Need help painting a bust

[Deadite]

Hey all.
I\'ve painted quite a few mini\'s in my day. I\'m used to the shading and highlighting, etc. But I\'ve been asked to paint a FW Gaunt bust for a friend and I want to do a really good job on it.
However, with the expanded areas of space, I\'m not sure if I should use my usual bag of tricks or if I need to apply something new. Most busts I see in the shops and such don\'t have such drastic shading and rely on natural light for any significant highlights. Should I do the same with this bust?
What kind of tips and tricks have you learned when painting your larger models? What should I avoid? What\'s the best way to make an alien \'blue-black\' skin on a large model?

Any advice is appreciated. Please share!

 

[Chrispy]

I suggest trying oils, if you have some or know someone who does bcause they are expensive. If you try that, be sure that it is primed really good, as some resins do not react well with oils and thinners. The oils will keep wet for days, allowing ample time to blend. Also, airbrusing is good, but again, it\'s expensive. I\'m lucky to have a father in a mid life crisis who went out and bought an airbrush and compressor that sit arounds until I use it..

 

[Deadite]

Hmm... thanks for the tip.
I have an airbrush and was planning on using it for basecoating and open areas.

I don\'t know about the oils though. If this was my model, I wouldn\'t worry about experimenting. But since it\'s for a friend, I don\'t know that I want to play around with something drastically new to me.

Any other advice?

 

[vincegamer]

Well, I painted my first bust for the Chick Challenge IV. I didn\'t use any new techniques and just tried to be careful. I found it the hardest thing I\'ve ever done. That scale is not forgiving of any rough color transitions. Like you said, highlights/shadows are not as pronounced. I wouldn\'t even think of a wash.

Oh, the other thing to watch out for is that when covering a large surface it\'s easy for paint to dry before you are done so use a drying retarder and paint thin layers, not letting the pigment pool at the edges.

 

[Deadite]

Ok, so nix the drastic highlights, avoid washes if at all possible, and large areas dry quicker.
Cool, thanks.

I am in luck in that the only significantly large flat area is the diamond-plate floor panel the gaunt is breaking through.
The guant himself is pretty detailed, and the friend asked for some complex striations on the chitinous plates (to match his army). The rest is pretty detailed like the neck tendons and talon details, I could probably get away with mild drybrushing for highlights.

My real areas of concern on this model are the gaunts\' bulbous head and exposed shoulders. Lots of skin, relatively little detail.
On his 40k models, this skin is black with a shadow gray drybrushed highlight (for a blue-black imitation \'sheen\').
I\'m thinking I should apply similar colors, just much less pronounced. If at all possible, maybe I should incorporate features that normal skin might have like veins (though that\'s difficult with \"black\" skin) and minor discoloration.

Any further thoughts?

 

[Dragonsreach]

With all larger scale models the highlights have to be more subtle in order for them to work. I\'d avoid the temptation to drybrush as this can look really naff on larger scale stuff.
If you want to go with the Shadow Grey highlights here\'s a suggestion, try doing the highlights with shadow grey then using a very thin wash of Paynes Grey artists acrylics painted over the top, as this will tone down the colour and give some depth to the shadows. It may need a couple of coats but it\'s a trial and error thing, I\'m afraid to say.
Hope this helps.

 

[stresingj]

Large Scale models can be tricky.

I\'m no expert but you can check my gallery for some examples of the large Forge World stuff:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/browse.php?submitter=stresingj

Another great example is:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/browse.php?submitter=Philippe



I would recommend wet blending as much as possible, because drybrushing can be too stark. Most of my stuff is layered, but I\'m starting to do wet blending to achieve the subtle finishes Philippe gets with his beauties.

Good Luck. The Gaunt is one I haven\'t tried yet.