Cerridwyn1st

No pix yet guys, sorry, but I started on the Werner Klocke Elf King over the weekend. This is an exchange mini for FieldArchy. I dug out my Tamiya Fine Surface Primer and warmed the can in hot water for 15 minutes as suggested by David Pawels before priming the mini. That is per the "Painting for Competition" class I took with him at Gen Con. I started with the hair and then worked on the face. I'm now base coating the cloak and armor. I'm working on this guy in fall colors, Ivory, Gold, and Russet. I thought this would be appropriate for two reasons. First, greens and browns are kind of over-done and trite for elves. Second, the mini is due to be sent to Meg by October, which is in the fall. I haven't forgotten my promise to work on the larger figure with Purity Through Fire and others. I'll probably prime her this weekend and get started after that. I also have a large commission piece to complete ASAP, so expect to see some pix of it in the "Lazy Susan of Shame" thread.

The little flowers on the base are really cool. I love her expression. Good job.

Sounds like maybe the nozzel on your spray can was a bit clogged, so the primer is sputtery. Comes out more as dots than a mist.

Note to self: Need Jewler's Saw... As for Reds, I prefer to use Vallejo over Reaper, though I wouldn't recommend the paints to brush-lickers or skin painters. Turns out Vallejo reds have Cadmium and some other nastiness. Gives them a great look but the non-toxic status goes right out the window. Of all the Reaper reds, have to say I like the bloody triad best of all. Reds do seem to get shiny when you layer them. The same thing happens Vallejo as with Reaper. Matte Medium of Reaper Brush-on Sealer is your friend. Another hint. Add light yellow to your red highlight. Continue adding yellow and then white. Yes, I know it will go a bit pink. Then wash with Clear Red mixed down with water and Brush-on Sealer.

Ah, the sealer problem makes sense now. Thin your sealer just a bit with water and apply two thin coats. The end result will be less shiny. Even if you don't paint display minis, a little shading and highlighting will make the mini easier to identify on the tabletop. It doesn't have to be fancy. Base coat, wash, then drybrush, just like they would show you in Paint and Take.

I keep thinking it would be cool to paint the anti-paladin as a Thayan Knight, skull tats and all. They have pix in the D&D Complete Warrior book.

Yeah, but there's not much definition to the horns; they are too monochromatic. Use a little of the darker wash near the base of the horns and at where the hooves meet the bottom of the leg. Use a bright silver to highlight the tips of the horns and most reflective surfaces of the hooves. You can mix some Pearl White into the silver for the final highlight on the hooves.

Meg: I'd suggest mixing brown ink with water and matte medium, then shading the deeper recesses of the bull's scales. It would give him a grittier look and acentuate the highlights. The hooves and horns kind of need something too, but I'd go more for brown/black than black. Maybe mix brown ink and Liner Brown?

I'd have to agree with Meg: the paint is too thick and there are too many colors. If a matte sealer comes out shiny like this, it is most likely overspray. A couple light dustings of matte sealer works better than one heavy one. Krylon Matte in particular will be very shiny if oversprayed. Try starting with a darker base coat for your skin tones and then working up a couple of highlights. As nice as your eyes are on this piece, you've got the brush control to do some highlighting, just need to give it a try.

Painting workshop is the first Saturday of the month, approximately 2pm. Bill Smith doesn't usually show up until after 5pm, when he gets off work. I used to do the Painting Workshop every week on Sunday, but that became a real drag for everyone involved. Once a month seems to work just fine. If you catch me in the Game Store at another time I'd be willing to sit down and paint if I'm not too busy, but the First Saturday of the Month is the biggie. It is rare that a convention conflicts with that, which is another good thing.

BTW, in a Painting for Competition class I attended this weekend, the instructor suggested sitting your can of primer in warm tap water for 15 minutes before priming to heat it up slightly. As for primer for plastics, there is always Krylon Fushion. It is specifically made for priming plastics and you can get it in a wide range of colors.

Anne: If you're going to get rid of the Traveling Elf from Iron Mountain that was the special Origins piece a couple of years ago, let me know. I'll take her off your hands. By the way, guys, I have a three bedroom house and one entire bedroom is dedicated to miniatures and all the related dreck: paints, flocking, tools, photo equipment, terrain, terrain tools and materials, bla bla bla. You get the idea. The room also has a large desk and computer. I've had two friends report that their collections of board games and gaming supplies has caused their landlords to need to tear out the floors and install additional support because they were sagging. I guess as long as I don't have so much stuff that it warps my floors I'm doing OK. Mel

By the way, Orcsoul, if you catch me at War Dogs I can show you priming technique. If we ask nice Devon should let us go out back to prime.

A friend of mine died last year and left me some money. I decided that I should buy at least one thing for myself that I wouldn't have otherwise. She liked looking at my minis and hearing my stories about conventions, so I bought a set of brushes. My FLGS had a set of Citadel Masters Brushes that they marked down $50 from $125 to $75. I bought them. I've been very happy with the set, especially the Detail and Fine Detail brushes. I have to say I haven't really used the flat in that set at all. It was a rather extravagant purchase, but when I use my brushes I think of my friend. I still miss her very much.

I have a lot of metal, but I also have something that occasionally reduces the pile: Paint and Take. My biggest error this last MegaCon was to leave my box of unpainted Warlord minis at home. Could have primed them up and put them out.... Whenever the pile of Reaper stuff that I'll never paint gets too large, I prime a bunch up and head for a convention. That thins things out. I don't buy a lot of minis from other manufacturers. Even so, there is the occasional Gamer's Fleamarket that gives me an opportunity to sell, trade, or otherwise liquidate figs. It must be hard to part with things, especially the old Partha stuff. I tend to have memories associated with things, which makes them hard to part with even if they are junk.

I would point out this: :Long handles are finished in blue gloss with nickel-plated brass ferrules." You're going to need to cut those handles down to use the brushes for mini painting.

Yeah, I remember the first set of liners that came out. I was dancing around my FLGS going "Anne's brilliant! Anne's brilliant!" Talk about love at first sight. I bought the whole set and still like them very much. For some things, I've started using Walnut Brown and Blackened Brown in place of Brown Liner though.

You don't get your face on top of it! How close do you hold the things when you prime? Inhaling that much primer can't be good for you. BTW, I've used dulicolor sandable in Florida's humidity and it still behaves pretty well. The only time I've had the problem you describe was with Armory primer. Could brush it off with a toothbrush. I think in my case it was a combination of a bad can of primer, not enough shaking of the can before spraying, and holding it too far away.

My $0.02 worth? People's brush needs change over time. The more practiced you are, the more control you have, the more you favor a brush with longer hair and a thinner body. Thus the preference among experienced painters like Jen and Anne for the DaVinci #10, while those with a little less time in the art prefer WNS 7. I kind of suspected this was the case, and with Anne's comments it seems to confirm this. It makes sense, too. The brushes we use are popular with conventional artists. If there weren't different needs amont artists for the qualities of the brushes, there wouldn't be so many of them on the market. Oh, and I have a Vallejo #2 and an old "red handle" Citadel brush that both perform beautifully. I've got a Reaper Master Brush that goes all caterwumpus as soon as you get paint in it. These are hand-made items, guys. You can get good ones and bad ones regardless of the manufacturer. That's why testing and selecting brushes is so important.

Well, Wren, if you have a lot of brushes you don't use anymore but are still serviceable, you've got two options: 1) use them for painting seminars that you teach 2) give them to a younger painter who doesn't have the money to get everything he or she needs.

What were the weather conditions like when you were priming? The affect you mention happens most often when the paint dries in the air before it hits the mini, causing a dust-like coating instead of the nice, even coverage. Maybe you were farther away from the minis when you sprayed than you thought. That would also cause the problem you describe. Try this. Get an old pop bottle and glue a mini to the cap. Spray in light coats just a bit closer than you did yesterday, turning the mini so it is evenly coated. Let that dry and see what it looks like afterwards.

Thanks, guys. I think I posted about this earlier, maybe in Conversions. Kind of got lost in the pre-Gen Con shuffle. VV, "fun" doesn't begin to describe Gen Con. I showed an elf I'm working on to Sandra Garrity - it was one of her sculpts. She said she liked the paint very much. The cool thing about talking to Ms. Garrity was she explained something about the sculpt that I didn't understand. That will help me with painting the piece. Anne gave it a look see too. She said she could forgive the star scene - which is rather trite- because it was on the inside of the cloak. A star scene on the outside is rather cliche'. I had fun painting it anyway. It was a good test of my freehand skills. Met lots of cool people, roomed with Evil Bob and my roomie from last year, had lots of fun, painted lots of minis, etc. Tired but very happy.

Nice piece, VV. You come up with the coolest ideas.

I'm converting a reaper sucubus to a female Satyr. I spoke with Talen about her at Gen Con and said I'd post links to the WIP shots. Here they are: Front of satyr Back of satyr

We both started selling models on ebay about the same time, but I must say you've put a lot more work into your painting than I have. I've watched your work progress and you've come a long way.