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Good day all!
I'm a new painter and I finished (well almost) 12 Firewarrior model last night. I'm looking for feedback on what I'm obviously doing wrong or some easy tip to improve the look of the model. I'm satisfied with the quality of it for now, as it's my first completly painted troop ever lol.
Thank you!
I think you are of to a really good start... the next step would be to base the minis. I would try to get some lighter colors going on the base to contrast the mini and thus give a nice effect.
General tips could be thinning your paints a bit. I see some brush strokes in some places. Using a small dab of water to your paint helps it flow better and gives a more even coat.
Also to get to the next level I would try to to pick out some edges and try to highlight them a bit with a lighter tone. Also washes are a good way to get the cloth come to life. It is also a good idea to get a bit of shades going in the recesses.
When it comes to colors and detailing I thinkg you are well on your way.
Good luck!
// Andreas
Dark Angels 4th Company (3,830pts) 950pts fully painted
Your dark blue is pretty good (at least from what I can tell of the photo), which brings me to my first suggestion:
1) Learn to take better pictures.
This is not just for us to see the miniatures more clearly, but also for you to see the miniatures more clearly.
Often you will see things in photos that you would not see with your eyes.
This is because, with a decent macro setting on your camera, you can enlarge the image to be able to see the miniature at 5x to 10x its actual size. Flaws in the paint will stand out such that you will know where to touch up smaller bits that will make an impressive improvement to the miniature.
1a). The first tip for photography: Use a tripod to steady your camera (or find something very steady to hold it against when you take the photo.
This allows you to focus better, and to eliminate camera shake.
1b) The second tip for photography: Go get a large sheet of light colored paper to place underneath and behind the miniatures. Spray paint the inside of a cardboard box white if you have to (make sure it is clean). And make sure that you have diffuse lighting from AT LEAST two directions (no harsh shadows this way).
If you cannot turn off your camera's flash, or you need it for one of the lights, tape a piece of tissue paper over the flash to create a diffuse filter.
..............
Now, on to some actual tips for the painting.
The second color on them is OK, but the shading is both too high contrast in some areas, and non-existent in others. A simple wash over the colored areas with a combination of the same color you used, plus a dab of black or very dark blue would get you a more fluid shading, and this would help to blend the color in with the blue armored areas. Then, just as it is about dry, go over it with a light drybrush of the original color, and then hit the highest raised areas with a drybrush of the original color, which has been lightened just a bit with a lighter tint (either a dab of white, or lighter blue, or green). If you wish to make the cloth areas look "weathered" then instead of the lighter tinted drybrush, use a lighter grey that is just hinted at the highest raised areas of the cloth.
Also... The lenses on the face mask do not look like they stand out enough. You look like you have a steady enough hand to maybe put a little bit of color on them that is light enough, and opaque enough to make the lenses stand out just a bit more.
But overall, you are off to a great start.
Try googling some painting tutorials, since you seem to have some basic talent.
Thanks man I tried some washed but I'm not sure how to use it on eveything lol.
I did Kantor Blue (base), Drakenhof Nightshade (shade), Kantor Blue again then some edge with Alaitoc Blue. I'm definitly not comformtable yet to know which edge to highlight tho, so sometime it feel too random haha.
For the cloth part, I did Celestra Grey, with Null Oil on top. should I put a layer of Celestra Grey on top of the Null Oil to really create a contrast?
As for thinning the paint, I'm not sure how to do it. I take the paint straight out of the bottle. Should I use a plate for my paint, in whch I add a tiny bit of water?
For the basing, I'm gonnado it tonight. I was thinking a light sand/desert type of terrain. Planning on gluing some real sand on it, then paint with sand color on top of it, add some small rock and voila! I will see tonight how it look.
Here is one of the latest video tutorials from GW. It shows both thinning and washing and ways to go about it. They do paint a dark angel but the techniques are valid.
// Andreas
Dark Angels 4th Company (3,830pts) 950pts fully painted
PandaHero wrote: Thanks man I tried some washed but I'm not sure how to use it on everything lol.
As for thinning the paint, I'm not sure how to do it. I take the paint straight out of the bottle. Should I use a plate for my paint, in which I add a tiny bit of water?
Get yourself to a local art store or mega buy type place and pick up a cheap plastic artists palette. They have little sections separate from each other, just use an old brush and take some paint from the pot and put it in the palette, then transfer some water. Various paint brands and colours will need more/less water to thin. You want enough to allow it to flow better but not to thin to start with - that comes when you are wanting to blend colours etc.
Blue and orange are great contrasting colours, you've used the bright orange in small amounts which is perfect - you just need to go further with the highlighting and shading. If your not sure where to paint highlights then an easy tip is to darken the room and put a spot lamp nearby to simulate your 'global light source' aka sun. Areas in shadow need little edge highlights while areas where the lamp is hitting need more.
Just be careful with a sand base, blue + orange compliment, adding a sand base may be a bit too much. If it is just dull and darken the colour slightly. The base should add to the mini as a whole - not steal the viewers eye.