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I need some help. I recently picked up a unit of Swooping Hawks.. and they came "mostly painted".. the basic colors are there but there is a lot of white primer showing thru.. his initial paint job did not do an adequate coverage job. He used Citadel paints and provided me a list of what he used, so I could finish up the models.

Well.. some of the painted area on the wings is too small for me to deal with, and I thought that maybe washing the model would be a good way of giving depth to the paint job and sinking color into the minor pinpricks of missing paint.

Over the years, my wife has convinced me that I have the color matching skills of a blind hamster. So, I turn to you all...

The colors on the Hawks are as follows.. Wings are Ice Blue and skull white, alternating on the feathers. The top of the wing, the "spine" of it, is Midnight Blue. The main body of the Hawk is Shadow Grey. The figures were primed white. The weapons are also Midnight Blue, with some Mithril Silver.

What would be a good contrasting color wash .. or complimentary wash.. that I can use to pick out detail and "hide" lack of coverage?

Also.. would a wash be better, or inks? I have never used inks and am leery.

-Porkuslime

The Blue wash seems the way to go on everything but the parts that are suppose to be white. As long as your keep it in the recesses of the miniature it should hopefully add some nice depth and cover up the places where the primer is showing through.

You should post some before and after shots! I know I would love to see them!

Your other option of course is to just strip the model and paint it yourself

You're on the right track on how to pick out those wing details!

I agree with Tizz on the blue wash, but I think you can still use it on the white. Over the blue areas, it should work fine. For the white areas, just water the wash down a bit or go with a really small amount. It will work over the white because what you'll get is a slightly cool white, fitting with the rest of the blue on the model.

As for inks, they can do everything a wash can do (and more), but they require more preparation. You'll need to water it down a lot. Further, the GW inks do have deeper, darker colors which can make for better shading over dark paints.

ALSO, let me give you my $.02 on color mixing:
1. For basic shading, washes should be a darker version of your base color. Keep them thin. Don't worry about "contrasting" washes. This is reserved for special effects.
2. Buy Liquitex's "How to Mix & Use Color" for $10.00 at the local art store. It's a great read that can help you prove your wife wrong!

Post some pics of the miniatures too--we can help more with a visual example.

Pictures WILL be forthcoming when I get batteries for the camera..

I was thinking Blue.. but for the life of me Badab Black seems to be the "do all" wash.. so was not sure which..

-Porkuslime

Devlan mud is pretty handy too; good for fabrics and nids, I know.

OK.. finally was able to get a decent picture (decent for a given value of decent.. ie.. I think it stinks).. for some reason the camera hates getting close..

there are 2 wings to look at .. one is more covered than the other..

blue wash deffinatly.
delvan mud is to make models apear dirty and badab black is just to add shadows

Is there a button on your camera with a picture of a flower on it?

yep.. AND I used it.. took flash, no flash, zoom in, zoom out.. and that was the best picture.

I stink.

-P

i just found out today that the flower was the macro shot.

porkuslime wrote:yep.. AND I used it.. took flash, no flash, zoom in, zoom out.. and that was the best picture.

I stink.

-P

Well, not all macros are created the same, Pork. Do you still have your manual? If so, look it up in there. It'll tell you what your Macro range is. If not, you should probably be able to find the info on the manufacturer's web site.

I'm guessing you're still too close with the macro.


As for your mini... I was all about the blue WASH (not ink) until I actually saw the mini.

If you don't mind the darker look it'll give the mini, I'm thinking Badab Black wash now. Just use a little on the wings and "babysit" it to keep it off of the raides surfaces as much as possible.


Eric