Brief Questions and First Work

K

Kosh

New member
Hi all. I\'m new to the boards and while I have a sincere desire to learn from the obvious talent here I\'m also a bit scared from some of the comments and such that other less fortunate souls have received when they post pictures.

That being said I guess I have to brave the fire to grow.

I have quite a few models but I was finding that looking at the entire range of things I had to paint only served to give me anxiety, so i boxed up what I don\'t use and just put one figure on my desk.

I figure that I will do things this way until I reach some level of painting and/or confidence that I am happy with to move on to my \"Play\" army.

I\'m going to try to post some pictures as I go to get feedback on the steps I\'m taking but before I do I was wondering if someone could point me or advise me on...

I think its NMM? No metal metals right? I love the look from what I\'ve seen but I don\'t know if I could pull it off.

I\'m sure there are a plethora of articles for less then average painters to get started but if any of you have personal advice I\'d just as much welcome any that you have.

Again thanks for your time and hopefully I can start the process soon.

K
 
PegaZus

PegaZus

Stealth Freak
NMM = Non Metallic Metal

Here\'s some quick tips:

1. Ignore every snarky comment here. It\'ll happen, blow \'em off.

2. Work In Progress (WIP) are good ways of getting help. Be sure to take your time and post pictures of good quality.

3. Learn to take good pictures with the camera. My digital is six years old and does fine. For now. Articles are available.

4. DON\'T HIDE THE MODELS FROM YOURSELF! Dear GOD! Don\'t you know that they multiply when hidden?! :D Its true! Search for a \"how much lead\" thread. We\'re talking hundreds of pounds in some cases.

5. Ignore the above snarky comment.

6. Relax. Its only a model.

7. Scour the articles section for NMM if that\'s what you\'re looking to paint.

8. When you finally put a mini up for voting, don\'t worry about the score. Don\'t track it like I do, trying to figure out each and every vote.

9. Remember why you paint.

10. Someone remind me, I forgot. Its supposed to be relaxing right? ???

Okay, ten quick tips. And welcome!
 
K

Kosh

New member
Well I do appreciate it. I\'ve been looking around for the past bit at the different topics and what have you and I\'m kind of confused.

Is NMM better then Metalic painting? I do like the look of what people have called NMM in their pictures but can you do regular metal paints and pull that off with good results too?

Also, since the figure that I\'ve sequestered for my project is the infamous \"Space Marine Commander\" plastic kit and it has the banner, any suggestions for good symbols or figures I can use for the banner?

I don\'t think I could do respectable free hand at this point but I\'d rather not use a transfer. I don\'t like how they look.

I guess my other question is about color/colour :)

I think I\'ve decided to make him a Dark Angels captain but I\'m not sure about details and weapon colors etc.

I\'m affraid I\'m not very good with color choices. Do I do the cloak red, beige? I don\'t want him to see over the top. I.E. he\'s not not the chapter master or some hero beyond question, he\'s a captain.

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated. I\'ve read on how to take photos but we\'ll see if I can actually pull it off.

Thanks,
K
 
D

DrEvilmonki

New member
The difference between Metallics and NMM is simply a matter of taste. Look at the work of tidoco2222 if you want to see some excellent metallics work. Some of the top French guys do some truely awesome metallics as well.
 
R

Rose Model Art

I'm actually a man!
Yeah, NMM is a lovely technique ( i have only started dipping my toe in the technique). However i am currently working on a Nurgle Lord and i felt that for weathering effects NMM looks out of place, rather than a nicely blended and shaded Mettalic paint job.

There are quite a fe models on CMON that have won top awards at Golden demon using metallics. Its how you work with them rather than what is fashionable.

Welcome to CMON also!
 
PegaZus

PegaZus

Stealth Freak
If I understand the NMM concept right, Kosh, it really is just a transfer of the art of painting metals on a flat canvas into the 3D art of the figures. I remember reading one explanation that said NMM was great for pictures, since that is a 2D medium, but then it falls a little flat when viewing the full 3D figure. I don\'t think that\'s necessarily the case.

Since you don\'t want to use the decals, and don\'t think you can do a respectable free hand, go ahead and do a horrible free hand. Like you said, you\'re going to have to brave the fire to grow. You\'ve got to stop worrying about how it will look. Compared to your work a year from now, it\'ll look terrible. And that stuff in a year? It\'ll look terrible compared to your stuff five years from now.

So let go, Luke, er Kosh, and trust your feelings. Art isn\'t rote memorization of techniques. The less you strain to get it right, the more right it will look.

As for the \"correct\" colors, I\'m not a fluff-er, so I can\'t help you there. Your best bet would to possibly browse the gallery, but put in the exact figure you\'re painting as the search. It takes a little bit of the fun out of painting it, I\'ve found, to see how it has been painted before. But sometimes that help if you\'re looking for the in-world colors.
 
K

Kosh

New member
Thanks guys. I really appreciate the feedback. I should have him primared today, hopefully with some pictures and a thread in WIP.

I do like the way NMM looks, but I think I\'m going to try what I\'ve used in the past as to not jump into the lake fully.

I will however take a crack at freehanding some of the details.

Ok.. now to get cracking.
 
freakinacage

freakinacage

New member
nmm vs metallics! trick with nmm is to know where the highlights should be. it helps sometimes to be a brilliant blender but i have seen some harshly blended nmm that looked ace due to quality highlights

i would practice on more basic techniques first.

oh and if someone leaves a harsh comment, it\'s usually meant to be constructive. most people here try to help and you can ignore someone who is being arsey. also people appreciate that you are trying to learn

welcome btw
 
K

Kosh

New member
Ok... I\'m not doing a WIP. I spent the night on it and it looks like my son painted it.

<cries>

I\'ll post my shame tomorow.
 
A

AsgardUK

New member
Dont be too dis-heartened Kosh, every one has to start somewhere!

i would post what you have done anyway, im sure you will get a few useful tips from the feed back, then start your next mini,

also keep the one you have just painted... dont strip him, he will be useful in the future for post your first mini forum subjects lol and to show how far you have advanced a year from now. wish i still had the very first mini i painted!

;)
 
PegaZus

PegaZus

Stealth Freak
Originally posted by Kosh
Ok... I\'m not doing a WIP. I spent the night on it and it looks like my son painted it.

<cries>

I\'ll post my shame tomorow.
Click to expand...

We\'d rather you post the mini instead. Don\'t want to make this NSFW.

Seriously, post the picture. You\'ll get comments that can help correct whatever you feel is wrong.
 
K

Kosh

New member
Oh I\'ll post it. I\'m here to learn and make friends.

Nothing bonds people like failure.

<laughs>

Real quick can someone point me to a thread on taking mini-photos? I screwed around with it last night on my digital camera and couldn\'t get it to focus that close.

I might just have to see if I can\'t borrow my in-laws if this one can\'t do it but I\'ve heard people say most digital cameras can take half decent photos its just a matter of the settings?

Thanks,
K
 
K

Kosh

New member
Thanks mate. I read through a couple and I don\'t think my little digital has a \"macro\" mode.

I don\'t quite get the depth of field stuff but I\'ll figure it out. I\'m going to have to borrow a friends better camera tonight.

I apologize if I\'m asking obvious questions or things that have been asked a million times.

Cheers,
K
 
A

AsgardUK

New member
is there a button on your camra that has like a little mountain range (panoramic) and a little flower (macro) next to it?

mine has one button with both pictures, i press it to switch between macro and panoramic, and i either get the mountain range or the flower displayed on the view screen depending on which setting im using
 
K

Kosh

New member
<sighs> Here they are. I\'m not happy with them. They look even worse in photo. :(

IMG_0446.jpg

IMG_0453.jpg

IMG_0454.jpg
 
PegaZus

PegaZus

Stealth Freak
Okay, lets start with the old \"thinning paints enough\". On his red side pouch... thing... it looks like you\'ve had some running paint and then painted over it. Maybe this is just too thick of paint.

The cords probably should have been painted in red all the way, then black (or dark red, actually) lined to separate the twists.

The shading on the white apron looks too dark.

So, now that we\'ve got the unpleasantness out of the way, here\'s the good:

The green I think looks fine. Its not a 10 on the voting, but at this point I think its good.

The eagle heads look very well done.

I applaud the use of red and green together without making it look Christmasy. Probably its the white that breaks it up.

While a bit shaky, the freehand on the apron is adequate. Its one of those practice things, and while the outline of it isn\'t straight, the overall direction is. Thus, you\'re at least headed down the right path.
 
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