Painting animal hide shields?

[Tim Haslam]

Hi there.

So I’ve got yet another levy unit for my Persian horde to paint up.
These fellows are going to be North African or maybe Egyptian style.
They may end up as multi use figures, as I’m sure they’ll fit in an early Carthaginian force too.

My question is,
I’ve given them large hide shields, and I want some tips for painting hippopotamus hide?
What colour does it go when it’s been processed?

Thanks for looking.

[Cubs]

Just like ordinary leather really - slightly paler in its 'raw' state, but darker when seasoned with oils or wax.

[cadbren]

Do an image search for 'hippopotamus shield'. There are quite a few from Sudan dating to the 19th century. They also used elephant hides. The colours I saw range from a peach colour through to medium brown colours including tan. Pretty much just a single colour so easy to paint.

[Tim Haslam]

I’ve been doing some investigating….

I’m liking the very dark versions, probably old ones.
But they may look good.