Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Afrika Korps Schutzen

If I'm being honest, I only made these Schutzen for my Afrika Korps armoured platoon because I got two sprues of the new Warlord multi-part plastic kit for free and wanted to beef up the army to 1000pts. By combining them with an extra sprue of Warlord Blitzkrieg troops I had laying around, I was able to get 18 men for about $5 - a bargain if there ever was one. As such, I really didn't spend any time doing my normal detailed paintwork. These were all primed and basecoated with a rattlecan, the details were painted, and then they were washed and sealed - about a week's worth of work.

They are primed in Rustoleum Camouflage Khaki, drybrushed with Vallejo Light Sand, and then washed with some heavily-diluted (and ancient!) GW Chestnut ink. The green uniforms are Vallejo Light Olive washed with GW Camo Green. Safari hats (and some gas mask canisters) are straight Vallejo Light Sand and their kit is in Vallejo Red Leather, washed with GW Earthshade - not the most historically accurate, but (again) quick and easy. Gunmetal is Vallejo German Grey, highlighted with Pewter Grey, and washed with Secret Weapon Soft Body Black.

The skintones are the most complex, as I wanted a the look of pale European skin with a light sunburn. For this I basecoated with an old Ceramacoat shade called Gypsy Rose (think a deeper hue of pale pink), then mixing in successively higher concentrations of Vallejo Salmon Rose and Vallejo Basic Skintone into the highlights, finally washing with GW Fleshshade. To give the illusion of high zenithal sunlight, once that wash was dry, I went back with some diluted GW Earthshade and applied that to areas in shadow (under hat brims, around the eyes, around cuffs and collars, etc.). If you try this, be sure to have an extra clean brush and water to help "spread" the wash and eliminate tide marks.






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