help! advice?

[Dakwan]

So i\'ve finally gotten back into warhammer and thus painting.. i used to lurk these boards and post ever so occasionally a year or two back but whatever.. i\'m not an overly experienced painter and have probably painted only 15-20 models tops

i have a couple painted models i would love if you guys would critque.. i realize the site is based around putting up photos for people to vote on but i was hoping for advice rather than the confirmation that i\'m a below average painter

the minatures look better in real life as all the horrible flaws arn\'t magnified by 100 but alas that is life.


first up

http://dakwan.ca/potm/18.JPG

now... i didn\'t put much time into this minature as i was just testing out colour schemes (go pink!) but is probably a good example of my skill (or lack thereof) at highlighting. also any ideas on the colour scheme? i\'m keeping it pink just to be obnoxious as most people hate dark eldar to begin with due to the hideous models..

second:
http://dakwan.ca/potm/19.JPG

I have a hell of a time making the \"deathwing bone\" .. trying to keep the brown basecoat visible in the cracks/joints while not having the model look splotchy and brown..


any and all advice, constructive criticism, insults, funny anecdotes or anything are appreciated...

 

[Baz]

Well the dark eldar looks best. I would try and use a few more stages in between the shades of pink and purple. Instead of going - Warlock>50%warlock/50%tentacle>Tentacle
try adding a quarter of the next colour to the previous colour. Keep the paint thin and don\'t be annoyed if the paint is still transparent or blotchy just wait for it to dry and put another thin coat on.

As for the terminator white and bone are some of the hardest colours to get right. When doing a predominantly light colour I always start with a white undercoat. For Deathwing I would start with a coat of 50% bestial brown 50% bleached bone. Then give the mini a wash with dark brown ink with a little black ink in it. Wait till this is completely dry and then give all the flat plates and parts that are to be bone coloured a few thin coats of 75% bleached bone and 25% bestial brown. Followed by a few coats of pure bleached bone and then highlighted by adding skull white to bleached bone and increasing the amount of white each time.

 

[freakinacage]

baz is right, thin your paints and aim to build up your highlights more smoothly. also, make sure you remove all the mold lines!

and most importantly, keep practicing!

 

[donga666]

As has been said before, thin them paints!!!

By the look of the termy you are heavily over-loading your brush. You only ever need a spot on the end at any one time.

Bone colours are easy over white or grey primer. I start with Vallejo Game colour sand yellow which is very similar to the GW equivalent. Then \'Bleached bone\' then \'white\' (in its simplest form), the complex one is Sand, bone, VMC light sand, glaze brown (very thin ink) then white. For extra shading go back in with watered down beastie brown then watered down scorched earth were the darkest shades are. But start with the first method

@Baz, oooo! Black ink on bone??? That would send it grey, even mixed with brown!

 

[Baz]

By a little I meant a tiiiiiny amount. Plus I forgot to say just put the wash into the recesses.

 

[Sukigod]

I\'ll fourth the idea of thin those paints....

After that, the next two things to improve is patience and brush control. Patience to put down more that one layer of paint (many, many thin layers is best) and patience to look exactly where the tip of your brush is going.

There may be other factors light size of brush (0 or 00 should be just fine) and lighting that can affect the outcome.

Good luck!

 

[Undave]

For the terminator do what they all said but don\'t use Bleached Bone, use Kommando Khaki instead. BB always looks too harsh and yellow to me KK gives a much softer finish.

KK is great in that it can be added to almost any colour to lighten it. I especially like using it with purples.

GO KOMMANDO KHAKI lol

 

[Dragonsreach]

Repeat after me the Mantra for beginners:

\"Foundation paints are a good starting point.\"

For the Deathwing the foundation paints are indeed a great way to get an even coverage quickly. You can then work up the highlights and intensify the shadows with a greater ease.
Dheneb Stone is a Grey/Beige which can be worked up nicely fo rthis.

 

[Dakwan]

awesome! thanks for the feedback

 

[Dakwan]

oh also. the dark eldar was primed black.. would you guys recommend using a white or black primer with those colours?

 

[donga666]

Stick to what you know!

I have used white, black and I now use grey for almost all minis.

When learning maybe stick to white, but i find it a little too bright. The opposite is true of black.

Grey is neutral, that\'s why I use it I wouldn\'t recommend it for everyone, it\'s always a matter of taste.

@Undave, I agree Kommando Khaki is awsome! But I will be replacing mine with P3 Menoth base and highlight, they are lush paints!

 

[EldinTux]

Priming is a matter of taste. I tend to prime in white as the colours are brighter & (I feel) you have more control over the final effect.

The kids I teach all (without exception) undercoat in black, because if you miss a bit it\'s not so obvious.

Grey is a good compromise, but you still tend to see any mistakes much more readily.

 

[Dakwan]

i think i\'ve made some progress thanks to the advice

here are a few more photos
http://dakwan.ca/potm/21.JPG
http://dakwan.ca/potm/22.JPG

again any more constructive criticism would be most appreciated..

i think i did a good job of shading on the helmet and the pants.. i definatly mucked up the mouth area of the helmet but think i need to buy a finer brush to fix it..

i think i could improve on the eyes and the skin tone

thanks in advance!

 

[EldinTux]

Difficult to tell, the photo\'s are not great, but I can see a definite improvement. My feeling based on what I can see is that the highlighting need bring up a bit more.

But good job.

 

[Dakwan]

\"the highlighting need bring up a bit more.\"

do you mean like more extreme shading? or i need to work on it more? sorry i\'m not quite clear on your meaning

 

[EldinTux]

Something like that, in the \'dips\' in the model paint a wash of a darker colour than the main one - not black, but you could add a touch of black to it. On the bit\'s in between paint a slightly lighter colour. Again the paint should be thinned down. Your aiming for a smooth transition between all the colours but at the same time showing some darker & some lighter patches.

Here\'s an example
http://www.coolminiornot.com/index/whatc/SF/id/174932
Sorry I can\'t be more specific being colour blind I can\'t really tell what colours you\'ve used, but I\'m sure someone else can help there.

 

[Dakwan]

my wash over the entire models recessed/detail areas was a black ink magic wash.... should i not be washing with black ink or are you saying that after i\'ve done the ink wash when i clean up the areas i should be starting at a darker tone of the base colour? here is how i\'ve painted that model:

1. primed black already

2. a base coat of the colours i wanted.. thinning my paints considerably it took about 5-6 coats to get a consistant colour

3. a black ink wash using a solution of future floor polish in all the recessed and detail areas

4. Cleaned up the areas around recessed areas back to the original base coat

5. on area i thought should become lighter i gradually highlighted up.. on the tentacle pink it went kind of 80% pink 20% white and up about 10% white each coat until i was probably at about 70% white to 30% pink

If i\'ve got the method right and just need more practice then thats all good but i\'m kind of half guessing what i should be doing as articles either tend to be common sense or techniques that i can\'t wrap my head around

 

[EldinTux]

Method sounds good to me - it might just be the pictures then. The figure looks like it\'s just got a single colour with black lining

 

[L.E.J.]

personally i use a black undercoat for my deathwing.

then use:
graveyard earth
brown ink
50/50 graveyard earth bleached bone
bleached bone
50/50 bleached bone skull white
etreme highlight of skull white

im not a great painter but it works for me and by all means have a look at my deathwing.

hope this helps

 

[Dakwan]

Your deathwing are looking 10x sweet er than mine L.E.J.

I have another model finished up and thought i\'d get you fantastic people to have another look. It\'s still not based but i\'m fairly happy with my progress.

http://www.dakwan.ca/DSC00417_2.jpg

Any more advice?