Like probably every other MCP person out there, I’m working on filling out my Avengers roster. But I wanted to get some folks that could do double duty and work with a Defenders list. I have a soft spot for Daredevil and the street level heroes, so thought Luke Cage, aka Power Man, would be a good choice. 

Going with Vallejo Xpress contrasts and paints, I put a base slapchop coat down using a gray primer and white drybrush. For the jeans I put down a coat of Storm Blue Xpress. Quite honestly, I just left it with a single coat. The coverage looked great giving the mini a faded jeans look.

For his shirt, I put down a coat of Imperial Yellow Xpress, then a coat of Deep Yellow paint. I still wanted a deeper tone, so I gave the shirt a final wash of Amarillo ink.

To give the shirt a little depth, I used a 1:1 mix of Transparent Yellow and Deep Yellow. I then put down some final highlights of Deep Yellow.

Luke’s skin got a base coat of Smoke. It’s a really dark brown that I love. For the belt and bracers, I departed some from the classic comic look and went with Beige for a leather look. The skin, bracers, and belt got a final wash of thinned Army Painter Strong Tone.

I painted his boots Black and gave his skin some soft highlights of Beige. With that, the model was done.

I deviated a little with only Vallejo paints, using some GW contrast paints for the girder and cement cracks. Also looking at a lot of the previous pics, you might get the impression the skin is too shiny. And if using inks and certain washes that can also give minis too much of a shine. However I wanted to demonstrate how well a good coat of matte varnish helps. Just a single coat and it completely softens the paint job, ending up with a great look. Sweet Christmas, I can’t wait to get him on the table.