Kathie's Pandora Crew (Malifaux)

[Kathie von Vhoorl]

I finally finished some models. These are the first models I have painted in about 2 years.

Please give me advice and ideas. I really want to become a good painter and I am willing to try any techniques or ideas in order to improve my skills.

I love miniatures and gaming and have been playing Warhammer with borrowed armies for a few years now. One day I will paint up my own. This is my first "Army" for the Malifaux Game that is gaining interest locally.

A little about me: Way back (starting 3 years ago) I just painted some DnD minis for our roleplaying group's characters, as we needed them. I have never been very good, but have always wanted to be a skilled mini painter and converter. I have pestered everyone I know about tips on painting and techniques etc.

So please help out a beginner and give me your opinions and comments.

 

[Meph]

Actually... that looks really nice. Looks like a clean application of colours and a good shadowing/highlighting. Of course the pictures are a bit dark and slightly out of focus so the 'crispness' is hard to judge. But at first sight, whatever you're doing, you're doing it right.
One comment in general, try to find two good techniques/workflows in your way of painting. One quick & efficient way for the large masses of army painting and a slow and careful way for the center pieces. But as I said, it seems you're well on the right track.

 

[supervike]

Welcome Kathie!

I agree, you are certainly on the right path to being a damn good painter.

I think you've got very decent contrast (although the skin is pale and a bit flat), but you may want to do another layer or two of highlights.

Just picture a light source above the mini, and hit spots where a very bright highlight would happen. I think this will really make your minis 'pop'.

I really like the sliminess of the tentacles....And the green guys really have nice transitions solid blending.


Hope to see more of your stuff!

 

[cyberakuma]

real good stuff for a relative nembie i've not long started slowly painting up a malifaux crew and appreciate the pains of how tough painting some of their minis are (show girls) these are looking really good i'm no expert myself and like you the malifaux stuff i'm doing are the first minis i've painted in a few years i completely agree with what's already been said by others on here and with malifaux stuff there's no real need to rush painting them as a crew is only a few miniatures so it's good to make each one really pop as it's not like your typical warhammer mass of troops with the odd character

though one thing to me it looks like you're using a black base coat? if so you might want to try a white one as it does really make it a lot easier getting colours to pop and much easier getting a strong contrast with shades and highlights it is really a choice thing though many can do the same with a black base coat but after switching recently myself to the white basecoats i've started to find it a lot better

and give pandora pupils...so if you get the avatar version of her the pupil-less eyes will make it look like she's had a more dramatic change to the dark side

 

[Torn blue sky]

Well, for pestering people about painting tips you've come to the right place! A lot of really high end painters converge here to dazzle us with their wares and help each other with the hobby. If you have a question about anything in particular, don't be afraid to throw it out here on the forums. You'll usually get a pretty quick response and all the help you need. Even if it is just an opinion about something.

That aside, it does look like you've already laid most of the right tracks!, loving the flooring and the tentacles, really helps set a theme and bring it all together, nicely done too. The best advice I can give you is to browse the galleries for a style or look you really like and try and emulate it [practice makes perfect, right?] Even then, don't be afraid to PM the artist and ask them how they did it. You'll find the people here are generally a happy lot only too eager to help. Welcome to the forums!

 

[BPI]

Hi Kathie, nice clean paint with some solid looking colour choices :good:

Next step, I reckon, is to push your final highlights. Tiny areas to give a bit of oomph to the characters & draw the eye where you want it to fall. For example, a final highlight on that woman's orange hair would be nice. Not a thin line down each strand, just some areas where the light is reflecting in a patch/halo. I've not described that as well as I'd like Generulpoleaxe paints a nice barnet though, his gallery is here...
http://www.coolminiornot.com/artist/generulpoleaxe
...check out Dynamic Tiriel, Female Rogue & Chaos Dwarven Warrior on the first page.

Both the woman & the green guys could really use some pupils for their eyes. Less for the gaming table than for big photos here I suppose but they do add a lot to the expression/character of the mini. Admittedly not a nice thing to try & paint onto a completed piece (I had an eye explosion incident on a mini last year & they tend to be the first bit of the face that I paint) but going forward I think it would be worth playing with.

Keep up the good work, how many pieces make up a complete Malifaux warband?

Cheers, B.

 

[Kathie von Vhoorl]

Thanks for the comments!

@Cyberakuma: I did try to use a white basecoat, but the paint in the can was bad and messed up my models with globs of stuff. I then had to go back and re-prime it. I used a grey primer and then washed it in black glaze to how the details. I do want to use white basecoats but I need a good paint. The can I had was P3 white and it was horrible. I guess I may have just gotten a bad can of it, but it ruined my models and I had to stirp the gunk off of them.

@BPI and Supervike: I agree, I think I do need some more highlights. They looked better until i matt coated the models, then they seemed to have been toned down quite a bit. I may go back and add some more highlights on the top areas/edges and that may make them a little better.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Kathie von Vhoorl]

I took some better pics of baby Kade, Pandora and Candy.

This way you can see my mistakes more easily.

 

[Tee999]

thats some great work Kathie. better shading than i can do thats for sure!

 

[Meph]

Pretty, that's just oozing 'Tim Burton'

 

[SkelettetS]

indeed very burton'ish. very nice painting expecially considering how small these cute little critters are :good:

 

[cyberakuma]

it happens with sprays from time to time it can be down to the humidity to there's a few articles on here about spray on primers which may be able to help you out a bit but i have to admit i just go for straight painting on primer with a brush but the spray cans will help if you want a quick guideline on the model for a light source for zenithal highlighting (i think that's what it's called) again there's a few bits and pieces on that on here too

 

[CreganTur]

This is very good table top work. Your painting is very neat and you have a good eye for color. The only thing I would suggest working on would be the skintones. They're a very good greyish-dead color, but I think you could make them a little more dramatic with some more highlights and shadows. Upping this contrast will help everything else pop.

 

[mattsterbenz]

Some great vibrant colors you've got there. Nice bases too. You're on the right track, that's for sure. Keep it up!

-Matt

 

[gsr15]

Wow, quite nice...I like the contrast of the glossy bits, and the blending/smoothness is definitely at a level I aspire to reach. I do agree that the red hair could use a bit more depth (though to me it looks like more shading is warranted as opposed to highlights, personal preference perhaps.) In any case, looking forward to seeing more of your stuff!

 

[Torn blue sky]

indeed very burton'ish. very nice painting expecially considering how small these cute little critters are :good:

I KNEW there was something about it I couldn't put my finger on!

 

[GreenOne]

Looks good. If you adjusted the lighting of the pictures, we could appreciate your works better.
I like the colors on the blue/green creatures; overall nice colors on most bits, but you could be more extravagant with the skintones, wheter living or dead, human skin shows lots of tints and there many ways you can make it more interesting, with glazes and such. More highlights there would help too, the hair also should show strong light points.

 

[SkelettetS]

I KNEW there was something about it I couldn't put my finger on!

yay, keep your filthy finger away, you...

 

[Torn blue sky]

But I like touching things =(

 

[khavor]

Agree with everyone else. Really nice work, you're off to a great start. As GreenOne suggested, adjusting the pics will help as well, esp if you're looking to post finished minis, but also useful for WIP's since we can see more. I've started using Picasa, which is a free download from Google to adjust the fill light and white balance. It works well without doing so much as to be confusing. Gimp is another good free one if you want to get fancier.