On the Bench: Ratling Snipers

The color scheme for the skin on the ratlings is based on the one I used for some ogres I painted back in 2005. I liked the depth of the scheme and thought it would translate well into these little guys.

The base coat of the skin is Vallejo tan (4:1, paint:thinner). Once it dried, I used GW ogryn wash (straight) on the deepest sections and along the edges between skin and clothes. When I did this before the introduction of GW washes, I had used a glaze of dark flesh (3:1, paint:glaze medium) to get the same effect.



The next three layers of paint were moving the palette range from Vallejo tan to Vallejo dwarf skin. The first layer is Vallejo tan (4:1, paint:thinner). The next layer is Vallejo tan/Vallejo dwarf skin (2:2:1, tan:dwarf skin:tinner). The final layer of the triad is Vallejo dwarf skin (4:1, paint:thinner).



The next set of layers are the main color and highlights. I start with a layer of Vallejo dwarf skin/Vallejo elf flesh (8:1:2, dwarf skin:elf flesh:thinner). This layer covers about 85% of the areas that were covered by the layer of straight dwarf skin. I next apply another layer of Vallejo dwarf skin/Vallejo elf flesh (4:1:1, dwarf skin:elf flesh:thinner). This layer is more of a true highlight layer and covers only the raised areas and focal points on the skin. Another layer of Vallejo dwarf skin/Vallejo elf flesh (2:2:1, dwarf skin:elf flesh:thinner) is applied as a further highlight, again only covering the edges of the raised areas. The final layer is a straight layer of Vallejo elf flesh (4:1, paint:thinner).



With the skin completed, I apply a soft wash of GW sepia to the hair. This is followed by a careful layer of Vallejo cobra leather (4:1, paint:thinner) to each strand of hair. The next layer is a mix of cobra leather and Reaper palomino gold applied to the out portion of each strand. The last layer is a straight shot of palomino gold to the tip of each strand.

The eyes were completed using a layer of Vallejo black, followed by a layer of Vallejo skull white, then completed with a careful dot of Vallejo black.



Next Time: More Fun with Little People