Color BSL System Paint Set + Brushes + Exclusive Mini

A procedure instead of a random selection of shades

Most large packages are put together according to the color wheel: a little of every color and the modeler will cope. This is a different case, because it rests on a named method of working with light, which the manufacturer also publishes under the same name as a separate handbook. The shades in it therefore do not form a list but a structure: each full tone has its darker and lighter counterparts, so that a smooth transition can be built on a figure without mixing blind.

How a package like this is used

The middle tone is laid on a figure as an area, then the darker counterpart writes in the places the light would not reach, and the lighter one draws out what is closest to the source. What is decisive is keeping one directional light throughout: as soon as the shadows are laid from both sides, the figure goes flat. The method is usable on a fantasy character as well as on a historical uniform, and the reward is that the result holds its shape even in a photograph.

• Building a transition from the middle color into shadow and into light.
• A single directional light for the whole figure including the base.
• Picking out the sharp edges of armor, weapons and buckles.
• Practicing the procedure on the figure supplied in the package.

What the package adds on top

Besides the paints there are brushes and an exclusive figure in it, on which the method can be tried out before you let it loose on a collector's piece. That is more practical than it sounds: a new technique does not come off for the first three attempts, and throwing those at a part-built army hurts. The rest of the equipment, that is a palette, a mat and a source of light, is obtained separately and tells on the result just as strongly as the paints do.