Painting Update 2: Perry Bros AWI American Militia

Ever since I painted trousers onto my Perry Miniatures AWI Southern American Militia I became eager to paint again. This unusual feeling went unrecognized at first. Slowly, the persistent feeling broke through my mental barrier. Another trek to Battleground Games & Hobbies transformed into a prime painting opportunity.

The agenda held realistic and optimistic goals.

Realistic
Get paint on models

Optimistic
Complete trouser repairs
Complete shirts
Paint skin
Paint hats
Paint footwear
Decide on color scheme for rest of model (e.g. accessories and guns)

I began the actual painting with the trouser repairs. Please refer to the end of Painting Update: Perry Bros AWI American Militia for why I needed to repair some trousers. As mentioned in a previous article, I repainted part of two trousers to abide by the plans in Painting Perry Miniatures American Revolution Militia. Time to check off the first of my optimistic goals.

Looking down the list shirts are listed second. Last time I:

All six shirts were base coated with Calthan Brown, one of the Citadel Foundation paints. As always, the paint was watered down to help it flow while also avoiding brush strokes. At this point the butts of each musket received Calthan Brown for down the road. Some touchups followed before the models were ready for the next step. Derek suggested mixing Calthan Brown and Graveyard Earth for a drybrush highlight. It sounded like a good idea so I tried it out on a couple figs to see what that produced.

Devlan Mud was used to ink all of the shirts. Once dry I altered things. A couple models were drybrushed with Derek’s first suggestion and the rest with his second. Method #1 drybrush Dark Flesh to simulate a reddish leather look. Method #2 mix Calthan Brown and Graveyard Earth (1:2 or 1:3), then drybrush.

The first method gives a richer look to the clothing but I also wish to use a spot of Dark Flesh on the skin, more on that later in this article. The second method looks good but it is a lot of brown.

Next up, skin. I am usually abhorrent at painting skin. Actually, abhorrent may not accurately describe how truly dreadful I am as a painter. But, people need skin to keep their innards…well inside. Working up from the Chaos Black priming I basecoated all of the skin in Tallarn Flesh. If any skin was a different color, such as Mordian Blue, that was first repainted in Chaos Black and then a brush applied a Tallarn Flesh basecoat. Once that dried, Dwarf Flesh, thinned with water perhaps 2 parts paint to 1 part water, was brushed on. Ogryn Flesh wash came next and then dried. A drybrush of Elf Flesh hit the high points such as noses, cheekbones, mouth, eye sockets, and knuckles.

The skin looks decent, I guess, but it may be too light. So, I’m thinking of hitting the lightest skin with a very light drybrush of Dark Flesh. Enough to darken the complexion a little to just this side of white as a ghost.

Three items remained on my optimistic list. They were hats, footwear, and accessories. The minute hand inched around the dial declaring the lapsing of much time. I knew I couldn’t get it all done but thought the hats and footwear quick enough to complete. Boots and hats would be Chaos Black with a drybrush of something else to provide definition.

Hats received a drybrush of Space Wolves Grey. Boots experienced a Codex Grey drybrush. I called it a night at that point. I spent 3 hours to paint shirts, trousers, skin, hats, and boots. Accessories and guns are all that remain.

The next article should detail how I finish painting the figures. If I’m feeling ambitious it will also share my basing plan and method. The pictures below will give you an idea of what I accomplished in my three hours of painting. Hopefully you enjoy them.