how to paint medieval 6mm figures? esp. chainmail and armour?

[desertwar]

I have a batch of late medieval figs coming and am wondering how to paint them. My normal period os ww1 and ww2 so I'm venturing into something new. I have peasants, retinue billmen, shire billmen, crossbow, hobalers, and 14th cent. Knights. I want them to look late 13th early 14th cent. Any ideas? And suggestions. And how do you make the armour specially the chainmail look good?

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Steel or gunmetal, black wash over the top.

[Matt J]

as above.
to go that bit extra dry brush again after the wash and pick out some of the raised detail

you can't really go wrong with chainmail - it does get a bit tedious though (he says looking at rank after rank of Norman knights that need painting  )

[fred.]

I do chain mail the other way round - paint black then dry brush over with a metallic colour. My current favourite is Vallejo Oily Steel - I will occasionally add a very light dry brush of a bright silver.

The dry brushing method is super fast - and you don't even need to be neat if you do it first as the silver will give a bit of a highlight to the other areas of the figure.

[FierceKitty]

I'd never highlight 6mm. I just used a gunmetal mix for mail. I think the key point is NOT to make it bright and shiny. Check out a few mailshirts in a museum; they're not made of mithril in the real world.

[Hertsblue]

Or alternatively, paint the armour black and then gently scrape off with a scalpel, leaving the black embedded in the depressions. Nothing looks more like metal than bare metal! Gloss varnish to make it gleam.

[Sean Clark]

Or...simply wash the bare metal. Only works on fully armoured types with little kit. I did this with men at arms on foot by Peter Pig in 15mm. The straps etc were painted in browns etcm then washed the whole lot. Looked pretty good.

Sean

[Last Hussar]

There's no such thing as chainmail.  The only thing I can think you might mean is mail, in which case black base, dry brush metalic.

[FierceKitty]

There's no such thing as chainmail.  The only thing I can think you might mean is mail....

Well said, that man!

[Leon]

There's no such thing as chainmail.  The only thing I can think you might mean is mail, in which case black base, dry brush metalic.

Well said, that man!

[Hertsblue]

Black-mail or well-read mail? 

[Fenton]

Maybe they meant chain letters which wouldn't really be much help in combat

[FierceKitty]

True or false: the US letter deliverer is known as a mailman because the official who first did the job in the 1680s used to wear a mailshirt as protection against archery by aboriginal east coast inhabitants disgruntled that their thanksgiving cards had arrived late.

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[desertwar]

There's no such thing as chainmail.  The only thing I can think you might mean is mail, in which case black base, dry brush metalic.

Whatever the armour worn in medieval times that was made from interlocking rings is called. How do you paint miniatures that are sculpded wearing it?

Thank you to those that have share their methods.

[Fenton]

I tend to spray my figures grey . I would paint on natural steel by Vajello then wash in a watered down brown or W&N nut brown ( I also wash this over the entire figure) when painting  some C***nmail I might lightly drybrush with the same colour on he shoulders and or coif if needed