Step-by-Step Guide to Painting US Infantry

After preparing the miniatures, glue them to a base in whatever order you want.

First, undercoat the stand of figures with a matt black spray.

Drybrush the figures with your chosen base-colour. I used Color Party CA13 (US Vietnam Olive Drab).

Once the base-coat has dried, apply a very simple and rough highlight. I used Color Party CA5 (US Olive Drab). Another good highlight mix that I have used frequently is the CA13, US Vietnam Olive Drab and GW Bubonic Brown. Simply find what works for you or even try mixing figures with different highlights.

Next, pick out all webbing, packs and headgear. For this, add a little Bubonic Brown and a touch of White to your highlight colour.

Black out all skin areas and weapons. This prevents colours 'bleeding' through those areas you will subsequently be painting white as well as simply cleaning-up the models. Paint the base green - I use GW Goblin Green.

Areas of exposed skin are painted next. White skin is first re-painted in white and, when dry, a flesh-coloured wash is applied (I use GW Flesh Wash). Black skin is painted directly from the paint-pot. Use whatever tones of black/brown that you want although I use a simple coat of GW Bestial Brown. You can at this stage take it a step further and re-highlight skin colours with suitable mixes for both black and white skin.

Glue the stand ID to the back of the base using a simple wood glue and make sure that the ID strip is squared off against the sides of the base. I produce my ID strips for an entire company on a single sheet of A4 paper. I then use a clear plastic covering material to stick over the IDs - this is to protect the ID strip from paint.

The figures themselves are now finished. To complete the stand, cover the base in a suitable textured paint or use whatever method best suits you for finishing off. You can individualise the bases but at this scale such efforts will be lost once the stand is on the table-top.

Now, as I said, up close these figures are not award winners. However, move the viewing distance back a bit and stick the figures amongst some terrain and... they look fine.