Help with Getting Better (some questions)

[Stargorger]

Hi all

So, I can post photos later but at the moment I don't have any that are good enough quality that I'd care to post haha. But, nevertheless I have some questions I was hoping some more advanced painters could help me with. I've been painting for about 15 years now, since I first got into the hobby of wargaming, and over time I've improved a lot (I think). I paint on commission now, and have won first in several regional painting competitions. But every time I look at paint jobs done by the 'pros' or studio painters, especially recently, I have this feeling of "I know mine is not that good...but I don't know why." So, I'm hoping somebody can help with that

So before I post any pictures of my work here are some questions for you all:

1. What do you do about fixing errors/mistakes?
This is, honestly, probably what takes about 50% of my time painting. Whether it's a slightly thinner edge-highlight than the rest of the armor plate, or an accidental blot on a nearby part, I am constantly having to go back and 'clean up'. Lately I've gotten into a process where, after the basecoat, I do ALL the color blocking first and make sure it is absolutely perfect. Once all the colors are blocked I gradually start adding shades/highlights. This DOES cut down on 'in between' clean up, but obviously I still have to get the block colors perfect, and it doesn't prevent little mistakes later on. What do you all do about mistakes or errors? Honestly, to me this is one of the things that I visually notice about the best painters. There appear to be almost no mistakes (even with Angel Giraldez I still see what I'd consider 'mistakes' and wonder why he didn't fix them lol). But my problem is two things: When I fix a mistake, either it inevitably changes the texture of the 'fixed' area, or I have to use endless layers of very thinned paint, almost a glaze, and it forever remains a bit 'off tint' compared to the rest of the part. It's especially horrible with skin. But short of stripping the whole model and starting over I know of no other solution.

2. What do you do about bad sculpts?
This may seem like a silly question, but it's also one most-outside of my control. No matter how much time I spend preparing a miniature, cutting flash, sanding bumps, etc...inevitably, there are SOME imperfections in the sculpt. Whether that's a belt with a 'lip' (instead of a flush edge) or whether it's a simple tiny texture variation (especially in the face...god that pisses me off so much), I can't help the fact that sculpts are not perfect. Some might say "well just don't photograph it from that angle/part", but that doesn't work when it's a key feature like, again, the FACE, or the breasts on a female, or pecs or biceps on a guy, etc...It looks off. So my choices when painting are to paint 'over it', if it's textured, but this tends to exaggerate the texture, or I can 'ignore' it, and just paint around it (which can be impossible on like, a cheek for example), or if it's a matter of material missing I can try to sort of 'paint it in' using 2d painting techniques. But none of these will ever look as good as just a perfectly cast sculpt would have in the first place. Grr. Any suggestions?

3. How do you get such *#&$ perfect blending on such tiny tiny surfaces?
This one I'm not sure I 'care' about as much, because I honestly don't think it's as possible, but it still annoys me. How is it done? So example: a small gold bracelet on a girl's wrist. I can do glazes and washes and airbrushing and wet blending on a large part, like an armor plate, it's just time consuming. But I have literally no idea how to blend shades on a tiny part like a bracelet. Can it even be done? It must I suppose, since I see photos that SEEM to have succeeded. But glazes don't work: the paint is so liquid it just falls off/into the cracks. Likewise washes are out. Thinned paint either has the same problem as a glaze or is too think and the shade-breaks are visible. Wet blending MAY work for someone but either I suck at it or it's too hard for me, visually, to see the texture to get it to work. Help?

4. How do you blend opposing colors?
This one I haven't tried again since failing spectacularly at it blending 'shimmering' elven cloth on a Rackham model 3 years ago. I tried glazes at the time, but it just made the colors look 'muddy' instead of 'blended'. How do you get smooth transitions between opposing colors, say purple and green?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Dragonsreach]

1. What do you do about fixing errors/mistakes?
I do ALL the color blocking first and make sure it is absolutely perfect. Once all the colors are blocked I gradually start adding shades/highlights. This DOES cut down on 'in between' clean up, but obviously I still have to get the block colors perfect, and it doesn't prevent little mistakes later on.
What do you all do about mistakes or errors?

2. What do you do about bad sculpts?

3. How do you get such *#&$ perfect blending on such tiny tiny surfaces?

4. How do you blend opposing colors?

To answer all your questions properly we'd really need to see a photo, but going from the wealth of info in you post I'm going to give you my "unseen" opinions.

1:- Most of the better painters I know, AndyG, Ten Ball (10 ball), Megazord_man, Sproket, all work on an area at a time not blocking in whole colours. In fact so do I. My methodology is to work from the skin out, so that each area worked on is getting closer to the outer layer. I suspect that if you're spending 50% of your time cleaning up then you need to work on brush control and accuracy.

2:- Bad sculpts are a pain there is no doubt about that but careful work to remove flash, and mould lines is all part of preparation, we all find them. Good tools are out there I used a 1mm push chisel from Historex agents in the U.K., which helps me pare away the worst, then increasingly finer sand paper pads from sylmasta (again uk) to smooth out flaws. For some areas burnishing the metal with a darning needle used on the side of the tip carefully can help, but it's also a case sometimes of Green stuff, Milliput to smooth out the ridges. (I recently picked up what looked like a good steampunk dwarf walking machine, but on very close inspection, the walker and the base are so bad that I may as well scrap them and sculpt my own. It happens to us all sometimes.)

3:- Care and attention. Working on something which is less than 1mm across isn't hard, just take your time, make sure you can see the area properly and use the appropriate brush, something like a 2/0. (You mentioned a gold bangle on a girl as an example, so thin yellow ochre is your primary colour, dilute something like snakebite leather to tone the shadow, you can use the side of the brush to apply the colour just wipe the excess off on a kitchen paper pad, then highlight with a yellow ochre/yellow mix to suite your taste.)
Thin coats may take longer to show changes but they are the key to good painting.

4:- Again care and attention, using complementary colours to tone shadows needs thin paint carefully applied with fine brushes. Tiny applications, not washes or flooded areas, stroked into the creases is the key. Taking excess moisture off the brush onto kitchen paper gives you better control of how much you apply. Always remember that the point your brush leaves the figure will be the area wher the most guild is deposited therefore work towards the areas which will be in need of the greater shadow.

Hope this helps.

 

[MAXXxxx]

1. I'm the opposite. I block in colors first, then work from the inside-out like DR. Also I have to agree that the most suspect cause of all the mispaintings is not proper brush control.
Another possibility can be inadequate tools (brushes)

2. do a proper prep work. After cutting/scraping mould lines, go over the parts needing cleaning with files, then sandpaper. Metal minis (where large surfaces can have a really uneven surface) get an extra milliput wash, some more sandpaper and even some steel-wool (mostly because of the article here: http://www.coolminiornot.com/articles/1649-metallics ).
Also on larger figures I do multiple priming / sanding. I prime the prepared mini with a darker primer, then dust with white from above. It really brings out anything I might have missed. If all looks good, hurray, if not... clean up(sand) the mistakes, reprime. With some 1/6 kits the preparation takes more time than the painting.

3. care and time. Also the smaller the surface the less transition it really needs. For example on a large gold area you might do 30-40(or more) layers, but on the mentioned bracelet 5-6 could be more than enough.
You wrote "But glazes don't work: the paint is so liquid it just falls off/into the cracks." for me this is another indication of bad brush control. You have too much paint in the brush.

4. in multiple steps using thin layers. I'd also like to point out, that purple and green are not opposing colors. Purple and yellow or green and red are. (http://www.coolminiornot.com/363525 was painted mostly with yellows (ochre and ivory) with shadows done with purple mixed in the base color).


Then again what do I know? I iz no good painter.

 

[BloodASmedium]

Join the forums like you have and all the stuff DRagonsreach has told you keep implementing them and practicing them. One thing that has helped all of us advanced painters is start a model on the forums and ech step you take people including me will help your stay in a certain course. It's like having personal trainers of mini painting guiding you with ideas,techniques etc AS YOU PAINT YOUR MODEL. other than that I can tell you all the ideas techniques etc have to be practiced and dozens of models must pass through your hands. And you'll notice each time you finish and post it to your gallery they'll be getting better and better.ive won several awards due to these forums. Do this and you'll feel fulfilled in your painting endeavors.

 

[BloodASmedium]

I would also agree with DRagonsreach and politely disagree with max. In comparison I am a decent painter and a have been published throught white dwarf magazine have and over 30 pages in the cmon annual have 9 awards I actually won a silver crystal brush with a unit that DRagonsreach helped me with and I trust him wholeheartedly . Any questions ill be glad to help but put up a model so I can along with others guide you.

 

[Stargorger]

Hi guys

I will post pictures later today of the model I spent the most time on (22 hours total) and Ill point out some things Im not happy with, what are flaws in the sculpt, and what I am happy with, so you can see my ability (or lack thereof lol) and what Im talking about. I generally hate submitting stuff for critique so, dont take it that way...IMO, art is subjective and my goal is never to be the best, but rather to achieve the look Im going for. That said, it annoys me that there are some looks (IE what I asked questions about) that I am just NEVER happy with lol.

For now my immediate response is: thank you! I appreciate your in depth responses and help Glad I decided to ask.
Re: brush control. You may both indeed be right, Im certainly not perfect...but it does sting a bit to hear that because it is really the one thing I think I do well lol. I should also mention that I dont neccesarily mean 50% of the total time...just the color blocking. Once I start actually detailing I fairly rarely make mistakes IF I am taking my time. Which leads me to my next point...the model Ill post that took 22 hours is the most I have ever spent on a single model. Usually I spend around 4 or 5 hours, sometimes less depending on the model complexity. The primary thing I suppose I wish to communicate (to defend my pride lol) is that I CAN do x (smoother transitions, more glaze blending, finer details) but 99% of the time choose not to. Reason being my goal is not (with the exception of this posted model) to make a studio, photo-for-a-book quality display piece, but the highest possible game piece I can that, as close as possible, matches the studio paint scheme. That is, I imitate, I dont really enjoy painting my own colors just for the sake of painting...I do it because I want to play with the photo on the box, rather than bare metal. Make sense? I dunno if that will help explain my background at all but, I tried lol

So. I do certainly admit that even with my one area of pride I am not perfect. How would you guys suggest practicing, or getting better at, brush control?

The other suggestions make sense, thank you I guess it really is just a matter of careful, fine detail and tedious blending lol. Damn.

But one thing I am confused on. You both said you work in chunks? Could you explain? What I am picturing is that first you basecoat, then, from base color to final varnish, you paint just the hand. Then you do the next hand, then face, etc...until all the skin is done, then the same process for say, cloth. Is that correct?

If so, again...do you REALLY never make mistakes? A stray bristle never slips, your hand never shudders and gets some red armor color on that beautiful pale hand you just painted?! Wow. I guess I will never get to that level then lol

 

[Bailey03]

A couple general thoughts first and then I'll add my two cents to your questions...

Photos are always helpful. You've given us some idea of your level, but if you can show us examples of this mistakes you're talking about or the what you've tried to do with opposing colors, we may be able to offer more direct advice.

I see from your post that you're in Tulsa, OK. Do you know or know of Mike 'Milosh' Meehan? He lives in Tulsa and used to be very active on this site. You can check out his gallery here. He's not as active on this site anymore, but he still paints and posts his work on Facebook. Since you're in the same area, you might want to reach out to him. He's a very nice guy and may be able to help you out. Try contacting him through his Facebook page.

1) Good tips from DragonsReach and MAXXxxx. When you're painting two colors side by side, getting them right up to each other without making small errors is tough. If you use a black primer, you can leave a small gap between the two sections and it will still look okay (the black primer works as a occlusion shadow or black lining). If you're using a white or grey primer, then you can't leave any of it showing. In this case, I find it's more helpful to block in the midtone or even the shadow for neighboring sections before I get into blending. This way, if one bleeds into the next (which happens to almost all of us to some extent), I can easily go over it with my thicker (more opaque) base coat and clean it up with one layer instead of multiple thinner (more transparent) layers when I start to blend.

If I do make a mistake during the blending stage, I can quickly clean it up by taking a moist brush and wiping off the paint. This requires you to notice the mistake as you make it and you have to act quickly, but it can save you lots of correction time later on.

2/3 - Not much to add to what the others have said

4 - You can always try to work in an intermediate color between the two. So going from green to purple, I might use a teal in between them. As you're glazing, do you just use the two extreme colors? Or are you glazing various mixes of the two? That could help with the transition. Of course, if you are working with colors on opposite (or near opposite) ends of the color wheel, mixing the two can often produce a dull grey shade. That's why I'd suggest transitioning an intermediate shade (like a blue or teal) first and then going to the green. Take a look at the Rackham example and see if you can pick out any intermediate colors in the box art. Perhaps that will clue you in on what they did.

 

[MAXXxxx]

I would also agree with DRagonsreach and politely disagree with max.

May I ask in what?
I read back the 2 comments and we (DR and me) wrote almost the same things to the points.

The only part where we wrote other thing is the painting part-by-part and the block-in-things-first. And even here I only wrote, that I do the blocking in first. Not that it's a better thing to do.

But as you (and I) pointed out I'm a noone when it comes to painting anything.

--------

Do you know or know of Mike 'Milosh' Meehan?

Would be great to have a few painting sessions with him. I really love his works.


------

the model Ill post that took 22 hours is the most I have ever spent on a single model.

I remember one of the articles on Massivevoodoo how the new camera helped to show the difference between a 30 and a 90 hour paintjob.

Usually I spend around 4 or 5 hours, sometimes less depending on the model complexity. ...but the highest possible game piece I can that, as close as possible, matches the studio paint scheme.

So what you are aiming is the best TTQ+ possible in the timeframe.

How would you guys suggest practicing, or getting better at, brush control?

In a way I think we mean different things.
For me the BC is about loading the brush with thinned paint then with the help of a paper getting rid most of it, so the brush is damp and not wet.
This helps controlling the glazes to prevent flooding for example and makes less likely that it stains other parts. Also the thinned paint is easier to clean up like Bailey wrote.

But one thing I am confused on. You both said you work in chunks? Could you explain? What I am picturing is that first you basecoat, then, from base color to final varnish, you paint just the hand. Then you do the next hand, then face, etc...until all the skin is done, then the same process for say, cloth. Is that correct?

yes.

do you REALLY never make mistakes? A stray bristle never slips, your hand never shudders and gets some red armor color on that beautiful pale hand you just painted?!

I always make mistakes, just don't make a big thing about it. Just clean up / repaint and continue.
But I make sure I use good brushes (WnN7, Raphaell8404, RosemaryS33 so far the favorites), so there are no stray bristles.
And quite often I paint from the edge towards the middle of an area, so I only have to concentrate when touching the area. Here a steady hold (2 wrists touching, elbows on knees/touching body/on table) and holding (actually releasing) breath helps.

 

[Bailey03]

May I ask in what?
I read back the 2 comments and we (DR and me) wrote almost the same things to the points.

I was a bit confused by that too, seems like you and DR were on the same page. I'm guessing BAM just misread something you wrote.

Stargorger, sorry, I missed your follow up post while I was writing my own response. For the record, we all make mistakes. I think people fixated on the 50% number. Also, when you are trying to paint quickly, which is often the case for commission work and painting armies, you're more likely to get outside the lines than if you're doing a display piece and taking your time.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Stargorger, everyone makes mistakes, it's spotting them before the paint dries that's the trick. That, and keep a swear jar, which helps with the next purchases.

Now reading what you've replied to the group postings you're aiming for 4-5 hours per figure for High End Tabletop, for that I'd seriously suggest you reconsider your process and do one colour block (flesh, shirt, jacket etc..) at a time. You might find that could speed your process as you're not jumping between colours so much

As I was talking about brush control and accuracy this morning I forgot to mention, or ask if you use any form of magnification?
I have reading glasses and clip on 3x magnifiers which allow these old eyes to see a lot of detail and where I need to stick the brush.
'One tip I can share is to reduce the possibility of slipping with the brush on a fiddly area is to stick the butt end in my mouth to restrict the movement of the tip. (OK not the most sanitary of things I suppose, but considering how often I put a point back on the bristles with my mouth, I reckon it's waaaay to late to worry.)

 

[Stargorger]

WEEELLLLLL damn it. I had a really nice long response written out with thank yous, shout-outs, and replies to everyone's comments. But something happened and the website ate it. So, nevermind. >.<

I appreciate everyone's comments and help. That's the bottom line I guess lol.
Here are the photos as promised, and below, links to the ones I've commented on.

Quick notes:
Yes, I do use magnifying glasses.
I will try color blocking. Sounds like a fun experiment at least
When painting in blocks like that though: Do you do that for just individual models? And/or do you paint in squads? Right now I'm painting a box of Corregidor Jaguars for Infinity and 'assembly lining' them, but sometimes I am suspicious that it actually takes longer to do that...
Aaand pictures.
View attachment 52634
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http://www.coolminiornot.com/404531
http://www.coolminiornot.com/404532
http://www.coolminiornot.com/404533
http://www.coolminiornot.com/404534

This is my first time ever posting these. So, please be gentle. I hate being judged lol. I'm JUST looking for help with the areas I've pointed out: not overall color or 'you suck' type comments

On a side note: is there any way to turn OFF ratings for photos? I don't really want to be seeing what people rate me, honestly...

 

[Stargorger]

And actually it just occurred to me. Maybe it's worth posting a photo of one of my 'typical' models? So here are some other models I've painted recently. Just for comparison I guess.

Malifaux Ashigaru
View attachment 52639

Infinity Maakrep Tracker
View attachment 52640

Infinity Bootleg O-Yoroi Pilot
View attachment 52641

Infinity Umbra Samaritan
View attachment 52642

Infinity Xeodron
View attachment 52643

Infinity Fraacta Drop Unit
View attachment 52644

 

[Bailey03]

Looks good! There's no rating of the photos when you post them in the forum, only if you put your work up in the gallery. Unfortunately I don't think there's anyway to turn off the scores there. If you click on one of the figures in the gallery and then scroll down, you should see on the right a little box that says 'view settings'. It looks like you can choose to hide the scores (though I still see the scores from registered users, just not the total score). It doesn't stop your gallery posts from being scored, but it may allow you to avoid seeing those scores. Of course there's no requirement to post in the gallery. You can just post your work on the forum (threads like this) and never put anything up for voting if you don't want.

Looking at the White Speaker figure, I like it. I don't see any big mistakes. I painted the 54mm version and I remember doing all those straps and trying not to get on the skin was a major pain in the butt. And looking at your work on the face, it's clear you've got good brush control. The eyes, lips, and eyebrows are all done very cleanly. It looks like you base coated the clothing in a medium grey and then did white over top. Because the straps are white and the skin is very light too, that grey really stands out. Next time I'd suggest using that grey on the bottom edges of the straps only, where a darker shadow would make sense, and then pick a much lighter grey for the top. By choosing a color closer to the surrounding ones (the white of the straps and the shade of the skin), it should help that blend together and not stand out as much.

I like your other work too. Lots of nice stuff!

 

[Stargorger]

Thank you Bailey! I'm glad you like it. No, there's no OSL or amazing base, and yeah, they're not perfect. But I'm generally happy with my stuff If I make other people happy (lol sounds like I make porn), then that's my goal accomplished

I'll check out those settings. I just don't want to have to re-upload all the photos haha, and I couldn't think of another way, after my initial typed-up post got deleted, to get the photos with comments without re-typing all the comments in the forums. Oh well.

That's a good point about the grey. I hadn't thought of that. Sometimes when I choose colors I'm just kind of on auto pilot, ya know? "Oh, yesterday I painted white on x model, and that used Dark Grey as the base...guess I'll use Dark Grey again!" And since, unlike the Infinity models, the Kingdom Death one was painted off artwork (and thus I can't ask the artist 'what colors they used' lol), I didn't really consider it. Good point though!

 

[MAXXxxx]

This is my first time ever posting these. So, please be gentle. I hate being judged lol.
On a side note: is there any way to turn OFF ratings for photos? I don't really want to be seeing what people rate me, honestly...

You make it pretty hard.

2. you can't really turn it off, simply upload to the forums, no in the gallery. There should be some way to hide the scores for you, but I never found it.

As for the minis:
- They look pretty good to me.
- If you zoom out, so the pics have the size of the real mini they look even better, so part of your frustration comes from the big pics, that make every little error bigger than they really are.

still some things to consider:
White Speaker (I think this is the 20+ hour one):
- could use a dark line around the eye. It's totally not realistic, but it separates the eye from the light skin.
- some shadows on the side of the nose. Again for separating it.
- Skin could use a lot more contrast. It's actually surprising how dark you can go and still have a light skin. You could also consider using dry-pigments for shading skin, works wonderfully there (but is an extra investment in pigments / pastels)
- Your paint is too opaque, you could thin it a bit more to have nicer transitions (even though it's more work)
- there is a rough surface on the skin. It can be either that your painting place is dusty or is partly dried paint. And all those bumps are dried paint particles in your normal paint. This second can happen, when you use a wet-palette, leave the figure there overnight and next day when you start you mix in the partly dried paint in the wet one.
- big brown splash on the inside of the cloak. Can be easily cleaned up with the base color. (And on this figure it might make painting easier if you paint the cloak (and because of it the head) separately.

The Infinity / Malifaux figures (I take these are the TTQ+, 5-6 hour minis):
- They are good too, altough I'd also consider adding more water/medium here for thinner paint. Much less, than for the White Speaker. just about 10-20% more than you use now.
- On quick gaming minis I'm really not sold on the need for NMM. If you don't invest time (or tech, see Airbrush) then the transitions will look rough, that can make NMM unconvincing. So unless you are a real fan of it, why not give a try to normal metallics?
- some edges are thick. Do you do them about this way?: take thinned (about 1:1 or even 1:2) paint on the tip of the brush (really just the tip, veeery little), use a paper towel to get rid of the extra water in it that could cause flooding. Then using the side of the brush go over the edges.

 

[Stargorger]

lol. *sigh* there's always gotta be that ONE guy...

@MaXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Re: White Speaker
1. I actually did try it with eye outlining, which I do usually do on my other minis. It came off as REALLY hard in contrast to the pale skin however. In hindsight I could have used a lighter color for the outline, but I got frustrated and gave up. But yes, I do typically prefer to do it that way. I agree

2. Hmm. I hear you...but I am going to disagree with this one. Part of it may be the light on the model, but realistically, there's not that much shadow on the 'front' side of the nose when viewed from an angle. I did originally have the 'shadow' side darker, but it came off VERY strong and accentuated the size of the sculpt's noe (which is actually quite large for a female miniature nose...not sure what they were thinking lol.)

3. Really? I like the skin just as it is. Where would you want to see contrast? I'm assuming you mean just in the folds/'cracks' ? And I won't ever use dry pigments lol, but thank you for the suggestion

4. Wait...where are you saying it's too opaque? I'm going to assume you mean on the bangles and straps...and I agree. As I said, the bangles I gave-up using glaze-type blending because it kept pooling in the cracks. In hindsight, that was my fault for having too much loaded on the brush. So I know better for next time The straps...I really wasn't sure what to do with these. The artwork has them all, entirely, uniformly white. With no real 'edge definitions'. I added those in to help distinguish them from the skin more. But yeah, I don't like how they turned out for sure lol. I agree.
I disagree if you're talking about the skin though. The skin was entirely colored with a watered-down airbrush paint, and then I went back and did maybe 80 layers of glazes to ensure good blending and highlights exactly where I wanted them. I wouldn't really change anything.

5. On the skin?! Really? I see a few little paint or dust things like you mentioned, but not overall. Could you tell me which part of which picture specifically shows it? Might be a spot I don't look at often lol.
However, that said... I HAVE noticed, especially in the last month or so, that any time I use the varnish it seems really dusty. Do you have any suggestions for how to avoid dust when painting? Or know of any links? I did a google search but couldn't really find anything that wasn't for like, painting a car. I avoid using the overhead fan when I paint, but even so it is well-cleaned. The desk I work on I cover in paper, which I change every time I sit down to paint. The overhead lamp does get a bit dusty, but I try to clean it when I remember. I sit right in front of a window, so it is ventilated...I really have no idea where else dust could be coming from but, if you have any suggestions, I really would love to know...it's starting to annoy me too lol

6. Gonna keep the splash

Infinity/Malifaux
1. Again, where on the pictures are you suggesting the thinner paint? Actually, the one paint I have trouble getting a good consistency is the Vallejo White. I have no idea why but I HATE this white. But unless someone can suggest a good white, I'm stuck with this for now. It just gets really grainy when watered-down. Barf. So yeah, any of the NMM areas that use white will be a bit more textured than others.

2. I generally dislike the look of normal metallics BUT, I will try them out for the Dark Age minis I'm painting next. I DO have an airbrush, but fixing the 'area blast' it makes just for NMM, especially on small stuff like belt buckles, just seems like a pointless waste of time. The reason I do the NMM idea, even 'poorly' (less blended) on these TTQ+ minis, is because, again, I am trying as close as possible to mimic Angel Giraldez' color scheme. It's not important to me that they look perfect from a technical standpoint, just from a comparison standpoint. Make sense?

3. Hmm. Yeah some are. I don't do them that way, because of two reasons: one, when the paint is that thin it requires many more coats than I have the patience for on TTQ minis. Two, because many of these edges are so flush that trying to use the edge of the brush would get junk in the gaps. But yes, on larger areas I do prefer to try and do it that way. In some spots, like the edges of the Xeodron's 'fin' things, the edges are not sharp: they're quite rounded. Which means if I just use the edge of the brush it actually creates a HUGE thick line. Then I have to either do lots of masking, or go back with black paint to 'thin' the line myself.

 

[Splurch]

1. Again, where on the pictures are you suggesting the thinner paint? Actually, the one paint I have trouble getting a good consistency is the Vallejo White. I have no idea why but I HATE this white. But unless someone can suggest a good white, I'm stuck with this for now. It just gets really grainy when watered-down. Barf. So yeah, any of the NMM areas that use white will be a bit more textured than others.

Many white paints will become grainy if you water them down too much because they use Titanium Dioxide as a pigment and for whatever reason isn't as finely ground as other pigments. You can use other thinners/mediums (such as Liquitex Airbrush thinner) to thin them and minimize this effect but it will take more coats to get good coverage. As for your issues with Vallejo White, one of the whites I use for large areas is from their Model Color range. While it is difficult to thin just right I think it gives the smoothest white coats for large areas with a brush when you do thin it right (although it takes several coats.) Also, if the color/primer you are painting over is a darker color one thing you can do is paint a light color first, a really light blue or a light grey can work well.

In regards to alternatives, Vallejo's Game Air white is pretty good right out of the bottle but will take more then one coat to get something completely opaque for a large area but should work well for the whites you have in your examples. P3's Morrow White is decent and behaves very differently then Vallejo's, it behaves just like the rest of their line so if you've tried any P3 and like it their white might work out for you. P3 won't turn grainy (or at least shouldn't) because they use liquid pigment for their paints. They behave very differently from Vallejo/Reaper/Citadel because of this and might be what you're after, I've barely used the ones I have so I can't really give any more advice then that but it might be worth checking them out if you can. Reaper's HD Solid White is a strong white that has good coverage, I think it has some issues doing large areas but I really like it for edge highlights because it's a great density for putting thin lines on edges.

 

[MAXXxxx]

White Speaker:
- bit more contrast: around nose, bit on the left side of the face
- yeah I thought about the bangles mostly.
- skin: there is a texture on it: first pic: left thigh , second pic: again left thigh but inner part, bit on the lower right leg, underside of breast, 3rd pic: not too visible here, 4th pic: left arm, under breast. Again if you take it into hand it's probably not too visible, but on these large pics they are.


Malifaux / Infinity:
- DR and others can agree, but a great start/replacement for white: VMC-Ivory. It's an off-white, but helps avoiding the grainy aspect when thinned. For pure white: Ben Komets of Painting buddha suggested: Schmincke white, I haven't tried it, so no idea if it is really that good, but on this forum LoneLemming did as far as I know and liked the result (see his wip thread). For most of my whites I stay with the Ivory with VAC-White used for lightest color (the ivory is so close it doesn't look grainy when painted on it)

- the blue cloth of the Malif for example. Maybe thinnes is not the best desciption for it... Thing is, if you thin the paint more it will be more transparent and smoother blends will be easier. On the flip side... it'll take more work and more time.
Quite a balancing act when painting a full army / force.

- yeah, for belt buckles AB is overkill.



ohh and shouldn't have shown the Samaritan... now I remember what I forget to buy since it's released
I just love how that sculpt looks like.

 

[Stargorger]

Haha thanks Maxxx

Ah, yes now I see what you mean about the texturing. How would I fix that? I have no idea why it gets/got like that. Obviously, not ALL of the parts are like that. You mentioned making sure not to mix with drier paint, and making sure to avoid dust. The paint thing I can do, but how can I completely avoid dust? Honestly I didn't even know I HAD any dust around until, like I said, just this past month lol.

Hmm. I'll check it out. Would a glazing medium help on the more grainy paints?

Ah. Well yes, right. But again, I was trying to stick to 4-5 hours a model lol. So, perfect blends was not my goal But yes, you are absolutely right. And if I were painting these to enter in Golden Demon or something I would certainly spend more time doing glazes and thinner paints.

Haha. Go buy it!

 

[Splurch]

Haha thanks Maxxx
The paint thing I can do, but how can I completely avoid dust? Honestly I didn't even know I HAD any dust around until, like I said, just this past month lol.

My area gets very dusty in a short amount of time. There are a few basic things you can do to remove/minimize dust impact. Storing your minis in a cabinet or some other dust barrier is the biggest thing you can do, if the dust never gets on them then it isn't usually a problem. If it is unavoidable or you've left a mini out for too long having a large, soft brush (like a makeup brush) to clean the dust off before painting is ideal, you want one strong enough to get any of the dust that starts to stick off but not so strong that it will damage paint if you are a little rough with it. You don't really need to worry about dust when you are painting if you remove it from the mini beforehand unless you're air is extremely dusty. If that is the case you would need an air purifier to keep dust out of the air. The other concern with dust in the air is if you are using an airbrush or spray cans (don't use spray cans indoors, lots of bad stuff in them.) If the dust particles are too big they can be caught when you are spraying and cause issues, in this case an air purifier is really the only thing you can do (or maybe a fan if the outside is less dusty then the inside.)

For example if I don't run my air purifier before I varnish with my airbrush I will have large dust particles that can clearly be seen in the finish that will leave marks/textures if I don't remove them before the varnish dries. It's less of a problem with paint but if the dust is too large when I apply primer or a base coat it can leave a texture on an otherwise smooth surface, dust has to be a pretty major problem for it to show up there though.

As for figuring out how bad your dust is the easiest way is to get a strong light source shining in the room and look for dust in the light, a window with some sun is ideal here but a really strong flashlight can work too. If you're just painting with a brush then air quality would have to be extremely bad to have an impact if you brush off a mini before painting. If a mini has been left out in the open it's really just a matter of how long/how bad your dust is, either way brushing it off first will resolve the problem.

As for your mini, the cropped image here of her thigh seems to have both dust/dried paint. To me, the texture line I have circled is a perfect example of a large dust particle that got under an airbrush coat/was painted over. The other little specs seem more like a paint/grain issue rather then a dust issue but the smaller ones could be dust. The Infinity guy also has the dust that caused the line in the other mini on his outside, I've circled the spots as well.