[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"faction-/factions/trench-crusade-iron-sultanate":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"date":128,"description":129,"extension":130,"faction":131,"heroImage":132,"hex":133,"intro":134,"lastUpdated":128,"meta":135,"navigation":136,"path":137,"seo":138,"stem":139,"system":140,"__hash__":141},"factions/factions/trench-crusade-iron-sultanate.md","How to Paint the Iron Sultanate (Trench Crusade)",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":118},"minimark",[9,13,18,21,25,47,51,54,58,61,65,78,82,110],[10,11,12],"p",{},"The Iron Sultanate is Trench Crusade's great walled power of the east - a civilisation that has sealed itself against the infernal tide and sends out disciplined, superbly equipped warriors to hold the frontier. On the table they are the colour relief in a game of mud: deep turquoise armour, warm gold ward script and layered white cloth. The trick is keeping that richness believable in a WW1 hellscape - clean, but not pristine.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"the-signature-look","The signature look",[10,19,20],{},"Three elements carry the scheme. The turquoise armour is the identity colour - the recipe above gives you the ramp for it. The gold is not bulk trim but calligraphy: fine protective script, seals and inlay that catch the light against the deep green-blue. And the cloth - robes, wraps and sashes - is a warm off-white that stays lighter and cleaner than anything else on the battlefield. Together they read as faith expressed through craftsmanship rather than filth.",[14,22,24],{"id":23},"painting-the-armour","Painting the armour",[26,27,28,38,41,44],"ol",{},[29,30,31,32,37],"li",{},"Basecoat the plates with the deep turquoise and shade the recesses with a dark green or blue-black wash - see ",[33,34,36],"a",{"href":35},"/guides/washes-and-shades","washes and shades"," for the technique.",[29,39,40],{},"Re-layer the flat panels with the base turquoise, leaving the shade in the recesses.",[29,42,43],{},"Edge highlight with a lightened turquoise, pushing towards a pale aqua only on the sharpest corners.",[29,45,46],{},"A final thin glaze of the base colour will smooth any chalky highlights and deepen the finish.",[14,48,50],{"id":49},"ward-script-and-gold","Ward script and gold",[10,52,53],{},"The gold work is fine-detail brushwork, so thin the paint and use the tip of a small brush. You do not need legible calligraphy - rows of small dashes, dots and hooked strokes at a consistent size read as script from tabletop distance. Place it along armour borders, helmet rims and weapon flats. Basecoat a mid gold, wash with brown to settle it, then touch the highest points with a pale gold. If freehand is not your thing, a single gold seal or medallion per model still sells the theme.",[14,55,57],{"id":56},"white-cloth","White cloth",[10,59,60],{},"Basecoat the robes a warm bone-white, shade the folds with a thinned sepia wash, then layer back up towards off-white on the raised cloth. Keep the deepest folds warm brown rather than grey - it makes the cloth feel like linen rather than plastic. The Sultanate's cloth should be the cleanest thing in your collection, so weather it only at the hems.",[14,62,64],{"id":63},"weathering-with-restraint","Weathering, with restraint",[10,66,67,68,72,73,77],{},"Trench Crusade rewards filth, and even the Sultanate walks through mud. The difference is where you put it: dust and dried earth on boots, greaves and the lower hand-span of robes, and nothing above the knee. A light drybrush of dusty buff over the lower third - see the ",[33,69,71],{"href":70},"/guides/drybrushing","drybrushing guide"," - plus a properly built trench base from the ",[33,74,76],{"href":75},"/guides/basing-miniatures","basing guide"," grounds the model without ruining the discipline of the scheme. Skip the rust on their weapons; these blades are maintained.",[14,79,81],{"id":80},"tips-and-common-mistakes","Tips and common mistakes",[83,84,85,92,98,104],"ul",{},[29,86,87,91],{},[88,89,90],"strong",{},"Deep, not bright."," The turquoise should sit closer to the dark preset tone than to a swimming-pool blue - shade it hard and highlight sparingly.",[29,93,94,97],{},[88,95,96],{},"Script at a constant scale."," Wobbly size is what makes freehand look like freehand; small, even marks read as writing.",[29,99,100,103],{},[88,101,102],{},"Warm whites."," Sepia-shaded off-white against cool turquoise is the engine of this scheme.",[29,105,106,109],{},[88,107,108],{},"Weather low, never high."," Mud to the knee, clean above it - the contrast with the rest of the battlefield is the point.",[10,111,112,113,117],{},"When you are happy with the palette, ",[33,114,116],{"href":115},"/tools/scheme-generator?color=2e7d74","open this scheme in the generator"," to swap paints between brands, nudge the mood or add a secondary colour.",{"title":119,"searchDepth":120,"depth":120,"links":121},"",2,[122,123,124,125,126,127],{"id":16,"depth":120,"text":17},{"id":23,"depth":120,"text":24},{"id":49,"depth":120,"text":50},{"id":56,"depth":120,"text":57},{"id":63,"depth":120,"text":64},{"id":80,"depth":120,"text":81},"2026-07-04","A guide to painting the Iron Sultanate for Trench Crusade - deep turquoise armour, gold ward script and layered white cloth, kept cleaner than the battlefield around it.","md","Iron Sultanate",null,"#2e7d74","Turquoise armour, gold calligraphy and disciplined white cloth",{},true,"/factions/trench-crusade-iron-sultanate",{"title":5,"description":129},"factions/trench-crusade-iron-sultanate","trench-crusade","1CeRJwGY6hZtJaZy2ag2g6M_GjKrVr1M8YOzZ16zhYY"]