The next step

[Rab]

Good day to you all, you fine citizens of Cmonland.

My last miniature, an Eldar Titan, is currently sitting at 7.7, a score I\'m more than happy with and I\'m looking for tips on how to improve, to the point where I\'d rate a solid \'8\'.

Somebody\'s already pointed out that the banner isn\'t securely attached to the model, and I agree wholeheartedly, I should\'ve spent more time on that.

Are there any super-secret techniques to learn? Or is it a case of working on smoother blending, deeper shading, brighter highlights? Or perhaps I\'m doomed to forever languish in the 7s?

Hints, tips and large cash donations all greatfully received

P.S. If anyone\'s at GenCon and spots a wee, slightly manic Scottish guy with black rimmed glasses, carrying a copy of the A/State RPG, say hello. That\'s my pal Malcolm and his game\'s been nominated for 2 Ennies.

Cheers - Rab.

 

[Ritual]

First, I would like to say that it is a nice looking mini. Nice blending, nice freehand etc.

Something I noticed is that you have highlighted all raised areas more or less the same. You could decide a direction from where the light falls on the mini and do brighter highlights where much light would hit the mini and less bright where not so much light would fall. You could also define the edges of the armour a bit more to make it look \"sharper\".

Just a few suggestions... (sorry, no cash ) hope it helps.

/Anders

 

[Legacy Account]

It\'s a good mini! Your photographs are a little dark - you could tweak the levels in P\'shop. I think you\'ve already nailed the areas you could work on! Oh, NMM gets you higher scores i have found. It\'s a matter of taste I know, but if it\'s well done it can get you another .5 upwards....

 

[U4-Welcome]

Needs more contrast. Deeper shades and/or higher highlights. Also, for some reason, I get the feeling that blue/yellow isn\'t a wholly appreciated color scheme on CMON.

 

[airhead]

Nice work, but the gap between 7\'s and 8\'s seems very wide.

The base is very good for a play piece, but not a display / diorama base that seems to be required for the top scores.

The banner has been mentioned.

The lamps/jewels need more internal light (a brighter green/red right in the center?)

The cream color does not look like it was highlighted. Light colors are tough that way. Overdo it and it looks wrong. Underdo it and it looks wrong also.

 

[Rab]

Thanks for the comments so far guys, some helpful stuff in there and thanks for the compliments.

@Ritual: Directional highlighting, hmmm, might be a bit beyond me at the moment but definitely something I\'ll look into in the future.

@Spacemunkie: It\'s difficult to judge just how bright to make the photos, personal preference and monitor settings all vary, but I\'ll push the brightness a bit more in future.

@ U4: I\'m always afraid to push the highlighting/shading too far, it\'s a difficult balance between real and cartoon and I do tend to err on the side of caution. I\'ll try and be more bold in future.

@Airhead: I know what you mean about the base, it\'s something I\'m just starting out on and will work at in the future. Better jewels - noted. The yellow is highlighted, almost up to pure white, but it\'s difficult to photograph, I probably need to work on my photography/photoshop skills too. As to the colour scheme, there\'s always going to be some people that don\'t like it I suppose.

I\'m not too hung up on the scores really, I\'m painting for myself, not as a job, but I\'m always looking for ways to improve.

Thanks again guys, you given me some good stuff to think about.

Cheers - Rab.

 

[airhead]

Originally posted by Rab
...As to the colour scheme, there\'s always going to be some people that don\'t like it I suppose....

I don\'t dislike the color scheme - in fact, I like it. I was just noting that light colors are more dificult to get right for photos and scores.
White is a genuine bear to deal with. (How to highlight white?)

 

[Rab]

Originally posted by airhead
I don\'t dislike the color scheme - in fact, I like it. I was just noting that light colors are more dificult to get right for photos and scores.
White is a genuine bear to deal with. (How to highlight white?)

Sorry Airhead, I should\'ve explained myself better. I didn\'t mean that you didn\'t like it, I realise it wasn\'t a criticism, just that no matter what colour scheme one chooses, there\'ll always be some people that don\'t like it.

I agree that light colours are definitely more difficult to photograph accurately. You could always ultraviolet to highlight white. Of course that means that only insects will be able to fully appreciate the miniature, but you can\'t have everything

Cheers - Rab.

 

[airhead]

Rab, it\'s OK. No harm, no foul. It just seems like lately I have been really harsh with other peoples minis. That is not my intention, but to help them. Tough love? I can see what they need yet mine still look like crap. Possibly a matter of talent?

Something about picking on a sliver in my brother\'s eye while I have a fence post in mine.

 

[finn17]

Personally I would go back to square one...

I think any painter has to ask themselves...am I painting for pleasure..or points? If it\'s just for pleasure, then I really think you have to forget about scores entirely and just ahve fun.

If you seriously want to start getting competitive then some time spent studying the \'top ten\' on this site is a good idea. Just keep asking the question, \"What is it about this mini that makes it a 9.4?\" or whatever.

You then have to consider what sorts of minis get the highest points There is no point in \'gilding a turd\'..as they say and there are some minis out there that even one of the \'Gods\' couldn\'t take to above a 7 or 8.

Saint Celestine was getting exceptionally high scores a while ago because it is such an excellent sculpt and relatively easy to get to a good standard. People are getting sick to death of it now though, and unless it is fantastically well done scores are suffering because of the over-exposure.

I firmly believe the mini should have a WOW factor before you even undercoat it if it is going to get into the 8s and 9s however.

Skilled, simple and effective conversions are also always worth another point it seems to me.

If I intended to make a serious assault on the higher scores, which I am not I would pick a figure such as Mirvilis d\'Allmoon from Rackham, stunning sculpt and there aren\'t enough of them out there yet for tedium to set in.

I have just checked and I can\'t find a single posted one to use as an example, but here is the image from the Rackham site.

The first nicely painted one of these to appear is guarenteed an 8+ because the sculpt alone is worth 2 points IMO.

(Mirvillis can summon the angel figure who then carries him aloft on a shield...the figures are shown separately here, but the whole Mirvillis-carrying angel set up is a minor work of art..)

 

[U4-Welcome]

Minor nitpicking

Message original : finn17
Sister Christina was getting exceptionally high scores a while ago because it is such an excellent sculpt and relatively easy to get to a good standard. People are getting sick to death of it now though, and unless it is fantastically well done scores are suffering because of the over-exposure.

You don\'t mean Saint Celestine, by any chance ? Because IIRC, Christina was getting pretty low scores...

 

[finn17]

You are quite right....I did mean Saint Celestine

Originally posted by U4-Welcome
You don\'t mean Saint Celestine, by any chance ? Because IIRC, Christina was getting pretty low scores...

Thanks for pointing that out Wealon...the Alzheimer\'s is finally getting a grip. I have edited my previous post

 

[tooshy]

Ahhh......

...they don\'t make em like that anymore Nice mini Rab - I\'ve voted and left a comment.

I really like it, but it\'s quite an old mini isn\'t it? Maybe something newer like Mr Finn has suggested (kinda) - something fresh to grab people\'s imagination.

You can obviously do great freehand, so I totally hate you now \'cos I can\'t do it to save my life

 

[Sturmhalo]

paint for fun, post here to share your work, screw the ratings system!

 

[Rab]

Originally posted by finn17
I think any painter has to ask themselves...am I painting for pleasure..or points? If it\'s just for pleasure, then I really think you have to forget about scores entirely and just ahve fun.

I firmly believe the mini should have a WOW factor before you even undercoat it if it is going to get into the 8s and 9s however.

Right, gotcha, it\'s going to be difficult to score highly with an older, less detailed miniature, especially one that\'s been seen a billion times before, makes sense really

To be honest, it\'s not about the ultimate score, it\'s about improving my skills, if it was a 6 I\'d be asking how to get to a 6.5, a 7, how to get a 7.5 etc. As you said Finn, it\'s about having fun.

I\'ve no illusions about my own abilities, and I don\'t expect to ever win any awards, but that\'s not why I paint any way. I paint because it\'s a creative outlet, like my 3D graphics stuff or my model cars.

Originally posted by tooshy
...they don\'t make em like that anymore Nice mini Rab - I\'ve voted and left a comment.

I really like it, but it\'s quite an old mini isn\'t it? Maybe something newer like Mr Finn has suggested (kinda) - something fresh to grab people\'s imagination.

You can obviously do great freehand, so I totally hate you now \'cos I can\'t do it to save my life

Cheers Tooshy, to be honest, I\'ve got piles of old, badly painted, miniatures and it\'s probably better to practice on them before ruining a new and expensive miniature

Sorry about the freehand thing, I won\'t do it again, I promise, please don\'t get the mole grips out, I\'ll be good.

Thanks again folks, you\'ve given me loads of great ideas for the future.

Cheers - Rab

 

[finn17]

Just my opinion...

Originally posted by Rab
Right, gotcha, it\'s going to be difficult to score highly with an older, less detailed miniature, especially one that\'s been seen a billion times before, makes sense really

I think every mini/sculpt has a \'ceiling\'. There are some sculpts that just stink and even Cyril et al could not raise much above their level. Others, like your titan have a ceiling, IMO, of about 8.5. So you are already doing extremely well...given the mini in question. But if you start off with a superb sculpt..you are already 25% of the way there.

A lot of people forget...this is \'Coolminiornot\'...not \'Coolpaintjobornot\':flip:

 

[Sturmhalo]

Formula for top marks:

1: One recently released figure by GW or Rackham (must be a big impressive hero type, preferably mounted)

2: Massive oversized display base that dwarfs the mini into insignificance.

3: Pointless freehand that probably doesn\'t fit with the figure but is impressive all the same.

4: SENMM

 

[finn17]

Hey! I thought I was the only cynical bastard around here?

:innocent:

 

[Rab]

Originally posted by finn17
Hey! I thought I was the only cynical bastard around here?:innocent:

I don\'t think cynical bastards are an endangered species on this forum Finn

Rab.

 

[Klute]

Finn17 is quite right.You just cant turn shit into gold.
For me to even buy a mini it has to appeal to me just from the sculpt.Even then I always try to do something with the paintjob that is unique for that mini if is a popular one.
Its taken a massive improvement to take my scores from 5-6 to 8 and I think it will take even more to take them to a 9.
I look at one of mine at say 8 then notice a huge jump in quality to others at 9.
the Titan.
the bottom right pic shows the celtic knot design.While you will get praise for doing freehand its got to be perfect to raise the score ( thats why theres none on my minis),this pic shows it to be a bit out of symetry.Brutal I know but its true.
I honestly think peeps here now would rarther knock a point off for it being wonky that give a one for trying it.
Start the \"bone\" colour from a darker shade as you cant really highlight further.
A final highlight on the blues is needed.Probably a selective edging highlight.
Use weapons to get an extra colour on the mini.Maybe some chrome?
I think the \"spikes\" on the back are screaming out to be a different colour but I dont know what.
As mentioned the banner doesnt work.
As it is I think it is scored really well at 7.8.
Its getting to be a lot to do with whats in fashion really.Ive been putting chrome on stuff recently and now I think people are sick of seeing that?I might start refining my sky earth metalics?