Barbarian Women work in progress.

[Mr Davis]

I thought I would post my work tonight. I didn't realize how grainy she is turning out until i took picks. I noticed a little grain when i was applying but not as bad as when I saw these picks. I'm shocked that I have to thin my paint even more... I feel like its almost a wash if i keep thinning it . I'm also having trouble with the eyes. DAM YOU SMALL EYES!
Any comments or tips are appreciated.

 

[Aliengod3]

It could be the primer. It may have a bad can that did not coat smoothly. It could also be that you may not have thoroughly cleaned the mini before you sprayed it. If you rub your mini with a stiff bristle brush or steel wool it will burnish the mini and smooth out any rough areas.

If those are not the problems then it could be that you need to dilute more. It may feel like painting wish washes but your will get a very smooth result. It will just take a bit longer. But the mini is looking good! Do not give up!

 

[Dragonsreach]

I thought I would post my work tonight.Cool and thanks for sharing
I didn't realize how grainy she is turning out until i took picks. I noticed a little grain when i was applying but not as bad as when I saw these picks. OK Don't panic about this. The photographs are huge in comparison to the real mini. Lots pf people suddenly think their painting looks like a moon crater when blown up this huge. In real life, held in your hand the mini looks good does it not?
I'm shocked that I have to thin my paint even more... I feel like its almost a wash if i keep thinning it . Thin paint is the best way to control the application, but their are limits to exactly how far you can push the dilution. Too far and the paint becomes virtually unworkable. One thing that people don't always realise is that yes thin paint is great, but....the previous layers need to be 100% dry before the next layer is added otherwise you can end up creating ridges of semi dry paint which has formed when the new wet paint is applied. Quite often I use a cheap & cheerful hairdrier in between coats.
I'm also having trouble with the eyes. DAM YOU SMALL EYES! Welcome to the world, most people with noticable exceptions have problems. Your painted eyes look pretty good to me, just a touch heavy on the black lining.
Any comments or tips are appreciated.

Looking at the pictures I was wondering if you use a brush on primer? Some of them I have found to be less than impressive. If I have to brush on a primer now I tend to use diluted Vallejo Airbrush Grey primer, it has finer pigment granules and dilutes nicely and dries evenly (with or without hairdrier).

Aliengod3 made a comment about burnishing with a stiff brush or wire wool, while these methods are OK for non detailed areas when it comes to fine details I'd suggest you aviod them. Instead try burnishing with the side of a sewing needle, this will smooth out the surface and give greater control. Yes it's more time consuming, but if you are working on a Reaper P65 material figure the softness of the metal survives the work.

 

[Mr Davis]

Thanks for the tips they are most appreciated!. I will have to spend a little more time prepping, Ill try the prep techniques you two listed next time. Regarding the primer, I do a thin coat of Dupli-color auto primer white and then I wash the whole mini down with a black ink, so I can see the contrast. I have just started experimenting with the black ink, I think it was a little to dark this time. I like to see the contrast and detail before I paint, the white primer kind of blurs it for me and all black primer is to hard on my eyes . Could it be laying the ink on first is also contributing to some of the grain?

 

[jahminis]

i don't think that a layer of ink on the primer would contribute to the graininess, as inks don't have as much tendency to dry chunky like paint does...
it is probably one of the factors mentioned above (rough metal, or bad primer)...
a little extra prep goes a long way...
be careful of humidity when you primer, as it will wreck havoc on your primer...
nothing worse than a fuzzy primed mini...

i had to chuck a whole can of armoury primer in the trash last spring, 'cause it refused to cooperate in Mazatlan...
if you're close to the beach (i'm from Redondo), it may be best to use the Vallejo Air Grey brush-on primer when it's humid out...
i always keep some around, just in case...

cheers
jah

 

[BPI]

Hi Mr Davis, though it's not a technique I've used, the ink wash to lead the way sounds perfectly sensible. What kind of ink is it? The Citadel ones I've used (I believe rebranded W&N Drawing Ink) have a tendency to lift & blend into the colour you try & lay over it. Can be handy for blending but I wouldn't want black coming through into the fleshtones I'm trying to put on. Have you considered trying a GW wash or an oil wash instead? Also, black for army painting but for pushing toward character/display standard consider complimentary dark brown/blue/etc as appropriate.

Cheers, B.

 

[cassar]

seems a bit chalky texture wise

 

[Mr Davis]

Tonight has not been a fun night... I tired to pick colors complement to the greens on her outfit with the swords, and have some fun with it... A disaster followed.. so Frustrating. Not sure where to go not with these swords.
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[Mr Davis]

P.S. I have had a terrible time with boots also, 3 minis and all the boots look terrible.

 

[Wren]

Possible sources of texture problems in my experience:

* Prep issues - not filing off bumps and mould lines and so on. Sanding or buffing the surface can help, but really that's more for display contest level results. Giving the mini a quick scrub with soap and water gets off any mould release or skin grease that might be on it and helps the primer adhere better.

* Priming technique - if you hold the spray primer a little too far away from the mini, droplets can dry on the way over and cause a dusty or bumpy surface. Spraying in a dusty environment also isn't great.

* Primer - as mentioned, the primer itself can be not the greatest or not suitable for minis. Lots of people use Duplicolor sandable, I believe, so you're probably fine there.

* Paint - if you use twist off lid paint pots, particularly if you paint from the pot/lid, you can get grit and fibers in the paint pretty easily. Either from the environment, or from what dries up in the thread of the cap and around the edges and falls in. Generally these are larger chunks, though. Paint can go off if it's exposed to temperature extremes, and some paint colours/brands have a bit of graininess. If it's an all over the mini issue, though, it's more likely a prep or priming thing.

* How you use the paint - if you use a wet palette you leave open a lot and don't change the paper on very often and you have dust and cats and so on, you can get a lot of gunk in your paint. I had problems in the past with over-vigourous stirring on a wet palette rucking up fibers from the paper that made for a noticeably bumpy surface when I took pictures. Also consider what you're drying your brush on, it might be a type of cloth or paper towel that has a lot of fibers.

 

[BPI]

Hi there Mr. Davis, I have awful trouble working out how to highlight feet/boots & am often dissatisfied with the end result :sigh: You're not alone!

She's coming on just fine though, get her finished & move onto the next mini. In a year, compare your most recent work to this piece. We'll see a huge leap of improvement! By which I mean, no matter how much excellent advice you take on board, it's practice & experience that will really sort out your current mini painting frustrations

Cheers, B.

 

[Mr Davis]

OK so I finally got time to finish her. She did not come out the way I would of liked, but I took some advise here, wrapped her up and now moving on to my first diorama (this could get ugly).
Thanks for the feed-back and tips. They are very much appreciated.
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