Preshading advice?

[Evil Eye]

So I started work on a Slaanesh Renegade Sentinel which I picked up recently (against my better judgement) and feeling brave, did most of the initial paintwork by airbrush. This consisted of priming with Mr Surfacer 1200 (grey), pre-shading with Rhinox Hide, basecoating with Ionrach Skin and then feathering on the chaotic camo with Barak-Nar Burgundy and Mechanicus Standard Grey (all Citdel paints were thinned with Mr. Aqueous Thinner, which works spectacularly by the way).

Whilst the results were pretty good and honestly left me with not much work to do, the preshading more or less disappeared under the Ionrach Skin. Here's a pic of the model so far- I wouldn't expect much to be visible under the darker camo, but the lack of any visible pre shading at all is disappointing.

(Note that whilst there is some shading visible, that's as a result of washes applied after the fact and not the preshading)

 

This is obviously a perfectly acceptable result for a tabletop standard miniature (so far, obviously still WIP) but I am a bit perplexed as to where the pre-shading went. I deliberately chose a very dark brown so it would show through the pale basecoat, but maybe I should have used Deepkin Flesh (a layer paint) instead? Should I have thinned the Ionrach Skin further? Been more heavy handed with the pre-shading? I'm very new to using more advanced techniques for airbrushing than just flat colours, so the answer's probably staring me right in the face, but any advice would be appreciated.

[Rik Lightstar]

For pre-shading to really show throw you have to use really thin paints and build up lots of layers in a zenithal fashion leaving less coats on the undersides.

 

It also need to be pretty extreme so it shows through more, so black and really dark browns/greys work well, followed by a zenithal white so the raised areas look lighter too.

 

Rik

[Bung]

Well, your pre shading lacks alot of contrast and maybe you sprayed your ionrach Skin to oppaque.

 

If you spray over pre-shading your paints need to be realy transparent like thinned washes or like Tamiya Clear Colors.

The colors should work like looking through a lighly tinted glass.

 

For me, Mr. Surfacer 1200 is a bit to light of a grey.

For a tabletop standard i prime with a mix of 2:1 Black / White mix (I use MIG One Shot Primer or Stynylrez which is the same)

Then i set first highlights with a medium grey like 1:1 Black / White

Next step is a highlight with a light grey like 1:2 Black / White (For the 2 steps you can use a pre mixed grey what you have already, no need to mix)

 

Wash with black either the recersses or the whole miniature, depending if you want a darker tone.

Set top  / edge highlights with white.

 

Optional step: add battle damage like sponge chipping etc.

 

Spray your main color.

 

For alot of paints i use MIG Transparator to thin them down to a transparent level.

 

Remember those Vase colors of GW are really oppaque so i would thin them at least 10:1 to get them transparent to work with pre shading

[Arkhanist]

Should I have thinned the Ionrach Skin further? Been more heavy handed with the pre-shading?

 

Yes and yes. I'm airbrushing acrylic inks over black-to-white zenithal pre-shading for my Blood Angels, and even with such transparent paint (by brush, they're more transparent than a citadel shade) the preshading fades right out. And I've found you really need to go on thin to avoid obliterating pre-shading on tanks etc.

 

Basically you're aiming to tint the preshading with your main colour, rather than actually put a full opaque layer of paint down. So I'd go even more extreme with the pre-shading, i.e. mix some black into the rhinox (I'd usually use something like vallejo model air 71.042 dark brown, to give you an idea of how dark), and go significantly thinner (and thus lower pressure to avoid spidering) with the ionrach - if it can cover in a single pass, it's too thick!

[Evil Eye]

Thanks everyone!

 

Hmm, well this was a learning experience. I'll definitely go much lighter with the main colour next time I try preshading. Oh well, even if the effect wasn't what I wanted the model isn't ruined or anything (far from it) so all's well I suppose. Still, good to know.

[Marshal Vespasian]

His strongly do you thin your inks down? I am learning/trying to do my basecolour (Black) over a Black to white zenithal with a Mix of Black and very dark grey ink. It worked out once for me so far through the airbrush and when I tried it by brushing it on I failed miserably.

My hope is to get a nice gradient going and then being able to refine the model with a Black oil wash. Which in theroy should work over a not completely Black basecoat thats lighter on some areas.