Paint it Black

Forgive the recent dearth of entries lately – the hobbying hasn’t slowed down at all, however, and has actually increased over the past couple of months. Been too busy to blog!

Forge World recently released their Blackshields decal sheets, and had a painted example of a Blackshield in their advertisement. I liked the paint scheme and decided to shoot Forge World an email to see if they were willing to divulge their secrets; they were more than happy to oblige. Below is their recipe:

• undercoat black spray
• basecoat armor Eshin Grey, metal parts Ironbreaker, and leather (holster and combat blade scabbard) Mournfang Brown
• wash entire mini with Nuln Oil
• light drybrush of Dawnstone, edge highlight sharpest edges (helmet/backpack ridges, wrists, tops of kneepads)

I added a second wash of Nuln Oil to further darken the armor and help blend the Dawnstone highlights into the rest of the mini. I’m absolutely in love with the results; it certainly looks more realistic than simply edge highlighting a black undercoat with grey. It’s also very quick, with the five marines above taking little more than an hour or so from start to finish to paint, and that was counting drying time for the washes. Assembling and painting an entire ten-man squad suddenly looks like it could be an evening project, instead of a week-long slog.

I’m so pleased with the results that perhaps a Blackshields army is in my near future…

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