Finally, my first attempt! (Pic Heavy)

[Pezler the Polychromatic]

I should have left better enough alone. Tried adding a couple coats of matte sealer, was alright but i missed a few spots, when i touched it up I put too much on. Well, trial and error, trial and error.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Pezler the Polychromatic

[LionMyth]

smart to test with scrap

 

prime, basecoat and then go from there  ... some will put a light coat of wash over the basecoat to bring out some of the detail and help them paint further

 

I love the advice in this forum.  Everyone has their own style.  I like trying new techniques.  (... well, new to me techniques)

 

Lots of thin layers building up the subtle tones is the way to go.  IMHO  The thing is that the dry paint always looks different from the wet paint I've mixed on the palette.  I guess one becomes familiar with the results of adding a little white or the smallest hint of black to the paint to adjust the color.  I can't reproduce my efforts.  I might paint something one of half a dozen different colors of green basecoat and then put on half a dozen more blended layers.  With all those coats of paint it is important to make them thin or risk hiding the details of the mini.  I used to prime a bit too heavy and still have to remind myself that the primer is mostly about getting the other paints to go on evenly.  At first I was a little frustrated when the thin coats would let the undercoats show through, but then I found that this was all part of the process and greatly improved the look of my miniatures. 

 

Of course it's just a matter of taste.  I've seen a lot of professional works where every highlight paint coat was obvious.  It actually seems more prevalent than not.  Perhaps this is due to the GW paint tutorials.  I prefer the subtle and more realistic blending.  Not to say I'll ever reach a "realistic" skill level.  Sometimes, if the mood takes me, I'll paint with more defined paint borders.  I guess all that matters is if it's amusing me at the time.

 

Good start. 

[Pezler the Polychromatic]

smart to test with scrap

 

prime, basecoat and then go from there  ... some will put a light coat of wash over the basecoat to bring out some of the detail and help them paint further

 

I love the advice in this forum.  Everyone has their own style.  I like trying new techniques.  (... well, new to me techniques)

 

Lots of thin layers building up the subtle tones is the way to go.  IMHO  The thing is that the dry paint always looks different from the wet paint I've mixed on the palette.  I guess one becomes familiar with the results of adding a little white or the smallest hint of black to the paint to adjust the color.  I can't reproduce my efforts.  I might paint something one of half a dozen different colors of green basecoat and then put on half a dozen more blended layers.  With all those coats of paint it is important to make them thin or risk hiding the details of the mini.  I used to prime a bit too heavy and still have to remind myself that the primer is mostly about getting the other paints to go on evenly.  At first I was a little frustrated when the thin coats would let the undercoats show through, but then I found that this was all part of the process and greatly improved the look of my miniatures. 

 

Of course it's just a matter of taste.  I've seen a lot of professional works where every highlight paint coat was obvious.  It actually seems more prevalent than not.  Perhaps this is due to the GW paint tutorials.  I prefer the subtle and more realistic blending.  Not to say I'll ever reach a "realistic" skill level.  Sometimes, if the mood takes me, I'll paint with more defined paint borders.  I guess all that matters is if it's amusing me at the time.

 

Good start. 

Thank you. The washes seem to do the trick for me with these smaller miniatures, once I start on the bigger ones I think I'll try so highlighting techniques as well. I just have to make sure that I do it all in one go so that I can gradually go lighter and lighter, instead of leaving it for awhile and having my paint dry out.Time and patience are attributes I need to work on.

[Pezler the Polychromatic]

Long time between updates, but preparations for the Day of Masks and Sugar are going swimmingly. He's my next volunteer:

 

 

 

As you would expect, I used Krylon grey primer, not sure how some of it came off, but that's fine.

 

 

 

Hadn't been able to do that much, but I enjoyed what I did this weekend. Found that I'm most comfortable with my 00 Winsor & Newton brush, covered the spear tip and sword with Reaper Pure Black ( it goes on so good!), and used GW Enchanted Blue on his vest. Looking good, I was hoping to try to get a denim effect for it. Maybe drybrushing it with a bit of GW Skull White? If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

 

The sword will have Citadel Ironbreaker and then a highlight of Runefang Steel, but then after that I might try FolkArt Silver Anniversary on the edge. When I used it on Optimus it made nearly a mirror finish, I think it will be a splendid experiment to try.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Pezler the Polychromatic

[knarthex]

Long time between updates, but preparations for the Day of Masks and Sugar are going swimmingly. He's my next volunteer:

 

IMG_0088.JPGIMG_0089.JPG

 

As you would expect, I used Krylon grey primer, not sure how some of it came off, but that's fine.

 

IMG_0090.JPGIMG_0091.JPG

 

Hadn't been able to do that much, but I enjoyed what I did this weekend. Found that I'm most comfortable with my 00 Winsor & Newton brush, covered the spear tip and sword with Reaper Pure Black ( it goes on so good!), and used GW Enchanted Blue on his vest. Looking good, I was hoping to try to get a denim effect for it. Maybe drybrushing it with a bit of GW Skull White? If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

 

The sword will have Citadel Ironbreaker and then a highlight of Runefang Steel, but then after that I might try FolkArt Silver Anniversary on the edge. When I used it on Optimus it made nearly a mirror finish, I think it will be a splendid experiment to try.

Pics not showing up!?!?!

(I see the image marks in the quote though)

 

Denim I have always found difficult.

Get an old pair of faded jeans and lay them over a chair. Look for the worn places . Note the colors. You almost have to go to a color like GW Space Wolf Grey, which is a pale blue / grey, and then fade to white.

Good luck!

 

8)

George

[Pezler the Polychromatic]

 

Long time between updates, but preparations for the Day of Masks and Sugar are going swimmingly. He's my next volunteer:

 

IMG_0088.JPGIMG_0089.JPG

 

As you would expect, I used Krylon grey primer, not sure how some of it came off, but that's fine.

 

IMG_0090.JPGIMG_0091.JPG

 

Hadn't been able to do that much, but I enjoyed what I did this weekend. Found that I'm most comfortable with my 00 Winsor & Newton brush, covered the spear tip and sword with Reaper Pure Black ( it goes on so good!), and used GW Enchanted Blue on his vest. Looking good, I was hoping to try to get a denim effect for it. Maybe drybrushing it with a bit of GW Skull White? If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

 

The sword will have Citadel Ironbreaker and then a highlight of Runefang Steel, but then after that I might try FolkArt Silver Anniversary on the edge. When I used it on Optimus it made nearly a mirror finish, I think it will be a splendid experiment to try.

Pics not showing up!?!?!

(I see the image marks in the quote though)

 

Denim I have always found difficult.

Get an old pair of faded jeans and lay them over a chair. Look for the worn places . Note the colors. You almost have to go to a color like GW Space Wolf Grey, which is a pale blue / grey, and then fade to white.

Good luck!

 

8)

George

 

I'm sure I have a sprue somewhere.......

[Pezler the Polychromatic]

alright, trying to show pics again:

 

 

 

[vegascat]

Arrr Cap'n, thar be pics in that post! :D nice to see you were able to work it out.

[Pezler the Polychromatic]

I finally have my trove of treasure! So many colours!

 

 

 

Look upon my serendipitous find of these ancient artifacts, and feel envy:

 

Edited October 14, 2015 by Pezler the Polychromatic

[Glitterwolf]

oohhh elephant...

 

Like it..

[kay13]

Pretty!

[redambrosia]

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR THAT ELEPHANT?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

*throws soul at you*

 

Not enough?!

 

*throws yummy baked goods, left arm, and her first born child also*

 

[Glitterwolf]

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR THAT ELEPHANT?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

*throws soul at you*

 

Not enough?!

 

*throws yummy baked goods, left arm, and her first born child also*

 

 

It IS nice, but it is a 15mm...I would withold the yummie baked goods, that is a bit too much

[Pezler the Polychromatic]

Funny thing about these figures is that I never even saw them until I nearly tripped over a box under the table. These things have been in the store since the old owner had it, about 12 years ago, and now one of my friends runs it. Got a great deal for them since they wanted to get rid of them. Got the Ral Partha Witch Doctors, War Elephant, and Horse Lords Heavy Lancers. They're older than my brother-in-law who was with me. Will have to pick up the rest of them when I head back to the big city next time.

[Pezler the Polychromatic]

Finally! I got the little bugger done. It took awhile since Hallowe'en is the busy season, but I finally got some time this weekend to finish him off:

 

 

It's been awhile, so I can't quite remember all of the paints I used. P3 Bootstrap Leather for the spear shaft, Molten Bronze for the pauldron, Rhulic Gold for the belt buckle. I'm especially proud of that last one, while it's not perfect, I managed to do the fine details pretty darn good, used an Artist's Loft 18/0 brush for that one. Used GW Snakebite Leather for the spear straps, Citadel Loren forest for the pouch, and P3 Brass Balls (hee hee) for the sword hilt and pommel. Didn't add highlights to the sword or spear tip, didn't really have time. Managed a coat of Citadel Eshin Grey for the floor, will probably base this later. Also used Loren Forest for the eyes, then hit it with a layer of gloss sealer and then two of matte sealer. Think I did a much better job of that, didn't drown it in sealer, and managed to spray from further away. All I have now is the duplicate kobolds left to do, might do a different colour scheme for them since I bought a ton of paints. Pingo has also posted some interesting paint mixes made from professional acrylic paints, I will definitely keep them in mind. Stay tuned, hopefully I'll be able to do the next figures faster.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Pezler the Polychromatic