I don’t like the vivid yellow wood that Eavy Metal used. I prefer a slightly more natural, desaturated look. 

All of the yellow wood pieces were painted with a base of Vallejo Japanese Uniform, followed by an Agrax Earthshad + Lahmian Medium wash. I use the medium here to knock back the innate glossiness you sometimes get with GW washes, leaving a nice matte finish. The yellow wood was then highlighted with Japanese Uniform, followed by a gradual mix of Japanese Uniform and Vallejo Ice Yellow for the highest of highlights. 

The metal on the side shields followed the same recipe as the other grey metal parts, but with a heavier coat of Black Legion to darken it further. 

I also took a bit of time here to add some weathering, grime and moss to the stonework and I dusted some pigment on the feet. This helped break up the grey and added a bit of visual interest to the model. 

Platforming

Once the main body was complete, I moved onto all of the platforms at the back. This is where building the entire thing in sub assemblies really paid off. I could easily paint each platform before gluing it into place without having to worry about being super neat and tidy. 

I repeated the wood, stone and metal recipes for each of the platforms, including the machine gun nest at the front.

I used a few different metal colours for the Emberstone engine and paid a bit of extra attention to the pressure gauge. You can’t see it at a distance, but it’s the kind of detail I appreciate and enjoy seeing when you take a closer look. The Captain’s compass also got a bit of extra detail.

For the yellow on the captain’s lookout I tried out a pink basecoat with Ironjaws Yellow contrast over the top, then highlighted with Vallejo Gold Yellow and Vallejo Moon Yellow. I’d heard about using pink as a base for yellow, but I never had the motivation to actually bother with it before this project. I’m never looking back. Hot pink basecoats are going to be a key step in every bit of yellow I paint from now on. 

I was a bit worried that the platforms either wouldn’t stick due to the paint, or that the glue would ruin the stonework. The machine gun nest and captain’s platform didn’t have nice little tabs like the others. But careful application and steady(ish) hands won the day. 

After painting and attaching the platforms, I spent some time finishing off a few details like the lanterns and any tiny metal hooks or bits that I’d missed previously. With that, the main body was done. I was starting to see the fort come together. 

Heavy artillery

With the body and the platforms done, it was time to move onto the rotating cannon topper. 

I followed the recipes I’d used throughout for the wood and metal, starting by getting base colours down and then moving onto washing and highlighting.

I did get a bit frustrated with all of the endless sub assemblies at this point. The cannon platform had at least 8 separate pieces to paint and glue on before I could consider it finished, and that didn’t even include the roof! It was worth it in the end though. 

Hot Tip: The cannon platform comes with a built-in painting handle. The recessed part is always going to be hidden inside the fort, so you don’t have to worry about rubbing paint off of it!

For the rope on the cannon and the engine basket, I used a basecoat of Vallejo German Camo Beige, followed by a Skeleton Horde wash and a Deck Tan highlight. 

After getting the larger parts of the turret platform washed and highlighted, I turned my eye to all of the tiny details. I painted up all of the cannon ball holders and the stone separately before gluing them in place. I also decided to paint the inside of the tiny stove. I’ll never open the stove door, but we’ll all know those glowing coals are there. 

If you like it then you should’ve put a roof on it

With the canon completed, it looked like I was getting close to the finish line. I wasn’t, I still had a roof to paint, and the crew to paint, and a base to paint… But we persevere. 

For the roof, I started with a base coat of Vallejo Abyssal Turquoise before applying a heavy drybrush of Iron Warriors. My intention was to create a bit of a patina effect, as though the roof had been exposed to the elements over a long campaign. I definitely went too heavy with the drybrushing and the turquoise isn’t that visible. But you live and learn. I then gave the roof a liberal wash with Rattling Grime contrast, before a few highlight passes with Iron Warriors and a small amount of silver. 

All of the windows are on hinges and do not need to be glued in place. I left them all unglued so I could open and close them whenever I wanted. This ended up being a bit of a pain in the ass during painting – They fell off A LOT. But I think it was worth it in the end. 

Once the top of the roof was finished, I moved onto the inside and the details around the edges. The inside got a single coat of Steel Legion Drab and a Wyldwood Wash. I didn’t take too much time here, I just wanted to make sure you didn’t see any grey if you peeked inside.

The Crew

I was almost there. The only things left to paint now were the Crew. All 6 of them.

I started by batch painting the yellow on each crew member. I wanted the yellow cloth to really pop against the more muted tones of the rest of the fort. I started with a pink basecoat, before building up the yellows. I started with Vallejo Gold Yellow as the base, followed by Sun Yellow for the midtones and Moon Yellow for the highlights, with a tiny bit of Ice Yellow for the occasional spot highlight. 

The black cloth was a Vallejo Black base followed by successive highlights of Charcoal mixed with Stonewall Grey. The dark leather is a base of Rhinox Hide, with scratchy highlights of Steel Legion Drab and Zandri Dust, followed by a subtle Rhinox Hide + Lahmian Medium glaze. The lighter leather of the shoes and the engineer’s apron followed the same process, but had a base coat and glaze of Mournfang Brown instead.

Finishing touches

With the crew finished, I moved onto transfers and final touches. At this point, I took the fort off the base so I could texture and paint the base without getting mud on the legs or underside. 

The transfers went on like a dream. I don’t know if Games Workshop has changed their transfer printing method or if I’ve just got better at it, but I had absolutely no problems getting everything into place. Anywhere that needed a transfer got a thin coat of matte varnish. Once the varnish was thoroughly dry, I broke out the Micro Set and Micro Sol and got to work. 

Now I just needed to make a base! I cannot stand making bases. I don’t know what it is, but I find basing to be incredibly tedious. So, the base for this Comfort was a liberal application of Stirland Mud, a thorough wash of Agrax Earthshade and a few drybrush passes with Vallejo Earth and English Uniform. Once that was all dry, I slapped a bunch of PVA on the base and sprinkled flock all over it before gluing the fort back on. 

The Steel Valiant Rides

And that’s it! After 25+ hours of work, several wet palette refreshes, one spilled pot of Wyldwood and one slightly ruined paint brush later, I had a fully painted Cogfort.

This is easily the largest, most detailed miniature I’ve ever painted and I absolutely loved it. So much so that I’m tempted to buy another. It’s detailed but not tedious, it’s absolutely ridiculous but somehow believable as a war machine. It looks incredible as a centerpiece for a Cities army and I can’t wait to blow it up by getting too cocky with the Full Power! ability. 

I hadn’t painted anything since February due to various life events, but painting my Cogfort has absolutely brought the passion back. I will finish City of Ash before the end of the month! I promise. 

Paints used

Equipment Used
Artis Opus Series S Brushes
Windsor and Newton Foundation large brushes
Redgrass Games wet palette
Harder & Steenbeck: Infinity airbrush