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Recently picked up ten wyches and an archon. I've shown the wyches here in all their glory (more like their lack thereof). Unfortunately, I cannot get the metal archon to assemble--the glue just won't hold at all. (Despite the guy at the game store assuring me the Zap-a-Gap glue he was selling me was perfect for metal and plastic.) I am looking forward to getting some better glue and assembling my archon, however, as he is kick-ass. I'll probably paint his pieces separately and reeeaaaal carefully before assembling him, as I don't want to screw him up.

Will be buying kabalite warriors and transports soon, although I have yet to pick a kabal and color scheme for them. I don't want to be unoriginal and go with the Black Heart, and inventing my own doesn't interest me much--perhaps I will go with the Poisoned Tongue, just because I like their colors the best, although I know nothing about them role-playing-wise.

Anyway, here are my wyches. (Btw, they're supposed to be the Cult of Strife--my lack of painting skills combined with my lack of photography skills makes it hard to tell :-P) And feel free to dish out the constructive criticism! You won't hurt my feelings, I'm fully aware of how much I suck

One more thing. YES, they are unfinished. I do suck, but I don't suck that much. I just need to pick up a smaller brush so I can give them faces and then do a general touch-up and they'll be done. I also need to choose what to do with the bases.



They look rather impressive as a group...if you stand a ways back...and squint...and don't look at the stunningly impressive picture on the box by which these pale in comparison.



Don't really have much to say about these four. No special weapons or anything. Just regular ol' wyches.



My favorite wych (well, one of my favorites). Ironically, she's the one I use for all my experiments...she has at least five layers of sickeningly-mixed skin color (and I still haven't found the right shade ), but she's turned out alright and for some reason I just like her.



Another cool one. I think I just like that weapon.



Turned out pretty good. I think the paint job on those razorflails is the best paint job I've done on any of my models so far. I'll add a bit more detail to them when I pick up a finer brush.



Man, popping each one of the paint bubbles that form in the holes of that shardnet after you paint the whole thing at once without realizing the consequences is a pain. Actually, now that I think about it, it seems rather mild compared with some of the other frustration I've experienced so far.



I should've used the (in my opinion, most attractive) body for a wych with a visible face and just given this one a guy body. Oh, well. What I'm really concerned about is achieving the "crystal-effect" which I failed at delivering with the paint job of these hydra gauntlets.



My hekatrix, the most underpainted of any of the models. Although the whip appears a bit whiter in the picture than it is in reality, it's still not at all the color I was going for. I may just paint the whole thing ice blue and screw the "white-lightning" effect I was attempting here. The only other thing I have to say about this one is that I am actually proud of my use of boltgun metal at the end of her braid to make it appear like she has a barbed braid



I can literally feel my eyes crying out in agony when they look at the close up of that hideous whip.

And on that happy note, I conclude today's blog entry. Please comment, as I love talking about myself

Do you have washes? IMO washes would definitely help pick out details and create shadow and definition. I went 10 years before I discovered the joys of washes and I think it makes my work look so much better.

Just keep painting and before you know it you'll have alot of the techniques mastered.

The popping paint bubbles thing made me giggle though. I've had issues with that when using too much paint in areas with holes like that. Ah, good times.

Happy painting.

Could you explain washes? I've heard they're just watered-down paints, or do you actually have to buy them? And how do you apply them?

OK, I'll just cave and ask, what are washes?

You could wash with really watered down paints.

For the same price as paint, GW sells washes. Most peoples favorites seem to be Badab Black and Delvan Mud. Now in the past and in other hobbies most washes I know of have been India Ink and water. GW stuff is tinted other colors than just black.

They pool up and collect in lower spots, shading them quickly, but overall everything you put wash on gets darkened.

The more wash you put on, the darker it gets.

As an example, I use Elf Flesh for my Catachan models. After washing with Gryphone Sepia, I get a nice "tanned"
skin tone. This may be too dark for DE, which I imagine (thanks to the GW stuff), to be pale.

They are an easy alternative to layering and highlighting. I, and a few others, think it looks better than line highlighting everything.

Quick Edit:
I saw a blog of a guy who speed paints using grey foundation paints (if I remember correctly), then uses the different washes to add color to his Orkz. Quick way to color a large mass.

So you just take really watered down paint and spread it over your models? Like, really watered down, or really watered down? Would chaos black do the trick?

Oh, and does anyone have any suggestions as to how I could make the models have less black on them? The models on the box do have black on them, but it seems to be a "lighter" black. Makes the details a lot more visible.

there is a nice bit at the end of this article about mixing water and paint for washing.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Painting_for_the_first_time

As for the "lighter" black, I can't give an answer to that. Black is something I rarely need to use on a model... silly squishy humans they are.

Lol, I wished I'd seen the part about training miniatures before...ah, well. That does help. Thanks.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
OK, update. I just used some old D&D miniatures I painted a while back to try out my new Devlan Mud and Badab Black washes. They're taking a bit longer than I expected to dry, so I hope they'll turn out alright. I'll post pictures and, if all goes well, should have my wyches finished, complete with wash, presently.

I also picked up some kabalite warriors which I'm going to be more careful with so, hopefully, they'll turn out better than the wyches. I'm going to try priming the models on the sprues and then painting them before I assemble them. I think they'll turn out nicer and save me a lot of extra work and frustration.

What are you hoping to get out of painting them on the sprue?
If you're just getting into mini painting I think the most important things are well cleaned models, and clean paint jobs with every colour where it's supposed to be.

Painting on the sprue means you can't remove mold lines properly and even then you still have to touch up the areas that you clip the models from, which won't be primed. I wouldn't recommend it.

It also sounds like you might be carrying too much paint on your brush, based on what you said about the net thing.

Nah, with the net, I just figured I'd load up on paint and paint the whole thing at once, without knowing about the bubbles. When I paint fine details, I don't use too much.

And I meant I'd just prime them on the sprue (I have a spray can of primer) and then cut them off and paint them. I'm planning to do this for two reasons:

1. Most importantly, and as you said, I'm having trouble getting colors in the right places. If I paint the pieces separately, my brush won't accidentally rub on parts that are in the way of other parts like it always does when I paint my wyches (since they're already assembled).

2. I've heard that the glue won't stick to paint, so if I prime them on the sprues, the areas that will have the glue on them won't get sprayed, and I'll know which areas not to paint once I cut them off.

Anyway, that's my plan.

Glue will stick to paint, it's just not a good idea to glue to paint because you're just gluing paint to paint and it's a weak bond.

Again, I wouldn't recommend painting on the sprue, even undercoating, as you'll have to do a ton of cleaning after the fact. I'd leave the arms off until you've painted the legs/body/head, as that will make it easier to get at most of the details. If your heart's set on it though.

If you're having trouble with neatness, all I can recommend without knowing how you paint is to keep less paint on your brush. Paint should never go past around the mid point of your brush hairs. You'll also find that you can get away with a bigger brush that way.
This will also help you keep paint out of the ferrule (metal bit that holds the hair to the handle) which will help your brush keep it's shape for longer.

Also, just paint ridiculously slowly. Speed comes with practice.

Yeah, I figured out about just putting paint on the tip of my brush and going really slowly early on (although I must have done something wrong in the beginning, as my standard brush now curves to one side for some reason). And thanks so much for the idea about leaving certain limbs off! That's the perfect solution.

OK, here's the test miniatures. Sorry they're both so chipped, they're old and I never used sealant on them.



For the Medusa I used Badab Black. Unfortunately, it didn't work on her very well. I also probably used a bit too much, as if you look closely, you can see the shininess down by her coils; it's pooled there and has yet to dry.



I know she's just reaching for an arrow, but she always looks like a silly hooker to me



Probably the best angle to get a full view of how the wash worked out--or didn't.



I always liked this miniature. He was the first I ever painted. Unfortunately, the Devlan Mud just makes him look kinda of dirty.



Actually, I think the wash turned out alright on the back--better than it did on the front, anyway.



See what I mean?



Maybe it pooled up a bit heavily at the bottom of his cloak there, but the it definitely had the desired effect (more or less) on the hood, and again, the back turned out a lot better than the front, probably because the ripples in the cloak are pronounced but flowing, allowing the paint to pool up but letting the excess run off. I dunno, just guessing--I really know nothing about this

My question is, am I applying the wash incorrectly? I just loaded up a standard brush and coated the whole thing until it looked satisfactory. Is there a special brush or technique I need to use? Or did I just use too much paint?

Captain Pain wrote:
My question is, am I applying the wash incorrectly? I just loaded up a standard brush and coated the whole thing until it looked satisfactory. Is there a special brush or technique I need to use? Or did I just use too much paint?

You really need to choose the correct wash for the correct colour you are applying it to. For the Wizard his cloak is a dark grey so either a straight -or slightly watered down- Badab Black would have been better suited to him. As you say Devlan Mud just makes him look dirty because well.... it's a mud coloured wash.

As for Medusa, a chipped metal model isn't exactly going to give you great results, but again because her skin is green a Thrakka Green wash would have better suited her, you could have even added a slight bit of Badab Black into a mix.

It really is about experimenting and finding out how colour combinations work, but trust me, the GW washes are amazing and really help anyone, from the amateur right up to the professional.

Oh, whoops...I've just always heard about Badab Black and Devlan Mud so I ignored the other washes. Thanks for explaining it, though. Do you think Badab Black would be an OK wash for my new kabalite warriors, which I plan to use this color scheme for?

Badab Black will work fine on the dark blue, the wash made from normal black paint they've used in the text works in similar way. The GW washes tend to work their way to crevices and nooks better than washes made from paints by adding water. Both types of washes have their uses, experiment and you'll learn which work for you better.

Some highlights on the raised areas may help to make your models looks less 'dirty'? I'm often too lazy to highlight, but it helps on models that you don't want to look too dirty like example High Elves.

I agree with Jaxnfury. Just experiment. First time I used a wash I used it on my Night Goblins and darkened them way too much. I didn't fix it at the time 'cause I didn't know how, but that's the joy of learning. I know what I did wrong so now I can go back and fix it and so can you, and your models will look infinitely better.

Keep at it. Your work's not bad, it just needs some fine tuning and direction. Happy painting.

What sort of wash should I use for the wyches? Their armor is black, so do I want to wash them with gray?

Also, I wasn't able to get a fine detail brush, so my models will remain faceless for a while.

If you are painting black there are couple of ways to put more character to the paint job. Black is the hardest color to highlight in natural/ good looking way.

One way to do it is to actually paint black areas dark gray, apply highlight with lighter gray and then wash is down with black. You can see a example of this in Cyclops shaman which is in my Dakka gallery.

(image is a link to the pic in gallery, more info on my skorne blog.)

Another is to paint area black, highlight by adding gray to the black and then wash with black added with dark blue or similar dark base color. This way you get nice reflections.

Well, I experimented with painting a few before assembling them, and I can see you were definitely right, plastictrees. It's way more trouble than it's worth.

Anyway, I know I've been inactive, just been busy with other things. I should have more pictures up soon.

Another way to get shading when painting black is to use a mix of Codex Grey and Chaos Black as the main colour, then shade with black.

I think for someone who literally just picked 40k up a couple months ago these look pretty decent. You have very clean edges and while there isn't a whole lot of shading, it has a neat look to it.
The two ways you can work on shading is to either do multiple coats of the same color going from dark to light or to paint it a relatively neutral tone then wash and highlight. I don't have ready access to inks so I tend to use the 3 layer method which works great if you have patience for it.
Ink washes can make things a big glossy if you don't cover over it with paint later, so I might recommended trying a dull cote. This is a good example of what to look for. http://www.thewarstore.com/product33266.html Some sprays that call themselves dull cote (such as you might find at a general store) can actually be too glossy and make everything shiny. Gloss varnish can be useful is you get it in a little paint-on form. Take a crappy brush and just use it to make gems or gore look shiny.
I am looking forward to seeing more of your work, I like it so far. Keep it up!

Keep it up dude lookin good! I have a DE P&M Blog too, check it out, it's in my sig.