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Hi Guys

I'm looking for some hard, honest, appraisals on my latest paint jobs. I've tried to make the photos as clear and honest as possible. I'm looking to complete my army in this style, so......be brutal!









Cheers

What's causing the powdery appearance. The terminator looks great, but you should drill out the gun barrels. It really does make a difference.

Looks good however the models (excluding the terminator) look gritty. Like something has convered parts of them.

Oh yes, the grit! I've been using Fanatic Army painter matt "varnish" finish. I hate the glossy finish you get with "gloss" varnish....so I tried this stuff.

The only downside is immediately after use it looks like the miniature has been through a snow storm. That said, after about 2 hours the effect wares off and leaves a visually decent figure, in the flesh!.....photographing the figures, however, seems to bring out the "zing" again! hence the powder finish!

If anyone can recommend a better matt varnish I will definately use it!

I like em, the termie especilly.

They look good the dread ;ooks good with hat gritty look on the blue , the scout not so much . Termi looks awsome just I dont like the red bolter iam not a fan of red guns pts so early 90s .

These are actually very nice. I really like the colors that you´ve gone with, more realistic than the smurf blue we see so often.

Is the terminator for the same army? Usually the Ultra´s have blue termies, just wondering. Very nice blending on him too, but he does look very "Dark Angel" to me..

If I was to point out one thing that could be better, it would be that the Ultramarine transfer on the dread looks very bright blue, compared to your more muted paint style.

That´s about as brutal as I can be, when the models are so nicely done.

Thanks for the comments guys. About those bolters, yep some of the more recent stuff has the barrel drilled out, and you're right it makes a massive difference!

@ Xanthos

Yep, the Terminator is from the Dark Angel element of my forces. Combined ops with Ultramarines. I do like the clean blue that most painters go with for the UM, but I just wanted to something a bit more "Borne Identity" with my forces, to give them that "lived in" kind of feel.....

Here are few more pictures, again the Terminator looks grainy, I actually think it works well on him, as it gives his armour an aged look.....but I can't hide the truth, the effect is purely accidental and comes from using the spray varnish

Very unique look there, and thats hard to do now adays so bravo on that. You gonna hear it over and over again but MOLD line are a killer so try to get rid of all of them. The termi is my fav but I am partial to DA so theres that. The faces are done well. I also believe strongly that a well done base can add about %20 to the over all "good look" to a model so look into some good basing. As for Matt finish I really like the GW one. I gloss coat mine with stuff from Wal Mart called color place, then Matt caot with GW matt sealer ( until recently that is, as I am in Hawaii and no one has it here currently, it has to come in 4 to 6 weeks by BOAT!) so I have been using Testor Dull coat and Tamiya Flat, both seem to do the job well though differntly that the GW matt. Nice work though keep it up.

Delephont wrote:Oh yes, the grit! I've been using Fanatic Army painter matt "varnish" finish. I hate the glossy finish you get with "gloss" varnish....so I tried this stuff.

The only downside is immediately after use it looks like the miniature has been through a snow storm. That said, after about 2 hours the effect wares off and leaves a visually decent figure, in the flesh!.....photographing the figures, however, seems to bring out the "zing" again! hence the powder finish!

If anyone can recommend a better matt varnish I will definately use it!

Take a soft tooth brush to the mini once the matte varnish cures. Should get rid of any partially stuck dust particles and help that issue a bit.

Really nice looking stuff there! Great, rarely seen paint scheme. (at least rarely seen by me)

@ Captain Vyper

Yep, mold lines....what can I say, my bad to be fair, and this isn't any kind of excuse, I'm trying to get this army out relatively quick, hence the techniques I'm using, and the corners I'm cutting ....but I take on board your point and will at least try to remove "most" of them.

I also agree with your point about basing. I saw what the master painters were doing with the Infinity miniatures, they tend to do a very simple base, now, I'm not saying my bases are anywhere near their standard! However, I took some direction from them, and I've tried to keep my bases extremely simple. I figure it gives me two "benefits":

1. Its quick and doesn't detract from the miniature ( I know, that may be a bad thing as well )

2. It means these miniatures could look "at home" on any playing table, whether it be desert, grassland, or city...without looking out of place.

Looks Great so far! Nice blending and highlights.

As for the primer, I use Krylon Matte. Best I have found so far.

I have no criticism of your painting techniques as I think you've pretty much nailed that side of things... excellent work. However, the mold lines do detract from the model (AC Termie most noticable). I personally think that scenic bases would further enhance the look of your models.
Great stuff and hope to see more!