History has few periods when military dress was more splendid than in medieval times, when heraldry was at its height and armies were ablaze with color backed by the gleam of armor and weapons. So, and army of this era massed on the wargames table will be a joy to behold, fully justifying the time spent painting them. Transforming small silver models into realistic miniature warriors by painstakingly painting them is a most rewarding aspect of collecting and wargaming - it also happens to be difficult to do well and is a gift not granted to all. However, anyone can be a reasonable painter by following some simple precepts.
Like so many other things in life, painting is improved by example and stimulation and the wargamer / collector in this period is fortunate to have at his fingertips a superb collection of brilliantly colored illustrations of all the knights, men-at-arms, archers, and soldiers of the period in the book Le Costume, L'Armoure et les Armes au Temps de la Chevalerie - huitieme au quinzieme siecle, by a husband and wife team of superb continental artists, Liliane and Fred Funcken. Other useful books, less elaborate and expensive are Agincourt by Charles Kightly (Almark Publishing Co. Ltd., 1974) and Puffin Picture Book No. 97 A Book of Armour, by Patrick Nicolle.
Model soldiers must be prepared before being painted by having surplus metal (flash) sniped or filed away. Plastic figures should be washed in a detergent solution to remove grease, and all figures should receive a base or undercoat of matt white, perhaps easiest applied by aerosol spray. The little wargames figures can be glued, about 2 cm apart, to a thin strip of wood with enough of the wood left at one end to serve as a handle. When painting, the wood is held in one hand or fixed in a spring clip on the edge of a table and both hands are free to paint. The figures can be surveyed while painting through a small magnifying glass mounted on a stand.
Model soldiers can be painted to a satisfactory standard with water color, oil or plastic paints, depending upon whether the wargamer wishes his figures to have a flat (matt) or a gloss finish. Matt figures look more realistic, but will `gloss' or `glaze' through handling, so they must receive a protective coating of clear flat lacquer or varnish. Matt water-color paints are available in a good basic color selection at reasonable prices. Thinned with water the colors dry rapidly and retain their brightness without fading. Painting with oil colors is a slow process because each color must be allowed to dry before the next is applied. Some oil colors being transparent with less covering power should be applied over an undercoat (usually white) or the natural silver finish of the model shows through. Plastic-type paints in a vast range of colors and shades have reached a high standard and are most used for wargames armies. They are best for plastic model soldiers to prevent paint flaking off.
There are specific paints produced for military models in ranges that include national military colors and shades, such as gunmetal, brass, bronze, leather, and camouflage paints.
Good brushes are essential, size 00 and 000 are best for small work and short hair brushes are preferable to the longer types as they do not bend.
The task of painting armies of figures has put many potential wargamers off the hobby, so they seek a quick method of painting figures to a satisfactory standard. Choose one of the main colors, say silver (dulled by mixing in a little black) of the armor, and cover the fig- ure with that color. Do not worry about covering hands, face, weapons, plumes, etc., because each new color is carefully painted along the line where it joins another color.
For example, when slapping on the silver/black, surcoats and cross-belts, etc. are covered up, but when the basic color is dry, carefully paint in these other parts, taking care with the line where they meet. Once the main colors have been applied, paint the lesser colors - plumes, hose, haversack, etc. The figure's base, the last part to be painted, is bright green which sets off the other colors. The face and hands are painted next to last, after the weapon, which can be held whilst painting.
The final finish of the figure is improved if cross-belts, armor joints, etc. are very carefully outlined in India ink with a fine-point pen or with a very fine felt-tip pen.
Horses can be quickly painted by spraying with a white undercoat and then brushing on a thinned down black or brown. When dry the white shoes through the top color to give the highlights or sheen of a horse's coat. Basically, horses are - white (with brown to yellow/white mane and tail), Brown (chestnut to dark brown with dark brown mane and tail, light brown (very light brown to red brown with mane and tail of brown with a touch of black), and black (with mane and tail of black with a touch of blue).
Some wargamers spend hours endeavoring to paint every single figure so that it is a collector's item. All that is required is a pleasing appearance in mass; then wargames figures, although not individually painted to a high standard, present a pleasing appearance when formed up in armies.
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© Copyright 2004 Hal Thinglum
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