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Monday, November 2, 2015

Bolt Action - DAK Painting Guide

Posted By Bryza Labels: 28mm, Bolt Action, Germans, Guide, Painting

By Bryan

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I've recently started painting a platoon of the famous Deutsches Afrika Korp (DAK) for Bolt Action. While painting my first 2015 (502)

squad I took a photo at each stage using my iphone to record the process. What follows is a step by step painting guide December (32)

for Rommel's vaunted veterans. November (23)

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Bolt Action - DAK painting guide ~ WWPD: Wargames, Board Games, RPGs, LCGs, and more!
As the heading says, I sprayed my miniatures with Army Painter 'Desert Yellow'. This spray is rather thick compared to Star Wars Armada - Battle Report:
the rest of the range, so be careful to use short sweeping bursts. This spray will be the primer and one of the main colours Wave 2 Intel Swe...
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in one step, so saves you a lot of time. I added polly-filla and small rocks to texture my bases prior to the spray undercoat.
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Step 2: Base colours
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Time for some basic block colours. One of the most characteristic things about the DAK uniform is that there were many
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variants of it. The first Tropical uniforms where more of a greenish hue with later uniforms being more accurate for the
Bolt Action - DAK painting guide
sand covered terrain. Also, the African sun faded the uniforms and equipment, so veterans (or newer guys who wanted to
October (33)
look like veterans) had very faded caps. To achieve this 'mixed' look and still paint a coherent looking army I broke my
September (40)
uniforms down into three types. I then mix up what the three colours will be used on, if it's the tunic on one guy, it'll be the
August (44)
pants on the next for example. That way you still get the squads painted quickly and are not slowed down while still
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getting that mixed look.
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Uniform variant 1: VJ 924 Russian Uniform The Cretan Runner by George
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Helmet/Gas mask canister: VJ 977 Desert yellow (already done by the spray primer)
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Field cap, webbing straps and belts: VJ 847 Dark Sand Scatter Terrain by Mel the Terrain
Ammo pouches (rifle) and wooden rifle stock: GW Rhinox Hide Tutor
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Ammo pouches (SMG): VJ 847 Dark Sand
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Socks: VJ 924 Russian Uniform Lair of the Uber Geek
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Bolt Action - DAK painting guide ~ WWPD: Wargames, Board Games, RPGs, LCGs, and more!
Mess tin, rifle barrels and water bottle lid: GW Boltgun metal Rabbits In My Basement
Painting the Expanse
Skin and bases: VJ 876 Brown Sand
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Step 3: Wash
Wash the entire miniature with Army Painter Strong Tone ink, I used the brush on type from the bottle, not the 'dip'. Also
apply a second wash using a black wash to the metallic areas.
Step 4: Highlights 1
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Bolt Action - DAK painting guide ~ WWPD: Wargames, Board Games, RPGs, LCGs, and more! 9/20/17, 8*19 PM

Re-apply all the base colours, but be careful to leave the recessed areas so the wash helps create the shading.

Uniform variant 1: VJ 924 Russian Uniform

Uniform variant 2: VJ 881 Yellow Green
Uniform variant 3: VJ 977 Desert yellow
Helmet/Gas mask canister: VJ 977 Desert yellow
Field cap, webbing straps and belts: VJ 847 Dark Sand
Ammo pouches (rifle) and wooden rifle stock: GW Rhinox Hide
Ammo pouches (SMG): VJ 847 Dark Sand
Water Bottle & Boots (leather): VJ 984 Flat Brown
Canvas boot tops: VJ 881 Yellow Green
Gaiters: VJ 821 German Camo Beige
Socks: VJ 924 Russian Uniform
Bread bag 1: VJ 821 German Camo Beige
Bread bag 2: VJ 881 Yellow Green
Mess tin, rifle barrels and water bottle lid: GW Boltgun metal
Skin and bases: VJ 876 Brown Sand
Greatcoat: VJ 921 English uniform

Step 5: Highlights 2 and details

In this stage you apply some careful highlights to the raised areas or edges. Often I applied two successive highlights
one after the other.

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Bolt Action - DAK painting guide ~ WWPD: Wargames, Board Games, RPGs, LCGs, and more! 9/20/17, 8*19 PM

Uniform variant 1: VJ 924 Russian Uniform + VJ 847 Dark Sand

Uniform variant 2: VJ 881 Yellow Green + VJ 847 Dark Sand
Uniform variant 3: VJ 819 Iraqi Sand
Helmet/Gas mask canister: VJ 819 Iraqi Sand. I then followed Patch's patented helmet chipping and weathering
technique here.
Field cap, webbing straps and belts: VJ 837 Pale Sand
Ammo pouches (rifle) and wooden rifle stock: GW Rhinox Hide + VJ 847 Dark Sand
Ammo pouches (SMG): VJ 837 Pale Sand
Water Bottle & Boots (leather): GW Doombull Brown, then GW Tuskgor Fur
Canvas boot tops: VJ 881 Yellow Green + VJ 847 Dark Sand
Gaiters: VJ 821 German Camo Beige
Socks: VJ 924 Russian Uniform
Bread bag 1: VJ 821 German Camo Beige
Bread bag 2: VJ 881 Yellow Green + VJ 847 Dark Sand
Skin: GW Kislev Flesh, VJ 928 Light flesh, wash with watered down sepia wash afterwards.
Greatcoat: VJ 880 Khaki Grey, then a final highlight of VJ 988 Khaki

At this stage I painted the final details like buttons (Iraqi Sand), eyes and the Afrika Korp cuff insignia on the right tunic
sleeves. This cuff title was painted VJ 890 Reflective Green, then a trim of white. The cuff is too small to accurately paint
the 'Afrika Korp' text so I simple scribbled some paint on in white to give the impression of writing.

Step 6: Bases and varnish

The bases are drybrushed last and are done carefully so as to not paint over any of the miniature itself. First layer is VJ
876 Brown Sand, followed by VJ 847 Dark Sand and finally VJ 837 Pale Sand. I then re-paint the base sides with VJ

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Bolt Action - DAK painting guide ~ WWPD: Wargames, Board Games, RPGs, LCGs, and more! 9/20/17, 8*19 PM

Brown Sand.

The model is then given a matt varnish, I used Testors Dullcote.

I used grass tufts from Gamers Grass and some flock from Woodland Scenics to finish the bases off. These add to the
arid look.

I found painting this colour scheme over the desert yellow base coat really easy, and was happy to get so much depth
while working with predominately light colours. In fact, apart from the pupils of the eyes, I had no need to use black at all!
The army painter strong tone works wonders with this colour pallet, it's perfect for the DAK.

This is just the first squad of my DAK platoon, and all up the 9 miniatures took about 11 hours painting. Now I have

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Bolt Action - DAK painting guide ~ WWPD: Wargames, Board Games, RPGs, LCGs, and more! 9/20/17, 8*19 PM

worked out the colours to use, I anticipate this will be a quicker process for the rest of the infantry now. Expect to see a full
platoon by Christmas!

If you have any questions on my painting guide, or indeed DAK of your own to share please post them up on the forum:

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9 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the guide, excellent! By chance do you have one for western Europe German Heer??

February 22, 2016 at 10:53 PM

David martinez aguilar said...

excellent!

March 21, 2016 at 5:01 AM

Bryza said...

Thanks guys. I will be doing a guide for European theater Heer soon.

March 21, 2016 at 9:18 PM

Jacob Richards said...

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Bolt Action - DAK painting guide ~ WWPD: Wargames, Board Games, RPGs, LCGs, and more! 9/20/17, 8*19 PM

Wow! Great guide. This will be wonderful to follow for my DAK. Perhas I'm a bit daft, but what color did
you use for the stone color short-sleeved shirt?

ThanKS again for the great guide!

August 2, 2016 at 7:50 AM

Bryza said...

Hey Jocab,my apologies I only just noticed your comment. The colour I used was German Camo Beige
by Vallejo!

September 8, 2016 at 8:04 PM

Bryza said...

Hey Jocab,my apologies I only just noticed your comment. The colour I used was German Camo Beige
by Vallejo!

September 8, 2016 at 8:04 PM

Unknown said...

Are these the Perry Miniatures or the Bolt Action ones, they look great btw

September 17, 2016 at 8:58 PM

Bryza said...

These are actually Artizan Designs miniatures. Thanks!

September 22, 2016 at 1:17 AM

Braxen said...

Excellent guide Bryza, more please :) !

April 28, 2017 at 2:59 PM

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