of Pants
- Basecoat:
- VMC Dark Grey and VMC Leather Brown
- Blend:
- The above mix blended to pure VMC Blue Grey
Hair
Painting hair on a model is difficult. In this case I wanted really dark hair, a black brown. To get a natural look, I recommend using a number of different colors. My other piece of advice is to minimize the highlights, but make them count.
- Basecoat:
- Black
- Layer:
- VMC German Camo Black Brown
- Highlights:
- VMC German Camo Black Brown + VMC Dark Grey
- Highlights:
- VMC German Camo Black Brown + VMC Dark Grey + GW Fortress Grey
- Highlights:
- VMC German Camo Black Brown + VMC Flat Brown
- Highlights:
- VMC German Camo Black Brown + VMC Flat Brown + GW Fortress Grey
- Highlights:
- VMC German Camo Black Brown + VMC USA Tan Earth
- Highlights:
- VMC German Camo Black Brown + VMC USA Tan Earth + GW Fortress Grey
Cape
I debated different colors for the cape, but settled on dark green.
- Basecoat:
- Black + GW Dark Angels Green (ironically, the same base for the armor - I could have just painted all of it at once, had I decided in the beginning which way to go)
- Blend:
- The above mix, blended up with GW Dark Angels Green + VMC Light Grey
At this point, I felt the cape was standing out too much. It looked artificial. I wanted to integrate it back into the figure. I went with my instincts.
- Glaze:
- C Bestial Brown. My Bestial Brown (and Snakebite Leather) are of the old pre-screw top variety (c. 1993), which I'm told are still made today by Cote 'd' Arms. They are fairly transparent, and can be used as a glaze.
- Basecoat:
- VMC Black Red
- Blend:
- Black in the shadows
- Blend:
- VMC Black Red, blended to GW Red Gore and VMC Flat Brown
- Blend:
- Continuing the above blend, add VMC Light Grey for top highlights
- Glaze:
- Golden Yellow + Sepia + black ink
- Glaze:
- C Bestial Brown
- Layers:
- VMC USA Tan Earth, C Snakebite Leather, and GW Scorpion Green.
- Basecoat:
- Mix of GW Scorpion Green, GW Dark Angels Green, Black, Grey
- Blend:
- Add more Scorpion Green and Fortress Grey
- Blend:
- Keep adding Fortress Grey and now VMC Pastel Green.
- Glaze:
- C Snakebite Leather
- Final highlights:
- Scorpion Green, C Bad Moon Yellow, GW Fortress Grey
- Basecoat:
- VMC Dark Grey
- Blend:
- VMC Dark Grey to VMC Blue Grey
- Blend:
- the above to white
I've done this in the past, where I feel the need to tint something a richer, browner hue. Still, I wasn't sure how it would turn out. But when it was done, I was pleased. I don't know if I would try this with more opaque paints, however. Perhaps a more traditional ink glaze would get a comparable effect.
At any rate, next I layered on VMC USA Tan Earth + C Snakebite Leather
To this I added GW Scorpion Green, GW Fortress Grey, GW Bad Moon Yellow, White, and layered progressively lighter highlights.
All of this took a lot of Future, which accounts for all the gloss in the pics.
Inner Cape
Let dry.
I wasn't happy.
These layers were made with a mostly medium (Future) and a tiny amount of pigment.
Plume
I felt a I could get away with just a hint of more vibrant color.
It was lacking depth, or wasn't rich enough.
Shield
The shield was painted much the same as the armor. The inside is painted like the inner cape. The grey gem was painted black, then highlighted between with greys, and tinted above with a greenish/brownish/black. Then a few dot-reflections of pure white.
Sword
I don't have a "method" for determining where the reflections are on a sword. I find photo references with Google and copy. I have a sense that through practice, it will become more intuitive. Until then, though, I rely on reference. Jody Samson, creator of swords for the Conan and Blade films, has a really terrific site: jodysamson.com.
I think I added touches of Bleached Bone or some other greyish color to one side of the blade.
