Shading

 I've been continuing painting 17c figures, primarily because they are easy and I don't have to think too hard .

I prime them black ( by hand) and then block in all the colours except metallics, then I dry brush with Ushabti bone, add the metal colours and then wash the whole figure.

Up until now I've been washing the figure with GW Agrax Earthshade, which is a very useful product for grubbying things up, before then highlighting selected parts of the figure. Quite often I won't highlight items of clothing, letting the wash over the bone dry brushing suffice. This creates quite a dark contrast, particularly on light colours which is ok but not always ideal.

I've now discovered Army Painter Soft tone, which is creates a much softer ( surprisingly) contrast which I prefer. It's cheaper too so I'll be using that from now on , occasionally dipping into the Earth shade to use up my reserve.

The last 4 washed with Agrax.

The first 4 washed with Army Painter Soft Tone .

I'm not sure if there's any noticeable difference in these pictures but the

 yellow in particular looks a lot better using the new method.

I need to start painting some up in Dutch colours as I've decided to theme my planned Mansfeld's Army on the battle of Fleurus, and it contained quite a number of Dutch infantry.