I seem to have become hooked on Congo... Edited 21/3/17 with villagers

[The Grim Mariner]

Desperately trying to avoid this but you're not helping with such nice figures Phil.

[jet]

Question: What recipe/technique did you use for painting native skin?

[Sir Rodney Ffing]

Question: What recipe/technique did you use for painting native skin?

And the colour palette for the clothing!  Don't overlook that if you answer Phil! 

[philhendry]

Here are the individual groups from the first Column, the 'White Men Expeditions' (plus the extra freebie Pygmy), all finished:

The Explorer and the Kirangozi


Pygmy


The adventurers


The Askaris


The Young Warriors


Trained Askaris


Ruga-Rugas


I'll write something on the way I did the African flesh, and my clothing palette, when I'm more awake and have time (not tomorrow - meetings all day!).

[Jeff965]

Lovely painting and the bases set them off nicely.

[philhendry]

Question: What recipe/technique did you use for painting native skin?

Well, I picked out a series of colours of brown. This is an annotated scan of the paper swatches I used once I thought I had decided on the colours.



When painting, I am using some 'on the fly' mixing - I have a 'blob' of the main colour on my palette, plus a smaller blob of a lighter or darker colour, and I mix a bit in to vary the colour for each individual a little - it may not show much in the photos, but the Africans are almost all individual. Once the flesh basecoat is dry, I apply a layer of Army Painter 'Quick Shade', as indicated, to the flesh areas with a smallish brush and wait for that to dry. Then using 'diluted' black (diluted with acrylic medium, so it's still paint and not a wash), so that it is translucent, I add shadows where the 'dip' has perhaps not made the shadows deep enough. Once I'm satisfied with that, I paint hair, mouths, teeth, etc, and go on to paint the rest of the clothing and equipment. And then the whole figure gets a painted layer of Quick Shade 'Strong Tone'. And that's it really!

[Sir Rodney Ffing]

Phil - many thanks for taking the trouble to explain.  And I have to say, the figures look even better in the close range shots, and have convinced me that I am not using Quickshade as effectively as I might.

Yours in humility,
Sir Rodney

[James Morris]

Great work Phil! And good to see what you can do with AP Quickshade with a small amount of extra work. I think your bases are also really bright and cleanly done, which adds a huge amount to the overall effect.

[jet]

Thanks for that Phil. I was converted to AP Quickshade inks a year or two ago and I've never looked back. I still highlight and try to do a nice job (in my mind anyway), but the Quickshade just helps tie things together and cuts out a lot of steps. Just throwing it out there for folks who might be under the misunderstanding that Quickshade is only useful for super-quick sub-standard results.

And once more, let me just say your column looks spectacular. I'm reading the book now and contemplating what column is right for me.

[philhendry]

And once more, let me just say your column looks spectacular. I'm reading the book now and contemplating what column is right for me.

Thank you!

But why pick just one column? They're only about 30 figures each, so why not collect and paint them all?

[marianas_gamer]

Great work! 
LB

[Argonor]

Splendid stuff!

Am just now experimenting with black skin on some Zulu warriors, and this is just the kind of input I need! 

[philhendry]

Here's the first shot of the Zanzibaris, which I finished this evening.

[jet]

You sicken me. Which is a compliment.

[Elk101]

They look great. How long did that lot take you?