To paint the Warhawk itself, first base coat it brown. Then, working from the front of the body back toward the tail, drybrush it with lighter shades, each drybrush coat becoming lighter. Also, as you go out to the tail and wing feathers, get lighter as you go toward the end of the feathers till the tips of the feathers are white. You can then go and drybrush a grey band approximately 1/3 inward from the end of the wing feathers and from the end of the tail feathers. Do this very lightly, barely touching the feathers. Always make sure that all of your drybrushing starts from the head area and goes toward the rear of the figure. You will want to drybrush the breasts and belly of the hawk white and then paint the beak and legs first an almost cream-coloured tan and then paint them black, blending the black from the center of the beak outward toward the edges to get the look of a hawk's beak and wash the black over the legs and feet, giving a transparent covering over the original colour, then paint the claws the same way you did the beak. Get yourself an Audobahn picture of a hawk and keep it on your work bench while you are painting and refer to it often.
Paint the rider using dark greens and earth colours as your primary colours, and use strong yellows, burnt orange, etc. for secondary colours.
Back to Painting and Modeling Hints and Tips
© 1999 Thomas Setzer