From Darrell H. 28mm Late Roman Cataphract, Alternative to Oil Wiping Horses, Abbasid Naffatun[115pts ]

Phew! I made it!

I' have spent the last month or so trying to decide what it is I wanted to get painted for the Challenge this year and have settled on Late Romans. A few years ago I was about to enter some Late Roman Cats into the Challenge but encountered my first and only ever Varnishing Disaster; this pout me off the project entirely entirely for a few years..... until now! 

As a wee aside, and to quicken the process of painting up I'm going for "Wargames Standard" this year (I'm not getting any younger!) and have been trying to work out a way in which to use contract paints as a substitute the oil wipe method, with the proviso that the contrast method had to be a notch higher (for me) than anything I'd achieved with oil wiping horses. I think I've finally managed to get there and here's an incomplete Elven Steed showing off the basic results. Not too bad considering it is just a heavy drybrush of a medium grey over a matt black with the contrast paint painted not as a wash or a stain but thickly as a coat of paint over the top of all that dry brushing. It seems to have worked. There was however one snag which I'll come to in a wee bit.

Speed Painted/Contrast Painted Elves Steed Experiment

Now onto why this method proved to be not so adaptable from plastic to metal.... metal castings, unless they are of the absolute finest quality, always have a degree of pitting from the moulds. Most of this is not visible until you apply something akin to a wash which obviously runs into all the crevices. This was to be so on the metal Footsore Castings! A little but of an "ouch!" moment but as the aim is to get the miniatures out on the tabletop post haste I'm not going to pull any of what is left of my hair out! 

Six Late Roman Cataphracts

10 Abbasid Naffatun

Cheers

From DaveD . Good to have you back in the saddle Darrel. That looks like an excellent result on the horseflesh alright . Your painting has a wonderful,style I always enjoy looking at it , so it’s rounded up to 115  your opening gambit ,