Our go-to-guy for painting the Wargames Illustrated Giants in Miniature range – Ben Macintyre – has provided this guide on how to paint the latest legend in the range: Hannibal Barca. Over to Ben!
Prep
Start out by cleaning, removing any mould lines, and priming your miniature in white.
I like to paint a mounted miniature separately from its mount as it makes them both easier to handle. I fix them separately to either corks, old paint pots or use commercially available alternatives.
I’ve used a mix of Citadel and Vallejo (VMC) paints for this miniature, you can use any brand of paint but just make sure that you are thinning the paints properly before you apply them and that you use an appropriately sized brush. I generally work with a Size 1 brush for most things, however there are elements that will require a smaller brush, such a size 00.
And we’re off!
I’ve started Hannibal by applying all of the basecoats with Citadel Contrast paints. If you’re not familiar with these; they work by effectively staining an area with colour and allowing the (typically) light layer beneath show through, giving a naturally highlighted and shadowed surface.
Several thinner layers get a better finish than one thick one, so take a little extra time to get a far better result.
If you are after a very quick, table-ready gaming force, you can leave the model with just these Contrast paints applied. Simply jump to the basing step and get Hannibal on the tabletop.
- Horse – Contrast Cygor Brown
- Red – Contrast Flesh Tearers Red
- Blue – Contrast Talassar Blue
- Black – Contrast Black templar
- White – Contrast Apothecary White
- Purple – Contrast Shyish Purple
- Flesh – Contrast Gulliman Flesh
- Gold – Vallejo Game colour Brassy Brass
Next we start adding more depth and contrast to the different areas of Hannibal with a layer of highlighting. We want to start defining each individual area and start to neaten out the basecoated details.
- Horse – VMC Burnt Umber
- Red – Citadel Evil Sunz Scarlett
- Blue – Citadel Caledor Sky
- Black – VMC German Grey
- White – VMA White
- Purple – Citadel Xereus Purple
- Flesh – Citadel Cadian Fleshtone
- Gold – Citadel Retributor armour
Another layer of highlights will continue to push the contrast of each colour, and focus on bringing out all of the details of the sculpt.
Focus on the uppermost folds of cloth, edges of armour plates, and raised muscle groups. The brighter the colours, the smaller the volume of the model they should cover, so it’s best to apply them with a smaller Size 0 or 00 brush.
- Horse – VMC Burnt Umber + VMA Ivory (2:1 mix)
- Red – Citadel Evil Sunz Scarlett + Citadel Wild Rider red (2:1 mix)
- Blue – Citadel Hoeth Blue
- Black – VMC Neutral Grey
- Purple – Citadel Xereus Purple + Citadel Genestealer Purple (2:1 mix)
- Flesh – VMC Sunny Skintone
- Gold – Citadel Retributor armour + Citadel Stormhost Silver
Now we want to do one final layer of highlights for Hannibal, really pushing those colours in the areas that the light will catch the most. The uppermost areas of his leg greaves, the top folds of his cloak and the tips of feathers on his helmet – small points to add a spot highlight onto. These should be pretty small; you might want to switch to a size 00 or even 000 brush for this bit.
- Horse – VMC Burnt Umber + VMA Ivory (1:1 mix)
- Red – Citadel Wild Rider red
- Blue – Citadel Hoeth Blue = VMA White (1:1 mix)
- Black – VMC Light Grey
- Purple – Citadel Genestealer Purple
- Flesh – VMC Salmon Rose
- Gold – Citadel Stormhost
The final stage for Hannibal is to go back and add some depth to the shadows and recessed areas of the miniature. Take a small brush (a size 0 or 00) and apply a thin line of VMC Nato Black into the deepest recesses and areas where two colours meet. This technique is sometimes known as “lining in” and it increases the contrast of the miniature, making all of the details ‘pop’ – especially important at a distance, when used in a game.
At this stage you can also any extra embellishments such as the gold detailing on his blue tunic, the band of embroidery on the Horse cloth and, should you be so inclined, paint in his eyes.
All that is left to do is to apply a protective coat of varnish to the model (I like to use the Vallejo Satin range) and then base him to match the rest of your army. In my case I went for an arid, dry-looking base, making use of the excellent Gamer Grass Dry and Mixed Green tufts.
