My First Mini

[Alowan]

Hi everyone, I just recently discovered CMON due to me searching for painted minis from the board game Descent.
And after seeing all the awesome paint jobs there are on this site I decided that I was going to paint the figures in Descent v2 (when I get it later this month). There is only one problem - I have not painted a mini for about 10 years (so this is technically not my first mini, but it sure feels like it).

I bought a basic paint set from GW yesterday along with some extra colors and washes (the new ones seems really cool), and a white primer. The idea was to paint some GW minis to train myself so I am ready when the descent game comes.

I bought a goblin shaman and started painting him today. There was a few problems, the first that the white primer seems grainy (don't know if its a bad one or if it is just a bad primer, but it does have an effect on how the painting looks)

Well, instead of writing a lot here I will just post the pictures I took while painting - please feel free to give tips and critique.

View attachment 14271

 

[10 ball]

Looking great, very tidy painting. Make sure to thin down the washes a bit.

I bet it cost a small fortune from the friendly GW store

 

[Alowan]

Thank you.

It was a bit pricey and the basic kit only has a black primer not a black base coat/normal paint so I have to use that when mixing paints. That results in a shiny finish which is a bit of a problem But it is fun to paint again so I guess it is worth it... I actually wanted to buy some vallejo, but I would have to order it online and my shopping yesterday was kind of impulsive (+ I had heard okay things about the new GW paints). (I will go to the shop and talk to them monday, since my primer seems grainy and some of the paints had dried up chunks in them when I opened them for the first time)

The wash I use is a paint GW calls a "shade" so it is already thinned down a lot - are you referring to that paint of washing in general? (paint + water + pva glue?) If you are referring to the GW lineup what is the benefit of thinning it further down?

Another problem I have is that I can't seem to get layers/highlights that fade in/out as much as I want them to - I have tried to do this by thinning down the normal paint a bit and adding several layers, but I don't seem to work as great as I want it to.


Any ideas for other miniatures to paint and learn from are most welcome.. (especially if they resemble the hero figures in descent).

 

[10 ball]

Even with washes and glazes it's best to water them down a bit.
Also don't flood the mini, it's best to wash it thin - then build up.
Not sure what you mean about the pva+paint ?

 

[Alowan]

Once again thanks for the tips - I will try that then

In one of the old paint books I have they say you can mix pva glue, water and paint to help the paint settle in the recesses. Never tried it though.

I think for my next mini I will try to focus on blending with thinned down paints - just need to get a primer that doesn't leave a grainy surface after spraying.
Do you even thin the paint for main layer and apply it several times?

 

[10 ball]

Pva and paint? New one on me! I would be careful with that one.
I always thin the paints and build up layers. It takes longer but you get better finish.

 

[Alowan]

That's the reason I haven't tried it

May I ask what paints you use - since they want you to buy a base coat and 2 layers for each color in GW. I just feel like I could buy 1 and mix my way to the other two - so I am a bit curious to what other painters do.

And do you use a wet palette?

 

[Mr_Griz]

The new(ish) GW shades now tend to leave models looking a bit shiny so it's best to apply them carefully, and yeah, water them down.

The proceedure with the paints now is Prime it, Basecoat, Shade, Layer, and so on depending on what you are trying to achieve. I'm not the best at applying my knowledge myself due to excitement, but I know the theory haha.

 

[Mr_Griz]

Oh and your gobline shaman is rad by the way. Great job you're doing mate.

 

[Alowan]

I'm not the best at applying my knowledge myself due to excitement, but I know the theory haha.

I know that all to well

The procedure might explain why I "messed up" the layering/highlights when I used a shade to tone them down after I thought I made my highlights too bright.

Watering the paint down seems to be the keyword

So my list of stuff I will try to work on so far is:
Blending (Layering with smooth gradient).
Getting a smooth priming (Might be the spray can).


p.s welcome to the forum..

 

[TrystanGST]

Personally I ignore the labeling "base" or "layer". I understand their painting system, but I go by what color I am looking for, and shade up/down from there. And a wet palette is your friend.

 

[Alowan]

I will buy a wet palette then (have a hobby shop nearby that sells them rather cheep (10€) so I figured I wanted to try it).

Nice to know that I should ignore the "base" and the "layer" names. That makes it easier. I was thinking of buying two of each color at the opposite side of the range so I could mix most in-between - the colors GW recommends seems to be a bit close to each other (I fx. have mephisto red and evil sunz scarlet - which seems to just a little britgher - which could be made by adding a little white or yellow - even tho red is hard to brighten)

View attachment 14286vs View attachment 14287

That actually means that I with my current colors have a rather wide range of colors (just need teal - since it is hard to mix right )
Thanks so much for the input - It really helps me to think about the colors as a whole with the base coats just being the darker ones.



A question though - when you guys thin down paint do you use thinner or water?

 

[Mr_Griz]

[/QUOTE]A question though - when you guys thin down paint do you use thinner or water?[/QUOTE]

When thinning down paint for a model or two, water is fine, but medium would probably be better I imagine if you are batch painting a lot of models over an evening or something. I never tend to do the latter so I would really know. Water always works fine for me.

Check out my pirate Ogres if you have the chance. Sorry to advertise myself, but I'm a newbie and don't know how to get people to see it. Sorry, Thank you ha.

http://blog.coolminiornot.com/blog.php?84571-Mr_Griz

 

[TrystanGST]

I also use plain old water. Never had an issue.
As for the wet palette - mine consists of a plastic plate, paper towel, and parchment paper.

*edit*
I think the base paints are a bit better at coverage than layer paints, but once you thin them it's all academic. So pick the color you like and go with it.

 

[johnynoi]

Wow, that first mini looks better than my 100th mini! Keep at it and you'll be great in no time!

My wet pallete is a plastic take away tub, 2 sink sponges and the wet pallete paper that hobbycraft sell, although i'd like to find a roll of parchment paper!

 

[Alowan]

Thanks for the input - I really appreciate it - helps me a ton!

I went to the local GW today and got a few extra colors - now I have 20 - and I just wanted to try to paint a bit again ;p

I also took a shot at a DIY wet palette and it seems great. Made it by using parchment paper and washcloth (seems to hold water better than the sponges I tried).
Parchment paper is actually rather easy to get where I live, since it is used for baking and for wrapping lunch. (don't know if that is the same in other countries)
See image:

View attachment 14299

I really look forward to trying thinned down paints on my new palette - only did a few tests so far so haven't put it to use.


I also bought a few space marines and started to work on those:

View attachment 14300




Furthermore I got a few tips and ideas while at GW. I showed my figure to them and they suggested I added a green glaze and did a bit of shading on the mouth to separate the jaw from the rest of the head. They suppled the paint so I glazed the model - and the result is better, just not sure I would use 30 dkk for the effect.
(this is a larger image than the previous - please bear in mind that it is a really small model)

View attachment 14301



Once again thanks for the tips and input it is really a great help. My plan is to try to get smother blending on the marines which I will paint in different colors to test those colors for when I am going to paint the descent miniatures.

The great challenge is teal, which is really hard to mix and paint (or so I think) so I have bought a few GW colors that are greenish teal as well as a shade and hope it will turn out ok. The idea is to be ready for these heroes:

View attachment 14302 and View attachment 14303 as well as others.

I, as well as the GW employe who helped me find the colors found the cloak to be greenish teal so I bought sybarite green and kabalite green and plan to shade it with a blue tint and maybe mix in a bit of blue.

 

[Alowan]

Btw. I talked to them about the dried white and got a new one. Also showed them the grainy primer - but they told me it is normal and that it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[TrystanGST]

I'm glad they were able to help you with the paints, but I don't know that I'd classify grainy primer as normal. Sure, if you're just painting a bunch of minis for gaming, it's not a big deal. But if you're trying to achieve show level pieces, it's not going to fly.

 

[Alowan]

I did a few tests where i painted over my new primed space marines and the frame they were in - I can achive a smooth finish - so that's a plus.

The look of the primed white figure is just not as smooth as a black primed mini (I have never primed with white so it might just be me seeing the paint as grainy).

I also looked at some of their figures primed in the store and they looked more "smooth" - but the lightning wasn't as sharp as when I inspect my primed figures at home (in direct spotlight) so it might just be that.

I really have no clue what is "normal" and what works - I just think it looks a bit grainy.
Is there any way to show it here (I have tried photographing it but it doesn't show the grainy look well) or doing something to check if it is okay?

I also tryed scraping the painted surface with a nail. This results in a smoother surface but after two thin layers of black the difference is very little. (with a more transparent color the difference can be spotted - but I figure that it wouldn't be normal to paint transparent on the primer?




P.s I am currently spraying in a room in the basement but it is quite warm outside and I don't see how it should have any effect on the final result (I can't paint in my apartments yard since people complain when you spray paint there)

 

[Alowan]

Painted a bit. The wet pallete is really nice, and it was great to try to work with thinner paints and try to blend.

I had a problem with the wet palette though. It seems that the paint doesn't dry (which is great) but instead the water get pulled out and leaves the pigments (see image). If anyone know why and maybe how to fix this I would love to hear it.

View attachment 14304






I worked mainly on the cloak. Tried to add layers and blend the colors in the best I could. After doing that I tried to weather (correct term?) it so it looked used and worn.

View attachment 14305



I also did a bit of detail work as well as the cloth the goblin wears (the details don't present themselves as good on images as in real life):


View attachment 14306




As always tips and critique is appreciated.
And I would love to hear if anyone knows how to fix my wet palette..