So I’ve got the models and now it’s time to think about painting them and for me this is always the hardest part of any project. What colour scheme to go with. One thing I was sure about was that I wanted to keep that Wild West theme and didn’t want to go with anything to cartoon like. After looking through the WWX forums I came across some Lawmen painted by ‘Mr Evil’ where he has gone with an off white effect for all of the shirts. This makes them pop but still keeps the feel I am looking for, so I am going to try and incorporate this into my theme. To make things a bit different I am going to try and go with a denim blue effect for their trousers, which I think will work with the shirts. When it comes to boots, belts, holsters, Stetsons and dusters I am going to try and go with a worn leather effect. I think that this will keep an authentic feel to the models but at the same time will be a bit different and hopefully will help to give them a bit of ‘pop’.
More pictures of the finished minis can found here on my WWX Gallery
First things first then was to prime the first model and as usual for me this was done using Vallejo Black Surface Primer (74.602). For the next steps I have decided to break things down into the different sections on the model.
Trousers: For the trousers my initial idea was to try and go with a denim type of look. Now this didn’t turn out like I thought it would but it did give me what I am going to call a nice faded blue cavalry trouser so I decided to stick with it. To do this I started off with Vallejo Intermediate Blue (71.005) then highlighted this using Vallejo Mediterranean Blue (71.111). I then gave it a wash with Citadel Asurmen Blue wash to help to blend the colours together. Then a final highlight of the Mediterranean Blue gave me the sort of effect I was looking for. To finish things off I used Citadel Averland Sunset on the stripe that runs down the front of the trousers.
Jacket / Shirt: For the top I started things off with Citadel Astronomican Grey and then when over this with Vallejo Light Grey Wash (76.515). The wash was mainly to help me work out just where the first stage of the highlights should go. For the next stage I used a basic white but will swap this out in future models with Vallejo White Grey (70.993) which will make a smoother transition. I then give everything a light wash with the Vallejo Light Grey wash and then finally went over the stand out highlights with Vallejo Dead White (72.001). To finish things off I used Citadel Averland Sunset for the piping that runs up the front of the jacket by the buttons.
Flesh: I got the method for this from (need name) on YouTube and it looked nice so I thought I would give it a go. I first used a watered down Vallejo Dwarf Skin (72.041) that This goes on a bit blotchy and streaky but just work around everything a couple of times and it will work nicely. Once the base colour is on it’s time to give everything a couple of coats of Citadel Orgryn Flesh wash to darken things up. This gets into the recesses and really starts to add some definition to things. It also helps to show you where the highlights will work best. The next step is to go back over things with the Dwarf Skin Mix used in the first step but this time we are starting to pick out the highlights. Then work up through the highlights using Vallejo Elf Skintone (72.004) again thinned 50/50. The final highlight was done using Vallejo Pale Flesh (72.003) which was again thinned down 50/50 with water. This highlight was really about picking out the bits that would catch the most light.
Hair: A lot of the detail on the face comes from the beard and moustache and I wanted to give them an older grizzled look. So I used Vallejo Medium Sea Grey (71.049) which I then highlighted with US Light Grey (71.045). I then darkened everything up using Vallejo Dark Grey Wash (76.517). Then a final highlight using the Light Grey. This gives a nice salt and pepper effect that I think works really well on these models.
Leather: This includes things such as the boots, belts, holsters and Stetsons. I started off using US Flat Brown (71.026) which goes on very thinly and so needs several coats to get a good coverage. Once that is dry I used Vallejo Dark Brown Wash (76.514) to darken everything up and really get into the recesses and details. This actually took two coats get things as dark as I wanted them. The next step was to do the first highlights using the original US Flat Brown.
Weapons: For the weapons I started off with Vallejo Black Metallic (71.073) and then highlighted this with Gungrey Metallic (71.072). Just to add a bit more detail to thing I picked out some of the detail using Bright Brass Metallic (71.067).
Details: For the details such as buckles, buttons and the all important lawman’s star I used Vallejo Copper Metallic (71.068) as a base colour and then highlighted this with Vallejo Bright Brass Metallic (71.067). For the pistol and knife handles I used Vallejo Off White (72.101) with a coat of Citadel Orgryn Flesh Wash. Then once it was dry highlighted it with the Off White.
Bases: I decided to split the basing down into two separate sections. First of all I took the standard WWX base that came with the models and primed it with Vallejo Black Surface Primer then airbrushed it Vallejo Copper Metallic (71.068) as a base colour and then highlighted this with Vallejo Bright Brass Metallic (71.067). The whole thing was then given a wash of Secret Weapon Soft Body Black before I went back over the edge highlights with the Bright Brass. For the second part I got some Micro Art Studios Wooden bases, (I have also used these for some of Malifaux models), and adapted them to work as inserts with the WWX bases. This part was then primed using Vallejo Black Surface Primer (602). I then dry brushed over this with Citadel Skrag Brown followed by Citadel Tallarn Sand and then a final coat of Vallejo Middle Stone (71.031). The next step was the use the Middle Stone to highlight the edges of all of the planks to give them a bit of pop. For the sandy areas I used Vallejo US Interior Yellow (71.107). The planks were the given a wash of Vallejo Dark Brown Wash (76.514) and a final highlight with the yellow. The sand areas were given a wash of Vallejo Dark Yellow Wash (76.503).
Weathering: I did the weathering in two stages. The first was to use Secret Weapon (something yellow) weathering powder to dust the base and the lower part of the model. I laid this on heavier on the lower parts to try and give the dusty effect and blend the character in with base. The whole thing was then sealed with Vallejo Satin Varnish (70.522) which gives a more muted and to me natural feel to things. With the varnish on I then used AK Interactive Africa Dust Effects to add some more dust. This is a more considered effect than the weathering powder and allowed me to build up some dust in specific places. The final step was to highlight some of the details, such as the tops of the Lawman’s star and the tops of belt buckles with Vallejo Bright Brass Metallic (71.067). This just adds that bit of metallic shine back after the satin varnish has dulled everything down.
