It is not that I did not paint anything over the holidays. But I got very busy working with my new Air Brush. I think I got to write about this one. But here, it is about how I applied the air brush for the first time (besides priming). I definitely looked for a new game where I could play again with my wife but also had to paint something. About 30 minis do not sound too daring.
The main topics here will be Oil Washes (ruffians and troll) and some skin tone experiments (ruffians), and my very first full black clothing (Aragorn).
The Bilwis : Archers and Scouts
I did not want to paint them as Green Skins (Warhammer Orcs), but on the other hand I wanted to have a brown, greyish, greenish touch. Their clothing also should look warn.
I went for a mid grey base tone for the clothing which I applied with the air brush. I did some light grey highlights, and also kept some parts of the clothing black. The metallic elements of the armor (like the shoulder pads) were a dry brushing with Leadbelcher. On the shoes I used Burnt Umber. And also some dry brushing with an Ivory.
The skin, I approached with a green basecoat. And on this I started to layer a color mix by using Beige or light brown and then adding grey like Pro Acryl Warm Grey or Pro Acryl Dead Flesh into it.
The metal parts all got treatment with Nuln Oil and also some rust using VMC Orange Brown and Bright Orange.
As a final touch, I used the air brush to spray some VGC Royal Purple under the legs and arms.
Wargs
With those I had multiple Air Brush effects. First the Zenithal prime. Then I used some mid grey for the body – very thinned so I could come up layering with the air brush and let the zenithal highlights still shine through. All the under parts were then sprayed with a dark purple.
Then I decided I want them grey but also dirty brown. So I did some dry brushing. First in the face with a VMC Blue Grey Pale (bright blueish grey) and then with VGC Khaki on the back, tail and a little around the feet.
Then I mixed up a dark brown oil wash (Abteilung 502 Dark Umber and added Black) and applied it heavily. Well that needed to dry a day but then I came back and remove the excess.
For the face, I first used an off white to paint the eyes, nose and teeth. The eyes were then just painted with transparent yellow. For the mouth, I painted the whole inner with dark purple, then a pink on the tongue and around the mouth as well some pink. I corrected some errors on the teeth and darkened them with AP Strong Tone.
Orcs
Again a dark dull color scheme for those. I started with dark umber for the skin. And then started to add a brighter brown for lighter parts of the skin. Some Burnt Red was used for some details as well as grey for the clothing.
For the armor I chose this time to base coat it with metal (Leadbelcher) and then add some wear by painting it here and there with Typhus Corrosion and some stippling with my rust colors (Orange brown, bright orange).
Wraiths
The start for those I thought is pretty easy: prime it black with just a little zenithal white (and in the face). But when trying to paint the cloaks I realized, I would have preferred a mid/dark grey base coat for the cloak. Nevertheless, I took a black (Scale 75 Black) and started to glaze into the recesses and folds to make them darker where I could. With a light grey added to the black I start to highlight all the upper folds.
I then did an off-white basecoat on the bones where I wetblended with a mix of the off-white and some olive green (VMC US Olive Drab). I also put that green pure into the eye sockets and mouths. The bones were finished with a coat of Citadel Contrast Skeleton Horde.
For clothing, I took a dark brown (Pro Acryl Dark Umber) for the leather parts. That one I mixed with white + black (grey) to desaturate it and put that on the trousers. Then I did some dry brushing with Citadel Tyrant Skull (an ivory/light brown) on the bones, leather, boots and pants.
The rest was the sword and some armor parts: Leadbelcher base coat, some stippling with orange brown and light orange, then painting the edges slightly with Leadbelcher.
The Bandits – Ruffians
For those guys I wanted to experiment again with skin color. Well, at least I wanted some variation. So What you see in the piture below, is the mini along with the color that I used as a first base-coat. The picture is pretty bright, so the tan is actually darker. The base color was then mixed with an off-white (the PA Olive Flesh) and then I painted the skin from dark to light. In the end I washed the minis with a dark brown oil wash (fully coated, then after drying cleaned). So the tan and the mini became even darker.
As I had this variation in tan, I also wanted a variation in their clothing. Here I got inspired by Paul Gestwick’s Blog who seemed to take a some colors and just variated where to paint it.
So, I sticked to a basic color palette and then variated what I paint. With PA Light Warm Grey I painted shirts or pants. Or some satchels. I also took PA Dark Warm Grey and painted several items. Other colors I used are PA Black Brown and PA Mahagoni. But it could also been PA Burnt Red or Siena (I am writing this some weeks after I painted those). The lighter brown you see here and there is VGC Khaki.
The Hill Troll
So again Paul Gatwick’s blog has a great example, but of course mine turned out differently. Of course, I had to use my airbrush: First some PA Jade for all the scales. I added VMC Blue Grey Pale (bright blue-grey) to light that color and start to spray from above and on the shoulders for highlights.
Then the skin itself, I air brushed with PA Bright Warm Grey. And using the air brush I think I got some smooth transitions between scales and skin.
Now the brush work: the scales I paint more highlights by adding PA Green and PA Bright Yellow Green to the Jade and start painting scales‘ highlights.
On the skin, I use PA Ivory to mix into the grey and paint highlights. Especially in the face, I then got troubles as it then looked pretty „white“. For contrast, I took some dark purple and mixed it with the light grey and started to paint some shadows: the lower parts under the chin, also any folds created by the skin. On some areas I used pink (Citadel Pink Horror) – like in the mouth and his nipples and scars.
Then I paint the leather (PA Mahagoni, with some stippled Burnt Umber which I also mix a little with the Ivory). The wooden club is a grey for the stone (Dawnstone, but also mixed black and white, and then bright VMC Sky Grey dry brushing on the stone) and Contrast Wyldwood for the handle. The cord is (base coat with off white first) Contrast Skeleton Horde.
As the troll is now very white in the face, I decide to mix a black brownish (ie. much more black and a little brown) oil wash. I apply it on skin and scales and later start the cleaning process. To my dismay a lot of those purple, lila and pink work is gone. So, I clean a bit more and then mix a pinkish oil wash. That one I add to folds with a very fine tipped brush so that it flows only into the crevices. On the scales, I also have the problem that the brownish look is too strong. So I used a dark blue oil color and create a wash that I put in the crevices. Any excess I remove with a q-tip or the brush.
Due to the extra cleaning the skin is really bright again, but due to the remaining wash it looks not longer that white + clean. Rather bright and dirty. And with the re-added pink and bluish wash, the skin and scales look more vibrant.
The last step is some dry brush with Tyrant Skull on the leather. well and then the base.
The Heros
Aragon is the first I painted. I put a dark grey (VMC Dark Sea Green) on his coat and start blacking out the inner folds (glazing with black) and then adding a white to the grey for the highlights.
The pants are a PA Blue Black and on his „shirt“ I put Citadel Contrast Basilicanum Grey. The hair is Citadel Contrast Black Tempmlar and then some grey strains.
Berevor gets a VMC Intermediate Green as a cloak. The highlighting is done by adding yellow and in the very end some white. The seam I paint a little with gold. The shirt is an off-white then washed with AP Soft Tone and going back again with off-white for highlights. The leather purse is a burnt red and on the edges that red added with yellow.
Legolas also shall get a green coat (not like in the artwork, more like in the movies – my wife’s wish is my command 😉 ). It is also VMC Intermediate green but this time with some white to desaturate it. The trousers are PA Jade. On the bow, I wanted some lighter wood this time. So this is some off-whte basecoating and then using VMC Wood Grain.
Bilbo / the Hobbit I first put with the airbrush a green coat with PA Green and then PA Burnt Red for his vest. The trousers are a Mahagoni and the shirt is PA Ivory and then I put a wash over his the whole figure with AP Soft Tone (mainly to get the bluish, bright note of the green away). I took Citadel Contrast WyldWood for the hair (on the head and the feet 😉 ) and then applied a slight dry brush with Ivory.
The next elf, Elena, I gave a blue coat (PA Blue) which I toned done with Citadel Drakenhof Nightshade. The green clothing is PA Green and the leather is a Khaki („vest“ and boots). Over the whole green and leather I put AP Soft Tone. The hair were due to the air brushing of the cloat quite blue. So I started to cover them with PA Ivory, but the blue still shone through. Then I applied Citadel Contrast Black Templar. The trousers are PA Mahagoni. The harp I painted with Contrast Wyldwood and the strings and details with silver.
Finally, Gimli, our dwarf. Main color is Steel (Vallejo Metal Steel) where I use Nuln Oil to have more contrast and then a dry brush with a bright grey. The cloak and boots are VGC Beasty Brown. Where the boots get in addition darkened using Snakebite Leather and the cloak gets brighter highlights by using an off white and mixing it with the brown – and also finally doing some dry brushing with off white. The hair is a simple VMC Amaranth Red. A little more highlights with mixing off white and that red. The trousers are PA Blue which I then tone down with Drakenhof Nightshade and some dry brushing with off white.
My Miniature Painting Diary 