Wolphebayte's WIP

[WolpheBayte]

Started bringing up the color with the jacket. Trying to figure out how to get the blends a little better. I am really thinning out my paint, just using water, but I am still seeing the occasional brush stroke. Trying to figure out how to do this and make it look smooth and natural. Thanks for looking. All advice is welcome.

View attachment 42220View attachment 42221

 

[ArchArad]

He's coming along nicely - just remember to leave some of the previous colour behind when you add the next layer of highlights. I had to redo the cape on my Bradigus Thorle about five times because I kept forgetting to control that!

Hmm - how much paint do you load onto your brush? Although that shouldn't leave brush marks, it's more likely to flood the mini. How much water do you use to thin? (rough ratio)

 

[WolpheBayte]

I am not sure if it is brush stroke, or I am putting on too many layers of the same color. I may also be delusional and expecting too much out of myself at this point.

I honestly am not sure what my ratio is. I usually thin the paint (for this one, it has mostly been reaper) so that when I run it across a white piece of paper, it is translucent. Last night I as thinking the issue may be the paint. When I get it thinned to a point that I like it, you can see the specs of the pigment in the paint. I usually load the brush, then run it across a piece of pallet paper till it is nice and even, without any pooling.

 

[ArchArad]

Sounds like you're painting at a glazing consistency. If you like that - which is cool - you may want to invest in some medium to prevent the pigment separation. Medium is basically pure binder - it's the paint without pigment, so adding it provides more binder to hold the pigments. Hand Cannon have a pretty good introduction to additives.

Hope this helps!

BTW: If I'm information dumping just let me know. It's sometimes hard to judge if I'm coming across too strong in comments.

 

[WolpheBayte]

Don't worry about it, I will take all of the help I can get. I was able to sit down last night and get in a couple of hours of uninterrupted painting.

Started to lighten the colors on the jacket.

View attachment 42280View attachment 42281

I took your recommendation ArchArad and started using a little glazing medium while thinning out my paint. I think helped a lot. Here is the jacket finally finished.

View attachment 42282View attachment 42283

I also decided that I really didn't like the skin tone, so I redid it. I also painted the hat and started on his shirt.

View attachment 42284View attachment 42285

Hopefully I will be able to finish this guy soon. As always, thanks for looking and all advice and criticism is welcome.

 

[ArchArad]

Looking good! The jacket looks great with the highlights - nicely placed by the way. You might want to put a slight highlight on his chin, cheeks and fingers. Just to give them some depth.

Keep it up!

 

[WolpheBayte]

Alright. I think I got him to a point I like him. Going to wait a couple of days and look at him again to make sure I am happy. I also need to build a base for him, but I have an idea for a diorama setting (which I have never done) and may hold off till I can try that out. We will see.

View attachment 42311View attachment 42312
(I apologize for the less than great pictures)

Now to figure out what to paint next...

 

[WolpheBayte]

I also just saw that I have to clean up his left finger too. And his buttons. Damn buttons.

 

[Sicks]

looking good taking a step away for a day or two then coming back is a good idea, i find it helps me alot if i can come back later and think i've still done my best on a mini then i'm happy, and also pesky digital cameras, they are very unforgiving when you see your own minis much closer up then you can in real life

 

[ArchArad]

Photos help to pick up things you've missed - but as Socks says, the zoom picks out imperfections that aren't noticeable in real life. I really like the holsters by the way - nice colours.

 

[Boguz]

Looks a lot better Wolf! My only suggestion would be to make the band on his had the same color as his hankerchief, which looks like a purple to me but could be I am not seeing it right in pic. I think some more color might just break up the model a bit and add some visual interest. Nice work!

 

[WolpheBayte]

Thank you for the comments and help. Always appreciated. I have a lot going on over the next couple of weeks, so I am not going to be able to get any painting done. I have a couple of Bones miniatures laying around that I got from GenCon a few years ago. I really don't like these things because they are so hard to clean and prep. I decided to get one of these out to practice some airbrushing on. I cleaned him up a little, but since I am using it for practice I didn't spend that much time on it. You can still see a pretty bad mold line on his right arm, and I got a little rough on his shoulder.

One of the paints I used is Minitaire line, which always go on glossy and make brushing over a pain. So I sprayed a coat of matte on it, but it left it looking a little grainy, not really sure what I did wrong. I may have had the psi set too low. Here is how far I got last night. Figured I can practice with some blending and glazing on him as will as trying some nmm, which I am horrible.

View attachment 42334View attachment 42335View attachment 42336View attachment 42337

 

[ArchArad]

Can't really help with airbrush issues I'm afraid. Don't have one and never used one.

It's a good idea to have a practice mini you can use for techniques. Let's see how he turns out - you might surprise yourself!

 

[oistene]

If the paint is grainy, it might be drying midair. Try to go closer or thin it more. I'm no expert either, but these are my best bets.

 

[KruleBear]

I like the gunslinger. It is a neat mini especially with the two extremely different pistols. And I symphasize with the Bones. I think they are 99% mold lines, but for the price the are decent practice minis.

 

[WolpheBayte]

Got a lot of work done last night on the ogre. Was able to clean up the skin, paint the "clothes", get the furs done, give his hair some color and do the armor plates. The armor was my first attempt at NMM. I was trying to make the it look really dull, so I used cooler colors and tried not to go to far with the contrast. I didn't get any good pictures of the gold, but I am not a fan of it. I think I am going to try to redo it. Not only does the gold not look good, but it looks a little too shiny for what I am going for. Still need to paint the leather straps and club. Please let me know what you think. All comments and critiques are welcome. Thanks again.

View attachment 42806View attachment 42807View attachment 42808View attachment 42809

 

[ten ball]

I like the mammoth image on his shield and the skin looks good also. Make sure you build up a smooth dry base coat before moving on to shades. It will help eliminate the slight grain your getting in places.

 

[WolpheBayte]

Thanks for the advice ten ball. I airbrushed the skin, and it looked to glossy to me. So, I hit it with some matte varnish, and then everything looked grainy. I am not sure what I did wrong that caused that. Other than that, for a mini I pulled out just to do some test stuff on, I am really having fun painting him.

 

[ArchArad]

Did you shake the matte varnish well before applying it? The additives that make the varnish matte settle out and you've got to get them back into suspension again. Just a thought.

He's turning out really well. Some highlights in the hair and beard will also help it stand out more.

 

[WolpheBayte]

@ArchArad - After doing a little reading, I think I was spraying too far away from the mini. It was drying before it hit him.

I was home sick yesterday, and decided to give this guy a try. Still working on the trying my hand at NMM. Though, if I am honest, I am not sure I am a fan. I was researching NMM online last night, and I think I prefer it on Sci-Fi models, and TMM on fantasy. Thanks for looking and all of the help so far. Let me know what you think.