Painting HeroQuest for Beginners: Episode 1 - The Barbarians

Steps

1. 1 Base coat all the skin with Bosh Chesnut, a dark brown that will serve as the shadow tone under later highlights.
2. 2 Base coat the red fabric — loincloth, bracers, and other red trim — with Hull Red.
3. 3 Base coat the blue fabric, including the female barbarian's top, with Dark Sea Blue.
4. 4 Base coat all the fur with Moonray Flesh, using multiple coats for coverage.
5. 5 Undercoat everything that will be gold — the sword pommel and hilt, and the codpiece — with Charred Brown.
6. 6 Base coat the leather straps, sandals, and belt with German Camo Black Brown, and use the same color for the female barbarian's hair.
7. 7 Base coat the male barbarian's hair with Black Grey, then use the same color to undercoat the steel areas (blade, armbands, belt rivets) and the base.
8. 8 Fill in the eye whites with Ivory, draw the irises as a short vertical line with a black Micron pen, then cut back in around them with Bosh Chesnut to clean up the edges.
9. 9 Build up skin highlights in several layers by mixing progressively more Kislev Flesh into the Bosh Chesnut base, moving from broad areas down to just the raised muscles and facial features.
10. 10 Apply a thinned Bosh Chesnut glaze over all the skin to tie the highlights back toward the base tone, then repeat another round or two of Kislev Flesh highlighting and glazing to deepen the tan.
11. 11 Highlight the red fabric by mixing Scarlet into Hull Red across progressively smaller, brighter layers.
12. 12 Highlight the blue fabric by mixing Hiril Blue into Dark Sea Blue in progressively brighter layers, then soften the transitions with a thinned Dark Sea Blue glaze.
13. 13 Highlight the upper edges of the leather straps by mixing Kislev Flesh into German Camo Black Brown.
14. 14 Paint Gold over the Charred Brown undercoat on the pommel, hilt, and codpiece, then base coat the remaining metal — the blade and bracer bits — with Natural Steel.
15. 15 Highlight the male barbarian's hair with lines of Black Grey mixed with progressively more Ivory; highlight the female's hair with Charred Brown mixed with Scarlet and Ivory for a redder tone.
16. 16 Tint the male barbarian's hair back toward black with a thinned Black Ink glaze, and use the same ink to pick out the runes engraved on the sword blade.
17. 17 Wash the gold, the fur, and the female barbarian's hair with Agrax Earthshade, then reapply Gold and Moonray Flesh as highlights on the raised areas once it's dry.
18. 18 Mix a touch of Silver into the Gold for the brightest highlight edges, then edge-highlight the sword blade and other silver bits (bracers, buckles, rivets) with pure Silver, including a line down the center of the blade.
19. 19 Paint thin eyebrows — Black Grey for the male, Charred Brown for the female — then glaze a five o'clock shadow of thinned Dark Sea Blue around the male's chin and cheeks.
20. 20 Dry brush the base rocks with Black Grey mixed with progressively more Ivory, wash them with Nuln Oil, then paint the base rim with Hull Red.
21. 21 Touch up missed details like the loincloth stitching with Charred Brown highlighted with Kislev Flesh, then seal both miniatures with Testors Dullcote spray.

Paints used

• Agrax Earthshade (Citadel)

  Wash over the gold, the fur, and the female barbarian's hair

• Black Grey (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat and highlight mix for the male barbarian's hair, undercoat for the steel areas and base, male eyebrows, and dry brushing on the base rocks

• Black Ink (Vallejo, Game Ink)

  Thinned glaze to tint the male barbarian's hair back toward black, and ink for the runes on the sword blade

• Bosh Chesnut (Scale75 Scalecolor)

  Base/shadow coat for the skin, cutting in around the eyes, and the thinned glaze used to deepen skin highlights

• Charred Brown (Vallejo, Game Color)

  Undercoat for the gold areas, mixed into the female barbarian's hair highlight, her eyebrows, and touch-ups on the loincloth stitching

• Dark Sea Blue (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the blue fabric, glaze to soften its highlights, and a thinned glaze for the male barbarian's five o'clock shadow

• German Camo Black Brown (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the leather straps, sandals, and belt, and for the female barbarian's hair

• Gold (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Metallic gold areas over the Charred Brown undercoat, reapplied as a highlight after the Agrax Earthshade wash

• Hiril Blue (Scale75 Scalecolor)

  Mixed into Dark Sea Blue to highlight the blue fabric

• Hull Red (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the red fabric, and the base rim color

• Ivory (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Bone jewelry, tusks, and teeth; eye whites; mixed into hair highlights for both barbarians; and mixed into the base dry brush

• Kislev Flesh (Citadel)

  Mixed into Bosh Chesnut for skin highlights, into German Camo Black Brown for leather highlights, and into Charred Brown for stitching touch-ups

• Moonray Flesh (Scale75 Scalecolor)

  Base coat for the fur, reapplied as a highlight after the Agrax Earthshade wash

• Natural Steel (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Base coat for the sword blade and bracer metal

• Nuln Oil (Citadel)

  Wash over the dry-brushed base rocks

• Scarlet (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Mixed into Hull Red for red fabric highlights, and into the female barbarian's hair highlight mix

• Silver (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Mixed into Gold for its brightest highlights, and used pure to edge-highlight the sword blade, bracers, buckles, and rivets