How to Paint Imperial Rome Warband Shields Step by Step
By Victrix Limited 28mm miniatures | Published: 2026-10-29
Category: How-to Guides
A practical, step-by-step scutum painting technique for your 28mm Roman warband, from cleaning and basecoating to freehand or transfer designs and final varnish.
Quick answer
Paint your Imperial Rome warband shields by working in a fixed order: clean and prime, block in the base colour, add the design, then varnish. Keep the shield off the figure until the painted face is fully dry so you can handle it without smudging.
Why shield faces deserve their own painting session
On 28mm Roman figures the scutum is the largest flat area you will paint, so any uneven basecoat or stray brushstroke shows up more than it would on a tunic or helmet. Treating the shields as a separate batch job — rather than painting them attached to the miniature — gives you a stable surface to work on and lets you use a bigger brush for the flat colour.
The trade-off is handling time: you need to let each stage dry before moving on. If you try to rush the basecoat or the design in one sitting, wet paint will lift or blend where you do not want it. Plan for two short sessions rather than one long one.
Step-by-step shield painting process
- Clean and prime the shield: Remove any mould lines with a sharp blade, then wash the shield in warm soapy water and let it dry completely. Spray or brush on a primer that suits your paint range, working in thin passes rather than one heavy coat. Check the shield edge and boss area for missed primer before you start colour; bare patches will show through later.
- Block in the base colour: Thin your chosen shield colour to about the consistency of milk and apply two or three thin coats with a flat brush, letting each coat dry. Work from the centre outward to avoid paint pooling against the raised boss. If the colour looks streaky after two coats, add another thin coat rather than loading the brush heavily.
- Apply the shield design: For freehand, sketch the main shapes lightly with a pencil or a thin dark line, then fill them in with thinned paint. For shield transfer application, cut the transfer to size, soak it briefly, slide it into place and press gently with a damp cloth to remove air bubbles. With transfers, position the design before the transfer dries; once it grabs, moving it will tear the film.
- Seal and attach: Once the design is fully dry, brush on a thin coat of varnish to protect the paint and transfer edges. Let the shield cure completely before gluing it to the figure, and use only a small amount of glue so it does not squeeze onto the painted face. Test-fit the shield on the figure before varnishing so you know the final angle and do not have to handle the painted face again.
Product facts
- Imperial Rome Warband: The Imperial Rome Warband set contains 41 figures plus a bolt shooter, giving you a fullcore of legionaries and supporting troops. That is enough shields to justify batching the painting stages, so you can keep your technique consistent across the whole unit.
Imperial Rome Warband
