Crusader Knight 75mm (Romeo Models)

Although, or perhaps exactly because, these figure of a crusader knight greatly sculpted by Victor Konnov is kept rather simplistic, it is among the best miniatures of these era which are currently available on the market, at least in my humble opinion.

Preparation:

Casting and fit of the individual parts was good, thus preparation of the figure was limited to removing some mould lines and filling up some few gaps. Moreover I removed the pre-sculpted cross on the chest and added a small, brass-etched cross to the belt.

After the miniature had been built (expect for the shield) and had been attached to the base I started painting.

After all the white-metallic parts had been polished and afterwards masked, I covered the entire miniature with skull white spray (Citadel).

Painting:

The face first received a basecoat of acrylic colour (pallid flesh/ Citadel) and was than treated with the oil colours titanium opaque white, flesh tint, natural burnt umber, natural burnt sienna, English red and ivory black (Schmincke, “Mussini”).

All white-metallic parts received several thick washings with the oil colours ivory black and Vandyke brown (Schmincke, “Mussini”). After these washings had cured I enhanced the deepest shadows with undiluted black oil colour.

The coat of arms and the shield received an acrylic basecoat of space wolf grey (Citadel) upon which I continued working with the oil colours titanium opaque white, royal blue deep and vandyke brown (Schmincke, “Mussini”). For diluting the oil colours I normally use odourless turpentine though I tend to thin the colours as less as possible, as these eases the control of the colours and makes them dry less fast. For creating the blue colour tone I mixed four colours on my palette (one part white + one part blue, blue, three parts blue + one part brown, one part blue + one part brown). Taking into account a zenital light source I applied the fitting colours to the light and shadow areas of the fabric and blended them at the margins by executing a “dabbing” brush movement. At that point it is crucial not to blend any colour containing brown with one containing white. Furthermore it is helpful to divide the coat of arms into segments and to finish each of these segments before moving to another.

The lion and the cross on the shield were painted freehand with black acrylic colour and afterwards treated with the oil colours ivory black and vandyke brown (Schmincke, “Mussini”). Light and shadow areas were painted in accordance to the underlying colour. Eventually mistakes were corrected using the underlying colours.

After the colour on the coat of arms and the shield had completely cured, several areas were dirtied and weathered by applying washes of diluted vandyke brown and natural burnt umber (Schmincke, “Mussini”).

Only after these washes had been applied some seams, tears and extreme highlights were emphasized with an equal mixture of royal blue deep and titanium opaque white.

Finally shield and fabric received some blood drops. These were carefully dabbed on with X-27 clear red (Tamiya).

All leather components were painted with the acrylic colours scorched brown, bestial brown, snakebite leather and bleached bone (Citadel). Afterwards they were treated with several washings of natural burnt umber and vandyke brown (Schmincke, “Mussini”).

Each of the yellow-metallic parts was painted with brazen brass, shining gold and chain mail (Citadel) over a black acrylic basecoat and than shaded with several layers of babad black (Citadel) and vandyke brown (Schmincke, “Mussini”).

Base:

The quite unspectacular base was built of structure paste, fine sand and some modelling bricks. Afterwards it was painted with acrylics before various Pigments from Andrea and Mig-Productions were applied. Everything was finished by painting some blood drops on the base.