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.

You do what the rest of us do to fix a sloppy paint job YB... you get out your brush and touch it up.

I'm scratching my head on your washes... they don't appear to be doing anything. Are you perhaps using them too little or thinning them too much? I can see a little by the pads, but really, all the cracks and crevices should be clearly affected by wash, deepening the shadows and giving definition.

Yeah, I know, Gits. I also know that as soon as I do that, I'm going to get yellow paint on the metal! And so on.... I almost didn't paint the studs for that reason, bit I'm glad I did (mistakes and all) because I think it will look better. Actually, I was thinking about this earlier, and I realized that I probably had too much paint on my brush. I need to make sure that I wipe most of it off first. That might cut down on some of the mistakes. I also need a better light at my work table....

Yeah, I'm not sure about the washes either. I think the subsequent details may be taking away from it some. Compare this photo with base yellows and a Sepia wash...



...with this one after some details:



No doubt I painted over some of the wash, but it still seems to have lost some of the pop.

I didn't water the wash down at all. Now, I should say that the only wash on the model is an overall Sepia wash (and an overall wash on the red). I haven't done the crevices separately yet. That's why I asked about maybe doing Agrax Earthshade in the crevices, but that first photo doesn't seem to need it.

I think the problem may stem from the whole area of studs etch being metal, rather than black with metal at the tips and tops. Maybe rewash the metals with nuln oil and then take a light mithril drybrush to them?

Man, it's hard to diagnose issues without actually seeing you paint.

Well, as best as I can tell from zooming in really close...

- it's just a messy paint job. Thin your paints, get some good magnification, go over the silver again to make sure you've gotten it all (like the sides of the cables), then com back with the orange to tidy up the lines.
- the sepia isn't really doing anything for you. I think you'll need to line some into the major crevices if you want to get any benefit from it.
- I think you'd be better off with an initial coat of boltgun metal on the metal parts, one or two nuln oil washes, followed by a very light mithril silver or chainmail drybrush over the ridges of the cables to highlight them. That black with a silver drybrush thing is much too crude and you're just begging for slop to happen.

I agree with what Gits has said the paint should be smooth, what are you undercoating with and how?

This is one of my raptors with a spray undercoat (army painter) and sepia (new) wash, It looks very different.

Excuse the shadow but you can see the smoothness you should be aiming for.

I stopped over to YB house last night to look for myself. They are actually shaded. The pics are not showing the subtle shading well I think due to the bright lighting of the pics. Other than the heavy dry brushing they look good.

A darker base will help as well as a more striking alt color for the weapons. Too many colors that blend in with each other on the fig are causing visual conflict.

Hey, Everyone.

I want to thank everyone for reading, commenting, and asking questions. You've really taught me a lot!

@graven: Thanks! That is exactly the mistake I made. I just wasn't thinking....

@Gits: Thanks for your help, man! Yeah, the basic problem is that it's messy. My fault, no question. SL pointed out that the flash on my camera is probably washing out the colors some, which may be why it looks like there isn't any shading. The sepia actually adds a lot of the color. Compare the weapons in the top image of my last post with the rest of the armor. The sepia really deepens the overall color. Thanks for the advice on the metals, too. I'm going to give that a shot.

@Gir: Here's what I did:

-Gray undercoat
-Balor Brown base coat (airbrush)
-Vallejo Ochre Brown (zenithal)
-Vallejo Golden Yellow (zenithal)
-Sepia wash

I think the problem was with the Balor, which is just too thick to airbrush. I think that's where the roughness is coming from. I've got a Vallejo Sand Brown for future use. On the plus side, that roughness is showing in the picture, but you can't really see it normally.

What color Army Painter spray did you use on that Raptor? That's a beautiful figure!

@SL: Thanks, man. Your help is really apprciated.

@Ramos: Thanks for explaining how you do your metals. That makes a lot of sense.

+++++

I have been working on a couple of things this week. On SL's advice, I've been trying to get a few things built. They're coming out nice, but taking more time than I like. I've decided that although I like the FW models a lot, I really hate working with resin. They're just a pain to glue together (or I'm doing something wrong). Anyway, pic:



Meh, pic didn't come out very well, but you can see some of the work. Here's a close up of a couple of them:



Also started on an objective marker:


I had a grandiose idea for this that would have a wrecked bike, a standard bearer, standard, piece of ruined building, and falcon. I'm pretty sure I can't get all of that on a 40mm base, though, so I think the ruin and falcon are out. I'd like your opinion, though: should I try to fit a whole bike on the base or just part of one? Also, right now I've got a Plasma Gun for the figure, but since you can't actually equip a standard bearer with a PG, I was thinking of making it look like he had ripped one of the plasma talons off the bike. What do you think?

Here's a close up of the standard so far:


Kind of hard to see. Sorry. All my pictures turned out poorly. Anyway, Ravenwing Bike pole, with the wings from a Ravenwing Bike handle guard, and Ravenwing banner. Might add a second banner to the other side. What do you think so far?

And, GMS Fire Hawk for Gitsplitta:






Not sure what I think, now, of the cables. (It looked much coller in my mind.) What do you think?

C&C welcome!

Thanks for reading.

YB

Now, excuse me while I get back to brewing....

U gonna do the transformation into LOD?

 Miss Dee wrote:
U gonna do the transformation into LOD?

Yeah! Eventually, anyway. Working on Badab War stuff right now....

Il Duce!

Keep in mind that cables will sag to their greatest extent unless there's something to keep them aloft.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

Should be a nice, natural sweeping curve.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Keep in mind that cables will sag to their greatest extent unless there's something to keep them aloft.

Should be a nice, natural sweeping curve.

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I'm only ok with them. I think the one on the left came out alright. It has a fairly gentle sweep to it, and since the left arm is extended, it looks more natural. The one on the right was harder to do. I reasoned that the cables should be roughly the same length, and since the left arm is extended, I should do that one first. Then I measured the second cable against the first, so it would be the same length, but it doesn't seem to have as natural a sweep as I'd hoped. It looks like it's being stretched, even though that arm is back farther than the left. That's the nature of guitar wire (and my inexperience). I thought about just using electricl wire, which would have been easier to shape, but I was going for that ribbed look.

I guess I could replace the cables with smooth wire? Or just remove them entirely? Thoughts?

Other than that point, Gits, what do you think of the model?

I like it.. there is something dangerous about a marine wielding 2 PP's I'd leave the cables and move on. If you wanted to fix the right cable you need to move the bend further back .

What size guitar wire are you using?

Good job I dont have G strings

 Solar_lion wrote:
I like it.. there is something dangerous about a marine wielding 2 PP's I'd leave the cables and move on. If you wanted to fix the right cable you need to move the bend further back .

What size guitar wire are you using?

Thanks, SL. Not sure of the size (I'm at work now), but it's the size I saw most people recommending for this sort of thing.

Miss Dee wrote:Good job I dont have G strings

Hrrm, what?

Looking good YB. I Iike the kneeling guy, thats a great pose.

In answer to your question it was a white primer.

Question is... is there enough slack in the right cable for him to freely move/extend his right arm?

I like him, very cool figure.

ok been watching this thread for a while but this is the first time i have posted i am really loving where this thread is going are you going to add a LR?

cause that would be cool

@GiraffeX: thanks! I really like that guy, too. Almost sorry he's going to be an objective!

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Question is... is there enough slack in the right cable for him to freely move/extend his right arm?

I like him, very cool figure.

Thanks, Gits. Yeah, that's exactly the problem. Both pieces of wire are the same length, but the right one looks effectively shorter. Not sure why... possibly it had further to reach the power pack on the back?

@Eldar Man: welcome to the blog, and thanks for reading! I would love to do a LR Redeemer, eventually; it really fits the fluff. It's in the future, though. I've got 2 RBs incoming that I need to get painted up first.

Ok cool i can't wait

Hey Yellowbeard. After staring at Solar's great looking display I realized. Your marines are going to be on a board with little to no rubble or dirt. Moving forward you should have your bases be metal or concrete looking. The ruins you are using look cool but they may look a bit out of place on the clean base the Solar has created for you.

Solar, am I right in saying that?

Maybe use a darker wash?

Hey, Everyone.

@Ice: Hrrm, yeah, but Solar told me to keep making the bases I was... Maybe he's going to add some rubble. The Loyalist side does look a little tidy at the moment....

@Ctc: Hey, man, glad to have you back. Thanks for the advice. I think the lightness in the pictures is from the lighting and the photo. They actually have some definition in person. SL thinks they're ok with Sepia.

+++++



Added a Book to my Librarian:


I think it looks pretty good....

Some more work on my objective marker. What do you think?





Do you like it better with the bike in front of the marine or behind?





Any thoughts on what to do with the gaping hole in the bike? Fill it in with something (what)? Leave it open?



++++++

Solar_lion wrote:I like it.. there is something dangerous about a marine wielding 2 PP's I'd leave the cables and move on. If you wanted to fix the right cable you need to move the bend further back .

+++++

On a brighter note...



Licorice Stout and Port-barrel Aged Belgian Brown Sour Ale fermenting in the tub!

+++++

C & C welcome.

Thanks for reading!

YB

I like the biker librarian. Very nice pose. As for the biker objective. I really like him hiding behind the bike and shooting over it. I'd try to fill the gap but have some protruding pipes or tubes, wiring, etc. Whatever tore the bike in two took it right through the engine block so I'd imagine things would be falling out or dangling. Whats going to be in his other hand?

Thanks, Ice. I'm working on a standard for him. I can't afford a standard bearer for Adepticon, really, so the Hawkiwing Standard Bearer becomes the objective.

You could just take some cotton or pillow fiber... dip the bottom in a bit of dilute grey and call it smoke.

Figures look great YB. Those bikes are really going to be snazzy.

I think the smoke idea is a good one. The Mk V dudes should be on the way, sorry for the delay (couldnt find an arm). Looks good all around though.

Update the progress thread on our board when you get a chance.

Great progress my friend.

Bike in front. I think you should do both .. put a few small engine pipe/wire sticking out and add some fire and smoke. Not a lot but enough to cover the gaps. I have some FoW cotton smoke/ fire that we can use. It should fill the gap nicely.

Your basing is fine as long as you get the grey color on them. You'll never want generic bases anyway. I have more to do on the display to weather up.

Libby looks good. Like the details you have added.. proceed with haste and get the rest of your builds done so you can concentrate on painting!

Thanks, Everyone.

I was thinking maybe some pipes with smoke. That makes sense. I'm not sure I'm sold on the smoke, though. I'll have to see what it looks like.... Though, since you're all suggesting it, I'm sure it'll look good.

SL, what kind of light/battery did you use on this burning Rhino:



I'm wondering if I could do something like that for the Bike. Should be enough room for the light, and if you're suing a watch battery, I could run a wire to the bottom of the base.... What do you think? Where did you get the light?

Bikes Look good man!