A Change of Pace

 

the future is plastic!

these figures really deserve a better painter than I am 

      I was getting my stuff together for Flintcon after spending a week working on terrain projects and stopped to look at the 28mm Greeks that I had assembled for the Paint & Take table at the show.  I was once again struck by the excellent detail and proportion of the miniatures (Victrix makes some lovely stuff!) and I just couldn't resist trying my hand at just one of them. I decided to narrowly limit my palette and to try to paint the figure as fast as possible. I have always found painting a bit of a drudge particularly if there are a large number of figures involved so I wanted to see just how fast I could get one figure up to a decent table-top standard.

 

not too bad for a rush-job, I think it would look OK in a group

       The figures had been primed with Camo Colors tan from Krylon and given a thin 50/50 black/burnt umber wash to pop the details. The quality and crispness of the detail can be readily seen from the unpainted figures. I paint exclusively with Americana paints that are available from Hobby Lobby or any other arts and crafts store; I like the wide choice of colors and the translucent nature of the paint. The color consistency is excellent, the price is very reasonable and they tolerate long-term storage very well.

        I hit all of the bronze area with a thin wash of olive green and all of the flesh with a translucent coat of medium brown. As those were drying I painted the tunic and the linen under-armor and touched in the detail of shading on the tunic. I then applied a thin wash of gold over the olive green, to my eye this pretty well simulates the color of bronze (the pictures make it look much brighter than it is in person). As that dried I painted the flesh with a translucent coat of medium flesh and then added highlights with a solid coat. Not great but not bad for 15 minutes work, the time would have been less if I hadn't had to wait for the washes to dry. Perhaps I will dig out that other box of Greeks I have stashed away and give them a try this Spring.