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I took a break from my Fists and decided to crack open my new Space Hulk. After applying some of the tips and lessons from the very helpful folks on this forum, I took another stab at trying my hand at some serious detail (these models are chock full of detail!). I was sure to keep the paint much thinner than I was before, but seemingly I noticed I need to go even thinner. You will also notice some inconsistencies, particularly in the color of the blood drops (I tried various painting methods I found online and tried a few of my own -- I will be making them all uniform using the yellow drops I used on Lorenzo and the Librarian). Other than that, please have at it and any pointers, pointing out common noob mistakes, or just any constructive commentary at all would be more than helpful and greatly appreciated.

Sorry about the camera, tends to fall out of focus on some shots, but I tried to pick the clearest I could. Still using my cell phone. Gonna pick up an SLI camera one of these days.

Personally, I'm pretty surprised I even painted these, which is quite an amazing feeling, but they're far from perfect:

Models look ace! Very nicely done!

Indeed. Very well done!

Thanks a lot. Very proud of these. Appreciate it!

Struggled with that diamond-esque effect for the blood drops. Any pointers to get that "forced translucent" effect?

Pretty good! Keep it up.

D

"Hey wanna see my genestealer spine?" lol looks really nice, good job

Excellent, it you hadn't said you were a beginner I would never have guessed!

Great to see non-candy-coated Blood Angels.

Top work.

For the blood drops id recommend purple. To get the effect you need, use a darker shade on the bottom of the drop, a line of lighter shade on the point, then a dot of white just at the top of the dark shade at the bottom. This will give a nice pearl effect

Wow! Really appreciate the praise. You guys are really gassing me up here! LOL

Paradigm wrote:Excellent, it you hadn't said you were a beginner I would never have guessed!

Thank you! My only complaint was, again, the paint thickness. Wish there was an easy way to keep my water to paint ratios consistent (I'm just kinda dipping a brushfull of paint into a bit of water).

monders wrote:Great to see non-candy-coated Blood Angels.

Top work.

Thanks! Would love to see a candy-coated Blood Angel for my own comparison. Appreciate you checking it out!

queen_annes_revenge wrote:For the blood drops id recommend purple. To get the effect you need, use a darker shade on the bottom of the drop, a line of lighter shade on the point, then a dot of white just at the top of the dark shade at the bottom. This will give a nice pearl effect

What would you recommend shade-wise if I were doing yellow? Does one generally keep the hues closer together when choosing base/highlight? I imagine contrast for something that small would be important. Thanks for checking out my models!

 hybridmoments82 wrote:
Wow! Really appreciate the praise. You guys are really gassing me up here! LOL

Paradigm wrote:Excellent, it you hadn't said you were a beginner I would never have guessed!

Thank you! My only complaint was, again, the paint thickness. Wish there was an easy way to keep my water to paint ratios consistent (I'm just kinda dipping a brushfull of paint into a bit of water).

The easiest way is to put your paint onto any kind of non-permeable surface (anything plastic, like coffee-machine cup lids or even the plastic from blister packs), then dip the brush into the water and shake off the excess before mixing that backs into the paint. Using a palette makes it far easier to control/thin/mix paints than using them straight from the pot.

queen_annes_revenge wrote:For the blood drops id recommend purple. To get the effect you need, use a darker shade on the bottom of the drop, a line of lighter shade on the point, then a dot of white just at the top of the dark shade at the bottom. This will give a nice pearl effect

What would you recommend shade-wise if I were doing yellow? Does one generally keep the hues closer together when choosing base/highlight? I imagine contrast for something that small would be important. Thanks for checking out my models!

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
For yellow, id use an orangy yellow for the main base, a yellowy brown, fairly dark in contrast to the base for the lower part, then a bright sunshine/white yellow for the top. Bear in mind that you should cover with the base layer, add a small line of the dark at the bottom, then a line of light on the top half of one of the edges if you catch my drift. Then put a small white dot on for the gleam

I think I'm picking up what you're laying down here. Gonna try it out and post the result. Thanks!

Yeah definately dude. Basically youre after an overall mid colour, a dark shade in the fat bottom part of the drop, and a thin line of the light at the top. Try to keep an outline of the original colour, so the shades and highlights are contained and dont become edge highlights.

These look fantastic! Congratulations!!!

By the way, yellow blood drops are usually not used on a red/gold theme, because orangey-yellow is the edge highlight color to red, and yellow is too close to gold.

For optimal results, you want some contrast, which is why blue, purple, and green are all pretty jewel colors against red/gold. It also depends whether the blood drop is right against red, or against another color. If it's encased in gold wings, for example, even a red blood drop may look good, whereas if it's against a black shoulder, green or bright blue may be a better choice.

Talys wrote:
These look fantastic! Congratulations!!!

By the way, yellow blood drops are usually not used on a red/gold theme, because orangey-yellow is the edge highlight color to red, and yellow is too close to gold.

For optimal results, you want some contrast, which is why blue, purple, and green are all pretty jewel colors against red/gold. It also depends whether the blood drop is right against red, or against another color. If it's encased in gold wings, for example, even a red blood drop may look good, whereas if it's against a black shoulder, green or bright blue may be a better choice.

That's a very good point. I chose yellow only because I had a lot of success with it with the Librarian and it seemed pretty simple and straightforward. What's your recipe for purple jewel? Made several attempts but you can barely see the result as you can tell.

Purple is the same formula as the other. Mid, light, dark with a white dot

To do most jewels, including purple, I put rounded bright swish on the bottom of one side, and a white dot diagonally opposite that.

So, a vertical purple tear, I would blend black to purple from top to bottom (top 1/3 stays black), then paint a bright purple (like genestealer purple) on the right/bottom. Basically, it should be fattest on the bottom right, and taper to a point on both top and bottom, following the curve of the tear. Finally, a dot of white on the top left.

If you look at some of the SH termies in my gallery, you can see some examples.

Wow dude! That's some AMAZING work!!!!!!!!!! Incredibly impressive and equally inspiring! Voted accordingly.

Gonna give it a whirl! Thanks!