Stabbin' and such: Triumphant at Last! 2/9/17

[SnorriSnorrison]

Cracking good stuff. I really like your edge highlights, and the whole force looks great!
Keep it up!

 

 

Snorri

[T14]

Looking good bro.

A couple of nitpicks:
- The details on the black are hard to make out due to the light setup. Your hard work deserves better presentation, imo.
- The circular shoulder icon could use a wash or glaze to tone the shininess of the metal down a nudge.

 

[Firepower]

Thanks much folks! :)

Looking good bro.

A couple of nitpicks:
- The details on the black are hard to make out due to the light setup. Your hard work deserves better presentation, imo.
- The circular shoulder icon could use a wash or glaze to tone the shininess of the metal down a nudge.

Yeah, I still have issues with photography. I can never quite get it to the point where I don't have to adjust the Curves in Photoshop, and since I can't do that consistently from one photo to another...well, annoying.

I finally got a camera that doesn't suck, but unfortunately it is very temperamental when I try to adjust the F Stop and whatnot, so I just stick to default. I know a guy who knows a guy that's a professional photographer, so one day I should really pull that string and sit down with someone that actually knows cameras for a few minutes to solve my issue.

This should be better:

As for the silver shoulder emblem...yup, I should wash it. The bottle of Badab Black is just shy of bone dry after my drop pod though

[tvih]

"What am I, a walking billboard?" says the initiate that's second from the left

 

Great job with them in general, though!

[Marshal Reinhard]

Delicious, some great ideas here. Also where did you get the little shield bit on the pad of the kneeling dude?

[Firepower]

The little shield is from the Bretonnian Knights range, I believe.

[Firepower]

So, I've always hated my tanks. Rather, I always hated my line highlighting of the black on such a large model, combined with the time it took to paint them.

Now, I have an airbrush. Muhahahaha!!!

Well, I'm still a bit gunshy. I am considering going back and repainting all the tanks that I have already painted up, using this new method. It will take a good deal of time, and no small amount of frustration, but if it looks sexier..well. Let's see if it does indeed look sexier.

Here, I have a razorback that I never got past stage one in painting. Perfect test platform :)

And a side by side comparison to an older tank with my hand painted method

A few masking issues here and there, but otherwise it went swimmingly. The question is how well I'll be able to go paint details by hand without messing up the airbrushing, and whether the end result will be a high enough caliber over the old method to justify repainting my two Vindies and my Landraider (my Rhinos can go hang, I don't plan on using them anyway).

One thing that stands out is the difference between the bone sections. Painting by hand made for a more textured look, but took many hours more to do, and was exceedingly difficult to do consistently between vehicles.

For models that also have infantry attached, like my Landspeeder, I'll keep using the hand painted method. The infantry must remain consistent, and the models are tinier, anyway.

So, thoughts?

[balordazul]

Wow the white scripting on the rhino is amazing and what type of brush do you use to do the black text and your white script to that level of detail? 

[Firepower]

Wow the white scripting on the rhino is amazing and what type of brush do you use to do the black text and your white script to that level of detail? 

 

Back when I did that I was just using some crappy generic and very tiny brush.  Now I use fancy pants Winsor and Newton brushes, and they're much nicer :)

[balordazul]

When painting the white script what did you use as reference material? 

[Firepower]

Nothing.  It's just fake cursive.  You paint it like morse code.  Dot dot dash dot dash dot dash dash.  Occasionally swoop the white a tiny bit up or down.  Voila.

 

The hardest part is keeping the lines parallel to the tank's edges.

[Dark Scipio]

After almost a year of hiatus. Blam.

These poor shmucks have been on my desk all that time. They were so glad to be finished that they wouldn't even let me finish painting their bases' trims before taking pics. It also might have had something to do with my current lack of varnish.

THey look great. Great dark look. Not a fan of that ,,letter" attached to the breat plate as it looks a bit stiff. However I want to thank you for your idea with the silve rplate on that should pad (thrid marine), I didnt knew how to paint that. Metal is a great idea.

[Krikey]

I dunno -- I kind of like the 'stiff' parchment. It looks very narrative -- in my mind, this is a Templar who has recently had some sort of disciplinary problem. Maybe he closes with the enemy against orders or maybe his brothers whisper about him not being zealous enough. For whatever reason, he was approached by a chaplain just before deployment and had this "do better or get a paddlin'!" notice riveted to his armor.

 

Of course, that's just what I think when I see him. It could also be that he has taken a particularly stringent vow and the obtrusively-placed parchment serves as warning to the enemy, reminder to his brethren, and mental focus for himself.

 

Anyway, I like it. It's a little odd and thus adds a lot of character.

 

Btw, the tank looks great! Nice work with the new airbrush.

 

~K

[Phonos]

Jawdropping Templars overall brother!

[Firepower]

I dunno -- I kind of like the 'stiff' parchment. It looks very narrative -- in my mind, this is a Templar who has recently had some sort of disciplinary problem. Maybe he closes with the enemy against orders or maybe his brothers whisper about him not being zealous enough. For whatever reason, he was approached by a chaplain just before deployment and had this "do better or get a paddlin'!" notice riveted to his armor.

 

Of course, that's just what I think when I see him. It could also be that he has taken a particularly stringent vow and the obtrusively-placed parchment serves as warning to the enemy, reminder to his brethren, and mental focus for himself.

I couldn't focus in enough with my camera, but the red script reads "Gallon o' milk, loaf o' bread, stick o' butter. Gallon o' milk, loaf o' bread, stick o' butter. Gallon o' milk..."

 

 

Thanks for actually commenting on the tank, by the way I'm currently mulling over weathering options. Not my strong suit, really. I don't like weathering powders either due to relative lack of durability, so my options are kinda limited.

 

Thanks to you too, Scipio and Phonos

Edited September 20, 2013 by Firepower

[Honda]

Wow, very nice!

 

I especially like what you did on the bone on the vehicles. The soft shadow around the edges is just ace. I think if you look at it enough, you'll justify going back and re-painting all your other vehicles. I had the same dilemma and could have taken the lower road, but once I made up my mind that the overall consistency was important to the look of the army, I just bit the bullet and did it.

 

I don't think you'll regret going back and making them all look this nice.

 

Regarding your distaste for weathering powders, how do you normally go about applying them?

[Reconnaissance]

These are some of the sexiest Templars I hath ever seen.

[Firepower]

I've never used them, I've just read a lot, and came to the conclusion that they won't put up to the wear and tear of transport very well, especially with how abusively snug my piece of crap case is

 

I tried weathering the vehicle on one side, and it was a small disaster, so now I gotta go back and repaint it I think at the most I will just muddy up the tracks with a bestial brown wash. My previous tanks were all pristine, and it never really bothered me. Besides, my Templars are parade-level shiny themselves, so no sense in going nuts with weathering, really.

[Honda]

The reason I ask is that there are generally two different ways to apply powders, one for display, one for play.

 

The former looks awesome, but isn't able to withstand even casual contact. The other is quite suitable for gaming, but takes more effort.

 

I've got another reclamation project in progress that I'll need to weather rather heavily due to a rough finish. I'll post when I'm done.

[Firepower]

Hm, care to share the second method?

[Honda]

Absolutely!

 

POWDER 101

 

First off, I use a multitude of products. I use MiG powders, art charcoal, and artist chalks. The latter two are quite cheap and do an amazing job.

 

So I am going to assume that you know what colors you want to use. For those that don't, darker browns/black for lighter areas, and lighter browns, tans, and greys for darker areas.

 

Other things you will need:

 

1. Isopropyl Alcohol (IA) - This comes in various percentages, I don't have a clue why. I usually get something that is 75-90% and it's about a dollar.

 

2. Brushes - You'll need various brushes to apply the powders. I found that one of those make up brushes that women use are extremely helpful. They come in all sizes, are about an inch wide and very soft. They're pretty cheap, so get a couple of them, one for dark and one for light powders.

 

3. Futures Floor Wax - Get the bottle that's around $3.00 or so. It will last quite awhile. This is for what I would call a more advance technique.

 

4. Sealer - I used to be a big fan of Krylon Flat sealer, but they changed their formulation at some point and their new flat and Matte finishes are more of a semi-flat. There's nothing wrong with that if that's the type of finish you want, but I want a dull flat finish on my stuff and that just doesn't cut it for me. It also tends to darken the final colors, which is also a side benefit that I'm not interested in.

 

5. Hairspray - This will be used as a fixative for your powders. Any brand will work, so find something within your budget.

 

6. Paper plates - Cover one of  these in aluminum foil. This will be your application space.

 

7. Small containers for putting materials in. I clean out those sauce condiment containers (or eat some place where they have extras for you) and put my stuff in there.

 

So now, I'm back to Testor's Lustreless, which is twice the cost as Krylon and around 25% of the volume. But it yields the same results time after time, so I appreciate the consistency. I know there are other types of finish, I just don't have the experience with them. I've never used the GW stuff. Ever.

 

Let's assume that you have all your stuff and now you want to get dirty.

 

Step 1: Work with a finished model. Make sure that you are done with your vehicle/figure before starting. Going back to address areas with powder on them is...character building. Also, until you establish your groove, especially the first time, seal your vehicle after the painting stage. It's a lot easier to recover from mistakes when you have a finish protecting your paint.

 

Step 2: For the purpose of this exercise, I'm going to focus on dusting up the sides and lower areas of the vehicle/figure. Once you are happy with how your effects turn out, you can then apply the same techniques to other areas.

 

So, break out the color of powder you want to use (keeping in mind the guidelines above). Dip your brush in the powder and start brushing it on the lower areas of the vehicle. I shoot for an area about 1 cm high. You can go higher, but start lower and see how you like the effect. At this stage you can always go back and add more. Work the powders into the various areas. DO NOT TOUCH THE  POWDERS WITH YOUR HANDS. Only handle areas of the model that do not have powder.

 

Do one side of the vehicle.

 

Step 3: At this point, your model should look pretty cool. The problem is that all those fancy powders will get lost through touching, transportation, Starbucks, etc. if you don't nail them down. If the model was just for display, you could stop here. My toys are to be played with, so that requires making the finish sturdy.

 

  Step 3a - Pour out about an ounce of the IA into a small container. Dip a different brush than the one you used to apply the powders, into the IA. Get plenty of IA on it.

 

  Step 3b - Now, I want you to just "dab" the brush on small areas of the model that has powder on it. Notice how the IA flows through the powder. Do this again in another area that is dry. You will eventually use a stippling technique with the IA to get all the powder wet. Don't just brush the IA on like paint. That pretty much just muddies up all the dusting you did.

 

  Step 3c - Let it dry thoroughly.

 

  Step 3d - Repeat Steps 3a-3c on another side. Continue until your vehicle is done.

 

Note: When you are done applying powder, fold the left over powder on your foil covered paper plate into a "U" shape and gently tap the leftovers back into your powder  container. As you'll discover, a lot of the powder is left over and can be used again.

 

Step 4 - Now we're going to help stabilize the powder. Shake up your hairspray pretty good. If you are in a high humidity situation, you'll want to wait until it drops to something more reasonable. E.g. don't do this when it's raining.

 

<I'm always amused when I buy hairspray, as the checker will look at the hairspray, look at me (Bruce Willis and I have the same haircut), and not know exactly what to say. Because I'm a nice guy, I just tell them "I'm an artist" and for some reason they feel better.>

 

To stabilize the powders, take your shaken up hairspray and using very light quick spurts, apply some hair spray to the powder. You may notice that the overall effect darken a tad, or even diminish. I don't know where the powder goes, it's almost as if the hairspray absorbs it or something. Spray one side and let it dry thoroughly. Repeat until the powder is sealed.

 

If you like what you see, then you can move on to the next step. If not, feel free to apply more or touch up areas. Do keep in mind that the IA may dissolve the hairspray so work a little lighter than the initial application.

 

Step 5 - Final Seal - This is where you apply your usual finish to protect your model. Now that you've set the powders, you can seal the whole deal and the model is ready to play with. Also note, if after sealing the model, you want to go back and so some more "powdering", it's perfectly Ok to do this. It will behave just like the model did in Step 1, prior to applying powder. It's also safer as your applications can be done in stages, thus reducing the risk to the entire model.

 

If you go through my crusade thread, you can see where I've powdered my tanks. I have a batch of around 7 or 8 vehicles that I did for ETL2 that I've sort of  been setting aside to do in one big batch, including the previously mentioned reclamation project.

 

I think I'll let that sit for now and let you think about it whether or not this would work for you.

 

I can do a follow on post for some of the other additional applications I hinted at earlier.

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Cheers,

[Honda]

UPDATE: I was just applying some powders and experienced something that I've never seen before. It's as if the alcohol "crazed" the finish and the powders have turned a light chalky color.

 

I'm still trying to figure out how to recover from this. Not jazzed by any means.

 

Short answer: Always test. Even when you are doing something you've always done. I know this, but still assumed. Sigh...

[Firepower]

I came across a method I haven't seen before the other day: a quick and simple slathering of folkart texture paint along the tracks with a follow up dry brushing.

 

Gonna try picking up a tub today if I can and give it a whirl

[Templar BlackAdder]

You got game Firepower.

 

From one black tide fan to another, they look awesome.

[Firepower]

OK, testing some mud effects. It's very hard to do with just paint, mind. Texture plays a big part, so with paint I kinda have to fake it.

Test one- one color of paint, the color used as a basecoat for the army's bases.

The problems here should be fairly obvious. Firstly, a single color doesn't make much sense. I sort of cheated that system by first brushing a very watered down layer of the brown from one end of the tank to the other. After letting that dry, I took a brush loaded with watered down paint and took an airbrush to the bristles, spattering the paint along the previous coat in that spotty splatter effect you see. Because the layers are thing, you end up with what looks like different consistencies.

Still, there's problem number two. The army's bases are sort of desert-y, and although the shade of brown makes for a nice base for sand, it doesn't look good as mud. It's very...orange. And even then, mud in a desert is sort of odd to begin with.

So, I tried this:

Quite simple, just a dry brush of the final highlight for my bases (Bleached Bone) over the mud effect. I feel like it looks a lot better, but I'm still not 100% sold on it. Really, doing this without any real texture of grit makes it very hard to look convincing. Even the faintest use of weathering powder adds a slight texture to a model. This is nothing but smooth pigment.

Thoughts?