T MMY’S WAR
1914-1918 in miniature
Painters
Guide
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Trade Order Catalogue
April 2014
tommyswar.co.uk
German Stormtroopers
T MMY’S WAR
TW32001
Painters Guide
1914-1918 in miniature
Foreword
For this painting guide I wanted to focus more on
the German Infantry uniform & equipment and
weathering, as preparation and flesh painting have
already been covered in my first guide to painting
TW32001.
So with that in mind this guide will begin with the
figure(s) already assembled, primed in black, with the
face(s) and hands completed, and the initial rough
layer of uniform basecoat informing the main areas of
highlight, as can be seen in fig1
2
Fig 1
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Painting - Uniform colour choices
As always the wet palette is my preferred way to
work, fig2 shows the colours for the uniform laid out
on the palette with the transitions in shade already
mixed in order of light to dark. I have used Vallejo
Acrylics for these as their German Field Grey is a very
good approximation of the original colour and easily
manipulated with tonal changes to represent
fading and wear. I have chosen Dark Sea Blue to
darken the Field Grey, this is because it is on the
green side of the blue spectrum and will not
“muddy” the Field Grey, helping maintain the
correct tone in the shadows. The same principle
applies to the Sunny Skintone used in the highlights,
as this flesh colour leans towards yellow and will not
turn the highlights grey, as pure white would.
Fig 3
Now that the transitions are adequately blended
the next stage is to return to the highlights and
shadows and gradually increase the contrast again.
This is achieved by again using very thin layers of all
the pre-mixed uniform colours, gradually building
up to the lightest light and down to the darkest dark
in the areas of highest contrast. Fig4 illustrates this
process, we can also see in the later of these images
that the belts and ammo pouches have been basecoated
in burnt umber.
Fig 2
Painting - Uniform and Equipment
As the figure is already black I have chosen to begin
with the 2nd highlight in thin layers fig1 to provide
contrast before moving on to the 3rd highlight fig3
applied in a more textured fashion.
The harsh transitions between dark and light are
now blended out by applying thin filtered layers of
the mid-tone uniform colour, these should be quite
thin and built up in layers being mindful to allow
each previous layer to thoroughly dry before
progressing to the next fig4.
Fig 4
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3
TIP
Filtering colour in thin glazes should be
done with the side of the brush not the
tip. The key here is always to keep the
layers thin.
As the colour pigment is suspended in
medium and thinned with water, more
colour will settle in the area of the final
sweep of the brush, therefore highlights
should be glazed towards the lightest
point and shadows towards the darkest
point. If you feel the contrast is too high,
then filter over the entire area with the
mid-tone.
Fig 2
Fig 1
4
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Painting - Palette
I always use a wet palette for painting, simply
because it keeps the paint workable for longer,
enabling the painter to come back to his work
without having to re-mix paint. In the photo right
we see the palette with a selection of colours used.
I lay the paints out beforehand and pre-mix all the
colour transitions ready on the palette. Below I have
listed all the colours used, all coming from the
Vallejo range of acrylics:
Fig 3
Flesh
70.951
70.928
70.860
70.804
70.814
70.859
White
Light Flesh
Medium
Flesh
Beige red
Burnt Red
Black Red
Uniform
70.830
70.898
70.950
70.845
The colour transitions for each
area of the figure are mixed on
the wet palette from dark to light,
additional tones are created by
adding more volume of either
warm or cold colours.
German Field
Grey
Dark Sea
Blue
Black
Sunny
Skin tone
Equipment & Gewehr 98
70.941
70.821
70.950
70.856
70.845
70.823
Burnt Umber
Weathering
German
Camo Beige
Black
Ochre
Brown
Sunny
Skin tone
Luftwaffe
Camo Green
70.983
70.950
70.856
70.928
Flat Earth
Black
Ochre
Brown
Light Flesh
Colours are referenced from the Vallejo acrylics range. The guide indicates the major parts of the figure only:
The painting reference should be used as a guide only. It is recommended that you test the colours before applying
to the figure.
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5
Fig 5
Fig 6
Fig 8
Fig 7
6
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Fig 11 Fig 12
Painting - The Uniform and Equipment
( Continued )
The burnt umber is highlighted with Sunny Skintone
and focus is put on the edges of all the leatherwork,
this will help give definition to the straps and
pouches and help them stand out against the
uniform, it is also the area which is likely to receive
the most wear. A very dark red (almost black) is then
washed over the leather areas and allowed to settle
in the creases to further define the details. Fig5
shows the development of the leatherwork.
The canvas bag is painted with German camo beige,
darkened with black and highlighted with light
flesh.
Fig 9
To achieve a simple woodgrain effect for the Gewehr,
it has first been painted brown umber and then a
grain pattern applied using sunny skintone fig 6.
This looks very harsh to begin with but with a few
thin glazes of a red brown it is made much more
subtle fig 7.
For the tortoise shell camo pattern on the helmet, it
has first been base coated in Ochre Brown, following
this a rough pattern has been painted in with black
fig 8, the resulting segments are then painted in
with a darkened brown umber and Luftwaffe green
fig 9. In addition, the water bottle has been painted
with Ochre Brown, using sunny skintone to highlight
and a dark burnt umber to shade. Gasmask case
is painted in field grey, using the same mix as the
uniform. All metallics have been painted using either
gunmetal or brass as appropriate and washed over
with thin black filters.
Painting - Final details and weathering
With the figure approaching completion it’s time to
add some final details and weathering for a more
authentic look. I began with thin applications of a
flat earth/black mix using a dabbing/stippling action
with the brush, progressively lightening this mix by
adding more flat earth. Small dots and spatters are
added with the tip of the brush, along with changes
in tone created by adding ochre brown and using
a grey/white mix to represent chalky earth marks.
Metal chip marks are applied to the helmet using
a finely sharpened pencil. The Gewehr and leather
straps have also been given a wash with a brown/
orange filter diluted with a touch of satin varnish to
help provide a different texture. See fig 10
Fig 10
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79
This series is commissioned by
Tommy’s War Limited
Figure sculpted by Nino Pizzichemi, box art by Alex Long
T MMY’S WAR
1914-1918 in miniature
www.tommyswar.com
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