[OPEN/GROUP] WIP L2PK4

[Anachronite]

Never had a response here. Just checking again as I am finally back to working on this. From the thread it looks like folks have been lining first and then doing the skin. The instructions make it look like you do the skin and then line, which seems to be the intent? anyone try flesh first and then lining or have a comment on which works best? although it might not matter much as I have the skin basecoated already. just wondering about lining before I do the highlights

[CashWiley]

I lined it first and still tend to line over primer. Just try different ways and use whatever works best for you.

[Anachronite]

so the you paint up to the lines and try to keep a smooth lined edge at all transitions right?

[falstius]

so the you paint up to the lines and try to keep a smooth lined edge at all transitions right?

I don't think lining has to be perfectly smooth, and it is more of an iterative process where I line, paint, and reline where I slipped up.

 

When painting Bones I just do the whole thing in a dark color (brown liner or walnut brown usually) and then add color everywhere else rather than trying to put in lines.

[CashWiley]

When I started I was very sloppy with lining. Now...ok, I'm still very sloppy with it. I'm a sloppy painter, really working hard at improving my brush control (which is why I'm always telling people to work on brush control and paint consistency!). I clean up the lining when I'm base coating. I find it easier to slop in the lining into the recesses and then fix it up later than to try and get into some of the deeper recesses around a previously painted area.

 

Falstius, there have been several minis that I've lined so heavily I wish I had just primed them black.

[Anachronite]

do you guys line every figure you paint? or just certains figures and circumstances?

[CashWiley]

Yeah, pretty much. I've heard a lot of better painters talking about just using shadow tones but pre-lining works well for me.

[ShadowRaven]

I don't pre-line every figure. I look at them on a case by case basis, and what my colours are going to be. A figure with very little in the way of clothing, especially when what there is, is going to be mostly of bright colours, I won't line at all

[Pingo]

I sort of gauge it by the figure and how the painting is going. Some colors and circumstances just work better with a little lining. Or sometimes I just feel like it. Other times I just want to play with shadows and color contrasts.

[Samedi]

By the time I write this, the ancient path that leads from novice to master, once well trodden, has become overgrown. The old rites of passage have become forbidden knowledge, the scriptures deleted or hidden in unbreakable vaults. Whoever still has access to those scriptures may not grant it to anyone else, lest they face unspeakable punishments.

 

When I was still young and full of zeal, I, too, went down that path. I completed the first ritual of armor and fur, I went on with the ritual of skin and cloth, and I acquired all the necessary ingredients for the ritual of the fabled nmm.

 

However, during the second ritual, my spirit got shattered. I summoned Tsuko, but Laurana broke me and left me powerless for years to come.

 

Finally, I prevailed. I summoned Laurana. But when the smoke settled and all was done, there was no way forward. The path had become barred, the knowledge hidden, the scriptures were no more.

 

What am I to do? I could start with the third ritual, for I am in possession of the right scripture. But that would be wrong. The ancients all agree that the right path to follow is 1-2-4-5-3. I will not ignore their advice and make a mockery of the whole ritual.

 

So I will begin with the second ritual of skin, whose number is four, which has to be completed after the ritual of skin and cloth, making it the third one in the order of things. In place of the scripture, the memories of those who have walked down this path before me will have to suffice.

 

May god forgive me for what I am about to do, for I do not know what abominations I will summon. There are no scriptures I can follow. Only the faded voices of the past.

 

Samedi, October 2022

Edited October 23, 2022 by Samedi

[Samedi]

My investigations have lead me to a very probable list of ingredients. I believe I now have everything I need to begin the third ritual of learning to paint. First - the potions:

• a potion of brown liner
• a potion of blue liner
• the holy trinity of potions of tanned skin, which seem to be the main ingredient
• a potion of oiled leather
• a potion of ruddy leather
• a potion of sun yellow (standing in for fire, I am sure!)
• a potion of blood red (of course, no ritual without blood!)
• a potion of sapphire blue (gemstones!)
• a potion of linen white (the sources don't agree about this one. I'll include it. Wherever there's blood, there are wounds. And in that case it's good to have some linen at hand.)

Then, two sacrifices: One barbarian called Bartok and an unnamed nymph. I managed to acquire both.

Let's light the candles and begin the chant!

 

Edited October 23, 2022 by Samedi

[Samedi]

It is probably not spelled out in the scriptures, but I will begin to form a connection between the figures and the elements. This will improve the summoning and is widely seen as paying respect to the characters about to be summoned.

 

When I was young and the old ritual of learning was still widely practised, there was the magic chant: "Begone oh cursed base of broccoli".

As it was then, so it will be now.

 

I will connect the nymph to the element of water while the barbarian gets a strong base of earth.

 

 

Next: The layer of adhesion.

Today this is mostly done by the use of a heartless machine called air brush or by the evil rattle of a can. In the olden days it was often lovingly done by hand. I applied a potion of white primer with a brush. No thinning, just pushing it around on the figures with a stippling motion. This forms a bond between the practitioner and the figure and prevents the clogging of detail. After that, the figures have to rest. And I will, as well.

 

 

[Samedi]

Starting this project for real now. 😀

 

So why even bother when there are so many new L2PK kits out there?

Spoiler

I exist a bit on the OCD side of life. Not so much that it impairs me, but enough to feel uncomfortable for not finishing a series, not owning a complete set and the like. So, because I started with the first two kits, I feel the strong urge to finish all five. Not because I want to - I don't, (and I believe I have found other ways to paint a passable skin) but because I have to. 

For a long time I tried to get hold of an old kit, or even just the instructions, but that proved to be a futile quest. Right now there's one for sale on eBay, but no shipping to Switzerland. And Reaper won't publish the old instructions and made it quite clear that asking for them at Reaper or here in this forum is out of the question. I respect that. So please, DON'T send me scans of the instructions. 😀

Finally I found this thread. And with this I found a way to move on. I want to thank the OP @Last Knight very much for giving me this opportunity for closure!

 

By compiling all information I found in this thread the instructions seem to be pretty straightforward:

1. block in the shadow tone
2. lining
3. highlight with midtone
4. final highlights with highlight tone
5. all brushstrokes during highlighting go from dark to light
6. glaze of midtone to bring it all together
7. paint the rest however you want, you know how to do it from the kits before (I really like this approach!)

There seem to be some discussions about when the lining step takes place, most people agreeing the instructions put it second even though it is supposed to be easier to do it first. I don't know, I've never lined my minis before. But I'll find out.

 

What's missing dearly are Anne's recipes. This being one of her older painting instructions I'm almost certain there's a lot of "two drops of this to one drop of that" and exact ratios for thinning. I only found two: 

1. Lining: 5 drops liner to one drop water (it's printed on the back of the kit I saw on eBay) and
2. add a drop of Linen White for the base tone of the nymph (somewhere in this thread). To how many of Tanned Shadow? I don't know.

Basecoat

I base coated Bartok with three thin coats of tanned shadow ("thin your paints" was one of the mantras in the old kits). For the base coat of the nymph I added a drop of Linen White (to, I don't know, about three drops of Tanned Shadow). Also, an amazon from Dark Sword joined as an additional mini - for her I can use the same paints. Using a well palette there are always leftovers.

 

Why a well palette? Because that's what those kits were designed for. I don't even know if Anne has switched to wet pallet yet or still paints the "traditional" way. And Before you ask: I do have, use, and like my wet palette - but it feels nice to go back.

 

So here is the trio, all base coated!

 

 

 

[Samedi]

Today: Lining

 

This was a first - I've never lined minis before. But at least I actually had a recipe: 5 drops liner, 1 drop water. Since the liner had a consistency akin to maple syrup, I changed the formula to 4/2 instead of 5/1. Now it was a little bit on the thin side, but at least it flowed well from the brush. So, using my trusted kolinsky, I was ready for whatever may come.

 

But, where to line? I remembered reading somewhere on this forum that you line wherever two different materials meet. And since the pictures in this thread also point in that direction, that's what I tried. It worked somewhat well on the barbarian. Then came the nymph. Lining the nymph was pure hell. All those fine details and thin straps! 

Finally - the Amazone. Because the proportions of Dark Sword Minis are much more realistic than of Reaper, details are much finer, even though minis are roughly the same scale. I really lost some sanity points there. What on earth made me think lining the Dark Sword Lady would be a good idea?

 

So - lining complete. There will be a lot of cleaning up to do before I can begin with the highlights...

 

 

Since I don't have the instructions for this kit, I'll just use the tanned skin triad for shadow/midtone/highlight, each step done with the corresponding paint. I have the feeling there's more to it, because Anne usually does a lot of paint mixing. For the nymph I'll add a drop of Linen White for each step - which is probably not the way the instructions tell you to do it. I can only hope I'm at least close to the right track...