Funnily enough this is exactly what I've been painting over the last few weeks and I have found a method I'm happy with - happy to share! I was really inspired by the movie so was keen to try and replicate the gold and red colour scheme from the elves that appear at the Battle of the Five Armies.
I've chatted about this with Erestar on Youtube and my method is pretty similar to the one he suggested above. Firstly, as he's suggested I experimented on a couple of old models, Bretonian archers in my case, until I found a gold finish I liked that complimented the red I wanted.
My method is:
For the gold:
Basecoat Balthasar Gold
Wash with Agrax Earthshade
Highlight with Gehanna's Gold
Highlight with Auric Armour Gold
Then, I very lightly washed the plate mail (greaves, gauntles, breastplate, helmet etc.) with Seraphim Sepia just to dull it down. I left the scale mail coat without the final wash as it makes a pleasant contrast IMO.
For the cloaks/underskirts/trousers etc:
Base coat Doombull Brown
Wash Agrax Earthshade
Highlight Doombull Brown
Highlight 50/500 mix of Doombull Brown and Mephiston Red
Highlight with Tuskgor Flesh
Finally, I mixed equal parts Doombull Brown, Mephiston Red and Tuskgor Flesh to make a mid-hihglight which I then used to blend the top highlight into the lower one.
I think they ended up coming out really well, the pics aren't the best but hopefully they give you some idea of how they look.
I hope that helps!
