Some advice please for a novice painter...WIP

[BlacksmithOfMordor]

Here is a piece which I plan to use for a new 40k force, but I am trying to paint them to a slighter better than tabletop quality. Here is a pic as it stands...

I know he needs more detailing but do you have any further critique which would be helpful? This is the first GKT I\'ve done and I\'ve been painting about 1 year on and off...

Hopefully the rest of the squad will look better with your expert help! Oh and I want to use metallics so I can retain a slightly rustic look to the armour.

Cheers in advance for and helpful advice!
Jas

 

[finn18]

Well...

There are two main sorts of painted mini:

The kind that gets gamed with...and the kind that gets kept in a glass cabinet.

Your GK looks really nice. From first glance I\'d give it a 7 which is already above tabletop.

If you paint your army any better than this you will be afraid to use them and you will lose your gaming fun.

If I were you, I would set one standard for my gaming pieces and another for the minis I want to blow peoples head\'s off with.

 

[Legacy Account]

What Finn said...

I spent 2 years painting up a lovely Space Wolf army, and I am too afraid to use it now! It\'s sat in the display cab collecting dust....
As for the mini, if you paint a whole army to that standard, it\'ll look seriously good!

 

[Calavera]

Well, looks damn good to me already
So you want to go with the silver scheme for your army, then just make sure it\'s nicely painted. The trick to metallics is glazing them with inks.. you\'ve clearly already glazed with blue. So try other inks like brown, purple and such for the effects you want. And i think it needs a wee more shading(the silver)
And the purity seals could use some liturgy(*giggle* true british)
And the maltese crosses with gems inside would be cooler with some nice painted gems.The base and mini is great already.
This army will be bloomin\' marvellous

 

[BlacksmithOfMordor]

Thanks folks...

Cheers for all the constructive criticism people, I\'m glad you like the mini, its not amazing but I am still learning loads, especially from this site!

I have done some more on this guy but you\'ll have to wait until the squads done now before I post anymore pics!

Thanks again...
Jas

 

[Klute]

The metals are looking great.Maybe start darker to get another highlight on (mithral).
Do the eyes (Im pretty sure they are sculpted on??).Green would be my choice and gem like.
Also the blade would be much better painted as a power blade,green to match the eyes would be good.It blends in too much with the armour for me as it is.
As it stands in the first pic you would get a 7 from me so any improvement would be a bonus.
Post an updated pic here,we wont mind,honest.

 

[forrix]

oke here\'s a really simple tip and it makes all the diffirance. spray (after finishing them ofcoarse) your mini\'s with gw\'s clear varnish so you can get rid of that glossy look you get when glazing with inks!! believe me it works like a charm

 

[Jas]

The Squad... Still need minor detailing...

Here is a pic of the squad as they stand.
(Its not a great photo but doesn\'t need to be just yet...)

The eyes are blue (hard to see I know!) I just need to add some \'pazzaz\' to the weapons, does anyone know what colour \"Nemesis Force\" weapons are? Was thinking about painting the blades Mithril Silver with a reddish glaze... Overall impressions would be appreciated...

Many Thanks
Jas
(Oh yeah and as you have seen I have a new account name...)

 

[Jkaen]

I agree the main area to work on is the blades, so them the same as the rest of the powr weapons in your army, I always go with black with green highlighting/edging difficult to describe if you havent seen it before, so I hope you have, dont know what the others do with their power weapons

 

[Braveheart712]

I disagree...

@ Finn and Spacemonkey - One of my pet peeves is \"fingerpainted\" armies or the equally bad verion of \"assembled and primered\" armies. I love seeing a detailed and wonderfully painted army on the gaming table, that for me, I think it makes the gaming experience so much better when you see two well painted armies locked in combat. Personally I love the Grey Wolves that Jas is doing and I wish that more painers/ gamers brought armies of this caliber to the table. Finn and Monkey, open up the display cases and take your armies out for a proper workout, after all your wonderfully rendered pieces may serve to inspire a new generation of painter and gamers !!! Share the talent you were given with others, rather than having your armies collecting dust locked away in some dark lonely case.

BTW- I want to see the completed army when its done, please post it!!!!

 

[Legacy Account]

Nope, sorry BraveHeart, my marines are staying \'factory fresh\' - don\'t want to chip the paint now, do I?!!lol I do agree that fantastically painted armies look great! But my point was that B.O.M\'s army will look class painted to the standard he has shown us! I\'ve given up playing now anyway (not that I ever played much anyway!). I can\'t be bothered to slave over a whole army churning out model after model. It takes all the fun out of painting!

 

[katamaran]

Originally posted by Jas
Here is a pic of the squad as they stand.
(Its not a great photo but doesn\'t need to be just yet...)

The eyes are blue (hard to see I know!) I just need to add some \'pazzaz\' to the weapons, does anyone know what colour \"Nemesis Force\" weapons are? Was thinking about painting the blades Mithril Silver with a reddish glaze... Overall impressions would be appreciated...

Many Thanks
Jas
(Oh yeah and as you have seen I have a new account name...)

Mithril with a red glaze will end up really pinky looking. I would either stick with a blue or a green tone for the weapons. Blue/green are power/energy colors, while red just implies heat. You could either go mithril with a blue or green wash, or blend a medium blue up to white to appear like it was glowing.

Your stuff already looks better than any of the tabletop minis I\'ve seen at my local store (shudder).

 

[ipaintminis]

your a novice painter?!?

no way man, but kata is right, the red would turn it pink.


what would yellow do?

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally by ipaintminis:

what would yellow do?

Probably no different to adding red ink as a glaze.
It wouldn\'t go as yellow as you\'d think due to the transparency and reflection. I tried it once to make a very light gold. It looked awful!.

 

[tidoco2222]

For an army you want to use as gaming pieces I wouldn\'t really change anything. When you get a lot of highly detailed models on the tabletop you start to loose the detail because of the number of minis,add to that the fear of damaging them and that\'s all your hard effort gone to waste. Save your best work for your characters. I agree with all the other comments that you are going to have a really first class squad of GKs.

 

[Trevor]

I disagree, inks over metals look great. The red doesn\'t look pink, I did my speed freaks by drybrushing silver and then heavy neat red ink wash over, looks great, especially considering how quick it is.

 

[Jas]

Latest WIP for the Ordo Malleus..

Firstly thanks for all the kind words and critique/advice...
I\'ve still not done the GKT weapon blades yet, but think I will go for a blue, power blade effect.
Here is a look at what\'s currently \'under construction\'...

Pic\'s been upadated with more detailed Tabbard...
Any feedback is much appreciated!

Cheers again All...
Jas

 

[Jabberwocky]

Jas--
I recently purchased Vallejo \"metallic medium\". It is alleged to give the color it is mixed with a slightly metallic shimmer. I have not tried it yet, but will let you know if it is a good alternative to mithril with a glaze.

Jabber

 

[WurzagUdUraZahuba]

Finn18... Oh dear god their breeding.

Seriously, whats going on?

BTW, if you are shooting for slightly above tabletop quality you have certainly reached your goal.