Hells_Clown

Yeah the metal will change color after soaking for a while but that's ok, it doesn't harm anything. Just looks bad. There is a cure though. Cover the entire mini with primer. Then paint over said primer. Works like a charm!

I started using gray spray on primer but now I use white gesso. I use white cuz it's easy to find and if I want a different color all I had to do is either mix it with the gesso or add a base coat after it's dry. I still use the spray if I have a large number of figures to prime all at once or if I'm priming a large model (those demon lord guys are rather difficult to brush primer on what with all the nooks n crannies n stuff...

Try here : Vini Vidi Vici Decals are their specialty. It's what they do. It's all they do!

How do ya get static grass to look like real grass? I've got some Woodland Scenics dead grass (on Anne's advice) but when I put it on it looks like, well not much of anything really, it's barely visable. I blow on it to get it to stand out, but it still looks kinda lifeless. Help!?

How long did you wait between priming and painting? I've had trouble when painting a mini I just primed, even if I wait a few hours. Now I leave my primed minis to cure for at least a day if not longer before I start painting.

Someone already mentioned a good reason to buy locally: shipping. I got a GC for Christmas and recently placed an online order. I got 3 figures, two DHL and one Warlord if IIRC. Nothing huge, just normal humanoid types. I don't have the receipt in front of me but I want to say the total was around $18. The shipping was $12! That's using 2nd day air. I went with normal ground and that lowered it to $6. It is also nice to be able to see a figure up close so you have some idea what you're getting yourself into before you buy it. Still, shopping from a comfy chair with a cold beverage in hand is nice. So is knowing they have the figure you want, not having to wait weeks as the store orders it from the distributor only to find out they don't have any in stock. Now having said all that, when's that Desert Ranger dude gonna be available in the OL store? I still gots money on that GC...

My mistake. You are right of course. Saliva wouldn't change the color and wouldn't clot like blood. Silly me. Though I believe there was a comic book printed in the 80's (of a rock band I think) where some of the ink had actual blood from the lead singer or some such nonsense.

Good wood grain really depends on the sculpt, though this is one case where dry brushing works well. Just don't be too heavy handed and over do it. Nice n light as you were saying. Oh, and go against the grain to help pick it up with the dry brushing.

Once the new ones are availabe are the old ones still going to be sold? I like the marketing for the new paints: "For advanced painters". Meaning the old ones are for low level goombah painters. Now with that in mind, who's gonna buy the regular boring ole paints? Nobody wants to be a looser painter, we all wanna use the paints the big painters use. That'll make us better painters, right? The agitators in the new ones prolly look like Anne and Jen and Lilly and Alex, don't they? And each bottle has drops of their blood for that extra added perfection... Ok, I'm sold, where are they? How many banks do I have to rob just to look at them?

Mat: I'm always on the look out for nifty new tips, tricks and recipies. Post away.

I just went to the western plastics web site and it crashed my IE TWICE!

Oh I don't doubt she's right. I'll have to play with the ratios of paint to water and other stuff. I was trying to get that transparent look that you mentioned though. But when I do that, see my original post. As for the pigment seperating eventually, mine usually seperates immediately and with some mixes, depending on what colors I am using, they never seem to fully mix. I'm thinking I'm not shaking my paints enough. Have to work on that too. And lest ye think me ungrateful, quite the contrary, I always try to take in the advice given here. It is always appreciated. John

Good points all, I'll have to try them. I'm still confused as to the differences betwixt flow aid, retarder, mediums, etc...I just get 'em cuz the Immortals (like yourself) come down from Olympus and tell pathetic weaklings like me that we should use them. You're the first painter I've heard tell someone they might be thinning their paints too much. Usually the advice is "thin, thin, thin". I was getting to the point where I was gonna add one drop paint to a gallon of water and that still wouldn't be thin enough.

Yeah, Smoke is thick stuff. If you want to use it to shade you will have to thin it way down. If you leave it thick it will act almost like paint. It's useful in many ways. It's one of the first Vallejo colors I bought.

If you're refering to colors like Smoke and Woodgrain, they are basically Vallejo's answer to ink/washes. They are quite thick and from what I've heard they are basically paint with less pigment added so they have a more transparent appearance.

Since I started thining my paints and attempting to put them on in layers, I've noticed that often when I do this all I get is a washed out look with what looks like a few grains of paint left on the surface. Not pleasing to say the least. My method of thinning is something like: 1 - 2 drops of paint (Vallejo Model Colors usually) 1 drop Liquitex dry retarder, 1 - 2 drops of distilled water. The amounts may change depending on how much surface area I intend to paint (larger areas get more paint and water but rarely more dry retarder). I touch the brush to a paper towel to remove access and use light brush strokes but still often get the aforementioned grainy look, if I see anything at all. So oh mighty paint gurus, what can this lowly untouchable of a painter do to improve so as to not insult the minis I am attempting to paint and further sully the image of mini painters everywhere?

I've heard these mentioned a couple times now here on the boards and I'm wondering what they are and how they are different from standard metallics.

Base coat with GW Elf Flesh (or equivalent) then wash with GW Flesh Wash. Gives a nice red/blond look.

"mild" in Texas means 95ish. Hot and humid (least round here in H-Town, dunno bout up Dallas/Denton ways). You've been warned.

Well, ya take a brush, dip it into paint, then in a gentle sweeping motion apply said paint to the figure Bob's yer uncle, Fanny's yer aunt and there ya have it. I tend to paint in what is called the Foundry Style, after Foundry Miniatures. They advocate using three colors on a particular item: shade, base, highlight. Let's say, for example, you want that cloak to be blue. To make things simple we'll just use one shade of blue and darken and lighten it with black and white. Take the blue, add a bit of black and paint the cloak with it. Then take the blue as is, and apply it to the raised areas of the cloak (most sculpts have the cloaks looking like they're blowing in the wind, etc so there are usually folds and raised areas). Then lighten the blue with a little white and apply is to the same raised areas, though not as much as the previous coat, you don't want to cover up all the base color you just painted. There is more complete info on this style of painting Here. And of course there are several painting tutorials on the Reaper site in The Craft section as well as their "Learn to Paint" kits. I beleive kit #2 deals with painting clothes and skin. Good luck.

Interesting ideas, I think I'll try something like that. Thanks, I usually skip GD topics on that list for some reason or another.

Does anyone else hit a snag when painting armor? Specifically metal armor? I have a few figs that are wearing plate mail and usually I end up staring at them all primed at ready and not having a clue how to procede. I just put an undead horseman in the green bath cuz I didn't like the way he came out. Any tips on how to make metal armor look interesting? How to paint rusted, burned or ghostly armor (all effects I'd like to achieve on various figs)? I think I need a special red "Panic" button that I can press to alert the troops to my desperate need. I wouldn't use it every time. Really... I wouldn't lie about something like that.

Moi? Yes I have a color wheel.

Are there any colors that match metallics that ARE NOT metallic? Sometimes when I'm painting a mini I look at bronze or copper or the like and think, "that would be a good color for that cloak" but I don't want a metallic cloak. I just want that particular shade of brown or red or whatever. Not to mention it'd make NMM painting a whole lot easier. Hopefully this question makes sense...

DUH! For some reason I forgot that I too use bone white (actually Vallejo Model Color Iraqui Sand) to lighten most colors actually for highlights, esp black. But the blue/gray method works as well. Though now I'll have to try adding some brown to the mix and see how that works. I know the GW guys mix black and brown when painting a lot of the LotR minis to give the black robes of the Ring Wraiths, for example, more depth. Good call as usual Anne.