Gamgan Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I plan on following all the instructions on the pamphlet except doing the eyes first and all the washes at the same time so I don't have to mix one each time. I started on the eyes and the second I dipped my brush in paint and looked at the eyes, I felt old... like REALLY OLD. Im only 36 and I have great vision, often I'm asked in eye exams if I had corrective surgery because my eye sight is well above normal. ( Although My wife says I'm deaf as a bat). I tried squinting, putting the mini right next to my nose, and WOW I swear the 28mm minis have become ALOT smaller in the last year I have not painted anything. It took me about 4 minutes to figure out where to put the paint, I locked my lower fingers from both hands together and placed two mini dots. Then did some raccoon battle-paint round the eyes with some Intense brown. I didn't worry about being very clean or picky because the wash will blend the borders and the highlights will clean it up even more ( I hope) I want to do this very quickly as I have tons of bones to paint and want to learn how to do the 1 hour technique. I did skin next, also just kept the Cleopatra eyeliner as I think the wash will smooth it some. I tried adding a drop of water to the 3 drops of blue for the cloth and it was not needed, I ended up thinning the paint to much and I added another drop of blue and it seemed to work then. Straight out of the bottle works but seems a little ( just a tiny bit) thick although covers really well., or maybe I'm being picky. This is my second coat with my water down blue, I will hit the shield a third time to get a nice crisp blue on it, then ruin it by trying some free hand on it. Maybe a pepsi logo or something :) Here is my improvised light box here at work :) By the way this is a play by play update, I'm at work painting but every time the alarm goes off I have to respond in under 2 minutes to my ambulance. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CashWiley Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Have your optometrist check your close vision, they have a card with tiny print for that. Most eye exams just use the wall chart for distance vision, which is no indicator of your ability to see minis. I have terrible distance vision but microscopic close vision, I paint without magnification. Try out a wet palette if you frequently need to step away. I just use a ceramic plate with two paper towels and a piece of parchment baking paper soaked in water. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pragma Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I recently discovered that while my distance vision is excellent, I can barely see at all up close. You can always get cheap reading glasses from the drug store, and there are also more sophisticated forms of magnification. But your eyes turned out well, so you can probably get away without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gargs Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Yeah I had a similar problem. My eyesight has always scored well, but dang those eyes seem tiny! lol. It doesn't help that the Anhurian has particularly hard to reach eyes owing to the helmet. Your eyes turned out much better than mine though, so maybe you don't have to worry about any additional aids. ;P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamgan Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Thanks for all the tips! I don't think its my vision I think its my lack of practice and I really didn't remember eyes being this tiny. I know very little about wet pallets, I have read a little about them but I know I want to try it out. Since I am doing basic out of the bottle colors its not a big issue but when I start mixing then I want them to last. Does a wet palette help so that I don't have to thin out my paint a little?? I had to take a few hours off so that I could work on the ambulance we had to place new decals all over her and that took forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowRaven Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 wet pallets, in my experience do allow you to get by with a touch less water in thinning paints, but they are really valuable for keeping paints lasting without drying out on you for extended periods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CashWiley Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Yeah, you'll still have to thin paints. Not so sure on the scale, Reaper minis are larger scale than pretty much everything I have from the old days (for me that's late 70s/early 80s, ymmv). Eyes are very much sculptor-dependent, though. You can have a big model with difficult eyes or a small model with very painter-friendly eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamgan Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Well I swear my guard was squinting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pragma Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 I know very little about wet pallets, I have read a little about them but I know I want to try it out. Since I am doing basic out of the bottle colors its not a big issue but when I start mixing then I want them to last. To make my wet palette I followed the instructions here, and I'm really happy with the result: http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.ca/2013/07/how-to-wet-palette-20.html. All that's needed is a sealable container, a piece of foam, and some parchment paper. I also added a copper penny to the bottom, which keeps bacteria from growing. You still have to thin your paints though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbatim Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 (edited) Got my kit, so I'll be doing this after Christmas once I get all my other materials. The sword on my guy is pretty limp, so I'm going to have to get some mini viagra for him, starting searching for threads on that. The two brushes in the kit are a flat 2 for drybrushing, and a round 3-0. Really, are folks painting the entire figure with the 3-0? Seems way too small to be the main brush. Edited December 19, 2013 by Verbatim 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Last Knight Posted December 19, 2013 Author Share Posted December 19, 2013 Got my kit, so I'll be doing this after Christmas once I get all my other materials. The sword on my guy is pretty limp, so I'm going to have to get some mini viagra for him, starting searching for threads on that. The two brushes in the kit are a flat 2 for drybrushing, and a round 3-0. Really, are folks painting the entire figure with the 3-0? Seems way too small to be the main brush. I did most of the "heavy lifting" with the 2 flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CashWiley Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 The brush was one of the few things I 'cheated' on the instructions. I used a WNS7 #2 mostly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbatim Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Hmm. I had planned on being faithful to the kit. I do have a Rosemary 2 brush, but I wasn't planning on using it for a while, figuring I'd probably kill it in my learning phase. But learning with the flat seems like it would be counterproductive, going against the skills I'm trying to acquire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Von Krieger Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Well, I went through Kit 1 today, and like someone else did earlier in the thread, added a Werewolf to be painted using the same colors and techniques. My finished rat. I think I need to NOT hold it right under the Ottlight when taking pictures. I have shaky hands, so I splooshed grass green all over his feet. I'm going to attempt touch ups tomorrow. And will be cursing up a storm when I get tanned skin on the gras and have to touch up that, which will splash on the feet again. :P Grr, werewolf! Grrr! His head used to look much nicer, but in trying to paint whites for his eyes, I splashed it all over his cheeks, requiring a repaint. I ended up just outright not painting eyes, since I couldn't find a surface that I could hit in order to give him proper eyes. Werewolf, Rat, and Mr. Fancypants the Bane of My Existence. Nothing seemed to work right on him. I think I primed him too thickly, and the ink wash refused to take over most of him. I had to repaint his face three times, all due to eye white related splooshing, or accidentally painting over the eyes. I hate you Mr. Fancypants, with all your fiddly little details and your tiny little eyes. Mr. Rat has raised, sculpted, obvious eyes that I nailed with no trouble whatsoever. And here's Mr. Pants accompanied by my superglue covered index finger, which I got on myself while putting the wings on a Bones dragon. Who has absolutely no tiny fiddly bits or ambiguous eyes whatsoever. Mr. Pants was an uncooperative photography subject, and all his images turned out blurry, or shadowed like that. I'll try and get some better ones tomorrow when I repaint his shield. Everything that could go wrong on him did, as I think I put on too much primer, which meant the ink wash didn't take as easily, and the silver paint did not want to drybrush. It either all went on the paper towel, or ended up being like a normal paint application. So his armor is just plain ol silver with hardly any dark bits. I really wish the instructions included what brush to use for what step. Does the brush have to be completely and totally dry for drybrushing? I was using the #2 to drybrush, as well as most of the blue, silver, and brown painting on all the figures. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CashWiley Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Good for you finding the perseverance to endure through it. We all have done this when starting out! Paying the dues and whatnot. The only real failure is quitting, because if you keep at it, you'll get better! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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