[GROUP] Infinity Miniatures

[MonkeySloth]

Got to start basing things tonight. Good news is bones takes airbrush paint pretty well so you don't need to prime if you don't want too (was worried).

 

I'm hoping to have some pics Friday. Going to do some weathering so my first coat is kind of a dark brown with a bit of red as a good base for rust.

[Willen]

MS where are those pics!!!??? 

 

I cleaned up the Szally, including a lot of sanding, polishing, re-polishing the spray primer that was a bit rough... and finally re-priming with the airbrush in various shades of grey:

 

 

This is what is looks from below (those are not shadows):

 

Midtone has some Ultramarine Blue mixed in (so the cold shadows) and the highlight has some warm Ivory mixed in as well.

 

I don't know about the scheme, yet. I wanted to do something like this salamanders:

 

But I am a little wary about painting sooo much black.

 

Perhaps something more orange:

 

I have some ideas to freehand patterns in yellow, for example, that I need to sketch on paper, but yellow is one of the colors I like the least...

[Willen]

Thanks to the tips in this thread: http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/60046-your-best-painting-black-tutorial/

 

I tested painting shiny black armor:

 

(please look at the two metal plates, the lowest two on the torso piece).

 

 

I used VMC Black, SC75 Eclipse Grey, SC75 Abissal Blue, VMC French Mirage Blue and VGA Wolf Grey.

 

C&C welcomed.

[robinh]

They do look like you used a metallic paint on them Willen!   Very nicely done 

[ub3r_n3rd]

They do look like you used a metallic paint on them Willen! Very nicely done

This!

[Willen]

Thanks. Blending needs refining (looks fine at arms length anyway), and if I go with this scheme it is a mystery how well I can pull it off in more complex surfaces.

 

These are the paints BTW.

 

 

So the brightest point is not really that bright... it is slightly lighter than Rainy Grey for example.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Willen

[CashWiley]

Reading more like chrome than black to me, but please continue because it looks awesome and that's the most important thing!

[Willen]

Reading more like chrome than black to me, but please continue because it looks awesome and that's the most important thing!

 

I just got the exact same comment on the Infinity forums. 

 

I think that one of the problems is that the whole plate bends, so even when most of its surface IS black, the picture only shows the highlighted part. I still feel from the pics I need to tighten the highlights and make them smaller and, perhaps, sharper. But as you say, they look nice so far, so before doing that I would like to judge how the whole back looks like this, the whole picture... and then evaluate if it looks too metallic and I need to add more black, or more dark blue to the transition, or some other trick you guys may show me 

[chaoshead]

Very nice painting Willen.

 

It does look more like chrome to me.

 

Black shiny armor is odd to paint as it is suppose to be black but you want to highlight it...the thing is that the highlights should really only be the tiniest little dots of light with little to no transition.

 

I think what I am trying to say is, shiny black doesn't blend.  It shows spots of reflective light but that's about it.

[Willen]

Thanks for the comments.

 

It is a learning process, since this is actually like the first time trying something like NMM on a big surface, and I definitely agree I need to reduce the highlight area for a more "shiny black" look.

 

I am curious, if I was going for a more diffused black (like buffed metal paint, but not really glossy) would the above work if I generally darken the area (dial back the lightness on all the highlights)? What do you think? 

 

Edit: What do the great painters here think about using a light sand color next to the highest highlight (or in that end of the range) and Payne Grey (Blue Liner -like) in the darkest shadows, to introduce some color temperature play on each armor plate? Would it add depth and interest? Would be too busy? Of course being subtle, I can be subtle, I love doing nuances 

Edited March 6, 2015 by Willen

[KruleBear]

Finally got into my bones. The Sci-fi stuff is great quality as the shipping container and dumpster are very hard PVC. They should paint up very well and I'm interested to see their price compared to MDF options once they hit retail. The weapon crate is a tad disappointing after seeing the dumpster (which has a hinged lid) as it's hollow and doesn't have a bottom as it would have been sweet to have that hinged as well.The barriers look nice until you put them next to some resin SWM ones then they just stand out as being too smooth to be concrete. However, I suspect they're going to be much more affordable.The police box is, as I expected, not Tardis sized but just generic phone booth sized. It needs to be about 50% bigger to match the Tardis.Need to think of a stencil I can make for the shipping container.

You have been putting out some great terrain pieces MS. Those pool tables and the consoles are just "wow".

 

I had the same impression of the bones terrain. The jersey barriers looked too smooth compared to the ones i cast in the Hirst art molds. I slathered Liquitex heavy gel medium (iirc) on the concrete pieces. If i get a chance, i will paint them this weekend and see if it knocked down the smoothness.

[MonkeySloth]

@Krule thats a pretty good idea. 

 

@Willen--it's Chrome for me too.  Shiny black is very hard and I think, for the most part, that you'll want to not do a full highlight transition.  So basically go from pure black to a black blue and then just add your white to the edges and the curve where you want the shine.  We get lost sometimes thinking that everything has to be a full blend from darkest to lightest but when you look at something like wrought iron this isn't the case in the real world.

 

Yes showing off nice blends is what's "cool" but it along doesn't define a great painter or paint job.

 

Edit: Also look at Angel's step-by-step on Beasts of War for the Kum biker.  He only uses three colors on the gun (four for the bike) and the gun, I think, it a bit more what you're going for.

Edited March 6, 2015 by MonkeySloth

[Willen]

I will tweak it after painting some more areas and taking all advice into consideration. Thanks! 

 

MS, thank you for reminding me of that tut. That Step by Step of Angel makes the bike look like NMM steel mostly (or it was like that until I blowed up the pics), and there is no mention on the gun colors... I see what he did however and can get some pointers, but I feel that doing THAT with a piece mostly small squarish things (the gun) where you can abuse the edge highlight is one thing, this huge rounded monstrosity would require a different approach. Will think on it however!

 

On the topic of blending, I do not intend to show off (this was a quicky to test colors, but I still surprised myself at how nice it is) so I do not care about showing perfect technique LOL. I tried blending all the range because that is what we usually do on large surfaces; but I am trying to learn how to paint different surfaces! So I am happy twice, because: a) hey, I managed a nice blend! and b) I learnt what works and what doesn't! 

[Willen]

So...

 

 

Problem this is SO much like NMM, it only works from a certain POV. I still do not know if I like it 100%. 

 

So, as a divertion, I basecoated the other colors, blocking the scheme. Do you think it works? What would you do different?

 

 

[robinh]

nice color scheme!   The only comment would be that the "batons" sticking out of his back could use a touch of color instead of the white/gray.  Possibly make them two tone?