How to paint Games Workshop miniatures? In this tutorial, we will show you a number of painting techniques for decorating your Citadel miniatures. In this new guide we will see which steps to follow to paint the Legolas model
Welcome back to Painting workshop by techigames! After the previous tutorial on Frodo Baggins, which you can view on this page, here we are with a new guide in which we will see how to paint your Legolas model, with very simple techniques using colors Citadel and be able to expand your collection of miniatures Games Workshop than undertake the strategic battle game in Middle-earth.
We remind you that the miniatures, the colors and all the tools for modeling are available on the website www.games-workshop.com.
Tutorial 5: Legolas - How to paint Games Workshop (Citadel) miniatures
Legolas is the Prince of the Elves, son of Thranduil, the King of Mirkwood. Like all his people, he is a keen-eyed and highly accurate archer. Legolas is first introduced to Rivendell, who has come from his realm to join King Elrond's Council. The objective of the Council is to decide what to do with the One Ring of Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor, brought to the elven realm by the hobbit Frodo Baggins after many adventures. And it is here that Legolas joins the Fellowship of the Ring, to protect Frodo in order to accompany him to Mount Doom, the mountain of fire into which the Ring must be thrown in order to be destroyed. Legolas' archery skills stand out in different moments of difficulty, first of all the attack of the Goblins in the Mines of Moria, once a stronghold of the dwarves that became home to orcs and even more dangerous creatures, and later to Amon Hen, on the west bank of the Anduin River, where the ambush of the Uruk-hai explorers of Saruman takes place, sent by the White Wizard to retrieve the Ring and deliver it to Sauron. During the long journey to Mordor, Legolas makes a great friendship with the dwarf Gimli, which will lead them to fight side by side in all the numerous events of The Lord of the Rings.
If you are interested in more insights on Legolas, we refer you to the Wikipedia page.
Learn more about the different basic painting techniques, useful for all your Games Workshop miniatures, we recommend that you visit this page.
Please note:: As in the case of Aragorn in the third tutorial, also for Legolas exist numerous Games Workshop templates, related to different moments of the trilogy, and in this guide we will analyze step by step how to paint the metal model belonging to the set of "The Fellowship of the Ring“, But don't worry if you have a different thumbnail! Special guides will come out soon so that you can decorate the other versions of Legolas too!
Set Games Workshop "The Fellowship of the Ring"
Phase 1: cleaning and assembling of Legolas | How to paint Games Workshop (Citadel) miniatures
As already seen in the previous tutorials, the first thing to do before starting to paint your Legolas miniature is to carefully remove all the excess burrs that remain after the casting process and you can use a common cutter or wire cutter. Don't worry if you accidentally scratch the model, as these small incisions will be covered with acrylic paints later.
Your Legolas miniature
Another thing to watch out for is to make sure all parts are straight; in the case of Legolas it may happen that the bow or the dagger (Games Workshop set “The Fellowship is divided”) are slightly crooked and to correct this defect just bend them gently in the correct direction.
Once this is done, glue your Legolas miniature onto the base with the cyanoacrylate glue.
Your model mounted on the base
Phase 2: base color | How to paint Games Workshop (Citadel) miniatures
Once the model is assembled, you will need to give a color base to make the shades you apply in the following phases adhere well. To get an even layer of color use Citadel Chaos Black spray, but be careful and make sure you use this technique outdoors.
As an alternative to Chaos Black you could also use the Mechanicus Standard Gray, as Legolas is characterized by shades that are not very dark, and remember that at this stage the important thing is to completely cover the metal of which the model is made.
Citadel sprays recommended for primer
As an alternative to the spray, you can apply Citadel Abaddon Black paint in a bottle. If this is too thick, add a drop of water and dilute it slightly on the palette, but be careful not to overdo it!
Step 3: Painting Legolas Pants and Boots | How to paint Games Workshop (Citadel) miniatures
To paint Legolas' pants, apply Mechanicus Standard Gray as the base shade. Once this is done, wash with Nuln Oil (alternatively, Abaddon Black diluted with a little water is fine) and let it dry. To lighten the raised areas, apply the Dawnstone with a fine-tipped brush with the ruling.
For the boots, you can use Rhinox Hide as a background color and then apply Nuln Oil for shading. When the color is dry, use the Baneblade Brown with the ruling technique on the outermost areas and finally the Karak Stone with the edging.
Citadel Paints for Legolas Pants and Boots
Step 4: Paint Legolas' Outer Tunic | How to paint Games Workshop (Citadel) miniatures
Despite the numerous adventures of the Fellowship of the Ring, Legolas' elven clothing always appears the same in all their elegance. To decorate the outer tunic, use Loren Forest as a base and Castellan Green on the front and shoulders. When these colors are dry, do a light black wash. To highlight the raised areas we recommend applying an equal parts mix of Loren Forest and Nurgling Green with the ruling technique, except on the front panel on the chest and shoulders, parts that you can lighten using a mix of Castellan Green and Loren Forest . To complete, use Nurgling Green with the edging technique.
Shades of green for Legolas' outer tunic
Step 5: Paint Legolas' inner robe and leather parts | How to paint Games Workshop (Citadel) miniatures
For Legolas' inner robe you can apply Dawnstone. To give a royal touch, you can mix Administratum Gray and Runefang Steel in equal parts and highlight the folds of the dress with the ruling technique, so the silver will give a bright and elegant effect.
Citadel paints for Legolas' inner garment
For leather parts you can use Rhinox Hide and, when this is dry, highlight with Mournfang Brown.
Recommended colors for leather parts
Step 6: Paint Legolas Weapons | How to paint Games Workshop (Citadel) miniatures
Legolas possesses several elven weapons, first of all the majestic arc of Mirkwood. Use the Rhinox Hide for bow and quiver, leaving the decorations on the quiver black as we will paint them later. Once this is done, you can apply a highlight before Gorthor Brown and after Baneblade Brown on the top of the bow and on the side edge of the quiver, creating a glowing effect. Then apply the Auric Armor Gold with an XS Artificer Layer brush to decorate all the metal parts that characterize them.
The weapons of Legolas
Paint each arrow with a fine-tipped brush using Tuskgor Fur, then dry-brush Skrag Brown for the pens.
Citadel Layer to refine weapons
For the hilt of the elven daggers, you can mix equal parts Ushabti Bone and Gehenna's Gold as a base, then lighten the top and edges on Auric Armor Gold.
The daggers of Legolas
Step 7: Paint Legolas Face, Hair and Hands | How to paint Games Workshop (Citadel) miniatures
For Legolas blonde hair, apply Ushabti Bone as a color undercoat, then do a very light black wash to create minimal shading. Finally, use the Screaming Skull with the dry brush technique to give a touch of brightness to the outer strands.
Tip: for the hair that rests on the dress, we advise you to use a fine-tipped brush (the XS Artificer Layer is fine) and decorate strand by strand, avoiding applying the dry brush technique and thus dirtying the green tunic.
The face and hands should first be painted with Cadian Fleshtone as the base color. When the flesh color is dry, apply a very light wash of Rhinox Hide to darken the grooves of the miniature and thus create a shadow effect. Finally, apply Kislev Flesh with the ruling technique to highlight all the raised parts such as cheekbones, nose and forehead.
For the eyes, use Ceramite White first and then Rhinox Hide for the pupil and eyebrows, using an XS Artificer Layer brush.
Citadel Skin and Hair Colors
Step 8: Paint the Last Details of Legolas | How to paint Games Workshop (Citadel) miniatures
For belt buckles use Runefang Steel with an XS Artificer Layer brush.
You can paint the forearms with Rhinox Hide and highlight them with Gorthor Brown with the ruling technique. If you want, you can decorate them with Auric Armor Gold, trying to recreate the drawing of the real character.
Step 9: Decorating Legolas' base | How to paint Games Workshop (Citadel) miniatures
As explained in the previous tutorials, you can decorate the Legolas base giving space to your imagination; for example apply Citadel Texture Stirland Mud or Astrogranite on top to create a rock effect and paint the sides with XV-88 or Mechanicus Standard Gray. To complete you can add Mordheim or Middenland Clods.
Citadel Textures recommended for bases
Clods of Mordheim
Alternatively, you can decorate the Legolas base by painting it completely Mournfang Brown and then gluing some static modeling grass with the glue.
Games Workshop static grass
With that done, your Legolas miniature is ready to join the Fellowship of the Ring in the strategic battle game in Middle-earth!
Your Legolas model is complete!
How to paint Games Workshop (Citadel) miniatures - Tutorial 5: Legolas
This tutorial from the Techigames Painting Workshop dedicated to decorating Games Workshop miniatures (eg Warhammer or Lord of the Rings) also ends here. For any questions or requests we are available via the comments box below!
Appointment to next Saturday with a new tutorial!
