By Dan Carlson

Ahoy there! It’s been awhile since I’ve chatted with you beautiful buccaneers! Having just finished up the last few articles for the Dutch Nationality, I figured it was time to do something hobby-related. It’s no secret that painting miniatures can be fun, but not everybody enjoys the act of painting. I prefer painting the ships to painting minis, and it can feel like a chore at times. However, I have a speedy process that gets my minis table-top ready quickly without overwhelming or exhausting my brain. I’ll list my steps, then go in more detail after the general overview.

Pro-Tip: Always make sure you have a painting buddy to judge you for not playing fetch with him!

General Overview of the “Dan Process”

Preparing the Minis

In the simplest terms, the quickest way to get your minis ready to paint (and avoid have the faceless, shiny, grey horrors that plague most Wargame at your local game store. You know who we are talking about.) is to be prepared. I always start with 8 minis. I take them from their blisters and clean them up with a hobby knife and flush clippers.

After removing the unwanted flashing, mold lines, or random metal bits I straighten swords, muskets, pistols, and bases as much as I can. After the cleaning and straightening, an optional step is washing the chemicals off your minis. I just use a plastic brush with some regular blue Dawn soap and give them a good scrubbing. I’ve painted washed and unwashed minis and haven’t been able to tell the difference, so this step is optional. After the cleaning, go ahead and prime your minis. Whatever primer you use is up to personal taste. I use a Rustoleum primer most of the time, and all I avoid is the Wal-Mart brand stuff because I’ve only had bad experiences with that. Let that primer cure over night and the next day you are ready to paint!

Painting

The easiest way to paint is to have your colors picked out before hand and build each mini up color by color. I select 4 minis to do every night, and I start by painting anything on them that may be black. After that, I start filling in all the browns and so on and so forth unit I get to the colors that will be unique to each mini as the final step. After which I hot the base with a contrast paint and a color around the rim and call it a night. Below, I will go into more detail.

Detailed Walkthrough

Author’s Note: For these Buccaneer Storming Party minis, I used a combination of Citadel and Vallejo paints. There is a common misconception that contrast paints are “easy mode”, and while they were marketed as such, I don’t believe this to be the case. They are runny and difficult to control if you’re just starting out. I use contrast paints for big areas like jackets, pants, and bases. For detail work, I’ll use typical hobby paints. With the Vallejo I water them down a little bit to my personal taste, so your mileage may vary. You don’t need to spend TONS on expensive paints. Use whatever paints you are comfortable with and just make sure you know each paint’s limitations or quirks. 

First, as stated before, I’ll start with black (Abbadon Black from Citadel) and paint the shoes/boots, belts, and hats. Since these are not “professional” units, I made them look carried and made various areas of their kit different colors. If you’re painting militia or professional soldiers, feel free to be as uniform that makes your monkey brain happy! Because we have a Buccaneer Crew here, I wanted to represent the 4 major European powers in this set, so i chose to make an Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard, and a Dutchman.

Next, I added a bit of Corax White. I painted the pants and some of the cartridge boxes and belts this color to make them look like stolen military equipment or made of canvas.

Next I mixed some Flat Brown and White to get a darker skin tone for the “Spanish” themed model. I just took the brown and added 4 drops of white to get my desired tone. I was originally going to paint him with a flesh tone, but I’ve been working on trying to add more representation in my minis (and I love the idea of a Spanish colonist taking up arms against his own country!).

I followed up with painting more of the mini’s kit with Doombull Brown.

The pistols, muskets, and anything that was,’t already Doombull Brown got some Flat Brown to add contrast.

Now we are getting into the fun parts! A little but of blood Angels Red to the jacket of the “english” model and the pants of my Spaniard.

This is easily my favorite color I have, as this Azure Vallejo paint is the perfect color for French jackets and then I decided to paint the Dutchman’s pants in the same color as well.

Buff looks like older, well-used canvas or linen so mi used it on my Frenchman and made my Spaniard’s jacket the pale yellow that is inspired from the game Sid Meier’s Pirates! (Which is super fun if you haven’t played it!).

The Dark Angels Green is mainly what i use when I paint my Russian theme’d minis for that classic Green and Red theme, but I’ve seen a few pictures of Dutch sailors wearing a similar green jacket, so i added this to him.

Blast it! I got caught up min my painting playlist on Spotify and forgot to take individual pictures! I used the Leadbelcher for all the musket and pistol barrels, the Brass Scorpion on the Frenchman and Spaniard’s sword hilts, then the Vallejo Gold on the Englishman and Dutchman’s sword hilts.

More small work here. Jokaero orange for the Dutchman’s neckerchief, and Blood Angels Red for the Spaniard’s.

I had two flesh tones to play with, so I used the Vallejo Flat Flesh on the ren Hann and Englishman, and Cadian Fleshtone on the Dutchman.

Second the last step! Contrast Wyldwood on the base and make sure you get it on the very top of the rim!

At long last and 2.5 hours later, Vallejo Purple around the bases for quick Identification on the board.

The final step in the process is the wash. I used an Army Painter “Dark Tone” but use whatever you like. The wash will make the model come yo life is a MUST!

Conclusion

All in all, this was a fun little project to do. I do 4 minis a night and whenever I finish 8 miniatures, I prepare and prime 8 more to keep my little assembly line going. Its been awhile since I’ve painted anything from the ground up, and I think I still have my stuff. For more hobby based articles check out the website at http://www.blood and pigment.com! If you need videos to watch while painting, check out our youtube channel! We have faction reviews and hobby topics on there for your enjoyment! As always, keep your dice ready and the wind at your back!