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Have you thought about using washes to add some depth to your models i think a few wash coats would go a long way also.

Hey samwellfrm! Thanks for pointing out your plog, interesting stuff and worth some attention.

Let's start with the basing because it's easy to comment on... GREAT JOB! Basing can make a huge difference in a model. Lack of it can make a really good model look mediocre... or make a nice model look really great. Especially since it is without a doubt the fastest way to improve the look of a model & can be done en' masse. Keep it up... you're doing great there.

Painting: Good. I see you're comfortable with a number of basic techniques... highlighting and washing, and your lines are clean... all good. As for ways to improve... it seems to me that you need some more contrast and volume in your figs to make them "pop" a bit. Spranick is coming along beautifully, but his dark cloak and dark pants get all blended in with each other and you lose definition. Don't be afraid to do some extreme edge highlighting in order to clearly define certain edges and components of the model. It helps define small details for the eye as well has helping the viewers brain to sort out the major design aspects of the model. Conversely, you could add some kind of light colored decoration to the hem of the pants, boots or cloak to help define them as an object and give visual "relief" to the eye from all the dark colors.

I like the ork. Drill out the gun barrels and learn how to do the lenses (which is easier than you might think) and you'll be set.

Here's a good tutorial for the lenses: vent's Blackstone Gem Technique
Here's a good tutorial for faces: Eldrad Jonas' "Painting Faces my Way (I've used this tut myself... even though I did it poorly... it helps.)

Vehicles. I hate them, at least up until I got an airbrush... then they became easy. Go with lots of edge highlighting & free-hand details or damage on large panels. That seems to work.

Hope that's useful.

@AH: My current method of painting human skin is two coats of watered down Elf Flesh, with a Devlan Mud wash. A few of my models have a black wash (which I used before I had Devlan mud) and their skin looks like it is decomposing.

@Gitsplitta: Behold: the Master of all Plogs has graced my thread with His presence. Thanks for the feedback! It is very specific and clear. You helped me set some goals.

As for the basing, I'm really glad I stopped being lazy and did that. It made such a difference. You actually inspired me, Gits, with your so wonderfully based models.

On Spranick and the rest of the guardsmen, I will try to find a way to highlight the edges of the coats to make them stand out more. I'm thinking maybe a lighter blue for the rank n' file, and a silver hem for the captain. What do you think would be the best colors to use? Their clothes are Enchanted Blue with a Devlan Mud wash. I'm not sure which colors are brighter than or will match with that.

I looked into the face tutorial, and it looks do-able. I will have to suck it up and be more patient with my models, and try to use more than two colors on one surface. In the end, I think it will be worth it.

And how did you know that I left the lense unpainted because I was waiting for someone to show me a tutorial? Thanks so much for that. I will certainly give it a try.


Things on my shopping list: More paints, finer detail brushes, a hobby drill, and one of those hole puncher thingies to make rivets.

have you thought about mixing ultra marine and enchanted to give a bolder blue highlight on the rank and file? or enchanted with some skull white? or even possibly some codex grey highlight i can show you a tut from gw where they do that with black i think the concept would work for your blue. any way here is the link.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?catId=cat440176a&categoryId=400028§ion=&aId=3700009a

Note: not the templars but crimson fists and they have blue highlights

Thanks AH. I like the Ice Blue mixture for the highlights on the Crimson Fists. Maybe I'll do 50/50 Ice Blue/Enhanted Blue for the fatigue highlights.

I got some paints today. I will test the new hightlighting and skin techniques on some guardsmen. Look forward to updates soon.

Look forward to seeing how you get on.

Nice guard, a simple, good looking scheme and the Old Crow vehicles look good.

Some nice work on those lootas, they look good

For rivets, punching plasticard and drops of PVA glue have already been mentioned. Small diameter plastic rod can be sliced thinly, can also get square and hex bolts this way. Can do the same with a thin roll of GS, there's a few places that sell different scale rivets, and you can slice ones off of unused bits of other models too.

And get those barrels drilled

Keep it up.


And don't worry about slow replies in th early pages of a blog, happens to nearly everyone

Hey Monkeytroll, I'm glad you stopped by! I promise, by the end of this blog, those barrels will be drilled... even if it's the last thing I do.

As promised here is the result of my highlighting experiment with a mixture of Ice Blue and Enchanted Blue

Dude #1


Dude #2


Dudes #1 and #2


And Dude #1 adjacent to non-highlighted Dude #3


I'd say that the idea was a success, as far as making the edges of the clothes more well-defined. I still need to work on making the lines finer and more steady. I feel like that will come with practice. My thanks go out to AH and Gits for providing resources and advice.

I tried to highlight Spranick, and for the most part it worked. However, my hand twitched when I was highlighting his hat, and now he looks like he has blue blood trickling down his forehead.
Looks like I'll need to repaint his face...

Definite success there. Shame about Spranick, but you were going to practise skin too

Man that looks good! sorry to hear about the mishap...maybe he's a blue blood at heart?

Thanks for the comments, guys.

I plan on practicing some more today. There's a tropical storm shaking my apartment at the moment, so I have plenty of time inside to work on my guardsmen.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here's the model I am going to experiment faces with. His name is Trooper Donovan. Aloof and contemplative, he often loses himself in the battle, stopping to take off his helmet and muse about the morality of war. He's quite the battlefield philosopher.

Donny himself:



Automatically Appended Next Post:
I have the results of the skin experiment using Eldrad Jonas' technique. I took pictures at every step of the process.

Two coats of watered-down Tallarn Flesh


Tallarn mixed with Space Wolf Grey


The ratio of SW Grey is increased with each step


Looking pretty good so far...



Until...


BLARGGHH!!! Psycho Donovan!




Yup. The eyes were a complete failure. The skin was looking pretty good though.
Maybe I'll just paint over his eyes with Tallarn Flesh and leave it at that. My hands are not steady enough to do those itty bitty details in the eye sockets.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Damn you, automatically appended posts....

So, I am going to explain two eye techniques:

1) Troopers/grunts. Wash the face with...well, I use a bit of watered down flesh wash, but that's gone now. Anyone reading this who can tell me what the replacement is? Devlan mud? Your mom?

Work the wash into the nooks and crannies of the face and hands. Then, re-highlight.

2) Leaders. Use a micron pen to dot the eyes. Don't bother trying to lay down white beforehand, or other such things. Just dot the eyes.

Remember the three foot rule, for making tabletop-quality miniatures. No one is going to look at your miniatures from closer than three feet. Paint to make them look good from three feet away.

After you've mastered that, THEN you can work your way up to Gits and Iffy.

Good thoughts, Brian. I'll keep that in mind when I try it again. I painted over the eyes. He looks like he did before I tried the white.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
He opens his eyes. The white and tan blur fades into colors and shapes. He can make out figures running past, and falling. A loud ringing overwhelms his ears.

What is this? ... Where am I? ... Who am I? ... Donovan. Trooper Serik Donovan. Imperial Guardsman. One question answered. Where’s my helmet?

Wiping dust and mud from his face, Donovan cranes his head to the left. He sees Trooper Berios thrown backwards into the air by an unseen force, red liquid spraying from his chest. Berios lands two meters away, next to a helmet.

My helmet. Two questions answered.

Donovan shuffles over to the deceased Berios and grabs his helmet. The ringing in his ears has faded. He can now hear the sound of solid slugs whizzing past his head, the crump-bang of crude mortar shells exploding, and the snap-crack of lasguns. He looks around and sees men running and shooting and falling and dying.

War. This is war. The act of thousands killing and dying for a cause. But what’s the cause? Organized and controlled by those who never experience it. They simply state the need and give the order, and millions die on their behalf. Yes, this is war. This is my life. Three questions answered.

Men run by. Donovan recognizes them as Fourth Squad. He sees Sergeant Fencer, encouraging the squad to fight in the name of the Emperor. Another mortar shell crashes into the earth and sprays mud at Donovan.

The Emperor. Is that the cause? A man on a throne thousands of light-years away? If so, these men are fighting and dying for something they’ve never seen. No, it can’t be. We’re fighting for something more tangible, more real. Is it the fyceline in the crust? In the simplest sense, yes. But there’s more to it. The fyceline is needed to fuel tanks and warships, which will engage the tyranids on another front. Yes that is my cause. That is why I am fighting and dying. We wage this war so that war can be sustained. Four questions answered.

He hears a loud chorus of yells from the enemy lines, and the rumble of one hundred feet rushing on the earth. He feels a tug at his shoulder. It’s Trooper Rilken. He’s saying something.

“Get up, Donny, and fix your bayonet! The greenskins are charging!”


Now I remember. This is Founder’s Gate. Five questions answered.



Donovan!






Trooper Serik Donovan is now fully painted, using all the new techniques I learned this week. I'd say he looks pretty good, for a test model. Just compare his face to the others in that first picture.

I also hope you all liked the fluff. I will go further into the planet of Founder's Gate later. Basically, it's the planet that the Opscalx Fortune Company and the orks are fighting over.

Please comment and provide feedback as you please!

Sam

It seems as if my thread has APPENDicitis!

Good fluff sam i enjoyed the read, the trooper looks good too! Is your main opponent orks? Or are orks the eternal bad guy that every one seems to fight?

Good work on the skin sam, looks great. Certainly looks better without the painted eyes, maybe another wash in the sockets?

Nice bit of fluff too.

Very nice sam, you can definitely see the improvement! Just keep trying to work on improving one thing with each figure you do & pretty soon you'll be painting like a master!

Next up:

After you assemble the figure, throw a layer of white glue, slightly thinned, down on the base, and sprinkle sand. This is where you can add some base detail, like a broken gun or rocks or debris.

Let it dry, preferably for 12 hours, and THEN prime the whole figure, base and all.

This will give you a textured base, which you can then drybrush.

Things are looking good!

--Brian

@AH: Thanks man. It just happens that orks are the other army that I'm collecting, so I decided to have them be the occupying force on Founder's Gate (which is where the Fortune Company is stationed). This will also allow me to post orks and guard in this thread and still maintain a focus of sorts. Kind of like a "Forces of Founder's Gate" plog, instead of just imperial guard.

@Monkeytroll: Thanks for the positive feedback. I will try to darken the eye sockets a bit more. I was just too giddy and excited to post pictures of donovan that I didn't wait until he was done.

@Gitsplitta: Thanks for your help. That face tutorial really made the difference for me.

@Brian: I will throw some dirt and grass down on his base. I haven't gotten into the habit of basing before painting the model. Perhaps I'll do that on the next guy. I just wonder if it will look consistent with the rest of the army, seeing how I don't paint my dirt. Everything's worth trying!


Something I've realized is that I don't think I properly introduced my army. I came up with the fluff before I started collecting anything. The images of the blue moon and of the army had been in my head for months before I bought my first guardsman. In conclusion, I don't think I was fluffy enough when I introduced them, so I've decided to change my ways. I plan to make fluff much more abundant in this thread.

The highlighting really helped. I also really like those Lootas! I can't wait to see you pain them up. Where did you get the ammo belt/feed thing you used for one of them? They both look very nice.

Thanks for stopping by, NakedBatBoy. The ammo belt is from here:
http://www.freewebstore.org/zinge-industries/index.aspx?pageid=658634

The guy makes really nice ammo belts and cables - and they're flexible too!