Start to Finish Cersei Lannister

[Mike]

For many years I have painted models to what I call gaming standard. There has been a few models I have liked so painted them in more detail.
This model I chose to paint for my wife and to paint to my best ability. It will be housed in its own display and never used in the table top.
The start.
I trawled the web and events to find a suitable model. One that was female, elegant and was not armed in any way.
Late 2014 I was a bit bored and decided at short notice to go to Dragonmeet where by chance I came across the Game of Thrones miniatures from Dark Sword.

The Cersei Lannister by Tom Meier was perfect. I purchased, brought it home and left it on the side as part 2 of my quest began.

[Mike]

Model purchased stage 2 and 3 what colour scheme and displaying
Stage 2
What colour would Di like for the dress? Lucky for me Di likes red and so do I for painting. Jewelry preferred is silver and the hair dark brown.

Stage 3
With the dress colour sorted, how and where was the model going to be housed and displayed.
Some more trawling events and places then Di came across a candle holder in ASDA. Glass fronted panels with a flexible door at the back. Ideal to slot in a diorama and possibly house lights.

[Mike]

Stage 4
Needed to up my game on the painting ability. Visited various internet sights such as cool mini or not.
One of their tips was to take pictures of the model to see where the highlights and colours varied.
A few minutes later and here is the first photo. The miniature is 28mm scale.

[Mike]

Stage 5
Base colours painted as per Request.
A photo taken to see the colour variations and the quality of my handy work.

[MoodyGit (Gary)]

Wow, kept this quiet, didn't you. This is going to make 'not Lara' almost normal.

[Mike]

Dreading starting the layering. The wash should not be a problem.

The photos really help to understand the layering required but can I artificially paint them is the question.

[Mike]

Next lesson on the journey is to practice washes and layering.
Once more to the web for guidance.

Guess what red is apparently one of the hardest to paint after yellow. Most advise paint the red then layer a dark wash in to the recesses. Several items on cool mini or not and you tube.

I need a bright silky red and some practice. Went through my collection of metal, sprayed white then base coloured red.
I tried a different ink wash on each model. I selected 2 and tried a dry brush effect on one and layering up on another.

[JAC]

They're looking good. Especially the right hand layered one.
I don't think drybrushing will give a satiny look. Red is tricky, I like blue, blue is easy. My red scheme goes something like (it's a while since I did something red) mecherite red, red wash, devlin mud was, mecherite red then mix in blood red and build up the layers finishing with orange (although I now have found wild rider red works really well). At the end I would use a red glaze or another red wash to tie everything together and dull it down a little but the new citadel washes are very Matt so one of the old red inks might be better for a satin look.
Can't wait to see the finished model!

[Mike]

First ink washes on to darken the model and a little tidying up of the silver and hair

[Mike]

Face
As I wanted to make this a display model I needed to improve my face painting.
I managed to find a copy of the eavy metal face painting guide just neede some practice figures.
Cersei has smooth features and whilst checkng through all my odds I notice my selection of unfinished Bloodbowl teams.
Elf harlequins - the mask features were perfect.

I wasn't trying to paint a true looking face but practice the layers.
Quite pleased with the result but the rest of the model needs a bit of recovery.