Counts long and winding thread of improvement and excess.

[count zero99uk]

I think ill now start a longer thread with all my stuff in. Of all scales and creeds

As I work on somethign ill post it up it may come in half way through its project but thems the breaks. Most of my stuff is allready on my blog

Anyway after the week of rampant work on my cultists I decided to clean up and undercoat some of my loverly Hasslefree Minis i got last summer.

Narg and 2 Witch Hazels (not willow honest) I was thinking of doing the 2 Witches as one dark and one light.

I think this is a great sculpt its a bit larger than the other 28mms ive seen but im looking forward to painting it.

A nice elven rogue. I think her hair is going to be a pain to do.

So things ive learned so far, do eyes first if possible. Unless you want them to look like googly eyed freaks

Anyway thanks for reading. And as allways any advice is usualy good advice so if you can help do

 

[supervike]

So, I take it you use a brush on primer?

I love the Hasslefree stuff, this should be fun to watch you progress.

 

[count zero99uk]

Yeah brush on either white or black gesso. Bad chest makes spraying a pain, and i never could get it right.

See if i can get some done on this during the week, but have many things on lately.

 

[count zero99uk]

Ok currently looking for advice on the following.

Pale Skin,

Pale Cloth,

Which what to paint - ie light to dark, in then out or whatever.

Reading reading reading the many forum entries.

 

[count zero99uk]

Why is it at times i seem to hit this wall and cant even pick up a brush. I dont know if im overly concerned of it looking crap or something else.

Ah well. See if i can make a start this week.

Take care all.

 

[count zero99uk]

Decided that in order to move i need to do something.

I seem to have dificulty with keeping a good contrast between the shade and highlight in any of my painting. The just seem to be to similar so then and arms length they kind of blend into one.

So I decided to have a go at Nargs arms and legs. Ive tried this time to have more of a contrast and would be gratefull for any comments or advice you can give me

Thanks as allways.

 

[count zero99uk]

Hmm after seeing these pics im thinking a wash and another hightlight to bring it all together, what do you think?

 

[BPI]

Hi Count, try a little Regal Blue mixed into the basecoat colour, or a thinned touch of Asurmen Blue Wash, and just apply to darkest areas. It'll cool them down a bit and help with increasing range. You could use it to put in any darklines where flesh meets cloth too if you fancy.

Cheers, B.

 

[count zero99uk]

Thanks BPI, ill go back and do that. In the mean time ive done his boots and hood.

While there not as black as id have liked they look nice. Need to tidy up the boot on the left though.

Thanks.

 

[count zero99uk]

Got some movement on Narg Just a base to do.

Also Black Rubber/Leather is hard to do ;( just hope the effect works kinda.

Let me know what you think

 

[Broke n English]

Heya Count Looking nice so far, I like the chest on him, and the rubber hood looked good in the first pic with the slight white highlight giving it a shine. Don't ever be worried about being crap, I guess most of us wade through crap painting to get to those moments that we actually can look at it and appreciate it B n E

 

[count zero99uk]

In an effort to keep momentum going i decided to do a little work on Kado this morning, the Hasslefree Martial Artist. Well the paint-fu was with me and i got the mini finished. Just a matter of a simple base to do which will be ivory and either a red or green stripe to represent a fighting mat.

I would as allways like your comments and criticisms.

 

[BPI]

Looks a bit rushed to me Count, so I suppose the question is, what are you trying to achieve? Do you have a troupe that are being painted to deadline for gaming or is their room to take more time? Is there a score/level in the Gallery that you want to attain?

If nothing else, neaten the eyes a bit. Horizontal brushstrokes, top & bottom with your flesh shade colour. Keep the paint thinned so that it flows off the brush smoothly and it'll tighten up his face hugely.

I think you'd benefit at the moment from use of some washes inbetween your basecoat & highlight stage. It'll give an automatic darkline, clarify which areas to highlight and increase the depth of your colour range. Plus it won't increase time spent by much (hair dryer can speed things up). I do like the GW ones but there are plenty of recipies online for making your own.

Little details. It really does pay off to have a go at them. Eyes are the obvious I suppose but those toenails on his leading foot look nice & easy to access so well worth popping them in

Cheers, B.

 

[count zero99uk]

Ok, on this mini i didnt take as much time with it as Narg, and i guess it shows. Im trying to do several things at once. One is to get to an acceptable painting level with doing 28mms the other is to get to a point where i can do troops/armys at a decent speed to get them on the table to play with them.

Up to now my painting has been quite basic

These were the first miniatures id painted

and this which i was and still am happy with

But on the whole they just looked a little basic and messy.

So now im trying to get better as well as faster. The main aim being to play with the miniatures.

Anyway, on to your comments. I do water the paint down maybe it needs to be slightly more so, but the paint is thinned down a lot. I dont see how thinning it any more would acheive any more, but ill give it a go.

As for washes, in what way do you mean to use them? After id put my base coat of Iraqi Sand down i put some watered down Dev Mud on, i then brought up the main areas back to the base and then highlited with an ivory/iraqi sand mix. Should i have used more washes? and if so how?

Thanks for the comments and i look forward to your answers.

 

[Aureo]

Okay, these are nice looking for tabletop minis. The first thing ill mention and this is due to my never using brush on primer before, but it appears you have a lot of brush strokes visible to start with....I don't know if its supposed to be that way or not, but perhaps two thinner layers of primer instead of one thick if that's what you're doing. Otherwise if that's how the stuff goes on no matter what ill go back to my corner....lol. As for actually putting down paint, you're on the right track it sounds like. Basecoat, then wash, I wouldn't water down the gw washes much if at all to give a better shading effect. Come back with your base thinned down to the consistency of milk or creamer, not much more than that or you lose coverage and end up putting a ton of layers down to cover it. Believe me...I used to do that and it was frustrating spending so much time getting a blend done! Work at starting in your shadows and pulling the paint from the dark area to the parts you want lighter to help your blends. Then do the same with your first highlight color, starting higher, up in the midtone and pulling to the areas you want lighter. That should help smooth the blends out a bit but not take TOO much time. And then hit the highest spots and areas you want to be focal points with an extreme highlight. Eyes take practice, but as stated by BPI you can clean them up pretty easy. Might try starting basing them black then do the white then the pupils so they stand out from the skin more.Hope any of this helps.

 

[count zero99uk]

Apreciate the comments, so when i put the wash on should i put it "everywhere"? or just in the folds and dips?

 

[BPI]

Hi Count, the thin paint business is a tricky one to get to grips with There's no set rule, you just get a feel for it as you go along. Straight out of the pot is often too thick, you lay the paint on & can see little grooves in the stoke from the brush hairs. Thin a little and you get good opaque coverage but smooth. Thin further for blending and even further for glazes. At the moment bits of your paintwork look rough rather than smooth. Could be the mini wasn't that smooth to start with (Wet & Dry micro-grit to sand), primer has gone on too thick (just a dusting, you're not looking for full coverage as you would with a paint). Paint going on too thick or being worked over whilst damp will rough it up. Paint too thin, it's lost all it's binder and multiple layers start to get a chalky effect. Keep working and you'll find the appropraite thickness of paint for the task at hand.

Martial artist chap - your colour choices are very similar in tone. I'm looking for dark in recesses & light on raised bits but your colours are so close it's not really showing. Shade to black & highlight to white. Not a strict rule by any means but a useful reminder that at this tiny scale you need to exagerate a bit, subtle real life effects just get lost!

Washes & definition. Let's just concentrate on his belt. At the moment it isn't clearly defined and gets lost in the jacket. A shame, the sculptors bothered to put it in rather than just scoring lines in the coat, so get it to stand out. Easiest way would be to give him a coloured belt But if keeping it white...
Devlan Mud (could have chosen blue for a crisp, freshly laundered effect, etc). Apply, unthinned, along the top edge of the belt. Don't just slop it on. Paint it in. Let figure dry, stood up, so that gravity drops the pigment down into that recess. Any bits looking pale? Put more mud on! Next do the underside of the belt. Hold the mini upside down while it dries, we want the pigment tight against the bottom of the belt, not running down his legs! Work around the knot with the Devlan Mud so that the entire belt is now clearly outlined. Take your midtone colour and apply to belt. Highlight upper edge with your white mix. Don't get any paint on the nice darkline! Then the same thing with the jacket, I'd suggest that no paint goes within half a mm of the belt. It's very easy to get carried away, overpaint all of the shading and end up back where you begun

Another rule of thumb to help you visualise your end result a bit. One third shade, one third mid-tone, one third highlight. Not stricty at all of course but if you realise that, as you highlight away, fully half the mini is now at maximum brightness, then contast & depth are being lost. So you could go back in with the Devlan Mud and just paint it in to any shady bits that have got a bit pale

That's enough typing for now

Cheers, B.

 

[count zero99uk]

Well his belt is purple now

Ive put him on the done pile, will get posted up soon. Im not going back over the mini ill just learn and move on.

Ive another martial artist, a ninja style one. Im going to be painting her Red, so that should be interesting to do. Any tips on shading red, so you dont end up with pink.

Also Nargs base is almost finished.

Im happy with my progress and as long as each model is a step up from the previous one im happy

Thanks as allways.

 

[TrystanGST]

Good. Being happy with your work is the most important part. As long as you're happy, eveyrthing else is gravy.

That being said - I'd work on faster or better, one at a time. Trying to do it all at once is going to slow your growth in both.

 

[count zero99uk]

Yeah ive heard that before, i think my speed isnt an issue as in total time take with brush in hand. Its the amount of time taken from starting a mini to getting it finished. I loose focus very quickly at times. So having these hasslefree minis to just work on and paint for the fun of it has been a great motivator.

I think my next job is going to be finishing my 10mm German Army based up for BCK, theres some shots of its progress on my blog. There tabletop standard, i wouldnt like to think of anyone trying to get an 8+ on a 10mm

Anyway take care all and ill be back soon.