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First Miniatures Ever

Jmail1189

By Jmail1189,
in Works in Progress: Painting

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Jmail1189

Jmail1189 60

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Alright so a few weeks ago I posted in the Tips forum explaining how my brother and I had decided to begin painting. Well this week the first LTPK arrived and we finally got to put paint to miniature. So since I got a lot of tips from this forum I decided to do a WIP.

 

Of course we have the soldier: And the Rat:

post-12610-0-89641300-1377878791.jpg post-12610-0-24003800-1377878792.jpg

 

Obvious observations include lots of flashing, mold lines and a soldier that just can't keep his sword up in the face of battle. I'll be right back with new post with the cleaned up and painted versions of the minis. I'll then post a 'lessons learned' post shortly there after.

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Jmail1189

Jmail1189 60

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Here we have the soldier's finished product (painted by myself): And the Rat (by my brother): sorry for the size

post-12610-0-62383000-1377879342.jpg post-12610-0-02731300-1377879477.jpg

 

Had a blast painting these and definitely found a new hobby. Coming up next will be a post all about what my brother and I learned with these two minis.

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Jmail1189

Jmail1189 60

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Now that you all have the start and finish of our miniatures, it is time to discuss the various lessons we learned during our journey.

 

  1. Painting miniatures is fun: Seriously, it is just as simple as that. We both had a blast and can't wait to start our next projects
  2. Good brush=GOLD: We had several brushes mostly inexpensive, but we had the two brushes that come with the LTPK and used those mostly. I've got to say that if you are planning on starting just buy the $15 brushes because they are worth every penny and more. The cheap brushes were awful compared to the Reaper brushes that came with the kit and we currently waiting for some W&N Series 7 Kolinsky brushes to arrive.
  3. Prep, Prep, Then Prep some mroe: These minis came with a lot of mold lines (some of which we had difficulty removing with files) as well as some flashing. The mold lines that were unable to be reached with files definitely showed up on the final product. When it comes to prep take your time.
  4. Take Your Time When Painting: If you don't you can really cause yourself more headaches then you really need. I got so excited to be painting I completely forgot the elbow until I was nearly finished. Got to take your time if you want it to look at all decent.
  5. Thin Your Paints, but be careful: You gotta thin your paints to help you get those little nooks, but be warned: Make sure you do more than one coat else the metal will show through.
  6. Drybrushing: Awesome technique to help with highlighting, but also not as easy as it first appears. This one is likely due to us using a pretty awful brush to attempt drybrushing, but still you have to be careful not to have to much paint on the brush.
  7. Lighting is Key: Get a cheap desk lamp or two and enjoy the ability to see what you are painting. Helps a ton with highlights and shading.
  8. Get Magnified: I'm not a spring chicken and neither is my older brothers so we definitely need to invest in some form of magnification.

Well that about sums up all the stuff we learned with these two minis, but we can't to start our next project. For me that means I finally get to answer that question "Who knows what lurks in the hearts of men..."

 

Till then though I bid you good luck on all of your endeavours.

Edited by Jmail1189
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Inarah

Inarah 44018

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Looks good, looks like you got a good handle on this addiction.

 

Did you use a spray primer? I ask because there's some texture on the sword and sleeve that you get with certain brands or when your figure is too far from the can and it dries before it hits the figure.

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Jmail1189

Jmail1189 60

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Looks good, looks like you got a good handle on this addiction.

 

Did you use a spray primer? I ask because there's some texture on the sword and sleeve that you get with certain brands or when your figure is too far from the can and it dries before it hits the figure.

 

I used a spray primer on the soldier and my brother decided to try out the paint on primer for the rat. I definitely noticed that texture on the sword's blade and you just answered my question as to why that happened.

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Jmail1189

Jmail1189 60

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Well done really good. Perhaps you and your brother can get in on the Reaper Kickstarter Bones II, then you'll have lots to paint!

 

Do you play games?

Yeah, we are playing Pathifinder/D&D/Monsters and other Childish Things/Spirit of the Century. Mostly RPGs, but we always use miniatures when we play.

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Dadcubed

Dadcubed 1654

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Well done really good. Perhaps you and your brother can get in on the Reaper Kickstarter Bones II, then you'll have lots to paint!

Do you play games?

 

Yeah, we are playing Pathifinder/D&D/Monsters and other Childish Things/Spirit of the Century. Mostly RPGs, but we always use miniatures when we play.

Cool. It's great combining the elements of the hobby together so RPG with terrain building and painting. I find its this multifaceted part of this hobby that means I never get bored! :)

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buckyball

buckyball 3159

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My advice is, to experiment with lots of different techniques, especially if you are painting gaming miniatures.

Washes and Drybrushing will get you pretty far so learn these techniques first.

Paint in different scales. When I paint 15mm figures and then go back to 28mm the figures look huge, and 54mm are like giants.

Don't start off with fancy expensive brushes. Cheap brushes do have the advantage of being cheap. So you can get several different types and see what works for you. You will appreciate that better brush more after you have been working with the cheap stuff.

Experiment with different varnishes and sealers. If you are painting game miniatures you will need to protect them. I use reaper brush on varnish and I apply it very thick.

 

And really the best advice I think I can give a new painter is: If you see a paint job on a miniature you think is really cool, ask the artist how they did it. You will find that really good painters know a lot of 'tricks' that make things easier.

 

buckyball

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