[MISC] squigger's way - painting horses
the squigger of Oz
squigger's way to paint horses
Had trouble painting your horses? Can't see how others get it right?
The
shading eludes you? Sick of seeing wonderfully shaded models when yours
are
just drab lumps of plastic with a single coat of paint?
Try this...
Vital note - DO NOT ASSEMBLE THE HORSE BEFORE PAINTING. This is a
stupid
thing to do, as you are unable to reach various parts of the model
properly,
if at all. I don't care what any "experts" claim, you cannot paint a
multi-part miniature if it is already assembled. I know through
experience
with second hand Bretonnians. Trust me on this.
First, undercoat your horse white. This horse will be a light brown,
and so
I will use bubonic brown for most of it. I am relating the painting of
an
elf steed because they have the most detail and least obscured parts, so
if
your horse doesn't have all the bits mentioned, don't worry (chaos
steeds,
for example, don't have visible manes, and Bretonnian warhorses have
very
little detail at all).
Once you have a roughly white horse (the undercost isn't supposed to
give a
uniform white look - if it is like that, then you've done it too much
like
a normal coat of paint), find all the indented lines around the muscles
and
and joints. Some of the joints will simply be raised knobs, like the
knees.
Into these indentations (and around the knobbly bits), paint a line of a
slightly darker paint than the main one (in this case use snakebite
leather).
Don't worry if it's messy, you'll be painting over most of this later.
This
step includes painting the deeper parts of the tail, mane, and ankle
hair,
as well as inside the ears and nostrils and around the eye.
Once this darker paint has dried, you start with the lighter paint.
This
stage must be done very carefully. You can be relatively careless with
large
undetailed areas like the rump, but for the legs you must take all the
care
you can. Paint from the centre of the blank areas outwards, until you
reach
a dark line around a joint or in a hollow. Allow your light paint to
meet and
then cover the edge of the dark paint. In some places (around joints)
you
will want to leave only a thin line of darker paint, and in others
(between
the legs and the body) a thicker line will work best. Making a mistake
here
is not good, because you will have to re-do that dark line and then use
the
light paint there again. This is because there is (oddly, I think) a
visible
and somewhat ugly difference between a dark line of paint covered on the
sides
by a lighter paint and a dark line of paint over a light colour. It's
also
easier to get the width of the line right by painting over the dark bit.
Next, drybrush the mane, tail, and ankle hair. For those who don't know
what
this means:
Get an old brush, one with lots of bristles, but has lost its point (you
may
even want to guillotine a brush to get a nice flat end). Dip the first
couple
of millimetres into your chosen paint. Wipe this paint off the brush
onto
whatever is handy (except the miniature ;). When only a patchy streak
appears, the brush is ready. Wipe the brush over whatever raised area
you
are painting. A small amount of paint will be deposited. This is the
idea.
Do this several times until you think that there is enough paint on the
model.
After practice, you may be able to do this with more paint on the brush.
This does take time.
After the drybrushing, paint the saddle and whatever barding and tackle
there
may be. In my case with the elf steed, I will use snakebite leather
again
(keep your palette small and simple - oddly enough, fewer paints will
give a
better result than more). Paint the hooves black, grey, or off-white
(with a
light brown horse you can choose all three - note that you never have
white
hooves on a dark horse, or black hooves on a light horse).
At this point you can base the horse and mount the rider, and it will be
good enough for battle. Don't worry about the fact that the horse
doesn't
look very good from up close - sit it on your table, then move at least
one
foot away. From here the dark lines are simply very good shading, and
don't
stand out as oddly different paint at all.
If you want to go further...
You can drybrush the edge of any raised hooves with a highlight, put
lines
between any teeth by using a wash and then repainting them white, add
socks
by painting the leg(s) a lighter colour (usually white, and if you do
this
you ought to plan to do it from the start and use a separate darker
paint for
the affected area), give the horse some head markings (a white spot or
stripe
down the nose, or a coloured muzzle), highlight the coat, or fill in
the
eyes. I usually just add an occasional sock and / or head marking, and
maybe the eyes (they tend to be black or dark brown).
If you want a particularly striking horse, use a different two colours
for
the mane and tail - not too different, perhaps just a shade or two
lighter,
very rarely darker (it doesn't work too well).
You might like to have a speckled horse - get your drybrush, put a
little
paint on it, wipe it, and instead of brushing, stab at the model. The
bristles ought to spread a little, giving you a round, patchy spot. If
you
like you could turn the brush whilst painting, to give a wider and more
solid spot.
Patchy horses can look good, if done well, but are difficult. Paint
your horse
as above, then, using a shade up or down, paint a small, irregular
splotch on
the rump. Cover about half of the rump. If you cover any hollows,
re-do your
shading, adjusting the shades to suit. If you put your splotch in the
centre
of the rump, put one on the other side going down the leg. Don't try to
make
the patches symmetrical. Put one or two other patches on the horse, not
too
large, but don't go overboard. If you're not sure if you've done
enough,
leave it underdone.
Don't ask how to paint a decent black horse - after several chaos
steeds, I
still can't get it right. If you know, tell me!
If you have any extra ideas, please send them to me - and if you think
it
won't work, try it before you tell me. You don't need to have great
ability
to us this method - that's why I use it. I have no artistic ability,
but I
enjoy painting miniatures, and want them to look good. So any idiot
with
several thumbs can do it. It won't win you any competitions, but it
does
look good. From a distance. In a certain light...
squigger hops again
--
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just in case the hints weren't enough, I am Australian
scott
the squigger of Oz wrote:
> squigger's way to paint horses
>
> Had trouble painting your horses? Can't see how others get it right?
> The
> shading eludes you? Sick of seeing wonderfully shaded models when
> yours
> are
> just drab lumps of plastic with a single coat of paint?
>
> Try this...
>
> Vital note - DO NOT ASSEMBLE THE HORSE BEFORE PAINTING. This is a
> stupid
Great post. It's nice to see some of you guys that can paint giving us
guys who paint like crap some help, instead of just ranting that we have
to paint.
Thanks.
the squigger of Oz
Dawndragon wrote:
>
> Hey, wouldn't it be cool if like, all you really great painters each took an
> aspect of painting a minni. (i.e. the horse, the face, armours, weapons,
> jewels, shading, basing, etc.) and did a simular post? I would be glad to
> archive them and then dub it like, the newbies guide to painting. Then when
> anyone wants, they can ask, and I'll send them the faq!!
>
> -Dawndragon
It does indeed sound good - however, those who might do it can't paint
all that well (me for one - I just got lucky with a few experiments),
and those who can paint well seem to have Mike McVey's attitude - I can
do it this well, why can't you? Look, this is how it's done... (with
very little explanation - they say what they do, but not exactly HOW
that is done).
Yes there are those who paint well, can explain, and don't have McVey's
attitude - however, I haven't come across any. Yet. I hope to find the
lost city of painting explanators soon...
I may write another article on some other bit of painting if I find
something else I'm good enough at - anyone not know how to paint Orcs
and rust?
Dawndragon
JasonALang
>
>I may write another article on some other bit of painting if I find
>something else I'm good enough at - anyone not know how to paint Orcs
>and rust?
Did someone say Orks?!
Okay, Quick, easy, no mixing. Paint them a good middle green (Goblin Green is
good) then add a layer of Green Wash. (Do *NOT* use Orc Flesh Wash! It's good
for Black Orks only!) then highlight with Snot Green.
Highlighting: Look down at model (from about a 45-55 degree angle) paint
forehead, ridge of nose, cheekbones, and very edge of the jawbone. you'll have
to play around with this to get the poportions correct, but once you do, it
looks GREAT!)
---------------------------------------------------------
Adeptus Jason
Machina Dux
Thought for the day:
An open mind is like a fortress with it's door open and unbarred.
9D5
the squigger of Oz wrote:
> something else I'm good enough at - anyone not know how to paint Orcs
> and rust?
>
> --
> ***** remove .AU from address to reply *****
> abusive and junk email ignored, sender permanently blocked, reported to
> ISP
> use SUBJECT TAGS when posting to rec.games.miniatures.warhammer
> just in case the hints weren't enough, I am Australian
What part of the ORCS do you want info on. I spend most of my painting
time on ORKS(40K), and might be able to help with some aspects.
I do rust by using a Black Base. Over this i paint the required metalic
paint.
Mithral Silver (reasonably new stuff)
Botlgun Metal (older stuff)
Then use some "Chestnut Ink". I think it was discontinued. But I hear it
is comining out again. I bought several pots of it years ago.
Tip some ink onto a pallet, something that will let it puddle.
Leave it to sit for a while, a dry ring should form around it.
If you want an over all rusted look, use it like a Drybrush.
If you want individual rust spots or run lines (this looks good on the
sides of buildings and other stuff) paint it on very carefully.
For rust on non metal surfaces (like on concrete under a drain pipe),
just apply more fine coats without the black and metal paints.
I don't claim to be a professional, but this works for me.
9D5.
In The Grim Darkness Of The Far Future;
Space Marines Are Supplied With Laspistols And Autopistols,
But Dont Use Them.)