My first NMM try, comments please
- Thread starter Manus
- Start date
Well I am also a \"noob\" to NMM (only 3-4 minis painted with NMM) but I will try my best. 
In my opinion the best NMM goes from very dark to very bright, so it looks \"shiny\" and reflecting. Your sword is too bright/grey. I would start with nearly white at the top tip of the sword und darken it down so you end up with nearly black at the handle.
The other side of the blade could be painted in the opposit direction (very bright at the handle, very dark at the tip).
Additionally I would mix some blue to the grey, so it gets a \"blueish\" touch.
You can see what I mean at my \"Crom\" chaos knights sword. The last picture is the best.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/147486
In my opinion the best NMM goes from very dark to very bright, so it looks \"shiny\" and reflecting. Your sword is too bright/grey. I would start with nearly white at the top tip of the sword und darken it down so you end up with nearly black at the handle.
The other side of the blade could be painted in the opposit direction (very bright at the handle, very dark at the tip).
Additionally I would mix some blue to the grey, so it gets a \"blueish\" touch.
You can see what I mean at my \"Crom\" chaos knights sword. The last picture is the best.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/147486
definitively needs more middle tones.. a lot of them, maybe 5 of 6 more gradients just around the white \'stripe\'... as I can see from the application, you ain\'t got enough grip on smoothness and blending, it does for normal edges and fabrics, but you will need a lot more practice before you can pull credible nmm. So maybe you\'re wasting your energy there. Practice on 2d surface with various colors until you can get really smooth gradients ( like in photoshop.)
If you still wish to do nmm, bugger the stripe thing as it\'s very tough, and just focus in giving it a good clear edge.
If you still wish to do nmm, bugger the stripe thing as it\'s very tough, and just focus in giving it a good clear edge.
Keep going over it. I can see three distinct colors. Grey. White. And grey mixed with white. You might try this... Every part of the weapon to be white, or near white, paint white. Every pat to be grey or near grey, paint grey. Then, work towards the middle. So if you\'re starting on a white part, you go towards the grey with many many many many layers. Each layer, add a tiny tiny tiny bit of grey to the white.
Finally, when you reach the grey, the mix should be almost all grey with a dot of white.
You won\'t have done it perfectly, so then this is your next chance to start with pure grey and slowly add dots of white going in the opposite direction you came...
rinse and repeat! Do that a bunch for practice and perfection. Oh, and make sure your paints dont separate, you\'re whites look a little chalky, a problem I had. Maybe use a matt medium. Or vellejo white.
I HOPE THIS HELPS!!!!!!!!
Finally, when you reach the grey, the mix should be almost all grey with a dot of white.
You won\'t have done it perfectly, so then this is your next chance to start with pure grey and slowly add dots of white going in the opposite direction you came...
rinse and repeat! Do that a bunch for practice and perfection. Oh, and make sure your paints dont separate, you\'re whites look a little chalky, a problem I had. Maybe use a matt medium. Or vellejo white.
I HOPE THIS HELPS!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the comments. That will help me a lot. It seems that you pretty much agree on one thing, as I\'m also aware my blending is not neerly good enough. This mini was actually one of my first serious attamts on blendings as well. I think I have at least 8 different layers of paint on the sword, grey/spacewolfgrey/white, so I tried to mix in some bluish color - mayby it should be more distinct.
@Crackpot(crom is way cool) & J2FcM: soundt a bit like you are working from light color towards dark, is that right - I worked from from dark towards light.
@Greenone:I\'ll do some 2d sounds like a real good idear - just more practice in general, and the stripe might just be buggered for the next try - just love that word (best said in a Yorkshire accent)
@Crackpot(crom is way cool) & J2FcM: soundt a bit like you are working from light color towards dark, is that right - I worked from from dark towards light.
@Greenone:I\'ll do some 2d sounds like a real good idear - just more practice in general, and the stripe might just be buggered for the next try - just love that word (best said in a Yorkshire accent
)Yeah, thats what I mean. But what you did is the exact same. The most important thing is that you just keep going back forth, light to dark, dark to light, etc...etc... until at SOME POINT, it looks nice and blended, and you cannot pick out the individual colors.
Another thing I usually think of is this:
You start with your base color... By the end of the \"NMM\" in question, if you have a hard time picking out exactly where your base color is, consider your NMM blended well. The only color I can usually pick out, is white, on the sharpest highlights. I hope that makes sense. Basically, the colors need to be so well blended from highlight to shade that its difficult to pick out the base color (a mid tone).
But light placement is also important too!
PS - at second glance you really need to shade with some dark grey too. Especially one half of the sword blade.
Another thing I usually think of is this:
You start with your base color... By the end of the \"NMM\" in question, if you have a hard time picking out exactly where your base color is, consider your NMM blended well. The only color I can usually pick out, is white, on the sharpest highlights. I hope that makes sense. Basically, the colors need to be so well blended from highlight to shade that its difficult to pick out the base color (a mid tone).
But light placement is also important too!
PS - at second glance you really need to shade with some dark grey too. Especially one half of the sword blade.
