Painting Epic Montrose

For the past few Christmases, the Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy team have produced a hobby-related advent calendar to run through December before the big day. For December 2023, I chose to do some highlanders for the Marquis of Montrose, so I thought I'd go through the process of how I started to paint mine.

I started by covering the miniatures with a wash, choosing Ali's Brown Liquid. The resin they are cast in does not require an undercoat, so I was able to paint directly onto the miniatures. Once the liquid wash had dried, I dry brushed the entire model with Citadel Dry: Praxeti White.

As you can see, this had the desired effect of enhancing the features of the models before I started adding the contrast/speed paints. I decided I wanted a good colour to act as an off-white or linen colour for the Highlanders' tunics. Army Painter Battleship Grey worked perfectly. I then started painting the belted plaid in a mixture of greens and reds, as these would stand out more, although browns and greys might have been more accurate.

Then, I started on the leathers and metals. For the leatherwork and shields, I used both Citadel Snakebite Leather and Army Painter Hardened Leather. The metalwork was Vallejo Model Color Brass and AP Broadsword Silver. The wood effect is Vallejo Wasteland Brown.

Now for the finishing touches. The caps were AP Tidal Wave, which turned out just right. Not too light and not too dark. I'd tried a test sample and found other colours looked too dark in comparison. I used a variety of tones for the hair, again to mix things up. Some pure white was used on the bonnets to highlight the ribbons. AP Crusader Flesh colour was added to the faces, hands and knees. 

The base was painted a flat brown colour. I did experiment with a few flecks of white to suggest an early tartan colour on a few models, but this was very hard - and frankly, I was frightened that I might ruin the otherwise fine effect I had already achieved. So yes, I chickened out!

Overall, I was happy with the results. They may look blotchy here, but then they are blown up far beyond their actual size (15mm). The painting could have been a little neater, but I'm sure this will improve with time as I paint further regiments. 

Finally, I wanted to break up the uniformity of the army. I invested in some models and separate heads from Peter Pig, so I could convert the odd model with a head swap or mix in some of the Peter Pig miniatures to add variety to what I had. Hopefully, this guide will be an inspiration for readers of this blog to get out the paints and make up some more units for Pike and Shotte.