On the Bench: Imperial Guardsman

When it came to the skin tone for this model, I wanted to try the Reaper Tanned Skin triad. At this point, my experience with the Reaper line of paints is mixed. I like the quality and flow of the paints, but I have found the triads, with the exception of the gold triad, to be lacking when it comes to depth and end results. Realizing this, I decided to use the tanned skin triad with the fair skin triad, which I believed would give me the depth in range that I like with my models.

Note: With regards to today’s On the Bench, the charge on the camera was low, so I did not capture every layer applied. Therefore, I am going to list the palette range and just show the few photos that were taken during the process.

Tanned Shadow (9043) (4:1, paint:thinner)
Tanned Shadow:Tanned Skin (2:2:1, tanned shadow:tanned skin:thinner)
Tanned Skin (9044) (4:1, paint:thinner)
Tanned Skin:Tanned Highlight (2:2:1, tanned skin:tanned highlight:thinner)
Tanned Highlight (9045) (4:1, paint:thinner)
Tanned Highlight:Fair Shadow (2:2:1, tanned highlight:fair shadow:thinner)
Fair Shadow (9046) (4:1, paint:thinner)

In the palette range above, the first three layers are intended to be the shading. Once applied, the mix of tanned skin and tanned highlight are the base coat. I know I am not using the right term when I say that, but I cannot think of a better description or word at the moment. The final three layers are highlights.

These two pictures are after the shadow layers were applied.



This picture is after all the layers have been completed and the eyes were painted onto the model.


The eyes were done as follows:
Vallejo Game Colors Black (4:1; paint:thinner) This is the base coat for the eyes.
Vallejo Game Colors Skull White (4:1; paint:thinner) This is applied over the black, only leaving a small amount of black showing along the outside of the eyes.
Vallejo Game Colors Black (4:1; paint:thinner) This is a carefully placed round dot of black paint.

Next Time: I am feeling blue again…