How to Paint: Red Wu

For the new Chugoku Red Wu, I turned 3 models around in something like 8 hours over 3 days, during the work week, while trying to prepare to go to GenCon. As a result, this tutorial is very different from the others I’ve posted. Instead of using a basecoat, wash, highlight strategy, parts were detailed as I went along. I took photos when I could, so I will focus more on the pictures and describing what was done. Please click to zoom any of the pictures below if you want to get up close and personal!

Because of the quick turnaround needed, I painted these minis with any paint I had that looked right, and mixed as needed when I didn’t have the color I wanted. So instead of using named specific colors, I will describe the color and tone, and what was done. Paints used included Vallejo, Games Workshop, and The Army Painter. I will include a partial list of paints used at the end.

Day 1: First, the models were cleaned of any flash or mold lines. Then I put them together using superglue and primed them black with a black spray. After spraying, I used brush on black primer to cover any areas I missed.

Crossbow guy is missing the repeater bit because I didn’t know where it went… After a bit of panic and messaging, I was referred to this as a historical reference for a repeating crossbow. This bit will appear later.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zhugenu-payne.jpg

Day 2:

Armor and cloth colors were blocked in. Below, consider left guy as the earlier version and the right guy is after subsequent detailing. They were not attached to their bases until later, so in this picture, they are standing up using some museum putty. This stuff is brilliant for dry-fitting models, and also for keeping stuff from falling off your shelves during earthquakes!

Armor was blended up, starting with a very dark brown, then medium, then light, and a brown wash over the top, using red-brown colors.
Red cloth around waist was base coated then washed with a red shade.
The sash and cord around the armor was first painted with a neutral medium brown, see guy on left. Then both were highlighted using a yellowish-tan, blending the brown in to get clean transitions. You can see on the right-hand guy that the cords around the armor were individually picked out on the leg armor. This is where the armor cording stopped, the sash will get more details.
Bolt holder was painted an intense dull yellow then washed with dark brown.
Shirt was painted an olive green and given a green wash.
Pants were painted the same dark brown as the armor.

Next! It will seem like a lot has happened for this next picture, but it is really easy to do. If you click and zoom on this picture you can see the details.

Red cloth received a subtle highlight using the same initial red paint.
Pants were highlighted by mixing in a little bit of lighter brown in with the bottom-most color, then picking out the high folds.
Shield rims were covered with a dark-bronze gold.
Yellow sashes had a brighter yellow mixed in with the tan-yellow color.
Inner shield was painted a light brown.
Bolt stems in the crossbow bolt holder were painted bone white.
Panda fur was perhaps the trickiest thing on these models. That color is not a straight-from-bottle thing, at least not in my paint. The lighter orange –y fur was a mix of bright pure orange: pale brown: dark brown (3:1:1).
The dark stripes were dark brown:orange (about 2:1, but I fiddled a lot to get it right). Stripes were painted based on the fur texture; there are subtle ridges in the tail that work great as guides for the stripes and make them look really natural.
Face patterns were painted on using pure white, leaving lips and noses untouched.
Then an orange wash (shade in GW terms) was applied over orange fur, and dark brown wash over stripes. A little wash bled into the white areas, but that actually worked well to make it look natural. This was worked in later.

Day 3:

The pressure is on! We need to leave for GenCon tomorrow, and these minis need to be finished. These two pictures show all the different areas that were painted.

Hats – I wanted some bright colors. Hats were painted using orange, red and yellow with corresponding shades/washes added to make the texture stand out.
Crossbow – a lot of time was spent on this! Below there is an up close photo so the details are clear. The woods were painted using medium browns, and the metals a dark silvery. Overall wash was applied, then fine light and very dark lines were painted to give a wood grain texture.
Noses, hands and feet – Using a blue-grey, I mixed with black and successively added more blue-grey to make highlights. Fingernails were painted bone white. This same grey-black strategy was used on the noses to add a fine line of highlight across the black nose.
Eyes were painted pure black with a tiny white speck… this gives them a very characterful look.
White fur – edges were given a fur texture using bone white and working with that orange wash that bled over a bit.
Ears – a dark brown wash was dotted inside the ears. For hatless guy, I mixed an orange-brown in between the two colors and darkened the backs of the ears.
Spear and shields – the woven and tied up areas were painted with the tannish-yellow used on the sash, leaving black lining on the spear to ensure the ties are clear. Then a heavy brown wash was applied.
Shield decorations were simply painted on using the bronzey-gold, bright red, and shirt green. The green nubs were then touched with a bright pure green to give them a jade-like look.
Yellow sashes were highlighted using a pure yellow mixed with the tan-yellow, then glazed with a yellow wash / ink. This brightens the color immensely and makes the sash stand out.
Red waist cloth – brighter red highlights were lined in, blending as needed to make the colors continuous.
Metals – Dark silvery metal, brown wash, then medium silver metal lined in to highlight.
Pants – some additional highlights by blending in a lighter brown tone.
Shield edging – lighter gold was added in spots where light would hit, but very subtly.
Shirts- the base green color was used to highlight, then another highlight was done after adding a bit of bone white. This was kept very subtle as well.
Bracers – Painted using the same medium red-brown as the armor, then washed with dark brown, then highlighted like the armor.

Here are some detail shots…

Basing – I was completely out of time! Basing was done extremely quickly. First a layer of sand, then a layer of fine turf in patches, then rocks, clump foliage and grass tufts were all glued on in succession. I used superglue for all this attaching of stuff because of fast dry times. Basing was completed in about 20 minutes! They were allowed to dry for a bit under my photo lights, then were packed up for their trip to GenCon.

Paints/ washes /inks used:

AP – Army Painter, GW- Games Workshop, V -Vallejo

Reds

AP- Dragon Red

GW- Khorne Red (base), Carroburg Crimson (shade)

Oranges

AP- Lava Orange

GW- Fuegan Orange (shade)

Yellows

AP- Desert Yellow, Demonic Yellow

GW- Balor Brown (base)

Greens