+ inload: Painting Iron Warrior infantry +

+ As part of the Officia Monstrosa project, an Iron Warriors force to face off against Bob_Hunk's LED-lit Imperial Fists, it's likely that this group will be done in fits and starts while enthusiasm strikes! As a result, I wanted to record how I painted them, so I can replicate it later. I hope it's of use to you, too. +

+ Iron Warrior Infantry part 1 +

+ I've listed the paints and other materials I've used, but feel free to substitute them for what you have available. It's all a bit of a moveable feast! +

1_  Prime grey, then spray or basecoat black. I use Halford's grey primer and matt black. Next, make a large well of Runefang Steel (or similar light-tinted metal) on your palette – approximately three brushloads. Add a little flow enhancer (I use Daler Rowney's brand; Lahmian Medium is the GW equivalent) and mix.

Next, add a drop of sepia ink. Finally, add a little Scorched Brown in one corner, and Abaddon Black in another. Allow these colours to bleed into the silver, so that you can use mixes or pure versions of the silver. Use a large brush to paint the whole model, aiming for a variegated effect – as shown, the result should be relatively dark in value. Alternatively, you could paint it silver then lightly drybrush with a mix of silver and brown.

2_ Still using a large (size 4 round) brush, quickly paint the whole model with Devlan Mud wash, and drop in touches of badab Black in recesses. Sepia ink mixed with flow enhancer or Vallejo Smoke are good alternatives. 
Use your thumb or a piece of untextured kitchen paper to swipe away the wash from raised surfaces. Allow to dry completely before continuing.

3_ Paint the shoulder pads, gun casing, flexible undersuit and any pouches – bascially, anything that isn't hard metal – using Charadon Granite or similar dark grey.

4_ Switch to a size 1 round and begin to establish the midtone metal. I use almost undiluted paint at this point, picking up just a little at a time (to prevent it drying on the bristles) on a damp brush. I use a wandering, scrawling motion of the tip to paint in the Iron Warrior's plate, avoiding the recesses and aiming to give a textural, battered appearance. You can see the effect quite well on the forearm bracer on the left of the picture. 
Avoid the shoulder trim and any parts that you want to differentiate. I paint the backs of the legs, most of the backpack and the working parts of the gun differently, in order to provide some visual interest, for example, so I leave these areas alone.

It's worth noting at this point that I'm thinking about the light source (above) at this point, and applying less paint to areas away from it. As a result, some areas receive barely any paint and remain shaded. The legs illustrate this well. The trailing leg (left of picture), is shaded and dark because the light from above can't get to it. It receives a little reflected light from below, so isn't untouched, but not much. Compare with the forward leg, where the thigh is cleanly highlighted (apart from an area of battle damage), the knee receives a little, and the shin virtually no light. The foot also remains largely in shadow, except for the toes, which are relatively light. 

5_ Using the size 1 brush, paint the shoulder pads and gun casing with pure flow enhancer. Starting from the bottom, drop in sepia ink and slowly draw the brush up towards the zenith, applying pressure to let the brush splay out, then reducing it and lifting away the brush. You can use Badab Black wash if you prefer.

Place the figure the right way up to dry. You're aiming to paint the pads in one brushstroke, so that you don't get any marks, and you create a smooth gradation. Placing the figure the right way up means that the colour (already stronger in the lower part) flows down to strengthen the tone, and away from the highlight areas.

6_ Gold! I used Winsor & Newton gold ink, but on consideration I'd suggest you use an acrylic gold as the ink tends to shift a lot if disturbed. Paint all of the trim, including the shoulder trim. Try not to add so much that the model looks gaudy, but enough to break up the monotone nature.

7_ Apply topical washes across the armour. I kept three pots open in front of me – Leviathan Purple (used for the gold and also added sparingly wet-in-wet across the model as a whole), Devlan Mud (added to strengthen the tone of armour recesses) and Badab Black (added to further reinforce armour recesses, and for the differentiated metal of the gun, backpack and back of legs.)

Once dry, I touched in tiny touches of Badad Black on the face, to begin to establish the deepest tones near the focal points.

8_ Once dry, basecoat the base. I used Scorched Brown here. Leave the model to dry overnight.

+++

+ That's it for part 1 – the remainder will be in a future inload. I'll add a noospheric inloadlink when I finish them off. Still to come is highlighting and detailing. +

+ EDIT – part 2 is up here [noospheric link embedded] +