MODELING

By Andrés Amián
PAINTING THE WARRIOR’S BEST FRIEND

A DAY AT THE RACES

From their first appearance on the battlefield, horses have challenged dogs for
the title of ‘man’s best friend’, or perhaps it should be ‘warrior’s best friend’.
For some wargamers, painting horses is a way of making their armies more
interesting, but for others, they can be a nuisance or an obstacle. Either way,
the horses have to be painted. And this is what my short article is about – some
of the most common breeds of horses and some painting techniques that I
think are quite simple but give great results.

Y
ou can take two different approaches to horse paint-
!"#$%&'$()*+$,!'$ *$-.,/+$0,,1 !"$2,)$!'/+)-0$3,0,/)*$
that make the rider stand out; and the second one
is the opposite, choosing bright colours that give a strong
contrast in order to create a striking look. As most of you will
probably be familiar with the three layers/highlights tech-
nique (or as many as you require), I will just explain the
4),3'5/)'$ .) '67$ .'2,)'$ 8,9 !"$ ,!$ +,$ +&'$ 5'+- 0*$ +&-+$ : 00$
make your horses look a bit more interesting.
In most cases, I would recommend using sprays (or an air-
brush if you have one) for the main colour on each horse,
as it saves a lot of time and you then only have to paint the
straps and the saddle. Please note that, in the instructions, I
have used abbreviations for the different brand names: Army
;- !+')$<=;>?$@-00'A,$B-8'$C,0,)$<@BC>?$@-00'A,$D,5'0$C,0,)$
<@DC>?$-!5$@-00'A,$;-!E')$=3'*$<@;=>#
In the example, I have used AP Grey Uniform spray primer, AP
F0/'$2,)$+&'$.0-!1'+G$-!5$@DC$B')8-!$B)'7$-*$-$.-*'$2,)$+&'$
horse’s mane and tail, and for the nose and socks, too. I like to
use ink to recover the depth of the lines that separate the different
parts of the model. In this case, I have used AP Dark Tone ink for
all the grey areas, AP Blue Tone ink for the blue areas, and AP Soft
Tone ink for the yellow areas. This helps to add depth without
losing all the different colours (which is what would happen if we
were to give it a general wash in a single colour of ink).
I highlighted the blanket in blue and then added a few lines
on the edges in light blue (for this, you can add a bit of AP Ash
Grey to the blue you used as a base, or another lighter blue).
In order to highlight the horse’s skin, I applied Uniform Grey
again, allowing the ink to show in the skin folds and between
the muscles, followed by a highlight mixing 50 per cent AP
Uniform Grey and 50 per cent AP Ash Grey. Then I used fairly
diluted paint (30-40 per cent water) to apply the last highlight
!$=;$=*&$B)'7G$: +&$0,!"$-!5$9')7$(!'$.)/*&*+),1'*$ !$4-)-00'0$
on raised areas, to highlight the muscles or bones marked on
the skin. On the socks and nose, I recovered a bit of the basic
3,0,/)$.7$-55 !"$-$2':$*4,+*$,2$@DC$B')8-!$B)'7$+,$& "&0 "&+$
+G$2,00,:'5$.7$-$& "&0 "&+$/* !"$HI$4')$3'!+$@DC$B')8-!$B)'7$
and 50 per cent AP Uniform Grey. I painted the mane and the
+- 0$ -"- !$ : +&$@DC$ B')8-!$ B)'7G$ 2,00,:'5$ .7$ -$ & "&0 "&+$ J$
&-02K-!5K&-02$@DC$B')8-!$B)'7$-!5$=;$L! 2,)8$B)'7$J$-!5$
dabbed the tips of the hair with AP Uniform Grey.Then the horse
*$(! *&'5G$'M3'4+$2,)$*8-00$5'+- 0*$,2$",05$,)$8'+-0$,)$:,,5#
Next, I’ll explain a very simple way to create several variations
on this same horse. To get a dapple-grey horse, you could add
spots on the base of the neck, shoulders and hindquarters. To do
this, take a piece of foam (like the one that comes in the blisters,
for example) and insert it in a plastic tube (the one that protects
the paintbrush is perfect). This makes a very useful tool to make
markings. (If you don’t have a tube, you can hold the foam with
tweezers.) Wet the sponge with AP Ash Grey, remove any excess
by pressing it against the palette or a paper towel, and make small
round spots on the horse. As you work down the horse’s legs,
make the spots gradually smaller, until they are almost tiny dots
at the extremities. You can leave it like this, or if you want to add
more detail, do the same again using AP Matt White, but only
dab the centre of the spots that you painted before. With this easy
technique, you get a completely different horse.

1 2 3 4

!"#$%&$'!"#()*+),*+)!*-+(.-(!)"()./'"0'(%.1&(2-1(!2345

64
 5 6
6-4'(2/"(211"1(!.(78/!)"/(')21"(2-1(1"9-"(!)"()./'"'(:8'38,2!8/"5
9 10
Dappling the grey horse with white.
You can create a third horse by painting the mane and tail
with AP Desert Yellow, followed by brown ink (I used AP Soft
Tone ink). Highlight again using AP Desert Yellow, followed
by a 50:50 mix of AP Desert Yellow and AP Skeleton Bone,
-!5$ -$ (!-0$ & "&0 "&+$ ,2$ =;$ N1'0'+,!$ F,!'G$ -*$ :'$ 5 5$ : +&$
@DC$ B')8-!$ B)'7$ !$ +&'$ 4)'9 ,/*$ 'M-840'#$%&'!G$ 2$ 7,/$
3&-!"'$+&'$*,31*$.7$-4407 !"$-$.-*'$,2$@DC$O&-1 $F),:!G$
2,00,:'5$.7$-$2':$*+),1'*$,2$@DC$PPQ$B')8-!$C-8,$F' "'$
or AP Skeleton Bone, you can create a fourth horse.
P'$3-!$3,!+ !/'$+,$3&-!"'$,/)$.-* 3$&,)*'$+,$"'+$-$(2+&$9-) --
tion by painting the nose AP Fur Brown, with AP Tanned Flesh
as a highlight and AP Barbarian Flesh for a few more highlights.
Finally, by adding an AP Ash Grey marking on the horse’s fore-
head, and highlighting with AP Matt White, we get a sixth option.
In some cases, you can change the horse just by adding some
colour to the legs and nose. Some chestnuts, for example, could
be mistaken for bays, but the former are usually all one colour
while the latter have a dark nose and legs. You can change from
,!'$&,)*'$+,$-!,+&')$.7$4- !+ !"$+&'$0'"*$: +&$@DC$B')8-!$
Grey or Black from the hoof up to the area above the knee.
For the gradation, use black or AP Dark Tone ink on the leg,
and allow the ink to cover the horse’s base colour slightly in
the areas where you want a transition from black to the horse’s
.-*'$ 3,0,/)#$%&'!$ & "&0 "&+$ -"- !$ /* !"$@DC$ B')8-!$ B)'7G$
-!5$ (!-007$ /* !"$ -$ HIRHI$ 8 M$ ,2$@DC$ B')8-!$ B)'7$ -!5$=;$
Uniform Grey. You can follow the same process for the nose.
Another small but important detail that you might miss is the
horse’s eyes. I admit that, over the years, I’ve painted the pupils
!.34*-+ .34 Ankle Pastern
You can add a lot of variety and personality to your horses by varying the patterns on their legs.
7 8
11 12
Painting the horse’s eyes
to give the horse an expression that is not really very suitable for
an animal, and especially an animal that’s supposed to be in a
nervous state in the middle of a battle. I’m going to explain an
easy way of painting the horse’s eyes that makes them look a bit
more real. All you need to do is paint them a dark colour (black
,)$5-)1$.),:!>G$ 2$+&'$("/)'S*$.-*'$3,0,/)$ *!S+$-0)'-57$,!'$,2$
those two colours. Then simply paint a white line, and instead
of painting the black pupil in the centre of the white line, take
the black area backwards and cover at least two thirds of the
white area. This makes the horse look as if it’s nervous. If the
8 ! -+/)'S*$'7'*$-)'$0-)"'$-!5$:'00$5'(!'5G$7,/$3-!$-55$-$+ !7$
5,+$ !$+&'$ ) *$,)$4/4 0G$-*$-$0 "&+$)'6'3+ ,!$ !$+&'$'7'$<,)$-$3,-+$,2$
glossy varnish, which is easier and will also give that effect). You
could also do it the other way round – paint the eye black and
then just add a tiny white dot to get the same result.
In order to give more variety and character to the horses, I
have included a small section on the most common mark-
ings found on legs and heads. Use AP Skeleton Bone or AP
Ash Grey as a base colour, and highlight it in white. I’ve only
included markings on stocking, sock, ankle and pastern, but
there are many other lengths between these categories. You
can create a more realistic effect on the socks, after the ink
or base colour has dried, with sharp brushstrokes in the area
with the colour transition when you do the next highlight. To
-55$-$(!-0$5'+- 0G$7,/$3-!$& "&0 "&+$+&,*'$*&-)4$+) -!"0'*#$%&'$
same goes for the head markings. I’ve only included the most
common ones, but if you change the size and position, you
can get many other variations. If you paint irregular markings
towards one side, instead of painting regular and symmetrical
markings, you’ll have many more options.
65
MODELING

-*# Muzzle Blaze !2/ Muzzle Bald face Bonnet Apron face

Various commonly seen patterns on a horse’s face.

To paint horses with markings, there are useful techniques like
painting large irregular patches, and then immediately painting
+&'$'5"'*$,2$+&'$8-)1 !"*$: +&$(!'G$T/ 31$.)/*&*+),1'*G$/* !"$+&'$
same colour but watered down. This method tries to achieve the
effect of hair in one colour intertwining with hair of another col-
our next to it. You can highlight these markings and apply paint
with brushstrokes in another colour inwards, in order to increase
the effect. You can see this in some of the pictures here.
Another way of creating a transition between the marking
and the base colour is to use the foam again on the edges
of the marking, and then highlight using a lighter colour.
There is a third way of doing this transition, by applying
highly diluted paint with brushstrokes on the edges with
the same colour as the markings that you’re painting. This
creates a softer transition and gives it a spotted look.
In any case, sometimes you might want to create a greater
contrast, so all you need to do is paint a marking with
well-defined edges and highlight it, as you would do with
a horse that’s a single colour. Paint the horse’s belly slightly
lighter than the base colour, and this will be another touch
that will brighten up your cavalry units.
America. It is a simplified guide, as the number of breeds
and families are endless, and the article would have to be
a few pages longer! If you want the easy way, you can get
those very useful Foundry paints in triads. They already
have palettes for those horses by name (42 bay brown, for
'M-840'>G$-0+&,/"&$U$&-9'$0 *+'5$@-00'A,$-!5$=)87$;- !+')$
colours, which are the ones I use daily.
Whichever look you want to achieve in your cavalry units, the
aim of this article is to show how you can give your armies a new
dimension just by changing even a single detail. Even collectors
who tend to paint units fast in order to play as soon as possible
can always go back to those twelve horses that were all painted
in the same way and change the appearance of the group with
A/*+$-$2':$.)/*&*+),1'*$&')'$-!5$+&')'$,!$&-02$,2$+&'$("/)'*$: +&-
out the risk of spoiling anything, because they would be retouch-
!"$:'00K5'(!'5$5'+- 0*G$0 1'$+&'$8-!'*$-!5$+- 0*#
This technique doesn’t have to be limited to horses, as it can
also be used on donkeys, cows, goats, and all kinds of animals
+&-+$7,/$8 "&+$(!5$ !$*/4407$+)- !*$,)$,!$2-)8*#$U2$7,/$+-1'$-$
look at books or photos, you’ll see that the paint job is not too
different from what I’ve described here. WS&S

When painting chariots with two or more horses, especially Painting donkeys, cows, or goats? Perhaps material for
Bronze Age chariots, if you use the same colours on all the hors- another article in the future – a day at the farm?
es, it will help to give a sense of order
APPALOOSA
and balance, so it looks as if they are
Frost / Blanket / Marble / Leopard
part of an organized army, or it can even
show the rank of the chariot’s owner. But
even in these cases, you can add small
details, like a marking on the forehead
of one horse, socks in another colour,
dark hooves on some and lighter hooves
on others, to try to establish differences
between the animals in the same group
(which were probably all part of the same
family). If you paint a group of horses
at the same time and only change the
details that we’ve mentioned, you will
end up with a matching group with small
variations that will bring the unit to life.

Here are some very simple instructions to

be followed with different colour schemes
to get most of the basic horses that we
Terracotta
VGC 65

Tan
50% VGC 66
Terracotta
50% VGC 65

Grey
AP Ash

50% White
Ash Grey
50% AP

White
Tan
VGC 66

3-!$(!5$ !$-)8 '*$2),8$+&'$F),!E'$="'$

to the Colonial period in Europe, the Mid-
dle East, the Mongolian Steppes, and

66
 67
50% VMC 995
German Grey White
AP Uniform 50% AP
Grey Uniform Grey
50% AP
Ash Grey
50% White
VMC 995
50% VMC 995 German Grey
German Grey
50% AP AP Ash Grey

CHESTNUT / GOLDEN BUCKSKIN

GOLDEN / ISABELLA PALOMINO

Uniform Grey 50% VMC 921

Black / Steel Grey / Grey / Dapple Grey

Khaki Grey AP
50% VMC 976 4","!.-(;.-" 50% AP
Buff Uniform Grey
VMC 995 50% AP
German Grey Ash Grey
VMC 880 50% AP
Khaki Grey Desert Yellow
50% AP AP Uniform
4","!.-(;.-" Grey
VMC846 VMC 921
Mahogany English
Uniform 50% VMC 995
Brown AP Desert German Grey
Yellow 50% AP
AP Monster Uniform Grey
Brown
VMC 984 50% VPA 311 VMC 995
Flat Brown New Wood German Grey
50% AP
Leather Brown 50% AP
50% AP Desert Yellow 50% Black
Monster Brown 50% VMC 995
German Grey

GREY
VGC 45
VPA 311

BAY
Charred AP Leather
Brown New Wood
Brown Black