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

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

I picked up a paint brush for the first time in a decade and change.

Lessons learned -
* Thin your paints, dammit
* Reaper makes some pretty sweet minis for as cheap as they are
* I don't miss supergluing a ton of leads together at all.

My metallics are coming out surprisingly dull; I really thought the Trans-Am A-wing was gonna be a lot busier. Am I thinning my paints too much, or do I just need even more touchups for metallic spots?

My "Wraith Squadron" X-wing turned out more like Lavender Squadron. :v:

Also, I'm thinking the A-wing needs something to liven it up a little, but I'm not sure what. Recommendations?

# ¿ Oct 11, 2015 14:35

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 17:50

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Like they're coming off the guns? Red or gold?

I was also thinking of doing the engine cones black, then doing the rings in gold.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2015 16:23

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

I would go with the blue or red body, personally. The blue-on-white would look pretty Imperial.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2015 18:35

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Is there a specific thing wrong with VGC, or are they just not preferred? 'cause I just bought a shitload of them last week.

# ¿ Oct 14, 2015 20:56

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Awesome.

I like bright colors. :downs:

# ¿ Oct 14, 2015 21:01

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Here's a dumb question I should have asked earlier. I'm assembling a bunch of lead minis - actual factual lead, not white metal - and I'm having to trim and file them to get them to fit together. Should I be wearing a mask when I scrape at this stuff, or is it sufficiently heavy that even lead dust won't float up?

Related question, what's the best way to get all this lead off my files?

# ¿ Oct 23, 2015 22:40

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

SRM posted:

It's from the Nork Deddog commissar skull bit, as is the grenade skull and Aquila armor plate thing. Some good bits in there!

With the angle in that first shot, I thought his hat was a cleaver stuck in his head at first. Which in fairness, would be a pretty orky thing to do.

Are you freehanding your checkers or taping them off?

# ¿ Oct 30, 2015 22:46

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

I want to try zenethial priming on my next batch of guys, but I don't have an airbrush. Are there sufficiently high quality primer rattlecans available at a hardware store, or am I going to have to suck it up and buy the fancy modeling junk to avoid spraypaint grit?

# ¿ Dec 19, 2015 17:32

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Slimnoid posted:

Taking photos is not one of my strong suits.

I'm about to make you feel a lot better about yourself! :v:

These are posted in the order in which I painted them.

I'm happy with little details on each of them - you can't see it, but the face visor parts actually do have a little glow gradient in them. But I'm still only just getting to a place where I'm happy with the things as a whole.

What new things do I need to try, and what of what I'm already doing do I need the most work on?

# ¿ Jan 30, 2016 02:13

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Pierzak posted:

- basing
- more pronounced highlights on the blue, maybe something like on the wights above?
- grab some glaze medium (I like Vallejo's), it's amazing for smoothing highlights and OSL.

My dark secret is that I am intensely anxious about spending time and effort to make nice bases, then putting them down on a table that doesn't match. Are there some minimalist-but-still-nicer bases out there?

Most of them do actually have a glaze highlight, but I'm not pushing it enough - it's like one shade up. How much is too much, and if I gently caress it up, can I paint over it and restart without having to strip the entire mini?

Somewhat related, is my glaze medium hosed, or does it take intensely long periods of time to dry versus the regular acrylic paint?

# ¿ Jan 31, 2016 16:42

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

JoshTheStampede posted:

Lots of people worry about the bases matching the table, but in reality as long as they look good together they won't look out of place on a table. At a certain point it's a shame to spend hours making a mini look good and then putting it on a chintzy base you spend 2 minutes on.

You can't really effectively strip part of a mini, but don't let that stop you from pushing your highlights - you really won't ruin it, anything you screw up is fixable with some paint, and you can always paint a new mini. You won't know until you try.

IS your glaze medium Vallejo? If so, yes, it takes a long time to dry if you use a lot of it, and it also dries very shiny. I switched to GW's Lahmian Medium for glazes because it has neither of these issues.

Yeah, I was mostly worried about screwing up, like, the top of a mini's head and then having to strip and redo the whole thing.

I am using Vallejo, usually about 1:1 or 1:2 medium to paint, which is probably not helping the slow drying. Can I replicate the effect with matte medium, or does that keep things too thick?

# ¿ Jan 31, 2016 19:46

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Seriously.

Are you priming your guys black or white? I'm finding I can't get a nice cartoony red if I don't prime white, but the rest of the model sucks unless I do spot blacks on any other colors first.

All my nomads look so lovely compared to my Pan-O and it's breaking my heart.

# ¿ Feb 15, 2016 18:14

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Are synthetic brushes prone to getting and staying dirtier? I'm cleaning my stuff after every use and my taklon brush is getting bulkier and stiffer every time, even though I'm washing it with real-deal brush soap.

Paint thinner seems like a terrible thing to dip a synthetic brush in, too.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2016 15:08

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

signalnoise posted:

Isn't taklon really lovely to begin with though?

Probably, but I wasn't going to drop the change on a series 7 for babby's first brush just so I could gently caress it up.

Still, it seems weird that it'd only last six months with regular care. I'm mostly asking to see if it's my brush or bad habits so I don't kill a good brush when I replace this one.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2016 21:31

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

richyp posted:

Yeah I took a picture of the complaint code tag and the bits of the model that weren't missing in front of the box. So my bases are covered which is more than can be said for the actual models because I'm lazy and too eager to move on to the next model half way through the current one.

I was missing the little horns on one of my Bolts. They got back to me the next day, and a package from Spain arrived at my door about a week later. The stamp probably weighed more than the actual part they sent me.

The real sticking point with CB is they're really intensely anal about you following the rules regarding missing components. Apart from that, no complaints, even despite the language barrier created by me being a dumb American.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2016 15:11

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

I'm a sucker for any kind of hotrod metallic paint job, so the Hulkbuster is really doing it for me. I have a stupid question: instead of masking, would it have been simpler to just do the metallic base, airbrush the red all over, and then go back over the ultimately-not-red components with a black primer coat?

Somewhat related, I keep thinking about buying baby's first airbrush. Are there any detailed demonstration videos where someone's doing a ~25mm miniature with an airbrush and showing the process, like Faust's painting videos?

# ¿ Apr 10, 2016 15:35

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

TouchToneDialing posted:

Thanks! But yeah it could 100% been done a better way. It was the first time iv ever done masking like that and I didnt realize how much time it was going to take or how big of a pain it was going to be. No way i'll ever do that again.

Oh, no, don't get me wrong. I really have no idea if that'd work; I pretty much have no idea what I'm doing when I paint. :v:

But I have had good results repriming over small parts of a model, like doing a base of black and then painting white on sections I want to put red over, as an example. It seemed like it was worth a shot.

krushgroove posted:

I'm not aware of any videos like that, but it's something that I should do eventually. I do plan to do a series of airbrushing videos but there's so much to cover the playlist will be tons of videos. Tabletop Minions just started doing a video series on airbrushing though, not sure if he's going to do something like that.

That sounds extremely cool regardless. I'm a brush prole, so the stuff you guys do with airbrushes is basically magic to me.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2016 18:40

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Fantasy you might be okay with, depending on the specifics, but in the context of history-related entertainment it makes me think of bad evangelical products.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2016 15:08

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Chill la Chill posted:

Anyone know if there have been models painted in this desaturated, watercolor style?

Trying to remember the names of other series that aren't Nausicaa that also use this art style but it's amazing and I might try giving it a go if it looks good on minis.

Pretty much all of the Ghibli art books have that kind of stuff in them. It was basically the house style.

I don't know of any physical minis, but the first Valkyria Chronicles made an attempt at mimicking that kind of thing on a 3D model. The Atelier video game series does a similar thing as VC.

Any thought on how you're going to emulate the look? Like, how to fake a paper texture?

# ¿ Apr 20, 2016 20:51

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Chill la Chill posted:

Oh right. I forget that Totoro and the others look the same way in the concept art books.

Also, faking the paper texture the problem. I've done some experimenting with a millenium falcon model while I was re-learning how to wet blend and gave it a more watercolor look. However it's flat and doesn't really convey the natural blotchy effect that watercolor gives off. I've thought about intentionally making things too wet and allowing it to dry and hoping it doesn't leave water rings, but the only way I've been able to get the look every now and again is purely on accident. Maybe if I use an off-white as a basecoat/primer base and work on that? Maybe try going with a monochrome palette and haphazardly blend colors to achieve that look?

My thought would be to prime white, then sponge all over with a medium fleshtone. That'll get you the color and texture fiddlyness you'd want from good watercolor paper, but you'd still be out of luck with the desaturated paints themselves. Maybe a shitload of glaze passes?

# ¿ Apr 21, 2016 15:44

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

I finally bought a bottle of Vallejo primer because I was tired of burning through all my regular black paint.

Is this stuff supposed to be really, really light on pigment? I feel like I'm giving my stuff a really inefficient wash.

# ¿ May 8, 2016 13:34

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Holy poo poo, you guys, VMA metallics.

Are the regular VMA paints this pigment-dense?

# ¿ May 25, 2016 18:19

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Star Man posted:

Are those Vallejo air metallic paints any good to use with a paintbrush? I like the Liquid Gold line, but I'd like to have more options for silver than just silver.

That's how I've used all of mine. I've been paranoid and washed my brush immediately once I'm done with them, because they are seriously pigment-dense, but otherwise they've been just like really nice versions of regular Vallejo for me. I am also probably being over-cautious, for what it's worth.

# ¿ Jul 8, 2016 19:25

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

I'm gonna need to paint some metallic reds before long. Am I better served getting VMA metallics in the appropriate colors or just using what I have now with metallic medium?

# ¿ Jul 13, 2016 00:30

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

I'd actually tried a thin glaze over VMA Steel before, and while the parts that worked were almost exactly what I wanted, I wasn't able to get an even coat over a fairly large surface area. Hence asking about colored metallics.

So in that case, what's the secret to good, even glazing technique?

# ¿ Jul 13, 2016 03:13

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

I'm getting tired of hand-priming my models, but can't afford an airbrush setup at the moment. What brand of rattlecan flat grey should I pick up?

# ¿ Oct 26, 2016 15:02

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

I'm glad we're getting into the season for airbrush sales, because I want to pick one up myself.

What's the difference between any given airbrush of a general quality? Is there any merit to buying a Krome over a 105 with an ultrafine needle in it?

# ¿ Nov 3, 2016 15:58

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Badger Patriots are on lightning deal sale on Amazon, sixty USian dollars.

E: not anymore!

grassy gnoll fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Nov 28, 2016

# ¿ Nov 28, 2016 18:00

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Is purchasing a Badger compressor similarly better than the master model, or is the price difference too much to justify?

# ¿ Jan 5, 2017 00:11

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

What's my best bet for an airbrush compressor in the 250 dollar range? I'm a little wary of the Master stuff, since every review I've read mentions getting a free replacement unit in short order.

# ¿ Jan 12, 2017 03:16

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Signal posted:

Cross posting from Oath Thread:

In addition to my oath stuff, I also pumped out a ton of other things:

This month was about making progress on my backlog, so most isn't of great quality. Fairly happy with the last two pictures' worth of models, though.

I really dig the orange on your mech cockpit.

Where do you get your transparent bases, and how are you mounting your figures to them without scratching or fogging? 'cause those look super slick.

# ¿ Jan 31, 2017 03:54

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

El Estrago Bonito posted:

I find the best results are to paint the eye black and then apply a crescent of white with the open part of the crescent facing upwards:

but honestly in 28mm you don't really need to worry about pupils, it doesn't matter at that scale anyways as long as you heavily black line the edges of the eye:
NWS unless you work at the nekkid elf factory

Here's a post exposing the depth of my ignorance, but I never thought to line the eye, but it makes a hell of a lot of sense at 28mm scale.

Are you lining the actual lids on the figure, or leaving a black line around the boundary of the cornea? Like, is this eyeliner or eyeshadow?

# ¿ Feb 7, 2017 18:35

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Ashcans posted:

Do you know what sort of primer was used on the models? If they are plastic models, I believe there are certain kinds of sprays that will basically bond to the plastic and aren't going to come off no matter what you soak them in and you just have to deal with it.

I suspect this may be the problem people are having with Simple Green. All the models I've stripped are metal and primed with brushed-on Vallejo primers, and they've never needed to soak more than a couple hours.

# ¿ May 11, 2017 15:08

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

mango sentinel posted:

Where should I order Scale 75 from in the US?

I'm shocked two people want to know this at 9:15 on a Thursday morning, but I sure got EFB'd here.

# ¿ May 25, 2017 14:24

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Tentacle Party posted:

WIP on my next Nomad, the Bandit hacker. Soooo tiny, I've been photographing it and zooming in to see and clean up mistakes.

Tell me your secret for digital cammo. I can do a nice tiger stripe these days, but I can't fake the little pixel squares to save my life.

# ¿ Jun 1, 2017 16:41

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

How bad an idea is this compressor?

# ¿ Jun 11, 2017 16:40

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Chalk up another one who just got babby's first airbrush and holy poo poo this was worth it just for the priming.

I've got a Badger 105, and there are two things making me kind of worried. One, the thing hisses gently at all times. Doesn't leak paint, but there's some kind of air escaping. Two, there looks like there should be an o-ring where the nozzle cap meets the brush body. Am I missing a part, and should I be worried about it?

# ¿ Jun 15, 2017 00:35

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Slimnoid posted:

If you've got air hissing, it might be the connections itself, in which case use some thread seal tape on all your screw connections.

As for the o-ring there, mine didn't come with one either and doesn't look like it needs it, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

It sounds like it's coming from inside the brush body, like where the trigger depresses the valve to start airflow. Still, I'll tape the thing up and see if that gets it. Thanks!

JcDent posted:

I can do ~~black~~WAIT ARE THEY DARK GREEN? pants well enough, but I'm unsure if I could make the tunic, the green and the stripe.

In terms of the color or the actual stripe itself?

You can kind of cheat out the color by putting down a thinner white stripe after you've done the pants, then painting your orange over it. It'll pop, especially compared to how murky it'd look if you did straight orange over green.

If it's just the stripe itself, freehand that sucker. It's gonna go on wavy pants and it'll be too small to notice even if you do mess it up a little.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2017 14:18

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Chill la Chill posted:

Has anyone here ordered from miniature market before and had a bad shipment? My friend got our package in and there was no packing materials, it had a huge dent on the box (thankfully not a board game and just a minis box), and the paints were rolling around freely. I chalk it up to luck that none of them leaked or exploded in there. Is this normal or are they usually better about it? I'm willing to give them another chance if they typically have better packing policies but my friend said he's out.

Usually I get a giant box that's stuffed with a shitload of air packs, and frequently a couple of cardboard dividers. Clearly something went wrong and you should complain to their service folks, but I've never had them do that to anything I've ordered, and they're my primary supplier for minis and related garbage.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2017 17:42

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 17:50

grassy gnoll: Aug 27, 2006; The pawsting business is tough work.

Second edition green rims all the way.

# ¿ Jul 10, 2017 22:58

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