[paint] My painting notes, 2005
John Hwang
of this. Hopefully, some of you find it useful...
/John
________
John Hwang's Painting Notes, 2005
0. Background and Introduction
To date, I've painted some 850+ minis for myself and customers
(including Eldar, Harlequins, Chaos, Marines, Sisters, Imperial Guard,
Empire, Orks, Saurus), forming the foundation of experience from I'm
sharing. By no means should this (or any other tome, for that matter)
be considered the final word in painting miniatures. Rather, it's
simply one person's (i.e. *my*) approaches and opinions, collected
together into a single document. I've tried to note what are my
personal opinions, biases, and preferences, so hopefully, my commentary
is helpful in your development of your own techniques, approaches, and
ultimately, style.
1. Concept and Approach
Before buying any materials or supplies, you need to make a few critical
decisions about what you want your models to look like: Dark or Bright,
Realistic or Fantastic, Quick or Quality?
Dark vs Bright strongly affects your overall visual style. Dark
miniatures tend to have more sinister connotations and appear "heavier",
while Bright miniatures tend to be friendlier and seem "lighter". If
Dark and you'll probably need strong contrasts (e.g. red, white, or
yellow) for defintion. If Bright, you will likely have the oppostite
problems representing weight and shadow details effectively.
Realistic vs Fantastic will affect what your army looks like from a
distance vs close-up. Realistic styles will use subtler effects,
smaller and milder highlights, reduced contrasts, and muted colors.
Fantastic styles will use bolder effects, larger and heavier highlights,
stronger contrasts, and highly saturated colors. The Realistc style is
better for simulating a "eye in the sky" POV, while the Fantastic style
is better for close-up photography and viewing. In other words, in
choosing between Realistic and Fantastic, you're specifying how close
the viewer is to the model being viewed.
Quick vs Quality determines your speed vs quality. More details and
more colors will take somewhat more steps and more time. It takes time
to get smooth surface finishes, evenly blended gradations, and clean
sharp edges between colors. But note that one can always retouch
miniatures to progress from Quick and Dirty up to Showcase Display.
2. Supplies
If you're going to paint, you'll need the appropriate supplies: quality
brushes, acrylic paint, spray primer, epoxy putty or SGT, glue, pins,
hobby knife, and "needle" files. The knife and files are to clean up
molding imperfections such as mold lines or rough spots. An adjustable
halogen "artists" desk lamp is very helpful in lighting whatever you're
working on.
2.1 Brushes
Good brushes are a the ultimate key to getting sharp detail and "clean"
results. As you'll be using the same set of brushes for *all* of your
minis, this is *not* the place to try and "save" money; if anything,
double (or even triple) up on the brush sizes you use most often so that
they last just that much longer. Your best bet for getting quality
brushes these is at a hobby or art supply store. Useful sizes, from
largest to smallest: 2, 1, 0, 00 (2/0), 000 (3/0), 5/0, and 10/0. I
tend to do most of my figures painting with the smaller brushes (3/0 and
5/0) for more control of how much paint I use, but I'm not afraid to
break out the big brushes (2 and 5) for tanks and vehicles.
To help your good, expensive brushes last longer, you're going to have
to clean and store your brushes properly. Clean them *every* time you
use them. Religiously. Anal-retentively. This means a bit of
detergent and rinsing clean so there's no chance for the paint residue
to dry on them. It also means occasionally breaking out the heavier
solvents to "deep clean" them. And then, of course, storing your
brushes properly: standing up or laying down, but *never* with any
weight on the bristles. If you'll be storing them for a while, "train"
them with a wee bit of white glue so they keep a good point.
A long time ago, I bought some of GW's Citadel brushes. GW brushes are
terrible at holding their points, expensive, a poor value, and not
recommended. I find the GW brushes to be not better than most other
cheap, throwaway brushes: only good for basecoating and later as
cut-down "stippling" brushes.
More recently, I've bought a few of artificial sable "artists" brushes
(Loew-Cornell), in the larger sizes to help with undercoating and
basecoating. Overall, I'm not very happy with them. They don't seem to
"point" as well as real red sable: much less precise, much rougher
"feel". In addition, they don't clean up nearly as well, taking much
longer to clean, and the white (clear?) ones are picking up a tint from
the paint. Worst of all, despite my best efforts at consistently
"pulling" paint off them, they're starting to curl at the tips.
Considering that they cost about as much as a sable brush, I think I'll
prefer stick with real sable for all future brushes.
Currently, I'm using Windsor & Newton brushes and am pretty happy with
them as adjuncts to my artist's Atlas sables. Adding up the money
wasted on "bargain" brushes I've ended up trashing, I could have bought
a full set of top-of-the-line sable Windsor & Newtons. Looking ahead,
future purchases will be limited to Vallejo and Windsor & Netwon sables.
2.2 Paint
All enamel and acrylic enamal paint is CRAP -- it just doesn't go on
quite as smoothly as the true acrylics and the required solvents for
cleaning will eventually eat up your brushes. Water-based acrylic paint
is a godsend for cleanup and brush longevity -- you'll still have to use
solvent (isopropyl alcohol) once in a while, but you don't need it
*every* time you paint.
Some people are recommending cheap craft paints over hobby paints. As
always, you get what you pay for because craft paint pigments are not
ground as finely as the pigment in hobby paint. While craft paint
covers well, it won't blend as well or finish as smoothly. Personally, I
think that craft paints are great for basing, as coverage is important,
but blending and smoothness isn't that important.
As you use up your paint in the jars, and the level starts to go down,
consider pre-thinning your paints, by adding a bit of thinner. I've
done this for the quite some time now, and here are the advantages, as I
see it: the paint mixes more easily for more consistent color, as it's
not as thick. It restores some of the solvent thinner which evaporates
out over time. It prevents the paint from drying out. Finally, when
working in a single color, I can paint directly from the lid. So far,
I've been thinning with distilled ("pure") water and "pure" isopropyl
alcohol. I've heard claims that isopropyl alcohol can cause "gumming"
of airbrushes, so watch out. Also, if you start having problems with
the lids sealing themselves to the jars, try running a dab of petroleum
jelly over the screw threads before closing them up to get an air-tight
seal that doesn't let the paint dry between jar and lid.
One thing's for sure, you're going to need a lot of paint colors -- I'd
guess at least 16 colors (I have over three times that many pots of
paint). At a minimum, you'll need a set of "pure" primary colors (i.e.
black, white, red, yellow, and blue) along with a "flesh" tone and a
metallic silver of some sort. Next, plan on adding key secondary colors
(i.e. grey, green, brown, orange, pink, and purple). Finally, fill in
with specific tonal colors (e.g. olive, navy, tan, bone) for your
specific minis. You can always mix paints to get intermediate colors,
but unless you have empty paint jars for storing custom mixes, you'll
find it difficult to duplicate colors exactly for a uniform effect.
Personally, I'm very happy to buy pre-mixed shades and not have to worry
about making my own mixes exactly. Also, you don't need to get inks,
glazes, or washes immediately, as these can be "made" by thinning down
regular paint, however, the color intensity will be slightly reduced.
As for which brand of acrylic paint, here's what I've found: Ral
Partha, Armoury, and GW "screw-top" paint is all CRAP: Ral Partha comes
out "chalky" and Armoury doesn't finish nicely. GW's screw-top paints
dry too quickly, and paint the lid to the jar, and don't seal well,
despite their expense. GW's newer pop-top paints appear to have been
excessively pre-thinned, and are still very expensive. Tamiya is an
annoyance, as it takes a tremendous amount of thinning and mixing to get
to work well; worse, if inadequately mixed, it won't go on or finish
smoothly.
Currently I use and recommend the older GW "pop-top" paint (now marketed
as "Coat d' Arms"), Floquil/Polly S, and Badger acrylics. Recenty, I
purchased a set of Vallejo paints, as the clearance sale pricing
couldn't be resisted. I recommend that you only buy one pot from a
particular line of paint and see whether you like it before committing
to a significant investment in paints.
2.3 Primer
Be sure to get "hobby" spray primer, particularly for plastic models.
Many people like to use cheaper non-hobby commercial primers, such as
Krylon. In my experience backed, by additional research, these
commercial primers are a poor substitute for quality hobby primers.
Hobby primer is specifically formulated for plastic models: the lower
amount of solvent will not attack plastics, and the fine grain and tooth
will not obscure details. Ordinary commercial primers are formulated to
work on much rougher surfaces, with heavier solvents to degrease and
strip, heavy grain to cover existing paint, and heavy tooth to take
thick coats of paint. In addition, ordinary commercial primers tend to
dry slower, giving more time to pick up fingerprints or dust. In
contacting Krylon, they did *not* recommend their product for hobby
applications; in contrast, Rustoleum did recommend their Automotive
Primer as a possiblity. Of the non-hobby primers, I will only recommend
Rustoleum Automotive (Dark Grey) Primer specifically formulated as a
fast-drying, finer-grained primer, and then, my recommendation is
limited to all-metal miniatures. My limited testing showed that the
higher solvent content in this Rustoleum Automotive Primer *will* attack
certain (i.e. cheap) plastics, resulting in an "orange peel" surface.
Personally, I like and use GW Black Primer over Armoury Primer as GW's
black is actually black, not a dark grey. There were a *lot* of reports
of problems (gritty, rough finishes) with GW Primer due to inadequate
mixing; according to GW, instead of shaking the can up-and-down, you
should swirl the paint in the can or shake it side-to-side. While some
people prefer white primer, but I'm actually not such a great fan;
White primer is for Bright and Fantastic models, and I paint Dark and
Realistic. Though I suppose if I were ever to have an army with a base
color of yellow or white, I suppose I'd consider priming white. I was
reasonably happy with Armoury Grey and Black, tho I didn't like Armoury
White Primer at all. Recently, I tried Coat D'Arms "grey" primer, but
found it wanting in comparison to GW Black Primer -- less precise spray,
and near-white color.
2.4 Epoxy Putty vs SGT
Epoxy putty is to fill gaps and voids caused by air bubbles and whatnot.
Usually, this is 2-part putty which one mixes together, to form a
tacky putty-like substance which slowly hardens over time. I'm not a
huge fan of epoxy putty, except for sculpting.
In lieu of epoxy putty for gap-filling, I've switched over to SGT --
Super Glue Talc. SGT is a suspension of talcum powder in regular CA
"super glue". SGT has some very interesting properties which make it
generally superior to epoxy putty. SGT is very sticky (not as sticky as
CA; but stickier than epoxy putty), SGT doesn't shrink when it dries
(epoxy putty shrinks), SGT dries fairly quickly (slower than CA; epoxy
putty takes quite a while to fully dry), SGT dries rock hard (not has
hard as CA; epoxy putty will have a softish surface for quite a while),
and SGT will not be attacked by primer solvent (epoxy putty sometimes
falls apart when solvents contact it). To use SGT, you can squirt a bit
of CA onto wax paper, and spoon on a bit of talcum powder in roughly 1:1
ratio. Mix them up, and you've got SGT. More CA improves flow, while
more talc dries faster. Then apply SGT as you would epoxy putty. When
dried, SGT can be cut and sanded and so forth, while formed much thinner
than epoxy putty, or to give smoother surfaces. Some people use corn
starch or baking powder instead of talc, while the airplane guys use
"microballoons", and in addition to acrylic nail powder, there is now a
commercial product ("SSP-HG") which uses ultra-fine plastic powder. Due
to it being more liquid than solid, I don't believe SGT is a replacement
for sculpting putty, but when I get around to sculpting and casting, I
intend to try SGT with wax molds... As SGT does everything *else*
better than epoxy putty, SGT is highly recommended.
I've heard good things about Liquid Nail as yet another solution to the
gap-filling adhesives problem, and am eager to try it. From what I've
heard, Liquid Nail is like hot glue without the need for a glue gun.
Definitely worth investigating.
2.5 Pinning
If you have multi-part models, get a pin vise and rod to pin with. I'm
a *very* firm believer in pinning all metal-to-metal joints for
durability. While it's possible for pinned joints to rotate loose over
time (and then, only if they're shallow due to the thinness of the part
they're going into), they'll almost never come undone -- unlike plain CA
joints. I mainly use two sizes: 3/64" and 1/32". 1/32" is easier to
work with, but 3/64" is stronger. 1/16" is good for really big or heavy
stuff, like Dragon Wings. 1/64" is for tiny stuff, like weapons into
hands.
I've experimented with using floral wire in various gauges instead of
brass rod. I'm thinking that perhaps floral wire may be the ideal
answer for pinning material: uncoated rough surface for glueing;
very inexpensive due to quantities; and widely available. The biggest
problem with floral wire is that it isn't sized the same as the brass
rod and micro bits I currently own, so the fit isn't quite as good.
Brass rod is still pretty cheap, so I expect to stick with it for a while.
I've bought some industrial drill bits from Drill Bit City in micro
sizes. I'm generally quite happy with them. One very nice thing about
these bits is that they all have no less than a 1/8" base, greatly
simplifying the collet and chuck process. If brass rod weren't so
cheap, I'd be more inclined to order a set of bits for the wire.
2.6 Glue
If you have multi-part metal or metal-and-plastic models, you'll need CA
glue (aka "super glue"). As far as CA "super glue" goes for straight up
gluing and pinning, I have recently switched over to the slightly
rubberized, "black" CA known as "IC-2000" for all metal-related work.
IC-2000 a suspension, similar to SGT, but using little bit of rubber
instead of talc; very nearly as strong as ordinary CA, but much less
brittle due to the rubber in the CA. IC-2000 is great stuff and highly
recommended.
If you have multi-part plastic models, you'll need solvent-based plastic
cement, preferably liquid cement, tho the gels are OK, if not quite as
clean and convenient. Plastic model cement does more than just "glue"
-- it welds the plastic together with solvent. Personally, I haven't
used gel cement in a couple decades, as I find the liquid cement to be
so much better to work with. Note that liquid cement is just Methy
Ethyl Ketone (MEK), in a glass jar with an applicator brush. You could
probably save a bit by going the industrial route.
3. Plan
Make a plan of what to paint, in what order. I recommend saving your
best models for last. I know you'll be *sorely* tempted to ignore me
here, and jump immediately on that limited-issue Ancient Great Dragon.
Don't do it. It'll look terrible and you be greatly disappointed.
Instead, start with something simple, small, and ugly -- I'd recommend a
basic monster like an Ork or Goblin. But remember to save your best
models until you have a better idea of what you're doing and how you
want the entire thing to turn out.
Plan to paint in groups of 5-10 *similar* models, starting in smaller
groups. After you get a few under your belt, it'd be OK to throw in
something "special", such as a unit leader, simply for variety.
Generally, I will paint (or touch up) entire squads of 40k models at one
time. In the WFB case, I paint by the regiment, or at least by ranks,
to help improve unit consistency.
The more models and *kinds* of models you paint, the better you'll get.
Your first batches of models are going to end up pretty bad. Sorry.
But that's how you're going to learn. If you're so motiviated (about a
year from now), you can strip and repaint them later. Plan on
repainting *only* after you're fully painted -- as in every single mini
being painted to a decent "tabletop" standard. You'll be much happier
to have everything painted, even with some of it poorly painted, than
having only a small proportion of your figures painted.
There's been some debate over the "right" number of basic and detail
colors to use. A basic color is anything which you can see from a
distance, say across a room. Detail colors are things which are sharp
when you hold the model in your hand. Fewer colors, with shading,
highlighting, and washes will usually look better than more flat colors.
Generally, fewer colors will tend to be more uniform and more serious.
A common palette goes a long way in unifying an otherwise disparate
collection of models, so consider repeating colors, contrasts, or other
painting "themes" throughout your army. When in doubt, paint one model
until you like it, then plan to duplicate the paint job; if you have
any "throwaway" models, this is what they're good for. Depending on the
model, I've generally found anywhere from 2-4 basic and 2-4 detail
colors seems to work nicely, with 5-7 total colors for most models.
Whatever you do, find a way to organize paints, and record specific
paints for units that you will be painting again and again. It's an
annoyance to keep trying to figure out what you did before, take a stab,
and find that the units don't match. You'll be stuck with two different
units, and you'll either have to redo one, or live with the unintended
color variations.
4. Prep
Prepping the model is probably the most under-appreciated, but most
important step in getting things to look really good. It's relatively
easy to paint on more and more details and adjust colors long after the
mini has been painted. But re-prepping a model is nearly impossible
without stripping off the existing paint and primer. Thorough model
prep is the *only* way to get truly smooth finishes and "invisible" mold
lines for true showcase-quality minis, allowing the paint to go on
without having to cover or paint with surface blemishes.
If you need to strip old paint or primer, do it now. I soak both
plastic and metal models in a Castrol Super Clean solution when I need
to strip paint or primer. Chemically, the active ingredient is "Sodium
Hydroxide" (NaOH), commonly known as "lye". Most paint strippers and
solvents will weaken and then dissolve CA joints, so expect to see the
model come apart if it was assembled with CA. In addition, paint
strippers tend to dissolve epoxy putty, so if there's something which
was sculpted on, it'll be usually completely gone when you're through
removing the old paint.
File off mold lines and other such stuff. If it needs assembly, esp.
pinning, now's the time to do it. Pins should be at least twice as deep
as the diameter, preferably three (or four) times the diameter for
greater strength. Multiple pins are often preferable to single pins,
due to the "tighter" fit and prevention of parts rotating, but this
depends on the model and joint in question. Multiple pins (without
gluing) can also be used to make "modular" models with swappable parts
by exploiting the inherent tightness of the friction a multiply-pinned
joint.
Some people prefer to work with rare earth magnets over multi-pins for
temporary joins. I'm not as enamored of magnets, as the joint lacks the
same physical strength, but the convenience for weapon swaps is very high.
Straighten spears and swords and whatnot. Flatten feet as necessary.
If you try to do this after painting, the paint will usually flake off.
This is also the time to drill out any weapon barrels, as the effect
that this gives is very, very good for realism, tho it is a bit
time-consuming. Note that flattening feet takes a fair amount of elbow
grease, as you're bending relatively thick metal legs, so get a good,
broad grip across the base, and twist until the feet square up properly.
Attach the model to the base. This gives you something to handle the
model with during priming and painting to reduce fingerprints and
scratches. As a side bonus, it also allows you to play with the model
before you're completely done painting it. Personally, I also bend the
base "tag" corners so that the dig into the slot for a stronger, better
attachment to the base.
5. Prime
Priming is *very* important, as the primer is what actually sticks to
the model, giving a surface for the paint to adhere to. Without
priming, the model will chip and flake very easily, as most paints
adhere very weakly to the plastic and metal which most minis are made
of. While it does obscure detail very slightly, as it is another layer
of stuff on the model, if the model will be handled in any way, such as
for gaming, then the additional durability of priming should be
considered mandatory.
De-grease the models so the primer will stick the model and won't be
affected by mold release agents, finger oils from prepping, etc. A
quick dip in a water with a few drops of dishwashing detergent will
usually do the trick. Just be sure to let the model dry *completely*
before actually priming.
Spray lightly, from different angles to achieve full coverate.
Multiple, thinner coats are better than fewer thicker coats, but it's
most important not to spray so much that you obscure detail. You want a
uniform color, so you can see whether any prep work was missed. But if
you can't get all of the model's crevices and hollows primed, that's not
a major problem -- just touch it up with your big brush before you start
painting.
If priming shows it needs re-prep, or the priming went badly (too thick,
gritty finish, and/or bubbles), fix it now: strip the primer, re-prep
as necessary, and re-prime. The sooner you re-prep, the easier the
painting will go, and the smaller the amount of touch-up will be
required. Also, the less time you allow for the primer to dry and
harden, the easier it will come off.
For priming models, I recommend that one make or get a handle to more
easily manipulate miniatures while spraying. Having such a handle
allows one to prime the front, back, and top unobstructed with angled
coverage for the sides and underneath. Using a handle also elevates the
models where they will not pick up dust. Personally, I use a wooden
stick measuring 15" x 1" x 1/4" to support up to 10 infantry models at a
time; a pair of regular house paint stirrers glued together should work
just as well. Longer is always better, as you can hold more models to
prime at once, farther away from your hand to keep fingers clean and out
of the way.
6. Paint
You will find your own ways of doing things here. I generally use the
same painting template for whatever I paint: undercoat, basecoat, wash,
highlight, and clean-up.
First, I undercoat as necessary so that the primer doesn't bleed into
the final colors: grey then white for "light" areas, black for
metallics, brown for parchment, dark flesh for skin, etc. With black
primer, metallics are automatically undercoated, but I need to undercoat
for any light areas. When using white primer, one needs to undercoat
for the dark areas, and "pre-shading" by giving the model a few dark ink
washes doesn't hurt at all -- the dark ink will tend to settle in the
crevices and folds, but it will take quite a while for heavy washes to
dry. And if using grey primer, one will have to undercoat for metallic
*and* light areas. At this point, the model won't look anything at all
like what it's supposed to be, but it will be ready for the real
painting to begin. As with all things, test to see whether you need (or
want) to undercoat. Paints with heavier pigmentation may not need as
much undercoating as the paints I'm using.
Next, I basecoat the entire model, starting from larger areas to smaller
details, but when basecoating, I don't worry about getting paint in the
"wrong" places. Because I work from the largest areas down to the
smallest details, I'll be painting over any smudges or errant brush
strokes. I generally basecoat quickly, and the initial applications of
paint will be rather sloppy. However, basecoating details last allows
these to be painted quickly.
After basecoating, I apply dark washes to enhance shadow detail. For
large areas, I find it best to paint the ink wash into the crevices
rather than to simply coat the surface -- it keeps ink where I want it
to be. For smaller details, I'll paint the entire detail with the ink
wash. This is the slowest process, as washes take a very long time to
dry, even when painting largish blocks of minis, say 16 at a time. This
is where assembly-lining large groups of minis really helps.
Once the washes have dried, I'll drybrush with the original base color
to more smoothly blend the wash into the base color -- alternately, one
can layer washes with progressive paint and ink blends to achieve a
smoother shading effect, tho this is much more time-consuming.
Afterwards, I'll drybrush "true" highlights with a lighter highlight
color. And as with the layered washes, one can layer highlights with
progressive paint blends to achive a smoother highlighting effect. IMO,
the multi-layered approaches are simply too time-consuming for ordinary
rank-and-file miniatures; I also doubt that most basic 25-28 mm
miniatures have large enough surfaces for these to be effective, but it
does look more "realistic".
Finally, I'll do clean-up, touching-up any errant brush strokes before
calling the model "done". As these tend to be very small, they're quick
and easy to clean up. But this is probably the most important, yet
overlooked, step in making a model look "professional". A clean model
nearly always looks better than a sloppy model -- sloppiness undoes a
lot of the effort one puts into the painting. And this holds for
"dirty" and "unkempt" models, too -- dirt tends to collect on certain
parts of a model, not uniformly everywhere, while the messy items or
elements are still distinct.
Major basic painting techniques which should be mastered:
Drybrushing usually saves time for textured stuff like fur and hair.
Starting with black, one puts a bit of paint on the brush, and drags it
over the surface. Then bit less paint in a lighter shade, and an even
smaller amount of paint in an even lighter shade. Note that drybrushing
is still painting, "pulling" the paint across the surface, not "pushing"
the paint onto the surface. As long as you *pull* the paint, your
brushes should not be destroyed by the drybrushing process (I've been
using my brushes for regular painting and drybrushing for *years*
without any ill effects). The key to good drybrushing is controlling
the amount of paint on your brush: you want just enough to wet the tips
of the bristles, but not so much as to paint with. While this looks
simple, it takes quite a bit of practice to get this right.
Painting and Inking works for paneled things. Other stuff can be
painted, then crevices wetly inked with black or a much darker shade,
then panel centers drybrushed with the original or somewhat lighter
shade. Most metal and armour can be done this way.
Washing with black, brown, etc. works well for big metal surfaces.
Paint it all a basic metal color. Then wash it with thinned down black
(or off-black) ink (or paint). The black should work it's way into the
crevices, taking down the brightness and picking out the detail.
Drybrush lightly with the metallic paint when it's all dry to pick up
the raised detail. BTW, you can also wash metallics with colors other
than black to differentiate different types of weapons -- I use blue for
Power weapons, red for Force weapons.
Washing with color over pre-shading works nicely for cloth. Drybrush
dark grey, light grey, and white to pre-shade the model, giving a
black-and-white shaded monochrome effect. Then heavily wash the entire
surface with colored ink. The wash will tint the black-and-white
shading (like a Turner movie), resulting in a graduated colored and
shaded surface. This may take a couple coats until you get the color
you like.
Mottling with different colors usually saves time for camoflague
patterns (e.g. woodland in greens, urban in greys, desert in tans).
Starting with a base color, use a cut-down "stippling" brush and dab
overlapping "splotches" of a lighter and a darker color, finishing with
the base color again. Smaller, tighter patterns generally look better
than larger, bolder patterns -- remember that the pattern is supposed to
be scaled down to about 1/64th normal size...
Patterning (e.g. "splinter", "ambush", and "tiger stripe" camoflague;
stripes, checks, harlequin diamonds, and tartans) is *extremely*
time-consuming to paint. But the fine detail makes them visually
impressive showcases of painting skill, especially in large groups.
Penciling in guide lines is *very* helpful for the regular pattenrs.
Save these (or at least the final patterning) for last, after you've got
a bunch of regular (or basic) models painted. I have one platoon of
guardsmen in tiger stripe camoflague, and that's *plenty* for me.
Shading and/or blending a series of related colors to make a smooth
color "fade" is much slower than painting flat colors. But gives a more
attractive result. Usually best to blend the colors on a palette
(ceramic tile works well-enough, dirt cheap), but blending on the model
will usually work well enough, too. The hardest part is to achieve
consistency from model to model. Best to save these for detail touches
or (unique) character models.
Rag-tag models are sometimes desirable for "irregular" units such as
militia, volunteers, and/or conscripts. The challenge is in unifying
them with the main colors, but maintaining some color distance. One
good way to do this is to add a neutral color (brown, tan, and/or grey)
into the palette, and shuffle the colors around on the models. The
neutral color doesn't greatly affect the overall balance of your overall
paint scheme, but it allows variety and distinctiveness without getting
into a need for model by model coloring.
Lately, the professional painters have started switching over to
artist's Non-Metallic Metal (NMM) techniques for showcase models. There
are quite a few variations (Sky-Earth NMM, Metallic NMM, and so on).
Regardless of the flavor, NMM is a fairly time-intensive, demanding
technique that requires a lot of practice, skill at paint blending, and
smooth shading. It looks very good, particulary close-up for magazine
and internet stills. But it's relatively impractical for bulk army
painting. Still, it's something to consider for a commander or other
unique model.
If you're going to make/mix your own paint (for custom colors), there is
a *big* difference between using inks and paint. Inks use a clear base,
while paints have a white or grey base. So inks should be mixed into a
paint base so the resulting paint will cover over underlying paint.
Inks used directly will apply pigment, and tend to "tint" the underlying
color, with the side effect of making it appear "darker", due to the
deeper shade which results. Inks will also give a glossier shine than
paint -- this only matters if you're not overcoating or sealing.
Experiment. A lot. You *will* have to touch-up a bit after any washing
or drybrushing. That's OK. The touch-up work is how one gets sharp,
crisp edges between colors for better definition.
7. Base
Here, it's merely a question of how much time you want to spend
"finishing" the model. Various approaches include:
Painting the base. Simplest and fastest approach, but not especially
impressive to look at. The only real painting which I recommend is
painting the edge to match the underlying "soil" color, typically a dark
brown -- the green edges look terrible.
Flocking the entire top surface with colored foam "foliage" or "grass".
The edge is painted in a related color. This is best for simulating
the grassy lawns which GW seems to love having battles on. This is also
relatively simple and fast, but I also find this rather unimpressive to
look at.
Texturing by gluing sand or gravel to the base with white glue; sealing
with a watered-down coat of white glue; painting and highlighting when
dry (this can take a while). This is best for simulating sand, asphalt,
rubble, soil, etc. I think this is the minimum for a decent-looking
base, and even then, highly dependant upon the terrain you play on.
Adding flock foliage over a textured surface gives a "natural" base, but
is very time-consuming. But if you're going for a natural-looking ,
super-realistic, and/or model railroad effect here, this is the way to
go. This is good for simulating woodlands, swamps, marshes, scrubland,
etc. Very, very nice, with a *lot* of visual texture due to the
combination of flock and surfacing. Also gives the ability to do a two-
(or multi-) color complement or contrast with the minis colors. I've
decided on using natural bases for the vast majority of my models, using
the Woodland Scenics landscaping materials.
And of course, there are the "scenic" bases which GW loves, featuring
painted skeletons, helmets, and whatnots (red and white polka-dotted
mushrooms, anyone?) added onto the base. How much time *do* you have,
anyways??? BTW, if your bases are looking better than your models,
perhaps you're spending too much time basing... I reserve the scenic
touches for commander-type models.
There are some *very* useful basing-related "tricks"which are useful in
distinguishing similar or otherwise identical models. Paint a
"nametag" on the base, so that individual models are named; this is
ideal for skirmish games like Mordheim or Necromunda. Paint a common
"icon" on the back of each model's base, using a unit-specific
identifier, like squad number; . Paint the base edge (or some portion
thereof) in an identifying color. Personally, I don't like the look of
armies using colored base edges -- it's too distracting and breaks
visual army cohesion, but the small icons are very nice.
FWIW, I'm *very* far behind on my basing, but at least I'm all but fully
painted... Or, rather, *was* until I bought a few big batches of stuff
to work on.
8. Seal
Sealing or "overcoating" is the process of covering the model in a clear
coat to protect and seal the paint. Some people recommend sealing while
one paints, after each major step in painting. Most people only seal
when done painting. Sealing between painting makes sense when it'll be
a while between steps, or when playing with partially-painted minis.
I've seen gloss overcoating (e.g. nail polish) and it just doesn't look
very good because it's not at all realistic. Drop-by-drop for gems and
such would be a good use, but definitely not for normal surfaces
representing cloth. Flat or semi-gloss surfaces look much better, as
they're more realistic, more scale.
I've not yet done much overcoating, waiting for everything to be painted
and based to standard, first. I intend to use Future Floor Wax, or else
Krylon Satin as both are well-recommended.
9. Closing thoughts
I've been working on this document off and on for over 5(!) years now,
and it never ceases to amaze me that I can find something to add to it.
If you have comments, feel free to drop me a line...
John Hwang -- JohnHw...@cs.com.no.com.
v.8 - r.2005.02.02
--
--- John Hwang "JohnHwang...@cs.com.no.com"
\-|-/
| A.K.D. F.E.M.C.
| Horned Blood Cross Terror LED Speed Jagd Destiny
estarriol
"John Hwang" <JohnHw...@cs.com.no.com> wrote in message
news:36e3n3F...@individual.net...
> It's been over 20 months (almost 2 years) since I last posted a version of
> this. Hopefully, some of you find it useful...
>
<snip>
the short form is, Paint it Grey.
--
estarriol
Ancient Gamer
said...
> It's been over 20 months (almost 2 years) since I last posted a version
> of this. Hopefully, some of you find it useful...
>
> /John
okay <gets out snipping shears>
Snipped the BS introduction, that I found singularly unimpressive, since I
have painted armies that total over 800 figures...
> 1. Concept and Approach
>
> Before buying any materials or supplies, you need to make a few critical
> decisions about what you want your models to look like: Dark or Bright,
> Realistic or Fantastic, Quick or Quality?
Shouldn't this depend on the TYPE of miniatures that the person is painting?
If they are painting historic mini's they may want to go with realistic,
Fantasy miniatures, I would dare to say should be painted in a fantasy
style, if you are painting something that you want to portray evil or
something mysterious then painting it dark would be appropriate, like wise
you would paint something whimsical in bright colors. Your whole statement
reeks of just so much bullshit...
<snip>
> Quick vs Quality determines your speed vs quality. More details and
> more colors will take somewhat more steps and more time. It takes time
> to get smooth surface finishes, evenly blended gradations, and clean
> sharp edges between colors. But note that one can always retouch
> miniatures to progress from Quick and Dirty up to Showcase Display.
>
No, you can not always retouch quick and dirty miniatures to Showcase
Quality. You can finish unfinished or partially painted figures. You can get
clean and smooth edges and color blends quickly. It comes with a little
something called experience. I have painted finished models (read showcase
quality) in about an hour when I am in the mood to, and my arm isn't giving
me troubles.
> 2. Supplies
>
> If you're going to paint, you'll need the appropriate supplies: quality
> brushes, acrylic paint, spray primer, epoxy putty or SGT, glue, pins,
> hobby knife, and "needle" files. The knife and files are to clean up
> molding imperfections such as mold lines or rough spots. An adjustable
> halogen "artists" desk lamp is very helpful in lighting whatever you're
> working on.
>
You forgot, pin vices and bits, light (180 grit or finer) sandpaper, as well
as a myriad of other personal preference tools, a good airbrush can be
substituted for spray primer, and some people prefer the brush primer their
mini's.
> 2.1 Brushes
>
> Good brushes are a the ultimate key to getting sharp detail and "clean"
> results. As you'll be using the same set of brushes for *all* of your
> minis, this is *not* the place to try and "save" money; if anything,
> double (or even triple) up on the brush sizes you use most often so that
> they last just that much longer. Your best bet for getting quality
> brushes these is at a hobby or art supply store. Useful sizes, from
> largest to smallest: 2, 1, 0, 00 (2/0), 000 (3/0), 5/0, and 10/0. I
> tend to do most of my figures painting with the smaller brushes (3/0 and
> 5/0) for more control of how much paint I use, but I'm not afraid to
> break out the big brushes (2 and 5) for tanks and vehicles.
>
> To help your good, expensive brushes last longer,
<SNIP>
This is crap, your brushes can be expensive and not worth a shit, you can
get good brushes fairly inexpensively if you take the time to look and make
careful selections. Good doesn't equal expensive and vice versa when it
comes to brushes.
>
> A long time ago, I bought some of GW's Citadel brushes. GW brushes are
> terrible at holding their points, expensive, a poor value, and not
> recommended. I find the GW brushes to be not better than most other
> cheap, throwaway brushes: only good for basecoating and later as
> cut-down "stippling" brushes.
>
make up your mind are they expensive or cheap. Should I throw away those two
citadel brushes that are in excellent condition and still have good points
that I have been using since 1999, or keep them since they apparently do the
job.
<Snipped the bad advise about using white glue on miniatures>
> Currently, I'm using Windsor & Newton brushes and am pretty happy with
> them as adjuncts to my artist's Atlas sables. Adding up the money
> wasted on "bargain" brushes I've ended up trashing, I could have bought
> a full set of top-of-the-line sable Windsor & Newtons. Looking ahead,
> future purchases will be limited to Vallejo and Windsor & Netwon sables.
>
Why did you mention Vallejo? Do they market brushes? Why didn't you mention
their brushes in your summary if they do?
> 2.2 Paint
>
> All enamel and acrylic enamal paint is CRAP -- it just doesn't go on
> quite as smoothly as the true acrylics and the required solvents for
> cleaning will eventually eat up your brushes. Water-based acrylic paint
> is a godsend for cleanup and brush longevity -- you'll still have to use
> solvent (isopropyl alcohol) once in a while, but you don't need it
> *every* time you paint.
>
The above paragraph tells me that you don't know how to use enamels to paint
miniatures. Some of the most beautiful miniatures work I have ever seen was
done with enamel paint.
> Some people are recommending cheap craft paints over hobby paints. As
> always, you get what you pay for because craft paint pigments are not
> ground as finely as the pigment in hobby paint. While craft paint
> covers well, it won't blend as well or finish as smoothly. Personally, I
> think that craft paints are great for basing, as coverage is important,
> but blending and smoothness isn't that important.
>
Please site the proof of your statement, have you properly researched the
consistency of craft paint vs hobby paints? Did you take the time to
separate the pigments and examine them under a microscope? I have never had
trouble blending craft paints and find they are far superior to most hobby
paints. Why did you leave out artists acrylics? I think you need to research
your information a bit more before spouting rhetoric.
> As you use up your paint in the jars, and the level starts to go down,
> consider pre-thinning your paints, by adding a bit of thinner. I've
> done this for the quite some time now, and here are the advantages, as I
> see it: the paint mixes more easily for more consistent color, as it's
> not as thick. It restores some of the solvent thinner which evaporates
> out over time. It prevents the paint from drying out. Finally, when
> working in a single color, I can paint directly from the lid. So far,
> I've been thinning with distilled ("pure") water and "pure" isopropyl
> alcohol. I've heard claims that isopropyl alcohol can cause "gumming"
> of airbrushes, so watch out. Also, if you start having problems with
> the lids sealing themselves to the jars, try running a dab of petroleum
> jelly over the screw threads before closing them up to get an air-tight
> seal that doesn't let the paint dry between jar and lid.
>
I don't have trouble sealing my jars anymore, or having the paint start to
dry out, that is because I mix they paint thoroughly by STIRRING not shaking
the bottles. I keep a selection of long toothpicks at my table for just that
purpose (well that and picking out bits of meat from between my teeth prior
to flossing)
> One thing's for sure, you're going to need a lot of paint colors -- I'd
> guess at least 16 colors (I have over three times that many pots of
> paint). At a minimum, you'll need a set of "pure" primary colors (i.e.
> black, white, red, yellow, and blue) along with a "flesh" tone and a
> metallic silver of some sort. Next, plan on adding key secondary colors
> (i.e. grey, green, brown, orange, pink, and purple). Finally, fill in
> with specific tonal colors (e.g. olive, navy, tan, bone) for your
> specific minis. You can always mix paints to get intermediate colors,
> but unless you have empty paint jars for storing custom mixes, you'll
> find it difficult to duplicate colors exactly for a uniform effect.
> Personally, I'm very happy to buy pre-mixed shades and not have to worry
> about making my own mixes exactly. Also, you don't need to get inks,
> glazes, or washes immediately, as these can be "made" by thinning down
> regular paint, however, the color intensity will be slightly reduced.
>
Yeah, premixed paint is good, but how many shades of gray do you really
need? Seriously though, any and all colors can be mixed by using the 3 basic
colors on the color wheel, white and black. As to getting the mix to match,
I have a pad that I scribble down the various formulae for the shades I want
(glop of Red with three drops of blue, that sort of thing).
> As for which brand of acrylic paint, here's what I've found: Ral
> Partha, Armoury, and GW "screw-top" paint is all CRAP: Ral Partha comes
> out "chalky" and Armoury doesn't finish nicely. GW's screw-top paints
> dry too quickly, and paint the lid to the jar, and don't seal well,
> despite their expense. GW's newer pop-top paints appear to have been
> excessively pre-thinned, and are still very expensive. Tamiya is an
> annoyance, as it takes a tremendous amount of thinning and mixing to get
> to work well; worse, if inadequately mixed, it won't go on or finish
> smoothly.
>
Once again stir your paint and don't shake it, you will get better results
regardless of your preferred brand.
Try Floquil primer you can find it (model railroad shop possibly), it is
hands down the best I have ever used, and it comes in a selection of either
light gray, or... um light gray.
> 2.4 Epoxy Putty vs SGT
>
Snipped the rest as I have to go to work, I may decide to finish looking at
it later...or not.
>
--
Jim M
posted on this day, the 4,174th of September 1993
"Look alive. Here comes a buzzard." -- Walt Kelly (Pogo)
"I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury." -- Groucho Marx
Philip Bowles
>
>Before buying any materials or supplies, you need to make a few
critical
>decisions about what you want your models to look like: Dark or
Bright,
> Realistic or Fantastic, Quick or Quality?
My answers in most cases are the same: Dark (my Eldar aside),
Fantastic and Quality.
>2.1 Brushes
>
>A long time ago, I bought some of GW's Citadel brushes. GW brushes
are
>terrible at holding their points, expensive, a poor value, and not
>recommended.
Believe me, they're worse than you remember. I've used them for a long
time simply for convenience, but if anything they're worse now than
they used to be - back when I started many years ago I could be fairly
careless with GW brushes and they'd still be good enough for my needs
(though admittedly I wasn't into much detail work back then). The
current batch seem to lose their points somewhere between first
contact with the paint and applying that paint to the first miniature.
I'm a lot more forgiving of GW hobby supplies than many people, but
all of the above is true of their brushes - I'll not be using them
again.
> As for which brand of acrylic paint, here's what I've found: Ral
>Partha, Armoury, and GW "screw-top" paint is all CRAP: Ral Partha
comes
>out "chalky" and Armoury doesn't finish nicely. GW's screw-top
paints
>dry too quickly, and paint the lid to the jar, and don't seal well,
>despite their expense. GW's newer pop-top paints appear to have been
>excessively pre-thinned, and are still very expensive.
Here I'll defend GW to an extent - yes it's true that the old paints
were too thick and dried out too quickly, but in terms of actual
quality applied to the miniature I have no complaints. They apply
well, produce strong colours and even coats with only a couple of
layers, and even on unvarnished models don't flake off easily. The new
paints are certainly thinner than before, but as long as you aren't
taken unaware and try to thin them further as you would with the older
paints, they're pretty good. Agreed that you can no doubt get the same
quality for less, though, and I find GW paints too thick to mix
without adding vast quantities of one colour to the other.
2.3 Primer
>2.6 Glue
>
>If you have multi-part metal or metal-and-plastic models, you'll need
CA
>glue (aka "super glue").
A piece of advice: don't use GW superglue. While it's no more
expensive than most brands I've seen (for a rarity), GW seems to have
succeeded in creating a formula with fewer adhesive properties than
water. Also, GW glues (plastic cement, PVA or superglue) don't come in
containers with non-clog tops, and I've had instances where I've had
to throw half a pot away because it's so badly clogged (even after
trying to chop bits off the nozzle to clear it, which just makes it
even more likely to clog). On the other hand, while prone to clogging
and with a too-large nozzle, Citadel plastic cement is good at
actually sticking things together in my experience and comes in large
pots.
>3. Plan
>
>Make a plan of what to paint, in what order. I recommend saving your
>best models for last. I know you'll be *sorely* tempted to ignore me
>here, and jump immediately on that limited-issue Ancient Great
Dragon.
>Don't do it. It'll look terrible and you be greatly disappointed.
>Instead, start with something simple, small, and ugly -- I'd
recommend a
>basic monster like an Ork or Goblin. But remember to save your best
>models until you have a better idea of what you're doing and how you
>want the entire thing to turn out.
Problem with this approach, of course, is that you can keep putting
things off because you're never going to get everything absolutely
perfect - my High Elves will remain unpainted until I am *absolutely
sure* that I've mastered the art of applying white paint in smooth
coats...
>Plan to paint in groups of 5-10 *similar* models, starting in smaller
>groups.
This is the one common piece of advice I never follow, except by
happenstance. I paint in units, be they six-strong like my current
project (Eldar Farseer and Warlock Bodyguard) or 30-strong like a
regiment of Elf Spearmen. This is why I hate painting Spearmen...
>he more models and *kinds* of models you paint, the better you'll
get.
> Your first batches of models are going to end up pretty bad.
I've got to get round to stripping my embarrasingly bad ancient Eldar
(it'll give me another Farseer and Warlock into the bargain).
>Sorry.
>ut that's how you're going to learn. If you're so motiviated (about
a
>ear from now), you can strip and repaint them later. Plan on
>repainting *only* after you're fully painted -- as in every single
mini
>being painted to a decent "tabletop" standard.
I strongly suspect my Warlock and Farseer will be entering their third
decade by that time...
> You'll be much happier
>to have everything painted, even with some of it poorly painted, than
>having only a small proportion of your figures painted.
>
>There's been some debate over the "right" number of basic and detail
>colors to use. A basic color is anything which you can see from a
>distance, say across a room.
Mostly I aim for three basic colours (plus highlights etc. of course)
but the number of detail colours tends to be pretty much arbitrary
depending on the details of individual models.
> Whatever you do, find a way to organize paints, and record specific
>paints for units that you will be painting again and again. It's an
>annoyance to keep trying to figure out what you did before, take a
stab,
>and find that the units don't match. You'll be stuck with two
different
>units, and you'll either have to redo one, or live with the
unintended
>color variations.
I tend to paint units in distinct and readily-identifiable colours - I
only use one light grey that actually looks grey (as opposed to Space
Wolves Blue), my dark green is very much darker than the other shades
of green I use and so on.
>Adding flock foliage over a textured surface gives a "natural" base,
but
>is very time-consuming. But if you're going for a natural-looking ,
>super-realistic, and/or model railroad effect here, this is the way
to
>go. This is good for simulating woodlands, swamps, marshes,
scrubland,
>etc.
Problem is, that when not done well this looks incredibly artificial
and IMO detracts from the look of the model - look at some of GW's
'natural' bases with fake reeds and the like. At worst, a
standard-issue flocked base just won't make the model look any better.
Also this works poorly for units, especially in WFB, not least because
of the small size of individual bases - even in a forest, is everyone
in the unit going to be standing with a pot plant by their feet?
Agreed that the technqiue is good for unusual ground terrain, like
urban areas or marshes, and I imagine leaf-litter bases can work for
woods, but these are techniques that need practice to get right.
> There are some *very* useful basing-related "tricks"which are useful in
>distinguishing similar or otherwise identical models. Paint a
>"nametag" on the base, so that individual models are named; this is
>ideal for skirmish games like Mordheim or Necromunda.
Ideally, in Mordheim or Necromunda your models won't look otherwise
identical - character here should be emphasised in the model more than
the base.
>9. Closing thoughts
>
>I've been working on this document off and on for over 5(!) years
now,
>and it never ceases to amaze me that I can find something to add to
it.
> If you have comments, feel free to drop me a line...
One thing I'm using as a simple alternative to blending and a more
naturalistic one than washing is successive highlighting, which you
haven't mentioned in any detail - in the simple form I'm using it a
dark base coat, then the lighter primary 'basic' colour in all but the
recesses and a light drybrush for the raised areas (essentially it's
the 3-D version of GW's infamous 'painting gems' technique). It's
worked to give better definition to the folds of my Warlocks' robes.
Philip Bowles
Donovan Borman
"estarriol" <esta...@blueyonder.jeansNtshirt.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ctssrk$fr5$1$8300...@news.demon.co.uk...
Yeah, I just woke up and I'm looking at this..."Hmmm looks like a big
painting guide by Hwang...(blinks crap out of eyes)...HWANG?! I need some
coffee" LOL
John Hwang
> "estarriol" <esta...@blueyonder.jeansNtshirt.co.uk> wrote...
>>"John Hwang" <JohnHw...@cs.com.no.com> wrote...
>>
>>>It's been over 20 months (almost 2 years) since I last posted
>>>a version of this. Hopefully, some of you find it useful...
>>
>><snip>
>>
>>the short form is, Paint it Grey.
Heh.
> Yeah, I just woke up and I'm looking at this..."Hmmm looks like a big
> painting guide by Hwang...(blinks crap out of eyes)...HWANG?! I
> need some coffee" LOL
So whaddaya think, now that you've had your coffee?
John Hwang
>>1. Concept and Approach
>>Dark or Bright, Realistic or Fantastic, Quick or Quality?
>
> My answers in most cases are the same: Dark (my Eldar aside),
> Fantastic and Quality.
See? :)
>>2.1 Brushes
>>
>>A long time ago, I bought some of GW's Citadel brushes. GW brushes
>>are terrible at holding their points, expensive, a poor value,
>>and not recommended.
>
> Believe me, they're worse than you remember.
[SNIP]
Seems like you're getting more discriminating WRT your brushes. Perhaps
when you're next in civilization, you can buy some good ones?
>>GW's screw-top paints dry too quickly, and paint the lid to the
>>jar, and don't seal well, despite their expense. GW's newer
>>pop-top paints appear to have been excessively pre-thinned,
>>and are still very expensive.
>
> Here I'll defend GW to an extent - yes it's true that the old paints
> were too thick and dried out too quickly, but in terms of actual
> quality applied to the miniature I have no complaints.
Sure, but for a smaller, more expensive pot of paint, you should get
nearly full usage out of it. It's not cheap like craft or gallon paint
where 10+% wastage isn't a big deal.
> The new paints are certainly thinner than before, but ...
> they're pretty good. Agreed that you can no doubt get the same
> quality for less, though,
Yup. If you have to use more paint, or buy new bottles, or have general
handling annoyance, that's not very good value.
>>2.6 Glue
>>
>>If you have multi-part metal or metal-and-plastic models, you'll need
>>CA glue (aka "super glue").
>
> A piece of advice: don't use GW superglue.
Why am I not surprised?
> On the other hand, while prone to clogging and with a too-large
> nozzle,
Normally, this shouldn't be an issue. Small nozzles usually clog.
> Citadel plastic cement is good at actually sticking things
> together in my experience and comes in large pots.
After the brushes, I've not gone back to GW for hobby supplies.
>>3. Plan
>>
>>Make a plan of what to paint, in what order. I recommend saving your
>>best models for last.
> Problem with this approach, of course, is that you can keep putting
> things off because you're never going to get everything absolutely
> perfect
That's taking things quite a bit farther than I had recommended.
> my High Elves will remain unpainted until I am *absolutely sure*
> that I've mastered the art of applying white paint in smooth coats...
If you thin your paints just right, this shouldn't be a problem. The
challenge is the smooth off-white base coat under your white top coat.
Anyhow, if you can paint smooth coats, which is a function of proper
paint thinning and proper amount of paint on the brush, then the paint
should give a smooth coat.
>>Plan to paint in groups of 5-10 *similar* models, starting in smaller
>>groups.
>
> This is the one common piece of advice I never follow, except by
> happenstance. I paint in units, be they six-strong like my current
> project (Eldar Farseer and Warlock Bodyguard) or 30-strong like a
> regiment of Elf Spearmen. This is why I hate painting Spearmen...
Or you could just paint half the regiment at a time...
>>Your first batches of models are going to end up pretty bad.
>
> I've got to get round to stripping my embarrasingly bad ancient Eldar
> (it'll give me another Farseer and Warlock into the bargain).
Heh.
>>Plan on repainting *only* after you're fully painted
> I strongly suspect my Warlock and Farseer will be entering their third
> decade by that time...
Hmm... Nah, better not think about it.
>>There's been some debate over the "right" number of basic and detail
>>colors to use. A basic color is anything which you can see from a
>>distance, say across a room.
>
> Mostly I aim for three basic colours (plus highlights etc. of course)
> but the number of detail colours tends to be pretty much arbitrary
> depending on the details of individual models.
Sure. Just watch out for a "Christmas Tree" kind of effect.
> I tend to paint units in distinct and readily-identifiable colours - I
> only use one light grey that actually looks grey (as opposed to Space
> Wolves Blue), my dark green is very much darker than the other shades
> of green I use and so on.
That works, too. What's a challenge is when you get more paint and have
warm and cool versions of colors, along with more intermediate
highlighting and shading clors.
>>Adding flock foliage over a textured surface gives a "natural" base,
> Problem is, that when not done well this looks incredibly artificial
> and IMO detracts from the look of the model - look at some of GW's
> 'natural' bases with fake reeds and the like.
Sure. Still, they're better than the old flocking, much less painting
Goblin Green.
> At worst, a
> standard-issue flocked base just won't make the model look any better.
That's a pretty low standard...
> Also this works poorly for units, especially in WFB, not least because
> of the small size of individual bases - even in a forest, is everyone
> in the unit going to be standing with a pot plant by their feet?
WFB, you need to base across models, so you base whole ranks at a time.
IMO, the density of WFB models as regiments and ranks allows for
advanced basing to really shine.
> Agreed that the technqiue is good for unusual ground terrain, like
> urban areas or marshes, and I imagine leaf-litter bases can work for
> woods, but these are techniques that need practice to get right.
Like anything else, really. ;)
>>There are some *very* useful basing-related "tricks"which are useful
>>in distinguishing similar or otherwise identical models. Paint a
>>"nametag" on the base, so that individual models are named; this is
>>ideal for skirmish games like Mordheim or Necromunda.
>
> Ideally, in Mordheim or Necromunda your models won't look otherwise
> identical - character here should be emphasised in the model more
> than the base.
In Mordheim, if you've got a couple models with Clubs or a couple
Crossbowmen, they'll look largely identical. Knowing at a glance which
model is "Dieter" is helpful.
> One thing I'm using as a simple alternative to blending and a more
> naturalistic one than washing is successive highlighting, which you
> haven't mentioned in any detail - in the simple form I'm using it a
> dark base coat, then the lighter primary 'basic' colour in all but the
> recesses and a light drybrush for the raised areas (essentially it's
> the 3-D version of GW's infamous 'painting gems' technique). It's
> worked to give better definition to the folds of my Warlocks' robes.
I do this occasionally, but I don't emphasize it. I think the
combination of washes and highlighting gives better overall results.
With washes and highlights, the total paint thickness is more
consistent, rather than being thickest on high points and very shallow
in recesses due to strict highlighting. Washes also do a better job of
tying colors and layers together.
Philip Bowles
> Philip Bowles wrote:
>>>2.1 Brushes
>>>
>>>A long time ago, I bought some of GW's Citadel brushes. GW brushes
>>>are terrible at holding their points, expensive, a poor value, and not
>>>recommended.
>>
>> Believe me, they're worse than you remember.
>
> [SNIP]
>
> Seems like you're getting more discriminating WRT your brushes.
I'm getting more demanding in the way I paint, so quality is more
important - GW brushes are serviceable for large areas, but if you want to
paint runes on a sword or robe trimming getting a smudge instead is a
problem.
Perhaps
> when you're next in civilization, you can buy some good ones?
Getting back to civilisation is a long way off. Remember, I'm going to be in
Australia for the next two years.
>> On the other hand, while prone to clogging and with a too-large nozzle,
>
> Normally, this shouldn't be an issue. Small nozzles usually clog.
The problem with the large nozzle (and it is large) is in application - try
putting a spot of glue on a joint and you could end up with a glue-smeared
arm, say.
>>>Plan to paint in groups of 5-10 *similar* models, starting in smaller
>>>groups.
>>
>> This is the one common piece of advice I never follow, except by
>> happenstance. I paint in units, be they six-strong like my current
>> project (Eldar Farseer and Warlock Bodyguard) or 30-strong like a
>> regiment of Elf Spearmen. This is why I hate painting Spearmen...
>
> Or you could just paint half the regiment at a time...
Then I'd get disheartened at the end of it. "Right, that's those Spearmen
done. What next? Oh, no, 15 more bloody Spearmen"...
>> I tend to paint units in distinct and readily-identifiable colours - I
>> only use one light grey that actually looks grey (as opposed to Space
>> Wolves Blue), my dark green is very much darker than the other shades
>> of green I use and so on.
>
> That works, too. What's a challenge is when you get more paint and have
> warm and cool versions of colors, along with more intermediate
> highlighting and shading clors.
I can see how remembering which shade of grey is which might pose a
problem...
>>>Adding flock foliage over a textured surface gives a "natural" base,
>
>> Problem is, that when not done well this looks incredibly artificial
>> and IMO detracts from the look of the model - look at some of GW's
>> 'natural' bases with fake reeds and the like.
>
> Sure. Still, they're better than the old flocking, much less painting
> Goblin Green.
Painting Goblin Green allows you to go back and do what you want with the
bases later if you feel so inclined, though.
>> Also this works poorly for units, especially in WFB, not least because
>> of the small size of individual bases - even in a forest, is everyone
>> in the unit going to be standing with a pot plant by their feet?
>
> WFB, you need to base across models, so you base whole ranks at a time.
> IMO, the density of WFB models as regiments and ranks allows for advanced
> basing to really shine.
There's another thing, too - if you've spent all that time perfecting your
Kislevites' or Valhallans' snowy bases and fight your next battle in a
jungle, you'll feel a bit of a prat. Flock grass is neutral and works more
or less anywhere, but a Skink with an aquatic base on a river-less board or
with a leaf litter base in the middle of a stream looks rather out of
place...
>>>There are some *very* useful basing-related "tricks"which are useful in
>>>distinguishing similar or otherwise identical models. Paint a "nametag"
>>>on the base, so that individual models are named; this is ideal for
>>>skirmish games like Mordheim or Necromunda.
>>
>> Ideally, in Mordheim or Necromunda your models won't look otherwise
>> identical - character here should be emphasised in the model more than
>> the base.
>
> In Mordheim, if you've got a couple models with Clubs or a couple
> Crossbowmen, they'll look largely identical.
That's what conversions are for.
Philip Bowles
Craig Little
"John Hwang" <JohnHw...@cs.com.no.com> wrote in message
news:36gcppF...@individual.net...
> Philip Bowles wrote:
>> Ideally, in Mordheim or Necromunda your models won't look otherwise
>> identical - character here should be emphasised in the model more than
>> the base.
>
> In Mordheim, if you've got a couple models with Clubs or a couple
> Crossbowmen, they'll look largely identical. Knowing at a glance which
> model is "Dieter" is helpful.
>
He's the one asking about touching his monkey or saying "Now is the time on
Sprockets for us to dance"
Snarfgargle the 43rd The Condottiere
scale) I may be forced to write a Codex Daubus for here sometime
:) :) :) :)