Journey of the High Elf Mage

[Sosryet]

I started painting when I was young, but I used to paint airplane model kits. This kits are usually painted with enamel paint instead of acrylic paint. So, when I started painting mini\'s I kept using enamel (just because I had many colors, I was used to it and had no idea that you could with acylic over plastic).

Last year, I bought the first minis for my army (the mages). For some reason, I thought that it would look good if I painted the cloak and some other parts of both mages with gloss paint.

Not long after that, I found this website and decided to take a picture to upload it.

I did not like what I saw.

So, tryed to change the mage on foot, by painting it over with matt paint. It didn\'t end up so bad. However, having a double layer of paint covered some detail:

The time came to try and fix the mounted mage... I had 2 choises: to paint it over and loose some detail or paint a way to strip it of the enamel and then repaint it.

I choose to take my chances and strip it. I used a mixture of cooking oil and paint thinner (50%-50%). I simply dip the mini in the solution for 10-15 seconds and then scrub it with a tooth brush... Dip it again and srub... And so on and on...

Finally I was able to remove 99% of the paint and I re-painted it:

It is not finished yet, but it is close. I had a lot of trouble painting the ball on the staff and the horse\'s head and the gems (I used gloss enamel there again...).

Where can I find help on how to make blue gems?

BTW: I am stripping the mage on foot now...

 

[DIablofollower]

Definitely looking much better than the enamels.

Question I have is do you undercoat your minis with primer?

Also just a few of things I\'d like to comment on:
- You can try and add some shading to the mini especially on the red and skin tones. You can easily accomplish this by watering down a darker shade of the colors used and just \"washing\" the desired area with them. The paint settles in the recesses and creases to give it some nice depth. If you want to make life easier for yourself pick up a set of the Games Workshop washes, they are great exactly for that purpose.

- Second thing I\'d like to suggest is try highlighting the mini a bit. This is the exact opposite of shading. Pick out a color that\'s a bit brighter than that used and paint it over the highest points on that surface, meaning where ever the light would hit it.

- Last thing is try and water your paints down a bit more. A good starting point is a ratio of 5 parts water to 1 parts paint. It will take you a couple of more coats to cover the area you are painting evenly, but you will get much smoother results.

I hope this helps a bit.

 

[QuietiManes]

Being an old school modeller myself, I feel your pain :drunk:

You\'re heading in the right direction though. So that\'s good. As for gems, they\'re just like anything else, paint what you see/know/want to show. There are many guides, I think there are some good ones on the GW site but linking there is problematic so I won\'t even bother trying to find those (but if you\'re interested, it\'s worth checking out). Here\'s a couple great articles on this site (good idea to always start your search for info in the articles section on CMON):

Pictures here are worth a thousand words, at least.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/article/aid/41

Some good explanation on this one too.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/article/aid/205

G\'luck.

 

[Backstabbeth]

dfinetly a HUGE improvement! there are a ton of resources here in the ARTICLES (clicky) section of this site that will help you go a long way. It has helped me a ton. Great start and keep at it!

 

[Sosryet]

Maybe I wasn\'t clear... I am still using enamel. I just switched to matt enamel. The fact that you didn\'t realize by looking at the mini means that it really doesn\'t matter.

I am not using any primer, enamel can be applyed directy on the surface.

Regarding shades and highlights: some areas are highligthed (like the cloak). I\'ve been told that I use low contrasting colors. That and the fact that I used flash to take the picture may be the reason why it is not noticeable. As for the shades, yup... I need to practice that before applying it to the mini (it\'s been through a lot already).

My plan b was too paint the gems in green, so thoose articles will help a lot. Thanks!