Gargs' Newbie WIP Journey

[Gadgetman!]

Yes, but you're a painting wizard...

You could probably do a great job with a 20mm round brush made for painting mouldings, railings and finer carpentry...

[Doug Sundseth]

Yes, but you're a painting wizard...

You could probably do a great job with a 20mm round brush made for painting mouldings, railings and finer carpentry...

 

Thanks for the compliment, but actually I'm a photography wizard (we'll not be trying to assign levels, now  ) who is at best a pretty good journeyman miniatures painter with lots of experience and the ability to write (and sometimes speak) about it.

 

FWIW, I'm really not interested in painting anything the hard way. (I'll not be participating in any #0 huge miniatures challenges, for instance.) If there were plaid spray paint, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

I found that painting eyes and freehand became much easier when I went to a larger brush, as long as I made sure to control the amount of fluid in the brush. Paint dries in the tips of tiny brushes way too fast. This is certainly exacerbated by the fact that I paint in a very dry area, but it happens in humid areas, too.

[Gadgetman!]

You should see the mess I create with my cameras...

 

I just ordered 3 small USB-powered humidifiers on The Bay of E to see if that can help with the paint.

 

Frankly, I can't see any good reason for that kind of challenges.

(I'm looking for good deals on #2 brushes, and I'm also trying to learn to use my airbrush.)

 

It's all a question of finding the right tool for the job, and also that what is the right tool for one man isn't necessarily right for everyone else.

[Gargs]

Got a little more work done this weekend.  Sadly, what was supposed to be an easy week at work turned into a hellacious one.  Oh well.  Did some shadows on the armor and washes on the silver parts, followed by some highlights and dry brushing.  Tried out the 2BB technique with rather predictable results for a first timer, but there were some areas where it really seemed to work well, so there is that.  I'm mostly done with him now, just need to finish the glow on the gun and clean up the base and paint the arc marker and I'll call it good enough.  FWIW, it does actually look decent on the table top (much better than on a zoomed in camera) which is what I am going for at the moment, so there is that!  :)

 

 

 

 

[Gadgetman!]

Looking great!

 

On your next one(I assume there will be more...), consider drilling out the smoke stacks. 

 

In the grates, consider using more than one colour. Yellow/Orange/Red to give the fire a bit more 'life'.

(I'm assuming these are steam-powered... I have one, but have never actually read up on them... )

(I used Orange on top of Red, but with yellow also, it should really add an impact)

 

And don't be afraid to use metals such as Gunmetal grey, Honed Steel, Blackened Steel, or even Scorched Metal here and there. These are Heavy Metal machines, so... (Boilers for example will tend to flake off paint when they heat up, which is why I used Honed Steel on it instead of the green I used on the rest of the machine)

[Gargs]

Thanks for the tips and the compliments!  Great idea on the grates.  I know the one color (HD Fireball Orange) wasn't ideal, but frankly, they were so small that I was glad to be able to even get the one color in fairly well.  It's hard to tell in some of the pics, but the silver parts on him are based in Honed Steel.  Did a bit of True Silver drybrushing on top of it, but it didn't quite work out as well as I would have liked (particularly in the pics).  

 

Drilling the smokestacks is an interesting idea.  I'll admit I wasn't sure what to do with them.  Painting them in doesn't look great, but leaving them unpainted also looked bad (imho).  Drilling them out might be a great idea.  And yes, there will be more.  :)  I actually had already painted a couple of others before I started on this one, but still have a few more that need painting and plan to get a few others . . . in addition to all the Bones and old RPG figures I want to paint.  Too many projects, not enough time.  :)

[Gadgetman!]

It's strange, but the strong orange and reds will draw the eyes, so people will notice those details if they're added. 

And it's a lot of 'pop' for very little work, really.

 

If you drill it out, paint it with a red in the bottom... 

[Gargs]

Pretty much finished. In fact it probably was "finished" but I wanted to work on the glow of the gun some more.  So, I started out trying to add a bit of yellow over top the orange (trying to go dark to light, thus skipping the red).  Started off trying to glaze (my first ever attempt at a glaze) and it was going okay, and then Blam, way too much paint.  :(  I think it was a combination of not quite a thin enough mixture, too much paint on the brush, and poor brush control on my part.  So instead of having a nice glaze of yellow (HD Golden Yellow) over the HD Fireball Orange, I got a big ol yellow spot.  

 

So question, is this still something that can be salvage by painting over everything and working my colors back up?  Or is this a strip job, which I would rather not do considering the rest of the model is good enough for my purposes?  If I go over everything I would have the advantage of being able to start with Red, but not sure that having all those colors underneath will work.  I also think part of the problem is me trying to give a bit of 3D definition to a 2D area of the model.  It almost seems as though actual flames (like on the Bones Hell Hound or Fire Elemental) would be easier because you can, you know follow the flames.  At any rate, I'm still thinking of all this as "successful" because even though the result isn't good right now, I'm still learning.  In any event, here's the pic for reference:

 

 

As always, thanks in advance for any help, advice, or comments!

[Gadgetman!]

Can't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to paint over this. 

If so, consider giving the inside edge of the barrel a bit of a dark metal colour to add a bit of contrast.

[Gargs]

Can't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to paint over this. 

If so, consider giving the inside edge of the barrel a bit of a dark metal colour to add a bit of contrast.

 

Cool, will give it a go.  Will start with red and work my way up this time.  The dark metallic might be a bit of an issue on my limited paint supply, but will see what I can do.  As for the layering, I assume I was on the right track with doing glazes of the higher coats?  (i.e. start with red, then glaze an orange, then glaze yellow, etc.?)  Would seem to be the best way to get a mix of the different colors, but this is my thinking more just based on my limited knowledge, not actual practice.

[Gadgetman!]

Don't ask me about glazing... A bit too advanced for me, yet... 

A dark grey(or even a black) will also work just fine for the rim.

[paint pig]

So much good advice in this thread, I'll start by saying experimentation or just trying stuff out is a great way to learn, however you must stop after each swoosh of paint and look at the effect, take note of what happenned. All too often we put some paint down and then follow up straight away without taking into account how it worked or not, I guess I'm saying don't rush.

 

Good brushes aren't necessarily expensive brushes, I use some quite cheap synthetics as well as uber sables, it is the condition of the brush that is important. If the bristles/hairs are going in their own direction retire the brush for dirty jobs.

 

Never overload the bush with paint, it just doesn't work. Thin your paint, not too much and just dip the point into the paint, the hairs will wick the paint into the  rest of the hairs.... this is particularly important once you have laid down your base coat and your working on shading or highlight coats.

 

With base coats try starting at various shades... try base coating with your dark tone and working up, try a mid tone base coat and working up highlights and pushing down the shadow tones. And lastly, base coat in a high tone and work down. You will find one of these will work best for you, most people start dark and work up when they first approach painting (great for three tone layering) however I think over time, as you work out glazing and washing, that base coating in a mid or high tone is your starting point. I personally use a base coat somewhere between a mid and highlight. I find that working down the shadows easier but it also gives me a bit of scope to push up the highlights.

 

Try a few different brands of paints, a pot of this, a pot of that, a pot of the other. You will find that there is one that works better for you than the others.

 

Learn washes, how to use them, how to make them everything, they are a great way to add depth to your painting with what is very little effort... experiment and take note of the effects that can be achieved. Learning washes is your stepping stone to glazing.

 

You tube is your friend.

 

Practice practice practice practice..... and practice again. Painting figures is fun so practice is not a chore, and besides, it is pretty easy to strip paint

[Gargs]

Lots of good stuff

 

Thanks for taking the time to lay out such good advice, I really appreciate it.  You definitely hit the nail on the head with "practice, practice, practice".  That's largely what I'm doing (i.e. trying something to see if it works).  I know that it will take time to really get the feel of even just the proper thickness of the paint for various techniques, much less the actual application.  But, as you said, I'm having fun regardless.  Most importantly, I have already achieved what I consider to be decent table top quality, which was my initial goal.  Obviously I hope to improve from there, but it is reassuring to know that I am able to paint something up that looks ok from a few feet away.  I know some of the techniques I'm trying are probably above my pay grade, but if I never try them, then they always will be.

 

I have definitely been hitting up YouTube, and was finally able to "get" the right thickness at least for basecoats.  Still working on glazes, though washes feel relatively comfortable.  As for my base coat, I have been starting at the mid tone and then trying to shadow and highlight.  Unfortunately my blending is pretty bad so it often doesn't work well, but then I'll occasionally get a bit that just hits it right.  It's kind of like golf for me.  I'd play a round and get 100 strokes, but 2 of them were really great and instantly made me want to play again.  :)

[paint pig]

Hey it is coming together, I can see one or two areas that you can play with on your mecha thingy.

 

First off I would suggest you try a purple was on the big ball whatsit, the old Citadel was perfect for this. Not a heavy wash (you can always do a second) and have a look at what the effect is like, I would then flow this up with a heavier sepia coloured wash. I can do a test my end if you like to compare it against.

[Gargs]

Hey it is coming together, I can see one or two areas that you can play with on your mecha thingy.

 

First off I would suggest you try a purple was on the big ball whatsit, the old Citadel was perfect for this. Not a heavy wash (you can always do a second) and have a look at what the effect is like, I would then flow this up with a heavier sepia coloured wash. I can do a test my end if you like to compare it against.

 

Hmmm, would not have thought of a purple wash for the gold flail head, but come to think of it, they are contrasting colors I guess.  Only problem is that purple is one of the colors I am still waiting on (the horror I know!).  That said, I might be able to mix up a purple with the reds and blues that I have.  Or just put this warjack on hold until my next order comes in (which already had a purple triad in it).  For the record, I've been using both P3 and Reaper paints so far (both MSP and HD on the Reaper side).  If I get the chance, I'll play around with my paints this weekend and see what happens. 

 

For Science!