WIP : Bones Young Fire Dragon

[optimusprimer]

Hello everyone , I am new to the boards and just started out painting Reaper miniatures. I'm not new to painting though as I have dabbled in painting several Games Workshop lines before, but I am coming back after a long 10 year break to painting. So it very much feels like I have some relearning to do.

 

anyways Monday I had started out on my first Reaper Mini project from the Bones line : the Young Fire Dragon. Taking my time with the project so far I have only accomplished the basecoat of Army Painter Dragon Red. On the white miniature it is turning out very bright red and in some lighting almost pink. I am hoping that when I ink it , it should take some of the brightness away and tone it down a bit.

 

feel free to comment and let me know what you guys think so far :)

[robinh]

You are off to a nice start.  Just remember not to water down the first coat on bones and you won't need a primer.  After the first coat you can thin with water without any issues and the paint will not rub off easily like it does on metal.

 

Welcome to the forum.   The members are friendly and open with adivice if you want it.  Just ask and they will reply with hekpful suggestions and occasional challenges to keep you trying new things.

[optimusprimer]

thank you for the tips ! I look forward to sharing and learning from everyone along with seeing everyone else's work !

 

it was very odd for me not to prime at first but I'm getting used to it now :)

[LittleBluberry]

That's exactly the first Bones miniature I painted too!  The red was hard to get a good solid color from because it was so translucent so it took a lot of coats to make it not pink.  It's a fun one to try painting, though! 

 

[optimusprimer]

It is a great model , excellent detail , and I have always wanted to paint up a dragon :). I agree it is a real fun experience so far.

It's funny about the red though in some light it shows up really really red and in others it shows up almost pink. It's just odd or my eyesight is going lol. But I will try more coats as well , see if it shows up differently after that :)

[optimusprimer]

Some more progress today , thanks everyone who helped with telling me not to thin the first layer too much and to add more coats , the pinkish hue is starting to go away :)

[optimusprimer]

Took this outside today to show color in better light. I know I didn't get much more done today but I think I'm getting hung up on the color, and its causing some frustration.

Feel free to leave a comment on here or even a suggestion on if I'm going about this right way, it very much appreciated!

[lexomatic]

That looks like red to me and not pink like the earlier pics. What don't you like about it?

[optimusprimer]

In some lighting it looks almost hot pink , and in sun light its more red and irs bugging me a tad. I never have had any luck with reds so this is my first all red project and I think I'm over-analyzing it.

[Loth]

Wash it with green, your red will darken up nicely and get some depth. Also you are over analyzing it .

 

Loth

[optimusprimer]

Thank you , i am very much a perfectionist at heart so it tends to lead to me over analyzing.

I will give green a shot , any washes you would recommend?

[Silvervane]

I think alot of us are perfectionist with our mini's on the forum.  I tend to have to use the mantra 'good enough, now move on' alot.  Personally, I make my own with mixture of RMS brush-on sealer : water : paint color (2:2:1[approximately]).  Some day I'll invest in some inks and washes, but this has served me well on the cheap.

Edited April 2, 2015 by Silvervane

[DixonGrfx]

I find that when i paint red, the under coat really sets the stage. If i want a really "fire engine red", i paint a base coat of a pumpkin orange color. Red pigments tend to be translucent. So an undercoat can help even the application of red.

[optimusprimer]

Thank you all for the tips ! Next project that i do use red i will give the basecoat a try. Im so used to working with black primer before im applying my paints that things come out darker. Working with white things tend to be more vibrant (which can be a good thing)and I'm not used to working that bright lol.

 

Silverane - I think I will have to try that mantra . I'll also have to try not getting hung up on little stuff .

 

Again thank you all

[unidentifiable]

If it's super-super bothering you, there's nothing stopping you from priming black.  You don't need to prime, but that doesn't mean that you can't prime.

 

Heck, some people prime them white just so that they can use thinned paint for a base coat.