The Undercoat
For undercoating the Ila I used Humbrol enamel matt black.
You want the undercoat to be as matt as possible so the detail
on the model is easier to see. For an acrylic undercoat it is a
good idea to use a matting agent, as acrylics tend to be
naturally a bit shinier.
I brushed the paint on with a Small Drybrush brush making
sure I covered the entire model. Don’t let the paint pool
anywhere as this will dry very thick and could obscure details.
Also watch out for any stray hairs detaching from your brush
and sticking to the model during undercoating. Pull them off
with tweezers before they become permanently attached! Take
particular care not to clog up the face and similar fine detail
areas and I also made sure the undercoat didn’t form a web of
paint between the spears, don’t be afraid to go back and clear
runs or blobs of undercoat off with your brush. I then let the
undercoat dry completely before going on to paint the models.
PAINTING
The figure painting follows my well known method of
working from dark to light shaded form a black undercoat, the
method is explained in full detail in Foundry Miniatures
Painting & Modelling Guide, and Kevin Dallimore’s
Painting & Modelling Guide: Master Class. This three or
more colour painting method uses successive tones of colour
(shade, middle and light) which are added to the model in
layers, working up from dark to light. This creates a bold
three-dimensional effect of shadows and highlights, the layers
of colour giving greater depth and subtlety to the model. It
may seem counterintuitive if you haven’t painted this way
before, but bear with me.
THE PAINT
I used Army Painter paints to paint the Ila, from the
Warpaints Mega Paint Set, mixing up colours to suit my style
and preferences. The Mega Paint Set provides and adequate
range of colours for almost all needs, but you will often need
to mix colours to get the desired results, however I have tried
to work our combinations of colours to reduce this a bit.
You want the undercoat to be as matt as possible so the detail
on the model is easier to see. For an acrylic undercoat it is a
good idea to use a matting agent, as acrylics tend to be
naturally a bit shinier.
I brushed the paint on with a Small Drybrush brush making
sure I covered the entire model. Don’t let the paint pool
anywhere as this will dry very thick and could obscure details.
Also watch out for any stray hairs detaching from your brush
and sticking to the model during undercoating. Pull them off
with tweezers before they become permanently attached! Take
particular care not to clog up the face and similar fine detail
areas and I also made sure the undercoat didn’t form a web of
paint between the spears, don’t be afraid to go back and clear
runs or blobs of undercoat off with your brush. I then let the
undercoat dry completely before going on to paint the models.
PAINTING
The figure painting follows my well known method of
working from dark to light shaded form a black undercoat, the
method is explained in full detail in Foundry Miniatures
Painting & Modelling Guide, and Kevin Dallimore’s
Painting & Modelling Guide: Master Class. This three or
more colour painting method uses successive tones of colour
(shade, middle and light) which are added to the model in
layers, working up from dark to light. This creates a bold
three-dimensional effect of shadows and highlights, the layers
of colour giving greater depth and subtlety to the model. It
may seem counterintuitive if you haven’t painted this way
before, but bear with me.
THE PAINT
I used Army Painter paints to paint the Ila, from the
Warpaints Mega Paint Set, mixing up colours to suit my style
and preferences. The Mega Paint Set provides and adequate
range of colours for almost all needs, but you will often need
to mix colours to get the desired results, however I have tried
to work our combinations of colours to reduce this a bit.
The amount of paint you squeeze out to use is harder to judge, I
usually mix up more than I need, which better than not having
enough, I’m afraid I have grown a bit lazy with using pre-mixed
paint systems.
Lastly don’t get too much paint on your brush, less than a third
of the way up the hairs on the brush in the paint is plenty, never
dip the brush all the way up to the metal ferrule, or you will
ruin that brush in short order.
THE EYES
These models have well defined eyes a swell as great faces and
so are ideal if you fancy having a go at eyes. I paint the eyes
first so I can get them right before doing the rest of the model,
as if the eyes are not good it will spoil the rest of the paint job!
If you are not confident about painting eyes leave them
unpainted, it will look fine.
The whites of the eyes are in Matt White, no prizes, I painted
the in with a Warpaints Insane Detail brush. Follow the detail
on the model, and don’t worry if you don’t get it quite right
because you can always neaten up the white with some Matt
Black. Then I painted in the iris, just a dot using the same
brush, with Oak Brown. Make sure the position of the iris
match, as you can see I have one warrior looking to the side and
the rest looking straight ahead, but above all, try not to make
them crossed eyed!
enough, I’m afraid I have grown a bit lazy with using pre-mixed
paint systems.
Lastly don’t get too much paint on your brush, less than a third
of the way up the hairs on the brush in the paint is plenty, never
dip the brush all the way up to the metal ferrule, or you will
ruin that brush in short order.
THE EYES
These models have well defined eyes a swell as great faces and
so are ideal if you fancy having a go at eyes. I paint the eyes
first so I can get them right before doing the rest of the model,
as if the eyes are not good it will spoil the rest of the paint job!
If you are not confident about painting eyes leave them
unpainted, it will look fine.
The whites of the eyes are in Matt White, no prizes, I painted
the in with a Warpaints Insane Detail brush. Follow the detail
on the model, and don’t worry if you don’t get it quite right
because you can always neaten up the white with some Matt
Black. Then I painted in the iris, just a dot using the same
brush, with Oak Brown. Make sure the position of the iris
match, as you can see I have one warrior looking to the side and
the rest looking straight ahead, but above all, try not to make
them crossed eyed!
