Minis Painting: I have the heavy body and soft body

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Minis Painting: I have the heavy body and soft body

Salynne: Oct 25, 2007

Kabuki Shipoopi posted:

For a bit of context, my chosen are the first thing I've ever painted that isn't Tau, so I don't really know how to deal with so much model detail and stuff.

If 38 is young, then I'll take it! I realize pushing myself is necessary to get better, I just didn't think that's what I was doing. Or maybe it didn't feel like that's what I was doing. I just wanted to do the best job I could with what little experience I have, and I can't really tell when to simply stop and say "This model is finished." How do you decide when to push your abilities, and when to just be done with a model?

Edit: it's like I'm accidentally taking things further than I had intended with every new unit, rather than just being comfortable at a certain level for a bit just to get poo poo done.

Consciously making the decision to say good enough or keep going is one of the skills to learn, even though it it's not literal paint technique itself. Be aware of it and decide for yourself. You can just keep pushing each unit if that's what you want to do. It's about your own goals and enjoyment.

# ? Jul 4, 2017 07:40

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# ? Jun 4, 2024 15:15

Zaphod42: Sep 13, 2012; If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.

You can always paint your guys up to a decent basecoat + layer level so they're table-worthy and then take your time thinking about the details later on.

# ? Jul 4, 2017 08:24

JackMann: Aug 11, 2010; Secure. Contain. Protect.; Fallen Rib

Trying to paint up a ratfolk dude. Wanted to go with a lab rat look, so I was trying for an albino look. I started with Vallejo Medium Flesh, washed it with Carroburg Crimson, and then used Highlight Skin. That wasn't working, so I hit up the flesh areas again with Reaper's Old Texas Rose. I think in the future I'll either start with a pink like the Rose. I am fairly happy with how the shirt came out. The shadows actually go all the way down to black, and the highlights go up to white. I'm really bad about pushing my contrast, so hopefully it looks all right.

I used the Scale75 steel set for the sword and chainmail, going with their blue steel formula. I think I'm going to go back over the midtones with a neutral steel color, maybe with just a glaze. Right now, I think it's too blue.

# ? Jul 4, 2017 09:39

Irate Tree: Mar 12, 2011; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Kabuki Shipoopi posted:

Just a heads up, this post is sorta vent-y. I'm not sure, but I think I'm in a bit of a rut.

Is it normal to feel like I might be trying to paint better than my abilities allow? I've watched tons of videos from Duncan, Mig, MWG Chris and Janine, etc, and I feel like I'm trying too hard on the fine detail work or something

I get the basic base, wash, layer, highlight thing, but I think I'm overcompensating for fuckups that might not be there.

People seem to like my dudes when they see them, (a few people even asked me to do commission work for them today ) but I can't get past almost wanting to strip everything and start over.

This is the best picture I can take for now, since my phone is crap. There's about 3 shades of pink on this thing:

A dude I was talking to earlier today said it was good that I push myself beyond my abilities, which made sense. I guess I just wanted to know if others have felt this way, or went through a similar experience during their years of painting minis.

Maybe I'm being too critical of myself, but I need to figure out how to reel it back in some areas like base colors and layers, and be more conservative with highlights. I also need to learn some small area dry brush techniques.

Edit: the lovely quality of the phone pic is blending the pink gradient, and making it look way better than it does in reality.

Don't stress yourself out too much. Everyone pushes themselves to try and be better and not everyone likes the outcome, even if that outcome is still really drat good! Sometimes, you just have to do the thing the way you think is best, finish it and then, take a step back and suss out for yourself, "what could I have done differently/what did I learn?"
The last time I tried putting all of my available energy into a thing, I didn't want to look at another mini for a couple weeks.

Irate Tree posted:

Well, I did it. This drat mini, that I've had sitting on my desk since SEPTEMBER last year, is finally done.

He was originally a submission for the Oath Thread but I can't keep to a four week schedule, apparently...
I'm not satisfied with his whip. I thought mottling it would be fine but seemingly not. It gets lost against the stronger pink. His head isn't that well done, either but screw it! He's DONE! He's done! He's done. He's done!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssw9xCcMp1M

I is slow painter

# ? Jul 4, 2017 10:20

Irate Tree: Mar 12, 2011; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

spacegoat posted:

edit: ^^^ Taken with a Foldio 2 ^^^

xpostin'

Old One Eye:

That gribbly needs to see a specialist about that eye :v:

Job's a good'un.

# ? Jul 4, 2017 10:27

Chill la Chill: Jul 2, 2007; Don't lose your gay

Kabuki Shipoopi posted:

For a bit of context, my chosen are the first thing I've ever painted that isn't Tau, so I don't really know how to deal with so much model detail and stuff.

If 38 is young, then I'll take it! I realize pushing myself is necessary to get better, I just didn't think that's what I was doing. Or maybe it didn't feel like that's what I was doing. I just wanted to do the best job I could with what little experience I have, and I can't really tell when to simply stop and say "This model is finished." How do you decide when to push your abilities, and when to just be done with a model?

Edit: it's like I'm accidentally taking things further than I had intended with every new unit, rather than just being comfortable at a certain level for a bit just to get poo poo done.

There's an art thread in byob and the answer has always been that struggle of satisfaction of your work. Local painting competitions are a good way to concentrate on pushing your abilities vs. doing a job that's just good enough, but otherwise that struggle is on you. That struggle is definitely harder when you're doing minis meant for armies rather than for skirmishes.

I'm about to wrestle with that struggle again myself since I plan on branching out to historicals after I finish painting the same minis for skirmishes. Maybe it's easier when you do rank and file because you know in the back of your head that nobody's going to see a lot of the details for the guys in the middle?

# ? Jul 4, 2017 17:05

JcDent: May 13, 2013; Give me a rifle, one round, and point me at Berlin!

They won't see it
but you'll know it's there

# ? Jul 4, 2017 17:24

mango sentinel: Jan 5, 2001; by sebmojo

w00tmonger posted:

This is brilliant! Thanks

E: need some advice on skin tone:

Wondering about what color/technique I should use that would compliment the color scheme I've thrown together so far. Other than that, anything else I should be doing to finish up these AI dirtbags?

What game are those from?

# ? Jul 4, 2017 17:48

bonds0097: Oct 23, 2010; I would cry but I don't think I can spare the moisture.; Pillbug

mango sentinel posted:

What game are those from?

Looks like Infinity.

# ? Jul 4, 2017 17:51

S.J.: May 19, 2008; Just who the hell do you think we are?

mango sentinel posted:

What game are those from?

Infinity.

# ? Jul 4, 2017 17:51

Chill la Chill: Jul 2, 2007; Don't lose your gay

JcDent posted:

They won't see it
but you'll know it's there

# ? Jul 4, 2017 17:52

The Moon Monster: Dec 30, 2005

JcDent posted:

They won't see it
but you'll know it's there

Just lol if you don't paint the bottom of your mans' feet before attaching them to their bases.

# ? Jul 4, 2017 19:57

MasterSlowPoke: Oct 9, 2005; Our courage will pull us through

Crossposting this here, as all the recent photo discussion has made me want to take better pictures. These might be the first pictures I'm really happy with in a long time. For the dude asking about using the Foldio, I used that, with a piece of white posterboard instead of the garbage felt backgrounds it comes with. I also added more light with my two daylight desk lamps that I use for painting. I also put them on a reflective surface, thanks to whoever suggested that, I think it makes a big difference.

MasterSlowPoke posted:

I've been meaning to take more pictures of my stuff; kinda dropped off once I stopped doing oaths. Here's some Deathwatch Termies I've been working on:

# ? Jul 4, 2017 20:11

S.J.: May 19, 2008; Just who the hell do you think we are?

So any ideas for an easy hands-free priming/painting setup? I've really never bothered with that kind of stuff before but I wanna do my infinity models some justice.

# ? Jul 4, 2017 20:47

Indolent Bastard: Oct 26, 2007; I WON THIS AMAZING AVATAR! I'M A WINNER! WOOOOO!

S.J. posted:

So any ideas for an easy hands-free priming/painting setup? I've really never bothered with that kind of stuff before but I wanna do my infinity models some justice.

If you mean keep your grimy scaly mitts off the model itself just use blutac and either a pill bottle, craft paint bottle, or short length of dowel.

# ? Jul 4, 2017 22:01

Dr Hemulen: Jan 25, 2003

berzerkmonkey posted:

He said cheap. The Foldio is too expensive for what you get.

Here's a 16" x 16" alternative for $38.

Or a 10" x 10" version for $18.

A big one for all those shiny new Primaris Marines - only $56.

Got lights? $20 will get you a good 24" x 24" cube.

I recently got one of those foldio clones. The quality of the LEDs is so bad, that they are unusable . The colours are totally off and my miniatures look greyish.

# ? Jul 4, 2017 22:03

BlackIronHeart: Aug 2, 2004; PROCEED

Cooked Auto posted:

So I'm doing some painting commission work (my first even) for some Space Wolves and they need to be on snowbases in this case.
I've seen SRM's recipe for them but I'm looking for some alternatives as well.

Krycell snow is your new best friend. http://www.thescenicfactory.com/product_p/sn-08.htm

# ? Jul 4, 2017 23:04

Salynne: Oct 25, 2007

Indolent Bastard posted:

If you mean keep your grimy scaly mitts off the model itself just use blutac and either a pill bottle, craft paint bottle, or short length of dowel.

Or whisky corks.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 00:58

w00tmonger: Mar 9, 2011; F-F-FRIDAY NIGHT MOTHERFUCKERS

S.J. posted:

So any ideas for an easy hands-free priming/painting setup? I've really never bothered with that kind of stuff before but I wanna do my infinity models some justice.

I've been using cheap plastic shot glasses and blue tack from Dollarama

# ? Jul 5, 2017 03:52

S.J.: May 19, 2008; Just who the hell do you think we are?

Corks I can probably find for cheap, yeah. What about for models too heavy for blutac though?

# ? Jul 5, 2017 04:34

w00tmonger: Mar 9, 2011; F-F-FRIDAY NIGHT MOTHERFUCKERS

S.J. posted:

Corks I can probably find for cheap, yeah. What about for models too heavy for blutac though?

Pinning. Pre-pin models feet etc, then poke those into your cork

# ? Jul 5, 2017 05:48

BlackIronHeart: Aug 2, 2004; PROCEED

S.J. posted:

So any ideas for an easy hands-free priming/painting setup? I've really never bothered with that kind of stuff before but I wanna do my infinity models some justice.

I use wine corks for my Infinity dudes. Cut a triangular groove into the cork, maybe 1/8" deep, and shove the model's slotta-base tab into it. The cork should hold onto any S1-S2 model just fine.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 06:01

S.J.: May 19, 2008; Just who the hell do you think we are?

Thanks for the ideas guys, I really appreciate it.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 06:10

Quidthulhu: Dec 17, 2003; Stand down, men! It's only smooching!

Hello thread!

After trying this hobby about 5 years ago and feeling like I was terrible, a combination of wanting to try painting again and being interested in checking out Star Wars Imperial Assault lead me first to Soarastro's excellent YouTube series on painting everything in the box, which in turn lead me to giving this a shot again.

Here are the first two minis I have completed!

For being an absolute beginner, I am so thrilled with how they turned out, and I'm finding the hobby super fun! I can't wait to go through the set and learn a bunch of painting techniques from Sorastro's tutorials, and I'm hoping by the time I'm done with this I can branch out into other stuff.

(Which would be grand because I have a basically untouched Warhammer 40k 6th edition Ork/Space Marine starter set I'd love to dig in to with 8th edition rules.....)

# ? Jul 5, 2017 07:21

Beer4TheBeerGod: Aug 23, 2004; Exciting Lemon

I read in this thread that if you apply a gloss coat it causes GW washes like Seraphim Sepia to flow incredibly well. It's true, but I'm curious as to the best method to get paint to adhere over the surface once I've applied the wash. Matte clearcoat?

# ? Jul 5, 2017 13:02

bonds0097: Oct 23, 2010; I would cry but I don't think I can spare the moisture.; Pillbug

Beer4TheBeerGod posted:

I read in this thread that if you apply a gloss coat it causes GW washes like Seraphim Sepia to flow incredibly well. It's true, but I'm curious as to the best method to get paint to adhere over the surface once I've applied the wash. Matte clearcoat?

I gloss coat, wash, matte coat and then highlight.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 13:53

TTerrible: Jul 15, 2005

Beer4TheBeerGod posted:

I read in this thread that if you apply a gloss coat it causes GW washes like Seraphim Sepia to flow incredibly well. It's true, but I'm curious as to the best method to get paint to adhere over the surface once I've applied the wash. Matte clearcoat?

Yes. I do my main base colour with an airbrush using three colours and zenithal magic, then gloss heavily, wash, matte coat it and continue painting highlights and other colours. Final stage is to satin coat it to bring it back up a bit.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 14:05

Beer4TheBeerGod: Aug 23, 2004; Exciting Lemon

bonds0097 posted:

I gloss coat, wash, matte coat and then highlight.

TTerrible posted:

Yes. I do my main base colour with an airbrush using three colours and zenithal magic, then gloss heavily, wash, matte coat it and continue painting highlights and other colours. Final stage is to satin coat it to bring it back up a bit.

Awesome. I was doing some experiments yesterday with trying to get the right combination of colors and I suspect I didn't go a good enough job of matte coating. That or the ink I was using just doesn't like to flow. I was experimenting with the Liquitex Professional Ink and it seems pretty good against white primer but not against the matte coat. Can't argue about the price.

Looks like I'm leaning towards something like this for my Marines Malevolent:

1. Zenithal prime starting with Brown, then Bleached Bone, then White on top.

2. Apply gloss coat.

3. Apply Seraphim Sepia.

4. Apply matte coat.

5. Apply yellow ink glaze.

So far it's been interesting. I'll add some highlight steps in there once I get the base color down.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 14:19

Beer4TheBeerGod: Aug 23, 2004; Exciting Lemon

Are there any non-GW products equivalent to Lamenters Yellow?

# ? Jul 5, 2017 14:25

berzerkmonkey: Jul 23, 2003

Zaphod42 posted:

Also thanks. Was curious about this but the Foldio is more than I wanna spend on a box for taking fancy pictures of my space barbies. I could buy more space barbies for the cost of a Foldio!

Only two though - the Primaris Captain and Librarian, to be exact!

ijyt posted:

At least it's not a mousepad and crocodile clips

Aww snap!

HardCoil posted:

I recently got one of those foldio clones. The quality of the LEDs is so bad, that they are unusable . The colours are totally off and my miniatures look greyish.

Yeah, I don't know the quality of them, but the reviews seem to be alright for what I linked to. At any rate, he wanted cheap, so he's gotta deal with the baggage associated with that price point.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 15:35

JoshTheStampede: Sep 8, 2004; come at me bro

Beer4TheBeerGod posted:

Are there any non-GW products equivalent to Lamenters Yellow?

Any yellow ink thinned with water or medium should be similar.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 16:15

S.J.: May 19, 2008; Just who the hell do you think we are?

TTerrible posted:

Yes. I do my main base colour with an airbrush using three colours and zenithal magic, then gloss heavily, wash, matte coat it and continue painting highlights and other colours. Final stage is to satin coat it to bring it back up a bit.

How does the Satin coat work out for you? I'm gonna use it on some guys that are all robots so they're all metal, but I hadn't considered it outside of that.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 16:54

bonds0097: Oct 23, 2010; I would cry but I don't think I can spare the moisture.; Pillbug

S.J. posted:

How does the Satin coat work out for you? I'm gonna use it on some guys that are all robots so they're all metal, but I hadn't considered it outside of that.

I like satin coat as my final coat, looks awesome on metal and gives the whole thing a nice sheen without being overly shiny.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 17:00

Beer4TheBeerGod: Aug 23, 2004; Exciting Lemon

JoshTheStampede posted:

Any yellow ink thinned with water or medium should be similar.

Are they thinned? It seems like they're designed not to flow as much.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 17:44

Dr. Gargunza: May 19, 2011; He damned me for a eunuch,
and my mother for a whore.; Fun Shoe

S.J. posted:

How does the Satin coat work out for you? I'm gonna use it on some guys that are all robots so they're all metal, but I hadn't considered it outside of that.

Lately I've been using a mix (usually 50/50) of Liquitex satin and matte varnish, shot through an airbrush at about 30 psi to avoid spattering. I'm finding it works much better than just their straight matte, which occasionally flattens the shading. Then I'll go back over metallic areas with a brushed-on layer of Vallejo Metal Varnish, which is mostly satin itself but goes on smoother than the Liquitex. Over metal minis, I make sure to put these on over a couple layers of Future Floor Finish or whatever the hell they're calling it these days (be careful on this step, as Future can "reactivate" washes).

# ? Jul 5, 2017 17:58

TTerrible: Jul 15, 2005

S.J. posted:

How does the Satin coat work out for you? I'm gonna use it on some guys that are all robots so they're all metal, but I hadn't considered it outside of that.

I wasn't happy with how dull the matte varnish was making my guys look, so I picked up the satin as its supposedly as close to non-varnished as you can get. I'm happy with it on my imperial fists. I've not noticed it killing metallics much, but I don't have huge metal parts either.

I use all vallejo stuff fwiw.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 18:30

S.J.: May 19, 2008; Just who the hell do you think we are?

I've been painting for a while but I've avoided a bunch of stuff because I'm honestly lazy/get burned out on painting from time to time. Thanks for helping guys, I love this thread.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 18:54

berzerkmonkey: Jul 23, 2003

Holy smokes. I'm putting together some of the AoS Gore Gruntas (Boar Boyz) and the way the newer GW models fit together is amazing. I'm not sure if they have a program for slicing up the parts for casting on a sprue, or if they are employing an actual wizard, but the way things go together and hide the join lines is crazy.

# ? Jul 5, 2017 18:59

S.J.: May 19, 2008; Just who the hell do you think we are?

They had to put money into either that or game design, so

# ? Jul 5, 2017 19:06

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# ? Jun 4, 2024 15:15

dexefiend: Apr 25, 2003; THE GOGGLES DO NOTHING!

Edit: i didnt need to be an rear end.

Seriously, after dealing with PP plastics, it is such an amazing change.

dexefiend fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Jul 5, 2017

# ? Jul 5, 2017 19:24

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