Round Five Report from Rob Jedi - Part 9

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Rob Jedi continues:

Next area to tackle was the saddle. I painted the fur bits first with some Raw Umber, then drybrushed them with Nutmeg and a bit of white.

Next was the saddlecloth. I did this with Burgundy, highlighted with Hudson Red and Hudson Red-mixed-with-white. I then detailed it with a thin white line running along the edge. (I elaborated this with a little swirl in each corner.)

The actual saddle was painted Burnt Umber, then highlighted with Nutmeg and Vermont Clay. I decided to dress up the saddle some more with some freehand drawing. I painted a Celtic knot shaped like a 4-leaf clover on the front of the saddle. I did this by painting four interconnecting U's, then going back to Burnt Umber and painting in the breaks. I highlighted the pattern with some thinned white. I then looked at the back part and did a decorative swirl-knot design. I did one side then the other, and joined them, then highlighted the pattern.

Next, I painted in his pants. I did this quickly with Coffee and white. I also did the spear shaft. I painted this Raw Umber, and highlighted it with Nutmeg and Coffee, then gave it a wash of siena ink.

Now here is were I came to the Big Decision Moment with the rider. How do I paint the armour?? I could make it look like hard leather, or iron or steel, or even shining gold.

I started by painting it all Brazen Brass, then had to decide whether to make it deep by painting over it with Tamiya Smoke (damn, this makes metallics look great). I thought I'd go a bit experimental instead, since I wasn't confident the smoked gold would photograph well.

Instead, I mixed up some Deep Teal and some Christmas Green, and washed all the Brass areas. Straightaway the metallic sheen disappeared, and was replaced by a very flat, corroded look. It looked just right. I wiped away the wash at the edges and in the middle of plates to reveal the shining metal underneath. I was very happy with the result here - it made him look like he came from the deeps, or from the depths of a swamp.

Following this, I figured I'd do the blade of the spear "corroded looking," too. I painted it Boltgun Metal, and then gave it a wash of Burnt Umber, followed by a small wash of Armour Wash. I also used Armour Wash to line all of the plates of armour. I then used Brazen Brass and Pure Gold to edge the plates of armour.

Not much left now. I painted his hair with a light drybrush of Nutmeg, then gave it a wash of sepia ink. I then painted his armband with alternating plates of Scaly Green and Hudson Red - each plate edged with a mix of white, and their colour then dotted with white. I also painted the Cyclopean eye of the rider. I painted it black then - leaving an edge white - dotted it black, and dotted a highlight of black. I'm afraid it is so small all you can see is the black eye with a tiny white dot.

Well, that's it actually - all done. I removed the rod from the rider and glued him to his mount. Next morning I gave him a coat of Testors Dull Coat and it's all finished. Now to get some sleep. Two weeks straight of late nights painting competition-level miniatures is damn tiring...

Hope you all enjoyed this article and found something useful in it. Hope to see you all in the next round. It was definitely the most colourful mini I think I've ever done.

See the Finished Pictures