[Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

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Daveman
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Daveman »

Punisher wrote: Fri May 17, 2019 12:23 pm I like them all, but the green skeleton seems off to me for some reason. Did you shade the green parts at all? That might be whats bugging me.
I'm not entirely happy either. I used Citadel's Nihilakh Oxide, a chalky blue-green wash like paint that's supposed to go on metals to make them look oxidized but when you put it on white you get this neat ethereal effect. I think the problem with these guys is that the parts I wanted to make ghostly were fairly small and didn't have a lot of detail/recess to them, even things like the ribcage were fairly muted. Larger areas with more detail show the contrast better, like these Warhammer: Underworlds figures I did:

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Here's my fancy photo setup!

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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

Honestly, the Warhammer miniatures just seem to be better sculpts, the recesses more defined. Is that Army Painter Strong? Do you have Dark? If so, you might be able to enhance the detail a bit by manually painting some onto the recesses (eyes, mouths, over the teeth, etc.)
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

Also, the real advantage I'm seeing in that photo setup is the width of the lamp. It spreads the light out, which minimizes the shadows, sort of mimicking a light box.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Punisher »

Yeah, the effect definitely looks better on the warhammer figures.
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Lordnine
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Lordnine »

I don't typically do "cute" when painting so this was a wholly new experience for me. A friend of mine likes dragons so this is going to be part of her birthday gift.

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Overall I think it came out pretty good but I will say it's a lot easier to cover up mistakes if the mini is supposed to be gritty.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Zarathud »

Adorable. What model?
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

Looks like one of the Rocky the Red poses from Reaper.
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Lordnine
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Lordnine »

Yep, it’s Rocky the Red from the latest Reaper Kickstarter.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Smoove_B »

What type of paint sorcery is this?

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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

Working on some terrain...

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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by YellowKing »

I finally finished all of my LOTR: JOURNEYS IN MIDDLE EARTH minis today. That was a relief to get behind me. I was hesitant to start my second run-through until I had everything done, as I knew I'd probably never finish them once I got another play under my belt (at least not until the expansions).

It was my first experience with a spray sealant, and I was a little hesitant because it's just off-the-shelf Krylon flat coat from Lowe's and not specifically for minis. However, I can't argue with the results - they look great. You just have to be careful when applying it that you're staying a good distance away so you're not over-coating them.

The spray was particularly effective for these since I had done the terrain and Gamer's Grass landscaping to the bases. The sealant helped stick all that stuff down where it was a little loose.
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Punisher
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Punisher »

Smoove_B wrote: Mon May 27, 2019 2:36 pm What type of paint sorcery is this?

Ok. I'm still a novice, but what's the big deal?
Those just look like washes in different colors.
Is there a difference?
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Smoove_B »

Yeah. They do look like washes, but what they've done is somehow created a paint that allows you to base and shade at the same time. So any game that requires an "army" or a standardized set of figures you can probably hammer out (no pun intended) in a fraction of the time. All you'd need to do, is use this contrast paint on the minis and then go back and add some details (weapons, metal bits, piping, etc...) before being ready to go.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Punisher »

It still seems like something any colored wash can do.
I have the army painter colored washes and I've seen vids of them doing similar things. I did a quick test when I first got them and it was decent. I'm sure someone could do better then I could with them.
I might be missing something though.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

I’ll definitely be interested in trying them out when released. I have a bunch of 17th century British sailors that I could power through using these. Not to mention stacks of Martians. Both Space:1889 and Barsoom.

And musketeers. Oh god, the musketeers...
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Smoove_B »

Punisher wrote: Mon May 27, 2019 10:50 pm It still seems like something any colored wash can do.
I have the army painter colored washes and I've seen vids of them doing similar things. I did a quick test when I first got them and it was decent. I'm sure someone could do better then I could with them.
I might be missing something though.
I use (and love) Army Painted color washes, but they go on after I've primed, base coated and then painted my minis. This Citadel product would allow me to prime and then just paint/wash at the same time - that's insane. It's not that they've created something new (color shading) it's that you can apparently do what was two separate things as one now.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Punisher »

I'll have to go look for my test models, but that's what I did. Primed then washed with the colored ones. I remember doing a blue jean's test that came out decent.
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[Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Zarathud »

The eyestalks of my Beholder were purple Army Painter inks over the model. I could have used the same for the body, but I wanted it a darker purple. The white preprimed minis take the inks very well. If you are going for lighter figures, I can see the ink/thin paints working.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

It looks like it's basically a wash combined with a heavy glaze. It would be good for mass-painting board games, I'm sure.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by YellowKing »

Blackhawk wrote:It looks like it's basically a wash combined with a heavy glaze. It would be good for mass-painting board games, I'm sure.
I'm already thinking this has "STREET MASTERS" written all over it. Heck, just flesh tone alone would save a ton of time.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

It would be good for anything that had huge numbers of non-distinct miniatures. Zombicide would be a perfect fit. Games with individual miniatures would be less suitable (I can't imagine using it on Gotham City Chronicles, for instance.)
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Smoove_B »

Exactly. Pretty much anything by CMON or anything that's been KS in last few years with buckets of identical minis. :) The Street Masters minis aren't too bad, but being able to assembly line paint them would definitely be helpful.

Given that it's Citadel paints, I'm guessing they designed it as a way to get Warhammer (or equivalent) armies to the table quickly - tons and tons of similarly colored figures with slight (detail) variations.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

The funny thing is, if I were still playing Warhammer, it is the last thing I'd use them on. For an army with that kind of investment, I'd be doing full detail paint jobs.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Smoove_B »

Oh, I'm sure there are people that would but maybe as a way to lower the barrier to play, this is a great way (IMHO) to make table-ready figures. I enjoy painting unique minis, but I have absolutely burned myself out on trying to mass-paint identical cannon-fodder figures.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

Likewise. What usually burns me out is painting what's needed for next week instead of painting what I think would be cool to paint.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

Scratch built some chain link fencing for Fallout. Not completely happy...the needlepoint grating is easy to work with, but a bit too chunky. I have some scrap screen, but it’s in a bizarre rectangle pattern. I may try some tulle to see if I’m happier.

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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

I've seen great results with tulle. That grating, though - it looks like it would make excellent lattice, although I don't know how useful that would be for Fallout.


http://rrmodelcraftsman.com/make-chain-link-fence/
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

I'm going to buy a small batch of tulle and try it again, see if it works out better.

And I could put the lattice up against one of my ruined buildings, paint it with a faded wood color, and add some vines and dead growth onto it. It also works well for industrial walkways and the like.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

I've seen pretty affordable on-scale plastic card embossed with diamond plate patterns, too.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Smoove_B »

I kinda like the thick fencing - looks military or industrial (perfect for Fallout). Never thought about creating fences and now I see two options. Awesome.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

When it comes to terrain, wargaming has quite a few options, but model railroading has vast numbers of techniques and materials that can be used or adapted.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Daveman »

What about the plastic mesh used for screen doors and windows? I'd think it would be sturdier than tulle but not as thick as that needlepoint backing. I agree with Smoove though and like the heavy look.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

I'll have to have a dig through my scrap box...I have a piece of plastic-ish screen mesh I got from my friendly local hardware store for free, I was going to use it for Gaslands, might be usable here. My memory makes me think it is a really fine mesh. I also have a chunk of metal screen, but it has a strange rectangular pattern rather than square, plus it has a tendency to fall apart once you start clipping it. Plus, little metal shards in you fingers. I tried a dollar store frying pan spatter screen too, same issues, although it looks like it would look pretty nice.

All I know is since I've been thinking about making these fences, I spend a lot of time looking at chain link fences while I drive around...
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

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It's amazing the kind of junk you collect in a scrap box after a few decades!
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Smoove_B »

I'm curious to see how this ends up in Part 2, but the process and his "secret ingredient" has me intrigued.
Spoiler:
it's PVA glue
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

Looks like I'm going to be stopping by American Science and Surplus on the way home...

Photo Studio in a Bag
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

There has been a lot of talk lately about Contrast paints. I've been doing a lot of research on it lately. It definitely has its place. A good review I found:

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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Daveman »

From what I've seen, if you didn't pre-order Contrast paints in the first few nanoseconds they went up you're not likely to get any soon. Seems they underestimated demand bigly.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

My FLGS still had a bunch, but lots of the standard colors were gone (like black). They were saying they were expecting a restock about Wednesday or so, so I may try out some of them.

Hell, I may go back tomorrow and try and nab a few paints that I can test on some Blood and Plunder minis I have painted. Trying to decide if I want to buy into the primer they sell to go with it. I heard at least a few youtubers admit that they got better results when they used the primer made for the contrast paints.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

One of these days I'll give them a whirl. They look great for polishing off huge masses of miniatures in some board games. They're expensive to buy online, though, so I'll likely wait until one of my bi-annual visits to a game store.
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