Critique on Deathwatch Paint Job

[Catsi]

I've just finished painting a squad of Deathwatch Marines and I would really value some feedback.

I'm not collecting any particular army, I just love painting in general (I have some Space Wolf Terminators and various Space Wolf characters to paint next)

 

Any advice would be appreciated because I really do want to improve. I'm not too happy with the quality of my painting so any advice that helps me to get better is great.

And is it just me or are transfers really bad? It's hard to get them to sit flat on the shoulder pad.

 

Thanks a lot!

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/9705/deathwatchwhitescarplas.th.jpghttp://img222.imageshack.us/img222/6991/deathwatchultramarinemi.th.jpghttp://img820.imageshack.us/img820/8048/deathwatchultramarinefl.th.jpghttp://img820.imageshack.us/img820/96/deathwatchstormwardenta.th.jpghttp://img541.imageshack.us/img541/96/deathwatchstormwardenta.th.jpghttp://img148.imageshack.us/img148/1183/deathwatchspacewolfserg.th.jpghttp://img140.imageshack.us/img140/1183/deathwatchspacewolfserg.th.jpghttp://img696.imageshack.us/img696/46/deathwatchbloodangelser.th.jpghttp://img204.imageshack.us/img204/46/deathwatchbloodangelser.th.jpghttp://img832.imageshack.us/img832/2784/deathwatchdarkangeltact.th.jpghttp://img593.imageshack.us/img593/2784/deathwatchdarkangeltact.th.jpghttp://img202.imageshack.us/img202/2784/deathwatchdarkangeltact.th.jpghttp://img143.imageshack.us/img143/2784/deathwatchdarkangeltact.th.jpghttp://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1183/deathwatchspacewolfserg.th.jpghttp://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9155/deathwatchbloodangelfla.th.jpghttp://img600.imageshack.us/img600/6878/deathwatchblacktemplara.th.jpg

[WingsOfTheFalcon]

Hey there,

 

Looking good so far, the minis are neat and you've made a good job of keeping things tidy.

 

The thing I think you need to improve is the edge highlights on the armour, which co-incidentally is one of the hardest things to paint!

 

My suggestions are to; thin your paint, use a darker shade of gray, use the side of your brush to slide along the sharp edges.

 

For the record transfers are a nightmare unless you use them on a flat surface!!

 

Keep it up!

[Catsi]

Interesting, so the transfers don't really work for the shoulder pads, even though that's what they look like they're for. huh.

 

Should I be watering down all my paints when I'm painting? I find that when I do, the colour is so very faint and the paint dries super fast on the palette, so I feel like I'm wasting paint.

In the end I just gave up and painted straight from the pot.

 

Thanks for your help! Looking forward to doing these Space Wolves next. ;)

[Brother_Ovis]

Black is very difficult colour to paint, it requires lots of patience and forgives no mistakes :) When highlighting edges use at least 2 shades of gray - the lightest one should be really just touched to the edges. It's pretty tricky and honestly I don't do it on my Raven Guard - I just go with weathering and battle damage, concentrating on some bright and colorful details like purity seals, faces etc to break the colour monotony. To my eye it looks just fine, especially with some nice bases - after all we're not going for Golden Demon :lol: When painting an army for gaming it's important to remember that for most of the time it will be watched from at least 1 meter distance, which tends to make all detailed paintwork rather redundant:) Having said that I have to admit that I love to paint all those little details and shade and highlight and use all those fancy 'Eavy Metal techniques etc - it's just who's got the time for that with a job and a family and over 2000 pts left to paint :lol: :P :)

 

As to the transfers - they are pretty tricky as well, you need some additional stuff to make them work. Go to your nearest hobby store and ask for decal transfers setter/softener - these are chemicals which soften up the transfers and make them stick to any surface, no matter how twisted :) Personally I use Mr. Hobby Mark Setter and Mark Softener (the latter on more complex surfaces). Then the proper technique is:

 

- varnish the surface gloss,

- apply the transfer with transfer softener

- when dry, remove some excess overlaps (especially on convex surfaces like shoulder pads)

- apply matt varnish to bind all layers

 

After that your transfers should lie flat on every surface and actually look painted on, with no silvering etc.

[WingsOfTheFalcon]

Should I be watering down all my paints when I'm painting? I find that when I do, the colour is so very faint and the paint dries super fast on the palette, so I feel like I'm wasting paint.

In the end I just gave up and painted straight from the pot.

I usually add a couple of teaspoons of water to the pot the first time I open it and then give it a really good shake, helps the stuff to flow better and stops you getting thick sections of paint when using it straight from the pot.