Banner? I hardly know her...

Fallen Dark Angel banner. 

If there's one thing to me that instantly makes a miniature army cool and unique, it's a banner. They've been synonymous with Warhammer since I was a kid flicking through old editions of rulebooks and White Dwarf. I love seeing the freehand designs hobbyists come up with to decorate their lil guys on the battlefield and provide a splash of colour, narrative, or humour. So I thought I'd share some of the cool little details I've painted recently and provide a little insight into how I go about it! 

Converted Blood Bowl Chaos Lineman. 

From memory the first time I tried to freehand was a Roman numeral on a Redemptor Dreadnought tilt shield. It came out okay and I learned the importance of using thin paint. Since then I've considered banners, shields, and other smooth surfaces for doodling when building my models.

This design was a Night Lords decal that I painted over the top of. (Skeletons rule, zombies drool). 

One of the projects I'm currently working on is a Slaves to Darkness Spearhead force for Games Workshop's Age of Sigmar. Fortunately for all the banner lovers out there, both the warrior and knight units have a banner that is ripe for some sexy freehand! I began looking for inspiration and like any reasonable man, started flicking through my Realm of Chaos books. Chaos is quintessential Warhammer, and you cannot be a follower of the Dark Gods without these times. It wasn't long before I came across this picture. 

Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, page 164. 

Once I had my reference, I sketched my banner design on paper, and a second time even smaller to see whether I'd be able to draw it small enough to be on a banner flown by a 28mm heroic scale miniature. Over the top of this second drawing I made a simple grid that I could use as a scale on the model. 

Once the pencil is on the banner, the hard work is done. It's just colouring in with thin paints and tiny brushes from here. 

I started by blocking in the basecoats. It really is as simple as putting slightly lighter colours on top, one at a time, being sure to leave a small amount of the previous darker tones each time. 

Once the painting is finished, I gently go over the area with an eraser to remove any pencil not painted over, and Bob's your uncle.

Complete with giant chaos cock. (Definitely not the other thigh cast in shadow).