Concluding my step-by-step guide to painting orcs. You can find part 1, assembly, here, part 2, basecoats, here, part 3, highlights, here, and part 4, shading/washing, here.
The final stage just adds some details and sorts any tidying up that is required. For the Skulks, I painted in the eyes using VGC Hot Orange and added some highlights to some of the teeth. The face is the focus for a model, so it's worth paying a bit more attention to this.
I also gave the fur an extra drybrush, again with VGC Stonewall Grey.
The final stage just adds some details and sorts any tidying up that is required. For the Skulks, I painted in the eyes using VGC Hot Orange and added some highlights to some of the teeth. The face is the focus for a model, so it's worth paying a bit more attention to this.
I also gave the fur an extra drybrush, again with VGC Stonewall Grey.
Once everything is dry it's simply a case of varnishing (if you feel it's necessary) and then basing as required.
I've seen too many paint jobs get worn and chipped to not varnish. Back when I used Army Painter dips they solved that problem, but did need something to matt down the gloss finish. Nowadays I use Wilkinson's Clear Gloss Yacht Varnish, which gives a very tough finish. Keep the coat thin, if applied too liberally it can give a slightly yellow tint. The stuff takes at least 24 hours to fully dry. Then I brush on Windsor and Newton Galeria Matt Varnish. I used to use Army Painter Antishine, or even Games Workshop Purity Seal, but I find the W&N stuff gives a much better matt finish. It usually takes a couple of coats though, it's virtually impossible to completely cover the mini in one coat.
If a mini has a shield I paint any emblems on top of the gloss varnish. The smooth surface makes it easier and it gets a protective coat from the matt varnish.
I hope this has been a useful series. Please leave a comment about how you paint wargming units.
This is pretty much how I paint most things now apart from heroes and RPG character minis. I used to just do a basecoat, albeit much lighter, and dip, but I like the effect of the highlight stage, and they are just ordinary troops after all.
Using the shade washes does somewhat limit the colour choice. Light greys, white and blues can end up looking dirty. I tend to choose colour schemes with this in mind though. If necessary, washes can be applied to individual areas to mitigate this. White, for instance, can be washed with VGC Light Grey Wash, as I did on the Star Saga lab technicians.
I can't think there is a need to do a post on the varnishing (just imagine them all shiny, then all matt), but the basing will be the same as the orc demo army I painted under 'Fighting Apathy' which gets a post all about basing (once it's done).
So you do a variety of washes in different parts of the figures?, is that time consuming, waiting for each one to dry? I used to do that but for speed tend to just use one dark brown wash, mixed from artists Galeria Burnt Umber acrylic. However, as you say, some areas can end up looking a bit dirty.
ReplyDeleteJust the one wash of fifty fifty Army Painter strong tone and soft tone. That's quite good enough for the rank and file.
DeleteCharacters and small forces, such as some of the Star Saga stuff may get more, and I might see how things work on the dwarf army as they might be blue and white