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Home » Great Library at Hoeth » Tome of Creation » Painting » Ivory Armoured Swordmasters
| Ivory Armoured Swordmasters |
| by King Ulrik |
In this small article I will be giving details of how I painted my Swordmasters Of Hoeth for my High Elf army. The unit itself is a small elite fighting force hailing from the White Tower of Hoeth, where the swordmasters train in their martial skills. The White Tower itself is based in Saphery, the province of magic in the Lands of Ulthuan, so the Swordmasters are usually painted in the same colours of the White Tower or Ulthuan. This being a white and pale blue. But as my army hails from Caledor and the lands of the Dragon Princes, blue doesn't seem to fit. So I decided to do my main army colours in red and white, the cloth being white and the trims, plumes and other parts in red.
But as the Swordmasters are a special unit it seemed only right they stood out, so I took five models and did four different test schemes (the last one being used in the current scheme). These test models were -
1.Plain silver armour, red plume, white cloth and gold details.
2.Golden scales for the armour (lower section), upper torso in silver, white cloth and red plumes.
3.Red armour, white cloth & plumes, golden trimmings and details.
4.Cream/ivory/white armour, red cloth and plume, gold trims and details.
In the end I decided to choose the cream scheme as I decided it was rare and would stand put amongst silver, red and white units. This is how I did it.
Beginning
First off was cleaning the models, this involves taking a file and removing any flash and mould lines that show. Once this is done and the model is glued to it's base they are undercoated, using citadel's Chaos Black spray I applied the undercoat. The undercoat must be applied lightly, otherwise the paint can build up and obscure the details. So light sweeping sprays building up the layers is best, sometimes it's impossible to get to those places underneath without removing the model from it's box (I use an old shoe box and blue tac the models to the base, it allows freedom for me to just turn the box on my hand to spray each angle.) in these cases a layer of watered down chaos black will be able to cover these at a later stage.
Once the undercoat is on, I leave to dry for at least an hour. It is ready to paint in about an hour, though I do quite often leave it longer. Once dry completely, to cover any areas the spray may have missed give the models a once over with a watered down chaos black. This will hide any area's of exposed model that the spray couldn't reach.
Unless otherwise noted all paint and inks are watered down, the reason behind this (if you don't already know) is that it goes on smoother and will not dry up quickly like paint straight out of the pot.
I shall explain each part separately – Armour, cloth, flesh, details
Armour
Base coat
Before applying paint I made sure alls comfy, I find that by attaching the model(s) I'm painting to the top of an old (and preferably empty) paint pot means you don't have to touch the base or any of the model, thus reducing chances of you catching it and making a mess. I use blue tac to keep them on and stable.
Now, the base coat. Being as my idea was for them to have a light cream coloured armour the base colour would have to be light enough for it to easily be highlighted but still add depth, so I chose Bronzed Flesh as the base. The Bronzed Flesh was applied to all areas I wanted to be cream, these were the amour (Scales around the legs, helm, gauntlets, shoulder plates, any area of the chest plate showing – front or back). A smooth layer applied, leaving only the black on none armour areas (and none showing through the Bronzed Flesh). Once dry a watered down Brown Ink wash was applied to give the model(s) depth and shading, once dry the next stage was started.
First Stage
Once the shading had been revealed it was time to begin the stages to getting to the main colour, the first layer was pure Bronzed Flesh. Using a Fine Detail brush each scale was painted individually so that the ink between showed them as separate items, also anywhere on the gauntlets, torso armour or helm the ink had settled was carefully left to add definition. The highlight of this base colour is simple, add Bleached Bone to Bronzed Flesh.
Each highlight layer has a small amount of Bleached Bone added, this gradually increases the shade of the armour. The exact quantity or mix ratio I can't remember, but the easiest way I found was to apply a tiny amount to a small area on the model (the helm is a good area) to see if the mix is light enough to be used as the highlight, if not more Bleached Bone was added. I know it's not very useful, but I'm really bad at mixed amounts and remembering the ratio. I just tend to slap it down and add more till it's the shade/colour I want. Once the Bronzed Flesh/Bleached Bone got as far as I could get it without it becoming more or less pure Bleached Bone, I then moved onto the second stage highlight.
Second Stage
The second stage is to highlight the armour more, this is done by adding Skull White to the Bleached Bone. The white the armour the more Skull White you want, again the exact quantities elude me. Again the test model comes in, comparing each highlight until they look exact or close.
This may seem like a complicated procedure, but once you have done a few models and have an idea of how it goes you can get it done quite quickly.
Cloth
The red cloth and plumes are done in exactly the same way, so I'll describe the cloth and you can go from there. The base for the cloth is Scab Red, it's quite dark but can be easily lightened. Scab Red is applied to all areas that will be red, one or two layers maybe needed for it to cover the red convincingly. The next layer is a 1:1 mix of Scab Red and Red Gore, this again is applied in all areas (including the recesses, in my opinion the pure scab red is a tad too dark for shading).
The third layer is pure Red Gore, this time leaving the Scab Red:Red Gore mix in the recess as shading, the next highlight is a mix of Red Gore and Blood Red. Brighter than the others it provides a good base for the next layer, which is pure Blood Red. The Blood Red gives it a bright look, but if done correctly it is still a few shades deeper than it being straight out of the pot.
Flesh
On the swordmasters models not much flesh is showing, the hands have gauntlets on and the face is mainly enclosed by the helm. So the flesh isn't that big a deal, but it always pays to take care. For the base I used Dwarf Flesh, this was then shaded with Flesh Wash. Allow to dry then a 1:1 mix of Dwarf Flesh:Elf Flesh was applied, leaving the ink to shade (it is hard, in such a small area its easy to pass the shading. But it's also a forgiving piece.) A final highlight of pure Elf Flesh was applied to the raised edges – nose, cheekbones etc.
Details
Gold
The golden areas are -trim around the edge of the armour (waist and arms), the crossbar on the sword's hilt, the small triangles hanging from the swordmaster's waist and the band around his back, also any icons/designs on the helm and the small piece at the base of the plume. The gold was done from a Bestial Brown base, a heavyish Brown Ink was to bring out the details. Then Shining Gold to highlight
Sword
The sword in itself is simple, Chainmail base with a Black Ink wash, followed by Chainmail highlight.
Runes (Stones/Jewels)
The runes, or stones, jewels or whatever, on the sword, gauntlets and helms are all done the same way. I chose a green instead of the usual red as it gives a different look and green is another colour associated with Caledor. The base is Dark Angels Green, the entire rune is covered in this way. Next Emerald Green is painted about ¾ of the way up the rune, followed by a small curve of Goblin Green on the bottom of the rune (the curve should be opposite the remaining showing of Dark Angels Green). Finally a small stripe or dot of Skull White is painted on the Dark Angels Green part to simulate the reflection of light.
Hair
The hair I do very basic, being as it's hard enough to get the hair right I do it a basic Bubonic Brown.
Finished Look
This is a picture of the completed first rank -
I hope this has been useful and helpful, if anything else is needed in regards to this just let me know via Private Message (PM) or E-mail.
- King Ulrik |
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