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Over the weekend I decided to experiment with something I've heard called "buffing", which is similar to drybrushing, only you dampen the bristles slightly before applying the paint to the model. I took the scheme I had for the last model I painted last year (around October timeframe) and decided to replicate it with a combination of this "buffing" and using glazes for most of the colored parts (save the pistol and leather).

The result was...different than the initial model for sure, certainly faster in taking two and a half hours rather than four. See below for reference; left is the newer model, right is the older one. I'm very conflicted with this.

It's darker for sure. That's...ok I guess? I like the volume affect between the darker shadowed area and the brighter top areas. Most people I asked liked the brighter model though. Should I find a way to brighten it up?

Chainsword needs work for sure, some Black Templar is in order for future models.

Made some mistakes on the leather, so feel free to ignore that bit.

The "old brass" was a bit of a mistake, as I didn't want my yellow glaze to end up with orange in the recesses, but I'm not sure it's an unwelcome mistake? I mean, the combination of the darker area, the "old brass", and the blue gives a cool tone that contrasts well with the orange eyes (and, in time, a combination red sandy/rusted industrial base). It's not what I wanted initially.

I guess my main question is: comparing the new and old models, which one looks "better" in terms of quality? If the older one is better, then what can I do to make any future "buffed" models better, or closer, in quality to the older one?

Do you dry brush (or "buff") the entire model... ?

They both look great to me. High tabletop standard. If the one on the left is twice as fast, I would say have at it.

You could punch up the highlights a little bit without dry-brushing or buffing if you wanted.

My only comment is that if you're spending 4 hours dry-brushing a model ... that's a lot. Why not just forget both and highlight manually?

I can see why a lot of people would prefer the older model. That kind of technique has a way of leaving texture on the model and many people simply prefer smooth surface. Personally I think you can achieve some cool effects with it, but it's not for everyone.

There's also less contrast on the new model, and to me that's a bit of a problem. It's easy to appear unfinished* if you can't pick out details easily enough. I think the silver and blue work well in that regard, but the brass blends in with the silver too much. I'd take it a little more in the direction of the old model. Not too much so it doesn't look as vibrant and stands out against the more muted blue, but enough that at a glance and arm's length it can easily be identified as a different color than much of the rest of the model. Consider just adding select higlights of a more yellow metal color to keep the old brass look intact.


*I've experimented with this for years, and while I can only speak for myself, I found there is a threshold before which a model simply looks unfinished no matter how technically finished it actually is. Which also depends on lighting in my opinion. Since I play indoors instead of in bright sunshine, I feel the need to paint models that are supposed to appear dark up to a certain brightness before I can accept them as finished, and match differently colored areas accordingly so they appear to have similar dark to light contrast. Something to think about.

The Pig-Faced Orc wrote:Do you dry brush (or "buff") the entire model... ?

They both look great to me. High tabletop standard. If the one on the left is twice as fast, I would say have at it.

You could punch up the highlights a little bit without dry-brushing or buffing if you wanted.

My only comment is that if you're spending 4 hours dry-brushing a model ... that's a lot. Why not just forget both and highlight manually?

The one on the left was "buffed"/drybrushed and took two and a half hours. The one on the right wasn't; I used more TMM (at least following Youtuber Hobby Cheating's tutorials). That one (on the right) took 4 hours.

Geifer wrote:I can see why a lot of people would prefer the older model. That kind of technique has a way of leaving texture on the model and many people simply prefer smooth surface. Personally I think you can achieve some cool effects with it, but it's not for everyone.

There's also less contrast on the new model, and to me that's a bit of a problem. It's easy to appear unfinished* if you can't pick out details easily enough. I think the silver and blue work well in that regard, but the brass blends in with the silver too much. I'd take it a little more in the direction of the old model. Not too much so it doesn't look as vibrant and stands out against the more muted blue, but enough that at a glance and arm's length it can easily be identified as a different color than much of the rest of the model. Consider just adding select higlights of a more yellow metal color to keep the old brass look intact.


*I've experimented with this for years, and while I can only speak for myself, I found there is a threshold before which a model simply looks unfinished no matter how technically finished it actually is. Which also depends on lighting in my opinion. Since I play indoors instead of in bright sunshine, I feel the need to paint models that are supposed to appear dark up to a certain brightness before I can accept them as finished, and match differently colored areas accordingly so they appear to have similar dark to light contrast. Something to think about.

Ok, yellow metallic/bright yellow gold highlights make sense. And maybe just slightly brighter overall?

Arcanis161 wrote:

Geifer wrote:I can see why a lot of people would prefer the older model. That kind of technique has a way of leaving texture on the model and many people simply prefer smooth surface. Personally I think you can achieve some cool effects with it, but it's not for everyone.

There's also less contrast on the new model, and to me that's a bit of a problem. It's easy to appear unfinished* if you can't pick out details easily enough. I think the silver and blue work well in that regard, but the brass blends in with the silver too much. I'd take it a little more in the direction of the old model. Not too much so it doesn't look as vibrant and stands out against the more muted blue, but enough that at a glance and arm's length it can easily be identified as a different color than much of the rest of the model. Consider just adding select higlights of a more yellow metal color to keep the old brass look intact.


*I've experimented with this for years, and while I can only speak for myself, I found there is a threshold before which a model simply looks unfinished no matter how technically finished it actually is. Which also depends on lighting in my opinion. Since I play indoors instead of in bright sunshine, I feel the need to paint models that are supposed to appear dark up to a certain brightness before I can accept them as finished, and match differently colored areas accordingly so they appear to have similar dark to light contrast. Something to think about.

Ok, yellow metallic/bright yellow gold highlights make sense. And maybe just slightly brighter overall?

Personally I'd take it step by step and see how it looks first and if the added detail gives it sufficient presence. If it feels like something is still missing, brightening the silver and/or blue bits is an easy addition.

Looks like that little bit of yellow gold did the trick! Result below. Same model, btw.

Next time, I will absolutely try just doing yellow glaze rather than trying to mix in a tiny bit of drab green.

In experimenting with a couple of other models, I also discovered that by starting with a gunmetal spray basecoat, rather than just a black basecoat, I can get a brighter look overall. I can add a couple of pics for comparison if requested.

Looks good.