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One of my local stores had a full range of Xpress Colors available when I went in today so I grabbed most of them and did some tests on some minis I already had primed. In general, I really like the line that I’ve tested so far and they are a great compliment to contrast paints/speed paints but don’t really replace either. Most of the paints feel much thicker on the brush than contrast or speed paints and you use more paint than either of the others per stroke. So far every paint looks much more pigmented than contrast paint and dries much more matte than contrast or speedpaint. I’ve been very happy with the color saturation of any base coat I’ve done with them especially on minis that have been zenithal primed or that I highlighted with a brush or dry brush before painting. Most of the paints have much better coverage over black that speedpaint without losing the darker shade. I love the Black Lotus. It’s the best black contrast-like paint I’ve used. It has a bluish tint that is so good for cloaks/robes. The new bottles are very good. They flow well, don’t get clogged easily (so far), and don’t over pour. They make me want to start buying the rest of the new game color range because they are so good. I did find a few weaknesses in my testing: 1) Missing some key shades that are covered well by speed paints and contrasts paints. No good skeleton horde/pallid bone alternative. Missing several darker green and blue shades. No greys. 2) Does not play well with metallics at all. Speedpaints looks great over a coat of Vallejo metal color for really interesting metallic colors especially gold. Xpress color turns into a muddy mess even over a well dried layer of metal color. They don’t blend well with metallic either. 3) Some of the paints reactivate like speedpaints and peel paint when trying to blend rather than blending or layering. Wasteland Brown is the worst offender. This only seems to be an issue with fairly fresh layers but always let a layer of wasteland brown set for 15 minutes at least. 4) You use at least 2x the amount of paint you would of speedpaint or contrast. The effect does often look better, is less blotchy, and more matte but you are using more paint. Now the paints are 40% cheaper or more than contrast paints so it probably all nets out but beware that you will drain the bottles quickly on a big army. The line is good enough that I’ll probably use it quite a bit for colors it covers and not buy speedpaints for the same color when I empty those bottles. They might even replace similar color contrast paints because they dry just so much more matte and contrast often has a glossy finish especially in multiple layers.
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Mar 5, 2023 02:08
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| # ? May 27, 2024 01:16 |
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hex bridge tiles for 10mm battles  
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Mar 5, 2023 02:26
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Gorgeous work as always
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Mar 5, 2023 07:33
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So cute, so jealous.
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Mar 5, 2023 12:20
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Nebalebadingdong posted:hex bridge tiles for 10mm battles This is the type of thing I aspire to, but also makes me want to quit.
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Mar 5, 2023 17:07
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Ez8 posted:This is the type of thing I aspire to, but also makes me want to quit. There's the loving thread title.
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Mar 5, 2023 17:53
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Not entirely happy with how this librarian is turning out but I think at least baby's first attempt at blending on this sword looks alright.
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Mar 5, 2023 20:03
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That's totally fine. If you throw a harsh bright line down the middle and on the top and bottom edges, no one will ever notice if the blending isn't perfect. Electric arcs or light-colored chips in the blade also do wonders for hiding imperfections. Edit: This kind of thing (the chips shouldn't all be in the same direction like this but it still looks great) 
Ohthehugemanatee fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Mar 5, 2023 |
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Mar 5, 2023 20:21
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he's cool, sword is impressive but he's really begging for hot topic flames on the cloak
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Mar 5, 2023 20:21
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Ez8 posted:This is the type of thing I aspire to, but also makes me want to quit. never give up never surrender
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Mar 5, 2023 20:43
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Xpost from the fun place (HH Thread):Major Spag posted:5 days into March and finally got my Feb stuff done :/
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Mar 6, 2023 04:12
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Major Spag posted:Xpost from the fun place (HH Thread): I like the blending on the red and grey armor panels. Basing is nice too. Great job!
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Mar 6, 2023 04:32
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Nebalebadingdong posted:never give up never surrender What are these tiles made out of? The bridge I have, but the tiles themselves are MDF? The shoreline looks 3d printed. Also, can you provide some insight your process on these 10mm figures? I think you and I are using all of the same models, but I think what trips me up is I look at a unit of, for example, lizardmen and I think "I have to finish these," so I've been using contrast paints and just trying to get. it. done.
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Mar 6, 2023 05:08
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welcome 2 Clown Town posted:I like the blending on the red and grey armor panels. Basing is nice too. Great job! Thanks. Would it make you feel different if I said it was Drybrushing and not blending?
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Mar 6, 2023 05:14
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Ez8 posted:What are these tiles made out of? well, firstly, contrast paints work really well at this scale. you shouldn't feel bad for using them. there's no differences in technique at 10mm vs 28mm ive found, just a need for higher quality brushes and finer control the tiles are all printed in plastic. the details suffers when printed that way (that bridge looks soooo much nicer in resin) but i need the strength that plastic provides.
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Mar 6, 2023 05:16
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Nebalebadingdong posted:well, firstly, contrast paints work really well at this scale. you shouldn't feel bad for using them. there's no differences in technique at 10mm vs 28mm ive found, just a need for higher quality brushes and finer control Basically the Dallimore method: extreme highlights between layers, minimum 3 layers and I think in your case, you're just really good at knowing where to lay the paint down on the highlights. Anyway, keep posting at this scale, I need more reference pictures so I can get better.
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Mar 6, 2023 05:36
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Hey I got a question about hand drills: I picked up an Army Painter drill at the local store a year ago and it's been causing me some trouble: it tends to slip easily and especially the medium 1.4mm drill bit will basically slip at the slightest resistance. Is this a problem other people have, and would picking up a different holder- someone recommenced a Tamiya vise- fix the problem?
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Mar 6, 2023 15:50
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I'm generally a fan of AP non-paint products, but I was really disappointed with the hobby drill. It's nicely made of aluminum and a good size but the back has a weird ratchet mechanism that makes it awkward to use. I have an old Citadel drill that works great, but I lost one of the collets so it doesn't work with all my bits. The Tamyia one looks similar. As for slipping, that's probably due to the bit not biting into the material, either the bit is dull or the material is too hard. If you're drilling into plastic, you might just need to start a pilot hole with your hobby knife first.
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Mar 6, 2023 15:58
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Nah this is soft metal historicals. It usually tends to lock up near the end of the hole, though the larget bit has trouble working at all even if I'm just trying to enlarge a hole
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Mar 6, 2023 16:06
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StashAugustine posted:Hey I got a question about hand drills: I picked up an Army Painter drill at the local store a year ago and it's been causing me some trouble: it tends to slip easily and especially the medium 1.4mm drill bit will basically slip at the slightest resistance. Is this a problem other people have, and would picking up a different holder- someone recommenced a Tamiya vise- fix the problem? Are you scoring and making a pilot hole with another tool before you actually start drilling?
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Mar 6, 2023 16:21
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Chainclaw posted:Are you scoring and making a pilot hole with another tool before you actually start drilling? And are you using the right size chuck for the bit?
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Mar 6, 2023 16:41
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If you wanted to use green flock on a base, but wanted a white line across it (like for a sports field), but didn't use an airbrush and a stencil, how would you do it?
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Mar 6, 2023 23:35
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GreenBuckanneer posted:If you wanted to use green flock on a base, but wanted a white line across it (like for a sports field), but didn't use an airbrush and a stencil, how would you do it? probably drybrush? Very light touch, multiple coats?
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Mar 6, 2023 23:37
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Lamuella posted:probably drybrush? Very light touch, multiple coats? That's what I'm thinking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODBLbkkuNbI found this
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Mar 6, 2023 23:38
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 I'm struggling with this guy. I have to take a break from the armor or I'm going to lose my mind Mistaken For Bacon fucked around with this message at 05:09 on Mar 7, 2023 |
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Mar 7, 2023 04:43
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With big models I tend to work on other things to break up going start to finish on just one big thing. Ghazskull mak urk thraka (sp) looking good though.
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Mar 7, 2023 05:00
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I finished up Sgt. Jovan (promoted to Lieutenant Jovan of Primus Company) in time for March for Macragge this evening.      
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Mar 7, 2023 05:40
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Consider me a big fan of that mace handle/shaft. Love your shaft.
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Mar 7, 2023 05:42
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Entering the final deathmarch towards my first-ever fully complete army. I am so sick of these drat Stormcast. You can see exactly where I gave up filling and sanding, even.       I need to push basically all my highlights, especially if I want the little hatch marks to stand out. I also switched up my gold, from doing Vince's VMC mix to the Two Thin Coats medium gold. It's got kind of a rich mustard color to it. Application is pretty okay for a plain acrylic gold, but man, the flake on this stuff is huge. 
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Mar 7, 2023 05:47
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 Do the finished bits read as magma?
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Mar 7, 2023 12:01
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Oh yeah, you’re doing good
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Mar 7, 2023 12:07
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Looks good but one thing I learned from doing my magma bases is that the more dark, the better it reads, so try making the dark brown / black parts larger in a small section and see what you think.
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Mar 7, 2023 14:03
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I had some failed prints laying around so I figured I would use them to show some of the Xpress Colors I picked up. These were all Xpress Color straight out of the pot. No washes, glazes, or highlights added. IJA, German, Commonwealth  Soviet, US  Napoleonic Russian and French Any fuzziness on the models is my cheap rattlecan paint I zenithaled to knock these out. I had never used any of these contrast type paints before and I liked the result I was getting in less than 15 minutes work per model, and I was painting very fast and loose to just see what colors looked like what. Some thoughts on top of what user Saltpowered posted earlier: - Didn't get the reactivation issue they had, and as you can see I used a lot of Wasteland Brown for those khaki mixes. - Yeah they need a bone / khaki / grey asap. Templar White is useless, on the Napoleonic trooper's trousers I had a hard time seeing what I had actually painted and what was just shade from the primer. Space Grey is just blue, there's nothing grey about it. - Dwarf Flesh dries dark with a slightly copper tint. You definitely need to go over your faces with some extra white or something or thinn it with a little pink for your standard Caucasian skin. - Black Lotus in fact does kick rear end, it's essentially a contrast version of VMC German Grey. Did great on the rifles and boots, not so convinced on the bayonets.
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Mar 7, 2023 16:17
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GreenBuckanneer posted:If you wanted to use green flock on a base, but wanted a white line across it (like for a sports field), but didn't use an airbrush and a stencil, how would you do it? I've done them for Blood Bowl by taking a thin piece of sprue plopping some paint on it, then just laying it over where you want the line to be.
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Mar 7, 2023 18:06
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Springfield Fatts posted:I had some failed prints laying around so I figured I would use them to show some of the Xpress Colors I picked up. These were all Xpress Color straight out of the pot. No washes, glazes, or highlights added. big fan of these chunky lads
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Mar 7, 2023 18:24
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GreenBuckanneer posted:If you wanted to use green flock on a base, but wanted a white line across it (like for a sports field), but didn't use an airbrush and a stencil, how would you do it? White flock
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Mar 7, 2023 20:49
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Silhouette posted:White flock I guess I could use some of my snow flock
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Mar 7, 2023 20:53
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I did an underworld band last night with Xpress Paints, Vallejo Metal Color, and Skeleton Horde contrast because Xpress has nothing resembling bone. Turned out pretty ok.   More Grey/Brown/Skin really is the weakness of the line. I had no reactivation issues this time so that must have been a fluke. Maybe I had some undried ink or something.
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Mar 7, 2023 21:22
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GreenBuckanneer posted:If you wanted to use green flock on a base, but wanted a white line across it (like for a sports field), but didn't use an airbrush and a stencil, how would you do it? If these are bases without models on them yet I'd probably do painters tape to create stencils and then rattlecan white. Could batch all your bases in like 10 seconds once you get them all taped down to a big sheet of cardboard or whatever.
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Mar 7, 2023 21:28
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Honestly I dont love long static grass for blood bowl bases (as in the video greenbuckaneer posted). Just one guys opinion, but I think old fashioned sawdust or foam flock looks more like a tended sports pitch, static grass tends to look more overgrown which is fine for a field or wildlands, but for a deliberate pitch it doesnt work for me. And those more grainy flocks would be much easier to mask/drybrush/stipple lines on without risking lifting huge patches. I do have some really short static grass (1mm) in my big box o' basing that I might like more for blood bowl than the longer grass in the video (looks like 4mm? Ish?) but I havent tried painting lines on it, and the only blood bowl things i have in my pile of shame are so far down they are technically in a pre-pile holding area so I wont be trying it anytime soon. Anyway, as I say, just my personal thoughts, do let us know what you decide to try and how it works out!
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Mar 7, 2023 21:43
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