Painting Zulus

 

Time was Zulus got painted black because they were (and are) Black People. Except Zulus aren’t very black, Black People. So that won’t do. You can see photos of Zulus and skin colour tends lighter as Black People go.

I’m currently half way through painting a bunch of second hand Zulu figures. The previous owner had undercoated them black. That makes it difficult to see the head ring that denominates the experienced warrior who got to marry. The non head ring lads are younger and perhaps fiercer. The Zulu Nation was quite strict about pre- marital congress. You got to marry after being successful in battle. Call the young fellows incentivized.

The head ring lads are combat veterans who have seen it all before. Maybe a little slower but boy were they steady.  Marriage might do that to a man.

Anyhow, there is a lot of skin to paint with your average Zulu warrior. Getting the skin tone right is a major part of a good result. Here is how I painted mine. I hope it is of some use to anyone interested in painting Zulus.

Black undercoat is good. Sort your head rings from non- head rings first.

Paint loin cloth, monkey tail kilt and whatever, rear of shield and weapons and hair.

Use a mid- brown to pick out muscles, knee caps, elbows, including brow and nose.

Highlight the above with a leather brown. Paint the head ring grey.

When dry apply a wash of undiluted nut brown ink.

Let it dry overnight and varnish the next day.

Now turn to the front of the shield. Any unit with a head ring will have more white in their cow hide shield. The most experienced units might have white shields. The new boys (no head rings) have mainly dark coloured shields albeit with the odd splash of white.

Getting the shields right is demanding because of the laces that run in a line down the centre. It is easier to create a visual impact by using a contrasting colour for the lace.

There we go, Zulus hopefully looking like Zulus. Mine are intended for TMWWBK.

While we are on TMWWBK. It advises us to deploy a token when the unit's Leader becomes a casualty leaving it leaderless. The token indicates the unit is leaderless. Why not just add a non fighting leader figure and remove it when the leader becomes a casualty?

My Zulus are from Lancashire Games and Essex Miniatures. The former tend slender but both are OK together. BTW, Lancashire British do not size well with their Zulus at all.

Luckily, Essex and Minifigs British do size well with my Zulus. See above.

Next time we will see the British and some interesting bits and pieces I picked up via ebay.