Cease to Hope posted:

my usual green stuff tools:

• silicone-tipped tools, mainly a round cone, a diagonally-sliced cylinder, and a flat wedge. these work like brushes, and let you move or adjust details without leaving a tool mark.
  
• an awl spike. it's pointy, you want a pointy tool. i've also used a dentist's pick but i couldn't find a local med supply store that would sell one to a random person when i looked
  
• metal ball-tipped tools, mainly a ~3mm ball, a <1mm ball, and a <1mm pointy ball (like a reverse tear drop). Sometimes you want a tool that will leave marks, or just want to bash the epoxy into place. these make good crude adjustment tools, better than everything in a "sculpting tools" set i got as a gift
  
• a blunt-edged spoon-shaped tool about 4-5mm wide. this is just for digging out a bad project mainly
  
• both edges of my xacto knife. for lines, scraping, twisting on the point to make cone-shaped holes, etc.
  
• some crappy nivea knockoff hand lotion. water-based lotion rules. put a glom of it on the back of your off-hand and use it to re-lube tools or fingers. very little residue (unlike oil/grease-based options, like vaseline). cleans up with your bare hands.
  
• nitrile glove for (at least) my main hand. professionals do not leave fingerprints.
  
• a plastic shot glass with a small amount of isopropyl alcohol. this goes on with a junked brush to smooth fingerprints or other fine marks on most epoxies. it's also necessary IME to clean up tools when using grainier epoxies, like mulliput, especially off of my silicone tools.
  
• a smooth, flat, clean rolling surface free of glue drips, shavings, fragments, etc. it's easy to forget you need this until you need it.

super sweet best pal posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGag8Qllgnw

Cthulu Carl posted:

Spanish Manlove posted:

What paint did you use on the second model's pants? It looks pretty spot on for blue jeans

Cthulu Carl posted:

Vallejo Model Air USAF Light Blue ( 71.111) then washed with Drakenhof Nightshade

Cease to Hope posted:

Speaking of which, a while back I found an incredible guide to using plastic cement, both to make bonds but also a bunch of secondary applications. And, for once, it's not a gd video.

For these guides, GW plastic models and bases are styrene (except for clear plastic canopies), but third-party bases may not be, even if they're plastic.

• Introduction and cement types
  
• Advanced Uses part 1
  
• Part 2
  
• Part 3

Cease to Hope posted:

I dunno why I wrote a whole giant effortpost for stripping paint but here it is.

First off, if the models are filthy, wash them with regular dish soap and a dish towel. Hand-safe dish soap won't damage any models as long as you don't break out an abrasive scrubber. It's not that solvents can't wash these off but it's just pointless contamination.

Regardless of what solvent you use, the basic process is the same. For handling, you want gloves (latex/rubber is always fine, nitrile almost always), and always do this in an area with active circulation or outdoors. If you're inside and can smell what you're using but can't hear the circulation, that's probably not somewhere you should be doing this.

If the solvent won't destroy the actual model, let it soak while fully immersed in a sealed container for about an hour, overnight, or a couple of days, depending on the strength of the solvent and the paint used. If the solvent will destroy the model, either let it soak for 5-15 minutes (probably best to test with scrap material) or go straight to the active cleaning. If there's some part that will be actually destroyed by the solvent that you don't care about (eg bases, the plastic parts of an old mixed metal/plastic Warhammer model), it's probably best to break most of it off as early as possible. If you can't, check daily and get the ruined part out of the soak as soon as it's easy to break off.

Whether or not you soak, the actual cleaning process is the same. Get a brush with firm flexible bristles, like a toothbrush or nylon brush. (The firmer the bristles, the lighter the touch.) You're mainly looking to push the paint off of the model, since scrubbing can lead to an uneven coat of leftover paint that smooths out all the details, or actually abrade the details of the model itself. Dab on more solvent with the brush as you go. (If the solvent will damage the model, make sure to dab it off with a paper towel after.) Once you've gotten all of the loose paint off, you can soak again if necessary. Once you're done, all of the solvents you should actually use evaporate in open air, so just let the model sit in a well-circulated or outdoor place.

As for picking solvents:

If you need to strip acrylic paint (pretty much any water- or alcohol-based paint), your best bet IMO is isopropyl alcohol, ideally 90% or 99%. You can get it in a pharmacy. (If you have them on hand, other high-concentration alcohols - methyl/ated or "denatured" alcohol, distilled spirits, everclear - can work, just not as well.) Alcohols are nonreactive with everything models are commonly made of except resin, so it won't destroy detail unless you physically abrade it off. It's also pretty much the least toxic popular choice for stripping model paint except some of the non-toxic patent cleaners. Still, use nitrile/rubber gloves and do it outdoors or in a place with active circulation.

Alcohols can be disposed of by letting them evaporate (outside!) or at paint disposal sites. (Recycling centers can often do this.) If you filter out the paint residue, most alcohols can also be dumped down the drain if you dilute them as you do, so like pouring slowly into a fully running sink or dumping them in the toilet. Concentrated alcohol or a significant amount of solid paint residue are bad for household pipes, though, and you really don't want to be dumping isopropyl into a septic system. Solid paint residue separated from the solvent is just trash. Alcohols pretty much never attack their containers, either.

If it's not acrylic paint, you will need something harsher. Unfortunately, all of these react with styrene plastic (and most other soft thermoplastics used in miniatures and model kits). However, all of these are safe for metal models and still work to remove acrylic paint, so if you want to skip straight to the harsh stuff because you have it on hand and already know how to handle it, be my guest. Anything from here on down generally needs to be disposed of at a paint or toxic household waste disposal site. Dumping them into a sewer system or regular trash is very stupid and may even be illegal.

Turpentine (not "mineral turpentine" or "odorless turpentine", the real thing) is the traditional paint thinner, and usually what people mean when they say "paint thinner" with no other qualifications. It's your best bet for removing pretty much any hobby paint, and most other paints someone might've put on a model. However, it will react with most plastics that model kits are made out of, particularly styrene, the thermoplastic most wargame models are made of. In particular, Testors, Revell, and Tamiya all have enamel lines that are or were popular for hobby paint and model kits.

Turpentine is a good balance of being actually harsh enough to work quickly without being so harsh that it's guaranteed to cause damage. You can dab, brush, and dab off on plastic models without causing too much damage. It's also similar to alcohol in that you can filter it, dispose of it by letting it evaporate outside, and in that any turpentine-soiled trash can be dried outside and then just tossed out normally. Alternately, you can just treat it as toxic waste. Note that clear containers of turpentine in the sun or bags full of turpentine-contaminated trash are both spontaneous ignition hazards. They are literally oil-soaked rags.

Acetone (non-odorless nail polish remover) is the magic bullet of last resort. It will dissolve basically any paint, basically any hobby plastic, and break down basically any hobby glue. It's the go-to to clean a model fouled with superglue, too. However, it also attacks nitrile gloves and quite a few kinds of plastic container. You can usually buy it at any pharmacy or grocery store or department store as nail polish remover, but try to get 100% acetone since there are other solvents used in some nail polish removers. (And "odorless nail polish remover" is not acetone at all.) You can also occasionally get it as glue remover, although there are a few other common solvents sold under that name.

The main reason you'd need acetone is because someone used lacquer paint, a spray paint/varnish intended for actual cars or outdoor furniture, or something completely bizarre like house paint or nail polish. (There are hobby lacquer paints from companies like Tamiya or AK but they're mainly aimed at model cars or RC/drone vehicles, which are made from different plastics.) Any plastic model with a paint like this is a writeoff unless you can just paint over it. When working with it, do it outside or with an actual fume hood, and wear actual rubber/latex gloves. (Again, acetone dissolves nitrile.)

The actual acetone in the container it was sold in is a hazard but pretty typical household one, on par with camping fuel or spraycans. Don't keep it somewhere hot, don't leave it in the sun. If you need a new container, metal, glass and HDPE (recycle #2) plastic are nonreactive, and an opaque container is better. It attacks a number of common kinds of plastic, including recycle #1 and #3. While HDPE itself is fine, other plastics with that same sort of milk-jug texture generally aren't. You technically can filter acetone to reuse it, but that means a lot more tools you need to check for safety and more contaminated trash, and unlike weaker solvents, it tends to have more dissolved contamination from reaction products. It's not worth it.

Contaminated acetone is toxic waste. Acetone-soaked trash is both toxic waste and a spontaneous ignition hazard, like oil-soaked rags. All of that goes to paint disposal sites. Spills in well-ventilated spaces are not a big deal since acetone evaporates (unless it can damage what it was spilled on), but you don't want to dispose of a container of it that way.

Isopropyl, turpentine, and acetone aren't your only options. They're just the best ones, since you can get them as pure chemical rather than mixed solutions or secret formulas. Everyone has some sort of home remedy, and most of them can kinda work, if you're willing to work around their disadvantages.

First off, there are lots of things that seem like they work but don't actually do anything to paint. You can rub off pretty much any paint with simple mechanical abrasion. These are all basically comparable to soap and water, and you can have some success with some paints, especially older or cheaper acrylics on older unprimed miniatures. Mechanical action always risks abrading or crushing detail if you use too harsh a cleaning surface, do it for too long, or use too much pressure.

Actual abrasives are an option. Toothpaste, any gritty household cleaner, a wire brush, or any scraping blade. Obviously, this comes with a risk of damage.

Lots of people swear by various nontoxic patented household cleaners. Simple Green is really common but there are others. These usually kind of suck, and need to soak forever. Honestly, I find most people do some of the worst damage with these, because they end up scrubbing to make up for the weaknesses of the solvent. (Plus, you'll want to search online and make sure it doesn't actually dissolve plastic.) Most of them are a mix of some sort of enzyme and/or mild oddball solvent with some kind of surfactant/detergent (soap). Unlike pretty much literally everything here, they are a lot easier to use and dispose of, although you still don't want to pour solid paint residue down your sink unless you want some clogs with interesting colors.

Most household cleaning solvents are close to useless. Ammonia and vinegar will dissolve some acrylic paints if you soak them in strong solutions for like a month. Bleach isn't useful. Don't bother.

Degreasers usually have some kind of useful solvent, but it can be a crapshoot which, and many of them are secret mixes. There's no general rule but I've never found one worth using. Note that some are dangerous for plastic, like orange degreaser (aka Orange TKO), whose main active ingredient is also sold as plastic cement.

Speaking of which, citrus solvent (aka citrus thinner, lots of brand names) is quite bad at dissolving dried paint but very effective at ruining styrene plastic. It's only good for long soaks for metal minis, and is mildly less toxic than turpentine, but not so much you wouldn't still want to take the normal precautions.

There are a lot of petroleum-based solvents that can work. These are not one single solvent but a class of them and generally sold as a mixture, so they have lots of names. They're also called white spirits, mineral turpentine, and petroleum spirits. Naphtha solvent is part of this family. Paint thinner or nail polish remover that specifies it isn't turpentine or acetone but doesn't specify what it is, that's also probably a mineral spirit. Odorless paint thinner is also almost always a mineral spirit, albeit a less harsh one.

Mineral spirits are usable. They are a bit less effective on paint than turpentine (especially odorless thinner, since the chemicals with harsh smells are the harsh solvents), and they often attack plastic even more aggressively. They do actually work, though, they're just kinda worse all-around compared to proper turpentine.

Glycol-ethers are another family of chemicals, and, when they're pure, they all work more or less about as well as turpentine or mineral spirits, while also destroying styrene plastic. (Formaldehyde or glycol as part of a chemical name is a common tell. Alternately, methyl- or ethyl- can be a tell, but methyl and ethyl alcohols are alcohols.) You don't actually want to buy these to use as paint stripper, in any event. They're usually too expensive at a proper concentration, many of them don't evaporate cleanly, and most of the ways they're sold are mixed with other problematic ingredients. I mention them because there are hobby "spot remover", "glue remover", or "paint remover" products that are safe for other kinds of plastic, not the ones generally used in miniatures. Also a lot of One Weird Trick home remedies are something with a high concentration of glycol-ether, like brake fluid or antifreeze. They're just a pain in the rear end and they have no advantages over other options except that you might already own them.

Anyone who advises you to use actual fuel is a maniac. Thankfully I don't see this any more, but people used to suggest poo poo like kerosene. Not only is this an incredibly stupid fire hazard, contaminated fuel with paint or melted plastic in it is a pain in the rear end to dispose of and leaves you with a container of fuel that will wreck an engine or stove, if not start a fire. Do not do this.

If someone has One Weird Trick that sounds interesting, search for the name of the product and SDS or MSDS. Pretty much every compound that actually works on paint that isn't an abrasive is flammable or toxic, and that means shipping it requires a standardized disclosure sheet. This is a good way to figure out what is actually in something before you go and dunk a model in it.

Edit: I forgot ultrasonic cleaners. They work, even the ones made for silverware, jewelry, or dentures. They are technically mechanical rather than chemical, but they won't generally damage detail.

However, do not put flammable solvents in household ultrasonic cleaners. This includes alcohol, even though lots of idiots will tell you to put isopropyl in one. It works! It can also explode. Do not clean your minis with a bomb. There are explosion-proof industrial cleaners that are certified to not spark and you can use those with solvents, but generally they're not consumer-oriented as far as I know.

Cease to Hope posted:

decals on textiles really need weathering to look good, and weather differently from paint on a hard surface.

is it screened or dyed? this is the most like paint. screened designs generally fade significantly faster than anything else, showing underlying color in a patchy way. edges similarly become more diffuse. sponging the base color works really well to weather a screened design, although the whole thing also starts to show through the base color too. filth and shadows should just cross straight over its boundaries. go-to reference material is old, vintage, or distressed t-shirts.

is the design woven? the edges should be slightly soft, as the weave gets uneven through wear. the logo will absorb filth and stains differently, producing a color that's a mix of the stain and the dye in each area of different dye. translucent washes can be a real crapshoot on this; sometimes you just need to paint overlapping stains different colors. if the clothing is threadbare, there are some additional concerns here but it doesn't look like that's what you're doing. flags are usually woven and there's lots of reference for those, although they tend to get threadbare too.

is the logo sewn onto the cape, like a patch? in that case it's a separate piece of cloth. it folds with the cape but slightly separately or offset, and may have a raised edge and/or visible lines of attaching stitches. if the cape is torn, it can separate near the tear, and may have its own tear. this is the main way to put a logo on leather. reference material is harder to find for this but look at old, filthy safety clothing, like hi-viz suits or firefighter gear, or well-worn bikers' vests and the patches.

is the logo embroidered? it should have a different surface texture, slightly uneven color due to its texture, and orderly but not perfectly straight edges. it's gonna fold differently and fray near a tear, and may form creases and fray along folds. fraying can give it uneven edges or surfaces, and embroidery can shred or abrade away without the cloth being pierced. it's probably more useful to look at the ways jeans or lace fray for reference on damaged embroidery.

there are other ways of adding designs to clothing, but none of them would be used to attach a single dominant logo. it could be interesting to have, say, chaos-logo-print cloth but you wouldn't use decals for that.

Cease to Hope posted:

Firearms aren't like most steel objects and weather in a counterintuitive way. Steel parts on a gun that will be exposed to the elements are generally plated with a mostly non-reactive metal, or else chemically treated to passivize and increase the hardness of the steel parts. This means, despite still looking metallic, they wear more like a painted metal object, because they have a coating that can abrade, nick, wear down from friction, etc.

You see much faster wear in any place the firearm is held, under the aiming finger, and any surface that rubs against the user or a holster. In particular, the inside - the side facing the chest - of a longarm will be significantly more worn because it's the side against the body when the weapon is slung over the back. Holster wear tends to abrade the end of the barrel and/or forward end of the slide, the front sight, the sides of the slide ahead of the trigger, and the front of the trigger guard. For pistols in particular, this holster wear goes both ways, since the parts of the firearm inside the holster are more protected from the elements.

Nicks or scrapes are bright shiny silver immediately, then accumulate dirt and (orange) rust, or else black tarnish. Wear depends on the finish, but once the layer is worn away then you start to see rust, pitting, etc. The usual weathering of metal exposed to the elements. However, even if the gun's owner is an ork and doesn't give a poo poo, the high-friction areas will still generally be worn smooth even if they show the telltales of rust clusters. Only very degraded metal would be rough under the shooter's palms.

Which of the two protective coatings a firearm would have depends on the vibe you're going for. Hardened steel is ubiquitous and cheap in the 20-21c IRL, while nickel plating was common in the latter half of the 19c, especially as guns moved from actual gunmetal (a bronze) to steel. Chemical treatment in the 19th century is fancy, while by the 20th century electroplating is only common as a purposefully nostalgic design or to decorate a firearm ostentatiously.

You've almost certainly seen hardened steel guns. The most popular treatment today is a matte black finish that does not read as metallic, although there are other colors (mainly a reddish brown), almost all of them matte. This wears by slowly losing the surface, getting more metallic and shinier in a patchy way. The color change is the opposite of the way a coin or jewelry acquire tone over time, since a layer of intentional tarnish is being destroyed rather than deposited. In addition to the actual friction, the pattern of the wear is similar to the way any rolled steel plate wears. At 32mm, this should not be super noticeable unless this is meant to be an heirloom, centuries old, etc.

Older finishes would be brassy, bluish, translucent or satin black, or even brownish or purplish. Even older bluing methods might even have swirls or clusters of these colors. These older treatments are often polished to a shine, matting down with wear almost immediately. This layer wears off the same way as the modern finishes, but it's less obvious because they're less even. I'm glossing (heh) over like a century of practical and decorative styles here so it's hard to make general statements beyond the basic nature of all passivization treatments.

Sponging with the underlying metal color (probably dull grey) and rust orange looks good for wear on passivized finishes. Avoid streaking or textured corrosion unless the gun is meant to be scrap metal, like something used by undead, a 40K ork, a Nurgle worshipper, etc.

If the firearm is plated, plating metals are generally shiny to begin with, matting down with wear. plating is prone to chipping or, in extreme cases, peeling. These will generally expose the duller, grayish underlaying metal (possibly as a shiny nick in an extreme case) but quickly turn black or orange from oxides and filth. These finishes won't rust (although they can certainly tarnish!) except where the plating has been physically scraped, but the plating can tarnish or corrode, or even be peeled or bubbled by chemical reactions or extreme temperatures.

Plated guns just tarnish until they're so abused that they're pitting or peeling. This doesn't mean they don't acquire wear, it's just generally in the form of accumulating filth and black tarnish except where extreme wear or deep gouges get into the underlying ferrous metal. Think of the guns as literally being covered with metallic paint in bright silver/brass/gold, then wear them the way a high-wear painted metal object would wear. Just don't do the usual weather-streaking unless the gun is meant to have been found on the ground, or else is owned by a zombie or something.

Cease to Hope posted:

Tossing out some hobby gift advice for Eargesplitten or whoever else is encouraging a new hobbyist, in a form that can be handed off to parents or relatives:

The DSPIAE nippers are luxury ones but don't go for quite as much as God Hands. (They're very good clones, good enough to have their own rep.) They go for about $40-60 and some of the Gunpla importers sell rebranded ones; if you look them up, you'll get an eye for which single-blade rebrands have the same exact shape but with an engraved store logo. They're a "treat these carefully" kind of gift, so maybe not for someone younger who hasn't ruined a set of clippers or two. It's something you find in specialist hobby stores, mainly online.

If they're old enough for Xacto blades, Xacto tool blades are super handy. Concave curve blades (with a sickle style edge) and hobby saw blades are super useful, the former for cleaning mold lines and the latter for kitbashes or base modeling, but lots of people just don't know that they exist. A second Xacto handle at the same time is handy as heck; a cheap one or clone is usually as good as a name brand. No need to get the big chunky "comfort" handles that cost like $20-25 and are aimed at papercrafters. (I like the Xacto Gripster or Excel K18, both less than $10, but any handle that you open or loosen somewhere other than where you grip is good.) Hardware stores, craft stores, scale model stores, or game specialist stores are all possible places to buy the specialized blades, and you can get Xacto handles pretty much anywhere.

A jar of Vallejo terrain paste paint. It's super fun to play with and makes bases look cool as heck on it's own, and comes in a 40 ml bottle for $7-8. Just pick whatever kind of thick mud looks neat to you, since it can be repainted once it dries. Scale model/RC stores and some specialist gaming stores will have this; any place that sells scale model tanks and isn't a pure toy store is a shoo-in. If specialist model or game stores don't carry Vallejo paints, they probably know who does, or have a comparable brand to recommend. (Citadel is GW's overpriced brand so not that.)

Green stuff, with a set of sculpting tools, ideally containing a pointed metal awl tool, a spatula of some sort, and silicone-ended sculpting tools. (They look like brushes, and cheap ones still do the job.) Green stuff is flexible, smooth-textured air-drying modeling putty and it's an absolute gamechanger. The tools are the ones that are super useful all the time; there are lots of tool sets for sculpting but lots of them are filled with useless crap or tools aimed at other types of sculpting. Green stuff is usually sold as a blue and yellow tape, or occasionally small pillars of yellow and blue material. Specialist game stores definitely sell green stuff, and modeling or RC/drone stores might. Any kind of generalist craft store might occasionally have the putty and will almost certainly have the tools. (There are other types of two-part epoxy clay, but they're more advanced and situational. Green stuff is a gamechanger when you first learn about it and everyone can use more.) A big bottle of generic moisturizing hand lotion for a couple bucks is a good companion with this, since it's the best tool and finger lubricant I've yet found. (Lasts longer than water, but still evaporates, rather than leaving residue you have to wipe off when you use grease like Vaseline.)

All of these things are things people may not know they need, but are immediately and obviously useful, and all of them are things they can use more of even if they do use them already. And except for the scalpel blades, they're all good for any age or skill level as long as they're past putting things in their mouths.

richyp posted:

Agreed, thanks to Leperflesh's post I already have a better understanding of the arcane workings of cameras.

In terms of lightboxes, I made a ghetto box out of cardboard box that I cut the top and front off, then I taped the top of a sheet of white paper to the back, and the taped the bottom to the under side of the box making sure that the paper was curved rather than creased (so there's no sharp line on the picture). Here's a shot of it:



I'm then taking pictures from about 12-16" away from the box. Followed by lloading the picture into gimp, choosing "Colors->Levels..."

Click the white dropper:



Click on the white paper "lightbox" background in the image and voila:



The picture would be sharper if I had a tripod because my understanding is that the shutter speed is slow enough that any minor movement is making its way into the final picture.

Avenging Dentist posted:

Below is a list of the best-loved paints from any range. This list is compiled from posts both here and on other forums (mainly CMON), plus a few recommendations from various painting videos. I broke it up by fairly-arbitrarily putting each one into a basic color, and within each color, they're sorted roughly from light to dark. A indicates paints that lots of people love. If there are paints people think I missed, let me know (in the thread or via PM) and I'll add them.

Whites/Greys/Blacks
P3 Morrow White (93073): Pure white; very good coverage
VMC Ivory (70.918): Non-chalky almost-white
VMC Deck Tan (70.986): Good for highlights and mixing
Reaper Linen White (9061)
Reaper Ghost White (9063)
Reaper Snow Shadow (9021)
VMC Neutral Grey (70.992)
VMC German Grey (70.995): Near-black
Reaper Noir Black (9289): Near-black
P3 Thamar Black (93072): Pure black

Browns
VMC Pale Sand (70.837): Useful for skin highlights, eyes, teeth
VMC Iraqui [sic] Sand (70.819)
P3 Rucksack Tan (93062)
VMC Brown Sand (70.876)
VMA Armor Brown (71.041)
P3 Bloodstone (93029)
Reaper Woodstain Brown (9160)
Reaper Walnut Brown (9136)
VMC German Camo Black-Brown (70.822): Very dark neutral brown, good for shading
VMC Hull Red (70.985)
Reaper Brown Liner (9064)

Reds
VMC Carmine Red (70.908): Bright, warm red
VMC Red #33 (70.926): Fairly bright, cool red (just a bit darker than VMC Carmine Red)
VMA Ferrari Red (71.085)
Reaper Old West Rose (9283): Good mixer for shading skin
VGA Bloody Red (72.710)
Reaper Bloodstain Red (9133)
VMC Black Red (70.859)

Oranges
Reaper Amber Gold (9032)
P3 Ember Orange (93023): Good for shading sand

Yellows
Reaper Golden Blonde (9033)
P3 Cygnus Yellow (93025): Non-chalky bright yellow
VMA Golden Yellow (71.078)
VGC Scrofulous Brown (72.038): Good undercoat for painting yellow on top of

Greens
VGC Scurvy Green (72.027)

Cyans
Reaper Marine Teal (9077)
Reaper Surf Aqua (9078)
Reaper Seafoam Blue (9195)
P3 Coal Black (93046)
Citadel Incubi Darkness

Blues
VMC Dark Prussian Blue (70.899)

Purples
Reaper Violet Red (9026)
Reaper Pale Violet (9027)
VMC Violet Red (70.812)
VMC Blue Violet (70.811)

Flesh Tones
Reaper Tanned Skin Triad (9043-5)
Reaper Dark Elf Triad (9163-5)

Metallics
VMA Silvers (71.062-5)
Reaper True Silver (9207)
Reaper Aged Pewter (9196)
P3 Pig Iron (93074)
Vallejo Metal Color (77.xxx): Water-based metallics generally considered among the best Vallejo metallics
Scale75 Metal & Alchemy (SSE-009, SSE-010, SSE-021): Much finer mica flakes (the shiny stuff) than other brands

Washes/Transparent
VMC Transparent Yellow (70.937): Good for saturating yellows
Citadel Casandora Yellow: Good for saturating yellows
Tamiya Clear Red (X-27): Great for blood effects
Citadel Drankenhof Nightshade: Good for shading bluish whites
Citadel Agrax Earthshade: Good dark-brown wash
Scale75 Inktense Chestnut: A less glossy version of GW's old Chestnut ink
Army Painter Strong Tone Ink: Good dark-brown wash (very close to Agrax Earthshade)
Army Painter Dark Tone Ink: Good black wash
VMC Smoke (70.939)
P3 Armor Wash (93012): Bluish-black wash

PaintVagrant posted:

PHOTO HELP LINKS
http://www.miniaturewargaming.com/index.php/wiki/Photographing_Miniatures_From_Wee_Toy_Soldiers/]

GENERAL PAINTING LINKS

FTWs GIGANTIC LIST OF LINKS
http://fromthewarp.blogspot.com/p/archives.html

B&C Space Marine Painter Tool
http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/smpbeta.php

PAINTING TUTORIAL LINKS
Biel-Tan Eldar Tutorial
http://www.whmpg.com/?page_id=76

A SHITLOAD OF BASING LINKS
http://www.necrotales.com/necroTutorials/tut_base_plants01.php
http://archive.brushthralls.com/basing/back-to-bases-1-textures-2.html
http://archive.brushthralls.com/basing/back-to-bases-2-cork-and-snow.html
http://archive.brushthralls.com/basing/back-to-bases-3-protectorate-basing.html
http://thepaintingcorps.blogspot.com/2009/05/friday-quick-tip-cork-basing.html
http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=3381[/url]
http://www.necrotales.com/necroTutorials/tut_base_rock01.php
http://salmondworks.com/blog/?p=156[/url]
http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?autocom=ineo&showarticle=146

Snow Bases:
http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2008/12/tutorial-snow-basing.html
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?categoryId=cat1290202&pIndex=0&aId=4400036a&start=1
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/c...mes+Workshop%29

SCULPTING LINKS
B&C making "scaled" cloth/etc guide:
http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=180116

INSTAMOLD/ETC QUICK CASTING LINKS
http://cgi.ebay.com/Oyumaru-Clay-Creative-toy-Reusable-Mold-Making-Kit-/300535222492
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz8FwUEFMzY
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3210214&pagenumber=344#post391368435

SUPPLY PURCHASE LINKS
Winsor and Newton Series 7 Brushes:
http://www.dickblick.com/products/winsor-and-newton-series-7-kolinsky-sable-pointed-round/
http://www.dickblick.com/products/winsor-and-newton-series-7-kolinsky-sable-miniature-brushes/

Modeling:
Brass Rod Weapon Hafts: http://salmondworks.com/blog/?p=278
Greenstuff Icon Molds: http://swchq.co.uk/minus_ts_guide_to_greenstuf.php
Greenstuff Tips and Tricks: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/242387.page
Greenstuff to disguise joins: http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=1696
Make a Foamcore Rabbet Cutter: http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/infopages/page381.html
Pinning: http://archive.brushthralls.com/modelling/pinning.html
Pre-Heresy Terminator Shoulder Pads: http://fromthewarp.blogspot.com/2009/01/pre-heresy-terminator-shoulder-pads.html
Resin Casting Tutorial: http://ultrawerke.blogspot.com/2007/02/resin-castig-tutorial-part-i.html
Scratch Building Tutorial: http://ultrawerke.blogspot.com/2007/03/scratchbuilding-tutorial-part-i.html
Sculpting 101: http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=1666
Sculpting 102: http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=1875
Sculpting Chains: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/242226.page

Painting:
Object Source Lighting: http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=1916
Painted Horses: http://thepaintingcorps.blogspot.co...inting+Corps%29
Female Eyes: http://www.reapermini.com/TheCraft/12
Female Faces: http://www.jenova.dk/Faces.htm
Female Faces (another): http://www.minizilla.com/sintricat/painting_faces.html
Playing with Fire: http://archive.brushthralls.com/painting-techniques/playing-with-fire.html
Rust Effects (with real rust): http://www.wideopenwest.com/~tinweasel/rust_tut.html
Sepia Gold: http://thepaintingcorps.blogspot.com/2009/04/friday-quick-tip-sepia-gold.html
Skintones: http://www.jenova.dk/Skintones.htm
Sponge Painting Damage: http://i41.tinypic.com/2qvggtx.jpg
Step-by-Step Chaos Warrior: http://www.jrn-works.dk/tutorials/tut.php?tut=chaosWarriorIntro&lan=eng
Tank Weathering: http://thepaintingcorps.blogspot.com/2008/03/here-is-old-tutorial-from-old-painting.html
The Painting Clinic: http://www.paintingclinic.com/MainClinic.dwt.htm
Painting Leather: http://fromthewarp.blogspot.com/2010/01/painting-leather-quick-way.html

Photos
Homemade Light Box: http://www.studiolighting.net/homemade-light-box-for-product-photography/
How to Make a Light Tent: http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent

Terrain:
Books & Scrolls: http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/infopages/page562.html
HirstArts: http://www.hirstarts.com/index.html
SalmondWorks: http://salmondworks.com/
TerraGenesis: http://terragenesis.co.uk/
Terrain Thralls: http://www.terrainthralls.com/Tutorials%20folder/Tutorials.html

Airbrushing

HKR's airbrush post: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3210214&pagenumber=100#post374381003


Chat
irc.synirc.net #tinypewtermen

MORE
General/multi-topic, full of tutorials, occasional poor english (most authors on the site are German): http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.com/2009/10/tutorial-overview.html
Useful forum with a large number of outstanding painters posting (Australia focus): http://www.mainlymedieval.com/ozpainters/index.php
Sand-casting foam terrain: http://www.reapermini.com/TheCraft/48
Process behind a nice resin display base: http://www.reapermini.com/TheCraft/49
A couple decent tutorials/step-by-steps from an excellent painter: http://volomir.blogspot.com/

Shoehead posted:

Yes another pot of acyclic paint will surely fix me

Cease to Hope posted:

Likewise, you should generally paint sets that are some kind of brand collaboration, like WizKids, D&D, Cyberpunk Red, or Zombicide. While sometimes they're okay, most of the time these sets are overpriced, have cost-cutting measures like smaller bottles, have oddball color names you have to look up in a chart to match to the manufacturer's regular paints, or have hues you can only get in that set.

stabbington posted:

If you run out of paints, you die. Make sure you keep buying them.

Lostconfused posted:

I like painting, it hits my ocd just right like other nerdy things, I hate army painting because it gives me goals, pressures, and deadlines which obviously doesn't mix well with the rest.

Shoehead posted:

Yes another pot of acrylic paint will surely fix me

super sweet best pal posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGag8Qllgnw

Cease to Hope posted:

AK Interactive 3rd Gen is a gigantic line mainly aimed at historical wargamers and scale modelers. The paints are smooth and quite matte, and the very large line includes lots of historical color-matches for uniforms, livery, and camouflage schemes. I don't know why nobody ever seems to mention them, they're another top-of-the-line brand. In any case, don't just look for the AK Interactive brand: their Real Colors line are solvent-based acrylic, a different kind of paint entirely, and they sell lots of specialized paints for specific scale modelling applications.

Star Man posted:

AK Interactive used the Holocaust for paint tutorials and setting in articles produced by them. It was met with a lot of criticism. I think whether or not the company's staffed by neo-nazis or if they're just absolutely clueless is an open question, but it probably explains any lacking presence of AK Interactive products in guides and discourse.

hot cocoa on the couch posted:

i suck at painting and i also hate it but i love miniature wargaming and well, thusly,

Slyphic posted:

I remember trying to figure that out when it all happened, and the impression I got was that the company was a lot of young edgelords, and I find that hard to hold against someone as long at they grow out of it. Was it a one off, or the start of a pattern? (genuinely asking, I don't follow hobby drama much)

Geisladisk posted:

Finished up this old, old Dark Emissary model. Gonna use him as a chaos sorcerer.

Star Man posted:

AK Interactive used the Holocaust for paint tutorials and setting in articles produced by them. It was met with a lot of criticism. I think whether or not the company's staffed by neo-nazis or if they're just absolutely clueless is an open question, but it probably explains any lacking presence of AK Interactive products in guides and discourse.