Painting Cowskin Shields

Mycenean, Early Indian, Early Eyyptian and other period shields made of bull skin stretched over a wooden frame pose a unique painting challenge because of the irregular coloration (spots or patches) on the cow hide. Here are some tips on painting the unique brown (or black) and white coloration.

Antoine Bourguilleau: I'm painting a Middle Kingdom Egyptian army at the moment and this how I'm painting their wonderful cowhide shields. I work with a black undercoat.

  1. Paint the shield plain brown. I use Ral Partha's "African", which is a little bit clearer than chocolate;

  2. Paint a bit of irregular patches of brown, using Ral Partha "Leather", which is a rather clear brown, but any brown clearer than the first undercoat will do, I guess; and

  3. Paint the rest of the shield white and let a small lining of the darker brown between the white and the "leather". It really looks good IMO because the dark lining makes the contrast and the shield really catches the eye.

To make Black and White shields (which are rather scarce, except maybe in the Normandy Menfat' Corps), I paint the shield middle grey, then the black patches, then the white, with the middle grey as a lining. And I like it too!!

Steven Flanagan: For my Redoubt Myceneans' shields, I painted the hide off-white, and then applied irregular patches of black or brown with a cut down stipple brush. Looked OK to me, but I don't see cows that often (not a common sight on the streets of London).

Don Miller: I've had good results with a Q-tip. Fiddle with it a bit to create some "wispy" bits and then dip it into your paint, just a bit. Roll it around on a 3x5 card (they tend to absorb just the right amount of excess paint). You should have a Q-tip that can now be applied to the shield. the "wispy" edges give just the right effect (IMHO) for random splotches of cowhide color. For depth, take the same Q-tip and add just a touch of white, roll etc. and then go back in with the lighter shade; just a tiny bit here and there, don't over do it.

NukDay: Paint the shields an off-white. I'm using a craft paint called Antique White. Cut a strip of sponge into a point, not sharp, V-shape. Then dab the narrow end into the paint, press first on an intermediate surface to reduce bulk paint transfer, then press on the shield. It will take several presses over the area to create the broken edged look. The body of the color is then touched up to give it a more solid appearence. I'm using both black and bay for the color.

Russell Thompson: What I use, and I find to be the easiest:

  1. Paint the shield white or off-white, let dry.

  2. Brush (cowhide area) shield with a retarder or a flow enhancer. These products are made by the same companies who make the crafts paints. i.e. Ben Franklin, Wal-Mart and Americana that I use. What they do is to slow down the drying of the paint to give you more time to work with it.

  3. Use watered down brown or black paint and dot the wetted area. The wetting/retarder will cause the edges of the paint to defuse.

I only use this for 25mm size shields, but it should work for the smaller 15mm size.

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Last Updated: December 16, 2003

Questions, comments, suggestions welcome.
Send them to Chris Brantley, brant@erols.com.