Thinking of Inking.

[TheDungeonDelver]

So I have a nice stock of Reaper inks, which is cool.  And I've used them before to brilliant effect.  Love 'em.  With that said, I'm painting a Behir for my ongoing S4 AD&D game.  On the cover, the beastie has a decidedly teal/blue-green belly.  For reference here's a similar critter in Reaper's catalog, the Cavern Crawler:

 

 

(WAY better looking than all the "official" offerings from D&D Minis or GF9 - they're both too fat!)

 

Anyway...

 

I'm using the Ocean triad to get the shade of blue I want (Deep Ocean, Marine Teal, Surf Aqua, 9076, -77 and -78, respectively) and I'm wondering about shading with an ink.  I've got both Blue Ink and Green Ink...which do you guys think will work better for the traditional S4/Monster Manual II Behir, blue or green?  Or should I do a wash of Deep Ocean instead, and base with Marine Teal and highlight with Surf Aqua and a final highlight of 50/50 Surf Aqua + Pure White?

 

I just don't wanna get in there and start putting blue ink on and everything get stained navy blue, or green and everything go all grass colored on me.

 

 

 

 

[Glitterwolf]

Why don't you test a small amount of both on a test surface?

 

That way you see what you can expect.

Pick the combo that you like the most,

 

And I want to see the result, so start painting allready

[TheDungeonDelver]

Why don't you test a small amount of both on a test surface?

 

That way you see what you can expect.

Pick the combo that you like the most,

 

And I want to see the result, so start painting allready

 

Roger that.  I don't have the Marine Teal yet, it's on order sadly.  Still, it'll give me time to clean him up a bit.  I erroneously started doing him in DARK blue on his bands so I need to clean him up quite a bit before I start the real work painting him...

[Kormydigar]

While you are testing, try mixing a bit of the blue and green inks together with just hint more green than blue. That might give you the shade color that you are looking for.

[Chaoswolf]

Why don't you test a small amount of both on a test surface?

 

That way you see what you can expect.

Pick the combo that you like the most,

 

 

That's what I'd recommend, too.

[Mr Melons]

Do you have an image of the desired color you want? It's gonna be the only way to get more advice.....

[TheDungeonDelver]

Sure; the cover of S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth:

 

 

The alternating scale bands plus the belly, head and legs...

 

(That's not a great picture in terms of color: trust me, it's more teal than that)

[dsmiles]

Maybe pick up a bottle of P3 Turquoise Ink?

[TheDungeonDelver]

Update: the blue ink does NOT oversaturate the Surf Aqua paint!  The shading is deep, and wonderful.  Now if only I could find an armature big enough to mount him on so I could stop touching him and rubbing primer and paint off while working on him :(  Once he's done, I'll post up pictures of Lludd the Behir.

[Kormydigar]

For mounting larger figures for painting I use the fat, short prescription bottles filled with clean cat sand to add a little heft and a large washer glued to the bottom for additional stability.

 

The figure is mounted to the bottle cap with foam mounting tape. Works like a charm.

[TheDungeonDelver]

I went halfway there; I dug thru my parts box and got a large cap from a gallon OJ jug and used a hefty amount of Elmer's Glue, et voila!  I'll let it set a bit longer (did it around midnight last night) before I pick it up and start painting with it.  I've got other projects to work on (like Monique deNoir as Drelzna...)