Painting 6mm Question

[vcina]

So a quick question on painting 6mm figures. I am trying this for the first time. I have a package of Baccus War of Spanish Succession troops that I'm painting as French troops.
The uniform color for them is grey with red pants. I'm having issues with the grey showing up really well. I did not prime them black, I went with grey so that the color would not be diminished but the grey I used, Valejo's Sky Grey, doesn't seem to stand out. How would you correct this? Would you go with a little bit more white so the uniform color would stand out or something different?

[jambo1]

Hoping for an answer to this too, I have  a pile of Baccus WSS to paint and not too sure where to start!!

[robh]

If you want the Vallejo Sky Grey to be the uniform highlight then you need to darken the basecoat so try a wash with a thin mix of Vallejo black or dark grey paint and water with a tiny drop of dish cleaning liquid in it (this mix is the same as buying an expensive acrylic wash/ink). Then when dry repaint the Sky Grey.

If you want the Sky Grey to be the base colour you will need to add an almost white highlight.

With 6mm figures you are better off going with an exaggerated highlight/shadow painting style as the little guys do not generate enough natural shadow to avoid a very dull and monotone appearance if you don't.

[mxconnell]

Hi,

I am by no means an expert, but I have been painting mostly 6mm in the last year so here are my thoughts.
- Have you looked at the painting tutorials on the Baccus site? They really are the best around. They are though, based on black primer. The black primer helps as deep shadow and makes the dabs of color pop.
- Given that using black primer is out, I would drybrush a highlight and then give the whole figure a wash. I have played around with this approach and like using the Coat d'Arms shaders over the Army Painter shaders which I find to either too dark, or too pale depending on the shader. I mix the Coat d'Arms black shader and the dark brown shader, I find the slightly warmer tone helps in the small scale. Then again I am mostly focused on ancients.

Best of luck! I found 6mm frustrating at first, but once I was able to shift my approach (per the Baccus tutorials) I have found them great fun and much less stressful than the larger size figures.

Martin

[vcina]

I have read the Baccus tutorials but by that point I had already primed them Grey.  Since this is an experiment for me I will try the ink wash on a strip of figures and I will try the highlight method on another one.  I'll pick which I like best. 

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Mindenbrush]

Not 6mm but I have some 15mm Auustrian Naps to paint and I was going to prime them grey, add a black wash and then highlight. I had painted some Austrians many years back for the original Battle Honours 15mm.

[6mmfan]

I found this the other night. It is a fantastic tutorial and they finished figures are beautiful

http://zinnsoldatengeneral.blogspot.co.nz/2014/01/awi-tutorial.html

[vcina]

Thanks for the link.