Showcase: Grand Cathay Jade Warrior (inc. painting guides)

In today’s post, I’ll show you how I painted one of the new Grand Cathay Jade Warriors. The twist? I limited myself to just the 18 colours from the AMP Cosmic Colour Sets 1 and 2. Want to find out whether this experiment was a success? Read on...

A full range of (plastic !) Cathay models… if you’d told my 17-year-old self, I wouldn’t have believed it. As someone who’s always been fascinated by Asian culture in all its facets, I just had to paint at least one of the beautiful new Jade Warriors. I recently unboxed and reviewed the contents of the Grand Cathay Battalion here on Tale of Painters – check it out here.

Since I happened to have the new AMP Colours from Monument Hobbies – the makers of Pro Acryl – on my desk for testing, it was the perfect opportunity. The Jade Warrior would serve as a test model, and I challenged myself to use only the 18 colours from the two Cosmic paint sets. After a bit of brainstorming, I settled on dark red armour trim and vibrant yellow sashes.

You can watch how I approached the painting process and hear my thoughts on the AMP Colours in this video:

Here’s the complete step-by-step painting guide:

Basecoat: AK Fine Black Primer

Steel
Basecoat: AMP Steel
Wash: AMP Payne’s Grey Wash
Drybrush: AMP Steel

Undergarments
Basecoat: AMP Bright Green Blue
Shading: AMP Bright Green Blue mixed with AMP Slate Grey
Layering: AMP Bright Green Blue

Red armour trims
Basecoat: AMP Black Red
Wash: AMP Brown Grey Wash
Layer: AMP Black Red mixed with AMP Peachy Flesh
Highlight: AMP Black Red mixed with more AMP Peachy Flesh

Yellow sashes and details
Basecoat: AMP Orange Yellow
Shading: AMP Red Orange glaze
Highlight: AMP Orange Yellow

Wooden shafts
Basecoat: AMP Burnt Umber
Shading: AMP Brown Grey Wash
Layer: AMP Burnt Umber
Highlights: AMP Beige Grey mixed with AMP Burnt Umber

Black Boots and belts
Basecoat: AMP Slate Grey
2x Wash: AMP Brown Grey Wash
Layer: AMP Slate Grey
Highlight: AMP Cool Grey

Skin
Basecoat: AMP Peachy Flesh
Shading: AMP Burnt Umber mixed with a little bit of Peachy Flesh glaze
Layer: AMP Peachy Flesh mixed with a little bit of AMP Burnt Umber
Highlight: AMP Peachy Flesh

Blue gems
Basecoat: AMP Dark Navy Blue
Layer: Add more and more AMP Bright Green Blue to AMP Dark Navy Blue
Highlight: AMP Bright Green Blue

Laces
Basecoat: AMP Green Brown
Wash: AMP Brown Grey Wash
Highlight: AMP Beige Grey

Base
Basecoat: AMP Beige Grey
Wash: AMP Brown Grey Wash
Drybrush: AMP Beige Grey
Paint trim: AMP Beige Grey

To get a better feel for the AMP Colors range, you can download a free hand-painted colour swatch in this post.

The finished Jade Warrior

Despite the limited palette, I’m actually quite happy with how the colour scheme turned out. For an army project, I’d probably simplify the process even further – likely by using zenithal basecoating and Contrast-style paints with some additional highlights. The Jade Warriors are quite complex and time-consuming to paint due to their intricately detailed armour and gear.

How is your Grand Cathay collection coming along? Tell us over on our friendly hobby Discord server, or leave a comment below. Thanks a lot, and happy hobbying!