Painting Guide: Dwalin

First, I have to thank TALE OF TWO PAINTERS for the inspiration for these tutorials.  Unfortunately, I do not have step by step photos like they do as I found their site after I was a quarter of the way complete.  They painted the miniatures using Citadel paints.  I felt a guide using The Army Painter brand was warranted, especially as there is no readily available conversion chart for Citadel and AP brands like the other major miniature paint brands (Vallejo, P3, Reaper, etc.).  I currently only have the 42 bottle 2015 Mega Paint Set II, so there is a lot of mixing of paints to get the right color. (I’m hoping to get the Veteran Warpainter Upgrade Set with an additional 82 paints that just came out on the first).

The first dwarf to arrive for tea of Games Workshop's Escape From Goblin Town set miniatures is Dwalin of course.  Dwalin was probably the toughest dwarf to paint due to the pose and the axes strapped to his back.  The sculpt is good though the handle of the mallet snapped in the center sometime after gluing him together and before painting.  I could not glue it back together so I wrapped it in some green stuff making the center part of the shaft thicker than the ends.  Dwalin’s scar and head tattoos are not sculpted so they require some freehand, something I am working on and my wife’s Valentine’s Day gift of a magnifying glass should help with.  Overall I really like this sculpt and he certainly portrays one of Thorin’s “best warriors” rather well.    

1.   Paint the flesh using Tanned Flesh.

1a. Wash the skin with Red Tone to get the ruddier tone of the Dwarfs.

1b. Wash the skin again in Flesh Tone.

1c. Highlight using Barbarian Flesh.

2.   Paint Dwalin’s hair with Uniform Grey.

2a. Thin Matt Black with water and paint over the hair.

2b. Highlight the hair using Ash Grey. Use a 5/0 or 10/0 brush to paint fine lines for this.

3.   Paint his trousers in Angel Green.

3a. Highlight the trousers with Green Skin.

4.   Paint Dwalin’s armor in Army Green.

4a. Highlight the edges of the armor panels and raised bumps with Necrotic Flesh.

4b. Wash the armor in Green Tone.

5.   Paint the tunic (sleeves and below the belt) in Necrotic Flesh.

5a. Wash the tunic with Green Tone.

6.   Paint the under armor panels (between the Tunic and the Armor) Leather Brown.

7.   Belt, Chest Straps, Boots, and Gloves are painted in Oak Brown

7a. Highlight with Fur Brown.

7b. Wash with Strong Tone.

7c. Highlight with Monster Brown.

8.   Paint the fur on his shoulders and boot tops in Fur Brown.

8a. Wash the fur in Strong Tone.

8b. Highlight with Monster Brown.

8c. Do a final highlight with Desert Yellow using a 5/0 or 10/0 brush to paint very thin lines.

9.   Paint the weapons shafts (Mallet and Axes) in Oak Brown.

9A. Highlight with a mix of Oak Brown and Leather Brown in a 2:3 ratio.

10. Paint the Axe Blades & Pummels in Plate Mail Metal.

11. Paint the Buckles, Mallet Head, Toe Caps, and Knuckle Caps in Gun Metal.

Some last notes:  

A. The eyes were painted between the Flesh Tone Wash and the Barbarian Flesh Highlight.  The eyes are done with a 5/0 brush.  First paint a horizontal white line and then place a black dot in the center.

B. AP Soft Tone is a good wash for flesh and other light colored items.

C. AP Strong Tone is a good general brown wash similar to Citadel's Agrax Earth Shade. 

D. AP Dark Tone is a good black wash similar to Citadel's Nuln Oil.

I based the miniature with coral beach sand for the rocky/sandy caves of Goblin Town and added some Highland Tufts from The Army Painter Battlefields range.  I then painted the edge of the base in Angel Green. 

Next week the Dwalin’s brother arrives and Bilbo begins to wonder what Gandalf has gotten him into.