New to minis, my first project

[Tradeshowjoe]

First I NEED to say that I am absolutely "blown away" by the quality of the work on this site. I have a lot of learning to do before I can feel even close to "par" around here. No worries though, I learn quick. I also build model cars, scratch building a lot of my parts and details. I only bring this up in order to introduce my mindset regarding "customizing" things. And I have "Macguiver-like" way of using common items to solve my problems. Enough babble, I do have a WIP to share.
This is the ReaperMini P-65 "Crymorian Warrior" It is the first Mini I have painted in 15 years or so. The few I painted when I was younger never got the attention that I intend to give to the hobby now. I have been scanning the web for info to help me out here and there, but for the most part, I'm just going for it. And loving it (the process) so far. As far as this guy goes I really don't know where it will go, I don't have a complete plan, yet. I'm not too sure about the green on this mini. I may end up going back to blue with "tinges" of purple at the outside edges of the scales. The base is made from an old medicine bottle. First attempt at gold NMM.

 

[Wyrmypops]

So much at the outset of the hobby to take on board ain't there eh. Good thing that Macguyver mindset should imply you can be as a sponge, and soak up all the painting guide processes and specialist tips in the nifty articles and sticky thread links.

That blue sure does *pop*. Hard to gauge how much is paintjob and how much is flare from a flash/light from too glossy paint. What can be ascetained looks groovy though. The wings on the back show off some nice highlighting stages.
The green, I can see why you'd perhaps be unsure about it. Along side the blue it isn't so vibrant. Though, I actually prefer the green. The dark and more dull tones give the scales a more solid feel than the brighter blue. A duller blue or a brighter green might have worked together better.

I'm no fan of NMM so I'll leave that. Suffice to say, that on the weapon doesn't show smooth transitions. I'd suggest articles on layering and blending to train that skill up, before cracking on with some NMM masterclass articles.

Quite a rough miniature. The actual sculpt. Blobby looking in parts. I'd guess it's one you had from 15 years ago eh.
Though the roughness of the mini itself makes it hard to judge, do I detect a few flash lines and bits that should have been scraped clean before painting? Like the metal nipply bit on a middle wingtip, and the upper left leg and lower left arm. Need to spend a little quality time with a pretty craft knife and occasionally switch to a file. All stuff I dare say you have kicking around, or can Macguyver up.

 

[locutus]

welcome!
This is a great site were especially in the forums mini-artist are more then willing to help.
Not a bad go for your first mini; did you basecoat the model before you started?? The paint has a glossy feel to it what can happen if you start painting without a basecoat. Also trie dilluting your paints(or more if you haven't already done so)
for the swords trie putting the darker colours on the inside of the blade and work your way out with lighter shades of grey.

Feel free to pm me if you want more help; although there are a lot of beter artist then me that are willing to help.

Good luck!!

 

[freakinacage]

the wood and marble on the base look ace. the gold needs to be smoother to be effective. on large flat surfaces, nmm only really works if it's smooth, and i mean really smooth.

back up what has been said in that paint needs to be thinner to smooth out the transitions. what sort of quality are you looking for? display? comp? gaming?