joys of the white undercoat - part 2

... to continue.  The last post ended with the figures basically finished. These are Essex 25/28mm peltast types intended to be used as part of a late Seleucid elephant escort.
Now comes the final wash and basing. 

I probably don't need to do the final shading wash, but I like it and it's served me fairly well for the past 25 years or so. I use a mix of a little burnt umber oil paint, white spirit and liquin to help the oil paint dry. The advantage with oil paint is I can work it as it stays fluid, so if I apply a mix that's too dark then I just add white spirit and liquin and brush off any excess.  (For younger viewers, just think of it as DIY army-painter.)      

This is after the final shading wash. I forgot to say that the figure on the left has a dark red tunic, the next from left has a scarlet tunic, then the two with the bright red tunics - all just for a bit of variation.  For this exercise I was too lazy to add border or edge stripes to the tunics.      

Added scattered sand to polyfilla on the base. I don't use PVA.   

And one thing with using liquin and oil paint is it can be a bit shiny, even with white spirit added. So I put a matt varnish over the tunics and helmet crest. The rest I left.  
I also did the eyes because I forgot to do them earlier. I used burnt umber for eyes and eyebrows. I don't use white at all, so no goggle-eyed stares from these chaps.   

Painted over the sand with a cream colour from a sampler pot from local DIY store. It helps to seal the sand or grit. The figures on the right have the basic colour. The two figures on the left have the bases with a khaki wash. 

All bases with a khaki wash and the two on the left given a dry-brush with sand, then a top dry-brush with cream.  Probably doesn't really need the cream.  

Then add a little static grass. I didn't want to do too much, but a little just adds another bit of contrasting colour. 

And so 'tis done. But always a good idea for me to check round the figures, just in case I missed something.  

That seems OK. They'll pass the 3 foot test anyway and that's good enough. 

A final picture from lower down trying to capture some of the faces. Hopefully they look like they mean business. Sometimes I think I should have added a five-o'clock shadow to the jawline, but enough is enough. Overall, not too bad for a couple of hours or so over 3 nights.

Now I just have to finish off the rest of the Seleucids.