Building and Painting 51533 Elf Line Dragoons - Croes Nest Article

We present a Modelling Article stage by stage by Sam Croes (designer of our modular Dragoons) showing the assembly options of the Dragoon Officer followed by a step by step painting guide to that miniature for making him of the 18th Dragoons.  Flintloque and Slaughterloo fans alike have already been placing their orders for the awesome new 51533 Elf Line Dragoons modular white metal 28mm miniatures set.  Its released on 7th October 2014 and until then on our Deals and Offers page you can find them on pre-release offer at 10% and 20% off release price.  Have a look and you will see lots more to follow this article.  Additionally the paints used in this article are all from our own Pebeo Studio Acrylic range which you can find on the website.  Thanks for Reading.  GBS

Assembling the Dragoon Officer:
Starting off by glueing together the two horse halves, Then, the body of the horse was inserted and glued into the matching holes of the metal base. The head was glued on and then the complete model was mounted on a cartouche cavalry base.

The rider's body was put together while the legs were glued onto the saddle. After drying, the upper body was glued to the legs. Any other equipment was then added to the rider/horse.

Filler was used to smooth out the base, and this was covered in coarse sand.  Once totally dry it was time to move onto the painting stage for this fine modular miniature.  It is important to note though that you can pose your horse and your officer in many ways but that my method will work for them all.

Painting the Dragoon Officer:
Starting off as usual with a white primer undercoat, the model was set aside to dry overnight. After that, the model was given a coat of thinned down white paint to ensure no patches of bare metal were left, and also this would ensure a better hold for the subsequent paint colours. Again, this layer was allowed to thouroughly dry before continuing. failing to do this would hold the risk of paint flaking or cracking, or washes to "creep" out of the recesses. It is always better to put extra time and care in the first stages of painting a figure than to regret it later.

White areas of the uniform were given a wash of dark grey (Medium Grey + Black) diluted with water and Acrylic Matt Medium as usual. This was then subsequently highlighted with Medium Grey and Titanium White. The green of the uniform was done by starting out with a base colour of chrome green. This was given shading by applying a wash based on Moss Green ink. Highlighting was done using Chrome Green and a mix of Chrome Green and Buff Titanium for a final highlight.

The pink for the uniform was created by mixing Dark Cadmium red with Buff Titanium. This was shaded with a wash based on Sanguine ink, highlights were added using the same pink mix, but with more buff titanium added to it.

Black leather areas such as the boots, scabbard and cartridge box were given a basecoat of Dark Grey mix, and shaded with a Black ink wash. this was subsequently highlighted with Dark Grey and Medium Grey.

The wood of the musket was done by first undercoating the area with Raw Sienna. This was shaded with a Black ink wash. The resulting dark brown tone was then highlighted subsequently with Raw Sienna and Yellow Ochre. Buff Titanium was used for a few select specular highlights. The same colouring was also used on the brown leather straps of the stirrups.

The metal the musket barrel, sword and stirrups were done by applying a Steel colour mix composed of Iridescent Silver and a little Mars Black to dull it down. This, like the brown wood/leather parts before, was given a Black ink wash. The steel mix was then used again to re-highlight certain details, with pure Iridescent Silver used for the final highlights.           

Skintone was done starting from a mix of Burnt Sienna and Titanium White. Raw Sienna ink wash was used for shading, and Titanium White was added to the skintone mix for successive stags of highlighting. The mouth and eyes were then first painted black, with teeth and eye detail picked out with white. Hair was painted Mars Black, and highlighted with the previously mentioned Dark Grey Mix and Medium Grey for final highlights.

Golden ornamentation and buckles received a basecoat of Iridescent Gold. To this a dark brown wash was applied, based on a mix of Raw Sienna Ink and a tiny drop of Black ink. Highlights were done with a mix of Iridescent Gold and Iridescent Silver

The horse was given a basecoat of Raw Sienna, which was then shaded with a wash based on Black Ink. The resulting dark brown shaded horse was then procedurally highlighted using a thinned down Raw Sienna paint (with extra Acrylic Matt Medium added), adding Yellow Ochre to the mix for every stage, and finally adding some Buff Titanium for the final highlight. The result was a beautiful deep brown tone with smoothly blended lighter tones, accentuating the musculature of the horse.

The horse’s hair and hooves were done similarly to the rider’s hair, a black basecoat with dark grey and Medium Grey highlights. The same was done to the horse’s bridle as well. the connecting rings on the bridle were picked out using the same Steel colour mix as mentioned for the musket barrel and sword blade.

The saddle was painted using the same techniques and colours (pink and green) as the rider’s uniform.The bedroll on the saddle was basecoated Raw Umber, into which Buff Titanium was added in increasing amounts for successive highlights.

Finally, the base was first painted Raw Sienna. This was then shaded to a deep dark brown with a wash based on Black ink. Afterwards,  the base was successively drybrushed with Raw Sienna, Yellow Ochre and Buff Titanium. The edge of the base was painted with Mars Black.

At this point, the base had Static grass applied to it and the whole model was sealed with a Matt Acrylic Varnish spray.

Thanks for your time and I hope you enjoyed this article.

Sam Croes