Painting the Raj: Step-by-Step

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO PAINTING THE INDIAN RAJ

Following requests for a guide on how Indian Raj fleet was painted, I have taken the opportunity to record my painting of a second Canda-class Monitor. This process follows an incredibly simple set of stages, and is very similar to the process used for my Prussian fleet (detailed in a previous blog entry found here).

The modified Flecktarn camouflage has attracted a lot of attention, prompting a wide variety of reactions - some good and some bad. I fully understand those who do not see why an infantry camouflage would be used on a sea-going vessel, but I wanted to paint something other than grey! After seeing the work done by a gentleman named Sheep I thought it would look good on a slab-sided vessel like the ships of the Indian Raj, and I am very happy with the result. The Spartan Games Studio scheme was an interesting one to look over, but I had seen Sheep's work before the release of those pictures, and had already made up my mind.

For those of you looking for a better reason, please keep in mind I recently painted an entire Covenant of Antarctica fleet bright red. Rule of Cool!

THE BASECOATING

Undercoat with Citadel Chaos Black spray 

The main hull colour is liberally applied - in this case, Citadel Steel Legion Drab 

The other colours are blocked in -  Citadel Brass Scorpion mixed with Mournfang Brown for the brass sections, Vallejo Brass with Mournfang Brown for the gold Shield Generator and Citadel Leadbelcher for the larger areas of metal. For the smaller areas, such as doors, hatches and port-holes, I use the brighter  Citadel Runefang Steel

The entire model is washed with Army Painter Dark Tone. This does a huge amount of work for the model, shading everything and effectively finishing off the decking. It is from this base that we begin adding detail

METALLICS - THE BRASS

All the sections of brass are first highlighted with a coat of pure Citadel Brass Scorpion, covering almost all of the brass section apart from the edges and recesses

A small amount of Citadel Runefang Steel is added to the Brass Scorpion, and used as a highlight across the edges and naturally lighter/higher areas

A final highlight is done by mixing in more Runefang Steel, normally reserved for the funnels, and then the recesses are lined with a mixture of Vallejo Turquoise and Army Painter Dark Tone. This gives a verdigris effect, and is used sparingly

METALLICS = THE SILVER

The silver areas are highlighted with Citadel Runefang Steel, being careful not to go too deep into the recesses

Small details such as the hatches and doors may need a re-highlight at this point

METALLICS - THE GOLD

The Generator is the only gold item on the Monitor, and painted with Vellejo Brass. This was highlighted by adding increasing amounts of  Citadel Runefang Steel and finally washed with Citadel Seraphim Sepia

THE HULL

The hull was blocked back in with Citadel Steel Legion Drab, taking care to avoid the recesses

The areas that will not painted with the camouflage pattern were highlighted by adding increasing amounts of Vallejo Iraqi Sand to the Citadel Steel Legion Drab. This is mainly around areas of the superstructure and the top edges of the hull

THE CAMOUFLAGE PATTERN 

To begin the camouflage, large areas of orange are painted across the model, entirely at random. These are mixed from Vallejo Orange Red and Citadel Mournfang Brown

Over the top of this, large splodges of black are painted at random. This is mixed from Army Painter Matt Black with some of the leftover Vallejo Orange Red and Citadel Steel Legion Drab to make a brown off-black, as pure black would be too stark. At random, smaller dots of black, orange and drab are painted across the model over the top of the larger spots

Small dots are added to finish off the camouflage, using Vallejo Deck Tan

FINISHING TOUCHES

The entire model is dry-brushed with an extremely dry (almost non-existent) Vallejo Sky Grey. The model is then finished with Army Painter Matt Varnish Spray

This may look laborious, but after the first few models it is surprisingly quick and easy. I hope this has been helpful for those interested!

Thanks for reading,

George