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Hello everybody!

I've opened this topic because I think I've done a little mess painting my dark eldar rider... look at the pictures and be honest: aren't the green lines between the plates very imprecise and bad-done?









I've tried the best I can do, but it seems that my hand it's still too trembling...

Now, maybe you are more experts than me, so please tell... what can I do to save my miniature?
I've already fixed the model's parts with the glue, so I can't simply disassemble, wash the paint away and then ri-assemble! I was thinking about giving a wash or even a complete hand with the chaos black, but I'm afraid that the paintjob below will remain visible.

... I have no idea why you are complaining. Unless that's a commission, those look fine.

Also, brace your hand with a small pillow or some 50 lb sandbag. Whichever is easier to get.

just touch up with some black and you'll be fine.

I would say its alright. I dont really understand what you want us too do.

You can still Simple green the model it will just eat through the glue.

They look fine, but it depends on how much of a perfectionist you are, it would take a lot of work to get paintwork like that looking perfect, but if you want to neaten them up just use the darker green slightly thinned to straighten the lines out a bit where you see fit. As long as your happy with what you do then it's a good paint job.

Worry not my friend... The bracing idea is fine, if necessary just cut into your existing lines with some black paint to clean them up. A steady hand doesn't come overnight Sometimes I will use my pinky as a maul stick (an old sign-painters tool) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maulstick

We are always the most critical of our own work...I think you're doing just fine. Do some practice on a some paper with strokes just to get an understanding of the brush down. But like I said if you cut into that with some black paint you can straighten that up easily. Good Luck!!

PS: I have been mentored by a sign-painter for the past 10 years so I came into this hobby with a little more knowledge then most about brush technique, but this is so much smaller scale and takes time, but remember anything can be fixed or altered, nothing is lost. It's just another step in the creative process.

work around the problem

your hands tremble? okay you cant fix that. what you can do though is to use masking tape

mask the areas you want to protect, paint your lines, slop all over the place

then peel the tape away

Bakerofish wrote:work around the problem

your hands tremble? okay you cant fix that. what you can do though is to use masking tape

mask the areas you want to protect, paint your lines, slop all over the place

then peel the tape away

I was going to suggest this. But, doing curved lines (Dark Eldar has a lot of them) with masking tape is iffy. Unless you section it off really well, it'll come out with little corners. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's not a 'simple' fix. Though, I think the corners might look good if spaced evenly and well done. It would contrast the smooth curves, just as the green in the OP's example contrasts the black.

Some simple ways you might fix this, if you want to.
One: do a 50/50 mix of chaos black/dark angels green, watered down a bit, and paint towards your highlights from the edge of the chaos black areas. This allows your touchup to be relatively imprecise and yet I've found it an effective tool. Plus it can add some richness to an otherwise flat black colour as even cold black colours are better than flat black.
Two: paint over the highlights completely, and do what I finally figured out how to do... rather than trying to paint the edge with the tip of the brush like this: ----| instead use the side of the brush and draw it along the corner of the edge you're trying to highlight. No matter how your hand may shake, it's almost impossible to get anything less than a fine line out of that. oh, and when highlighting like this, less paint on the brush is better as it tends to pool at the point of contact. you're looking for an angle like this: |< where the < is the tip of the edge you're highlighting and | is the side of your paintbrush.
Three: water down chaos black, probably 75% water, 25% chaos black and wash it over your highlights to dull them down. They should still be visible but less garish.

Well, thanks a lot for all the support and the advices, guys!
Now I'm going to try some of them... hope to be soon able to post new pictures with the problem solved!

PS: I know, maybe I'm too perfectionist... but that's the key to get a great job!

Everything Shadow Chap said is great advice. There's nothing wrong with your model that spending a little more time on it can't fix. There are lots of artists out there with shaky hands, myself included.

Use the edge of your brush like Shadow said, and apply a thin layer of your highlight color. Apply it down or across one, continuous edge, and if your brush is at the right angle, with the right consistency of paint, you should even get a faded edge across the plate. Keep a moist, paint-free brush between your teeth or somewhere easy to grab in case you need to feather the paint for a better blend. Repeat the process again and again in thinner lines to build up your highlight.

If your back hurts after doing one panel, and it takes you all afternoon, you're probably doing it right.

when painting the edges ... DON'T (capitals to emphizise , not being rude ) use the tip of the brush, use the side of the brush.

and buy good brushes

Take a deep breath man, you miniature isn't ruined

your mini is definately far from being ruined. In fact, it is looking good so far already. First things first, with the lines being uneven, there is no need to worry too much about that, if you can, go find some thin masking tape. I know tamiya do a masking tape for modellers that is less then 3mm wide! but i would more go with the 5mm tape, as it is more useable.

secondly, go buy some washes. Badab black, greyphonne sepia and delvan mud at the least. These three when used right can give just that little bit more of depth to a model (and hide sneaky paint going where it shouldnt).

finally on the center spires thingy where the sails go, i can see that the light green is outside the containment of the detail. best way to get around this is to paint the detail first, then paint the spire around it, to touch up where the paint overlaps.

also as a general rule, and you probably have heard this many times over looking at the forums: GW paint (except washes, but that might just be my personal opinion) are generally very thick. So the general trick is to put just a small dash of water into the pot, around a mL is enough (three or four drops from a dripping tap I find is good)

A little ultra fine Steel Wool and you can take the highlights right off and start again with smooth surface, if that what you want, bit its far from runied.

Speaking of masking tape. Go to your local auto parts store like NAPA or if you have a Unite Auto Electric or professional paint place they should have what they call striping tape. It's thin tape designed to mask fine and extremely curved edges for pin striping and the like the will work for minis I have used it. It's nice to see so many suggestions on here. Another reason to love Dakka!

Yea, that looks pretty good. Just go back and touch up the black.

Ive found the easiest way to do those lines on the hull is paint inside the crack instead of the sides, you can just put paint in the crack and whipe the excess off with your finger.

with only basecoat and the 1 color.. its very very far from ruined.

And remember, tape is easy to cut to the shape you want it. Trace the curve on and cut it smoothly for a good edge.

Also, your hand trembling, unless it happens all the time, could be caused by dehydration or lack of potassium. You could try eating a banana an hour before you start, see if it helps.

Can you get glow in the dark green paint for proper Tronage?

Thanks all for the suggestions, guys! It's very nice to see a place where people help each other about common hobbies!

I'm still triying to adjust my bad painting (yes, I'm hypercritical, I know)... but I want to do a precisation: my mental-status it's not emo-like "oh, Jees, my miniature it's completely ruined! <various cry> What can I do now? I must throw it away and commit suicide, it's the only solution...", but simply I'm not satisfied of the painting I've done and I was looking for good suggestions from someone more expert than me!
Maybe my first post it's a bit plaintive, yeah, and reading it the day after I've noticed that I had to use quotes for the word "save", but... never used the word "ruined", ok? I've all the intentions to complete it!

Also, your hand trembling, unless it happens all the time, could be caused by dehydration or lack of potassium. You could try eating a banana an hour before you start, see if it helps.

Never thought about this options... but I will try, thanks a lot! I drink like a camel, but about the bananas...

First: your painting is not bad. When I first started painting like 18 years ago I couldn't dream of painting anywhere near the quality you've produced here. Even 10 years ago I'd have been hard pressed to approach your quality. Five years ago, I might have felt I was a comparable painter to yourself. There's nothing "bad" here. It's all a learning curve. I have only in the last few years been producing what I consider quality paint jobs, and given my compulsive nature, this has slowed down my painting process, to the point where I have collected well over 200 figs and have almost 5 figs painted. You need to refine things, but that's not a bad thing. Don't get down on yourself. You're well on the way to becoming a good painter. I congratulate you first on seeking advice, and secondly on appreciating the advice you've been given. Those are qualities that will stand you in good stead.