Being completely and utterly besotted with the Ironclad models, I’ve taken the plunge and committed to starting a Warhammer Dwarf army. Now, by my reckoning, most of the options in the list are going to be covered by the end of August, although, being early July, and with one set available, it’s a waiting game. Well, no, it isn’t. By my reckoning, the humble Ironclad set will allow me to assemble no less than six different units from the Dwarf list (Dwarf Warriors with shield, Dwarf Warriors with great weapon, Longbeards with shield, Longbeards with great weapon, Hammerers and Ironbreakers) With a careful selection of components, and the right paint job, each of these 6 options should be easily recognizable on the table, and will set me up to get a proper horde on the go. So, with eight Ironclad Regiment sets to play with, that is at least a good sized unit of 20 for each option, with another 40 spares to add in where needed. (Of course, this is only until the Ironwatch Regiments and Grafe’s Steel Legion turn up) Hopefully, I can get at least 40 Ironclad models done by the time the Ironwatch are released, which then means I need to get 40 of them done by the time the Steel Legion comes out. Simply so that, by adding 2 war machines, I can field a fully painted Warhost. Adding another trio of big guns, and less than 20 models will give me a fully painted Dwarf army deal. As that meerkat says, ‘Simples.’ The squeak is optional. Now, I’ve already built up and painted a small unit with great weapons, so this time I’ll focus on Warriors with shields. I’ve mixed and matched parts from 2 boxes to give me enough single handed weapons, and have used very few cloaked bodies, or the closed helm torso with shield (I have plans for these). Included in the unit is a full command group (Champion, Musician and Standard Bearer.) The painting plan is as follows, using a dark blue as my main colour;

- no grey or white beards in the Warrior units. This will differentiate my Longbeards when I get around to them.

- minimal gold detailing on Warrior units. Longbeards will get some on the

helmet trims, maybe on weapons, possibly shields. The elite units may have golden shoulder plates, or, depending on my mood at the time, might get gold, or brass armour.

- Keeping as many cloaked bodies and closed helm torsos to use as Hammerers,

they will look pretty funky all ranked up in matching poses (although, with 4 different great weapon options, and a multitude of beard colours, no 2 need look the same).

As well as the above, I’m hoping to catalogue my progress through a collection of articles, explaining how I’ve painted each unit/character/war machine, and hopefully, it’ll provide an incentive for some of you guys to pick up a brush and do likewise.

Dwarf Ironclad Painting Guide

NOTE – I’m pretty open when it comes to paints, picking and choosing from a variety of manufacturers and mediums. I’ve made a list of paints I’ve used, and will probably just use abbreviations in future. When possible, I’ll try and include similar colours from other manufacturers, with GW being the default, as it is generally the most accessible. Brands – Games Workshop (GW), also Washes (GWW), Foundation Paints (GWF), Wargames Foundry (WF), Privateer Press Paints (P3), Vallejo Game Color (VGC) also Vallejo Game Colour Extra Opaque (VGO), Vallejo Model Color (VMC), Tamiya (TAM) and Windsor & Newton artists inks (W&N). What you will need – A selection of paint brushes (I mainly use GW and WF, for these models I used a GW Fine Detail, Basecoat and Medium Drybrush) A scabby old brush or cocktail stick – for applying glue. Basing material – I use a mixture of GW sand and gravel with some Javis Brown Ballast chippings ( ref – JXGSTBR). Also a few varieties of static grass (GW Scorched and Dead in this case) Paints – I used the following GW – Scorched Brown, Vomit Brown, Bleached Bone GWW – Badab Black, Devlan Mud P3 – Brown Ink VGO – Heavy Blue (72143), Heavy Siena (72154), Heavy Ochre (72150), Heavy Orange (72152), Heavy Goldbrown (72151), Heavy Charcoal (72155), Heavy Skintone (72140), Heavy Brown (72153) VGC – Glorious Gold (72056) VMC – Burnt Umber (70941), Iraqui Sand (70819), Sand Yellow (70916), Light Orange (70911), Beige Brown (Panzer Series 70875) Army Painter Platemail Metal spray PVA glue An old tile for mixing paints A cup of water for thinning paints and cleaning your brush An old cloth or kitchen towel for drying your brushes. Blu-tac – for holding models in place. An empty Mantic case, cardboard box, kitchen tray or length of wood – to attach the models to for priming.

Stage 0 – Assembly. No doubt you’ve read Issue 1 of the Mantic Journal, so the information you gleaned from pages 26-29 will suffice for now.

Stage 1 – Affix models to an empty and de-sleeved Mantic case (or whatever you came up with) with blu-tac.

Stage 2 – Prime and basecoat miniatures with the Army Painter Platemail Metal spray. Failing this prime black (I recommend Halfords Matt Black car primer) and paint the entire model Chainmail (GW).

Stage 3 – Liberally wash the entire model with Badab Black (or very watery black paint). This will provide shading on the armour, and tone down the silver on other areas you will be painting over later.

Stage 4 – Basecoat flesh (basically just cheeks, nose and lip) with Heavy Skintone (GW Tallarn Flesh). Try not to get any on the metals, although a few slips around the beard will be covered up soon)

Stage 5 – Basecoat the shield, tunic and cloak with Heavy Blue (GW Mordian or Enchanted Blue).

Stage 6 – Paint the beards using a variety of browns, oranges, yellows and black (Heavy Ochre, Heavy Goldbrown, Heavy Orange, Light Orange, Sand Yellow, Beige Brown, Burnt Umber, Heavy Charcoal). You could include some greys and whites, but that will screw any future plans to paint up some Longbeard units for your Warhammer army.

Stage 7 – Paint the boots, belt, scabbard and/or dagger sheath and any pouches with Heavy Siena (GW Calthan Brown). Don’t paint the cuff of the boot yet.

Stage 8 – Paint the weapon haft and handles, banner pole, musician’s horn and boot cuffs Heavy Brown (GW Khemri Brown).

Stage 9 – Paint the belt buckles and banner icons Glorious Gold (GW Burnished Gold). Do the same for the champion’s helmet crest. You could also add some embellishments to the weapons and armour, but I’m saving that for my elite units.

Stage 10 – Paint the banding on the musician’s horn with Iraqui Sand (GW Dheneb Stone). If you have assembled any models with two-handed hammers, paint the grip as well.

Stage 11 – Wash the entire model with neat Devlan Mud using a big brush. If this is the first time you have tried this, DO NOT PANIC. It really is supposed to look like pants when you do it. Give it some time to dry and you will be amazed at the change.

Stage 12 – Paint the entire base with a mixture of Scorched Brown and Brown Ink, taking care to avoid the feet.

Stage 13 – Paint the top of the base with PVA glue, and dip into a tub of sand or gravel. Tap the corner of the base against the tub to knock off any excess sand. Allow to dry thoroughly. (Note – normally I’d texture the base like this BEFORE priming the model, but, seeing as I was using the silver, I chose not too. Big mistake.)

Stage 14 – Paint the top of the base with the mixture of Scorched Brown and Brown Ink. Don’t worry too much about the edges as they will be tidied up later. This mix is dark enough to cover the silver, so, I just caused myself extra work at this stage.

Stage 15 – Drybrush the sand with Vomit Brown. You don’t need to cover the entire base, as a patchy effect looks pretty good. And is more natural.

Stage 16 – Drybrush the sand with Bleached Bone. Again, you don’t need to cover the entire base.

Stage 17 – Add a few patches of PVA to the base, then sprinkle with Scorched Grass. I use tweezers to add the grass to the base, as it is less messy. Tap to clear off the excess as you did with the sand. Obviously, don’t tap it against your tub of sand.

Stage 18 – Once the glue has dried a bit, add a few smaller patches of PVA glue to the base, you can also add some on top of the Scorched Grass, and sprinkle with Dead Grass. Tap off the excess and allow to dry.

Stage 19 – Repaint the base rim with the Scorched Brown/Brown Ink mixture to finish. Allow to dry and varnish as desired.

Stage 20 – Rank them up and enjoy the satisfaction you get from seeing a fully painted unit. Grab yourself a coffee, then get cracking onto the next unit. So, there you go, how to get your Ironclads ready for the gaming table with very little fuss, not a huge investment in time and no fancy techniques. Of course, you can always spend more time picking out details, and the shields will benefit from having a design either painted on, or with a transfer. I’m planning on adding transfers to this unit, and hopefully doing a guide for that too. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a few more units to get cracking with. Until next time, gaarew