Painting Tip O' The Week (16th Installation)
Bruce
Wow...the 16th installation. It's hard to believe I've made it this far
in the PTotW series. Anyway, someone requested last week that I write a
tip about preserving miniatures after painting. Along with that, I'm
going to discuss getting a glossy look for slime and skin and such. And
maybe a bonus tip, too.
OK: You've finished your miniature. There it is, based, shaded,
highlighted, in all its glory. You go to pick it up and drop it,
watching as your paint job chips off onto the ground. Drat!
So what do you do? Well, the obvious answer is to seal the mini with a
sealant. I would suggest the Armoury matte sealer; I've had a can of it
for 14 monthes and not run out; it dries quickly, covers well, and only
moderately stinks. Spray your mini quickly at all angles. It will give
your miniature a slightly glossy look, but I like this. But, if you want
to get rid of it, spray it with a non-gloss sealer AFTER you've sprayed
it with glossy sealer. The reason for that is because the non-shiny
sealers aren't as effective at long term protection as a glossy sealer.
By combining them, you get the non-gloss look with the protection of a
gloss seal.
Once you've done this, there are some other care tips. Try to carry your
miniatures around in as much protection as possible. Using the armoury
mini-cases, or even better, a gun/rifle/pistol case with a nice foam
packing in it, is a good idea. Otherwise, try to keep the miniatures
seperate from each other when carrying them around; when they bang against
each other, they'll wear away at the paint coating.
Don't "fondle" your miniatures excessively, either. Obviously, you'll
need to touch them quite often to play a game. But, don't just constantly
touch the paint surface for no reason. In fact, when possible use the base
to pick up and move minis. The oil in your skin will eventually wear away
at the miniature, ruining the paint job.
Try not to throw, drop, kick, step on, mutilate, or otherwise use the
minis in any way that would directly harm their paint job.
Don't leave the minis in sunlight for long periods of time; this will fade
the paint job, just like it fades the interior of your car.
Any of these suggestions on its own is a good thing; heeding them in
conjunction should give your minis a nice, long life. Some more notes:
don't let them gather dust; don't leave them in a damp area where they can
be damaged. Don't leave them in excessive heat or cold (most of them are
metal, and this could cause problems). Etc., etc. Anything that you
don't really think you should do, you probably shouldn't do.
Tip 2: as for painting glossy surfaces on an otherwise non-glossy model,
there is one simple tip I can suggest. Get a bottle/pot/whatever of gloss
varnish for acrylics (unless you don't use acrylics...)from your local art
store. You'll be able to paint this on to a selected surface. It usually
runs about 5$ or so for a bottle that will last you for a really long
time, unless you use it foolishly...If you want something to be glossy
while the rest of the mini is non-glossy, follow my tips above about
combining sealers and then add this varnish onto the area you want to be
glossy.
Bonus tip: After sealing your miniatures, you can try something neat.
You've basically put a very thin sheet of plastic (or whatever you want to
consider it as) over your miniauture. That means you've got a new
painting surface to paint on, unaffected by the colors under it. ie, you
can paint a miniature all black, and then seal it, and then paint yellow
dots all over it. Normally yellow dots would look funny over black,
because they wouldn't cover well. With the sealer as a layer in between,
the yellow will again appear as it would straight out of the pot, without
being affected by the black! Cool for lizard skin, harlequins, slaanesh
marines, or whatever. Give this one a try, I think you'll like it.
Any comments?
"I am Become Death, The Destroyer of Worlds."
---------------------------------------------
http://www.geocities.com/timessquare/9988
email: mear...@geocities.com
---------------------------------------------
Jocelyn Savard
Andrew Breecher
Jocelyn Savard (jsa...@videotron.ca) wrote:
: How do you clean dust on your minis
A big, soft brush. Brushes for applying makeup are good, as are large
fan paintbrushes.
--
Andrew Breecher.
ham...@eznet.net -- http://home.eznet.net/~hamlet
"To sleep - perchance to dream"
Mothra
>How do you clean dust on your minis
I use the same compressed air product I use for blowing dust out of my
computer's cooling fan.
.
'Pain and death are illusions of the weak mind. While his geneseed returns
to the Chapter, a Marine cannot die. Without death, pain loses its relevance.'
'He that may still fight, heal him
He that may fight no more, give him peace
He that is dead, take from him the Chapter's due'
- attributed to Master of the Apothecarion, Aslon Marr