Advice please

lopeets

lopeets

New member
I primed a few minis recently, didn't really notice the primer sprayed unevenly until I started painting and now my minis have these lumpy mashed potato spots on them. My boyfriend thought maybe when I sprayed the sealing stuff on them it might even out, but it really didn't help (this one is sealed and still obviously lumpy: http://www.coolminiornot.com/288830 )

Is there any way I can correct this without having to completely strip and start over? I know the faces I paint aren't worth keeping compared to the work of other fantastic painters on this website, but I tried really hard to get them as they are (I repainted eyes on both of these minis no less than 5 times each lol) Or any advice to prevent primer fudging in the future? I was using Krylon matte so maybe I should be using satin?

Not done painting, so obviously not sealed yet:
Her stockings are covered in the bumps, her face has some too.
This is only the third mini I've painted so please don't judge my skill too harshly :)
(Edit: Removed attachment after uploading photo to profile because I hate the idea of wasting server space with a double upload. ID: 289106 )
 
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Bloodhowl

Bloodhowl

Active member
Make sure to follow the instructions for temperature and humidity before spraying, and if you have not used that particular brand of primer before, test spray it on some sprue or a spare mini. I had some primer from GW that was utter garbage. I think it had sat on the store shelf too long and it did something similar to what your pictures are showing. The only way I was able to correct the bad primer was to strip it and start over.
 
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dogfacedboy uk1

New member
Yep, strip it and dremel the surface with a brass brush very gently to smooth the surface and clean any crap off left stuck to it. Also do a milliputt wash over any pits in the metal so you have a nice surface to paint on.
dfb
 
lopeets

lopeets

New member
That is some heartbreaking news, but thank you so much for the information. I need more practice anyway so I guess it should think of it that way.
 
Benihana

Benihana

New member
I don't know if it would help in this case, but I always "clear" the primer nozzle by spraying a bit before spraying the mini. Kinda like running a hose to get the hot water out before you take a drink. :D

As for heartbreak, just know that your second round will almost invariably turn out better, so in the end it will have been worth it. I stripped one of my early minis that I had carefully painted wood grain on, but his shirt was just unrecoverable due to too much paint (trying to blend back and forth).
 
PegaZus

PegaZus

Stealth Freak
Yup, happens to everybody. And worse things are possible too. Some have picked up primer thinking it was sealer. Strip and repaint then too.
 
Bloodhowl

Bloodhowl

Active member
PegaZus said:
Yup, happens to everybody. And worse things are possible too. Some have picked up primer thinking it was sealer. Strip and repaint then too.
Click to expand...

Nope. Never happened to me. Nuh uh..not to me! :eyeroll: And I've never superglued my fingers to a model either!
 
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lopeets

lopeets

New member
Oh my. If I accidentally primed a mini I was planning to seal, I would probably just call it quits. Thats awful, I'd be crying like a baby for at least a week anyway.
 
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Aoroi

New member
When you primed the model, did you spray in a dusty area or with a board that was dusty/ lightly primed before? I had used GW's priming idea with a cardboard holder and backdrop, kicked up 'fuzzies' like crazy, and I was doing several units at once (15 space marines). Thankfully it was near the legs where all the lumps mainly sat, so I lightly painted the dirt as dirt.
 
lopeets

lopeets

New member
That very well could be the problem. I used the cardboard my boyfriend has been using for the last year to spray primer and seal. I really don't know why he's using the same piece. Theres a box the size of my car from his bday order on the reaper site we could be cutting up and getting rid of lol
 
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ischa

New member
this tends to be a problem with new cans and cans that are nearly empty. be happy that you didnt do it with a green stuff sculpt you spent 30 hours on like me:p about the mini, even with the spraying accident, i can tell you seem to have some nice brush controle there, those eyes are nice, and the coulours are good, keep on painting and we might se some really nice minis=)
 
lopeets

lopeets

New member
Thank you very much! I'm getting pretty stuck on blending. On bigger surfaces like full dresses and cloaks I do okay, but anything else I have such a small amount of paint on my brush it dries right when I touch the mini and even just wetting my brush to try to spread it, I don't get much movement. I'm so amazed by the hundreds of minis I see that are blended so well it looks like airbrush, but I can't seem to figure out what I'm doing wrong.

I am also amazed by the sculpting I've seen on this site. I want to try someday, but I'm thinking I should probably get the painting down first :p
 
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Kretcher

Active member
One thing that is often pointed out in blending is the amount of water that is added to the colour that you are working with, I guess that you also can use some slow dry mediums to prolong the time for colors to dry (this is not recomended by many people) but perhaps a help in the begining before you get the feel for the blending this might help....

I myself have not used slow dry mediums so i dont know how they behave.

Good luck in your painting and hope that you will post more pictures in the future.
 
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dogfacedboy uk1

New member
Kretcher said:
One thing that is often pointed out in blending is the amount of water that is added to the colour that you are working with, I guess that you also can use some slow dry mediums to prolong the time for colors to dry (this is not recomended by many people) but perhaps a help in the begining before you get the feel for the blending this might help....

I myself have not used slow dry mediums so i dont know how they behave.

Good luck in your painting and hope that you will post more pictures in the future.
Click to expand...

I have not heard people say anything bad about using retarders to slow the paint drying time. I used them on my Howling Griffons with no problems and I believe SkelS and Kathryn Loch use them all the time. It's probably more a case of the quality of the retarder used. The stuff I used on my Griffons was not fresh, lets put it like that but it was fine and years later the paintjob is still fine.

Kretcher makes a good point about getting some practice on blending before you start a serious mini project, this is best done on plastic card or a mini you are not particularly fond of. Paint a square of even basecoat and start praticing getting a smooth transition on top using several layers of thinned down paints, go from light to dark across the corners. There are several articles on cmon concerning the actual methods of wet blending written by better people than me so check them out to before you start.

dfb
 
S

SkelettetS

New member
hey i would never survive without my painting retarder! it need to be dilluted a lot though, otherwise it's like very thick paint.
 
lopeets

lopeets

New member
So do you mix it with paint, then water until its the proper consistency? Also, I'm pretty clumsy so if its caustic I should definitely not buy this :p
 
Azouzoo

Azouzoo

New member
Had something similar happen to me once.

When you sprayed did you leave the minis in the same area you sprayed them, eg in the same carboard box?

I have found to my cost that if you spray a mini and leave it to dry where the spray particles are still in the area they can fall onto the drying mini giving it a kind of rough texture.

Just keep the application and drying areas separate and you should be golden, if that was your problem.
 
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