Captain Pendrecki of the Ravenguard

[Pendrecki]

Hi all,

Looking for general advice on painting and photography.

This is my hq model, so I'll be making multiple versions. For 40k fans, he is a "counts as" Kahn model.

I'm working on adding more subtlety to my highlights, and blending things a bit more. My next step is to play with retarder to get a more complete blend between each layer of armor.

This is probably pretty obvious, but I'm just past my begining stage in learning to paint, so I've got some work to do on my brush chops.

 

[freakinacage]

tbh i would leave the retarder for a bit and just thin your paints more, you can build up layers slower but smoother that way

 

[Pendrecki]

Cool, thanks freak in a cage. I'm working slowly on thinning it out. I'm using vallejo paints btw. I've been told that the paint should be the consistancy of milk (roughly) but when I get it this thin it tends to act like a wash and jump into any nearby crevice. I think this is one of those things where experience and experimenting will help. For me getting the relationship between the thiness of the paint, the amount on the brush and the specific contour being painted is a difficult one to gauge.

The main highlight that is sticking out to me, is the leap in shading from the german grey under coat (the center of the panel is gloss black, undercoat is german grey, main highlight is basalt grey and the glint highlight is ghost grey) and the hard lines of the basalt grey. I'm not sure if there doesn't need to be another level of paint texture between them...

 

[Ritual]

It may be useful to use slightly thicker paint when you apply the base coat, as it can be time consuming if you have to apply numerous layers just to get a solid base coat. Just make sure you don't apply too much paint so that the surface gets rough. Usually, when I paint, two or three layers give me a solid, yet smooth, base coat.

When starting the highlighting and shading, however, using thinner paint is starting to become really useful. The trick to control the paint, despite its thinness, is to apply it very economically. If it behaves like a wash, it's because you apply too much of it. You should apply very little and then stretch the paint like a thin, translucent film over the surface you want to paint. I know it's easier said than done, but with practice you'll get the hang of it.

 

[DrEvilmonki]

As ritual said - it is about control. Don't load your brush up with paint, but maybe don't thin it down so much either to start with. Don't go for retarder you will just end up with a mess.

 

[Pendrecki]

washes on aquilas and purity seals.

Cool, thanks guys. I'll post again after I finish version 2. Also, I've got a certain Chaplain figure that needs to be painted.

In the meantime, any thoughts on ways to clean up my purity seals and aquilas? I'm working on moving away from washes, or at least drybrushing over them. I'd say the frustration there is that when I gloss coat the mini with a 50/50 solution of water/floorwax, even with just 1 coat of gloss it wakes up and moves the wash all over. This makes for some chaotic results as I'm using the drybrushing to bring out detail covered up in the wash.

I'm allowing 2 days for the washes (I'm using standard gw washes, badab black, etc...) and using a large bristled brush with minimum surface contact with the mini for the gloss coat. its more like driping than applying is what I mean.

For skulls and aquilas I'm using the badad wash, with sepia in the lower halves, and a very thin sepia wash (50/50 with water) on the purity seals. I'm looking to improve the quality of the writing on the seals too.

I'm slowly making my way through the wealth of material here and elsewhere so if I'm missing obvious things, please let me know.

 

[Ritual]

I'd try varnishing with something else if the floorwax don't work with the washes.

 

[Pendrecki]

Photo work

So here is from the 2nd batch of photos. Working on lighting setand focus.

 

[COG]

nice picture.
I would also get the mold lines next time.
the one on the gun is 0.o
love the slight conversion work.
does he have a base yet?
i would work on transitions
go 1 -1 with a color and water then add a lighter color and repeat 2 more times atleast.
biggest example is the nades and armor
as for the purity seals
super detail brush something like a 5/0 i think
that takes a steady hand and a lot of patience. i would however varnish the purity seal before hand just in case you mess up and need to remove the writing

 

[Ritual]

It is often easier to use a not-so-fine brush when doing details like writing. A 5/0 holds very little paint and moisture, and due to its thinness the bristles can be a bit bendy and difficult to control. Using a thicker brush, like a 0, with a good, sharp point is usually easier to control and since it can store more paint and moisture you wouldn't need to interrupt your painting to rinse and load new paint as often.

 

[Pendrecki]

@COG, Man I totally missed the line on the the bolt pistol... wow the things you see in photos is amazing. Thanks for the leg up there. I think I get it with the transitioning, I think I'm trying to do a bit too much in one coat, need to layer more like you said. Cool idea with the pre varnish on the purity seals, I'd never thought of that on my own, so will try it next time. I think I was using just a fine detail brush (the gw one) so I'll invest in a smaller finer one. Cool that you didn't see the base! I hid it by cropping and adding texture to the backdrop. if you check out the first set of photos you can see my basing.

@Ritual, also cool... so I've got options. I think my fine detail brush got a bit shredded when I was an uber noob... you know just blocking in colours and plonking the mini on the table top. Also my son was using them, he's a bit of a "stabber" when he paints, so I'll get a "dad only" brush.

Thanks guys, I kinda figured I was missing some obvious things.