FLAMES
PAINTING
PAINTING FLAMES IN
THE SILVER BAYONET
Painting flames or fire is one of those things that look a lot
harder to do than it actually is. Like most of the painting I
do it is a process of building up layers of colours one after
the other. The painting of such an ephemeral thing as Fire
is a challenge, and it does require the exercise judgement
as to where to put the paint, but experience gained in
practicing and this guide, will hopefully lead you to
success.
INTO THE FIRE
Firstly have a good look at flames, painted ones I mean.
Try to see what colours have been used and how those
colours have been applied to create the flame effect.
That’s what I did with this model, luckily I had a good
model to study, a figure painted by master painter
Andrew Taylor. So I tried to figure out what he did and
replicate in this model. It isn’t an exact copy of course but
hopefully I have done enough to give a convincing look of
a flaming torch. It does seem a lot of layers to build up but
I hope you will think it is worth experimenting with.
The major difference to my usual painting is, for flames I
worked from light to dark, instead of working from darker
shades to lighter highlights that I use in normal painting. It
is most important that some of the lighter colours
underneath show through to give the fire some glowing
life.
All paints are from The Army Painter.
UNDERCOAT
The first thing I did was to paint the flame area MATT
WHITE, another undercoat if you will, making sure I
covered the black undercoat completely, this took several
coats of white. In theory you could paint the base colours
for the flames straight onto the black, but light yellow paint
is notoriously difficult to get to cover over black, so I
recommend that you use white first and then it doesn’t
harder to do than it actually is. Like most of the painting I
do it is a process of building up layers of colours one after
the other. The painting of such an ephemeral thing as Fire
is a challenge, and it does require the exercise judgement
as to where to put the paint, but experience gained in
practicing and this guide, will hopefully lead you to
success.
INTO THE FIRE
Firstly have a good look at flames, painted ones I mean.
Try to see what colours have been used and how those
colours have been applied to create the flame effect.
That’s what I did with this model, luckily I had a good
model to study, a figure painted by master painter
Andrew Taylor. So I tried to figure out what he did and
replicate in this model. It isn’t an exact copy of course but
hopefully I have done enough to give a convincing look of
a flaming torch. It does seem a lot of layers to build up but
I hope you will think it is worth experimenting with.
The major difference to my usual painting is, for flames I
worked from light to dark, instead of working from darker
shades to lighter highlights that I use in normal painting. It
is most important that some of the lighter colours
underneath show through to give the fire some glowing
life.
All paints are from The Army Painter.
UNDERCOAT
The first thing I did was to paint the flame area MATT
WHITE, another undercoat if you will, making sure I
covered the black undercoat completely, this took several
coats of white. In theory you could paint the base colours
for the flames straight onto the black, but light yellow paint
is notoriously difficult to get to cover over black, so I
recommend that you use white first and then it doesn’t
matter if the yellow is a bit weak, the white will help to
boost the yellow.
PAINTING FLAMES
1.
The first real stage is painting a 50/50 mix of
DEMONIC YELLOW and MATT WHITE, over all of, the
now white undercoated flame area. This too may take a
few coats before it looks solid enough. It’s best to do this
in a few thinner coats rather than trying to get coverage by
putting on a blobby thick coat
boost the yellow.
PAINTING FLAMES
1.
The first real stage is painting a 50/50 mix of
DEMONIC YELLOW and MATT WHITE, over all of, the
now white undercoated flame area. This too may take a
few coats before it looks solid enough. It’s best to do this
in a few thinner coats rather than trying to get coverage by
putting on a blobby thick coat
Above. Prussian fire holds off the zombie horde in The Silver Bayonet.
Above. The first thing I did was to paint the flame area MATT
WHITE, another undercoat if you will, making sure I covered
the black undercoat completely, this took several coats of
white.
2.
That is the easy bit done. The second colour is
DEMONIC YELLOW mixed with MATT WHITE plus
some FIRE LIZARD, which is a nice fiery orange. This
next stage does require a bit of judgement as to how
much of this next coat to apply. You’ll need to apply this
layer a bit roughly, with some jagged edges, leaving some
DEMONIC YELLOW mixed with MATT WHITE plus
some FIRE LIZARD, which is a nice fiery orange. This
next stage does require a bit of judgement as to how
much of this next coat to apply. You’ll need to apply this
layer a bit roughly, with some jagged edges, leaving some
Above. 1. The first real stage is painting DEMONIC YELLOW
mixed with MATT WHITE, over all of the now white
undercoated flame area.
Above. 2. That is the easy bit done. The second colour is
DEMONIC YELLOW mixed with MATT WHITE plus some
FIRE LIZARD, which is a nice fiery orange. This next stage
does require a bit of judgement.
of the first layer showing in the depressions of the flames;
if it were material that you were painting it would be like
the darker shades showing. The better the sculpting the
easier this is to do (I used one of my older more worn-out
good brushes, not one of the top flight detail brushes, so
that the coat is not even or smooth).
if it were material that you were painting it would be like
the darker shades showing. The better the sculpting the
easier this is to do (I used one of my older more worn-out
good brushes, not one of the top flight detail brushes, so
that the coat is not even or smooth).
3.
The next layer is pure FIRE LIZARD. And you
follow a similar process as the last layer, painting this on
to the higher points, leaving some of the previous two
layers showing. You could leave the flaming torch at this
point and call it finished.
follow a similar process as the last layer, painting this on
to the higher points, leaving some of the previous two
layers showing. You could leave the flaming torch at this
point and call it finished.
Above. 3. The next layer is pure FIRE LIZARD. And you
follow a similar process as the last layer, painting this on to
the higher points, leaving some of the previous two layers
showing.
4.
This next layer makes the flame pop, but you
should be careful not to over do it. It is a layer of PURE
RED painted on the higher points again as if it were a
highlight but making sure you leave a good lot of the
previous layers showing. Again apply in a rough manner,
it’s not dry-brushed but it’s a similar technique with bit
more wet paint on the brush.
should be careful not to over do it. It is a layer of PURE
RED painted on the higher points again as if it were a
highlight but making sure you leave a good lot of the
previous layers showing. Again apply in a rough manner,
it’s not dry-brushed but it’s a similar technique with bit
more wet paint on the brush.
Above. 4. This next layer makes the flame pop, but you should
be careful not to over do it. It is a layer of PURE RED
painted on the higher points again as if it were a highlight.
5.
The last of the fire layers proper is a darker red, a
light touch of DRAGON RED. Be very sparing with this
layer, catching the extremities of the flames. Don’t worry
however if you overdo a layer as you can always paint
back in some of the previous layer and or layers right
light touch of DRAGON RED. Be very sparing with this
layer, catching the extremities of the flames. Don’t worry
however if you overdo a layer as you can always paint
back in some of the previous layer and or layers right
Above. 5. The last of the fire layers proper is a darker red, a light touch of DRAGON RED. Be very sparing with this layer,
catching the extremities of the flames.
back to the original yellow/white base mix if needed. You
could leave the flame at this point and call it finished.
6.
The last little flourish is a bit of smoke, just a touch
in MATT BLACK. Again be very sparing with the black,
less really is more here. Remember you are going for an
inner light effect, so don’t lose those lighter undertones.
could leave the flame at this point and call it finished.
6.
The last little flourish is a bit of smoke, just a touch
in MATT BLACK. Again be very sparing with the black,
less really is more here. Remember you are going for an
inner light effect, so don’t lose those lighter undertones.
Above. 6. The last little flourish is a bit of smoke, just a touch in MATT BLACK. Again be very sparing with the black, less
really is more here. Remember you are going for an inner light effect, so don’t lose those lighter undertones.
And that’s flames, seems weird I’ve not set it down before
but I was inspired to write it down now by seeing Andrew’s
wonderful flaming torch, he was on fire!
but I was inspired to write it down now by seeing Andrew’s
wonderful flaming torch, he was on fire!
Below. The finished model painted as a Prussian Friekorp
officer in The Silver Bayonet.