Warhammer empire state troop painting

[Abelbabel]

Hello

I am about to start up a Empire army for Warhammer. I like to paint but I need to speed up the painting process for the regular troopers. I own a evolution airbrush and I am thinking about using a zenital highlighting techniques. I use Vallejo colours. Has anyone attempted something similar? Any tips on what colours to use to get a good result. I have not decided upon a colour scheme yet but for those who know I am contemplating either a Hochland (red & green), Wissenland (white and grey) or Altdorf (red & blue) as suitable colours. I like speed when painting basic troopers but I also like a more realistic painting style (I know some consider such things weird when it come to a fantasy wargame).

Thanks for any advice, tips or suggestions.

/Max

 

[Cleezy]

A quick method a few people i know used would be to get a soft overlay spray of white from a certain angle then ink the main colours, giving you most of your shading/highlighting.

Another idea would be to airbrush the main colour as a basecoat then pick out the details. If i remember correctly Wissenland would be good for this, as qould hochland. But it could work for altdorf depending if you varied their scheme to say mainly blue with red detailing or vice versa.

The second one would probably be quickest imo as you would have the main colour on, then would just have to pick out the secondary colour details, weapons/armour pouches etc. Also it would be easy to shade/highlight.

 

[Farin]

first : welcome to the forum:beer:

So, about your question: i don´t own an airbrush myself (yet) , but one of the painters at my local game store does ( he´s a great painter, he recently wrote a guest article for the brushthralls site about blending) , and we once talked about how one could use it. In general , an airbrush can only be used ( at least that was his experience ) for models of a certain minimum size and with a simple basic geometry , for example tanks, other vehicles and dreadnoughts, and the big forhgeworld demons like that greater nurgle one.
For Models that are as small as the empire state troops, you can´t use them for highlighting and shading, simply because you would have to mask all areas you don´t wanna highlight, and that would be to much work, a brush is simply better here.

I think your idea with the zenithal lighting is the best way to go. I would simply use that technique to define shadows and lights and then use heavy glazes for painting. That way the undercoat won´t be covered completely by the colour and you should automaticly end up with basic shadows and highlights. ( i hope you know what im mean ).

Also i wouldn´t waste to much time on these models, rmeber they only have to llok good as part of a regiment.

as far as realism goes - if you mean a grime darker, worn out look, then we got the same taste. Maybe you should simply start by using desaturated colors: Mix some grey or brown or even undead flelsh or a bit green into your colors. Just experiment a little with combinations. also you can try the new Vallejo or GW glaces ( brown/ sepia or black ) or Privarteer Press P3 Armor wash to speed up the painting of the metal parts: If you want them to look gritty , try some thinned down orange /brown glaces for rust and dirt.

And color schemes: I like Altdorf. Wissenland sounds a bit boring, white and grey don´t have enough contrast IMHO. Hochland - well red and green is one of the strongest colour contrasts that is, and as long as you´t desatured one of the colors alot , i dare to say that it will look very shrill/flashy. I think that prussian blue and flat red would work well.

i hope that helps

 

[Abelbabel]

Do you think that it will be to much work to do the following:

- Spray the model black
- Spray the model dark blue
- Spray the model medium blue from straight above
- Mask of a bit of arms and perhaps legs with tape or blutac
- Spray the model dark red
- Spray the model red from straight above
- Paint the details with a brush

I am intending painting a army of 2000 points for starters.

Thanks again for everything and the good and swift replies.

/Max

 

[Farin]

Hmm...

again i think you will need a lot of time to mask the min with tape - plus tape is expensive , and you don´t wanna use cheap masking tape -i have bene warned about always to use the quality stuff , so iut doesn´t rip the paint of the mion when being removed.

I would do it this way

- spray them white
- spray the lighter of the two colors with your airbrush on the mini -in case of altdorf let´s say a light red. i´d use a mix of red, maybe with some greenish light brown in it to make it look less bright and more desaturated.I´m thinking of a light rust-like color

- paint the blue parts of the mini with the darker color, here a dark blue. The darker color will quickly cover the light red. To speed it up you could use the new GW foundations color. I tried the grey and they´re perfect for applying base colors since they very heavy pigmented ( dont ever use them for highlighting or shading - they´re not made for that !).

- use glaces to add shading : again the GW glaces are nice, but you can mix yourself a big batch by simply mixing VMC wood grain or a mix of red and brown ( i like sepia ) with alot of water and a bit of dish soap. Just brushb it on the blue and red parts supposed to be darker . if you do it on several mninis at sa time it will be failry quick . You should end up with dark red shadows for teh red and purpe shadows for the blue part

- you can speed paint the faces by applying one llight flesh color and teh shade it with a of sepia + purple glace ( at least that works for me as i´m doing a commisioon right now: barbarians from Privateer , lot´s of skin )


again , that´s just my opinion, maybe someone elsehas a different one

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Abelbabel
I own a evolution airbrush and I am thinking about using a zenital highlighting techniques. I use Vallejo colours. Has anyone attempted something similar?

I usually paint this way. The comments about masking are pretty much dead on - it\'s the main drawback to any use of the airbrush for mini painting, particularly if you\'re looking to speed up the process

One figure at a time the fact that it\'s a bit slow and tedious isn\'t much of a problem, but if you were doing multiples (esp. if you want them to be neat) masking takes time to do and time to remove. Plus you invariably have to clean up edges - some or all - after the masking is removed.

Despite what I\'ve said here I would definitely encourage you to try this regardless, since your standards for speed and tedium are individual; and the quality of the result might make it worth it to you.

Plus it\'s good practice even if you don\'t end up using it for armies!

Einion

 

[Abelbabel]

Thanks for the tips. We will se what happens when the models are painted.