Painting Miniatures Figures Made Quick And Easy
Painting Orcs for War of the Rings
I got drafted by my local game store to help paint some figures for a War of the Rings demo game that the game store will be running at Kublacon in May. For whatever reason, I signed up to paint the Orcs ... 60 of them. I got the Orcs, already primed, and with instructions not to worry about the bases.
Step-by-Step
The first thing I did, was group them by similar figure, for speed painting reasons. There were 5 each of 12 different poses. I grouped pole arms with pole arms, hand weapons with hand weapons, etc and then developed the color plan:
| Section | Base | Shade | Highlight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapons | VMC Tinny Tin/Gunmetal | Paynes Grey | None |
| Tunic | VMC Hull Red | Paynes Grey | VMC Mahogany |
| Flesh | VMC Yellow-Olive | Paynes Grey | VMC Russian Uniform WWII |
| Tunic Trim | VMC Basalt Grey | Paynes Grey | VMC Neutral Grey |
| Wood | VMC Chocolate Brown | Paynes Grey | TBD |
| Boots | VMC Chocolate Brown | Paynes Grey | TBD |
| Straps and Belts | Citadel Bestial Brown | Paynes Grey | TBD |
| Hair | VMC Black | None | None |
| Teeth | Reaper Aged Bone | None | None |
| Tongue | VMC Brown Rose | Citadel Devlan Mud | None |
I started laying down basecoats.
Once basecoats are done, I give the entire figure a wash of Paynes Grey. This will deepen all of the colors and tie them together nicely.
After the wash has dried, highlight the major parts of the Orc: tunic, skin, etc. If you find that the wash has pooled a little bit too much and has dried blue, simply use a little bit of Badab Black to tint the blue parts back to a darker shade.
For details, I used a 000 brush to dot the small teeth and paint the tongue, then gave the mouth a wash of Devlan Mud to shade the tonge. I also used a spot of Badab Black in the eye sockets to make sure they were dark pits. I think the eyes are really too small for me to want to go after.
Post Mortem
The WOTR plastics are a little smaller than I'm used to and the detail isn't as sharp, though they seem to be just fine. I think the Paynes Grey has really done a nice job here of helping define details where it's hard to actually see on the figure. Knowing how the wash will work also makes it easier to paint, knowing that the deep recesses will be filled in and shaded.
Notes
| Last updated | 5/1/09 |
| Author | Michael Kan |
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Related Articles | None |