Forge Fathers - Firefight

With the models assembled I had to think about a colour scheme.

I knew I wanted this project to be painted with Army Painter Speed Paints (APSP) as they would allow me to get the project done in the shortest amount of time.

I also wanted a unified look for the army using a common colour palette for all the various types of troops while still being able to differentiate models on the tabletop.

I tend to pick a classic triad of colour for my speed painting projects, choosing three colours fairly equally spaced around the colour wheel and this has become a bit of a habit. During a live stream I discussed options with my co-host and chat, and decided to use a complementary scheme around APSP Mystic Blue, APSP Hive Dweller Purple and APSP Plasmatic Bolt.

I used the airbrush to put a zenithal prime on the models using Vallejo primers (Black and Grey). Note: I should have taken the zenithal higher at this point using either a white ink or white primer as the finished models were a little too dark for me.

The first models I painted were the miltia models as they were one piece plastics with very few ancillary details.

Helmet, gloves, tabbard, boots, cloak – APSP Magic Blue

Shoulder armour, sleeves, breastplate – APSP Hive Dweller Purple

Shoulder pads – Troopers: APSP Plasmatic Bolt. Unit leader: APSP Fire Giant Orange

Knife handles, gun – APSP Grim Black

Skin – APSP Crusader skin

Knife blades, headset, chainmail leggings – Vallejo Model Color (VMC) Oily Steel

With the base coats done I dry-brushed all the guns with VMC Oily Steel. In addition the models without cloaks had a knife on their waistband which I painted in APSP Plasmatic Bolt to give a coloured metallic effect.

I painted any exposed faces with VMC Dark Flesh as the zenithal was too dark under the Crusader Skin for it to work well.

The beards were painted with an assortment of APSP colours for variety (Zealot yellow, Fire Giant Orange, Sand Golem, Hardened leather, Runic Grey)

One model had an unusual pair of goggles and another had a headset communicator. The lenses of these were painted in VMC Vermillion to pick out these details.

Steel Warriors

Boots, belts, gloves, shoulder pads – APSP Mystic Blue

Trousers, sleeves, breastplate – APSP Hive Dweller Purple

Backpack, helmet – APSP Plasmatic Bolt

Guns – APSP Grim Black

Accessories on belts – APSP Zealot Yellow

Note: To identify unit leaders I painted their helmets in APSP Fire Giant Orange.

Leaders shoulder pad details – VMC Oily Steel

Rekkhyr

These were painted exactly the same with one exception. I painted the tanks on the flamers with APSP Blood Red to make the models stand out as a unit.

Stormrage Veterans

These were painted in the same colours as the Steel Warriors with some small changes listed below.

Torsos were painted in APSP Dark Wood with an overbrush of VMC Old Gold.

Faces and beards were painted in the same way as for the Miltia units.

The lenses on the Mjolnir missile launchers were painted with VMC Vermillion to keep with the theme from the Militia units also.

These models are a very different design to the other infantry and the accessories from the Steel Warrior sprue were modelled directly onto the miniatures in several places and I had to be quite careful when applying the Mystic Blue to not cover these features as painting the yellow over blue would not have worked at all well.

Legs, torso, heads, armoured gauntlets – APSP Mystic Blue

Note: The unit leaders head was painted APSP Fire Giant Orange in line with the rest of the army

Upper sleeves, hexagonal waist detail – APSP Hive Dweller Purple

Shoulder pads – APSP Plasmatic Bolt

Note: The leader model had a few recessed details picked out in VMC Oily Steel to mirror the shoulder pad details of the other unit leaders

Accessories – APSP Zealot Yellow

Weapons – APSP Grim Black with a drybrush of VMC Oily Steel

With the finish line in sight I only had the leader model to paint and It was really important this model stand out from the other Forge Guard models. Luckily the shoulder pads and helmet on the sculpt were far more ornate than the other Forge Guard models and this helped.

Legs, lower torso, hands, sleeve armour above the elbow – APSP Mystic Blue

Upper sleeves, hexagonal waist detail – APSP Hive Dweller Purple

Helmet, upper torso – APSP Plasmatic Bolt

Shoulder pads – APSP Fire Giant Orange

Forearm armour – APSP Holy White

Weapons – APSP Grim Black with a drybrush of VMC Oily Steel

As a final touch I painted the Huscarl’s eyes in VMC White and then VMC Bright Orange and painted some rivet details on his helmet and shoulders in VMC Old Gold.