I come asking for help.

[Desertmerc]

Forgive the lengthiness of this.


Greetings CMON, I have been browsing the Main site and the Forums for 3 to 4 months. I have always had an interest in painting minis, but have always turned away, since I have to artistic skills whatsoever. So ever since I have been browsing this site, I am been reading and watching tutorial as often as I can. So yesterday I bought some Citadel Paints and a chaos Rhino with some Chaos Marines. I primed em black, let em dry, and than I went to put my basecoat on, and the first thing I noticed, was that it was not going on smoothly, it was leaving like, blotches and alot of the primer could still be seen. I continued on, and after I finished, I realized my minis look extremely horrible, and I felt pretty idiotic. I know come to you, asking for help on what I should do, and how I can improve. Is it because I was using fine detail brushed? Did I not water it down enough? I need your help CMON!

I will see if I can get a picture up.

 

[freakinacage]

sounds like you are overloading your brush. you dont want to it get to the stage where it is pooling.

 

[Desertmerc]

I am just putting the very tip of the brush in. Do you think it is the brush I am using? The only brushes I currently have are a reaper detail and fine detail brushes.

 

[raginggaijin]

Paint from out of the bottle isn\'t a recommended practice. It is suggested to use a palette to place the paint on, then apply some water to help thin it and allow for blending.

Also, the basecoat my take more than one coat to cover up the mini/model.

Watch this and see if it helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjLMMJmNsYY

 

[bodiscool]

maybe ur adding too much water.i use a bit of foil to test my consitancy just paint a line on it if its ok it will shrink slightly.also try breaking the area up as u paint for example split the shoulder pad into 3 parts.i find this helps with neatness as u basecoat hope it helps

 

[Desertmerc]

I was using a white tile to put my paints and mix them, I tried thinning my paints many different ways, I tried it out of the pot, and I tried it in the middle, and I cant seem to get the right balance.

 

[Undave]

I wouldn\'t recommend using a tile as a pallette despite the fact that they seem to use them in all the GW stores. The ceramic will leech the moisture out of the paint as it sits on the surface meaning that your paint will dry much faster than it would otherwise. A cheap alternative is the lid from a pringles tube, it won\'t absorb moisture and the paint will simply flake off it when it\'s dry so it can be reused indefinately.



You also get to eat the crisps as a bonus

 

[daddyo]

It sounds to me that you have thinned the paint too much. Which is a good thing, if you\'re doing washes , but for the main color, it only needs a bit of water (acrylics, right?) to get the consistency you need.

Don\'t give up, just because you don\'t like the way it comes out. It will get better.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

when starting with black make sure you basecoats are realy dark, and then just gradualy go lighter with each coat.

try a 1-1 consistancy to start with and as it gets lighter you can put a little more water in.
have a rag next to you, after you have loaded the brush with paint, touch it against the rag, this will take off the excess moisture.

games workshops foundation paints were desighned for people starting with a black undercoat, it could be worth while picking up the ones that are the same colour as what you are wishing to use.

one step at a time mate, it\'s not about natural talent, it\'s about practice (and more importantly enjoying yourslef)
don\'t expect huge results to start with, as long as there is steady improvement then your doing fine.

 

[Desertmerc]

What brush should I be using? Currently, I only have reaper fine detail brushes, so I dont even get much paint on the brush.

 

[Desertmerc]

Originally posted by raginggaijin
Paint from out of the bottle isn\'t a recommended practice. It is suggested to use a palette to place the paint on, then apply some water to help thin it and allow for blending.

Also, the basecoat my take more than one coat to cover up the mini/model.

Watch this and see if it helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjLMMJmNsYY

That is the type of brush I am looking for! What exactly is the name of that style of brush? Sorry for the double post, I am just excited that I am getting help!

 

[Pelorat]

Originally posted by Desertmerc

Originally posted by raginggaijin
Paint from out of the bottle isn\'t a recommended practice. It is suggested to use a palette to place the paint on, then apply some water to help thin it and allow for blending.

Also, the basecoat my take more than one coat to cover up the mini/model.

Watch this and see if it helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjLMMJmNsYY

That is the type of brush I am looking for! What exactly is the name of that style of brush? Sorry for the double post, I am just excited that I am getting help!

That style of brush is called \'round\' or \'pointed round\'. http://www.dickblick.com/categories/brushes/#brushesbyshape

These Raphael brushes are what I use, size 0 and 1. Or you can try a local art store, make sure you get some kind of natural hair, like sable.

The brushes should be smallish, but they don\'t have to be teeny tiny like 10/0 or 20/0. 1, 0, 2/0 is about as small as they need to be. As long as the tip stays sharp, that matters more than size.

 

[droogie77]

Make sure your paint is thinned down with some water to a consistency similar to milk. If you want it to look good yu will have to apply at least 7 coats on a black basecoat. Also, wait a few minutes before applying each layer.

 

[Desertmerc]

Originally posted by droogie77
Make sure your paint is thinned down with some water to a consistency similar to milk. If you want it to look good yu will have to apply at least 7 coats on a black basecoat. Also, wait a few minutes before applying each layer.

When you say at least seven coats, do you mean seven coats of just the basecoat? Also, if I primer my model black, and I want my coat or boots to be black, do I paint them black anyways?

 

[droogie77]

Originally posted by Desertmerc

Originally posted by droogie77
Make sure your paint is thinned down with some water to a consistency similar to milk. If you want it to look good yu will have to apply at least 7 coats on a black basecoat. Also, wait a few minutes before applying each layer.

When you say at least seven coats, do you mean seven coats of just the basecoat? Also, if I primer my model black, and I want my coat or boots to be black, do I paint them black anyways?

Always paint each detail even if it is the same colour as your base coat. Use as many coats as it takes to evenly cover the black base coat with whatever colour you are using for each detail.

 

[Desertmerc]

[/quote] Always paint each detail even if it is the same colour as your base coat. Use as many coats as it takes to evenly cover the black base coat with whatever colour you are using for each detail. [/quote]

Excellent, that is one of the things I could not figure out. So when I am painting, should I paint in strips? Like divide a leg into 3 parts and paint it like that? Also, thank you so much for giving me all these tips, I feel like I can do this!

 

[droogie77]

Glad to help. Just paint the area in one go so it comes out even. Also, add a drop of water every know and then to your paint and give it a stir. This will \" wake up \" the paint and help it keep its texture. When paint gets thick as it dries in the palette it can leave brush lines on the model that can ruin detail.

 

[Desertmerc]

Again, thanks for all the advice. About how many drops of water do you guys use? I cant seem to find that sweet spot. I always get it to thick or too watery. I will still muck about with it no matter.

 

[droogie77]

When I paint I have a cup of clean water on the side for this. Use the round end on the bottom of a brush and just dip into the water. It will add a little drop each time.

 

[Thecadian]

oh dont forget to put pics of your work up on the wip forum. youll get lots of good advice there as people can see whats what on your mini.