Amazon.com
By Javier Gomez “El Mercenario”
Published by Pen and Sword Press, 2016
192pp
5 out of 5 Stars
I know I did a capsule write-up of this book before, but I think it deserves a deeper look. This, to me, was one of the better books on painting miniatures for wargames out there. While the emphasis of the book was on 19th Century subjects and oriented towards 28mm scale, they have something for everyone’s needs with regards to painting.
First off, Mr. Gomez and Mr. Farnsworth are two painters (Piers Brand and Matt Hingley are two others!) who I have learned a lot of technique from. The first thing I would tell anyone starting out in the miniatures hobby is this: Copying techniques from others is ok but make them yours and make them work for you. Mr. Gomez’s book is a very approachable way to learn, and you can really see the approach he takes to painting in the hobby.
What I like about this book is the breakdown he takes you through. He discusses basic techniques, such as color selection, tools, base colors, and highlights, as well as the use of patinas (or washes if you prefer). It’s done in a very conversational style and with a very approachable method. He also discusses the tools of the trade and how to use them in a no-nonsense way.
I like that each of the chapters is focused on a single color and multiple techniques for that color, and then he builds on that with other themes, like faces, flesh, horses, etc.
His advice on painting white alone is great. Being a translucent color, white is extremely hard to get right, especially against a black background, which is why I don’t prime my figures with black paint anymore. His advice is punctuated with easy-to-read color tables and well-illustrated with clear pictures. Nothing ruins a tutorial faster than no sort of pictures, especially now, in this age of cellphone cameras.
Sample Page | On Sean’s Table Blog
The book is functional, to the point, and other than a forward telling the reader how he got started in the hobby, the book is not slick or overly polished. It just tells you how to paint a good figure.
To me, this is everything I want in a tutorial book. It’s got just enough eye candy to do the job, with solid advice on tools of the trade. He evaluates several paint lines and is fair-minded with all of them, but his favorite is Vallejo Model Colors (of which he gives all of his tutorials geared towards). It’s a bias I share, as I own a ton of them, or at least that’s what my paintRack app tells me.
I know I keep mentioning this, but what really strikes me is his no-nonsense advice. He’s very frank about the level of effort you should be putting in, reminding the reader that these aren’t 90mm display figures but 28mm and smaller gaming figures, and while there are tons of tricks out there to make these figures look just as good, the question is, do you want to pass a certain point? Like most gamers, while it’s fun and relaxing to paint, the point is to ultimately get these bad boys on the table! He also talks about themes like horses, flags, camouflage (a bugbear of mine, I am never happy with my own skill in this area), as well as finishing steps like varnishing and basing. It’s also got solid advice for how to modify these techniques for smaller scales, such as 15mm and 20mm. (The 15mm techniques I have taken and modified for my own for my science fiction and Russian Civil War).
In short, if this book isn’t in your painting arsenal, it should be. I disagree with him on a few things, such as priming colors, but as I said any book of this nature is meant to make these techniques yours. The book has practical advice for every painter of every skill level. I’ve certainly taken his advice and made it mine.
My only complaint? I wish he’d done a section on yellow, which is another bugbear of mine. I know, I know, use the white tutorials, but yellow isn’t white. They are different in a lot of ways. But that said, the book is still a solid buy. It’s available from Amazon for $23.09 in paperback and $1.99 on Amazon.
In short, buy this book!
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(This article is credited to Jason Weiser. Jason is a long-time wargamer with published works in the Journal of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers; Miniature Wargames Magazine; and Wargames, Strategy, and Soldier.)