My First Attempt EVER at painting Mini's (Comments and Critiques please)

[Sir Dibblet]

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So these are my first attempts ever at painting minis. Unfortunately some of the lighting in the photo kills some of the color aspects I used and I think they look better in real life, but again I am a novice. I learned A LOT during this process and am excited to keep going. I attempted to dry brush one of these after I took the pic and while some of that process worked out nicely, others parts did not. I plan on giving them a nice wash tomorrow evening and maybe touching them up a little (I am not sure yet as I feel like I want to move forward and do the next few with the knowledge I garnered from my mistakes doing these.

So I would appreciate any comments or tips on this effort and insight on my future efforts.

Please be gentle, I am an utter noob at this and have the most minimal artistic ability.

 

[supervike]

Hiya!

I think the first thing I notice is that your paint is too thick. It's obscuring details.

I'd suggest thinning your paint with water, and applying several thin coats, as opposed to one thicker one.

You do seem to have pretty good control and I like your color choices. Best thing to do is practice practice practice....

Looking forward to seeing more!

 

[Splurch]

As mentioned by Supervike you're paint seems a little thick. Other then that it looks like you're headed in the right direction. When you do the wash you'll want to repaint parts so that the colors you want are over the wash. The animal skins are a perfect item to drybrush, if you don't like your results you can just repaint/drybrush again. After the wash, some edge highlighting (you can search on the forums) is another easy way to make the mini pop (essentially taking a lighter color then the base color and putting it on edges of things, such as their standards, the edge of the raised area around their shoulders, the sword edges etc.)

If you don't feel you're ready to move on to the next group then just keep working on these. Experiment, try out ideas, watch some videos and try to duplicate them, as long as you have fun with it you're doing it correctly If you end up with a paint job you are unhappy with you can always soak them in simple green or some such cleaner, strip them and start over. Most of painting is spending time learning what works for you and what doesn't.

 

[oistene]

If you feel that laying down several layers to get coverage is too @£$£!!# much work, you have the following options:

- Get paint with better coverage. I hate doing base coats, but found that the solutions is to use GW Base paints or P3 paints. These will get you good coverage even with a single, thinned layer.

- Use an airbrush. The airbrush will give quickly you a single, thin, even layer of paint (with a little practise) you'll spend hours getting with a brush.

 

[mjs101]

So I see really solid base coats. An easy next step is a "dip". Some people literally dip a model, but I brush the stuff on for better results. Minwax polyshades, brush on one of the darker colors thinly, spread it around so it settles in recesses, etc. Give it 24-48 hours to dry, and dull coat. This will never win a golden demon and snooty painters will scoff, but for rank and file models, it is great. It will add a bit of depth you're currently missing.

Or you can paint in shadows and highlights with darker and lighter versions of your base colors. This is harder, but produces better results, once you've practiced it. The key is to build contrast.

Keep painting. You'll improve with time.

My advice is this:

1) photograph everything you complete. It is every satisfying to come back after twelve months an look at the models you've painted. Also great to track you progress.

2) Keep a note book of what works, what doesn't. This is especially important for army painters. Adding another squad to an army you haven't touched in eighteen months is hard as your paint inventory increases and the range of models you've painted increases. "Did I use Yellow Ocher, Green Ocher, or Desert Yellow for this?"

- Record recipes for blond hair, red-heads, male Caucasian flesh vs, female, African skin tones vs. Norwegian. A new notes like "base close Vallajo English Uniform/drybrush Iraqui Sand might be enough. (my recipe for quick blond hair, by the way)

3) Use flock, cork/gravel/sand, and or tufts to enhance your bases.

4) remember that an army of painted miniatures with a consistent technique looks better that a hodge-podge army of this trick and that technique. But even that beats silver surfs. (Note book and consistent basing also help bring together an army.)


Try lots of things, build a skill set to tackle different painting challenges. Spray-black and slop-on wet-brushing paint is OK for rank and file, but won't cut it for your generals/heroes.

 

[Sicks]

As others have said the paint looks thick, but don't be discouraged, I think most of us can say we had the same problem on our first try, I know I definitely can you can thin with water or lahmian medium (a gw clear paint used for thinning) it comes down to whichever you prefer

For bases I generally prefer to get them done before I stick the model to them, mainly so I don't get paint on the feet by mistake, gw make textured paint which has small bits of grit in it for quick and easy basing, nothing to complex but better than a flat base, a bit of PVA glue and sand works too, just something to add a bit of flavour to the bases

I would also advise to take care with dry brushing, it can add texture to the paint which is good in some places and bad in others, for example the furs would be fine as you would expect that not to be perfectly smooth, but it may not be what you would want on the armour

The biggest hurdle for me as a beginner was finding the techniques that worked for me, there are many methods to this hobby and most of it comes down to personal preference, have a look around, there's plenty of videos and articles to help you learn and of course you can ask here, so far nobody has starred me wrong on anything I've asked and most importantly practice practice practice

 

[Sir Dibblet]

Thank you for everyone who posted and helped me understanding some of my mistakes with my first go of it. I took all your tips to heart and applied it to my second attempt and...well...i am blown away at the results. I learned even more the second go at it and I am confident that future efforts will yield even better results. This is the result of my second effort:

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[Dragonsreach]

As others have said the paint looks thick, but don't be discouraged, I think most of us can say we had the same problem on our first try, I know I definitely can you can thin with water or lahmian medium (a gw clear paint used for thinning) it comes down to whichever you prefer.

Oh hell yes first figures I painted after starting up again you could tear the paint off like orange peel.

 

[Sicks]

2nd attempt is looking much better :cute:

 

[BloodASmedium]

DDoing good man...I'll show my first mini youde think I dropped him off a two story balcony in so fresh tar and then feathers him with rooster feathers...
There is a tip I can give after all the best way to get improvements in mini painting is 1)join the forums so we can groom you from the start...you've done this so congrats on being an A student so far....now as for a very basic way to get a model to pop....you can try some blacklining .it's actually drawing or laying in a very thin line of dark brown or dark grey.you lay it where two diff parts adjoin together.for example take the shoulder guard.where the smooth semi circular shoulder area meets the trim,youde draw a thin dark line.this denotes seperate parts at a glance from the viewer.the eye will discern two diff parts instead of just grey bleeding into grey.

 

[oistene]

So much better. Keep practicing, and keep researching. Maybe pick a thing or three you want to try, so you won't get overwhelmed, but try new things as often as you can.

 

[Zab]

Holy shit. That was like night and day, you are a quick study sir! Great progress

 

[Sir Dibblet]

Ha! Thank you. I learned as I went with the first set and just realized as I went along what was clearly not working and what was. I am currently working on another set and I am struggling a bit learning how to do highlighting and dry-brushing effectively. Some has come out really nice and other parts not so much...but still, so much better than my first go. Thank you again for the support!

Side note: Those first 4 are already sitting in Simple Green awaiting a new life

 

[snedwos]

It took me YEARS to get to something like the level in your second attempt. Which is more or less my current level. Then again, I have always found Space Marines difficult. I don't suppose going for Imperial Fists made life any easier, either...

 

[ArchArad]

Great progress - well done for putting people's advice to good use and for learning what is working for you. It's all about practice. So keep on at it!

I'd recommend setting up a permanent WIP thread and maybe linking to it from here. That way you have things in one place and people can find you to give you advice.

 

[rican919]

Looks great! I'd recommend hitting the wash a bit heavier. I like it to really seep into the nooks and crannies to make the details really pop. I start with a shade of paint darker than my basecoat, dilute in about 1:4 parts paint to water (estimated, just when it looks "right" and watery), and just brush a "lot" onto the appropriate area. Use brush strokes against the grain of the recessed details so the wash flows into it and doesn't get pushed out by the brush stroke. Like another poster suggested, you can touch up the elevated areas with the basecoat again if you think those surfaces dried too dark post-wash. Then you can highlight according to your lighting scheme. Wherever you'd expect "light" to be hitting the model can be drybrushed in a lighter shade than the basecoat.

You can also just use a general black ink wash for everything, but I prefer sticking to the color scheme for each section. More work, but I think it really pays off in the end. Besides, it's more about the journey than the destination, right? It's super relaxing to paint. Kudos and thanks for sharing your work.

 

[croi dubh]

Good work so far, just start with a plan. Select your models and look at them closely. Tidy them up i.e., remove lines and drill gun arts if you like. Select your colours. use plenty of water and multiple passes to build the colour. use washes to establish some shadows but above all take your time, enjoy painting and keep practicing!

 

[Swordflasher]

Great second attempt. I use liquitex flow aid with acrylics - use just a few drops in a shallow jar of water - add add to paint before using.