When Philippe Hendrickx, a good friend of mine and beginning figure collector, commissioned me to paint this figure, I was a bit uncertain. After all, this is one of Pegaso's oldest figures, now almost ten years old. But the figure proves Pegaso has been making top quality figures since they started: sharp detail, perfect casting and an excellent fit of parts. The few seam lines that were present were easily cleaned up using sanding paper and a fine Scotchbrite pad. Parts of the armour were further polished using a toothpick inserted into my Dremel tool, which was used at low speed. The figure was assembled except for the hands and sword, which were left separately for the ease of painting. The figure got a hole drilled into the bottom of his right foot, into which I epoxy-glued a piece of paperclip. This will later be used to attach the figure to his base in a secure way. All parts were now washed in a mild soapy water and rinsed thoroughly. Normally I prime all my figures using a spray can of Citadel/Games workshop Skull White. But as I am a lazy person, I don't use this when large parts of metallic parts need to be represented. I like to use the polished metal as a base for this effect, so they don't need to be primed anyway. The other parts were primed in Humbrol Matt White, using a brush. I put on two thin coats instead of one thick which might hide some detail. Normally I start with the flesh parts, except when there are big metallic parts, as was the case with this figure. The plate armour was polished during the clean up progress. Over this I applied two thin coats of Tamiya Smoke. This will give some depth to the metal. When this was dry I highlighted the plate armour parts with Vallejo's Super Silver (VA848). Pay attention as this is one of the few Vallejo colours that need to be diluted with turps instead of water. Further highlighting was done using silver power by ceremonial Studios. Shading was done using Mig pigment powders Black Smoke (P023). The metal of the chain mail was painted in a different way. The base was a mix of Black (VA950) and Dark Prussian Blue (VA899). Over this I first drybrushed some Boltgun metal (Citadel/Games workshop) and later some Oilly Steel (VA865). Extreme highlights were picked out using a silver pencil by Karisma colour (949). Shading was done with several washes of pure Black (VA950).

Now the real fun could begin: the painting of the face. For the basecoat I mixed the following colours: Basic Skintone (VA815) + Old Rose (VA944) + Brown Sand (VA876) + Light Flesh (VA928) + a little bit of Cadmium Maroon (VA859). The highlighting was started with the same mix, but with the Cadmium Maroon left out. Next some Beige (VA917) was added, and later some more Light Flesh and White (VA951). Extreme highlights were done in pure White. Next the red of the cheeks was painted with some very diluted Red (VA926). It's better to go over it 5 times with a very diluted colour and so building up your effect, then painting with too thick paint, making your figure look like a lady who has put on too much rouge. Next came the shading. I made the basic mix again, this time leaving out the Light Flesh. For darker shadows I added some Royal Purple (VA810). The darkest shadows were done with very diluted pure Black.

Next came his tunic. I find it important to never use pure white as a bae colour when painting white parts. What are going to use to do the highlighting then? In this case I used Silver Grey (VA883) as a base colour. White was added progresively to do the highlighting untill pure white was reached for the highest highlights. Shading on the other hand was done with Payenes Grey (Polycolour 514) while pure Black was being used for the dark shadows. I then blocked in the red parts using a mix of Flat Red (VA957) and Black Green (VA980). To paint these red parts I was inspired by the work of Diego Ruina, one of my favourite painters in the world. It seems like he always starts with a rather dark base colour and the work his way up to the highlights. This way he only has to use black for the darkest shadows. At least, that's how I think he works; I might be completely wrong though. So for the highlighting I added simply more Flat Red untill pure Flat Red was reached. To do some more highlighting I mix some Vermillion (VA909) to the Flat Red untill pure Vermillion was reached. Finally I added some Sunny Skintone to the Vermillion to paint some selective extreme highlights. For the shading I only used very thin black paint.

The belts were all painted Turquoise (VA966) to start working on. The highlights were done by adding progressively more Light Turquoise (VA840) to the Turquoise to finish with pure Light Turquoise. Shading was done with Prussian Blue (VA965), later adding Dark Prussian Blue (VA ) for the darker shadows.

As I found the only the figure a bit boring I decided to place a shield in the groundwork. I don't like items like this to be just part of the groundwork, so I decided to have it hanging over the edge of the base to add some interest. The shield also came from a Pegaso accessories pack. The shield was primed using the Citadel/Games Workshop spray can of Skull White. I have painted and finished the inside of the shield as I though part of it might be visible once installed. It turned out to be invisible which I find a pity. Ah well, it then was a good exercise! The outside of the shield was painted Prussian Blue. Highlighting was first done with Royal Blue (VA809) later mixing it with Sky Blue (VA961). I didn't used a brush for this but the foam in which our beloved figures come packed in. By stippling on the paint you get an effect of cracked leather, which I find to be pleasing to the eye. Further highlighting was done with a brush using the following colours: Sky Blue and White. The shading was started also with a piece of foam and ended with a brush. For this operation I used Dark Prussian Blue and Black. The heraldic designs were painted on using Beige. By using thin coats, the effect of the cracked leather remains visible trough the paint. Highlighting was done by adding Ice Yellow (VA858) to the Beige and later Sand Light (VA837). All shading was done with Golden Yellow.

Putting him into some mud

I find that the choice of base to go with the figure is almost as important as painting the figure. Therefore I will place my figures only on the best quality bases money can buy. If you want the best, just buy them at D.M.C . Design. He has them in various types of wood, dimensions, forms etc... and if he hasn't got what you are looking for he will make it for you! I begun by taping the sides of the base so I wouldn't damage them accidentally. The top of the base was then scorched, so the groundwork will have something to bite in. A corresponding hole was drilled to receive the piece of paperclip glued into the figure earlier. The figure was placed a bit higher by gluing some Das Pronto to the base. This is a sort of clay, which becomes hard at room temperature. While it was still wet the figure was pressed in, so his footprints would be visible when the mix for the groundwork was spread over it. The groundwork was made of Acrylic texturing gel, white wood glue, saw dust, Mig acrylic resin and Mig pigment powder Europe Dust (P028) and Dark Mud (P033). A bit of this mixed was also applied to the lower pars of the figure to tie him to the groundwork. The figure was once again pressed into the wet groundwork, but not yet glued in place. The shield on the other and was glued in place using some 5 minute epoxy glue. I also placed some groundwork over the shield, to make the shield lying in the mud, not just on top of it. While the groundwork was drying I glued the hands and the sword to the figure. Once the groundwork was dry, I painted the lower parts in a darker earthy tone and dry brushed the top of it. Now the figure was glued in place, using once again the 5 minute epoxy glue. Some pieces of moss were glued on to the groundwork to add some life to it. I got a drawing of the shield of Sit Thomas Chaucer from the internet. I added his name over it and printed it out. This was laminated between two sheets of transparent plastic and then glued to the front of the base. Then came the day to present the figure to Philippe. It's always an exciting moment to see if someone else likes the figure you have been working on for so many hours. Philippe said he loved it, which means to me that I done a good job on this one. I hope Philippe will have as much fun watching the figure as I had painting it.

Gino Poppe.

Artícle published in Military Modelling