Need tips to get a 6
- Thread starter binki
- Start date
I\'ve started off by taking a look at your figures. You\'re off to a good start, no sloppiness evident, you can stay within the lines well. So far though, the minis I have looked at have zero shading or highlighting. Or at least they look that way, if you did shade and highlight, you\'re not using enough contrast. Your minis are also a tad glossy (more of a satin than gloss really), and this tends to put off some people. Finally, while I understand not wanting to finish your bases if you\'re just gaming with the minis, this will really hurt your score.
Suggestions:
1. Start with simple shading and highlighting, namely washes and drybrushing. For example, on your winged demon with the dark blue wings, you could keep the wings dark blue, but wash with a blue/black mix of thinned paint. After that dries, you could drybrush (use a brush you don\'t care about - drybrushing kills brushes) with first the base color (to drybrush, load your brush with paint, then remove most of the paint by running the brush over a paper towel, left behind is a small amount of paint on the brush which you run lightly over the wings. The uppermost parts will pick up the paint, leaving the depths darker). Drybrush again - but try to do so lighter so you don\'t cover up the color from the step before - with perhaps a mix of the dark blue and a medium blue, or even just a medium blue. Also remember that for minis of this size, you have to artificially add contrast to make them look good. This is something I still have problems with, I shade and highlight, but sometimes not enough...
2. Use a matte sealer to seal your minis (I find both GW\'s Matte Sealer and Testor\'s Dullcoat to be good). Shake the can well before use. Test it out first on a piece of cardboard to make sure it won\'t go white on you. Shake some more. Spray your mini(s) to be sealed LIGHTLY, if you overspray, the mini will tend to go glossy. It\'s better to do several lighter layers than one thick one.
3. Basing can be done very quickly and easily to at least an adequate level (enough to raise you up to a 6 anyways - I tend to score in that range). Depending on what you have available, I like things like Pumice stone in binder (Vallejo has a version of this, so does your local art/crafts store, look for Liquitex or other brands of textured medium), so you can just slap it on the base, wait for it to dry, prime, basecoat, drybrush a lighter color, and you\'re done. A little static grass added in a couple of spots helps too.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/?id=48496
This is just the Vallejo pumice stone stuff, with a couple of rocks made out of green stuff.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/?id=32881
This is a mixture using Renassance Ink flocking gels - similiar to the stuff you might find in craft stores. Note the different sizes of rocks in them, I used a couple different ones for this effect.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/?id=30414
Another one using the flocking gels with a little bit of static grass this time + a piece of dried flower.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/?id=43038
This is Hudson and Allen \"snow\". Mix with water, splatter on base, wait to dry and you\'re done. Talk about a 5-10 minute base...
Anyways, this is what I think are good places to start. There\'s a lot more advanced techniques out there, but I think you should get down the basics of shading and highlighting as well as basing before trying more complicated techniques. Hope this helps!
--Katie G.
Suggestions:
1. Start with simple shading and highlighting, namely washes and drybrushing. For example, on your winged demon with the dark blue wings, you could keep the wings dark blue, but wash with a blue/black mix of thinned paint. After that dries, you could drybrush (use a brush you don\'t care about - drybrushing kills brushes) with first the base color (to drybrush, load your brush with paint, then remove most of the paint by running the brush over a paper towel, left behind is a small amount of paint on the brush which you run lightly over the wings. The uppermost parts will pick up the paint, leaving the depths darker). Drybrush again - but try to do so lighter so you don\'t cover up the color from the step before - with perhaps a mix of the dark blue and a medium blue, or even just a medium blue. Also remember that for minis of this size, you have to artificially add contrast to make them look good. This is something I still have problems with, I shade and highlight, but sometimes not enough...
2. Use a matte sealer to seal your minis (I find both GW\'s Matte Sealer and Testor\'s Dullcoat to be good). Shake the can well before use. Test it out first on a piece of cardboard to make sure it won\'t go white on you. Shake some more. Spray your mini(s) to be sealed LIGHTLY, if you overspray, the mini will tend to go glossy. It\'s better to do several lighter layers than one thick one.
3. Basing can be done very quickly and easily to at least an adequate level (enough to raise you up to a 6 anyways - I tend to score in that range). Depending on what you have available, I like things like Pumice stone in binder (Vallejo has a version of this, so does your local art/crafts store, look for Liquitex or other brands of textured medium), so you can just slap it on the base, wait for it to dry, prime, basecoat, drybrush a lighter color, and you\'re done. A little static grass added in a couple of spots helps too.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/?id=48496
This is just the Vallejo pumice stone stuff, with a couple of rocks made out of green stuff.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/?id=32881
This is a mixture using Renassance Ink flocking gels - similiar to the stuff you might find in craft stores. Note the different sizes of rocks in them, I used a couple different ones for this effect.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/?id=30414
Another one using the flocking gels with a little bit of static grass this time + a piece of dried flower.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/?id=43038
This is Hudson and Allen \"snow\". Mix with water, splatter on base, wait to dry and you\'re done. Talk about a 5-10 minute base...
Anyways, this is what I think are good places to start. There\'s a lot more advanced techniques out there, but I think you should get down the basics of shading and highlighting as well as basing before trying more complicated techniques. Hope this helps!
--Katie G.
vincegamer
New member
Add a link to your gallery here
airhead
Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
learn to use a wet pallet. (see the articles section) Use three colors on the wet pallet and blend them as you go from the dark, the mid-range (base color) and the highlight.) Some kind of shading is almost a must to break above a 5 here (at least it seems to me.)
Another thing, treat the base just as part of the model. A dab of glue and a bit of sand will go a long way.
Another thing, treat the base just as part of the model. A dab of glue and a bit of sand will go a long way.
Cerridwyn1st
New member
Paint your bases
Slapping a little paint on your bases would help a lot, too. Something that will look nice with your table cover will work. A plain white base will detract from your score, even a little paint would be an improvement. The base doesn\'t have to be a big elaborate thing, just a little something so it looks finished.
Your painting now is very smooth and clean. A little shading will help alot. Try some inking and drybrushing as Katie suggests, post your mini and comment here so we can all look it up. Good luck.
Slapping a little paint on your bases would help a lot, too. Something that will look nice with your table cover will work. A plain white base will detract from your score, even a little paint would be an improvement. The base doesn\'t have to be a big elaborate thing, just a little something so it looks finished.
Your painting now is very smooth and clean. A little shading will help alot. Try some inking and drybrushing as Katie suggests, post your mini and comment here so we can all look it up. Good luck.
Braveheart712
New member
My thoughts...
Overall your minis are nice. To get better scores first begin by reading Chrisy\'s article on colors posted here on CMON.I think it will help since many of your color schemes seems a little too bright and tended to clash. Also try blacklining, the technique where you outline in the deepest areas of your mini to give your colors better seperation and contrast. Try using some washes as well, or pehaps some drybrushing of lighter shades to \"pop\" detail out. I agree with the basing comments too, better bases would help. Look at the Games Workshop website for techniques on basing. On other thing that helps is using a dull sealer like Tester\'s Dullcoat to seal your figure as well as take away some of the gloss created from ink washes. As far as the camera goes, I too struggle to get mine to take better pictures but read the articles here for help, they have helped me. Binki, I think you are on the right path, just keep practicing and you will get your first 6 and a whole lot more!!!
Overall your minis are nice. To get better scores first begin by reading Chrisy\'s article on colors posted here on CMON.I think it will help since many of your color schemes seems a little too bright and tended to clash. Also try blacklining, the technique where you outline in the deepest areas of your mini to give your colors better seperation and contrast. Try using some washes as well, or pehaps some drybrushing of lighter shades to \"pop\" detail out. I agree with the basing comments too, better bases would help. Look at the Games Workshop website for techniques on basing. On other thing that helps is using a dull sealer like Tester\'s Dullcoat to seal your figure as well as take away some of the gloss created from ink washes. As far as the camera goes, I too struggle to get mine to take better pictures but read the articles here for help, they have helped me. Binki, I think you are on the right path, just keep practicing and you will get your first 6 and a whole lot more!!!
