I built this model using Wargames Atlantic's Mounted Knights (1150-1320) plastic kit and a head and arm from the Foot Serjeants (1100-1320) box. My aim with this guide is to leave you with a nice playable character from the "Dramatis Personae" section in the back of The Barons' War Second edition book and pay homage to the Footsore Miniatures model also available.

You can find a more detailed guide, that covers painting technique and approaching characters in general in issue 137 of "Wargames Soldiers and Strategy". Be sure to check it out, if you want to see more from me.

To get started, I primed the model with Republic Blue . This step isn't 100% necessary and doesn't match perfectly, but it does make establishing a basecoat of yellow easier.

Brown Horse

1. Basecoat with Rhinox Hide .
2. Drybrush exposed areas with Mournfang Brown . I would recommend using a small brush and take the direction of the light into consideration. This stage is to act as a main highlight and add a little texture. Feel free to use a brush to pick out highlights on hard to reach parts.
3. Apply fine highlight to edges and curves using Skrag Brown .
4. Mix your Skrag Brown 1:1 with Ushabti Bone and highlight more selectively.
5. Finally, mix some Ivory into the paint above and add a few specular/very small highlights.

Black Tail

1. Basecoat with Black .
2. Drybrush with Skavenblight Dinge .
3. Selectively pick out upward facing curves with Stormvermin Fur .
4. Mix a little Ivory into your Stormvermin Fur and add a few smaller highlights to accentuate the previous steps.

Blue Cloth

1. Basecoat with Thunderhawk Blue .
2. Shade folds and downward facing cloth with Lupercal Green . This is a pretty different tone to the basecoat, so I recommend keeping it very thin and applying it as a few thin glazes. To make it easier, I thin it 1:1 with Lahmian Medium .
3. Enhance the deepest and darkest parts of the cloth. For this, I mix my Lupercal Green 2:1 with Abaddon Black and apply it more selectively.
4. Apply some general highlighting to folds, corners and curved surfaces that are exposed to the light. For this I used 2:1 Thunderhawk Blue and Deepkin Flesh . I applied these highlights in scratchy lines, pulling my brush towards what will be the brightest point.
5. Highlight again, this time covering a smaller area with 1:1 Thunderhawk Blue and Deepkin Flesh .
6. Selectively highlight the brightest point using 1:2 Thunderhawk Blue and Deepkin Flesh . You should be highlighting within the bound of the previous stage, accentuating the shape of the sculpt.
7. Finish with very small/specular highlights of pure Deepkin Flesh .

I used this same recipe for the shield, just applied it in a slightly different way. Instead of relying upon scratchy highlights to add texture, I instead highlighted with clean and pretty uniform lines, making full use of the sharp edges on the shield. To stop things looking too uniform, I painted a few scratches with the final two colours, making it look like it has seen combat.

Decals

For those of you that are interested, I used the wonderful "Fleur-de-Lys – Yellow" sheet from Forgotten Chapters for the markings on the shield and caparison. It is a wonderful set and a worthy purchase for your Barons' War retinue.

https://www.forgottenchapters.eu/product/fleur-de-lys-yellow/

This sheets is a single flat colour, so I touched up the Fleur-de-Lys slightly with a Ice Yellow highlight and some Skrag Brown shading.

Please do show some love and check out the rest of their sheets too!

Wood

1. Basecoat with Thondia Brown .
2. Shade with Rhinox Hide .
3. Highlight and add woodgrain with a mix of 2:1 Thondia Brown and Steel Legion Drab .
4. Take the above paint and mix it 1:1 with Administratum Grey . Now use this for fine highlights.
5. Increase the amount of Administratum Grey again, then add selective highlights.
6. Finish with a few specular highlights of pure Administratum Grey .

Red Leather

1. Basecoat with a 1:1 mix of Khorne Red and Doombull Brown .
2. Shade with Khorne Red and Abaddon Black mixed.
3. Add Jokaero Orange into the base mix and apply chunky highlights.
4. Highlighting within the last stage, go over the area again with small amounts of pure Jokaero Orange .
5. Add some Vallejo Model Colour Ivory into the Jokaero Orange and selectively highlight, increasing the amount and making the highlights smaller as you go.

Dark Brown Leather

1. Basecoat with Rhinox Hide .
2. Add edge highlights to everything and volumetric highlights with Doombull Brown .
3. Selectively highlight with XV-88 , using the big highlights from the previous stage as a guide.
4. Finish with very small Screaming Skull highlights.

Skin

1. Basecoat the skin with 4 parts Cadian Fleshtone , 4 parts Ushabti Bone and 1 of White . This sounds more complicated than it is, but its just an equal parts mix of two paints and a touch of white. Feel free to wing it.
2. Take a little of the base colour and mix it 3:1 with Doombull Brown . Use this colour to add soft shading to the skin.
3. Add more select shading with 5:1 Doombull Brown and Abaddon Black .
4. Take a little of the base colour and mix it 2:1 with White . Use this colour to add highlights to the skin.
5. Now mix the base colour 1:1 with White and add selective highlights.

Saddle Pad

1. Basecoat with Karak Stone .
2. Shade with Steel Legion Drab .
3. Deep shade with a 1:1 mix of Steel Legion Drab and Rhinox Hide .
4. Glaze/chunky highlight with 1:1 Karak Stone and Screaming Skull . I would recommend doing several passes here, to really boost the brightness and always pull your brush towards the edge.
5. Glaze/chunky highlight with 1:1 Karak Stone and Screaming Skull .
6. Mix some of the previous paint 1:1 with White and add fine highlights.
7. Mix your Karak Stone , Screaming Skull . and White 1:1 with more White . Now apply selective highlights with this bright paint.
8. Finish with specular highlights of White .

Chainmail and Steel

1. Basecoat with Leadbelcher .
2. Wash with Nuln Oil .
3. I also like to enhance the shading in recesses and where areas of steel need separating. For this I typically use glazes of Agrax Earthshade .
4. Overbrush and highlight using Ironbreaker .
5. Finish with selective highlights of Silver RLM01 Metallic .

Blades

1. Basecoat with Silver .
2. Glaze shading over half of the blade with Gryph-charger Grey . I would recommend keeping this thin and doing a couple of passes.
3. Repeat on the half furthest from the pure silver, creating a rudimental gradient. This time I use Nuln Oil straight from the pot.
4. Ensure tall edges are highlighted, where the previous two sets of glazes may have over spilled. For this I like to use Ironbreaker , simply because I find it catches edges easier than Vallejo Metal Color paints.
5. Finish with selective highlights of Silver RLM01 Metallic on edges that still have the solid Silver basecoat. Focus more highlights towards the tip.

Gold Details

1. Basecoat using Retributor Armour .
2. Shade selectively with Reikland Fleshshade where there are details or recesses that need more definition.
3. Add some Silver RLM01 Metallic to the Retributor Armour , and highlight selectively.
4. Finish with a few dots of pure Silver RLM01 Metallic .