Beginners Luck?

[Eiranthia]

Hello All!
I am new to this site but also new to painting miniatures. I hope that I am posting in the correct thread for the questions I have (which are numerous).

I just recently decided to tackle painting miniatures - anything I know was gathered quickly and probably inadequately. I'm looking for advice, tips, techniques, anything that will help me out. So far I have only painted one miniature, but I loved doing it so much that I don't think I'm going to stop anytime soon.
This is where you all come in.
Since its easier to post a link to my blog with my miniature's pictures than post it all here again : http://duskflavors.blogspot.com/2010/03/dragon-age-world-of-warcraft-final.html

I used Formula P3 paints - I was giddy and had no idea what I was doing so I just grabbed a few colors I thought would be useful :
Frostbite, Pig Iron, Ordic Olive, Idrian Flesh, Beast Hide, Cygnar Blue Base, Brass Balls, Skorne Red, Radiant Platinum, Flesh Wash, and Armor Wash.
I also picked up a black primer.
So..here are my questions.
Primer - From what I can gather, black primer is good for the more realistic look, where you are trying to get the colors to look darker right? The trouble I had with it my first time was I sprayed waaaay too much, but didn't notice till I got it under proper light- I managed to wash it off and went out and tried again and that time around it seemed like a much thinner layer. How can I tell how its supposed to look? How much primer is enough primer? Is spray not the way to go? Or is there a nifty technique to spraying these things that I haven't figured out yet?
Flesh Wash - I sorta get how to use washes, but how do I use a flesh wash after I have used a black primer? I decided to just use Frostbite on her face, let it dry, then use the wash. This seemed logical but for some reason it just didn't work. I don't know why, maybe I it was the paint, maybe it was the wash - It just looks like splotchy peachy-blue-white-skin.
How do I use Flesh Wash in cases like this? Or any wash for that matter if I use a primer?
Tools of the Trade - I wanted to see if I liked painting miniatures before I dropped a lot of money on the hobby. So far I love it but I want to slowly build up to the things that I need- What items should I go out and get now vs what do I need to slowly aspire to work for. (example brushes, stands, other..stuff).

I really haven't learned much and I am very open to all advice and suggestions. I'm sorry my post is a bit unorganized and messy - I hope that the questions still come across clear.

 

[mickc22]

welcome aboard, not a great pic but doesn't look too bad for a first attempt

Have a look in the Sticky Thread (second one down) there are links to articles and topics that will help you with as much advice as you want

Prime with several light coats is best, start your spray off the mini, make a pass over the mini and finish the spray off of the mini

Flesh wash is put on after you've applied the base color over the primer

Kolinsky Sable brushes are a good investment, a 1, 0 and 2/0 would do to start

if you want to watch some vids this lady has some nice ones

http://www.youtube.com/user/GirlPainting

 

[cheelfy]

First of all welcome to the painting miniature hobby and to these mad forums.
-Primer: black undercoater is the most used and might be the best if you want to have a good result quickly. It's not necessarly for painting dark minis but it's good to. You also can use white but painting will be longer and as you start I advise you to use black. A correctly undercoated mini has to look like that:http://img204.imageshack.us/i/img0162p.jpg/. You have to apply your undercoat by spraying a thin layer about 30cm away from the mini. Spraying is the way to go and you also can do it with an airbrush.
-Flesh Wash:you just have to apply the basecoatover your mini and the apply a diluted wash over it when it is dry.
-Tools of the trade: you have to buy a detail brush, a normal brush, red, blue, green, white, black, brown, gold, iron and flesh paints. You also to buy something that help you putting out the mouldlines, I use a lime and a knife, cheap and quite good.
Here's the good place to improve, post your minis in the WIP section and ask for comments and crits, it'll help you a lot improving.

 

[Eiranthia]

Thank you both for the quick replies! Those videos already look useful and I really appreciate the pic of the correctly undercoated mini.
I'll take both tips into account when attempting my next time - along with exploring more of the site here.
I appreciate the warm welcome and the simple answers

 

[mickc22]

no problem, you're welcome

start a WIP thread with your next mini, you can get tips and advice as you go along

also get into the General discussion section and just generally chit chat on as much as you can and get your post count up, it helps with responses

I'm watching this one at the moment

http://www.youtube.com/user/GirlPainting#p/u/2/JjmW05xMQ1k

it shows a nicely black undercoated mini



Mick

 

[freakinacage]

I'm watching this one at the moment

http://www.youtube.com/user/GirlPainting#p/u/2/JjmW05xMQ1k

it shows a nicely black undercoated mini



Mick

mick is that you with nail varnish on?!!

 

[mickc22]

mick is that you with nail varnish on?!!

damn! :doh!:was hoping I'd pulled that off.......:laugh:

:rotfl: (seriously though Tim, if you are ever tempted to do a little bit of stand -up.............don't!:eyeroll!: :wink:

As I can't be bother to keep typing Eiranthia every time I'm gonna shorten it to Kat :smile-big:

You may also find her series of videos How to paint every Miniature informative as well



Mick

 

[Eiranthia]

Haha yeah Kat is fine

I'm watching through a few of these videos and thinking of just going for something simple for my next mini by tacking a few goblins~

Watching these videos is soo much easier for my somewhat limited attention span too

 

[mickc22]

:glasses-cool:
look forward to seeing some little Gobbos

well it was either Kat or ET (EiranThia) :smile:

 

[BPI]

Hi Eiranthia, welcome

I'll second the call for a WIP thread. Lots of step by step photos of what you're doing, at a size big enough to see You'll quickly enough pick up feedback. You won't have time to pick up bad hobby habits that linger for decades too, though the Brushlickers may try to lure you into their fold

Have you found any minis/painters in the Gallery whose work you particularly like? If there is a style you aspire too it can be easier for people to point you in the right direction, even if it's something as simple as what colour undercoat to work from.

Cheers, B.

 

[mickc22]

nothing wrong with licking your brush! You just have to make sure it's loaded with the correct fluid for the operation! Water preferably :smile-big:

 

[Eiranthia]

As soon as my gobbies come in I'll be sure to start up a WIP thread! I already figured out one terrible noobie mistake I made ... >.> I never once thinned my paints which in retrospect explains a lot of the problems I had.

Following your advice I looked into the gallery to find some minis/painters that really caught my eye as to what I'd like to do:
Monique DeRouge by Bohun, Dwarf ranger by pignacius, and dain deepaxe 2811 by iraeyna.

I know I'm waay waay off from being that good, but I really like the bright colors - without getting into crazy unrealistic colors. (if there is a term for that I apologize >.>)
I suppose using white primer makes the colors pop more? and then just lighter highlights?

 

[DaRat]

I prefer using white primer. It's much easier for me to see details. But, I do often use a brown magic wash (1 part dark brown/black paint (I use Reaper MSP Brown Liner), 3 parts matte medium, 3 parts water) to put dark "paint" in the recesses and line the mini.

As far as tools goes, Reaper's The Craft page (http://www.reapermini.com/TheCraft) has a series of articles on general painting topics including two containing lists of tools (A Beginning Mini Painter's Shopping List Parts 1 & 2).

 

[Javen]

Hello All!
I am new to this site but also new to painting miniatures. I hope that I am posting in the correct thread for the questions I have (which are numerous).

I just recently decided to tackle painting miniatures - anything I know was gathered quickly and probably inadequately. I'm looking for advice, tips, techniques, anything that will help me out. So far I have only painted one miniature, but I loved doing it so much that I don't think I'm going to stop anytime soon.
This is where you all come in.
Since its easier to post a link to my blog with my miniature's pictures than post it all here again : http://duskflavors.blogspot.com/2010/03/dragon-age-world-of-warcraft-final.html

I used Formula P3 paints - I was giddy and had no idea what I was doing so I just grabbed a few colors I thought would be useful :
Frostbite, Pig Iron, Ordic Olive, Idrian Flesh, Beast Hide, Cygnar Blue Base, Brass Balls, Skorne Red, Radiant Platinum, Flesh Wash, and Armor Wash.
I also picked up a black primer.
So..here are my questions.
Primer - From what I can gather, black primer is good for the more realistic look, where you are trying to get the colors to look darker right? The trouble I had with it my first time was I sprayed waaaay too much, but didn't notice till I got it under proper light- I managed to wash it off and went out and tried again and that time around it seemed like a much thinner layer. How can I tell how its supposed to look? How much primer is enough primer? Is spray not the way to go? Or is there a nifty technique to spraying these things that I haven't figured out yet?
Flesh Wash - I sorta get how to use washes, but how do I use a flesh wash after I have used a black primer? I decided to just use Frostbite on her face, let it dry, then use the wash. This seemed logical but for some reason it just didn't work. I don't know why, maybe I it was the paint, maybe it was the wash - It just looks like splotchy peachy-blue-white-skin.
How do I use Flesh Wash in cases like this? Or any wash for that matter if I use a primer?
Tools of the Trade - I wanted to see if I liked painting miniatures before I dropped a lot of money on the hobby. So far I love it but I want to slowly build up to the things that I need- What items should I go out and get now vs what do I need to slowly aspire to work for. (example brushes, stands, other..stuff).

I really haven't learned much and I am very open to all advice and suggestions. I'm sorry my post is a bit unorganized and messy - I hope that the questions still come across clear.

For me, when priming it's all about how far away the spray can is from the model. i usually go with about two passes at about 20-30 cm (or about 8-12")

I've used black, white and grey primers. Black is good IMHO for new painters, as i found it easier to make sure that the primer was covered with the proper colors.... With white you have to pay more attention to covering the primer, otherwise you'll end up with little white dots where your paint dried and you didn't have enough (usually in deep corners etc was the spots for me).

Currently i am using gray as i find the colors i am using cover in less coats (i thin my paints lots) resulting in a little bit quicker paint time.

The key to washes is thin them down more than you think you need to. I've also read that using an additive to reduce the surface tention in your washes will help them go onto the model in the right places (versus staying on top the wash will go into the creases and folds of the mini, which is where you want the wash to be in order to allow proper shading). I have experimented with a few different things as additives, such as laundry soap (very little), floor products (search up magic wash if you want to know more) and even a drop of white glue.

As for tools, IMHO you just really need a set of brushes, a good hobby knife and a set of small files (to get rid of nasty mold lines), a place to paint and most importantly good light. Personally i would invest in a couple of good desk lamps that output light as close to sun light as you can find before investing in any specialized tools.

Hope i helped