Two shots of one of the guardsmen. Above is a shot after a sparing coat of Army Painter Strong Tone and a spray fo matt varnish has been applied and allowed to dry for 24 hours. Below is a shot after touching-up the cross belt with some white, re-colouring the hat with GW Badab Black wash and giving a quick coatf of brush-on varnish.
Overall I think the figures came out OK (shot of the whole unit once based).Lessons learned?
- Sparingly applied brushed-on armypainter works well - although I might actually need to be a bit heavier in some parts of the figure
- Allow to dry for 48 hours next time as I got a bit of cracking when spraying on varnish after 24 hours.
- Whites, cream etc come out looking very "dirty" and really need re-painting. This is more or less of a chore depending on the amount of white on the figure.
- Large areas of blue or black look poor after the strong tone treatment. I got away with this on the blue facings but not on some blue trousers or the black hats. I have repainted the trousers and the hats look OK after a Badab Black wash. Next time I'll paint the balck areas dark grey, then army painter, then badab black
- Faces look surprisingly good. I was expecting the "dirty" look to be a problem.
So, overall, better than I thought and I'll have a go at the 1st Guard sometime soon. By understanding what is needed to get the best out of the Army Painter I hope the results will be even better.
The effect is still not as good as a fully shaded and highlighted figure, but this will hopefully speed up production of rank and file troops - especially militia!
I guess the real advantage is likely to come when I get back to ancients and medievals. Numidians should be a breeze!
cheers
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