It's all Greek to me

Normally I batch paint in groups of five to ten minis. For some reason, and I can honestly say a couple of weeks on from the decision I still don’t know where it came from, I went with a batch of 34 for this box.

After looking at colour plates from a couple of Osprey books (Warrior 27: Greek Hoplite 480-323 BC and Elite 7: The Ancient Greeks) and knowing that the shield transfers are brightly coloured, I picked out five paints to do all the fabrics.

Citadel: Averland Sunset, Elysian Green

Vallejo Model Color: Cavalry Brown, Prussian Blue and Pale Sand

Everyone was primed white so that colours really pop. I was going to vary skin tones but I’m lazy so grabbed my go to Kislev Flesh. Everyone’s hair is black too. Again, lazy.

For the bronze I base coated in Balthasar Gold and then an all over layer of Sycorax Bronze ( a truly awful paint by itself but pretty nice over the gold).

One wash for everything because that’s just how I paint; Marine  Juice. Equal parts Nuln Oil, Reikland Fleshshade and Lahmian Medium. I just bought one pot of each and have now have enough wash to last me several armies. It is a nice warm dark wash that behaves a little nicer thanks to the extra medium. I was a little too heavy handed with it here because they all got a wash late one night. No tide marks but there are areas where I should have wicked extra wash away. Thankfully most of them are crooks of the elbow which will be covered by the shields.

Next up it is time to start on the shields.

I cut a load of them off the sprue before I remembered what a pest it can do to paint them. 20 of them are being painted on the sprue then, 7 are blu tacked to a tongue depressor and the rest are wherever it was I put them for safe keeping.

The backs all got a couple of coats of Cavalry Brown, details in US Olive Drab (also a Vallejo Model Colour). The fronts had the same bronze treatment as the armour and then the white was touched up to prep for the transfers.

Fairly sure you aren’t working on a real historical project if you don’t have transfers from Little Big Men Studios. These ones have to be ordered directly from Victrix to fit their plastic hoplite and peltast ranges which is a pain in the arse but such is the life of a hobbyist who refuses to freehand.

This is the point the army was at by the end of May. I hadn’t finished them all so clearly I couldn’t place a new order with Footsore… Aye, right.

A week later and there’s a wee box of lovely metals to start on next. Really need to get on with those transfers first though. And basing. Still, always important to know what the next stage of the plan is right?