Relictors from first time painter

[Dowlow]

Hey Everyone,

 

I'm new here to the forums and to the hobby. I've chosen the Relictors chapter for my Black Reach space marines. The tutorial by Midian was instrumental in my painting. The image below shows the first five space marines with the color scheme.

 

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/570207/IMG_3955.jpg

 

Please provide feedback as to how I could improve my painting skills.

 

TODO:

1. Paint gold detail

2. Paint scratches on boots and knee pads

3. Paint dirt/mud

4. Base minis

 

Also, if you have advice to help achieve scratches similar to the space marines in Dawn of War II (screenshot) please let me know or refer me to a link.

 

I am also interested in applying extensive mud/dirt similar to the ones applied by PAS. This image was posted on another forum, but is no longer available there; therefore, I am providing it as a reference. This is not my work!

 

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/570207/img4629e48c4e274.jpg

 

Miscellaneous questions:

A. The viscosity of my paint varies greatly. Many are very hard to apply, specifically Adeptus Battlegreay (Citadel Foundation paint). Is this as expected?

B. Getting a consistent finish with Vallejo black. Various ratios of paint to water give finishes from shiny to matte. Is this as expected?

C. Some Citadel paints appear to dry quickly on the brush and require frequent rinsing and dipping in the pot (may be related to A.). Is this as expected?

 

Thank you for your response. :)

[StrangeGuy]

Unfortunately, I can't answer any of your questions. I just wanted to comment and say that those are some great looking Space Marines.

[Khrangar]

The only thing I can think of about the differing viscosities is that you're not watering down your paints, which would mean the paints are different viscosities depending on the batch/colour of the paint. I could be wrong though.

 

Khrangar

[Dowlow]

Thank you both. I do not water my paint down. I dip the brush in the water, pat it on a paper towel until it is only slightly moist and dip it in the paint pot. Because of different viscosities, I imagine that the ratio of paint to water I would need varies greatly. Do you have a general recommendation? Water:Paint = 1:1?

[Replica]

First of all, nice work, my first models looked much, much worse! nice choice on chapters too mate, the Relictors are cool!

For most colors I'd recommend having your painting a little thicker than milk, for colors such as white or for really fine detail you should have it a bit thicker than that. its hard to explain but if you experiment you'll find what works for you.

Weathering like mud spatter or general grime is easy to apply by just dry-brushing it on, i start with a very light dry-brushing or bestial brown then a light dry-brushing or bubonic brown.

Paint chips can be done by painting on small nicks of black or brown then go over those same places with boltgun metal trying to leave a really thin line of black around the chip.

I'd paint the chips on before the dirt and mud as the my will cover some of the chips for a more realistic look.

Here is a pic of a larger scale blood angel i did, but the weathering was done by dabbing a sponge into some paint and just dabbing it onto the model then using a drybrush to highlight on the edges. I used this technique for the small paint chips and the mud.

hope that helps!

~Replica

[FireLizard]

I'll start out by stating that I wish my first Marines looked like that!

 

I think that the only two things that jump out at me would be that:

 

1. Some sort of defining shadow/black-lining GW Badab Black wash with a little elmers white glue mixed in for viscosity's sake for control would be a great, simple way of getting this

2. a simple black wash on your metallics.

 

I think those two things would really give the depth I'm missing in the figs.

[Antman677]

yep good work on your marines!

 

citadel foundation paint will be thicker as it has a very high pigmentation. GW designed it to have really good coverage esp over black primer. and i agree with replica, for a smooth coat you will need to dilute your paint with water to the consistency of 2% milk :D seriously haha...you'll need to apply a couple coats to get even coverage but the finished product will be much better than one thick coat. and ill second replica again, for small details where you dont want to dilute the paint as much because you wont be able to control where it flows as well...

 

i'd look into wet palettes though...will greatly help your blending and painting

 

keep up the good work!

[Disruptor_fe404]

Excellent work on your first Marines. As for assistance, you're already far beyond my level of painting so nothing I can add will actually help you.

[Cpt. Cortez]

First of all nice work mate!... as for the weathering, i use a burnt umber oil paint heavily thinned to build up natural looking dirt build ups. before you apply the washes to the areas that you want weathered i would advise that you used a little gloss varnish first as the washes adhear alot better to gloss. once dry and you have the desired result use matt varnish to bring back the dusty looking appearance.

 

liam

[Ranvir Krakendoom]

Replica is right. Always make sure your paints are watered down and as Antman says, better to layer on two thin layers than one thick one. The end result will look alot better.

 

A wet palette will definitely help but as a beginner I always used the trusted white wall tile to aid with being able to keep the paint topped up with plenty of water to make sure it keeps going on smoothly.

 

Oh, and your marines look great for a first squad. My first ever marines looked like I'd simply dipped them in a pot of emulsion!

[Dowlow]

Thank you for your encouragement and replies. Below are images of my brief experiments with paint scratches (I prefer these over paint chips) and mud. I have started to thin my paint; it was extremely useful in the painting of the scratches.

 

This is a primed, basecoated, and washed space marine.

 

Left side (of image): scratches painted using Mithril silver

Right side: control

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/570207/IMG_3964.jpg

 

Left side: scratches with dry brushing of scorched brown intended to represent wet mud

Right side: dry brushing of scorched brown intended to represent wet mud

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/570207/IMG_3967.jpg

 

Left side: added dry brushed dark flesh (dark flesh is the only other 'brown' color I have)

Right side: added dry brushed dark flesh

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/570207/IMG_3976.jpg

 

Please let me know what you think. Which effect seems most realistic? How could I further improve them?

 

Should the scratches be painted first in chainmail and then with mithril silver?

 

As always, your input is greatly appreciated.

[Antman677]

i like the paint scratches a lot...if you want them to be more realistic you can shade/wash them with very thinned down black to give the metal some depth.

[Dowlow]

It's finally warm here in Michigan and I had time to prime and paint the remaining marines in the squad. I am vary happy with how they turned out :D , particularly for my first squad.

 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/570207/IMG_4077.JPG

 

I would like to add sand to the base and paint it a light brown color for contrast. As always, please leave any comments, particularly if you see any obvious ways I could improve in. Thanks in advance.

 

(Sorry my camera was running out of batteries, so this is the only OK photo I could take).

[S. Bloodhowl]

First time painter? But... these are awesome... BURN THE WITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Awesome stuff man, really like the grey

[Dowlow]

Thanks! The gray is lighter then it should be according to the image in C:SM, but I still like it. I was thinking of trying one marine with a darker gray.

 

I was an art student for a while, then changed to engineering. Also, I do a lot of painting over my mistakes and I paint extremely slowly. I think all of this contributes to the paint job/style.

 

Again, thanks! :)

[trautz]

Miscellaneous questions:

A. The viscosity of my paint varies greatly. Many are very hard to apply, specifically Adeptus Battlegreay (Citadel Foundation paint). Is this as expected?

B. Getting a consistent finish with Vallejo black. Various ratios of paint to water give finishes from shiny to matte. Is this as expected?

C. Some Citadel paints appear to dry quickly on the brush and require frequent rinsing and dipping in the pot (may be related to A.). Is this as expected?

 

Thank you for your response. :D

 

A: I would always mix the paint with water - as descriped: take some paint from the pot (with your brush), dip it on a usefull underground (i use old CD-Roms) and add water - use this old CD as your mixing palette. I WOULD ALWAYS ADD WATER! most paint (exspecially foundation) need to be mixed with water - or they are to thick.

 

B: May be, but it isnt any more relevant to you, if you finish your miniatures with vanish (gloss or matt, how you like it) then they will look all the same.

 

C: look at A - take some paint from the pot and close it then - work with the paint at your mixing-CD

 

personal addition: Great miniatures!

[Dowlow]

Thanks for the response and advice trautz. I've been playing around with adding water to paint since I posted those questions. I have noticed that chaos black is significantly better when it comes to providing a consistent finish.

 

My problem now is that some of the paints have problems in terms of the pigment separating from the solution and added water; paints that exhibit this include skull white, bleached bone, and shining gold. All of these paints give me trouble in terms of coverage and dilution with water. I dilute them with water and have to constantly mix them to maintain a homogeneous mixture. Then I need many more coats (ten plus) to achieve full coverage; if I don't dilute the paint to this degree I loose detail in the areas I am trying to cover. Is this typical and are there alternative companies that produce better variants of these paints?