kathrynloch
New member
It's the face that you want to really show off, so I'd go for the darker blue, that way you can highlight with gray.
The thread where MiJ posts pictures of his minis
- Thread starter me_in_japan
- Start date
dogfacedboy uk1
New member
Oh man, you're doing an Ork!!!! There are a few good ones already without you making life harder for me with your entry mate!!!! I am going to have to step up big time now.....
dfb
dfb
me_in_japan
New member
thanks everybody 
Well, today I'm a bit disappointed. Nothing major, but I just didnt get as much done as I had hoped. Mostly today was spent working on the banner. I spent a fair amount of time wrestling with the plinth, too. You'd have thought that painting a flat wooden cube black wouldnt pose too many problems, but no, issues were had. First, I only have brush-on gloss varnish, so I brushed it on. This left horrendous brush marks, so I then tried to get it off while it was wet. Mistake. I was left with a sticky streaky mess all over my supposed-to-be smooth plinth. I then had to scrape it all off with a knife, wait for the residue to dry, then sand it down again and respray with black again. I then tried diluting the varnish (which is rather gloopy) with some Tamiya thinner. (I did test various thinners on it, including water. Tamiya seemed ok in the blister pack I was testing em in). I then airbrushed this on, and got the wierdest thing I ever did see. The plinth itself was so-so ok (albeit a bit pitted looking) but the base scenery got covered in what I can only describe as teeny tiny cobwebs. On the plus side, if I ever need teeny tiny cobwebs on a mini, I now know what to do, but on the down side, I had to spend about an hour cleaning weirdy cobweby varnish residue offa my base today. Hmmn.
Anyway, some pics
Sorry for the paint and crap in the background. It's late and I dont have time to set up the photo stuff. A question: I intend to weather the banner significantly, and in fact the greenish blobs are masking fluid. The top part of the head is going to be a colour. Not sure which yet. The yellow teeth are going to have black hazard stripes on them. Bearing all this in mind, do you think it is too garish? I know, its kinda hard to say at the mo. Was just wondering if its already completely "aaargh omigod no"
View attachment 8097
View attachment 8098
One thing I did manage today was some pics in sunlight. They're a bit odd, tbh - I really need to sit down some time in the next week or so and learn to use this thing properly. Anyway, the colours at least are a bit more accurate. Here's the ork again - same as yesterday, only sunnier
View attachment 8099
I'll sign off here for now - I'm sitting here being watched by a humungous spider (maybe...10cm across?) and it's freaking me out.
Well, today I'm a bit disappointed. Nothing major, but I just didnt get as much done as I had hoped. Mostly today was spent working on the banner. I spent a fair amount of time wrestling with the plinth, too. You'd have thought that painting a flat wooden cube black wouldnt pose too many problems, but no, issues were had. First, I only have brush-on gloss varnish, so I brushed it on. This left horrendous brush marks, so I then tried to get it off while it was wet. Mistake. I was left with a sticky streaky mess all over my supposed-to-be smooth plinth. I then had to scrape it all off with a knife, wait for the residue to dry, then sand it down again and respray with black again. I then tried diluting the varnish (which is rather gloopy) with some Tamiya thinner. (I did test various thinners on it, including water. Tamiya seemed ok in the blister pack I was testing em in). I then airbrushed this on, and got the wierdest thing I ever did see. The plinth itself was so-so ok (albeit a bit pitted looking) but the base scenery got covered in what I can only describe as teeny tiny cobwebs. On the plus side, if I ever need teeny tiny cobwebs on a mini, I now know what to do, but on the down side, I had to spend about an hour cleaning weirdy cobweby varnish residue offa my base today. Hmmn.
Anyway, some pics
Sorry for the paint and crap in the background. It's late and I dont have time to set up the photo stuff. A question: I intend to weather the banner significantly, and in fact the greenish blobs are masking fluid. The top part of the head is going to be a colour. Not sure which yet. The yellow teeth are going to have black hazard stripes on them. Bearing all this in mind, do you think it is too garish? I know, its kinda hard to say at the mo. Was just wondering if its already completely "aaargh omigod no"
View attachment 8097
View attachment 8098
One thing I did manage today was some pics in sunlight. They're a bit odd, tbh - I really need to sit down some time in the next week or so and learn to use this thing properly. Anyway, the colours at least are a bit more accurate. Here's the ork again - same as yesterday, only sunnier
View attachment 8099
I'll sign off here for now - I'm sitting here being watched by a humungous spider (maybe...10cm across?) and it's freaking me out.
B
Broke n English
Guest
Isn't it weird what sunlight does to our little fellas ^^ Everything looks great Mij, glad to see a new WiP thread. Love the base for the Ork, cheers, BnE
Willdorling
New member
Hey MIJ,
Base looks cool and I really love the Ork flesh buddy. I am a fan of really dark shades on Orks so you've got the colours spot on for my liking. Not sure about the blue but then I am used to the traditional red or yellow colour schemes for Orks so it may just be something new to my eyes!
Keep going matey, I like your mini's so am sure you'll make it rock whatever.
Cheers
Will
Base looks cool and I really love the Ork flesh buddy. I am a fan of really dark shades on Orks so you've got the colours spot on for my liking. Not sure about the blue but then I am used to the traditional red or yellow colour schemes for Orks so it may just be something new to my eyes!
Keep going matey, I like your mini's so am sure you'll make it rock whatever.
Cheers
Will
me_in_japan
New member
Thanks all for your comments
Here's what I did today. 2 things, really - I re-did his vest in a darker colour, and painted the top bit of the banner. I also darkened the blue in the banner, and did 1 tooth (toof?) worth of black stripes. The black stripes are going to be an issue, as my freehand skills are next to nonexistant. Does anybody have any advice about how to paint nice neat lines on a mini?
View attachment 8122
View attachment 8123
The red and blue will ultimately (I hope) be toned down significantly by extensive weathering with oil paints and pigments. I intend for the banner to be pretty rusty. I'm not sure if it will take too much attention away from his face, but at the mo its impossible to tell. I'll try to get as much of the base colouring done this week so I crack on with the weathering and whatnot next week. Anyway. That's all for today. More tomorrow
Here's what I did today. 2 things, really - I re-did his vest in a darker colour, and painted the top bit of the banner. I also darkened the blue in the banner, and did 1 tooth (toof?) worth of black stripes. The black stripes are going to be an issue, as my freehand skills are next to nonexistant. Does anybody have any advice about how to paint nice neat lines on a mini?
View attachment 8122
View attachment 8123
The red and blue will ultimately (I hope) be toned down significantly by extensive weathering with oil paints and pigments. I intend for the banner to be pretty rusty. I'm not sure if it will take too much attention away from his face, but at the mo its impossible to tell. I'll try to get as much of the base colouring done this week so I crack on with the weathering and whatnot next week. Anyway. That's all for today. More tomorrow
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B
Broke n English
Guest
It's deffo Toof ^^ For neat lines, maybe try a line of dots first? Then join the suckers up, just a thought, I may go try it now in fact
kathrynloch
New member
Have you ever had a conversation with a "non-artist" and they say something like, "I can't even draw a straight line." Actually, hardly anyone can draw a straight line without a ruler.
I practiced by drawing castles on paper without a ruler. Basically you make really short strokes and always base it from the last one. It's hard to describe but I don't allow the stroke to go over half the length of the one before it. I also have an easier time if I turn the mini so I'm painting vertically rather than going left to right. Vertically allows my fingers to move without my hand in the way. Also, I always have my hand on the table because of the hand tremors but that also helps when drawing a straight line when you don't have hand tremors.
I did the straight lines on the shield freehand. They may look off because the shield is curved but they're not.
I practiced by drawing castles on paper without a ruler. Basically you make really short strokes and always base it from the last one. It's hard to describe but I don't allow the stroke to go over half the length of the one before it. I also have an easier time if I turn the mini so I'm painting vertically rather than going left to right. Vertically allows my fingers to move without my hand in the way. Also, I always have my hand on the table because of the hand tremors but that also helps when drawing a straight line when you don't have hand tremors.
I did the straight lines on the shield freehand. They may look off because the shield is curved but they're not.
me_in_japan
New member
just a quick update - no pics today (sorry)
I spent the bulk of the time this evening masking off bits for painting and it hasnt come off some of the pieces yet, so pics would be pretty pointless . Such is the way of things with the airbrush. I've done the banner (some symbols that I cut out of masking tape) and I've rubbed off most of the masking fluid. So far I'm reasonably happy with how its looking, but I need to clean the masking fluid off more thoroughly before I continue. Tomorrow I'll get to spraying the base and his gun, which I intend to largely do by AB due to it being mostly metal and me having a whole passel of VMA metallic paint kicking about Lovely stuff, but ya gotta use the right thinner or Bad Things happen.
So, tomorrow more pressurised fun and hopefully a pic or two.
PS - Kath - that's a very good idea about painting stripes vertically. I can see how that would help a lot. I'll be doing that once the airbrush work is finished. Thanks! As for the hand on the table, thats very sound advice, too. I always seem to end up lifting the mini closer to my face and squinting at it. I probably need glasses or something. Or maybe one of those mad-scientist magnifying glasses might be a good idea...
- BnE - That aint a bad idea either. I have plenty of teef. Maybe I can try different techniques on each one and see which one looks best
I spent the bulk of the time this evening masking off bits for painting and it hasnt come off some of the pieces yet, so pics would be pretty pointless
. Such is the way of things with the airbrush. I've done the banner (some symbols that I cut out of masking tape) and I've rubbed off most of the masking fluid. So far I'm reasonably happy with how its looking, but I need to clean the masking fluid off more thoroughly before I continue. Tomorrow I'll get to spraying the base and his gun, which I intend to largely do by AB due to it being mostly metal and me having a whole passel of VMA metallic paint kicking about Lovely stuff, but ya gotta use the right thinner or Bad Things happen.So, tomorrow more pressurised fun and hopefully a pic or two.
PS - Kath - that's a very good idea about painting stripes vertically. I can see how that would help a lot. I'll be doing that once the airbrush work is finished. Thanks! As for the hand on the table, thats very sound advice, too. I always seem to end up lifting the mini closer to my face and squinting at it. I probably need glasses or something. Or maybe one of those mad-scientist magnifying glasses might be a good idea...
- BnE - That aint a bad idea either. I have plenty of teef. Maybe I can try different techniques on each one and see which one looks best
SkelettetS
New member
yay, cool to see another version of probably the coolest ork mini out there great base too!
as for the freehand, some paint retarder is a must if you dont have that you should buy it asap. make live easier.
cant wait to see updates
great base too!as for the freehand, some paint retarder is a must if you dont have that you should buy it asap. make live easier.
cant wait to see updates
me_in_japan
New member
Evening, all
Thanks for the advice, Skel. I don't have any paint retarder, but I do have stuff like glaze medium and matt medium - would either of these do? I only got these two a week or so ago, so I'm still learning about what they can do.
Still not very much to show today. Airbrushing often seems to me to be 90% putting on and taking off mask, and 10% actual painting, but still, it usually all comes together eventually.
So, two pics - the banner (in all its chipped-painty glory) and the gun. The banner still needs to be gone over with oils and pigments, as does the gun, and the gun is also going to get the chipped paint treatment, too. I'm getting a bit fed up with the AB now, so hopefully that'll be the end of it. Oh, I also did the same metallic effect on the base as the gun, but there's no pics as it (like the gun) just looks like I sprayed it with boltgun metal. I didnt - honest! There are 4 shades of metallic on there, plus a brown ink wash!
anyway - pics:
View attachment 8165View attachment 8166
I reckon I went well overboard with the chipping. Other than that, does anybody have any input or suggestions for where to go with this?
incidentally, in my late evening brain-failing state I got a "great idea! yeah, that'll work" brain spasm, and used masking tape to mask of the black stripes for the teef. No idea if it worked or not, cos the masking fluid overdose made the whole "straight line" issue moot I think I'll go back and just paint in some stripes by hand, as there are some teef there with hardly any stripiness at all, and it kinda nixes the effect. Likewise, there was actually an ultramarines symbol on the blue bit and a kinda imperial eagle/blood drop symbol on the red, but (again) the masking fluid broke up the outlines so much as to just make em random white bits on the mini. I rather liked the idea of the banner being made of bitz of space marine tanks Ho hum, lesson learned, I suppose.
So - tomorrow will be regular painting with regular paint and a regular brush. Beltwork or maybe the knife, I reckon. Or, maybe the gun. I'll see what kinda mood I'm in...
Thanks for the advice, Skel. I don't have any paint retarder, but I do have stuff like glaze medium and matt medium - would either of these do? I only got these two a week or so ago, so I'm still learning about what they can do.
Still not very much to show today. Airbrushing often seems to me to be 90% putting on and taking off mask, and 10% actual painting, but still, it usually all comes together eventually.
So, two pics - the banner (in all its chipped-painty glory) and the gun. The banner still needs to be gone over with oils and pigments, as does the gun, and the gun is also going to get the chipped paint treatment, too. I'm getting a bit fed up with the AB now, so hopefully that'll be the end of it. Oh, I also did the same metallic effect on the base as the gun, but there's no pics as it (like the gun) just looks like I sprayed it with boltgun metal. I didnt - honest! There are 4 shades of metallic on there, plus a brown ink wash!
anyway - pics:
View attachment 8165View attachment 8166
I reckon I went well overboard with the chipping. Other than that, does anybody have any input or suggestions for where to go with this?
incidentally, in my late evening brain-failing state I got a "great idea! yeah, that'll work" brain spasm, and used masking tape to mask of the black stripes for the teef. No idea if it worked or not, cos the masking fluid overdose made the whole "straight line" issue moot
I think I'll go back and just paint in some stripes by hand, as there are some teef there with hardly any stripiness at all, and it kinda nixes the effect. Likewise, there was actually an ultramarines symbol on the blue bit and a kinda imperial eagle/blood drop symbol on the red, but (again) the masking fluid broke up the outlines so much as to just make em random white bits on the mini. I rather liked the idea of the banner being made of bitz of space marine tanks Ho hum, lesson learned, I suppose.So - tomorrow will be regular painting with regular paint and a regular brush. Beltwork or maybe the knife, I reckon. Or, maybe the gun. I'll see what kinda mood I'm in...
me_in_japan
New member
Amen to that - I have to say that using the airbrush on this mini was, all in all, a bit of a hummer of a mistake. Today is another no-pic day, because I spent most of the evening picking masking fluid out of his gun hand. As you can see from the pic I posted yesterday, his whole gun hand and gun were ABd metallic. The hand had previously been (painstakingly!) painted, with full bells n whistles highlighting/shading/colour glazes etc. Upon attempting to remove the masking fluid I found it next to impossible to get off, and in some places even when scraping with a knife it was being rather stubborn. So, once I got it off I needed to repaint the hand from scratch. Dat's wit oi did t'day. I also painted his gun strap and wrist band brown, and blocked in some yellow on the gun, but none of it is really picture worthy.
So, coupling the above evening of self-inflicted frustration with a rather nagging headache caused by stupid working hours (11 hours a day, with no breaks. I know folks out there have it worse, but it's still pretty knackering) I'm now feeling like a right old grumpy boots. I'll be fine after a good night's sleep, but that aint happening till saturday night. Till then, I must ganbaru...
So, coupling the above evening of self-inflicted frustration with a rather nagging headache caused by stupid working hours (11 hours a day, with no breaks. I know folks out there have it worse, but it's still pretty knackering) I'm now feeling like a right old grumpy boots. I'll be fine after a good night's sleep, but that aint happening till saturday night. Till then, I must ganbaru...
me_in_japan
New member
Ha! That's what happens when ya don't post pics. Nobody comments. Fair enough, mind you. Can't say much if there's nowt to talk about
Anyway, my apologies, but this is a bit of a non-post. I'm not sure about the etiquette on such things - please let me know if it's better to just keep schtum. To cut a long story short, it's been a long day and I figure it's better if I go to bed and sleep rather than paint. Razzinfrazzin late-night meetings Not to worry - there's nowt wrong that a good night's sleep won't sort out, so I will be back tomorrow evening after hopefully having spent all tomorrow afternoon beavering away on Orkychops.
Anyway, my apologies, but this is a bit of a non-post. I'm not sure about the etiquette on such things - please let me know if it's better to just keep schtum. To cut a long story short, it's been a long day and I figure it's better if I go to bed and sleep rather than paint. Razzinfrazzin late-night meetings
Not to worry - there's nowt wrong that a good night's sleep won't sort out, so I will be back tomorrow evening after hopefully having spent all tomorrow afternoon beavering away on Orkychops.
B
Broke n English
Guest
Rant on brother! No etiquette on blathering really is there It looks solid man Shame about the ultra and the blood drop, can't you repaint them in? Hope you have some fun on chops tonight, look foward to ze pics.
It looks solid man Shame about the ultra and the blood drop, can't you repaint them in? Hope you have some fun on chops tonight, look foward to ze pics.
kathrynloch
New member
hehehe...hang in there hun! I didn't comment because you seemed to have everything nailed down on your own. The problems with the mask you seem to have figured out (I had the same problem on one of my minis, Einion suggested I put it on too thin and carefully - ya gotta kinda glop it on there so you have something to grab and pull off). Plus if it's latex, it will stick to itself. So if you pull off some and make a little ball and use that to help get the rest off, it might work better. I think it will also come off with those crumbly erasers. Not the kneadable ones but the Art Gum erasers.
View attachment 8227
View attachment 8227
me_in_japan
New member
howdy folks
Thanks for the reassurances that that The World cares
I've been using a clay shaper tool to get the masking fluid off, and it works ok. ish. kinda. I think it was more my placement of the gloop than my removal method that caused the problems, but I might see if I can get me one of those kinda erasers as there's an art store not far from where i live. (small town in rural japan. 3 art stores within 10mins bike ride of my house, and more nepalese/indian restaurants than you can shake a stick at. Not that I'm compaining, mind. If I did nothing but paint and eat curry for the rest of my life I'd be a happy camper indeed.)
but I digress...
Today I did a kinda mish mash of various things. To whit:
Teef (actual ones in his mouth, as opposed to metal ones on the banner)
boots (not the metal bits, yet)
Gun stripes, fingernails, touch up work on the gun-hand
wee bits and bobs on the banner that needed more chipping effects
some of his leather straps (base coat only)
So, here's how he looks. Sorry - dark pics again.
View attachment 8264View attachment 8265View attachment 8266View attachment 8267View attachment 8268
His hand isnt really that intensely coloured. Photoshop auto-leveling, I'm looking at you here...
Also, both the left and right hands will look a bit odd due to being photographed at a different orientation then Pshopped upright. I mean, the light isnt shining straight down on them as you look at them in these pics, and their highlighting isnt at the top, either. (e.g. the gun hand is actually pointing down in the mini, but was pointing up when I took this photo, and is now pointing sideways. Confused? Me too...)
I have a couple of questions:
Should I do his shoulder pads metal or hazard stripes? Either way, there will be lots of weathering. I dunno if I made this clear before, but when I say "weathering" I mean oil paints and pigments all over the place. He's going to be filthy by the end of this. The shoulders are particularly important as they frame his head.
Should I do all the straps black (as they largely are now) or lighten them up to a kinda tan/beige colour? This could be heavily shaded so it looks more kinda tan highlights, dark brown, or whatever folks think would work.
Finally, I was thinking to do the scabbard a kind of pale-but-warm beige, animal skin kinda of colour. Should I? Or would grey or something be better?
Thanks for the reassurances that that The World cares
I've been using a clay shaper tool to get the masking fluid off, and it works ok. ish. kinda. I think it was more my placement of the gloop than my removal method that caused the problems, but I might see if I can get me one of those kinda erasers as there's an art store not far from where i live. (small town in rural japan. 3 art stores within 10mins bike ride of my house, and more nepalese/indian restaurants than you can shake a stick at. Not that I'm compaining, mind. If I did nothing but paint and eat curry for the rest of my life I'd be a happy camper indeed.)
but I digress...
Today I did a kinda mish mash of various things. To whit:
Teef (actual ones in his mouth, as opposed to metal ones on the banner)
boots (not the metal bits, yet)
Gun stripes, fingernails, touch up work on the gun-hand
wee bits and bobs on the banner that needed more chipping effects
some of his leather straps (base coat only)
So, here's how he looks. Sorry - dark pics again.
View attachment 8264View attachment 8265View attachment 8266View attachment 8267View attachment 8268
His hand isnt really that intensely coloured. Photoshop auto-leveling, I'm looking at you here...
Also, both the left and right hands will look a bit odd due to being photographed at a different orientation then Pshopped upright. I mean, the light isnt shining straight down on them as you look at them in these pics, and their highlighting isnt at the top, either. (e.g. the gun hand is actually pointing down in the mini, but was pointing up when I took this photo, and is now pointing sideways. Confused? Me too...)
I have a couple of questions:
Should I do his shoulder pads metal or hazard stripes? Either way, there will be lots of weathering. I dunno if I made this clear before, but when I say "weathering" I mean oil paints and pigments all over the place. He's going to be filthy by the end of this. The shoulders are particularly important as they frame his head.
Should I do all the straps black (as they largely are now) or lighten them up to a kinda tan/beige colour? This could be heavily shaded so it looks more kinda tan highlights, dark brown, or whatever folks think would work.
Finally, I was thinking to do the scabbard a kind of pale-but-warm beige, animal skin kinda of colour. Should I? Or would grey or something be better?
me_in_japan
New member
OK - some progress, finally! Pics first, waffle later:
View attachment 8296View attachment 8295View attachment 8297View attachment 8294View attachment 8298View attachment 8293
I stuck him together temporarily for these pics.
So, gun, banner and base weathering is done. All of these still have a few details to do (pipes, wires etc.) but are pretty much almost finished. The main body got the shoulders done (in the absence of any other opinions I went for stripes. He's kinda developing a bit of a stripey theme.) as well as the boot-metal and some buckles. The metals on the body haven't been weathered yet, but will get the same treatment as the other metal bits.
Optimistically, he may actually be finished by the 24th - hoorah!
OK, so - I have a few questions:
Is the base too boring? It's pretty monochrome, but then, it's a base. Do I want more bling on it?
Should I keep his straps black, or do them in another neutral colour?
Is there anything else you think really needs doing/changing with the mini?
Thanks all for any ideas you may have
View attachment 8296View attachment 8295View attachment 8297View attachment 8294View attachment 8298View attachment 8293
I stuck him together temporarily for these pics.
So, gun, banner and base weathering is done. All of these still have a few details to do (pipes, wires etc.) but are pretty much almost finished. The main body got the shoulders done (in the absence of any other opinions I went for stripes. He's kinda developing a bit of a stripey theme.) as well as the boot-metal and some buckles. The metals on the body haven't been weathered yet, but will get the same treatment as the other metal bits.
Optimistically, he may actually be finished by the 24th - hoorah!
OK, so - I have a few questions:
Is the base too boring? It's pretty monochrome, but then, it's a base. Do I want more bling on it?
Should I keep his straps black, or do them in another neutral colour?
Is there anything else you think really needs doing/changing with the mini?
Thanks all for any ideas you may have
kathrynloch
New member
Hey MiJ - the orc skin is looking fantastic! I really like the shading and highlights - you've got some pop going on there. The only thing that's bugging me is the banner - the problem is I can't nail down why. I know - big help huh? lol! Sorry but there's just something that's hitting me as off.
For you're base, it is a little bland but I'm thinking if you add some pitiful, scrawny, more dead than alive weeds it will add just a touch of green to offset all that rust. Put them on the ground of course but also in the nooks and crannies, you know growing in a tiny amount of soil that's gathered on top of the machine. Because green is a complementary color, just a little should give you some nice contrast.
For you're base, it is a little bland but I'm thinking if you add some pitiful, scrawny, more dead than alive weeds it will add just a touch of green to offset all that rust. Put them on the ground of course but also in the nooks and crannies, you know growing in a tiny amount of soil that's gathered on top of the machine. Because green is a complementary color, just a little should give you some nice contrast.
