Painting Paint
squigger
or
The Attack of the Cryptic Title
A number of models in various armies can quite reasonably be expected
to be found with tattoos or body paint of some sort. Quite apart from
the imagination required to come up with suitable designs, many will
have difficulty in getting them to look right. Help is at hand.
Woad:
A favourite, this looks quite good when done properly (not excessive,
and the right shade of blue). Get it wrong and it just looks like a
decision taken after a nasty slip with the brush.
Woad will probably be found on Dwarf Slayers, Wood Elf Wardancers
(amongst other Wood Elves), and Savage Orcs. Two different methods
will be required. For Dwarfs and Elves, who have light skins, no matter
how ruddy, just slap on some Lightning Bolt Blue (or its nearest
equivalent in the new paint set, probably Lightning Blue). The only
way I can think of to get the authentic dried out and cracking look
is to very carefully, and with an absolutely tiny brush, paint the
cracks (not too many) with whatever you used for the base skin colour.
If anyone can tell me a way to cause paint to shrink and crack on
purpose I would be most grateful.
For the Orcs, you have a bit of a problem. They have a dark, green
skin, and Lightning Bolt Blue doesn't stand out very well. Paint the
design on in Skull White, making sure that no green shows through.
When this is dry, carefully recoat the white with Hideous Blue (or
perhaps Ice Blue in the new paint set). This will stand out nicely
against the green, and looks to be about the right shade of blue.
Warpaint:
As used by Wood Elves, Savage Orcs, Forest Goblins, and perhaps various
other Warhammer nutters.
Use bright colours such as Blood Red and Skull White. For the
greenskins, again draw your design with Skull White first, then go
over it with selected colour. Neither red nor yellow cover very well
over green, and they really need the white. For lighter skinned models,
just whack on the paint, but avoid dark shades or those too close to
the skin tone - whilst they may well be realistic, they do not stand
out properly.
Tattoos:
One for all those lunatic Dwarfs and humans out there. You can do it
either the same way as the woad (a bright blue straight onto the skin),
or a dark green base with a blue overcoat, which works surprisingly
well. Anyone who can recreate, on the shoulder of a 28mm model, the
traditional "Mum" with usual accoutrements should be locked up for
insane devotion, suspected lunacy, and all-round smart-arsedness...
Clay:
Now this is an interesting one I've just come across. Who has seen
a film with say a black juju man? How about Baron Samedi from the
Bond film "Live and Let Die"? Impressed by the effect of the grey
face paint on the dark skin? I was, and have recently tried it out on
a Savage Orc Shaman (which just happened to have dark skin). Looks
good.
Paint your dark skin (I don't think that this will work very well on
those who are basically pink, no matter how many washes you use).
Slap on some slightly watered Skull White, all over the face, but leave
the eyes clear (and nostrils if the model has them). With my shaman
I painted small red eyes, which had a ring of dark skin between them
and the clay. The mouth was also left dark, with the teeth bright
white. If you have done it properly, the white paint should show some
of the green below it, giving the effect of daubed on clay. It looks
suitably barbaric. Try to leave a ring of dark skin around the outside
of the face for contrast.
--
squigger
To email me, remove ANTISPAM from my email address
Blank Dave
>
> A favourite, this looks quite good when done properly (not excessive,
> and the right shade of blue). Get it wrong and it just looks like a
> decision taken after a nasty slip with the brush.
> Woad will probably be found on Dwarf Slayers, Wood Elf Wardancers
> (amongst other Wood Elves), and Savage Orcs. Two different methods
> will be required. For Dwarfs and Elves, who have light skins, no matter
> how ruddy, just slap on some Lightning Bolt Blue (or its nearest
> equivalent in the new paint set, probably Lightning Blue). The only
> way I can think of to get the authentic dried out and cracking look
> is to very carefully, and with an absolutely tiny brush, paint the
> cracks (not too many) with whatever you used for the base skin colour.
> If anyone can tell me a way to cause paint to shrink and crack on
> purpose I would be most grateful.
There's a product called Crackle, or some such. I found it in with craft
paints. You paint it over top your base coat, then paint over the Crackle
again. Now don't ask me what the reaction is, but the upper layer of paint
will not set properly. The ideal effect is that of aged paint, where it's
cracked, split and chipped off. I've only had limited success with this
type of product, so I don't know if it would even work very well on this
scale.
But it's something to think about,
Blank Dave
So, don't be vain, and don't be whiney.
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