My Primus Pilus Centurion! (fresh from the photo booth)

I am happy with my completed figure and I think it looks pretty good overall.  I enjoyed painting and finishing the Warlord Games' 28mm metal alloy Primus Pilus with Wargames Foundry Scutum (and LBMS shield transfer) Roman Legion figure very much.  Enjoy!

Finishing Up! (Part 2b of Painting WLG's Primus Pilus Centurion 28mm metal mini)

I'm now finishing up the Warlord Game's 28mm Centurion Primus Pilus metal alloy figure once the Army Painter Quick Shade has dried.

I use a mix of Gale Force 9 Super Fine Grit and Woodland Scenics Medium Gray RR Ballast.  I apply a thin coat of Woodland's Scenic Glue over the entire base...I like this glue because it goes on thick and thins very well with water and dries completely clear.

I shake lose any lose grit or ballast and allow the glue to set-up for about 10-15 minutes before I start to handle or start to paint.

I paint the round edge of the 2mm thick MDF base with P3's Battlefield Green.  I then drybrush a mixture of Vallejo's Yellow Ochre and Beige on the grit and ballast along with P3's Hammerfall Khaki, with an eye towards highlighting the rough and uneven terrain.

Once the highlighting is done, I apply some more non-thinned Scenic Glue to the base where I will want the grass and foliage to appear.  I apply the glue using a smallish synthetic brush and I just dab it on randomly.  Next I apply a pinch of Woodland Scenics Field Green Fine Turf and Light Green Coarse Turf to the glue in various spots mixing the two together, shaking off any excuse once the glue is semi-dry after 5 minutes or so.  After about an hour, I will gently blast the mini with a canned air computer dust cleaner to remove any ling, hair or debris that may have found its way on to the mini. Lastly I apply any paint touch-ups needed on the mini (with foreground figures I will highlight the sword with P3's Quick Silver) and then spray with Army Painter's Anti-Shine Matte Varnish Spray.

I apply 2-3 very light coats of the Anti-Shine over the entire figure and base.  I always make sure the garage temperature is not to cold and the humidity is not too high outside (which is tough during a Florida Summer).  Those two factors will ruin your work as the matte varnish will dry cloudy and spotty.  I allow the mini to dry for an hour or so before handling it and checking once again for any touch-ups that maybe needed.  Presto, the figure is done...time for a brew!

The Art of the Dip (Part 2a of Painting WLG's Primus Pilus Centurion 28mm metal mini)

To prep the dipping of the mini I warm-up the Army Painter Quick Shade Dip in warm water for a little bit (you don't want it to hot or the varnish will be too thin).  This ensure the thick varnish is "fluid" enough for application and let it flow into the mini's nooks and crannies.  For tools I layout a larger in-expensive synthetic brush, white mineral spirits, paper towels, popsicle stick to stir (very important -- do not shake the can as it creates tons of bubbles in the varnish).  I use the varnish dip from the stick directly for painting onto the mini.

Starting at the top of the mini and working my way down, with extra attention to all corners and edges, I drip and paint the varnish onto the mini, letting it flow.

I go back for more dip as needed without thinning it or wiping the application brush off and apply it thicker on the sandals and legs and bottom of the tunic edges.

I check the mini and see that the dip covers the areas pretty well.  There is no need for perfection at this point in the process (you want more varnish then needed, not less).  As the view from the back of the 28mm Centurion shows, you want the dip to be most concentrated in the corners and "shadowy" parts of the mini as if the light was coming from the top of the figure.

Now I allow around 5 minutes for the varnish to "set" on the mini.  I don't do anything and as you can see for the stick being clear of dip, that is about the correct amount of varnish I like to use per mini. Once the timer expires I look at the mini and see how the varnish set-up.  I use white mineral spirits to remove the dip from the highlight points and remove any excess from the corners and edges (with special attention to the weapon).  I repeatedly wipe the brush clean on the paper towel to remove the dip from the smaller synthetic brush and add more mineral spirits to the brush.

I like this part of the process, the varnish responds very well to mineral spirits as the varnish is now tacky and really wants to stick to the figure (which is good!).  I try to allow some extra varnish to stay in some places as the mini needs to look slightly campaign worn.

Now the mini must be left alone and you have to let the varnish dry for 24 hours.  Once dry, I will wash the flesh with P3's Flesh Wash and then highlight the whites and the metals with the appropriate paints.  I only do this on the foreground figures, for the line soldiers I don't do the highlighting just the flesh wash.

Once 24 hours passes, it will be time to finish the basing and apply the final matte spray coat.

To be continued...

Painting the Warlord Games Primus Pilus 28mm Centurion

Here is my step-by-step process for painting and finishing a Warlord Games' Centurion "Primus Pilus" Early Imperial Roman Legion 28mm metal alloy figure (Part 1 of 2, actually 3!).   

Step 1 -- I remove all metal "flash" and mold lines with a file and a sharp hobby knife.  Attach the WLG mini to a 2mm MDF 25mm round base with a metal washer between the figure and the base.  I use Gorilla Glue's Dries White 2x Fast glue (it is great because you only need a little bit and using an old paint brush I apply a little water to the mini's base and it activates the glue!).  I use the metal washer because the plastic 28mm figures from WLG weigh next to nothing and this adds some bulk.  And since I will use a washer in that application I need to do it for all the minis' height consideration.

Step 2 -- I use P3's outstanding Black Primer on the figure and the base.  I apply P3's White Primer to the front and back side of the Scutum (shield).  As I stated in my previous post I am using only Wargames Foundry's metal shields for my new Cohort.

Step 3 -- I drybrush on my armor color using either Foundry Paint Systems' Chain Mail or P3's Pig Iron (both look great to me and I will use both to get some variety in the Cohort's color scheme).  I paint the helmet and the Gladius (sword); as well as the shin guards.  For the backside of the shield I use a craft-store cheap Raw Sienna paint and just slap it on with a cheap brush.  This gets the laminated wood color done quickly for an area of the finished mini that will not really be seen.

Step 4 -- I paint the armor further using FPS' Metal or P3's Cold Steel, I attempt to highlight the armor's main raised areas.  And I paint the sword as well.

As you can see I don't worry about "over painting" onto different body parts.  This is the first rough-in painting of the armor.

Step 5 -- I paint the flesh now and paint the face with eyes (I use regular white for eyes and P3's Coal Black for the pupil).  Flesh is "hard" for me to figure out what looks right.  I have purchased at least 10 different flesh tones from various paint makers and haven't really found the one I like.  Some are to "pinkish" others just look like weak browns to me.  For this Centurion I am using a 50-50 mix of Army Painter's Tanned Flesh and Reaper's Master Series Paint High Density Caucasian Flesh.  I like the final result I think.  I also paint the leather Caligae (sandals) using P3's Bootstrap Leather.  I did this to ensure I was getting the toes painted correctly.

Step 6 -- I paint the red portions of the standard issue tunic, the Centurion's trademark transverse crest and his scarf with P3's Skorne Red.

Step 7 -- I paint more leather gear, like sword straps and his military decorations/award harness with P3's Bootstrap Leather.  I paint the metal links of the Centurion's belt with P3's Molten Bronze, as well the sword scabbard raised areas, and the Gladius hilt.  I like the tone of this paint as it look likes aged/worn bronze metal. 

As I go I touch up any parts of the armor that I mess up with P3's Cold Steel.  As I warm up during the painting session I have to do this less and less.

Step 8 -- I paint the Centurion's decorative over-tunic with P3's Morrow White (I use pure white despite its "brightness" because I will dip this figure later using Army Painter's Quick Shade Dipping varnish).  I highlight the tassels with P3's Solid Gold.

I once again look over the model to clean up any stray paint marks and fix with the appropriate color(s).

Step 9 -- I now add the Scutum to the mini using CA glue and Insta-Set from Litko models.  I paint the shield's boss with FPS's Chain Mail and the metal edge with P3's Brass Balls.  Once dry I cut out the Little Big Men Studios shield transfer and apply it to the shield; I really love these.  I prefer to use a Matte Medium or the water-based Decal Fix from Vallejo over the shield.  This ensure a proper weld of the decal to the shield surface, which later also prevents the Dip from going underneath the decal and ruining it.  

After that dries I touch up the edge and the boss as needed; I highlight the boss with P3's Quick Silver also.  I really like this version of LBMS shield transfer, the insignia is spot on for me.

Step 10 -- I apply a quick-drying spray of Krylon Crystal Clear to the mini lightly in order to seal it and this protects the Centurion figure prior to my "dipping". 

You don't have to worry the Gloss shine of the protective spray because later after the dip dries I will Matte Varnish the model with Army Painters Anti-Shine spray or Testors Dullcote varnish.  The main warning I have about this anti-shine procedure is don't use this spray with high humidity outside or lots of moisture in the air as the mini will dry cloudy with white spots and that ruins the model.

Part 2 coming soon! I will go over my Quick Shade dipping and basing techniques.

Quality Control Persons -- a dying breed?

I'm frustrated with Warlord Games' (WLG) Primus Pilus metal mini.  I have 3 of the figures and with each one of them the Gladius (sword) is different.  The 2mm MDF based Primus Pilus Centurion on left is prefect, after some sanding and mold line removal.  The middle Centurion is sort of okay, with the sword being slightly misshapen and short.  The right Centurion is a complete no-go; the sword is just a nub...come on how is he going to stab a dirty barbarian?!

I've written WLG about the issue and will await their reply.  It's un-sat to release models like this.  I miss the high quality standard of Aventine's minis for sure.

UPDATE: I received word back from Dave at WLG and he has assured me that two new Primus Pilus Centurion figures are on the way as of 6 February and the swords were inspected.  Hooray!