DBA Early Medieval Russians

Bases are textured, and flocked. Flags (7) added to their staffs, the Russians are ready for battle. I enjoyed painting these as I was able to experiment with colours and shading technique, ideas that I shall later apply to my own Moghul and Hindi armies.

Cheers,

Medieval Russians – part three

Figures are now based and ready for their ground work. Here, I use sand mixed with white glue. This will dry overnight, so I can apply thin washes of ground colour. After drying, I dry brush with two colours to pick out the ground and then the incidental stones. The electro-static grass will cover only 30 to 40% of the ground, so this offers a nice balance

I prefer to paint my own flags, as I can play with the dimensions and colours. These were rather easy to do and while painting these I also finished flags for my own Moghul and Hindi armies (18th c.). About the flags, I place these on brass wire staffs which are glued to the base and not a figure. As my flags are not scaled, they will usually not fit stantard bearer's staff. Secondly, I avoid handing the figures as the element can be picked up by the staff. For this particualr army, flags/banners are supplied to all Cv and Sp elements.

Medieval Russians – part three

After the basic colours for face, armour, spear, belts and boots this left only the clothing and shields. Both clothing and shields I will paint white, so colour will stand out better, as I like to use thin coats of paint. Starting with the lighter colours first; breeches for one, shirt for another I will add another colour to my pallet and create a different tone or shade for the next figures. Keep in mind, as you are doing this, the colours for shirt and breeches should complement one another and not distract the eye.











About the horses, when dry brushing the horses. I use GW Bleached Bone.

Begin with the hooves as these will pick up dust first, then let your brush strokes move from the bottom up. With this method you will pick out leg, chest and back muscle, plus hair in the mane and tail rather easily.

Lastly, if you want to paint a white sock here and there, use a thin coat of white and apply this as a touch up. White socks or legs did not remain white, but turned nearly gray from dirt, dust and mud.
Gray horses, substitute white for bleached bone. With a gray undercoat, black wash and white dry brush, this technique makes painting horses a breeze.

Next, shields, flags and banners

Cheers,

Medieval Russians - part 2

Painting figures need not be intimidating, especially when the collection depicts a less than well known army. I usually find, researching shield patterns, clothing colours, helmets and armour demands more time than the actual painting, but all that time spent searching does unlock some gems.

This posting is not meant as a tutorial, but rather a guide line for organizing your time. Most often a nice collection can be completed quickly by devoting an hour or less on a daily basis. In this example, one or two colours each day, over a few days and the Russians are now prepared for their clothing and details.

Up to this point, I have painted only the basic; face and hands, boots, armour, and spears. Shields have been painted white to accept some vibrant colour for a later. At this point, I have applied an ink wash on the leather armour and dry brushed the metal armour. I do this so as not to overlook the straps and buckles which I will paint last. There is a surprising amount of detail on these figures.










Horses. I love painting horses, but I do not spend a lot of time on them. With the mid-gray undercoating I can apply a thin coat over the entire horse. As I finish the last horse, I will apply a thin wash of black mixed with a bit of brown to cover the tail and mane. After this step, with the same thin mix, I will give all the horses socks and darken their nose, up to the bridle. You will immediately notice the muscles are better defined as are the nostrils and mouth. I need only dry brush (bleached bone) the horse to pick out muscle, tail and mane and they are done. This step will also highlight the leather harness for later painting.

Clothing and Shields – next posting

The Russians are coming

On occaission, I do commission work, but restrict this to certain periods and of course 15mm scale. This most recent project are Medieval Russians DBA III/78. These are Old Glory figures, which were added to their catalogue some years back. Detailing is crisp and the mounted figures have a variety of helmet and shield types.

The figures have been cleaned and undercoated and are ready for their first colours.




















The bags, located at the upper right hand corner of each photo are for my next 18th c. army - Indians (Hindu, Muslim, Moghul). These will be started during the May vacation period. These will make a nice, but temporary, addition to my "unpainted lead" collection, seen here.