Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I think I have painted the black templar chapter symbol like 200-300 times. it was so difficult the first couple of times but now I can whip that up in a minute or two.

I do either brass etch, water transfer or buy upgrade parts,

For example my veteran tactical squad has crux terminatus pauldrons, I don’t like the flatness of transfers/ etch when terminators have tha same, also it’s an honour to be in the 1st company so why not have relic armor

Impossible to vote anything other than other as it completely and entirely depends on the models

Personally I use most of those: mostly I use the details on the model itself. At times I use decals, like for banners and flat drapes for my DoK amd Darklings, but I do some really easy freehand for my Kharadrons.

Decals. all the way. I'm firmly convinced that Microsol and Microset were created with divine inspiration!

My painting is so bad I don't need my attempts at freehand mucking up whatever minor progress I seem to make!

It depends.

Most times I'll GS the detail on or freehand it.

With Adeptus Titanicus though, I'm planning to try out the transfers.

I'm always of the mind that whatever way is easiest for each application, is the way I do it. I always try and find the way of least resistance for any project, and anything that saves time is a go-to.

I prefer to use detail on the model, but I'll freehand where needed. I'm contemplating buying some detail parts from third parties.

I paint it on or buy a 3d printed symbol. Transfers are just too finicky for me.

https://www.amazon.com/Sakura-Pigma-30081-Micron-Blister/dp/B001CRI6O2

Best $5 you can spend on doing black details like script.

Free hand black wing and free hand red blood drop on my Angels Revenant chapter.

See my gallery: https://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-125134-61845_My%20Angels%20Revenant%20Army.html

I generally use custom Decals that someone else made. I may change the colors, but that is about it.

3D print the symbols and paint on those.

In the past I often used a combination of standard decals, upgrade / detail kits and free hand painting.

I dont know how common the detail kits are in Wargaming/Tabletop, but in model building we are often use photo etched parts to detail the interior and exterior of models. A good example for this would be the Czech Manufacturer Eduard, which has a buch of this in his shop.

Other:

Find a local artist to commission.

I have no idea what this discussion is about or what half the options mean. What are decals? What is GS? How can you buy upgraded parts (you mean the bits that Forgeworld sells for some 40k stuff)?

Jandgalf wrote:
I have no idea what this discussion is about or what half the options mean. What are decals? What is GS? How can you buy upgraded parts (you mean the bits that Forgeworld sells for some 40k stuff)?

Decals refers to waterslide decals, ie text and/or iconography printed on paper that when soaked in water, produces a soft decal you can place onto the model to reproduce said text or iconography.

Some people are very good at freehanding detail, for example, painting script lines onto a parchment or purity seal. I myself am terrible at freehand, so lean on decals to reproduce those details.




GS is green stuff, a 2 part epoxy that is commonly used in this hobby to sculpting. Prior to digital sculpting, many models were made of green stuff before being cast. It's still commonly used to fill gaps and sculpt details, and of course, traditionalists still sculpt entire models out of it.


Upgraded parts can mean either forgeworld, or 3D printed details that you either design or print yourself or buy elsewhere such as shapeways, etsy, ebay, or otherwise.

That stuff’s gotta be modeled on. Tremendous respect for the freehanders out there, but I have neither the skill nor the eyesight for that anymore.

So, recent thing that worked.. ish:
Did this really cool celtic knot wolf for my McFarlane marine shoulder in Illustrator, but even making the "cords" bigger, the detail was way too intricate. So, got a piece of plastic, flipped the image and printed it. then went and rubbed the ink off to the shoulderpad... It didn't come out 100% and I had to go back and redo the lines in both black and the background color. It did make a kind of old, worn feeling- buuut, the scale was way larger than what I'm used to, and even then the curvature was screwing up the flat plastic, and the ink smeared.

I vote we all look into mixing 3d print technology with a super-fine airbrush so that you can print vector designs onto a mini!

'other'. When it comes to flat surfaces like a rhino top I'll use and IW decal, but with shoulder pads I just black one out and keep it like that.

"Other"

I have become a fan of 3D printing stencils for vehicle markings. Loads of handy tools to do text and symbols, and so easy to extrude to a thin, flexible stencil.