[Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

Yeah, don’t set your expectations too high for your first figs. Just take your time and learn from your mistakes and keep going.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by $iljanus »

I’m planning on practicing on my Flashpoint Fire Rescue minis which aren’t as detailed as the Core Space crews but they have enough interesting features to try some highlighting.

Edit: Called an audible and priming everything but starting with some of the easier Core Space stuff.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Zarathud »

Ended up stumbling onto an excellent Reaper/Army Painter/Vallejo paint bottle organizer. The 9.5 x 6.75 in. Ikea Variera holds 52 paint bottles, has handles above the top of the bottles, and looks like it will stack. This impulse buy has become more useful than the Desk Wizard kickstarter keeping my most used paints accessible. Best of all -- $3.

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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

I wish Ikea didn't extort people on shipping. They have so many great game/painting items that get recommended constantly.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by $iljanus »

I picked this up (made by Sterilite) today at a hardware store to store my paints and assorted supplies along with some free wooden paint stirrers to stick my minis on for priming. I asked for 4 (had two at home), not wanting to seem too weird by asking for, say, 10 of them.

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Was only $8.19 and actually I can see buying more for storing some board game bits. Would be perfect for the Core Space stuff.

And I finished priming the first batch of figures! The primer went on pretty easily on the Core Space stuff but definitely needed to do a second coat for the Flashpoint figs. Used controlled bursts and took my time with it. Will take some pics and all opinions welcome.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Smoove_B »

Blackhawk wrote: Sat Nov 21, 2020 5:18 pm I wish Ikea didn't extort people on shipping. They have so many great game/painting items that get recommended constantly.
I just picked this up for keeping my painting stuff organized on my desk. It was only $5 to ship ($24 total). Would recommend.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by $iljanus »

Soooo...I have a initial set of minis primed and even better I'm almost done with 5 Core Space harvesters. I didn't have the correct paint color for the harvesters so I decided to go my own way. But first, here's a pic of some primed minis:

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I used Army Painter Uniform Grey. I almost don't want to paint them because the primer did such a nice job in bringing out the details. Needless to say, I put in a order for some other color primers. I have a bunch of Terminators in my Terminator Genisys game which will get primed with plate mail metal and that should be a really easy way to get them ready for the table with just some washes and detailing.

So since I didn't have the recommended color for the harvesters I decided on just having a bit of fun and went with what I'm calling the Deadpool palette. Here are two figs with a simple red, black and some small highlights finished off with a dark tone wash.

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I was really impressed with how easily the matte black from Army Painter went on and brought out the details in the "spine" of the harvester.

I also had my first (and I'm sure not the only) use of the amazing Simple Green. For my first foray I wanted to use a matte white for a Stormtrooper like vibe. I probably should have primed them white if I wanted to go that route because the grey really showed through the paint. Not unexpected for a first coat so I put on a second coat but not much improvement. A third coat was definitely not the answer because it of course turned into a white almost featureless mess. Then I decided to wash it with the strong tone and it looked like it was rolled around in the dirt and not quite the effect I wanted. At that point it was after midnight so I decided what the hell, lets put some metallic paint that I got for highlighting on there in order to hide my painting sins. :D On the plus side, the metallic paint really went on well so I'm looking forward to using it. On the not so plus side it was a hot bronze mess. I had bought a jug of Simply Green earlier, figuring that I was going to be needing it and at 2 in the morning in to a jar filled with Simple Green it went and off to bed I went. At a more reasonable hour I rinsed and brushed the mini and all was well! Did a quick repriming and now it looks as good as its compatriots.

There are more Purge figures which I'll tackle next since they're a little simpler to paint before going to Trader crews. Quick question, what do y'all do for painting black hair? Just a simple matte black with some drybrushing of perhaps a brown or grey? The Dangerous Days Core Space book has tips for blond hair but I would prefer not to have a crew of blonde Aryans. :P

All my paints, primer and washes so far are from Army Painter but I'm waiting on a Vallejo game color intro set to arrive. I did manage to put mixing balls into each vial since I've heard things about how you really have to shake the crap out of Army Painter paint.

Also waiting on some Testors Dullcote but I also have some Army Painter matte varnish and a gloss varnish as well for certain effects I may want to add. The weather this week is a bit wet so I'm not too keen on spraying varnish, hence the brush on stuff. Can always use some tips on varnishing as well since I would like not to screw things up too badly at the very end!

All in all, pretty happy with my first attempts at painting. Looking to honing my technique as I do more. And of course if it all goes pear shaped, into the Simple Green you go! If only all our problems were that simple to fix...

Oh, a wet palette is the best invention ever! Really nice to be able to go back to the same blob of paint again and again.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

Awesome start! You made good color choices, and you have good brush control for a first set of miniatures. The priming shot looks good, too. Most people do it way too heavily. Unless you're going for contrast paints, there's no need to get 100% coverage. For constructive criticism, work a bit on cleaning up the seams.

Army Painter brush on matte varnish is what I use, along with a gloss and a satin (and I sometimes add Future floor polish if I want a really glossy item.) I dislike spray varnishes unless it's a massive item (like terrain), and I've had Testor's go yellow after long periods.

Black hair is probably the single hardest color of hair to paint. Don't highlight it and it looks like a hat. Highlight it and they look elderly. The real secret is subtle highlights with just a hint of blue painted directly onto the 'shine.'

For black and white:





If you haven't, that specific series is excellent for learning painting techniques.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by $iljanus »

Thanks for the compliment, criticism and tips, BH! I’ll definitely look at the videos which are quite appreciated since I waded through a couple from various searches and good ones can be few and far between.

I remember somewhere in this thread you mentioning not to use dullcote so I had ordered the AP varnish. Glad to know you use it too.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

$iljanus wrote: Mon Nov 23, 2020 9:40 pm I’ll definitely look at the videos which are quite appreciated since I waded through a couple from various searches and good ones can be few and far between.
To save you some time.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by $iljanus »

Blackhawk wrote: Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:20 pm
$iljanus wrote: Mon Nov 23, 2020 9:40 pm I’ll definitely look at the videos which are quite appreciated since I waded through a couple from various searches and good ones can be few and far between.
To save you some time.
Cool! Something to watch when I do some painting tonight when everyone finally goes to bed!
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by AWS260 »

I have started sucking on my brushes to keep the points pointy when I am painting. Good or bad?
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

Dr. Faust has been one of the most consistent YouTube painters I've found, and he does a good job of instructing. Some of the others (Miniac) are excellent, but their antics and attitude get on my nerves after a while. Dr. Faust has a much more... mature presentation. This series was HeroForge (a custom minis company) hiring him to produce a set of videos to get people into the hobby.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

AWS260 wrote: Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:31 pm I have started sucking on my brushes to keep the points pointy when I am painting. Good or bad?
Lots of painters do that. I don't, but it isn't frowned on. Just don't ask Smoove about your wash water, and pay attention to what you use on the brush. Acrylic paint is generally considered non-toxic, but once you start using other mediums, flow improver, retarders, varnishes, and so forth on the brush, who knows?
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Smoove_B »

The look good to me. Must be those laboratory hands - steady and precise. :D

And yeah, knowing how well Simple Green works, it takes the pressure off - nothing you can do that can't be undone with a dip.

For black hair I just avoid it and will usually undercoat it something else and then drybrush black onto the head. Obviously you need to pick the right undercoat (like a brown), but I can never seem to get it to work in reverse. But I'll check out that video too. Always up for learning new stuff.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Smoove_B »

AWS260 wrote: Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:31 pm I have started sucking on my brushes to keep the points pointy when I am painting. Good or bad?
Might I suggest some light holiday reading? You can watch the movie instead if you'd prefer it. :wink:
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

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Luckily, I paint exclusively using pigments extracted from local mushrooms.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by $iljanus »

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:41 pm The look good to me. Must be those laboratory hands - steady and precise. :D

And yeah, knowing how well Simple Green works, it takes the pressure off - nothing you can do that can't be undone with a dip.

For black hair I just avoid it and will usually undercoat it something else and then drybrush black onto the head. Obviously you need to pick the right undercoat (like a brown), but I can never seem to get it to work in reverse. But I'll check out that video too. Always up for learning new stuff.
Since Core Space is in the distant future perhaps purple hair is all the rage?

All those years pipetting into small wells and harvesting spleens and thymi from mice finally came in handy!
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

AWS260 wrote: Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:31 pm I have started sucking on my brushes to keep the points pointy when I am painting. Good or bad?
Welcome to the club.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

This gives a basic idea of what to do with black hair, although it's got the Warhammer Problem (Warhammer people assuming that everyone else is a Warhammer person), so you'll have to translate the colors (Nuln Oil could be any black wash - I use Vallejo, and Army Painter Dark Shade in the dropper would work, too.)

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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by $iljanus »

The more I think about it, the more I’m thinking about using some strange color like “Abomination Gore” for hair. (I think it’s the fancy name for “red”).
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

Cross Firefly and cyberpunk. Cybperpunk, at the very least, has a rainbow of hair colors.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Zarathud »

There are some sites with paint color conversions.

I use the Army Painter and Reaper thicker paints because I have no patience with multiple coats and the Reaper Traids were great starts on how to highlight and shade. Now I usually just wash and highlight.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

Tonight’s work...I need to re-do the brick work. Not happy with how it came out.

Image
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

Nice job on the rust. Did you do that with a sponge?

/edit - also, nice job on getting the retro green color right.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

Blackhawk wrote: Tue Nov 24, 2020 9:57 am Nice job on the rust. Did you do that with a sponge?

/edit - also, nice job on getting the retro green color right.
No sponge. It was an old Army Painter regiment brush that had outlived its usefulness, and some Typhus corrosion. Got some on the brush, blotted the tip against some paper towel so it wasn't in a point, and just lightly dabbed. Some Nuln Oil on the shiny bits, and some agrax earth shade on the base color (started on the bottom and painted up so the grime would pool at the lower points of the model.)
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

Image
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

Relatable.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by $iljanus »

So had a little father daughter mini painting session. I continued working on some Purge Core Space minis while my daughter painted a Flashpoint Fire Rescue mini.

So the Purge minis I was working on (forget the name at the moment but they look intimidating) actually called for the "Deadpool" black and red theme. Since I already used it for the Harvesters I decided to go for a Cylon-ish (the RJM series) metallic look, having been inspired by the dry brushing tutorial video Blackhawk posted. Was going for a worn metallic looking armor motif. I kind of liked that since it was easy to basecoat and dry brush the entire mini then practice adding some simple detailing. Here's the result:

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The basecoat was a Army Painter black and Vallejo Gunmetal Grey blend. Army Painter Plate Mail Grey metallic (I think) was used for the dry brushing. I did a strong tone wash on one of the figs but I preferred the lighter color of the armor so I didn't wash the other mini.

Here's my daughter's work. She still has to do some additional detailing but I'm pretty happy with the result (and a proud daddy as well!):

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So my color primer spray cans came in and when it gets drier around here I'm going to prime my Terminator figs with some chain mail primer, dry brush and maybe a wash and have some fun detailing all the fun small bits. Looking forward to that since it I can bang out the primer and dry brushing rather quick.

Just two more different Purge figs to go then off to painting the Trader crews which I'm both excited and nervous about.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

Great figs to practice on, for both of you. One idea for your shades/washes...you can put the wash just around areas like joints and seams rather than the whole figure. Can help give some definition and shading and keep the overall brightness of the figure.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by $iljanus »

hentzau wrote: Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:07 pm Great figs to practice on, for both of you. One idea for your shades/washes...you can put the wash just around areas like joints and seams rather than the whole figure. Can help give some definition and shading and keep the overall brightness of the figure.
Thanks, that's a good point! I did end up buying the Purge Reinforcements expansion so I can put that to use with those figures. Looking forward to when I finally finish the figs in the starter set so I can actually play the darned thing.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

This is an experiment. I have a painting camera set up for Hentzau's Zoom nights, and am trying using it for showing my work instead of photographing them. I've got a possible solution for the weird wave effect already.

These are the pieces I'm working on now, from the New California expansion for the Fallout board game. None of them are close to done yet.

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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by YellowKing »

I have yet to play Core Space as I'm still working through mine as well. I did get all the enemies and one crew done from the base set, though, so I may go ahead and play at least one learning session this weekend.

I do plan on re-basing them on clear acrylic, however, as I think that will look stellar on the play mat.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

Tonight’s work...

Image
Image

I’ll get a zoom session set up for next week.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

And one more.

Image
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by YellowKing »

Well, my experimentation with re-basing the Core Space miniatures on clear acrylic was a success. My primary concern was how "spindly" the Harvesters were, so I wasn't sure if they'd hold up.

I used a hair dryer to soften the base and then did some painstaking cutting away while trying not to warp the legs (which wasn't easy). However, I think the end result was worth it:

Image

I used Gorilla Glue gel, which worked really well. Even though I got a little sloppy on this guy, you can't tell it unless you're right up on it, and there was no fogging at all.

It's a LOT of work but I think it's going to be worth it for this game.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

Nice job! I've been trying for a couple of months now to decide whether to use acrylic bases on Core Space (I am with both Batman and Conan, but skipped them on Sword & Sorcery), or go with molded bases with appropriate detail (I already have the bases/base stamps/putty.)
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$iljanus
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by $iljanus »

I think clear bases really add to the game, YK. It does a good job showing off the Battlesystems terrain. That said, I will not be doing that with my minis for the foreseeable future, content with living through your talented work! :D

On another note, do any of you put brush on varnish on your wet palette? I haven’t but if there’s no downside I may start doing that. I just haven’t because it’s varnish (Army Painter non gloss matte varnish) and didn’t know if the paper would have issues with it.

And on an even more exciting note I finished one Purge group and a crew so I think I’ll finally play the intro scenario sometime in the future. The way things are set up I actually have more opportunities to paint a mini vs actually playing a game. The civilians aren’t painted just primed but at this point I’m not too concerned.

I also primed my Terminator minis with chain mail primer and they actually look awesome enough to bring to table. I might play around with giving one a wash and ominous red eyes but I really like how they turned out with just primer. I’ll post some pics shortly. The Terminator resistance figs have a grey primer but I’m waiting on a Vallejo military paint colors set to arrive so I can paint them with some nice military looking greys and green.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by hentzau »

I wouldn't put the varnish on a wet pallet. I'm not sure why, but I would be afraid of what it would do with the extra liquid. Have an old blister pack or something? Just cut out some of the plastic and use that.
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Re: [Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

Post by Blackhawk »

I use distilled water for tea, so I go through three or four gallon jugs every week, and I save all the caps. I use those caps for things I don't want to use on the wet palette, things that I use in large quantities, or things that I don't want to worry about possibly getting diluted by the palette (including varnishes.)
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