Winter Heads x12 Female: Painting Cold-Weather Faces
By Victoria Miniatures by Victoria Lamb | Published: 2026-11-03
Category: Guides pratiques
A step-by-step guide to painting pale, cold-weather faces on Winter Heads x12 (Female), with checkpoints for hooded head painting and female head swaps.
Quick answer
Paint Winter Heads x12 (Female) with a cool, desaturated skin base, keep shadows blue-grey rather than brown, and treat the hood as a separate value zone so the face reads at arm's length.
Why cold-weather faces need a different palette
A winter face is not simply a pale face. Cold light strips warmth from the skin, so the midtone should sit closer to grey than to peach, and the deepest shadows should lean blue rather than red-brown. If you use your usual warm flesh triad, the face will look sunburned against snow bases and grey cloaks.
The hood changes the lighting too. On a hooded head, the rim of the hood casts a soft shadow across the forehead and cheekbones. You can suggest that shadow with a cooler glaze rather than a hard line, which keeps the face readable without looking dirty.
When to simplify or skip steps
If you are painting a full winter army, you do not need individual eye work on every model. A dark eye socket with a single light dot is enough at table distance, and it protects the faces from looking startled when viewed in a group. Save the detailed iris work for characters and squad leaders.
Resin heads also reward a light touch. Heavy primer or thick base coats will soften the nose and brow, which are the features that make a female head read clearly. Two thin coats are always better than one opaque coat.
Step-by-step: painting cold-weather faces on Winter Heads x12 (Female)
- Clean and prime: Remove any resin flash from the neck and hood edge with a sharp blade, wash the heads in warm soapy water, and prime with a thin grey or white primer. Grey primer helps you judge the pale skin tone as you build it. Common mistake: spraying primer too close and filling the eye sockets. Check the eye sockets are still sharp before you start painting.
- Lay a cool base tone: Mix a pale flesh with a touch of blue-grey or violet and apply two thin coats over the face, avoiding the hood and hair. The base should look slightly too grey at this stage; warmth comes later. Common mistake: starting with a warm peach base, which fights the winter palette. Let each coat dry fully before the next so you do not tear the layer beneath.
- Build shadows with blue-grey glazes: Thin a blue-grey or cool purple wash and glaze it into the eye sockets, under the cheekbones, and along the hood's inner rim. Keep the forehead and nose bridge clean. Common mistake: letting the glaze pool on the cheeks and dry as a tide mark. Wick away excess glaze with a dry brush before it sets.
- Bring back the midtone: Reapply your base mix, slightly lighter, to the forehead, nose, and upper cheeks. This restores the face shape after the shadow glazes. Common mistake: covering all the shadow and flattening the face again. Leave a thin line of shadow under the brow and along the jaw.
- Add a cold highlight: Mix the base with a little off-white and a hint of blue, then apply it to the nose tip, cheekbones, brow, and chin. Keep the highlight small and cool, not bright white. Common mistake: using pure white, which looks chalky on pale skin. Squint at the model; if the highlight jumps out first, it is too strong.
- Paint eyes and mouth simply: Paint the eye socket with a dark blue-grey, then add a single light dot for the eye. For the mouth, use a desaturated rose or mauve rather than a bright red. Common mistake: making the eyes too large, which changes the expression. At table distance, a dot reads better than a detailed iris.
- Separate the hood from the face: Paint the hood in a distinct value, such as a mid-grey, dark green, or off-white, and shade the inner rim where it meets the forehead. This contrast frames the face. Common mistake: painting the hood the same value as the skin, so the head disappears. Check the face still reads when the model is held at arm's length.
Product facts
- Winter Heads x12 (Female): Female Winter Heads x12 includes 12 hand-cast resin heads in 28mm heroic scale. A full dozen heads lets you test a cold-skin recipe on one or two before committing the whole batch.
Winter Heads x12 (Female)
