Round Three Report from Gurney

gurney writes:

Let's go for Round 3 of the Last Painter Standing contest. This time, it's Vidar Wolf Helm, a Dwarf from i-Kore's Celtos line.

As with the other figures, I will paint them with Vallejo Model Color colors, and (rarely) with Citadel paints. I prefer that paint be heavily diluted, to produce a smooth surface. For shading and highlighting, it should have a milky consistency.

Step 1 - Preparation

I prepared the figure by removing mold lines with a cutter and a file. I removed the slot bar, and inserted a 0.5mm pin under the right foot.

The problem with this figure is that it has two parts. The sword and the half of right arm are separated from the main part - and this part can't be attached before painting, because a lot of areas wouldn't be reachable.

So I inserted a 0.5 pin on each arm in the main part, and I drilled 0.5mm holes in the arms in the other part. I did this very carefully because the two parts will be glued after painting, so everything must nest well.

After that, I sanded the figure with 600-grit sandpaper. I finished by polishing it with a drilling machine and a brass brush. Then I washed it with a toothbrush, warm water and soap. After it was dry, I basecoated it using Citadel White spraypaint.

To finish, I've added a black lining to ease the reading of the figure.

Step 2 - The Flesh

Base color was Flat Flesh (955) mixed with Medium Fleshtone (860) - 50/50 mix. Afterwards, I shaded in two steps by adding Orange Brown (981) to the base color. Then I highlighted by adding white to the base color.

Step 3 - The Helmet

The helmet was basecoated with Citadel Vermin Fur. It was then highlighted with Brass Gold (Coat d'Arm).

Step 4 - The Beard

The base color is a mix of Orange Red (910) and Cam. Extra Dark Green (896). It was highlighted in several steps, by adding Orange Red to the base, then Deep Orange (851) and Flat Yellow (953).

Step 5 - The Belt

The base color is Prussian Blue (965). I highlighted by adding white and Sky Blue (961) to the base color. After that, several glazes of Medium Blue (963) were applied to smooth the blending.

For the gem, the base color is a mix of Carmine Red (908) + black. It has been highlighted with pure Carmine Red, Vermillion (909), Orange Red (910) and Deep Orange (851). A very good reference on how to paint gems can be found here.

Step 6 - The Kilt

I decided to reproduce a Scottish tartan. I had never done tartan before, so it was a great exercise (I missed the first try - the second one has been the good one).

I started by basecoating with a mix of Snakebite Leather (Citadel) and Flat Yellow (953). I highlighted by adding Flat Yellow and Light Yellow (949).

Then I painted the lines. A pencil is really important when you paint lines. It needs to have a thin point. I used a 8404 size 0 from Raphael, which is really good.

I began with the black lines, and afterwards the red lines using Vermillion (909).