40mm Peninsular Project: Here's Where The Fun Begins!

The last of the prep work.
I've been making steady progress on the British Light Infantry, finishing up the last of the brown/black washing of the rifles, belts, backpacks, etc. I have a rather hodge podge collection of paints and inks i use so I can't give readers a "recipe" for this part of the technique, so  you will just have to eyeball it. The final mix should be a bit more brown than black and roughly 1/2 the opacity of the paint you would normally apply. Don't thin with water, use the ink instead.

Be sure to cover pretty much everything not already painted at this phase.

Here's the fun bit. Making faces.
With the black/brown in place it's time to start putting the mid tones and highlights on the figure. Either by habit or necessity, I like to start with the faces. I find that it makes it a little easier to power through any boredom that may arise when you are painting all the straps and belts that come later.

To the right are the paints I used, with the scarlet washed over the cheeks and knuckles after the final skin tone highlight is applied.

Next up: coats and pants.
Once the faces are complete, move on to coats and pants. I have decided on grey pants for the officer and a beige white for the Lights.

By making the base coats dark, you can get away with a mid tone and one highlight. If you want to push it further, and ad a final layer you can, but I'm trying to get these done as quickly as possible.

I'm still trying to decide if I am going to "dirty up" the legs of the pants to seem muddy. That kind of detail seem to work with the 40mm scale but would take more time...

Pro Tip:
Once you have mixed a grey reuse it on other figures in the unit. The bags, officers gloves, and bed rolls are all based around a mid grey with a soft beige added rather than pure white.

A mid tone red with scarlet highlight.

Reuse the grey on the bed roll and bag.

Officer with face, coat and pants completed.