Black Templar Help ( WIP )

[GraveRobber]

Hey guys, I am really stumped on what to do, looking for a little input on just what I can do or if I can salvage this WIP model before he gets dunked in the industrial paint remover.

This is the first BT I have worked on and my problem is finding a way to layer or highlight the armor, I am at a toss up of leaving a black ink wash so the armor looks nice and shiny, or building up greys, however what I am finding is, the more layers of mixed grey ( starting from almost black ) up to pure codex grey ( about the darkest gw makes ) are turning out way too bright and just well...crappy.

I had no idea black armor was this hard to pull off, even at thin thin layer it still is making me angry no matter what I try, I even tried a black glaze over the highlights and it wont seem to work for me in a nice way.

I have looked at alot of the BT minis on here and have found even many of them are too sharp of highlights.

Anyway on top of that, I gotta say ( and I have 4 more of these guys I got a while back simply in case the mold gets broke soon ) that the detail on the tubes and joints is horrible ( well I know serves me right for a RT day mini ) Trying to do minor washes of black and then trying to pick it out in metal is a real b!tch, like they just are not crisp casts for those areas ( maybe you can sorta see this in the photos ).

So anyway, before I pull my hair out and dunk him, is there any advice you pros can give me ? I am happy with the minor conversions on him I did, just the paint job ( yea I know its only half done ) is making me want to start all over again as maybe a different chapter.

Thanks for any help.

 

[farseerlum]

not a pro sorry.

but it seems to me that the best highlights for black is natural ones.

perhaps leaving it glossed will work. maybe matt varnish where you know won\'t need to be highlighted.

a nice even black coat has it\'s own sheen to it that is really a shame to butcher with crud highlights.

maybe a satin varnish would work better than the ink. if you have any vallajos matt medium it will turn the ink into a lovely sheen.

anyway blacks a pain in large areas, good luck.

 

[SaintRigger]

You can also use a dark blue, like a deadly nightshade mixed with black as your first highlight, and work your way up into the blues (untill you are hapy) which I find highlights armor in a much more interesting way than just using grey.

Also, try using warmer colors with your pallet, like mixing black with bone, instead of white as a highlight, and highlight up to bone. With armor, you\'ll want some subtle highlights, and then a more extreme highlight on the armor, so take a look at the NMM tutorials, since it will be very similar, and this will give you a nice hard edged look.

I think for these models, though, I would go with highlighting using blues.

 

[Trevor]

Think where the reflections would go, and line the edge of the armour plates with grey or blue grey accordingly. Blue black washes can help, and less is more when shading black.