PAINTING SOVIETS FROM ARTIZAN DESIGNS WW2 INSPIRED BY NICK’S WORK

FAST PAINTING SOVIETS Inspired by Nick to have a go at a different painting method

NICK’S WORK I was inspired to try this style of painting by Nick’s epic

painting of his ACW armies (when I say inspired I was

really just copying!). Now I have not painted anything like

the numbers he managed to get on the table but his

methods certainly signposted the way to achieve larger

numbers of troops on the table while still getting a good

standard of work. The nice thing too is that this style is

good for all sorts of models, from the more uncomplicated

models like the Soviets I am using here (a good starting

point these) to anything almost you can think of, as I said

Nick used it very successfully on ACW troops, but I see no reason not to try it out on anything that’s takes your fancy. KEV’S WORK Having said all that I did in the end fiddle with Nick’s style

a bit, and then realised this style is even more flexible

than I thought, because you can stop at whatever level of

finish you like, and still have a good troops that you won’t

be ashamed to put on the table.

STARTING The models are cleaned up before painting. This is

removing any metal on the models that is there as a result

of the moulding process, like vents and sprues, with

clippers, and then carefully filing down moulding line that

can sometime appear on the models.

PRIMING I tend now to prime everything I paint with grey car primer.

It’s not essential if you are black-undercoating, but as

FAST PAINTING SOVIETS

WW2 Soviets Scouts with German Weapons

often as not I am photographing them for our websites in

grey before they get painted, so it is has become

convenient for me to prime all the models I get. And for

this particular painting method it is also useful if your

troops happen to be dressed in grey.

The next stage is priming them again! Here I have chosen

to most appropriate colour for these particular troops

which was The Army Painter Army Green Colour

Primer Spray, but could have been Leather Brown. You

need to assess which colour your troops have the most of,

and pick a primer accordingly. Or you can miss out the

colour primer stage and go straight to brush painting them

in the colours you require.

Once the primer is dry (usually left overnight if I can), I

glue the model to a small scarp of card so I can hold him

without touching the model itself whilst painting.

Inspired by Nick to have a go at a different painting method

Kev Dallimore

HIGHLIGHTING Well it’s not really actual highlighting, it’s painting the

colours back in that you have gone all over with the brown

wash, the same colours go over where they were before,

however leave some of the brown washed areas in the

depressions and creases to give the shading effect. On

the flesh area I have left some washed areas showing on

the face to represent five-o’clock shadow. Essentially

PAINTING All of the paints and washes used are from The Army

Painter, as is the colour primer. I was painting eight models, four primed green and four

primed brown. But they all followed along similar lines.

The real key here is to be neat; this might be a bit slower

but will pay off in the long run when they are finished and

this is good practise if you chose to use another style of

painting later on your other models.

BLOCKING IN This is painting in all of the colours neatly ready for

shading. It doesn’t really matter what order to paint

colours, but I like to start with the flesh. Now I carried on with each colour in turn, being as neat as

I can, given that I want to do these models reasonably

quickly. The colours used are as follows in the order I did

them. Barbarian Flesh – hands and face.

Werewolf Fur – amoeba camouflage pattern. Monster Brown – uniforms were showing and caps,

backpack and gaiters.

Castle Grey – water bottles.

Oak Brown – leather straps and brown boots.

Fur Brown – hair and wooden parts on the guns.

Hardened Carapace – metal guns, black boots, hair

and SMG magazine pouches. Hemp Rope – gaiters.

Desert Yellow – padded jacket. FINISH HERE You could stop here, varnish and base them up and have

respectable, but more toy like, soldiers on the tabletop

(I’m not saying toy like is not as good, it’s just a different

look). Or you can carry on the next stage. (Perhaps I

should write the next painting article as a program

paragraph book…)

SHADING Shading is achieved with the use of a wash; this is a

relative thin and semi-transparent paint or ink that allows

details to show through when applied, and thus creating a

more three-dimensional effect, shaded effect. The brown

wash goes all over the model, hands, face, clothes, guns,

everything in fact. Some areas might need more coats,

you will be able to see when it dries if additional

applications are needed.

The Army Painter Quickshade Mid Brown Wash goes

over everything

On these particular models I am only using one colour

wash to shade the models, in this case The Army Painter

Quickshade Mid Brown Wash. I picked only colours that

would look ok shaded with the brown of this wash. On

more complicated models you could use a number

different shading washes, like Blue Tone on blue things

and Green Tone on green, but I stuck to one shading

paint the save time and to see how that would turn out. (If

you have a look at my other articles on fast painting you

will see how this works. Click here) FINISH HERE You could stop here, varnish and base them up and have

respectable, but quite dark and dirty troops, which may

well be appropriate for WW2. Or you can carry on to the

next stage. (It feels even more like a paragraph game…)

HIGHLIGHTING This stage in this painting process is a very final quick

proper highlight. This involved adding a small amount of

white the all colours and painting in some of the high

points on the folds and creases and edges, and to the

high points on the face, cheek bones, nose and so on.

Now obviously this step requires a bit more judgement as

VARNISH Make sure all the paint on the model is thoroughly dry

before commencing varnishing.

Gloss The models were then given a coat of Humbrol

polyurethane gloss varnish and set aside for 24 hours to

dry completely. Be careful not to let the varnish pool,

especially under the legs and on the feet. You don't need

a very thick coat of varnish.

FINISH HERE Some people do like there toys soldiers in gloss, so you

could stop here and base them up… or carrying on to the

next stage. Matt

The Finished Troops

The models are primed with grey car primer and then primed again with The Army Painter Army Green Colour Primer Spray, this shot shows them in the grey.

Painting starts with blocking in hands and face with Barbarian Flesh.

Carry on blocking in is all of the colours neatly ready for shading.

These are the models primed brown then the other colours blocked in.

Shading is achieved with the use of a wash; this is a relative thin and semi-transparent paint or ink that allows details to show through when applied, The Army Painter Quickshade Mid Brown Wash – over everything.

using the same colours as used to start with as a broad

highlight, leaving the folds and the recesses in the brown

washed over colour.

FINISH HERE You could stop here, varnish and base them up and have

more than respectable troops, you really could, and I think

they look great. Or you can carry on the next and last

painting stage.

Well it’s not really actual highlighting, paint the colours back in that you have gone over with the brown wash, the same colours go over where they were before, leaving some of the brown areas in the depressions and creases to give the shading effect.

to where to place the highlights, but with a bit of practice it

will become easier, probably less is more at this stage.

Also at this stage I popped in some eyes and even some

teeth and gave the guns some ware marks in Gun Metal.

FINISH HERE That really is the finish of the painting.

This stage in this painting process is a very final quick proper highlight. This involved adding a small amount of white the all colours and painting in some of the high points on the folds and creases and edges, and to the high points on the face, cheek bones, nose and so on.

Then they were given two coats of Anti-Shine Matt

Varnish. Be even more careful when painting on the matt

varnish. When applying the matt, brush it out well from

any nooks and crannies where it is likely to collect and

pool. FINISH HERE And that is them finished apart from a decent base. It may

seem counterintuitive to spend time on a decent looking

base but there are very sound reasons for it. A nice neat

base can make a world of difference to a model no matter

what style or finish, and you get to practice dry-brushing,

an extremely useful technique that will stand you in good

stead in your painting in the future.

BASING The bases are 25mm round plastic. I used superglue to

stick the models in place, blowing over them to prevent

the glue whitening off on the models.

I then filled in between the models bases and round base

with household filler and then left that overnight to go

hard.

Gloss varnishing. The models were then given a coat of Humbrol polyurethane gloss varnish; some people like there toys soldiers in gloss, so you could stop here and base them up.

Matt Varnish. They were given two coats of Anti-Shine Matt Varnish. Be even more careful when painting on the matt varnish. When applying the matt, brush it out well from any nooks and crannies where it is likely to collect and pool.