Painting horses?

[Centurion Dan]

Hi folks,
Just wondering if anyone knew of a decent guide or method for painting horses? I have never painted a horse before and want to make a decent job of it.
I have WG's "Hold the Line" mounted general and want to paint the horse as what is know as a "grey" (although to my eyes, it looks white - and I have absolutely no idea what an actual grey horse is known as)

Any help or tips anyone can give is greatly appreciated!

[BigMike]

GW have a good guide in with their Empire section. Lots of different colours covered.

[Centurion Dan]

GW have a good guide in with their Empire section. Lots of different colours covered.

Why didn't I think of that before!

Cheers BigMike!

[Ubique matt]

Very useful tutorial from GW.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?community=&catId=cat1290023&categoryId=1100020&aId=14700022

Regards,
Matt

[Parus Ater]

The GW horse guide is seen as the definitive guide.

[Correus]

Here is the method I'm planning on trying.

It's from a gamer in the UK named Al.

***************************************

"PAINT

Windsor & Newton `Winton`37ml had them for about 20+ yrs and more recently Daler-Rowney`Georgian`75ml,but im sure any make of oils would work and a smaller tube would still go a long long way.I love the oil as it gives such a rich finish they i just cant match any other way and at the same time so simply,jees your not even painting the horse really are you.

My most common colours are:
Burnt Umber
Burnt Sienna
Vandyke Brown (Hue)
Crimson Alizarin
Yellow Ochre
White
Black

APLICATION

Before oiling your horses you need to undercoat them,i used to prime them white but this makes the final wipe off more difficult,i now use a bright version of whatever i want the horse finished in. Most commonly this is a form of orange tan. Most importantly (for me anyway)is to do the base/prime coat in enamel and to leave it about two days to thoroughly harden.

Ist example horse is of the Revel German Artillery Horses in plastic:



Next using the oil paint straight out of the tube(although i do mix them together to give slight vriations on the shade)brush it all over your horse.



I use toilet roll for wiping the paint off but another suggestion is sponge or cloth/linen.

This will create all the highlights on the horse as well as leaving the defined shaded areas.You need to leave the horses two to four days to harden /dry the oil before you carry on to do the main/tail/socks/hoofs and blaze,oh and remember to paint the eyes black and dont add white unless youve got a startled horse to do.I tend to use a black wash on the main and tail of most horses,remember horses rarely have no socks or four socks.





2nd example horse is from the redoubt 28mm ECW range:







Simple but effective,my horses arnt the best ive seen but are very acceptable especially as in my last batch when doing over a hundred at a time!

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There is a more thorough explanation in Kevin Dallimore's book 'Painting & Modelling Guide'.

[Colonel White]

Thats the system I use on horses as the oil paint wash leaves a natuaral realistic looking horse flesh "sheen"

First tried it last year and never looked back though it is messier than just painting with acrylics .

[Comte Michel]

Just a tiny extra tip when using the oil paint and sponge method - Winsor and Newton 'Artist's' oils will give slightly more sheen than the Winton or Rowney Georgian oils, both of which are classed as 'student's' paints and tend to dry faster and to a more matt finish.

For brown horses various mixes of Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna or Yellow Ochre work well. Greys (and that is the official term - there are no white horses theoretically ) come out well using mixtures of Paynes Grey and Titanium White. You can either start with a pale grey and paint dark 'dapples' on it, or start with dark grey and use light dapples.

If I recall right, Max Longhurst pioneered the method back in the '80s on 54 mm Historex figures.

[Correus]

Just a tiny extra tip when using the oil paint and sponge method - Winsor and Newton 'Artist's' oils will give slightly more sheen than the Winton or Rowney Georgian oils, both of which are classed as 'student's' paints and tend to dry faster and to a more matt finish.

For brown horses various mixes of Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna or Yellow Ochre work well. Greys (and that is the official term - there are no white horses theoretically ) come out well using mixtures of Paynes Grey and Titanium White. You can either start with a pale grey and paint dark 'dapples' on it, or start with dark grey and use light dapples.

I bought Winsor and Newton paints, as well as some brushes, specifically for this purpose.

I do have a question for you Comte Michel (love the avatar BTW) - do you have a picture of one of those dapples? I've been trying to find a pic or two of dapples painted in this method.

[Constantine]

There was a great thread on TMP:

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=110479