Game of Thrones Bronn [Completed] aka 54 mm Nocturna Models Heroes & Legends, The Crusader

This brief back-and-forth between Bronn and Jaime Lannister in Season Six of Game of Thrones sums up what I had envisioned colour scheme wise for this miniature project. [Dialogue Begins] Bronn: Now that is a sorry attempted siege. Someone needs to teach those thud twats how to dig trenches. Jaime: Someone certainly does. Bronn: No, no. Not me. I'm just an up-jump sellsword. Jaime: You're an anointed knight! There's quite a difference. Bronn: Aye, knights don't get paid. [Dialogue Ends] In essence, I wanted to 'recreate in colours' a knight that's still a sellsword at heart. 

Nocturna Models 54 mm The Crusader resin miniature painted as Bronn the Sellsword

Game of Thrones: Bronn the Sellsword in the colours of House Lannister

Bronn's woeful expression befits his situation of a person caught up in events bigger than himself

Now what does the phrase 'recreate in colours' even mean? To me it's the use of colours to portray a certain mood and to tell a story. For this Nocturna Models proxy figurine for Bronn, the mood is one of longing for simpler days as well as of courage and willpower. The latter two is conveyed by default with the dark red hues; while orange (i.e. representing gold hues of the Lannister Lion) supposedly symbolizes strength and endurance in heraldry - two traits that Bronn possesses. Finally I painted harsh contrasts on Bronn's face to accentuate the haggard and wistful look on his expression. 

Freehand painting of the House Lannister heraldy on Bronn's leather armour

Lower part of Bronn's armour resemble a gambeson while the top half seemingly does not

Detailed scabbard and leather straps adorn the waist area of Bronn's armour

White underclothing, brown boots and green grassy base round up the predominantly red colour scheme

Any attempt to 'recreate in colours' will be for naught if the correct sculpture or miniature isn't utilised. For me, finding the perfect proxy figure was admittedly pure luck. I happened to have in my possession a 54 mm resin miniature called The Crusader from the Nocturna Models Heroes and Legends line. He provided the closest platform (in terms of facial features and period clothing) from which I could paint a proxy figurine of the Game of Thrones character, Bronn the Sellsword.

Game of Thrones, Bronn the Sellsword [Completed]

"I'm just an up-jump sellsword ... knights don't get paid."

Technically Bronn is now an anointed knight of House Lannister and no longer the mercenary he once was

Every part of a miniature's paint job is important and each contributes to the final creative whole. Nevertheless in Bronn's case there were two prominent areas of paint which were more critical than others, partly because of the miniature's relative plainness in design. So to make Bronn stand out I decided to concentrate on these two areas of his paint job. First one is pretty obvious if you think about it, namely Bronn's face comprising his facial skin tone, hair, lips and eyes. In any miniature whose face isn't covered up, it would - more often than not - be the main focus anyway.   

At its core this miniature is rather plain in design, putting the onus on the painter to bring it to life

The reds of House Lannister are dull and dark ...

... brightened up only by the golds of its heraldic design i.e. the Lannister Lion 

Meanwhile, the second area I had to figure out was how to make Bronn's clothing interesting. While Bronn in the television series didn't sport any heraldic design on his armour, he did have on an interestingly designed samurai-inspired armour. Being a proxy figure, the Nocturna Models resin miniature wasn't sculpted with such an elaborate armour. It possessed just a simple medieval armour instead. To liven things up a bit I did a freehand painting of the Lannister sigil which is a golden lion. This was done using artist colour pencils and acrylic paints (check out the process here). 

As an anointed knight of House Lannister, Bronn affords the hobbyist a more interesting colour scheme to paimt

My favourite Bronn line ... Lysa Arryn: "You don't fight with honor!" Bronn: "No... he did."

Bronn the Sellsword aka Nocturna Models 54 mm Crusader resin miniature, scale comparison

360 view of Bronn the Sellsword of House Lannister
For a 360 degree view of Bronn the Sellsword - essentially a 54 mm Nocturna Models resin figurine painted in the colours of House Lannister as seen in the latest season of HBO's Game of Thrones - please see the video below. For other videos, please visit my YouTube channel FourEyedMonster Miniatures. Be sure to choose the high definition (HD) option for the best possible view. 

Scale-wise Bronn was small enough to have made it a significant challenge for me to paint. And whenever a project provides a challenge, it always improves us as a painter. Bronn has allowed me to hone my skills at painting faces, freehand sigils and leather texture. Moreover, completion of Bronn the Sellsword should spark an outburst of miniature figurine-related hobby activity in the near future.

My ultimate aim is to paint figures with ultra realistic skin tones, facial features (e.g. eyes and lips) as well as accessories/clothing textures. That's still far from being achieved but this project has been one step closer to making my aim become a reality. Now for another step ...