Clarence Harrison - Welcome back! It's time to talk about the final steps and I will try to go into some detail. Talking about painting is like dancing about cooking, but I'll give it a go.Everything except the black areas will get a third highlight, but I try to keep these small and sharp. The colors used at this stage are Kislev Flesh for the face, Squig Orange for the coat and saddle cloth, and Deathclaw Brown for the horse (love the names of the GW paints). I used Wargames Foundry Orange 3C for the sash. These colors are applied to only the highest points of the model. For the most part only a few brush strokes are required and this small effort makes a big difference on the appearance of you finished model.
I spoke a little bit about blending last time, but I didn't do a very good job at explaining the precess so I'll try again. It isn't really appropriate for small areas on 28mm wargame models, but use it on large flat areas of cloaks and coats and on horses. This technique requires the paint to be diluted with a small amount of water to create a semi transparent tone. This is applied in a narrow stripe near the top of the object, let's say a horse's flank. Then I grab a clean brush damped with water and gentle pull the bottom of the strip down, feathering the color into the one below. This creates a smooth transition between colors. I normally go back and add a fourth step and brighten the very top edge of the area with another stripe of the diluted color.It's really something you just have to practice! to get the hang of!
For character models I like to add one last layer of highlights and touch in a few details. In this case, I added tiny highlights to the tip of the nose, chin, and cheekbones with Eldar Flesh. I would have added them above the eyes as well if the model did not have on a hat, but the lack of this final highlight lends the illusion of a subtle shadow. You could even skip the third highlight stage to make the effect more pronounced. I also paint the lower lip with a thinned coat of Citadel's Pink Horror (again, love the name) or Wargames Foundry Wine Red 17C. If the paint is too thick your heroic model may end up like like he's wearing lipstick! You could use you darkest flesh tone, Bugman's Glow in this case, but I find the small touch of color really adds character to the face.I also highlighted the metallic areas with small touches of Auric Armour Gold, but the effect is completely lost in the shine of the lamps!
Speaking of shine, my use of the Citadel Shades from part one of this series has had the effect of leaving glossy bits in the shadows which really spoils the appearance of the model. I applied Vallejo Matt Varnish with a clean brush to get rid of this effect, taking care not to paint it on the metallic areas (you can always retouch these with gloss varnish if necessary). I also avoid painting the varnish on the horse and leather (like the boots) except where absolutely necessary because the slight shine from the Citadel paints nicely mimics these objects and creates a contrast across the model - the shiny metal, the satin horse, and the matte cloth of the rider.My basing method has been documented on the web before so I'll skip those boring steps. Next time... proper photos of the finished model without so many fingers in them!