“Gustav Adolf’s best cavalry were his Swedish nationals… Most feared of all were Stålhandske’s light-armed Finns, the “Hakcapells”(named after their war-cry Hakkaa päälle – Hack ‘em down!) who took no prisoners. The German cavalry were a very mixed bunch, ranging from regiments like Courvill’s and Ohm’s which had fought in the Polish campaign, to hastily recruited units that had yet to be issued standards. On the whole they were distinctly inferior … it was for this reason that Gustav Adolf strengthened them by ‘interlining’ bodies of musketeers between the squadrons.” (1)

Although King Charles X Gustav’s invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was more than two decades after Gustav Adolf’s bloody battle at Lützen, the nature of Sweden’s mounted arm had not drastically changed in the intervening years. From the hard-hitting Finnish veterans to German mercenaries who were recent recruits to the Swedish flag, Charles X Gustav depended on his cavalry for offensive action and charges. In the insurgent war that followed the Swedish occupation of much of the country, in which infantry had a hard time covering the times and spaces needed to confront the cavalry-heavy Poles, Charles X became increasingly reliant on his cavalry arm. It is noteworthy that at the war’s largest battle, Warsaw in 1656, more than two-thirds of the Swedish-Brandenburger army under Charles X’s command were cavalry. Despite their inferiority to their Polish and Imperial counterparts, Swedish cavalry by the time of the Deluge included veteran troops and disciplined commanders who usually acquitted themselves well on the battlefield.

It is only natural that my next painting project will focus on these grizzled units of the Swedish cavalry arm, 15mm veteran reiters for my By Fire and Sword collection (links here for the main store and here for the US store). I’ve done things slightly differently with my painting method, and as a result I am very pleased with the results. I used Vallejo Glaze Medium with my paints and altered my method accordingly. This is for three purposes. I’m not actually using a glazing technique, per se, but I am using the properties of the glaze medium to achieve a kind of wet blend. The glaze medium acts a both a thinner and a retardant, and delays the drying time for the paint. This allows me to mix in highlight colors on raised areas and provides a smoother and less harsh contrast. The glaze medium also provides an excellent texture when dried. I got this idea from watching Miniac’s video on wet blending here. This was my first time using this technique or attempting to ape wet-blending in general. While my results might not be the best example of wet-blending, I like the final finish and I’ve decided to adopt this method going forward.

So in essence: 1. Lay a base color mixed with glaze medium. You want to make sure the pigment is thin but not too thin. If the paint is too runny like a wash or ink, add more of the color to the mix. Clean the brush immediately with clean water (have a cup at your paint station, even if you use a wet palette) and wipe your brush on a paper towel. Then immediately use a mix of a highlight color, base color, and glaze medium blend. Paint this on the raised areas or areas exposed to light, leaving recessed unpainted. Clean the brush. Line (a method opposite of highlighting where you paint darker colors into the recesses) the recessed area with the base color/glaze mix. Clean the brush. Finally, hit the highlight color (or highlight mixed) combined with the medium. on the highest raised areas or the areas that would be most exposed to light. Clean the brush. Further line and apply highlights as necessary.

Using faces as an example (following the adage of “Good Faces, Bases, and Flags”).

Base the face

1. Base coat of Mourfang Brown and glaze mix.

Wet palettes help keep paints wet for longer periods and are a nice tool to have. Note water cups to the left.

2. Clean brush applied a 40/60 Brown/Flat Flesh and glaze mix on the cheeks, forehead and nose.

3. Clean brush. Lined the eyes and the bottom creases of the cheeks with Mourfang Brown/glaze mix.

4. Clean brush. Apply a Flat Flesh and glaze mix on the top of the cheeks, nose, and the center of the forehead.

Final Face result

… and from a slightly different angle.

From start to finish, painting this face took about six minutes. This is not as fast as a straight base coat and contrasted highlighted (about three minutes in my case) or using something like a dip or stain (barring the drying times for those methods), but the result is much more nuanced and textured in a manner that it is worth the extra steps and the slight increase in time spent in my opinion.

The paints used for faces:

Refer to paint comparison charts if you need to use a substitute.

What I used: Uses: Vallejo Glaze Medium As a thinner and retardant to assist with blending, highlighting, lining, and to result in an excellent texture when dry Vallejo Gloss Varnish First layer of varnish on the miniature. For maximum protection. Vallejo Matt Varnish Second and final layer of varnish applied to the miniatures twelve hours after the first. Citadel Chaos Black Spray Primer Citadel Mourfang Brown Face & fleshtone base color. Also used to base the bay color horses. Vallejo Model Color Flat Flesh Face & fleshtone highlight color, used to mix highlight with browns for some bay colored horses, though to a lesser extent than the faces. Vallejo Model Color White Highlight color for cravats and small clothes, and to highlight the base colors for the wool coats, boots, scabbards, and hats. Citadel Wazdakka Red Base color for red Vallejo Model Color Hull Red Used to base coat wood on pistols Vallejo Model Color Mahogany Brown Highlight color on the pistols. Mixed with yellow in 50/50 to highlight leather. Mixed with black to highlight the chestnut colored horse. Citadel Rhinox Hide Used to base coat leather Vallejo Model Color Dark Prussian Blue Base color for the blue wool coat Vallejo Model Color Military Green Base color for the green wool coat Privateer Press P3 Greatcoat Grey Base color for the gray wool coat Vallejo Model Color Chocolate Brown Base color for two hats Privater Press P3 Ironhull Grey Base color for the gray hat and for the cravats and white colors Vallejo Model Color Oily Steel Used to paint the pistol barrels and gunmetal Vallejo Model Color Black Base color for boots and scabbards. Also base for the chestnut colored horse. Vallejo Model Color Brass Base color for sword hilts Vallejo Model Color White Primer Priming the base for the unit Vallejo Model Color Flat Earth Base color for the base. Mixed with matt varnish to ensure protection for the base while handling. Drybrush highlight on the base. Citadel Stirland Mud Texture paint for the base

So from start to finish:

Pre-painting preparation

Cleaned the miniatures in a water/dish washing liquid mix and a toothbrush to clear away casting dust and to leave a clean surface for the primer. Cut away mold lines with an X-Acto knife. Super-glued the riders to their horses.

Post priming

Used PVA glue to temporarily attach the old rulers and primed.

One reiter finished. The second rider has been painted, but still needs his mount painted.

Base color and highlights for the riders. Moved them to an old bottle to use as a paint handle. Painted the riders first, then the horses.

The varnishing process has not been shown.

Attached to the base.

Returned to the rulers with PVA glue to varnish. I used paint-on varnish because my area is too hot and humid this time of year to reliably use a spray varnish. Double varnished, with an initial layer of gloss varnish and followed twelve hours later with a matt varnish to kill the glossy effect of the first varnish. Shook the varnish well and slightly thinned with water.

After an application of Stirland Mud

Super-glued the figures on to the pre-primed base. Applied the base coat/matt varnish mix. After waiting for that to dry, I applied the texture paint carefully to the base, carefully avoiding the attached miniatures with the texture paint. I cleaned up the edge of the base where texture paint wound up on it.

The finished base

After waiting for the texture base to dry, I applied a drybrush highlight and then static grass and bushes. Voila!

Richard Brzezinski, Lutzen 1632: Climax of the Thirty Years War (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2001), 21.