celestialkin

Hi. Can you guys please tell me if you know of any guides or tutorials for making molds of miniatures? I am currently close to finishing three models (two from total scratch), and I really do not feel like (or have the time) to try (I barely did well on these) to make them again, especially since I need quite a bit of all of them. I am a visual learner, so having pictures would be great to learn this difficult process. Also, can you please tell me where I can get the necessary materials for all this? Preferably the best priced places? Thanks in advance for any help!

If you look a few threads down you will see that I have just had a bad experience trying to "protect" some models I coverted and tried to paint. Now I am halfway done with a model of one of my current characters (a Rosswell-like alien in a BESM adventure), and I am wondering if it's worth risking ruining it. I plan on using it a lot, so odds are the paintjob will be ruined, but couldn't I just slap a bit of grey paint to batch up the holes later on before I put it in my display case (I keep and protect all my old characters)? It is not like my painting skills are good at all. What about you guys? What do you do? How do you prefer?

They are called triads. Ok the famous answer around here applies: depends. I use it darkest to lightest building my highlights as I go along. I have also applied the mid tone first and then used the dark tone as a wash and then reapplied the midtone as highlight and then topped it off with the lightest color. Really it depends on what you like and what you are trying to achieve. Forgive my newbness, but after about 3-4 years of trying to learn to paint miniatures, I still do not have a clue how to do highlights. I get the principle (at least I think that I do) that washes are supposed to be like water which gets into the cracks of miniatures to darken them, but I have no clue how to use them, even less how to make them. Also, I believe the sales guy said something about dry brushing (I have some experience with this technique, since it is simple). Is this true? And thanks for correcting me about the triads.

Hi, A few months back I got a set of Reaper paints. I believe they are called trilogy set. It is the one for bone. How do I apply this?

Dammit. I freaking ruined them. I tested it on the one which I felt I painted the worse (though I feel none really were painted well at all), and I tried to do everything mentioned in this thread, the humidity here was even at 55%! I waited an hour to let it dry and see how it turned out. I thought it was OK, so I did the batch, but now after about 9 hours they feel gritty like sandpaper, and in the light (even in dim light) they look like they are covered in tiny craters or bumps. So much time and effort thrown down the toilet. Hence why I did not want to risk painting them to begin with. Oh well, thank you all for trying to help me. Much appreciated! I'll see if I can find some Zelda merchandise on ebay which have small pots.

I am kinda stuck with some planning for my campaign at the moment. I just got two of the following miniatures in the mail for test runs for some demon poultry I made up. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=140151442192 Concept image I drew: The problem is, I have no idea how to make/convert these little pitchforks, or how to attach them to these tiny metal miniatures. Are there any modelers here who might have some ideas?

I see. Thanks for the detailed information. But how many coats of each do I use? Also, since they are meant to be ceramic pots, wouldn't a shiny coat be a good thing? Oh, and I finished painting them on Wednesday. Would that be enough time? And around what humidity would it be OK to spray these two products? I would prefer some actual numbers, if they are out there. edit: Oh, and how do I know the difference between what is considered a thick layer, and what makes a thin layer? I am completely new to this, so sorry.

Oh, and I live in Central Florida in case humidity is an issue with all this.

Hi, It's been a while since I posted here, but I gave in recently and decide to paint some minis which I had been converting (I had given up after not being able to get anywhere with primers or paints). I have a can of Krylon Clear Glaze, and a can of Krylon Matte Finish. I am not sure how to use them. I am not even sure what order to use them in, or if it even matters. Here are the pots I finished a few days ago, but have not been able to use since I am not sure how to protect them (I plan to use them very often in my game's dungeons and taverns). Can those experienced with these products, or any Matte/Glaze products please help me? I was suggested to buy these on this forum, but no one really explained how or why to use them. I am not even sure what the difference is between the two, or if there even is one. I REALLY do not want to damage these things. they cost me some cash, and a lot of time converting them, and even more time painting them. Thank you in advance for any help!

Oh! I guess that I really underestimated the importance of washing the miniatures. I'll go to Walmart in the morning and get a cheap brush. Thank you for correcting me.

Jeez. I just tried to touch the mini up, but now it seems like there are even more bare spots all over the miniature. It seems like I actually made it worse. I even glued the mini to a large milk gallon cap before I started all of this to make sure I never touch the mini with my hands.

Thank you for the advice guys (and gals). I was surprised to get help from the woman who made this very paint. I have tried to follow your advice, and so far I have done two coats with a five-hour wait between them. I tried to keep them thin and I thinned them with a 4:1 ratio. I did not have an old toothbrush, so I could not wash it. I am currently having two problems, though. a) It is difficult to get all the recess. After spending quite a bit of time on this figure I believed that I primed it all, but checking it over I obviously didn't. b) I can't seem to properly primer it. There are little spots all over the miniature that show the metal underneath. In reality a and b are no big issues, since obviously the only solution is to just paint it again. What I am worried about is obscuring the details by adding even more layers/paint. The spots are so scattered and small that I will be going over many parts of the figure a forth time. If I need to do it again it will be a fourth time. I don't think the recess will cause a problem, though. This takes a while to do, though. I am glad I do not need to do a whole army like this. If it is this hard to thin simple primer I don't know what I am going to do now that I need to learn to paint thinned paint. Should I use the same 4:1 ratio for reaper master paints? Oh, and I meant a layer which was too thick in my last post. Sorry for the confusion.

Thank you all for the help. I was about to let this go, but a few days ago I was at a gaming store so I just grabbed a bottle of Reaper brush on primer (black) out of impulse, since I really needed/wanted a figure done for a campaign which was about to start. So, can you guys please explain to me how to properly use this type of primer? I tried thinning it, but I failed miserably and ended up just slapping a very think layer on to get the job done. Thanks in advance!

After over three months of tinkering with this off and on, and spending at least $50+ on it so far (I have made many mistakes. ) I decided to post this here to see if it is turning out the way I intended. I still need to slap another layer of plaster on it before sanding it again, though. Then comes the dreaded painting... All opinions, thoughts, ideas, suggestion, etc either good or bad are welcome guys. Thanks in advance for your replies!

Thanks for the help guys. I appreciate it. I tried to do what Doug Sundseth suggested, but I am still not getting it. If I ever get some primer I will try it again on something else I guess. Thankfully these pipes are only a buck each.