I'm back! And with new questions too!

[-Ice]

Hey there guys! Missed me?

Apologies for dropping off the grid for a while there, had to move house and get the family over to the UK so had a lot of stuff to sort out. The good news is that I now have a dedicated spot for painting (no need to move stuff about so I can just sit and paint whenever I want to) and have quite a few minis primed and base coated now.

The bad news is that I've not painted for a while so I'm betting I've probably forgotten some important lesson or two. And I've got a whole lot of "tutorial videos" to watch to catch up on.

Anyway, on to my first concern. I'm painting a Blood Angels army and have so far settled on a 50-50 Mechrite Red - Blood Red basecoat mix; the trick is to mix the paints together every so often so that the "foundation" paint is properly mixed with the "normal" paint. I'm painting a BA Dreadnaught with the above basecoat, a Thraka Green wash (makes a really dark shadow, almost like the recesses are lined black), then a re-touch of the basecoat. I want the aquila to be white with a gray (fortress gray, IIRC) shadow like shown in the White Dwarf issue a couple of months back (when they released that big flying fortress for the BA army) and like the wings on this furioso dread, but I'm not too sure how to get that effect --- and I don't trust the GW site anymore on how they say they paint things. It's like they mislead or make their instructions "vague/hazy/confusin" on purpose. Also, I'm painting a venerable dreadnaught and I set him up with the armor with names on them, as seen on this webpage. However, instead of the black-and-gold effect on the armor, I would like it to have the same white-and-gray effect as in the furioso dread example above.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

It's good to be back! :beerwave:

 

[Dragonsreach]

Welcome back

I'm painting a Blood Angels army and have so far settled on a 50-50 Mechrite Red - Blood Red basecoat mix; the trick is to mix the paints together every so often so that the "foundation" paint is properly mixed with the "normal" paint.
Make life easier for yourself. Invest in a can of Halfords Red Undercoat, this will reduce the amount of work by a heck of a lot, plus less hassle over coverage.

I'm painting a BA Dreadnaught with the above basecoat, ... I want the aquila to be white with a gray (fortress gray, IIRC) shadow.....but I'm not too sure how to get that effect
Base white probably several thincoats, Turn model upside down and work Space wolves grey into the shadows, Re-inforce with Shadow Grey the greater recesses and then though up with White.
--- and I don't trust the GW site anymore on how they say they paint things. It's like they mislead or make their instructions "vague/hazy/confusin" on purpose.
Heh, not going to go there.
Also, I'm painting a venerable dreadnaught and I set him up with the armor with names on them, as seen on this webpage. However, instead of the black-and-gold effect on the armor, I would like it to have the same white-and-gray effect as in the furioso dread example above.
As suggested above just get a clean fine 00 brush and work the lettering, however you may want to consider adding a touch of thinned black toth eshadow grey for the topmost points of the letters (Think the likes of a cross bar on a "T" ) to get a better shadow effect.
.

It's good to be back! :beerwave:

.....................

 

[-Ice]

Hey Dragonsreach!

I've no opinion about doing a red undercoat as I've not tried it yet and I'm not really "hassled" by basecoating. Funny thing is I find it a bit relaxing sometimes.

Is it just me or does the Skull White have very poor coverage? With regards to the lettering, I was thinking of washing the letters, maybe black to make it stand out, or at least a dark gray. Then a white coat on the armor itself, no shadows or anything. At least that's the idea, no clue how to make it happen and with this model being a dread, I've no inclination to experiment.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Is it just me or does the Skull White have very poor coverage?
No All White's are a pain to get a smooth cover over another colour.
If I'm covering a strong colour like red I've tended to use Deneb stone as a primer. (Forgot to metion that Oooop Sorry!)
With regards to the lettering, I was thinking of washing the letters, maybe black to make it stand out, or at least a dark gray. Then a white coat on the armor itself, no shadows or anything. At least that's the idea, no clue how to make it happen and with this model being a dread, I've no inclination to experiment.

...............

 

[-Ice]

Ah, at least that's reassuring to know that I'm not alone in my "pains." So, do you dilute white paint with water or just slap it on neat?

I don't think Deneb Stone is part of my current paint line. What about things like Codex Gray or Bleached Bone? Or am I better off just going straight to layering on Skull White? I see Deneb Stone is a Foundation paint... so is it always a good idea when putting on a new color to put a layer of Foundation paint? ie, my son is doing an Ultramarines chapter with a golden/yellow trim... would a layer of Iyanden Darksun be a good idea before slapping on the Golden Yellow?

 

[gohkm]

You could also try mixing Foundation-style paints with your 'normal' paints - that may improve coverage. Haven't tried this approach, though. Specifically for yellow, though, I always tend to slap on a Foundation paint layer before I layer anything on top of it - I get the solid, even coverage for the base layer I'm looking for, then I can layer, or wetblend, or stipple, or any number of techniques I want on top of that.

 

[-Ice]

You could also try mixing Foundation-style paints with your 'normal' paints - that may improve coverage. Haven't tried this approach, though. Specifically for yellow, though, I always tend to slap on a Foundation paint layer before I layer anything on top of it - I get the solid, even coverage for the base layer I'm looking for, then I can layer, or wetblend, or stipple, or any number of techniques I want on top of that.

Note above, I mentioned mixing Mechrite Red (Foundation) and Blood Red (normal). I'm fairly happy with the result, though I have to mix/swirl the palette every now and again to make sure they stay mixed. I'm getting the benefits of the Foundation coveage and the Blood Red makes the result not-too-dark-red. However, this is for a basecoat and I see the purpose in that. My question was how to do the details like armor ridges and chest eagle.

 

[gohkm]

Note above, I mentioned mixing Mechrite Red (Foundation) and Blood Red (normal). I'm fairly happy with the result, though I have to mix/swirl the palette every now and again to make sure they stay mixed. I'm getting the benefits of the Foundation coveage and the Blood Red makes the result not-too-dark-red. However, this is for a basecoat and I see the purpose in that. My question was how to do the details like armor ridges and chest eagle.

So you did, I missed that.

For the example Furioso Dreadnaught you linked, the white looks like it was done with a very even coat of white, followed by some light grey painted directly into the recesses of the wings on either side of the sarcophagus. To get that really pop-out effect, I think they further put some diluted dark grey also in the recesses as well. Does that make sense?

 

[-Ice]

Are you saying it's the other way around? ie, normal way is basecoat, wash/shadow, highlight, but what you are saying is basecoat, highlight, shadow?

Getting an even coat of white is giving me even more problems than what I had with blood red!

 

[gohkm]

Yes, white tends to be quite fiddly to paint. There's all this advice of diluting paint before you slop it on, but for some reason, whites for me always tend to over-dilute very quickly, so it separates while on the miniature and gives a chalky effect when dry.

Suggest you give P3 Menoth White Highlight a go, it's an ivory shade that dries to quite a nice bright finish. It has the advantage of allowing you to put on some Skull White after that (the Skull White will still show up). Or try Vallejo Foundation White or Aluminium. I'm no expert at painting white, but I've tried all three, and the P3 stuff works quite well for me in achieving a fairly even basecoat.

If you have an airbrush, you could also spritz the fig with white. Wielded properly, the airbrush would be easier to achieve a more even tone than by brush alone.

And no, I'm saying that perhaps basecoat, paint grey into recesses, highlight with pure white, is the method used. The resolution isn't clear, but it doesn't look like there was any wash in the wings recesses of the dreadnaught.

Does this make any sense?