In this article, I'll show you how to paint two Spanish adventurers involved in the conquest of Mexico (1519-1521), using the Wargames Atlantic plastic Conquistadors. All the paints used in the guide are from Vallejo, unless otherwise indicated: Model Color (VMC), Model Air (VMA), and Game Color (VGC).
Start by cleaning the plastic models and glueing them together. I used grey as an undercoat because all colours cover it easily.
THE SKIN
I start with the skin. My painting style uses the “layering method”, beginning with shades and progressively applying highlight (066, VGC), using (041, VGC) as a base, and the latter mixed with (858, VMC) for the highlights. Start by applying an even layer of over all the skin areas. You can also paint the eyes at this stage: first, use white to paint a white oval; and then, with black, paint a vertical line in the middle. The size of the eyes can be adjusted with , if needed. Next, mix with in the same proportion to create the first intermediate layer on the skin, covering most areas except the deepest recesses. Next, use pure but focus on the finger tips and knuckles on the hands, and the forehead, nose, and upper cheeks on the face. For the highlights, add Ice Yellow to the previous colour: first around 25%, and then around 50% for the final highlight. All layers should be visible at the end. For the beard, I used (302, VMC) or pure black, with highlights, by mixing either colour with pink or light yellow and painting them as vertical lines to simulate strands of hair.
