""denting" bronze armor?" Topic

Painting some romans with bronze pictoricals.

I want to make them look used, but I dont't want them to look greened, as they would be taken care of, but I would like to try and "dent" them.

Do any of you have a painting techinqe for this?

I would stick with some very limited fine scoring with a hobby knife and a dark wash to show it, similar to what you would do with shields.

Bear in mind a few things. For starters, a dent that's noticeable in 28mm is going to make something like a pectoral very uncomfortable to wear. More importantly, dents would have been hammered out, one of the advantages of bronze being it's malleability and the comparative ease of minor maintenance. As you note, they would have taken care of things like that.

So unless you're going for a post-battle look, I would avoid doing too much. The "veteran look" is best communicated by distressing the shields.

A grinding or engraving bit in a Dremel?

It might work OK.

Tony

challenge yourself and paint them to look dented!

It would not hurt to think about the kinds of weapons that might have made dents…if in hoplite vs. hoplite, or indeed any spear vs. spear fight, most dents would be caused by thrusts that landed squarely. Anything like a sword cut or glancing thrust might have scored a thin and shallow line, but it would be unlikely to have made any noticeable dent!

Try using The Dip technique: it will darken the armor, giving it dark areas which could pass for dents -- and it is quite easy to do. Experiment with one figure, to see if you like the effect. Be sure to brush on the urethane-stain mix, and do not hesitate to soak up excess pooling with the edge of a paper towel, if necessary. The traditional Minwax colors used are: Tudor (mostly black), and Royal Walnut (more brown, yields a dirty look, which I really prefer, personally). Cheers!

Paint them.

Anything can be painted: