Gloomhaven WIP - New Hobbyist

[Jeden]

Hi Everybody.

I thought I would share my current Gloomhaven miniatures to try and get some constructive feedback as to how I can improve on getting the miniatures looking all round better. I must add that I have only just started and these are the first miniatures I've ever painted. I spent a fair few weeks & a fair bit of money looking at various guides and loads of other youtube tutorials for techniques and purchasing equipment, paints etc before jumping into it.


The main thing I find I struggle with is blending techniques. I also really struggle to get that crisp clean paint look and they are coming out quite thick and "gloopy". I have tried to thin the paints using mediums and water but I still find my work looks wet even after its dry if you know what I mean.

I am hoping these are things that I will improve upon the more I paint and not to get too hung up on it as a beginner but in the meantime if you guys have any feedback on these i'd be very grateful.

 

[KruleBear]

Welcome to the forum. These look great for first minis. Keep playing with the paint thickness as it takes time to figure it out. As for the gloopiness, sometimes that may be related to not letting layers dry completely before putting the next color on.

Mike

 

[Jeden]

Hi KruleThanks for the reply and the feedback.I do tend to be quite impatient and will just start throwing the second layer on before I know I should. This sometimes means I move the paint around and it looks slightly pooled in certain areas. Do you have any suggestions on other types of minis that are good to start practising with? I go to GW and feel a bit overwhelmed with the amount of models and where is a good starting point. I’d like to just go online and pick a few different models to do but again I am not confident enough on what colours to use and don’t think I’m quite ready to take the metaphorical training wheels of YouTube tutorials away yet.

 

[Graishak]

Welcome to the hobby. That's already a nice start for your first minis.

 

[Jeden]

Welcome to the hobby. That's already a nice start for your first minis.

Thanks mate. Appreciate it.

 

[KruleBear]

Hi KruleThanks for the reply and the feedback.I do tend to be quite impatient and will just start throwing the second layer on before I know I should. This sometimes means I move the paint around and it looks slightly pooled in certain areas. Do you have any suggestions on other types of minis that are good to start practising with? I go to GW and feel a bit overwhelmed with the amount of models and where is a good starting point. I’d like to just go online and pick a few different models to do but again I am not confident enough on what colours to use and don’t think I’m quite ready to take the metaphorical training wheels of YouTube tutorials away yet.

I honestly believe there are so many great miniature companies out there that I suggest just finding a model you like and buy it. GW has great minis as do Reaper (stay away from the Bones line for learning though), Wyrd, Mantic, Scale 75, etc..

Read up on mini prep as it is key to getting a good final result. If you are impatient with waiting for the paint to dry, get a hair dryer to speed up the drying. On these forums I suggest you start at the beginning of Blood as Mediums WIP and Bailey's wip. By the time you are done you will have a good education on color use and application.

Until you are comfortable with colors, just google pictures of your mini subject and shamelessly try to copy the schemes that look cool to you.

Mike

 

[Jeden]

I honestly believe there are so many great miniature companies out there that I suggest just finding a model you like and buy it. GW has great minis as do Reaper (stay away from the Bones line for learning though), Wyrd, Mantic, Scale 75, etc..

Read up on mini prep as it is key to getting a good final result. If you are impatient with waiting for the paint to dry, get a hair dryer to speed up the drying. On these forums I suggest you start at the beginning of Blood as Mediums WIP and Bailey's wip. By the time you are done you will have a good education on color use and application.

Until you are comfortable with colors, just google pictures of your mini subject and shamelessly try to copy the schemes that look cool to you.

Mike

Thanks once again for the info I will check out those miniature companies and get some on order.

With regards to the forums, what do you mean start at the beginning of blood? Sorry if that’s a stupid question but I’m pretty new to these forums as you can see.

 

[Jeden]

Think I’ve just found the threads you’re referring to ????????????

 

[SaintToad]

Those look great for first efforts. For real.
Welcome to the forum. My number 1 piece of advice as you’re just starting out is to know when the mini is done so you can go on to the next one and apply the lessons you learn. Advice 1A is to try the technique that scares you. None of this ‘I didn’t want to screw it up.’

 

[CyAniDe]

Welcome to the hobby \o/

Some really great stuff for the first minis! You tried really a lot on these and the results are really good! Espeacially on the mage. Just trying things out is the right spirit

Starting out can be pretty overwhelming I guess ^^
There're tonns of different brands nowadays with all kinds of stuff.

If you watched some youtube tutorials already thats great. There're a lot of great content creators in all different skill levels.

The main thing I find I struggle with is blending techniques. I also really struggle to get that crisp clean paint look

Ooh we all know that ^^ xD
Getting such results really takes a lot of practice! Depending on the result you want to achieve it will probably take a couple of years. Although everyone is different and some people learn a lot of stuff faster then others. But I wouldn't recomment to set your goals too high at the beginning.
At the beginning I'ld recommend to pick up basic techniques and focus on getting used to your brushes and colours.

Check out Warhammer TV on youtube for example. They show how to paint their minis to a decent tabletop standard. Apply base colors neatly, use some washes and do some drybrushing at the end. These are simple techniques for beginners that can be picked up quite easily and lead to better results pretty fast. Their colour guides although are for their own paint range. If you picked up some citadel paints already you can use them as instructed. But Vallejo or P3 etc. should work the same way. You then just need to find tones that are kinda equal if you want to follow along 100%.

If you don't play warhammer you can pick up some of their boardgames like Warhammer Quest Silvertower or Shadows over Hammerhal. You get a decent boardgame (kinda similar to Gloomhaven) + a bunch of miniatures to practice on. Their base game boxes are usually good deals compared to single minis or specific unit boxes and they provide a lot of step by step paint guides.
I can understand if there are people that don't like GW but in recent years they really did a lot to support hobby beginners

I do tend to be quite impatient and will just start throwing the second layer on before I know I should. This sometimes means I move the paint around and it looks slightly pooled in certain areas.

Funny fact, if you thin your paint with water, the thin layers tend to dry faster then thick paint
It's important though that you wipe your brush into your paper towel before applying the paint to the mini. It sucks out most of the liquid so you don't flood the mini with thin paint and it's easier to control.

I have tried to thin the paints using mediums and water but I still find my work looks wet even after its dry if you know what I mean.

I think you mean the paints look glossy after drying ?
That can happen to some paints when thinning them too much. But it can also be caused by the medium you use.
Usually you don't need mediums to dilute your paints. Some people use mediums for different techniques or effects. There're tonns of mediums and additives out there. I own a lot of them but rarely use them. For me 99% of the times water is enough.
What basic mediums do is making the paint more translucent. Means you "thin" the paint without changing the consistency. A lot of em usually extend drying times as well so they're often used for wetblending techniques or feathering.
Some guys use a lot of additives to adjust their paint's properties for different techniques. Usually adjusting flow and drying times. But in general you can use the same techniques without using additives.

So I could imagine that the gloss is caused by the medium.


What paints are you using and what medium?

 

[KruleBear]

Thanks once again for the info I will check out those miniature companies and get some on order.

With regards to the forums, what do you mean start at the beginning of blood? Sorry if that’s a stupid question but I’m pretty new to these forums as you can see.

Sorry about that. I was short for time when I sent the note.

Blood As Medium's wip. http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums...t-into-things!&p=740441&viewfull=1#post740441

Bailey03's wip. http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums...Bailey03-s-WIP&p=670219&viewfull=1#post670219

Note that there are plenty of good articles on this website that are worth checking out too: http://www.coolminiornot.com/articles/5760-Articles-Index

 

[BloodASmedium]

Awwww Mikie didn’t know you cared))))))) sure thing buddy . Anything if you need anything . U can pm me or start at the beginning of my wip. Any questions I’ll be glad to answer.
welcome my friend. Practice practice question and practice more.
BaM

 

[Jeden]

Cheers for the info guys. Really helpful.

I am checking out your WIP thread now BloodASMedium. Really nice work man.