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Wehrkind
2007-01-13, 08:50 PM
Ok, so a while back I posted a question about stripping paint from plastic miniatures. I found the answer oh so many months later, and now don't recall where the question was posted.

However! It also occured to me that although nearly every RPG and tabletop game uses mini's, there is no thread about painting, cleaning, storing, converting etc. So here it is!

To kick it off, Pine Sol will remove acrylic paint from mini's with the aid of a tooth brush for scrubbing. I took a handful of ork nobs with crap paint jobs and dumped them into a plastic bowl of Pine Sol, let soak for ~15 minutes, then scrubbed with a tooth brush, and they came out 80% clean, only the parts I couldn't hit retaining some paint. Now, they weren't sealed, so perhaps that helped. Also, the Pine Sol did a number on my hand, so I recommend rubber gloves unless you want hands your grandmother would scoff at.

So that said, please post any tips and tricks you have about those little models we all use. I personally would also like links to see painted mini's, since I am always looking for new ideas.

ilovefire
2007-01-13, 10:08 PM
a trick that ever modelist should know: bitz. Got some plastic pieces you never used? Spare helmets from a sprue or the like? keep them, use them in your modeling to add life to the poses.

Alchemistmerlin
2007-01-14, 02:13 AM
So I have a big pile of burned money I like to call my "unpainted Dwarf army" sitting in my closet.

The reason? Well frankly a friend of mine said he was going to show everyone some basics for painting the models etc. and then never did. So, anyone know where I can find a good "How To" guide to painting for tabletop games?

Wehrkind
2007-01-14, 03:59 AM
I learned from trial and error, and the Battlesystem AD&D Skirmishes book. Yea... old. I can give you a run down of how I do it, which serves me well.

Things you need:

Undercoat/primer (spray or paint on.)
Brushes (Fine/Liner, medium and crappy small.)
Paint (Acrylic)
Glass of water
Papertowels
Acrylic Sealer spray

For primer I use spray primer in white and black. Citadel makes it which is kind of pricey, so I use Krylon. I use white for anything with lots of red and skin tones, since those do not cover black well, and black for darker things, particularly those that I intend to dry brush (Battle Fleet Gothic ships) and metalic things (Penitent Engines/Knights in armor.) I try to ensure I apply the spray with light even coats, to avoid clogging details.

For paints I use cheap craft paints from Wal Mart, not Citadel paints. I am told Citadel paints are nice and cover well, but I am not willing to spend 250% or more for paints I am just going to water down anyway. (I tend to thin my paints a bit to keep them from clogging details.)

Brushes I am hard on, so I use craft brushes from Wal Mart, with the occaisional detail brush that is super expensive and nice like red sable fur. I say to have a small crappy brush for dry brushing, which is really hard on brushes and ruins them for anything else fast.
One good tip to using brushes: support your left hand with the model in it on the table, and your right with the brush on the table. You only need your fingers to move, and the more stable your hands are, the better.

Now, after things are primed and mounted on bases, I take a look and figure what it what on the mini's. To help this, I take a wash of some dark color, black or ruddy brown, and make a very watered down wash of it. I then apply it all over the mini. This brings out the details very well, and helps make sure I don't miss any spots. I consider the paramount sin of painting to be leaving gaps between colors, and this helps avoid that.

So,having figured out what is what, I decide what colors go where. When it comes to colors, I always have 3 shades of a color: the color itself (say red), a darker shade to water down for a wash, and a lighter shade for highlights. That is at the least. If I am really going hard core for a special character I will use more highlights. On the otherhand,it doesn't get much darker than black, so black armor doesn't get a darker shade.

Having decided what is what and what colors it will be, I move on to either individual attention for special things, or the assembly line for the rank and file. By assembly line I will make a line of the minis, usually 5-10 depending on how many I have, and paint all one color on one, then set it on the other side of the painting area, get the next in line, paint and place it behind, etc. This saves you time by avoiding needing to clean and switch gears for every color, and by the time the last one is done, the first will be dry.

Here is what I am currently working on http://us.games-workshop.com/games/40k/witchhunters/catalog/sob.htm . I will reference those.

Now, when painting, I paint from the inside out, as if I were dressing the model. So usually it is skin first, then say under tunic then armor, then weapons, etc. I use paint slightly watered down, just a tad. For the skin I used flesh tone straight from the bottle, with just a hint of a coffee color (I wanted the girls to look a little sun tanned when all was said and done.) I applied that over all skin areas (faces in this case.) Don't worry about getting extra on surrounding areas; MUCH more important is that you get all the areas covered 100%. You can always paint over errant strokes, but getting into a tight corner after the other bits are painted will just make a mess and force you to redo lots of work.

Now, after the base dried, I painted on the eyes. Lots of ways to do this. I am not exactly Captain Stable Hands, so what I do is, as carefully as I can I make a horizontal white stroke to cover the eye spot (usually get extra too.) Then I make a black vertical stroke where I want the pupil and iris to be. Then I go back to the skin base and paint on eye lids. This is a lot easier than some other methods I have tried, and looks good, if a little anime. (Tends to make bigger eyes.) Alternately just a black spot with lids will do. I wanted my girls to look more girly (the SoB mini's look really butch, so much so my fiance calls them my "Scissor Fight Force") so I was ok with bigger eyes.

Now, anything that will be metallic, paint black. For some reason putting black on first makes it look heavier and more solid.

Next, I moved on to the armor (I will be back to finish off the skin later, but I expected to get black or red on their face sooner or later, so I will cut down on extra painting this way.) I wanted it shiney, so I got a metallic black. Now, metallics typically cover like crap. So I put 2 coats of straight black, again watered down, and then a third of a thinned metallic.
Now, at this point I got black on some faces. Skin tone doesn't cover black well. There is a good trick though. I always keep a brush with wet bristles, not soaking, but wet, right by my side. When I make an errant stroke and get paint on paint I don't want covered, I use the wet brush as an eraser to remove it. You get a little pigment that stays and tends to get in the corners, but 90% comes off, and typically the remains are either unnoticable, or easily painted over.

End of Part 1

Wehrkind
2007-01-14, 04:29 AM
Part 2

(I didn't mention painting anything metal black along with the power armor earlier, I will correct that.)

So, the black being applied and cleaned from the faces, time for the red cloaks. I applied straight red paint, and since there are not many details on the cloaks, I applied it un-thinned and in somewhat thick amounts over whatever black paint was there to help cover. I put 3 coats on the the cloaks to help cover any dark spots. It doesn't have to be perfect of course.

Next, I applied a wash. I do this on pretty much every mini to bring out the deep spots. For each color, in this case the cloaks, I mix a darker shade (recall before) and water it down until it is very thin, thin enough that when put on the brush it looks like colored water not thick paint. I apply this to the area carefully, with the intent that it will go in the cracks and edges. The wash effectively puts the pigment in the deep areas, leaving the high areas lighter. You saw this effect if you added it to a white primed figure earlier. The trick is picking your colors. Black is usually not your best choice, unless you are doing greys or metals. For warm colors I use brown with the color, and perhaps a little blue. Cool colors blue and perhaps a little black work out. For the red I used lots of red, some brown and a dab of blue to get it slightly purplely brown. (I used this on the skin too, since humans have a lot of red beneath the skin tone.) Now, apply that over the area, and try to avoid getting too much on the black. A little won't hurt at all, but if you get too much settling in, just puff some air on it and it will get out. When that dries, you will see it darkened the whole area a bit but mostly the deep parts where the color pooled. Yay depth.

Now, for the hair, I painted it different colors, but let's run with white. I put a base coat of slightly darker grey on the hair. Then dry brushed on the color I wanted it to stand out as (white in this case.) To dry brush use the crap brush, and use regular paint. After putting it on the brush, wipe almost all the paint off on the papertowel, so only a tiny bit shows up. Then lightly dust it over the area. Only the high points will get the color, and thus pick out details and raised spots. Together with the dark wash and midtone base, this creates the illusion of depth that really makes the mini pop. Dry brushing is also an easy way to make small details stand out without actually painting them. To that end, I also dry brushed the white wings and markings on their shoulder pads until they were all white, leaving the gaps between black. So now the hair and the shoulders were done.

Next I dry brushed the cloaks with some red mixed with a tad of white. I don't like how red looks with too much white or yellow added, so I just used a little bit, but mostly straight red. I washed it pretty heavily, so it was dark enough anyway.

Next, I painted a gunmetal gray on the bolters, which I painted black along with the armor and icons. Then, since the Sisters of Battle love their bolters as objects of worship, I went over it with a dry brush of shining silver. I also picked out the gold icons and beads at this time. I dry brushed on the beads to avoid the cracks, but I could have put gold straight on earlier, then let the wash pick them out (I did that for my Sister's Repentia.) The icons I painted gold, then drybrushed on a little gold and silver mix. It also works well if you put on a copper paint, then dry brush on gold a few times.

Now, for the faces I mixed some red and skin tone to make a lippy color, and carefully put it on the lips, not quite dry brushing, but not having a lot of paint on either. I then mixed some skin tone and white, and dry brush that on, avoiding the eyes.

Finally, to make the armor plates stand out, I dry brushed on some light blue, very lightly. Just enough to give a blue highlight is plenty.

That's about it. I put some acrylic sealer on, then glue some fake grass at their feet, and done.

Some techniques can be gotten through the links on the Games Workshop sites. The have articles that are pretty decent. Really though the only difference between a bad painter and a good painter is practice and how many mistakes you are willing to leave on a figure.

DeathQuaker
2007-01-14, 11:43 AM
For stripping, I like to use Simple Green, which is a multipurpose household cleaner. This can be found is huge bottles in most multipurpose stores like Target and in some grocery stores. I fill a small container with the SG, enough to cover the model, and let it soak for 1-2 days. I then run the mini under water while scrubbing it clean with a toothbrush. 90% of the time this works perfectly, but if there's particularly stubborn paint, I scrub at it with a brass-bristle brush (I bought one at a train hobby shop) to get it out of the cracks and crevices. The only time I ever had trouble stripping a mini with this though was when I bought some already-painted models from someone, and he apparently used something akin to Sovereign Glue to prime his minis with.:smallwink:

Simple Green takes a little while to do its work, but it doesn't damage plastic or green stuff (I needed to strip a conversion once) and is fairly environmentally friendly--doesn't hurt my hands and is okay to pour down the sink. A lot of other suggestions for stripping that you'll hear, like brake fluid and castrol-super-clean, are a lot more toxic and a lot of people don't use them properly (and also less kind to stuff like plastics). Plus, Simple Green is also useful to have around the house for actually cleaning stuff. :smallsmile:

I'll also note that I don't bother stripping a mini unless there are thick layers of paint that need to be corrected, or if I want to strip the mini to convert or re-convert it. I usually otherwise try to paint over problems--I paint in pretty thin layers so painting over a layer isn't going to obscure detail too much.

I've got a page for minis which has a link to some product and technique preferences I have, and (poorly photographed) pictures of some of my War Machine and Reaper fantasy figures (it badly needs updating):

http://www.deathquaker.org/gaming/miniatures.html

Edit: ps: Anyone know of a good matte brush-on varnish? Or techniques for using it? I use Vallejo, but half the time the finish seems to come off semi-gloss rather than matte, and I can't seem to figure out what I'm doing differently when the finish comes off right and when it comes off too glossy. I don't use spray varnish because I don't have a good place to set up a spray station.

Penguinizer
2007-01-14, 11:57 AM
Does anyone have any idea on how to darken some tentacle pink (citadel color) without having it look weird?

Lilivati
2007-01-14, 02:37 PM
(Just wanted to give a quick thanks for the extensive information people have posted here- I've been wanting to get into this for awhile but wasn't sure where to start. :) )

DeathQuaker
2007-01-14, 03:34 PM
Does anyone have any idea on how to darken some tentacle pink (citadel color) without having it look weird?

It depends on how you want to "darken" it. Pink is just tinted red (i.e. red mixed with white), so darkening and deepening the color would usually call for simply adding more red. I'd probably use Red Gore (a crimson color) over Blood Red, which is too orangey.

If you want it even darker, or bluer, I also might try adding Warlock Purple or even Lich Purple (fuchsia or royal purple).

Another way to deepen and darken it without making it too saturated or too purple would be this: add Red Gore until you have it at almost the right depth, then add a *drop*--and I do emphasize *drop*--of medium or dark green paint (Grass Green or Dark Angels Green) or even of dark green ink. This being a complimentary color to Red, it will desaturate and darken the color. Don't add too much or you'll end up with brown, however.

General note to all:

Though I generally don't tout Citadel products as they're often overpriced, one very nice thing they've put out is their "How to Paint Citadel Miniatures" book. It's got a lot of great how-tos to get you started painting. And of course while they use Citadel minis (Warhammer, 40K, and LotR, among others), the techniques are usable for any mini.

Alchemistmerlin
2007-01-14, 06:20 PM
Holy crap

Thanks for the advice folks, I think I may be bringing my army back to college with me and actually getting to work on it.


1 Dwarf Cannon Crew, 1 box of dwarf thunderers, and one Dwarf Warriors Regiment.

Wehrkind
2007-01-14, 07:20 PM
We aim to please!
That and I was teaching my fiance to paint over my days off, so it was right on the top of my head.
(She is crazy good. Being super anal retentive and having fingers smaller than my pinky helps, but 5 hours on a perfect mini her first time? Win. Time to set up the Chinese sweat shop!)

Wehrkind
2007-01-14, 07:27 PM
Oh, one thing I do for mixing paints is buy cheap craft paint. I got addicted when I started because I raided my mom's stenciling paint to start. Having a bajillion random colors really helps when you just can't get that right shade down. Also, I find mixing in little jars is necessary if I am painting an army, and that is a pain. Better to buy a bottle that is just the right color for 1$. Likewise you can get giant bottles of black, white and red for like 3$.
For example, imagine my excitement 13 years ago (holy christ I am old...) when I found "Dusty Muave", the perfect color for kobolds!
At anyrate, a trip to Wal Mart or some craft stores might rustle up the perfect color for your tentacles.

I am glad to hear the Citadel Mini's book is good. I was tempted to pick that up a few weeks ago, so I might give it a go to see what they have to offer.

DeathQuaker
2007-01-14, 08:26 PM
Oh, one thing I do for mixing paints is buy cheap craft paint.

A word of caution on this, based on my own experience and research: craft acrylic is thick. Acrylics formulated for miniatures are made with a finer ground pigment and slightly different thinners/retarders etc--so that they won't gum up fine detail easily.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't use craft acrylic, but you should take care to get it thinned down a little before you use it. Anything from acrylic thinner bought in the same place you'll find your craft paints, to just water, to whatever you find works--will help you keep your miniatures from looking "gummy" or have your brush strokes blatantly showing.

In fact, even with mini paint it's usually good to thin it up a bit with at least some water.

It's tempting to want to paint with thick paint because it's faster--and yeah, if you want something just table-ready and don't really care about its appearance beyond that, do whatever works. However, if you know you will eventually want to be learning more advanced techniques, you will need to learn to work with thinner paint, and it's better to learn to do that from the beginning than reteach yourself how to paint later.

Here's a good article on thinning paint from Reaper: http://www.reapermini.com/TheCraft/15



I got addicted when I started because I raided my mom's stenciling paint to start. Having a bajillion random colors really helps when you just can't get that right shade down. Also, I find mixing in little jars is necessary if I am painting an army, and that is a pain. Better to buy a bottle that is just the right color for 1$.

Another money saving plan for those just starting with painting and for the purposes of building a wargame army: decide what you want your color scheme to be first, before you go buy paint. Then just buy the colors you NEED for your army--say, if you're playing Dark Angels, just buy Dark Angels green, maybe a lighter green for highlighting, red for the weapon cases and eyes and any ornamentation, and boltgun metal for the weapons and wing-insignias, with black for undercoating what you will paint boltgun metal. Keeping around a pot of white and black is also a good idea. Then build up your paint collection from there, as you find the need for more paints (a flesh tone and flesh wash for your commanders' faces, etc).

I totally agree that if you are using a color a LOT you should buy one, not try to mix one. It'll save a lot of time and agony, as trying to remix that perfect shade you got once is hard to duplicate. HOWEVER, if you feel you need to mix your own shade for whatever reason (can't afford more paint; can't find color you like; etc.), I suggest buying empty paint bottles from Reaper or Vallejo and then mixing the color once in those bottles, then squeezing out what you need as time goes by. I'd personally go with Reaper because the bottles will come with their trademark skull agitator. :smallsmile:

Wehrkind
2007-01-14, 09:54 PM
You are right, I should have mentioned again that I thin my paints a good bit, both for the more even color and lack of goopyness. The only times I don't thin are when I am painting vast flat areas, like cloaks and tanks.
That is interesting about the pigment grains and thinners. I was curious about how specialty paints like Citadel justified higher prices. Speaking of which, how much do Reaper paints run? I might look for some when I am at Cold Wars in March.

Edit: I should have mentioned that I thin with water, being a newb when it comes to adding non-paint and water substances together. I might experiment with some of the wierder glue/soap washes and other things once I have my army down pat, and I can get one mini and paint then strip and repeat to figure out how things work.

Edit 2:
Wow, that Warstore you linked is "teh sexxor". I am going to have to put together a list of tools I want from them...

JellyPooga
2007-01-15, 06:24 AM
Personally, I like Reapers paints. They aren't the cheapest paints out there and there is not an amazing variety of colours. However, if (like me) you mix all your paints anyway, they are very very good. I bought five of their 'triple pack' things, which give you three varieties of the same colour (like 'light', 'medium' and 'dark' blue) and can mix practically any colour you can think of. They thin well too, whether you use water, paint thinner or a home-brew thinner.

Painting Tips? hmmm...best one I can think of is this:

Experiment.

1)Don't be afraid to mix your own colours instead of always using Scorched Brown or No.34 (or whatever). If you mix your paints, your models will attain an individuality that they previously did not have (and here's the important part for all you army/gang owners) whilst still maintaining a sense of coherency, because it's all but impossible to mix exactly the same colour twice.

2)If you are of a creative turn of mind, I'm sure you can think up lots of new painting techniques. If not, browse the net, there's plenty there to inspire you. Again, this is a 'don't be afraid to...' tip. Try out new techniques. O.k. so the "base coat and drybrush" method works and is damn useful for painting armies, but when it comes to models that you want to put a bit more effort into (army general, your miniature for D&D, etc.) try something new...blending, paint with a toothpick instead of a brush, texture your paint, use inks, undercoat with yellow, get creative. If it doesn't work, strip the model and start again. If you're not sure, test the technique on a crappy plastic model first.

If you keep trying new things, eventually you will get better. If you don't, then you never will.

[anecdote mode] My flatmate from about two years ago was a good middling painter. He could knock up a decent army for 40k in two weeks and it would look good on the table. On the other hand, his idea of a good paint job for his army general was no different to that of his standard troops. He never tried new techniques, he rarely mixed paints and although he had the makings of a really very good painter (steady hand, good eye for colour scheme, etc.), he never will be because he doesn't experiment. Just keep on with the "base coat and drybrush" for all time.

My other flatmate from about two years ago, conversely, (no offense to him intended) was not a particularly good painter when I first met him. His detail was splotchy, surfaces had uneven finishes, etc. Since I met him though, he has persevered to improve his painting - he asked me for tips, surfed the net for new techniques, tried new paints and so on and so forth. Now, although the standard of his rank and file is not much better than it was (though it is better than before), his individual models are far better than the other guy could ever hope to achieve with "base coat and drybrush".[/anecdote mode]

DeathQuaker
2007-01-15, 09:28 AM
You are right, I should have mentioned again that I thin my paints a good bit, both for the more even color and lack of goopyness. The only times I don't thin are when I am painting vast flat areas, like cloaks and tanks.

I figured you probably did. I just wanted to point it out to people looking for ideas.



That is interesting about the pigment grains and thinners. I was curious about how specialty paints like Citadel justified higher prices.

It is actually somewhat justified, as they need high quality pigment to get them ground finely. I'm sure they still mark it up beyond necessary though.... nice thing when you work in a niche market.



Speaking of which, how much do Reaper paints run? I might look for some when I am at Cold Wars in March.

The Master Series paints are $2.99 normally; if you order from the Warstore they're $2.49.

Reaper also has "Pro" paints at $2.49 which is an older line. I like the Master Series paints better, but they take some getting used to as the consistency is different from other paints.



Edit: I should have mentioned that I thin with water, being a newb when it comes to adding non-paint and water substances together. I might experiment with some of the wierder glue/soap washes and other things once I have my army down pat, and I can get one mini and paint then strip and repeat to figure out how things work.

I haven't experimented a lot myself, but I like Vallejo's thinner. Easy to find in gaming circles. Some of the more normal craft acrylic thinners are just fine too.



Edit 2:
Wow, that Warstore you linked is "teh sexxor". I am going to have to put together a list of tools I want from them...

It is, isn't it?:smallamused:

I'd go with Micromark (http://www.micromark.com) for tools, and the Warstore (http://www.thewarstore.com) for paints, miniatures, and green stuff.

PS: JellyPooga: Very good advice. I learned most decent techniques I have (not to say I am great) from messing around till I got something that worked.

OTOH, sometimes when drybrushing's what works, the drybrush the @&%$$! out of it. :wink:

Mr. Moon
2007-01-15, 02:51 PM
I'm the kind of person who uses a fair amount of superglue, and then holds on to the model untill I am sure it is dry. Because of this, I tend to get a lot of super glue on my hands. One day, there was so much I probably spent an hour or so scrubbing it off, when finaly, my Mom came in, took one look at me, and told me that nail polish remover would help.

Now, by then I was about done, and I don't mind a bit of superglue on my fingers because the skin sheds it off soon, so I haven't had a chance to try it, but hey, if it works...

Okay, my painting style. Or at least, what I plan to do.

I'm currently working on Genestealers right now. First things first: Take them out of the plastic sprue with a pair of plastic cutters, and file off the mould lines. Put everything you won't need in a box. Mine has "Bits 40k" painted on it. Yes, I know it's spelt Blitz. Shut up.

When you're done this, you might have four pairs of scything talons, four pairs of normal claws, eight pairs of rending claws, eight heads(this time, I'm using seven normal, but all with tounges, and one feeder tendrels), eight bodies, eight bases, and eight legs. This is what I'm working with. Glue the legs to the bodies, let that dry, glue the body to the base, and then glue on the heads. Stop. No more glueing. Put the super glue down. Glueing the arms to the bodies just makes it hard to paint.

I enjoy giving my Tyrnids uber-long tounges, so break out your Green Stuff. Take a small portion of the blue and yellow parts, and work them together untill they turn green. Some water may be needed to make the putty more workable.
When you are pleased with the texture of the green stuff, roll it into a cylandir. It can be as long as you want it to be. Mould it into a tounge like shape, and hold it up to the mouth of your Genestealer to make sure it looks natural. Once you are pleased with the shape and position, use a small amount of super glue to fix them together. Once this part of the superglue is dry, give the tounges a couple of hours to get used to the shape. Some shapes may require some support to keep gravity from ruining your hard work. This may take a few days, but to spead up the process, use an old paintbrush to spead some super glue over the tounge. Once again, it may take awhile, and two coats may be needed. Using excesive amounts of superglue will cause it to drip dry, and give a nice saliva effect. But be carefull how you position them: It's possible to have the tounges glue themselves to your table.

When all is dry, use a large paint brush to cover the body (legs and head included) with a light coat of black or Velvet Blue (Folk Art, I beleive, I've been using that since I ran out of black half a year ago. I just ran out last week.). Do this to the arms as well, but this time, only paint half of them. The top half. The bottem side will be the side that they rest on while drying. If this side has paint on it, they will stick to the table and have a large smear where it was touching the table. When all the arms are dry, flip them over and do the other side. Do another check over the Genestealers to make sure that they have an even coat.

Next, take out your brightest shade of green (I'm using Bright Green, from Folk Art, I believe), and do two or three coats, being careful to keep it light. Should air bubles form, or you use a bit to much paint, wipe them/it off with a clean, dry paint brush. Several layers will be needed to cover the black. If you aren't pleased, feel free to add more layers of green.

All right, now you use a medium sized paintbrush loaded with black paint and run it along the carapice. Don't tr to spread it, just let the catch on the tops of the ridges on the carapice. Then take a smaller brush and use it to paint the spines on it's back black on the top.

Now, take your smallest paintbrush, and dip it in your white paint. Put a small amount of white paint on the eyes, then, using a slightly larger brush, cover the claws, teath and tounge. Once the paint it dry, paint the tounge and eyes with a layer of red. (Since I'm no good at mixing, I just use straight red for the tounge. Any suggestions?)

In a small container, pour out some PVA/School glue, and water it down a little. Dip the claws, scything talons and tounges into the glue, and let them drip dry. This is used to make it look like there is blood or saliva dripping of their claws. Continue this process untill you have the dessired effect, letting the glue dry compleatly between dippings. Once you are satisfied, use your red paint to make the glue drippings look bloody.

All right, now you can glue the arms on.

Next up, give them a few heavy coating of gloss varnish to make them look slimey. Maybe when I'm better, I might try taking this farther, but untill then, once this coating is done, your finished.

DeathQuaker
2007-01-15, 06:04 PM
Moon: You can also use Rubber bands or masking tape to hold the parts together. Or blu-tak, but that you have to be really careful with, because if the glue gets on the blu-tak it forms this amazingly difficult to remove sticky blue adhesive that gunks up your model.

If you do a lot of assembly, you may consider getting a pin vise and pinning the parts together (this involves drilling a small hole in the parts that are supposed to be put together, then gluing a small rod--say, a length of paper clip--into the holes. The joints stay together better both while they're drying and become much more difficult to break after they're dried.

And your model will stick together better if you use less glue. I know that may not make sense on first thought, but trust me. A little dab'll do ya, as they used to say.

General_Ghoul
2007-01-15, 08:09 PM
A couple of tips:

To remove old paint, I use an old crock pot. In fact I actually use a new crockpot, bought one @ Walmart for $4 day after Thanksgiving. I really use it for getting paint off old cabinet fixtures (real $$ there if you can find em). I use just a shot of cleaner (usually spic-n-span) and water. Put the pot on med heat, cover and leave overnight. Paint should bubble right of. I scrub with a stiff plactic brush. Works great on old lead figures.

For chainmail armor, Take a piece of 16 gauge solid copper and aluminum wire (if you go to any big box hardware store, they sell both in one electrical line by the foot. I have some around the house, but also have gotten 4 inches before for free from the store. Tell them you need to make sure you are buying right type and them will give you a sample). Using a high speed sander (I use a belt sander) with a low # grit paper (real rough) sand the wires and make a fine mixture of copper and silver flecks (generally smaller than salt grains). Add these to your armor paint (I like black, light grey with a hint of silver). It can clog a sprayer so be careful how much you use, I usually add about a 5mm circle of the silver metal and half as much of the copper to a thinned mixture of paint that would fill a stardard soda plastic bottle cap. Let this dry, then come back with a dry overcoat of light grey/silver mix, then a second dry coat of black for shadowing. It really adds depth to chainmail. I usually clear coat, but on one I did, I forgot, didnt really notice until the copper started to tarnish to the weathered green, made it look even better.

Wehrkind
2007-01-15, 09:52 PM
Don't knock dry brushing too hard, you can get some really great effects out of it with combinations of thinned paint and various shades. Yes, it is a noob technique, but when it comes to doing those 50 Orks in a reasonable amount of time, it can really benefit you.

Still, I look forward to learning ways of making individual figures better. Blending and and fancy thinned layers I will have to try more of.

Does anyone have any experience with the wash techniques they mention in Citadel books a good bit, such as adding a little PVA glue to make washes collect in deep parts more exclusively, or soap to make them more even? I am a little scared to try these, as I suspect I can screw them up royally.

Also, I used mini's as an excuse to get a Dremel tool. It is really nice for pinning so long as you are careful to not go all the way through, and start a little divit to hold the bit. (I will probably get a pin vise for this as well, I just need to hide it from my fiance so she doesn't stab me with the Dremel.) Pinning is excellent for big things (like those HORRIBLE to put together Penitent Engines) and really saves a lot more time than it costs.

DeathQuaker
2007-01-15, 10:04 PM
Does anyone have any experience with the wash techniques they mention in Citadel books a good bit, such as adding a little PVA glue to make washes collect in deep parts more exclusively, or soap to make them more even? I am a little scared to try these, as I suspect I can screw them up royally.

Nah, don't be scared. And as JellyPooga says, don't be afraid to experiment. Try it on a test model--something you don't care about and can strip easily if it doesn't work out.

The trick to washing with either dish soap or PVA glue to make glazes... or if you want to get fancy, Vallejo Glaze Medium (good stuff, and probably easier to use than either of the above, if less easily available), is learning to add small quantities at a time. In either the case of dish soap or glue, a little goes a looooong way. If I use either as additives, I squirt them out on my palette, then add in a drop or two with a toothpick. Otherwise your paint will get bubbly or goopy. Also of course, especially w/ PVA glue, add a little water too.

I usually use PVA glue for my brush-on primer cocktail--helps the thinned black paint spread evenly and stick to the right spots. I used dish soap for glazes before I bought glaze medium. They all work in the Citadel how-tos as described--with practice.

Test it out and see how they work. Also, if you Google search, LOTS of stuff on washes and glazes on the Web.

PS: Of course, if there's a lot of stuff you want to coat, I'd just buy ink. Add a drop of soap if it's not spreading right.

Wehrkind
2007-01-16, 12:04 AM
Death Quaker: Define "glaze" for me if you would be so kind. Everytime you write that, I keep thinking of honey and ham...

DeathQuaker
2007-01-16, 07:55 AM
Washes and glazes are more or less the same thing... a translucent coat of paint or ink that is meant to tint something a color while still letting the undercoat show through. I think of washes as mixing only with water, whereas glazes mixing with a flow improver like dish soap or magic wash or glaze medium.

Here's a good article on glazing with glaze medium:

http://www.brushthralls.com/Glaze/index.php

Penguinizer
2007-01-16, 08:01 AM
Im a pretty lazy painter. I usually go with a simple style for my nids, just natural white for the skin with red eyes and the black + a dry brushing of purple for the shells. It doesnt look too fancy but it is simple.

Mr. Moon
2007-01-17, 12:22 PM
All right, I'm finished up on m stragetgy, feel free to give it a try, but if anyone asks, tell them that it was MY idea. :wink:


Moon: You can also use Rubber bands or masking tape to hold the parts together. Or blu-tak, but that you have to be really careful with, because if the glue gets on the blu-tak it forms this amazingly difficult to remove sticky blue adhesive that gunks up your model.

If you do a lot of assembly, you may consider getting a pin vise and pinning the parts together (this involves drilling a small hole in the parts that are supposed to be put together, then gluing a small rod--say, a length of paper clip--into the holes. The joints stay together better both while they're drying and become much more difficult to break after they're dried.

And your model will stick together better if you use less glue. I know that may not make sense on first thought, but trust me. A little dab'll do ya, as they used to say.

Hmm... I'll give it a try. I'd use a pin vice, but I can't really afford one.

Telok
2007-01-18, 03:53 PM
While I don't do 40K I have painted a fair share of figures for various games. One thing I found that helped me is owning a cat.

Of course the hair in your paint is a nuisnace, worse if it gets on a figure, and it's no help at all if they want to play with your brush while you're working. But it turns out that shedded whiskers are a near perfect brush for muniscule detail work. They aren't easy to come by unless the cat has a preferred sleeping spot, even then you have to check carefully. Once I have them I cut them about 1/4 to 1/2 way down (from tip to follicle) depending on how small a detail I want.

I find this a better tool for tiny details (eyebrows, iris, beauty marks, teeny facial features, painted toenails, tatoos) than brushes. Not paticularly something you want to do with a 30 model army.

DeathQuaker
2007-01-18, 04:12 PM
Hmm... I'll give it a try. I'd use a pin vice, but I can't really afford one.

$7.75?

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=21105

Okay, you also gotta buy the bits (I don't think this one automatically comes with bits) and pay for shipping, but you still shouldn't be paying much more'n $20.00 for the whole kit'n'kaboodle. Save yer nickels--they're very handy.


Telok: That's awesome. Currently catless, I'm forced to contend with Teklon spotters, sharpened toothpicks, and Micron pens. Good idea though--probably has just the right stiffness while not being too rigid.

Dragor
2007-01-18, 05:16 PM
Any advice for doing faces? I simply can't do them. My mouths and eyes look quite pathetic when put next to the 'Eavy Metal team's ones. I wonder how they do it.

My Inquisitor Lord is looking brilliant in all aspects except for the face. If I get that done right, I'll be truly proud to play with it.

Murongo
2007-01-18, 09:05 PM
Yea my friend's dad is a huge hobbyist and has every last glaze, wash, whatever in existence. My grey knights came out looking awesome because he had a steel paint with real steel flecks in it so the guys look all grim, but without looking messy.

Then he had this clear-gold paint that made the power weapons look like they had a faint gold sheen. He had every paint pen you could imagine too, in every size, so the joints look sharp and detailed.

Not to mention he had lights meant for painting, tables, brushes. The man is such a geek but hes awesome.

DeathQuaker
2007-01-18, 10:18 PM
Sorry, I know I've been posting in this thread a lot but I've missed talking about painting and modeling work... haven't had a chance to do it in a long time. So please don't mind me, I just like to yammer on about painting...


Any advice for doing faces? I simply can't do them. My mouths and eyes look quite pathetic when put next to the 'Eavy Metal team's ones. I wonder how they do it.

A few tips... I'm using Citadel Colors for reference, but any paint you like will do:

Eyes: Some say to paint eyes first, but I've never had good luck with that. I usually paint my eyes after I paint my flesh tones. Use a light grey--say Fortress Grey or Space Wolves Grey. Do NOT use pure white--it'll make your faces look cartoony. Real eyes are shadowed by the brow--they don't look pure white, and so it'll look all the more weird if you use white on the eyes on a very small model. Using a GOOD brush with a GOOD tip --I like to use a size 3/0 Taklon (a nice somewhat stiff nylon) spotter--or other tool of your choice, such as cat whisker :smallbiggrin: -- carefully paint the light grey paint over the eyeball. Don't worry about getting it in every corner of the eye--just make sure most of the eyeball is painted.

What I do after that is take some diluted Black Ink -- thinned (but not purely water; use something like glaze medium) black paint will also do -- and get just a bit on the same tiny brush/good brush tip/whisker. Carefully drag the brush over the top and/or bottom eyelids of the eye. If you accidentally put too much or there's too much water or whatever, carefully dab it out with a bit of cloth or napkin. The aim of this is to just get some dark color to sink into the crevices around the eyeball. It might take some practice, but once you get used to it, it's easy to do and makes your eyeball stand out nicely.

If you want to get all fancy by adding a pupil, you can do it the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is to buy a .05mm black micron pen and simply draw in the pupil. One little dot and you're done. The hard way is to take your spotter/whisker/sharpened toothpick, dip it in a little black paint, and with a very steady hand, paint it in the center of the eye. I'll note I don't bother with pupils unless I'm doing character models and/or the eyes are very visible on the model.

And the BEST way to do eyes is just practice practice practice so you can learn to steady your hand.

Mouths: If the model's mouth is open, showing teeth, I paint the teeth the same way I paint eyeballs--grey outlined in black ink. If the mouth is shut, I just shade it with ink (see the flesh notes below). If I want to paint lips, I paint them a little bit darker than the midtone color I'm using to paint the flesh tone, sometimes adding a TOUCH of red if I think it needs it. DO NOT paint lips pure red or anything close to it, though, unless your want your models looking like hookers or transvestites.

Flesh: There's two ways to do good flesh tones for the face:

1. Paint in a midtone--say, for a caucasian face, Bronzed Flesh or Dwarf Flesh--and then inkwash over with watered down Flesh Wash (this is a thin ink similar to Chestnut Ink, which you can also use if you have that and not Flesh Wash; if you're doing a darker skin tone, use Brown Ink instead). This will fill in the crevices and give it depth. After the ink dries, paint a thin coat of the SAME midtone over the face again, just brushing over the cheeks, forehead, and chin, leaving the ink-darkened surface in the more shaded areas. This is very easy and fast, and leaves your flesh looking detailed without taking a lot of time. The only downside is the ink leaves a sheen, but if you matte-varnish your models afterward, that takes care of that.

2. Build up from dark to light. Paint a good solid undercoat of Dark Flesh, then with your midtone of your choice--say Dwarf Flesh, paint the face using THIN layers. Cover the face almost completely with the first thin layer, leaving only the darkest corners unpainted. Do the next layer, lightening the stroke again so again, more shaded areas remain darker, and then do a final layer or two to bring up the broader surface areas of the face. This takes a few layers to look right but doesn't take long once you get used to the what the consistency of the paint should be (which is best learned by practice). This is not difficult nor terribly time consuming (faces on a 28 mm statue are small), but takes a little more focus to do WELL than the first method.

In both cases, if you're feeling like you need more detail, take your next lightest flesh tone (or mix some white or cream color with your midtone) and lightly brush over the brow, bridge of nose, and tip of chin if it's jutting out.

Overall: Keep it simple. Don't try to over-detail faces--the more you try to tweak, the more likely your hand will slip and you'll blob up the face. And again, practice practice practice. Take a model you don't like much, paint the face, and paint it over and over and/or strip it and repaint it.

Mr. Moon
2007-01-19, 01:42 PM
$7.75?

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=21105

Okay, you also gotta buy the bits (I don't think this one automatically comes with bits) and pay for shipping, but you still shouldn't be paying much more'n $20.00 for the whole kit'n'kaboodle. Save yer nickels--they're very handy.


Telok: That's awesome. Currently catless, I'm forced to contend with Teklon spotters, sharpened toothpicks, and Micron pens. Good idea though--probably has just the right stiffness while not being too rigid.

Ah yes, but is that money in US funds or Canadian funds? Either way, I'm saving up for the Tyranid codex, then the Warhammer rule book, and those take proirity.


Any advice for doing faces? I simply can't do them. My mouths and eyes look quite pathetic when put next to the 'Eavy Metal team's ones. I wonder how they do it.


My dad has this storey he's fond of telling me whenever I complain about my talents. It goes along the lines of him walking into a Games Workshop store and seeing a staff member working on this beautiful modle. Amazed, he asked "How'd you get so good?" Aparently, the staff member turned around and told him "Well, once you paint the first three thousand, it gets fairly easy."

The moral of the storey? The 'Eavy Metal Team got where they are by painting alot of figures. Sure, they probably have some natural talant, but hey, that's beside the point.

Dragor
2007-01-19, 03:46 PM
Sorry, I know I've been posting in this thread a lot but I've missed talking about painting and modeling work... haven't had a chance to do it in a long time. So please don't mind me, I just like to yammer on about painting...



A few tips... I'm using Citadel Colors for reference, but any paint you like will do:

Eyes: Some say to paint eyes first, but I've never had good luck with that. I usually paint my eyes after I paint my flesh tones. Use a light grey--say Fortress Grey or Space Wolves Grey. Do NOT use pure white--it'll make your faces look cartoony. Real eyes are shadowed by the brow--they don't look pure white, and so it'll look all the more weird if you use white on the eyes on a very small model. Using a GOOD brush with a GOOD tip --I like to use a size 3/0 Taklon (a nice somewhat stiff nylon) spotter--or other tool of your choice, such as cat whisker :smallbiggrin: -- carefully paint the light grey paint over the eyeball. Don't worry about getting it in every corner of the eye--just make sure most of the eyeball is painted.

What I do after that is take some diluted Black Ink -- thinned (but not purely water; use something like glaze medium) black paint will also do -- and get just a bit on the same tiny brush/good brush tip/whisker. Carefully drag the brush over the top and/or bottom eyelids of the eye. If you accidentally put too much or there's too much water or whatever, carefully dab it out with a bit of cloth or napkin. The aim of this is to just get some dark color to sink into the crevices around the eyeball. It might take some practice, but once you get used to it, it's easy to do and makes your eyeball stand out nicely.

If you want to get all fancy by adding a pupil, you can do it the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is to buy a .05mm black micron pen and simply draw in the pupil. One little dot and you're done. The hard way is to take your spotter/whisker/sharpened toothpick, dip it in a little black paint, and with a very steady hand, paint it in the center of the eye. I'll note I don't bother with pupils unless I'm doing character models and/or the eyes are very visible on the model.

And the BEST way to do eyes is just practice practice practice so you can learn to steady your hand.

Mouths: If the model's mouth is open, showing teeth, I paint the teeth the same way I paint eyeballs--grey outlined in black ink. If the mouth is shut, I just shade it with ink (see the flesh notes below). If I want to paint lips, I paint them a little bit darker than the midtone color I'm using to paint the flesh tone, sometimes adding a TOUCH of red if I think it needs it. DO NOT paint lips pure red or anything close to it, though, unless your want your models looking like hookers or transvestites.

Flesh: There's two ways to do good flesh tones for the face:

1. Paint in a midtone--say, for a caucasian face, Bronzed Flesh or Dwarf Flesh--and then inkwash over with watered down Flesh Wash (this is a thin ink similar to Chestnut Ink, which you can also use if you have that and not Flesh Wash; if you're doing a darker skin tone, use Brown Ink instead). This will fill in the crevices and give it depth. After the ink dries, paint a thin coat of the SAME midtone over the face again, just brushing over the cheeks, forehead, and chin, leaving the ink-darkened surface in the more shaded areas. This is very easy and fast, and leaves your flesh looking detailed without taking a lot of time. The only downside is the ink leaves a sheen, but if you matte-varnish your models afterward, that takes care of that.

2. Build up from dark to light. Paint a good solid undercoat of Dark Flesh, then with your midtone of your choice--say Dwarf Flesh, paint the face using THIN layers. Cover the face almost completely with the first thin layer, leaving only the darkest corners unpainted. Do the next layer, lightening the stroke again so again, more shaded areas remain darker, and then do a final layer or two to bring up the broader surface areas of the face. This takes a few layers to look right but doesn't take long once you get used to the what the consistency of the paint should be (which is best learned by practice). This is not difficult nor terribly time consuming (faces on a 28 mm statue are small), but takes a little more focus to do WELL than the first method.

In both cases, if you're feeling like you need more detail, take your next lightest flesh tone (or mix some white or cream color with your midtone) and lightly brush over the brow, bridge of nose, and tip of chin if it's jutting out.

Overall: Keep it simple. Don't try to over-detail faces--the more you try to tweak, the more likely your hand will slip and you'll blob up the face. And again, practice practice practice. Take a model you don't like much, paint the face, and paint it over and over and/or strip it and repaint it.

Death Quaker comes to my rescue yet again :smallbiggrin: Thanks!

It's the blooming Inquisitor Lord model which is being stubborn. I have the female one with the Inferno Gun.

LunaWolvesMan
2007-01-19, 10:23 PM
Wow, awesome that you guys have this painting thread started. This actually helps make me excited about my painting. I have 130+ models to paint and I'm actually going to do a step-by-step of the different squads so I can catalog how crazy I am.

I'm doing a Chaos Space Marine army (Black Legion) where there is a 10 man squad from each of the nine traitor legions and a 10 man squad of Fallen Angels. I also have Raptors and daemons to paint.

I'd be happy to lend my experience when possible.:smallbiggrin:

Wehrkind
2007-02-11, 09:56 PM
Hehe Death Quaker, you just keep posting as often as you like. When I decide I am a better painter than you, I will tell you to step aside. Hopefully you will still be alive to do so :)

I am going to have to keep an eye out for cat whiskers. Perhaps even comandeer one... Have you ever tried using the hairs themselves? They seem a little soft, but Mindy drops clumps of them on my pc chair, so there is a ready supply of well aligned fur.

I have the female inquisitor with the inferno gun as well. She probably will not get painted for a bit since I still have ~25 sisters and Celestine to paint, as well as penitent engines and such. I am not certain I am going to use her, so I am going to put her and her retinue on the back burner for a bit. I will let you know if I find a trick to her though.

Wehrkind
2007-02-12, 06:31 AM
Oh, while I am thinking on it, has anyone had any experience modeling with "green stuff" and the like? I found that GW no longer sells the bitz for the Celestine wings conversion (tears), but after seeing the picture in the Codex, I can't really see her any other way. So I am left with buying some other random wings and making them work (sight unseen, no less), or sculpting my own.

While the latter seems a bit impossible, is it easier than it seems?

DeathQuaker
2007-02-12, 10:23 PM
Oh, while I am thinking on it, has anyone had any experience modeling with "green stuff" and the like? I found that GW no longer sells the bitz for the Celestine wings conversion (tears), but after seeing the picture in the Codex, I can't really see her any other way. So I am left with buying some other random wings and making them work (sight unseen, no less), or sculpting my own.

While the latter seems a bit impossible, is it easier than it seems?

If you have never sculpted with Green Stuff before, I would not start by trying to sculpt feather wings. I've worked a bit with Green Stuff and I wouldn't even think about trying to handsculpt a full set of wings.

I'd go with finding a different set of appropriate bitz; if you go to GW's online store and search "Warhammer" products for the keyword "wings" you'll find some stuff. I just did the search and on the first page and saw "Balthazar's Pegasus" wings which look good for an angelic model.


Greenstuff is tricky to work with and needs practice. I started off by using it to fill gaps and smooth parts out, and then by adding or tweaking armor and the like and then going from there. One of the more advanced bits I did was doing the sword arm on the model pictured on this page: http://www.deathquaker.org/gaming/frminis.html -- I also did the fireball in the genasi's hand on the same page. Those are far from perfect and it took me a long time just to even get stuff like that looking halfway like it was meant to be part of the model.

There's lots of great tutorials on the Web about working with Greenstuff. Try Brushthralls. In general, start slow and with something simple. Edit: and always, always lubricate. (Edit: that sounded naughty. I'm not flirting,really. :smallwink:)

Tools I use: a large gallon-size plastic baggie I've cut down the sides to be my "work mat." This is something that when I wet down I can roll out the greenstuff without it sticking to it. Water. Vaseline. (these two to keep the green stuff from sticking to everything. Use water, and if that's not good enough, use the vaseline.) Latex gloves if I don't want to get my fingerprint in something. The GW sculpting tool. Toothpicks. Two dental picks I bought at Target for about $3.00. A good sharp Xacto knife.

Before you go to work on Celestine, I'd test out your greenstuff work on something else. Even if you use bitz (which again I highly recommend) you'll need to use some greenstuff to fill gaps and smooth transitions.

Wehrkind
2007-02-13, 01:08 AM
Hmmm, yea that is what I figured. I bought some Silly Putty at Wal Mart the other day to play around with, since I haven't worked with clay or the like since, well Clinton was in office. Long story short, I was looking at the Games Workshop site for those wings while using the putty to copy driver availability reports within the hour. I am thinking the pegasus wings with some green stuff modeled plate to put between them would do the trick.

In a related story, the matte varnish/sealer can lied, a viscious, pernicious lie! Either that or I used way too much, because my Repentia and Sisters look... well lubricated. Granted, it makes their hair look a lot better and less straw like, and the armor is fine, but their cloaks look WAY too shiney. Anyway to tone that down easily? I don't mind a little gloss, but it looks like they just got that showroom shine.

Sort of funny how you mentioned putting straight red on the lips of minis makes them look like transvestites. My fiance refers to them as "your dyke fight" army. Given how they are painted on the box, I can't disagree with her. Some more... subtle painting definitey helps avoid the "To Wong Foo..." look. (I was tempted to paint their cloaks flannel though.)

Edit: Speaking of which, I had fair luck making them look like they don't have a Y chromosome, but is there a trick to making them look a little more feminine? I don't know why GW sculpted such broad features.

Penguinizer
2007-02-13, 08:40 AM
Im simple. I use my desk as my "work area" Although for gaunts I like doing a pretty simple wash based paint job. Simply spray the figure black. One layer of magenta ink on the shell. Then another on the entire fig. The a heavily watered down purple. Some dark red. more wash, brighter red, layer of wash, orange, 2 layers of wash. One more layer of magenta on the shell. Then some bright orange.

DeathQuaker
2007-02-13, 10:15 PM
In a related story, the matte varnish/sealer can lied, a viscious, pernicious lie! Either that or I used way too much, because my Repentia and Sisters look... well lubricated. Granted, it makes their hair look a lot better and less straw like, and the armor is fine, but their cloaks look WAY too shiney. Anyway to tone that down easily? I don't mind a little gloss, but it looks like they just got that showroom shine.

It's hard to say... I have the same problem sometimes using my brush-on varnish. Sometimes I paint it on and it looks great. Sometimes I paint it on, and I swear I do it the same way, and it's all shiny. I don't understand it.

With spray varnish... let me think.... there could be a few different causes of the problem:
1. You just got a bad can.
2. You didn't shake up the can enough.
3. You held the nozzle too close to the model.
4. You held the nozzle too far away from the model.
5. You did indeed over varnish (though I think with Matte varnish that usually results in the model looking "snowy").

If you're sure the varnish itself is good, I'd just take a model you don't care about too much, give your can a good shake, and then spray it again. IIRC you should be holding the can 6-12 inches away from the model.

If that doesn't work, try another brand, or try a brush varnish (though as I noted, I have trouble with that sometimes). That said, I hate spray stuff worse.



Sort of funny how you mentioned putting straight red on the lips of minis makes them look like transvestites. My fiance refers to them as "your dyke fight" army. Given how they are painted on the box, I can't disagree with her. Some more... subtle painting definitey helps avoid the "To Wong Foo..." look. (I was tempted to paint their cloaks flannel though.)

heh. The Sisters of Plaid.



Edit: Speaking of which, I had fair luck making them look like they don't have a Y chromosome, but is there a trick to making them look a little more feminine? I don't know why GW sculpted such broad features.

Well, they've tiny little heads and they're probably hard to sculpt. One thing going for most of the models is they at least have some nice, contoured cheek bones.

One thing is to use soft shading. Build up your fleshtones carefully, so that the faces look smooth.

You can darken the lips and cheeks, but the trick is just not to use red. It depends on the fleshtone you use, but for a generally sort of caucasian look, Tanned Flesh or something similar works. Paint the lips that color. And with a small, wet brush, carefully apply the same color to the cheeks, just around where their cheekbones jut out--for the cheeks in particular, do this with very small amounts of paint so that the color blends in. You're trying to give them a little healthy blush, not look like clowns. You can also mix in a touch of *dark* red or even maybe a light purple/lavender if you feel it needs more color.

And if all else fails, use the models that wear helmets. :smallwink:

LunaWolvesMan
2007-02-13, 11:42 PM
As far as varnish or matte finish getting consistent results. I have a theory that I will be trying out soon. I recently picked up some of the vallejo line of vanishes and mattes and whatnot. I'm going to mix these down a bit and put them through my airbrush.

I'm planning on running with 1 matte coat, then 1 varnish. Due to the thinned down I may repeat this up to 3 times and see what I get. I'm a bit nervous to try it because I really need to see it on some of my well painted models in order to determine if it's going to work. But those are also the mini's that I don't want to screw-up.

Long story short, I'll post some results from when I get the cajones to do it to something I think is done. Short story long, if you have an airbrush and want to tell me how it turns out great! =P

Penguinizer
2007-02-14, 12:11 AM
Maybe it was gloss varnish. I think there are 2 types of varmoshes. I use Matt Varnish. It gives a nice look without being shiny.

Wehrkind
2007-02-14, 02:00 AM
Nah, it definitely claims to be matte. Probably what I get for buying varnish at Wal-Mart... sigh.

I sprayed them from a distance of ~12 inches, though it was a full moon... do you think roughing up the surface with a little stiff cloth or a tooth brush might do the trick? I suspect it would only result in ripping off the paint if I am not careful.

Perhaps I will have to make the trek to Michael's or AC Moore or somewhere and see if I can't get some brush on... *sigh* It's too cold to stop being all hermity.