Painting A 1:300 Renaissance Galley

I'm excited for the Pacificon Game Expo that is coming up on September 4-7.  One of the big games I'll be co-running and playing in is a battle of Lepanto game done at 1/4 size (that's a heck of a lot of ships!).  I'll be bringing my 46-50 ships - currently I have 46 done (42 done by commission by Thomas Foss and 4 ships I've done myself since getting them last week).  This game is fast paced, fun and deadly - I'm really looking forward to it!

A Venetian Galley with the wind at its back.

So, what about these ships then?  Skull & Crown offers a full range of laser cut birch plywood ships that cover all the main ships and factions involved in the period (Venetians, Spanish, Papal States, Genoa, Knights of Malta, Turks and Corsairs).  There are ship models for Galleass, Lanternas, Galleys and Galiots (and Fustas which don't have any game effect but are used behind the ships to hold two dice indicating how many hull points remain).

In this post I'm going to paint up a regular Turkish Galley.  The pictures below along with their captions will guide you through the steps I used to paint up this particular Galley.  I've also included some additional photos of the other Galleys I've painted up as well.  All paint references are for Wargames Foundry paints unless otherwise specified.

This is what you get in a single Galley model kit.  There
are several different sets of color sheets for each of
the factions as well as different crew markers.  You can
choose to use a mast with or without sails.

Step 1:  I do two coats of a brown wash over the wooden
deck areas of the Galley and Fusta.  The first coat absorbs
into the wood while the second will fill in the details
stronger than the first coat.

Step 2:  I assemble the hulls.  The washed wooden deck
is now mush cleaner than before.  Only the mast remains
separate at this point.

Step 3:  Paint the base colors you've chosen for the ship.  In
this example I'm using Foundry paints: Prussian Gun
Mid Blue 106A (Shade) and Yellow 2A (Shade).

Step 4:  Paint the deck details, specifically the cannon
barrels, cannon chassis for the central gun and the
bow spur (ram) - which I paint base black then highlight.
Again Foundry paints are used:
Gold 36C (Shiny - I mix mine with a significant
portion of silver when I get the pot from Foundry),
Red Oxide 102C (Light) for the chassis and
Charcoal Black 34B (spur highlight).

Step 5:  I highlight the deck colors using:
Prussian Gun Mid Blue 106C (Light) and Yellow 2C (Light).

Step 6:  I paint the water blue and give it a black wash
to fill the details around the oars:
Deep Blue 20C (Light) and GW Black wash.

Step 7:  I paint the base color on the oars and then highlight
them.  I also repaint the base color on the water leaving
the black washed part as an outline:
Deep Blue 20C (Light), Yellow 2A (Shade) for the
base oar color and Yellow 2C (Light) to highlight the oars.

Step 8:  Cut out and attach the flag sheet (paper) details.
This includes the two flags, awning for the stern of the
Galley, and the details running down the sides of the hull.
I use white glue to attach the details - DO NOT use
super glue as it saturates and darkens the paper which
results in an uneven coloring in the paper.  To get the
"wavy" effect in the flags, after I glue them and get
them affixed to the metal pins, I use the handle of a
thin paint brush, wrapping the flag around the handle
at different points.

Step 9:  Onto the crew.Paint the back of the circles black,
flip it over and use a heavy black wash on the front details
of the crew markers.  Note that here I've washed the
five boarding crew markers, the Captain marker and the
prize (captured ship) marker.  Second, I use a base grey
color on the smoke marker:
GW Black Wash and Slate Grey 32B.

Step 10:  Paint the base colors on the crew, captain and
prize markers.  I paint the base color on the mast while
using black on the rope/rigging line areas:
Prussian Gun Mid Blue 106A (Shade),
Yellow 2A (Shade) and GW Black.

Step 11:  Several things going on here.  Firstly, I paint the
highlights on the mast, paint the rope/rigging lines on the
mast and affix the flag to the top of the mast.  I then paint
the edges of the markers black after punching them out of
their sprue.  I painted the top of the flag poles gold.  I
speckle a light grey and white on the smoke marker to
give a layered look to the smoke marker.
Prussian Gun Mid Blue 106C (Light), GW Screaming Skull
(rope/rigging lines), Gold 36C (Shiny) for the flag pole tops,
GW Black, Slate Grey 32C and White (smoke marker). 

Step 12:  For the rigging I use black thread (from a sewing
kit).  There are pre cut holes in the hull for the rigging
points.  I use a dab of super glue to fill the hole, then I
stick the end of the thread into the hole.  I let it set for
a minute than I raise the thread above the top of the mast
and cut it at about an inch or so above the tip of the top
of the mast.  I then use tweezers (cause I have big dumbo
fingers) to tie off the thread just above the cross section.
Once tied off I use another small dab of super glue to hold
the top of the thread and cut off any excess thread using
my exacto knife.  I do this for the three rigging lines
either side of the hull and for the stern rigging line.
After taking these photos I actual used GW Screaming Skull
to highlight the rigging lines which I like better than
just leaving them black as pictured.

The finished product.  A Turkish Galley ready for action!

Another Turkish Galley.  I used Foundry French Dragoon
Green 70A & C as the color for this ship.

For this Turkish Galley I used black with a highlight
using Foundry Charcoal Black 34B.

If you want to see the large number (42) of ships Thomas Foss did for me, check out his post here (here be more pictures!).

So there you have it folks.  That is how I'm painting up my ships for Galleys, Guns & Glory!  I'm really happy with the results.  Pictures don't do the ships justice when you see a fleet arrayed before you and ready for action!  I'll of course post lots of pictures from Pacificon of the many games I'll be playing in and running.

Painting 7th Cavalry (Dead Man's Hand)

Hello all,

I've started painting my 7th Cavalry gang for Dead Man's Hand so I figured I would so a "step-by-step" painting guide to how I'm painting them.  I decided to use my phone to take the pictures ... I think it works (and is fast ... I'm already a slow painter as it is ...).

In this guide I'll be painting the guy pictured below on the right.  I painted the other guy earlier.

Let's paint some 7th cavalry!

The rest of the guide here will be in the captions of the photos.  I've included the specific paints I've used in the pictures themselves (as you'll see).

I started by painting the trousers light blue and the tunic
dark blue.  I then used a black wash on both the
trousers and the tunic.  Back view.

Front view.

I use the same base blue color to put the first
layer on the trousers. Front view.

Back view.

I use black to paint the stripes on the trousers.

Other side of the trousers.

Second layer of blue on the trousers.  Front view.

Back view.

Third layer of blue on the trousers.  Front view.

Back view.

Base yellow on the trouser stripes.

Other side stripe.

First highlight on the stripe.

Other side stripe.

Third layer of yellow on the stripes.

Other side stripe.

Base steel on the spurs.

I washed the spurs with black wash.

I highlight the spurs with silver/metal.

I use a black highlight color to highlight the shoes.
I don't like leaving things just plain black as it looks
unfinished to me.

First layer of Union blue on the tunic.  Front view.

Back view.

Second layer of blue on the tunic.  Front view.

Back view.

I use black to repaint the belts, holster and bugle.

I use my gold mix to paint the buttons, belt buckle
and put a base gold on the bugle.  Technically my
Foundry 36C "Shiny" is the highlight color for
the Foundry gold set.  I added a healthy amount
of silver into my gold highlight to get the pot of
paint in the picture that is not labeled.  Front view.

Back view.

I use a black wash on the bugle - not many details to fill
but it tones down the gold so I can highlight it.

I use my special gold highlight to highlight the bugle.

I paint a base yellow color on the tassels of the bugle.

First highlight on the bugle tassels.

Final highlight on the bugle tassels.

I use my black highlight to paint the straps and holster.

I paint the base colors on the knife handle (spearshaft)
and scabbard (drab)..

I use only a single highlight for the handle and scabbard,
using the "C" colors in the Foundry ranges.+

I paint the flesh a base color of GW Rhinox Hide (hands
and face), I use Foundry Spearshaft on the wood
of the carbine and GW Leadbelcher.on the metal parts
of the carbine.

I wash the carbine all over and hands with a black wash.

I use metal to highlight the carbine barrel and trigger.  I use
gold for a band around the barrel and use a first
highlight on the wood parts of the carbine.

I put the final highlight on the wood of the carbine.

I put the base yellow color on the scarf.

First highlight on the yellow scarf.

Final highlight on the yellow scarf.

First highlight on the flesh - face and hands.

Final highlight on the face and hands.

I use black and white to paint the eyes.  They look a
little strange because of how close the picture is
but "in person" it looks good.

I use a red brown to paint what little hair is visible
on the back of the head.

I use white glue and GW sand to sand the base.

I use GW Steel Legion Drab to base the entire base.

I use a sand highlight color to drybrush the base
drab color.  The crack you can see in the sand is
because I didn't let the white glue fully dry
before painting the base drab color --- but I don't mind
since I'll cover it with tufts.

I use yellow tufts on the base --- small and large sized
mixed together to hide the crack and edges of
the base that can been seen through the sand.  Normally
I use wall joint compound (pre-mixed drywall) to
fill around the thicker bases.

To finish the job I use the base drab paint to paint
the edges of the base to make it look cleaner.

The finished product - front view.

The finished product - back view.

I know it took a lot of pictures, but that is generally how I paint my own miniatures ... and when I look to contract painting out I use painters that can match or paint closely to my models.  I hope you've enjoyed looking through this!