Galladril's Garrison - Aug / Sep Edition

[knarthex]

I thought paint was like minis, you only have 20...

 

8)

George

Thanks for the swatches!

[galladril]

So, metallic highlighting.

 

 

 

I basically let the deepest grooves in the axe get left with the darkest gunmetal-esque color, and then slowly built up. Smooth areas, as everyone knows, are difficult to figure out where to highlight, and I think I missed my mark a little on the axe. The shoulderplates lightened up quite a bit though, and all 4 metallics are great to work with. One of them gives this delicious golden-grimey-dirty color that I could see being useful in a million situations.

 

Next, I wanted to highlight the edges of the leather straps a little bit more.

 

Over the next 40 minutes, using my absolute smallest brush, I went from this:

 

 

to this:

 

 

The effect is subtle, but after going over thin, THIN lines a hundred times, the end result is this:

 

 

It just helps them pop a LITTLE bit more. I don't know that anyone will even notice them, but I see them, and I'm glad I put in the extra effort.

 

Lastly, I got the final highlights on his skin done, and began to work on the axe handle.

 

 

 

I think he is looking ok, and barring any unforseen problems, I am thinking this guy should be done by next Monday.

 

I am kicking around the idea of picking up one more order of Scale 75, as today is the last day of the sale........gotta love paint addictions. :)

 

Comments appreciated, and, Happy Painting, All!!!

[knarthex]

Looking good!

Are you using the SC75 directions? (such as they are!) The set in the Steel box uses an axe for it's demo....

I am doing a sword blade on a Vrock, one eye on those directions, the other on a tutorial on the web...

 

Got to make sure you have 20 paints Right?

 

8)

George

[galladril]

Are you using the SC75 directions? (such as they are!) The set in the Steel box uses an axe for it's demo....

 

The NMM set I actually pieced together with singles, so I don't have those physical directions, but I was able to see them online.

 

The Steel & Alchemy set I do have, but I have to admit, I haven't really looked at them.

 

The thing about those directions - while I think they are great for ideas or general concepts, they won't work 100% unless you are using the exact miniature they are.

 

Flat surfaces have always been an issue for me, specifically with armor and metallics, and its just something I am going to need to figure out over time. I am used to dealing with "shinier" metallics as well, so its just one more thing I am going to need to figure out.

 

BTW, your Vrock looks awesome - very nicely done.

 

As for those 20 paints...well....I couldn't resist the sale...this is ALL ub3r's fault... :D

[knarthex]

I agree, too MUCH enabling....

 

There is a thread going on shading metallics in the tips section that has some good tips and links to other tutorials, check it out....

The Gold set I know  layers and high lights really well IMHO.

Pics aren't the best but look at Snar here, I did the gold on his crown and scepter with the 4 golds from sc75

 

8)

George

[ub3r_n3rd]

I agree, too MUCH enabling....

 

NO SUCH THING! 

[galladril]

So, I have a ton of pics to show, as this was a relatively busy weekend for me, and may need to divide into 2 posts.

 

Minotaur had a small bit of work done to his base, but I am not happy with it, and I still need to apply the final touches to his horns, the axe handle, and a few other things. He is not yet ready for show off. He would have been if I had focused on him, but I didn't, cause I got excited over something else. "Oooo, shiny!"

 

 

It was interesting to me how many different colors I had used on this fellow:

 

 

After receiving my Fantasy and Games paints from Scale 75, as promised, I said I would try to use them, and do some initial tests with them. I have only used 2 paints in total so I do not feel these to be conclusive, but they may be helpful. More to come as I continue to use them, and I do have some opinions already.

 

The first thing I did in order to test was shook all bottles of paint for at least 2 minutes, and then put a single drop on my pallate. These were unthinned, straight from the dropper bottles, and I tried to use similar colors so that pigmentation wasn't a factor in terms of flow. I know it is not exact, but, I am not claiming this to be an official scientific test, either. :)

 

 

After applying the drops, one right after another, you can see how they began to spread on the pallate.

 

I let these drops sit there, exposed to air for one minute, before applying 1 drop of water to each, stirring with the end of my paintbrush, and then tilting the pallate to about 85 degrees. I then had to rush to get my camera to get the picture.

 

 

I will make no "official" statements about this picture, but I do think that there is a lot of information that can be seen. Again, this is one test with one line of similar colors.

 

Now, we begin to get very technical, very quickly.

 

I have wanted to paint something "larger" for a long time now. I truly believed it would be easier in a lot of aspects, and I was not exactly ready for the potential pitalls and frustrations that came with it.

 

77163: Male Storm Giant (Bones)

 

This is primered in Army Painter primer, the same as all of my Bones will be. I thin my paints, and as we all already know, bones are hydrophobic.

 

This is from the F&G line, thinned about 1:1 with water.

 

 

 

 

Great color, smooth application, right?

 

It SEEMS that way, until you realize, this was probably coat 8 or 9, and there were STILL some problems with white seeping through.

 

Now, I know this could be attributed to a ton of different factors, but I am, at this point, wondering if my primer is screwed up, or, if AP just doesn't work as well with Bones as I thought it did. I always seem to have issues like this.

 

Now, I mentioned problems and frustrations that I had, right? Beyond coverage issues, what you do not see is that the figure fell off the base about 600 times, and EVERY single time it did, a section of it got "chipped." It has been previously stated that Vallejo MC and Scale 75 are quite fragile until you seal them. I could not have been more reminded of this, especially when it took multiple coats to fix the damaged areas every single time it fell.

 

Now, I know the color I have used is dark, but I wanted to make the recesses even darker, and figured, this would be a perfect time to experiment with the washes.

 

**I know how sloppy this is. I did this intentionally. Read on!!!**

 

I have felt for a long time that my painting is actually being hindered by using washes.If I can achieve the effect of darkened recesses by actually painting them in, I would rather do that, than use a product which, in my experience, has a tendancy to add a satin or gloss finish that I really don't want.

 

So, I loaded up an ink wash and drowned the figure in it, so I would be able to see, clearly, if the S75 inks left that residue.

 

The good news - it did not look like they did. I might actually use these.

 

 

Continued in next post.....

[galladril]

 

The bad thing about this little experiment, and because of how heavily I soaked the figure - it created tide marks ALL over it, which I wasn't even thinking about.....so I basically had to rebasecoat the entire figure.

 

Now, here is where things got REALLY interesting, and leads me to my final thought on these paints (which will be revealed at the end of this post.)

 

I didn't want to relayer a basecoat. I knew how much paint it was going to chew up and how long it was going to take. This stuff really is pretty thin...so I didn't even bother thinning it. I basically applied it direct.

 

 

It is thin enough to not obscure detail, but thick enough to cover in one or 2 coats.

 

Now that the skin was re-basecoated, I did my typical layer of brown before the golden sections. This brown is NOT F&G....and I had coverage problems, again.

 

 

Look at the hair in this picture - you can clearly see how it gets "rubbed off,"

 

 

 

.....and that is where the figure currently sits.

 

So, what did I learn, and what do I think from this *unfinished* experiment?

 

1) The Inktensity ink set really is pretty cool. I want to see how well it punches up color when added to paint, but I really love that it dries as matte as the paint does.

 

2)  F&G IS "brighter" than the normal scalecolor line. I compared the 2 whites I had.

 

3) As everyone knows, it is MUCH thinner than the existing line.

 

So what are my opinions on F&G?

 

I actually believe it is designed to be used like GW stuff, for painters "right out of the bottle," who aren't going to bother thinning it. S75 claims that is a more durable formula as well, I am assuming similar to VMC, where it is slightly tougher, and more resistant to damage. if that is the goal, then I can say it covers really well.

 

However, when I used it thinned, it still rubbed right off.

 

I also think (but have not yet tested) that F&G will probably work amazingly well for glazes. As I mentioned before in the Scale 75 forum, the brighter colors seem like they would lend themselves more to highlighting, and seeing that I had to put down SO many layers to get it to fully cover once thinned, to me, it only helps to put credence to that theory.

 

More tests are coming, all, I promise. I will be working with this stuff for a while....however...

 

I am about to begin a third project, a Bonesylvanian, to be given as a Halloween gift before Halloween, which means I have a little bit over a month to get it done...expect to see him soon..... :)

 

Let me know if there are ANY questions, or ANY specific tests you would like to see done, and I will try to accomodate.

 

Happy Painting, All!!!

[galladril]

Just getting started but, I want a document of this whole process.

 

Man, I have missed metal.

 

Bonesylvanians : Morty

 

As previously mentioned, this is a halloween gift for someone, and I will need to get it done by October 16th.

 

 

 

Unlike Bones, I actually will take a little time cleaning stuff off in metal, espcecially because this is a gift. Mold lines and general cleanup weren't too bad on him, actually, but I think I may have taken a little bit more off the pointing finger than I wanted to.

 

Now, I don't know if this is intelligence on my part, or if I am setting myself up for a huge failure, but I am doing something on this mini i typically do not do:

 

 

 

It just kinda makes sense for this guy.

 

I have wanted to test priming a mini in black for a while now, actually, so this will be interesting.

 

Should see some more progress after the weekend.

 

Happy Painting, All!!

[galladril]

So, this first picture is going to look remarkably similar to the last one.....because I was painting black over black. :)

 

 

There are some really deep recesses in this figure, so I wanted to make sure I got everything first. The primer actually gave the figure a pretty neat matted black and I actually thought of leaving it as it was for a little while, before deciding against it, because I knew I was going to mess up, need to cover over it, and would then have 2 shades of black to contend with.

 

Painting onto black is an interesting experience. I was reminded of the quote, "The statue was always there, I just removed the bits of rock surrounding it." When you paint on black primer, its almost as though you expose bits and details a piece at a time, rather than having them "always shown" to you. I have a feeling I may delve into this more as my painting continues.

 

So, after the black on black, I began my "tried and true" bone recipe steps, though I did make a slight adjustment....

 

 

My typical bone recipe is a basecoat, followed by a sepia *ink* wash, followed by cleanup and highlights. This time I decided to give a bottle of premixed Umber Wash a go at it, and it didn't turn out badly at all.I then re-applied the base color to "clean up" anything that was slightly out of place.I'm going to make a note of this step and keep it in my back pocket as an alternative. I would be willing to bet the sepia wash I have would give similar results as well.

 

(This is the part where I have to give a nod to a good product. The Vallejo Washes are really nice to use, right out of the bottle, and their flesh wash, specifically, is absolutely stellar. I am trying to step away from using washes in general to begin with, but I'll go with a premixed from SWW or Vallejo over an Ink Wash 9/10 times now.)

 

 

Now, the highlights....

 

 

...and let's get some work done on his scythe....

 

 

 

And that is where he currently sits. So far, so good.

 

I have to admit, this little guy is really pretty fun to paint. Maybe it's because he is my first "chibi-style" mini, but there is something about this dude that is......cute. :)

 

Up next: I really need to do a lot of research on doing wood grains. When you have the textures already in the mini, I can do things pretty easily, but mine never turn out the way I want them to on flat surfaces.  After that, I have to make some choices regarding how I want to highlight the black....could do grey, could do blue, or could do nothing - the light bounces off this already pretty well, but that seems like a HUGE cop out.

 

Comments, questions, and suggestions appreciated, as always!

 

Happy Painting, All!

Edited September 21, 2015 by galladril

[Silvervane]

Very nice. I have this guy sitting on my paint area at about your current level of progress.  Looking forward to see how you highlight the cloak.  I used blue and liked the look just not my execution.