Painting Dark Skin (Plus my Catachan Test Figure)

I’ve been surprised at some of the reactions I’ve gotten on the dark skin for my Catachan test figure (still very much a WIP) on Facebook and Instagram. I figured I’d post a little tutorial on the simple method I used to do it. Enjoy!

My mostly finished Catachan test figure!

Truth be told, this was my first real time painting dark skin. None of the armies I’ve done before have had black people in them, so I definitely wanted them represented in my Vietnam-themed Catachan army. I'm really pleased with how it's turned and overall I found it much easier to paint than light skin.

First off, prime black (though I suppose grey would work too) and put down a base layer of Games Workshop Rhinox Hide. A wash of Games Workshop Agrax Earthshade was applied afterward.

The face and muscles are then highlighted with Vallejo Flat Brown. For a handful of future models,  I’m going to experiment with Games Workshop Mournfang Brown in some future models. I think that'll give my army a nice variety of skin tones.

Then – and here’s my special addition – I apply a thin wash of Agrax Earthshade again to knock down the brightness a bit and tie all the colors together. That’s pretty much it!

It's a pretty simple but effective method, but I quite like it. Hopefully you found this helpful!

Tutorial: Rubble

Ever find that you need some rubble for terrain or a figure base? I recently did and employed a method my friend Ben taught me a few years ago. It is my hope that this short tutorial will help you to create exactly what you need for your next urban warzone project. We'll be focusing on using cork for figure bases today, and I think you'll find that it's quite easy!

First, you need some cork. Craft stores sell it fairly cheaply but you can also get it for free if you know where to look. For instance, I got this lot after a reception at my museum the other night. Have I mentioned that it pays to be a scavenger in this hobby? :) Anyway, these corks should be enough to last me a while. 

Start breaking up the cork with a pair of pliers. The more variety in size the better...remember that there's no uniformity when the side of a building has been obliterated by an 88mm shell from a Tiger tank.

That being said, you don't want the chunks to be too big. It all depends on the model and base size. Play around with it and find whatever size works best for your project.

After you think you have enough chunks of cork, it's time to glue them onto the base. Regular white glue will work for this, although I used some Games Workshop PVA glue (it's basically the same thing). You can see how I've glued the cork/rubble onto the bases of these Minas Tirith warriors below. This will eventually represent the ruins of Osgiliath...but more on that in another blog post.

You want to let the glue dry before proceeding. Just to be safe, I set the figures out overnight and sprayed them with Dullcote in order to add a little more stability. This is purely optional...it just made me feel better. 

Afterwards you can paint the cork in a primer color and then detail to your heart's delight. Be gentle though, as some of the cork may come loose during this process.

That's it! Simple, eh?

Just as a point of reference, this is the amount of rubble I was able to make from just one champagne cork. I intend to scratch build some Osgiliath buildings and ruins in the near future, and many of these chunks will come in handy....

Thank you for reading! Hopefully this little tutorial was useful in some way.