Warriors of Minas Tirith: Day Two

Day two was about getting the miniatures primed and painting up a test model to make sure my ideas for how to paint everything are actually going to work.

Priming was pretty straightforward. Three coats from different angles achieved good coverage on all but one of the models which just needed one more touch up coat. I recently saw where GW painters use a stick to prime their models, taping them all to one long stick and holding it with one hand while priming with the other. It does look like it would be easier to achieve quick results this way, but I'll need to find a decent sized stick before I try it, so for now I'm still using my standard method of spraying outside with the miniatures in a box.

After letting the primer dry a few hours it was time to work up a test model. My plan was to block paint as few colors as possible, touch up a little, and then cover it all in a heavy black wash. I was undecided as to whether I'd leave the cloth black and highlight it, or paint it a dark gray and wash it. After realizing how many extra brushstrokes it was going to take to do the former, I settled on the latter. I'm pleased with the results overall, and the only tricky bit is the tree on the shield. That's going to require careful painting and multiple touch-ups on the 16 miniatures that have one.

Now that I'm satisfied with the scheme it's time to start the assembly line and get all the block painting done. I got a start on the faces, but still have a lot to do.

Paints used:
Primer: Krylon Ultra-Flat
Face: Game Color 41 Dwarf Skin
Armor & Weapon: Game Color 53 Chainmail Silver
Weapon hilt & details: Game Color 57 Bright Bronze
Hair: Game Color 45 Charred Brown
Clothes: Citadel Foundation Adeptus Battlegrey
Black Touch-ups: Game Color 51 Chaos Black
Wash: Citadel Wash Badab Black
Fletchings: Game Color 49 Stonewall Grey
Base Wash: Citadel Wash Gryphonne Sepia
Base Edge: Game Color 62 Earth