I resurrected three ancient Skeleton Army chariots (bonus oil washing tutorial at the end of this post)

As you sink deeper into the madness some of us call the 'wargaming hobby', you start accruing more unpainted miniatures, second hand models and random bits than you can keep track of. By now I'm far enough removed from the shores of sanity to occasionally find a box or zip-lock bag that I can't even remember storing. Recently a pair of bags turned out to contain skeletons, skeletal horsemen and chariots from the venerable Skeleton Army boxed set. I couldn't resist restoring three chariots. 

When they said 'ride eternal, shiny and chrome' this was not what I expected.

For those of you who do not recognize these models. Back at the end of the eighties Games Workshop's experiments with plastics where in full swing. After the Psychostrene Dwarf and Drastik Plastik Orc blisters they released a box called Skeleton Horde containing 24 plastic skeletons. I actually owned one of these and loved the skeletons (to death, so to speak (to this day odds are one of these skeletons rolls out if I open a random bits box in the shed)). In the summer of 1989 Games Workshop upped the ante by releasing the Skeleton Army box. It contained 30 plastic skeletons of Horde fame, 8 skeleton horsemen and 1 chariot. At a cost of £10 (about £23 in 2021 pounds) I think this was the best value for money box ever released. It was extremely popular back in the day. The skeletons looked good and where the most affordable army in a box imaginable. Well on to my mystery zip-locks. They contained this lot.

Disclaimer: most finds I make in forgotten zip-lock bags are not this nice.

I don't quite recall where I got these. But having found them, I knew I needed to have at least some fun with the models. After a bit of humming and hawing I settled on restoring three of the five chariots. Why three? One chariot was beyond salvage (well a missing wheel) and three is the number a modern AoS chariot unit contains. Not that it matters. I looked through ancient army books and the last time generic Skeletal Chariots got actual rules, was with the 4th edition (1994) Undead army book. In 1999 when the undead split between Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings factions, the generic chariots (and horsemen and screaming skull catapults) disappeared. They where re-invented with a Tomb King's flavor in 2002, but those where different models and belong in a different army synergy. If I wanted to apply modern day rules, it would have to be the generic (awful and unsuitable) Tomb King rules from the original AoS pdf release. So these will probably be display case models.

Putting the wonders of an overflowing bits box to good use.

Who cares, modelling is fun, especially when you mix in nostalgia. My first decision was to stuff a Necromancer in one the carts. I had a leftover one stripped and ready in my bits-box. It turned out the modern Necromancer easily fit into the chariot; no cutting or scraping necessary. I got so excited by easy conversions, I immediately blundered. I picked up a metal banner top from my bits box, cut the top of a plastic lance and glued the two together. It was easy but I ended up with a top heavy banner bearer that sways as if it was designed in one of the modern CAD-programs used to design wobbly undead models.

The wonder of naked skeletons is that your basic colors are done quite quickly. 

I used MDF bases with clay rolled over by a Greenstuff World Texture Roller (Frozen) to simulate flagstones (because I feel free to interpret textures any way I want). Painting unarmored skeletons is so horrifyingly easy, anyone could conceivably turn out a whole army of them in one or two sittings. Now if only the Skeleton Army box was brought back at 23 quid a pop ;). Painting skeletons is just a matter of adding an oil wash to a reasonable basecoat of bone color and then removing excess with a sponge. If that sounds like gibberish to you, read on there's a tutorial below the finished pictures.

Angry grandpa expected to ride a corpse cart, but was told to get into the rickety chariot instead.

With the basic skeleton-look done, I turned my attention to the Necromancer using the GW paint job as a reference. I practiced my black painting skills a bit more and used VMC Carmine Red for the cloak (with grey mixed in for the highlights). This took a bit of extra care. Any color should be applied with multiple thin layers, but Carmine Red requires it or it ends up as a horrible looking glop. I have to admit being unreasonably proud of the way this model came out. That face is something I actually dare post in close-up for a change.

An army without banners is like a Warhammer setting without skulls.

All that was left to do was find a nice old school banner and paint it up. I settled on this one by printing a 75% scaled version of the Sample Banner page from the 4th edition Undead Army Book. Fun fact: the red of the banner is also Carmine Red, but this time on white paper instead of a black undercoat. What a difference the lower layer makes. That aside, there's nothing like a freshly painted, colorful banner to make me want to take a unit to the tabletop. If only I could find some reasonably useable rules for these carts chariots...

"I'll shoot, you stab, no-one steers. What's the worst that could happen, a fatal collision?"

I'll add it to the growing list of gaming ambitions. In the meantime I have added three wonderfully nostalgic warmachines to my expanding undead horde. Even if they never see action, they'll make a nice unit to keep my two classic Screaming Skull catapults company. Now shall I paint a unit of skeletal horsemen, or finish one of my umpteen other projects first? 

Tutorial: washing with oil paints

One of the easiest ways to up the quality of your painting without sacrificing a lot of time is through the use of oil washes. Like the acrylic shades and washes you probably know, these flow into the details, but unlike acrylics you can wipe oils of top layers without leaving a color residue. This makes it incredibly easy to get higher contrast or add some dirt or streaks. Skeletons (with as little armor as possible) make the greatest recipients of this technique (although it works on everything).

Here's how you do it.

Step 1: gather your materials

Almost all you need to paint an oil washed skeleton (white spirit not shown).

At a minimum you'll need prime your models and give them a basic coat of paint. For the skeleton I'm about to paint I take a Vallejo Dark Yellow and a Vallejo Bone White airbrush primer. By picking these two colors I can prime the skeleton and give it a basic coat of paint at the same time. Aside from basic paint you need an oil paint (brown in this case) and a gloss varnish (I use Alclad II because it dries quick and thin without ruining detail). You'll also need a matte varnish to get the gloss down at the end. The pictured AK makes one that dries thin as well. Lastly (not pictured) you need white spirit. Unless you're single and not in possession of a sense of smell (or angling for a divorce) you should pay a little more and get an artist's odorless white spirit. 

Step 2: paint a model

Not pictured: how brittle these models have gotten over the decades. 

Pick a model to give this technique a try on. You can wash with oils after applying basic colors or during any other step of your painting process. I took a random skeletal horseman from the pile and (because I wrote this tutorial on a bit of a whim) did not strip the glopped on paint of its sword, helmet and shield. As with most second hand models, no primer was evident on the rest of the model (insert eye roll emoticon here). You need to prime your models, so lets do that first.

Priming undead for speed painting step 1: apply a Dark Yellow base coat. 

Priming undead for speed painting step 2: add a Skeleton Bone zenithal coat. 

Priming undead for speed painting step 3: add an Aged White zenithal coat.

Step 3: Gloss varnish 

You could call it a day here as you've gotten the proper gloss finish look of the eighties ;)

After the (acrylic) paint job has been applied and is dry, you take your gloss varnish and coat the model with it. Oil paints consist of a pigment that's immersed in oil. This makes the paints rather greasy, especially when compared to acrylics (a pigment immersed in synthetic resin binder). A gloss surface helps any paint flow. But thinned, greasy oil paint flows extremely well in this circumstances. This alone is nice, but oils have a second advantage. The pigments in acrylic washes stick slightly to higher parts when you apply them. Oil paints do this to a lesser extent, but that doesn't matter because you can reactivate and remove them after the wash has dried. We'll get back to this at step 7.

Step 4: Make your oil wash

A dab of oil paint in a cup...riveting stuff.

Add white spirit and stir.

Grab a handy container, add in a dab of oil paint in your favorite color and add white spirit. I use a q-tip to spread the oil paint as this makes it easier to mix it with a synthetic throw-away brush. Warning: do NOT use your precious sable hair brushes with oil paints. You'll murder your brush. Use synthetic brushes for oils. I prefer very cheap synthetic brushes for this. I can clean them badly and occasionally  watch all the hairs fall out of one without worrying about it. 

Step 5: Use your oil wash

Applying the first oil wash. Too light for my taste.

Added more brown paint to the wash and applied a second heavy coat of wash.

When it comes to applying oil washes, there are two schools of thought. The serious painters (and airplane panel liners) go for a careful pin wash. You take a small brush, load it with your oil wash and hold it to the edge of a panel line (or other recess). Like magic you get to watch the paint flow into place. This method safes a lot of time on cleanup and makes you feel like a painting genius at the same time. The second method (my favorite) consist of just glopping oils on willy-nilly. This method may not leave you feeling like a genius, but it helps relief stress. You can go wild. I actually added more brown to my mix because I thought the first layer was way too subtle. I mixed the oil wash on my Die Hard skeletons to almost black and glopped it on, just to get more contrast. After either carefully pin washing or thoroughly smothering the model in wash, you get to the hardest part of this technique. You have to wait for the paint to dry...I hate waiting...

 Step 6: Wait

GW customer service assured me this mug was dishwasher proof. I don't think that means what they think it means. 

You can moving the wash around and remove it as it is wet, but for the best effect you'll have to wait for the oil wash to properly dry. This takes anywhere from a few hours to a day (depending on heat, sunlight, the color of your paint (really), the brand of paint and the amount of white spirits you used. This last bit is lucky in the case of an oil wash. Drying times are mostly dependent on the evaporation time of the white spirits, making a wait of over a day rare.  

Step 7: Remove excess wash

Eyeshadow pads are better for removing excess wash than q-tips as they don't leave lint.

If you apply white spirit to a dried oil paint you reactivate it. That's fancy-speak for making the oil paint flow again (insert 'The paint must flow' semi-witty Dune reference here). When the oil wash has dried use a bit of white spirit to wet a q-tip, makeup sponge or eyeshadow applier (makeup sponge on a stick). Don't make your chosen implement too wet, allow most of the white spirit to drain onto a paper towel first. Then carefully remove excess wash of the model. If you use a light touch to clean the higher parts you increase the contrast, especially as the oil wash leaves (almost) no color behind. 

Step 8: Matt varnish

Matt varnish and a very sloppy layer of dark grey paint on the base added.

When the wash has been taken down to you liking, take a half hour break to allow the white spirit to evaporate. Then grab your favorite matt varnish. I airbrush AK Ultra Matte Varnish because it dries quickly and thin (some matt varnishes clog detail almost as badly as their gloss counterparts). The matt varnish frees you from the glossy look of your gloss varnish (no big surprise there). It also seals in your oil coat and - most importantly - makes the surface of your model (relatively) rough again. This helps acrylic paints to once again stick to where you apply them (instead of flowing in the recesses). For obvious reasons this is especially practical if you want to edge highlight your model. At this point you can finish detailing your model. Nothing stops you, however, from re-applying another gloss coat and adding a second layer of oil washes later. That is if your gloss coat doesn't dry too thickly. When you declare a a model finished, don't use the AK Matte Varnish as the final protective layer. It is rather thin and wears off. I prefer to airbrush on a layer of Polyurethane Matt Varnish for wear&tear protection, but feel free to substitute that for your favorite recipe. Hey, if you are a real hard-core oldhammerer you should go for a gloss coat! (No Goblin Green bases though, never Goblin Green bases...that's just so ugly and Middlehammer....now where's my asbestos coat?).

Step 9: Finished!

Add some metal color to the sword, helmet and shield rim, practice a freehand with a cheap brush (bad idea) and (when in a rush) just use the most creatively named paint on the market to give the model that worn look (the paint in question is called Rust I linked it, because that's not a Google-friendly paint name.). 

I hope this helps get add oil washes to your toolbox. Its very easy and nets excellent results. Using this technique you can conceivably paint an entire Skeleton Army box in two sittings. With most of it spent waiting for paint to dry. That would require the use of a time machine to get said box of course, but that's neither here nor there. As most moderne day skeletons are dressed, you'll just have to join the rest of the gaming world and take some extra time on details (or make the switch to 40K Necron and give them a bone color :). Hope this tutorial helps. Please let me know in the comments if it was some use to you (with a link to your blog if possible). 

I could've added a pretty base and taken some actual time to properly clean up and glue the model, but as a demonstration of the speed and ease of oil washes, I hope this suffices.