Polishing the bronze

Having painted several units of hoplites for ‘Alala! I have been experimenting with different ways to achieve a nice polished bronze on shields and armour — looking to create a deep bronze with a bright sheen that stands out on the table top.

There are quicker ways to do this, so those of you interested in getting your men ready for battle as soon as possible should look away now.

I, however, enjoy painting and the process of getting the effect I am looking for even if it takes several stages.

I almost always paint armour first as the technique I use will cause spill-over onto other parts of the figures. As the painted shields have bronze rims I have done the shield faces of those first, leaving some shields to have bronze faces.

First I apply a coat of Tin Bitz over all the bronze. This is an old Games Workshop paint that I have had for years. It gives a lovely deep bronze glossy base. I do not know if there is a more recent equivalent but as I still have plenty left I will not need to look for a substitute for quite some time.

Then I lightly apply a series of lighter bronze to gold shades using a flat brush to flick the paint over the base coat — not exactly dry brushing, as having a little moisture in the paint keeps it nice and glossy — especially on the shields which do not have prominent details to pick out. The painted shield edges are done with a smaller brush so as not to spill over onto the painted design.

I find Roberson’s water based liquid metal paints ideal and they come in a variety of shades.

Antique Gold follows on from the Blackened Bronze and already the shields and armour are developing a nice sheen that highlights the detail.

Then comes a lighter Royal Gold

Followed by a bright Classic Gold

At this stage I could leave it but I find a thin wash of Coat d’Arms Black Shade really picks out the details.

Finally I touch up some of the highlights on the figures with a little more Classic gold to make them stand out.

This will eventually become a unit of Athenians — more on this later when I have finished them.