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skyfi wrote:
The blending is looking better nidpainter, try stepping your game up by getting some of this:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/24547338?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227018217243&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=25410153756&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=50625454476&veh=sem

Thank you for the compliment. I'm afraid that image is too large for me to see on my phone :(. Not only that it's stopping my phone from proccessing the other images on this page :(. I'll have a good look at it when I get to a computer.

 TyranidPainter wrote:

skyfi wrote:
The blending is looking better nidpainter, try stepping your game up by getting some of this:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/24547338?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227018217243&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=25410153756&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=50625454476&veh=sem

Thank you for the compliment. I'm afraid that image is too large for me to see on my phone :(. Not only that it's stopping my phone from proccessing the other images on this page :(. I'll have a good look at it when I get to a computer.

didn't think it was very big, it is actually a lot smaller than the images you posted (on my screen at least) so i went ahead and spoiler'd it

anyhow its liquitex slo-dri blending medium sold at hobby lobby/wal mart/craft stores over here in the US. Y'all should have something comparable I imagine!

Also known as Acrylic Medium.

Rite well here is another project I am doing. I have enlisted the help of my brother on this one as I required his electronics expertise. Here is a prototype of my L.E.D. Necrons:




In the finished products I will attempt to better conceal the wires. What do you think?


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Oh and here's a teaser of my magnetised Carnifex:

Check out my gallery, I have a light up Monolith... We used black light LEDs, some drilling and a lot of soldering.

Also there is a company that makes kits for this sort of thing.

Also whilst I'm at it here's a green colour scheme Tyranid Warrior:

Looks great dude. Although. I really would consider concentrating on the painting, Rather than LEDs and magnets. The novelty stuff can come later.

 Alfndrate wrote:
Check out my gallery, I have a light up Monolith... We used black light LEDs, some drilling and a lot of soldering.

Also there is a company that makes kits for this sort of thing.

Wow thank you. And that Monolith is amazing. Bloody well done chap. Colud you provide me with a link to that company's site please. I'd like to look them up.


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tomcat31 wrote:
Looks great dude. Although. I really would consider concentrating on the painting, Rather than LEDs and magnets. The novelty stuff can come later.

Yeh thanks but I'm worried about the time it's going to take to make a significant change in my painting :(.

 TyranidPainter wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:
Check out my gallery, I have a light up Monolith... We used black light LEDs, some drilling and a lot of soldering.

Also there is a company that makes kits for this sort of thing.

Wow thank you. And that Monolith is amazing. Bloody well done chap. Colud you provide me with a link to that company's site please. I'd like to look them up.

It was Powered Play Gaming

But like others have said, I would concentrate on the painting than the other projects. If you're worried about the time it's going to take to make significant changes to your painting than stop painting. I've been waiting for 2 years to get my painting to get better . It will take time dude, and you're progressing nicely.

You've already made a significant improvement in your painting, in an impressively short length of time. Tbh not everyone wants led lit, magnetised minis, personally I just want mine to look good on the table. LEDs look good, but its just another thing that can go wrong. Magnetising is a good way to get maximum usage from a single mini, and I use it myself on tanks etc, but its complicated and time consuming from a commission point of view. However, a single, well painted mini will always find a place in any army.

I've been following this thread for a while now, and you've made a huge jump up in standards. If you continue absorbing advice and practicing at this rate, you'll be at a real professional standard pretty soon

I just wrote a nice long post giving you some tips and advice but my browser decided to be a jerk and erase everything I wrote (damn work computer), so I'll give you the Cliff's Notes version:

Paint jobs look better but you need to work on model preparation. There are quite a few mold lines visible and no matter how well a model is painted, mold lines will kill it.

The static grass covering bases needs improvement. If you are dead-set on using static grass to base with, look in to a static grass applicator. They can be store bough (expensive and easy) or home made (cheap and easy). They work by using static electricity to make the grass fibers stand on end (remember going down the slide as a kid? It's like that) and the end result is realistic looking patches of grass as opposed to glue with grass sprinkled on top of it. It will step your game up.

It appears you tried to use static grass to make some shrubbery. Not a good way to go about it. Look for a product called "clump foliage" and use that instead. It comes in all sorts of natural colors and can be used to make bushes, shrubs, and even trees.

Here are some videos on how to make and use static grass applicators:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSr2ZNOn4yc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsjv17SDjVw

Keep up the good work!

 Alfndrate wrote:

 TyranidPainter wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:
Check out my gallery, I have a light up Monolith... We used black light LEDs, some drilling and a lot of soldering.

Also there is a company that makes kits for this sort of thing.

Wow thank you. And that Monolith is amazing. Bloody well done chap. Colud you provide me with a link to that company's site please. I'd like to look them up.

It was Powered Play Gaming

But like others have said, I would concentrate on the painting than the other projects. If you're worried about the time it's going to take to make significant changes to your painting than stop painting. I've been waiting for 2 years to get my painting to get better . It will take time dude, and you're progressing nicely.

And it's an overpriced ripoff. $9.00 for 2 LEDs? Yu can find better prices for LEDs on eBay, and I would wager even those are a ripoff. Even the circuits to run the goshdarn things are easy enough without the fancy board. Given that it's only worth doing larger vehicles anyway, there's plenty of space t work with............

 poda_t wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:

 TyranidPainter wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:
Check out my gallery, I have a light up Monolith... We used black light LEDs, some drilling and a lot of soldering.

Also there is a company that makes kits for this sort of thing.

Wow thank you. And that Monolith is amazing. Bloody well done chap. Colud you provide me with a link to that company's site please. I'd like to look them up.

It was Powered Play Gaming

But like others have said, I would concentrate on the painting than the other projects. If you're worried about the time it's going to take to make significant changes to your painting than stop painting. I've been waiting for 2 years to get my painting to get better . It will take time dude, and you're progressing nicely.

And it's an overpriced ripoff. $9.00 for 2 LEDs? Yu can find better prices for LEDs on eBay, and I would wager even those are a ripoff. Even the circuits to run the goshdarn things are easy enough without the fancy board. Given that it's only worth doing larger vehicles anyway, there's plenty of space t work with............

I agree, but they're for those without the technical inclination to know how to do this. That monolith in my gallery was done by my buddy... I can't be arsed to learn how to do this!

I can't imagine that it'd take all that much effort to work out. I mean, look at me! I'm in engineering school!

 poda_t wrote:
And it's an overpriced ripoff. $9.00 for 2 LEDs? Yu can find better prices for LEDs on eBay, and I would wager even those are a ripoff. Even the circuits to run the goshdarn things are easy enough without the fancy board. Given that it's only worth doing larger vehicles anyway, there's plenty of space t work with............

I was shocked to see that. What kind of crooks would charge that amount!? At least Dick Turpin wore a mask. There's a shop about 5 1/2 miles away from me (two bus journeys) that sells L.E.D's for 7p each and I thought that was expensive. I'm looking to make small profits on my models, that hive tyrant sold for £32 making me £5 profit (though tbh I was hoping for £10 profit) so when I see people committing daylight robbery like that it appalls me.


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Any advice on how I can improve on my painting it's self?
Should I wash the models after painting them 'cos I'm worried that would just ruin all my hard work?
Should I drybrush the highlights onto the flesh instead in layering them on?
Is there anything anyone can point out on my painting because I can't think of any changes to make.

The only suggestion we have to offer, work on your photography, get a light-box set up, and keep on painting, build up your practice. Just keep at it, and keep posting. Professional level painting where you can charge what you want takes a long time to get to. I know, for instance, sponsorship by Badger airbrushes is a highly coveted benefit, with many people not making the cut. I'm pretty sure the only reason WGC gets the benefits they have with badger because of both the advertising and promotional time they get, in addition to Chung and the contributors knowing their way around an airbrush.

Been following this one from the start, lurking and not commenting, you've come on a TONNE since your first pics dude, keep plugging away!

 poda_t wrote:
The only suggestion we have to offer, work on your photography,

Thanks. I appriciate your advice but if when I ask for advice on my painting people say the only advice they can give is on my photography surgests that my painting can't get any better. Which of course it can else I'd be getting 10's on Cmon lol.

It's more a case that better photography highlights flaws and techniques used better. If we can see what you're doing, we can suggest stuff.

You'll also find that you catch a lot of mistakes yourself when you edit photos to put online (at least resize them to something web-friendly). I regularly spot things I've missed when I put 'finished' photo sets together. Usually it's only a 5 minute job to go back and make the appropriate tweaks.

I almost always take and examine photos before varnishing / sealing stages as testers. This includes before oil washes etc. Seriously worthwhile. It's a bit like proofreading a printout of something you've written rather than staring at the word processor screen...

its just a case of practice makes perfect dude, and i agree with winterdyne about photographing minis at every stage. ive done it myself many times. looked at a model and thought, Hell yeah, only to see it on a pic and think , aaargh i missed something.

For me, since I'm just looking to get something I'm decently proud of on the table, photgraphing minis usually shows mold lines I've missed, placed where paint spilled over on to something else, and general areas that I could clean up.

Like I said and have been saying. The skin on the Flyrant needed some wash to give it depth. That alone would have made a huge diff. Once washed add some high lights of the same color that was used to paint the flesh. Dry brushing high lights are ez. However it will slowly layer onto whatever the brush is touching. You got the details down, now I would work on washing and highlighting skin/flesh. The neck of the flyrant needed allot of work, I know you are trying to get to the point of commission work. I think what you made off the flyrant was fair. I would try doing commission for trades, so you start to build a small inventory of models you can paint and sale while still doing commission work.

BTW, Tyranid painter... it's R I G H T not R I T E. Unless you were just doing that for fun.. then, carry on.

 TyranidPainter wrote:

 Eggs wrote:
Photography is a big improvement. I can make out the fine details. The white in the top pic is a little too thick. I also have this problem. White needs to be watered down, and built up over many layers. It's a total pain in the ass. Also, you've missed a mold line on the lower left leg. The blue carapace is certainly striking, and I suspect will stand out well from across the table.
I much prefer the green scheme though; I don't think your highlights are too much, the paint looks much smoother than the white. There is a good bit more depth to the range of tones used.
They'll look even better if you base 'em though. Keep it up!

Thanks, I used my fathers camera for these. Well I nicked it. I doubt he'd let me borrow it for this. He's a typical biker and doesn't take me seriously on this -.-. I'm fed up of trying to make him proud though. Anyway other than the primer I didn't use any white on the first pic. Do you mean the fortress grey on the carapase? Also as soon as I can afford base paints I will base it. Also I don't own a file yet so I can't get rid off the mold lines :(. Any ideas of how I can do it cheap? Thanks x x


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tomcat31 wrote:
A massive improvement.

Err, I didn't use any white. That's deneb stone :S. Perhaps I should've used the pics taken without the flash x x

If you don't own a file, you can
a) Use sandpaper
b) (This is what I do, I wouldn't recommend it, but it's better than nothing) Scrape it off with the edge of your clippers

EDIT: And, after fully reading through this thread, I'd like to honestly congratulate you. You've improved really rapidly in a really short space of time, I've been painting for 3 years, and I don't think that I could paint such a cool colour scheme, or paint a good skin colour/wing colour like that! It's really awesome, keep on going buddy! England!!

 Dullspork wrote:
BTW, Tyranid painter... it's R I G H T not R I T E. Unless you were just doing that for fun.. then, carry on.

No I wasn't. I'll admit my spelling's........well I can think of a word to describe it but I don't know how to spell it XD. Let's see if auto correct will help, 'atrocious' yay it did. Well then my spelling's atrocious. Thanks for correcting me.


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 BrotherOfBone wrote:
If you don't own a file, you can
a) Use sandpaper
b) (This is what I do, I wouldn't recommend it, but it's better than nothing) Scrape it off with the edge of your clippers

EDIT: And, after fully reading through this thread, I'd like to honestly congratulate you. You've improved really rapidly in a really short space of time, I've been painting for 3 years, and I don't think that I could paint such a cool colour scheme, or paint a good skin colour/wing colour like that! It's really awesome, keep on going buddy! England!!

Good advice, thanks .

I only just found this thread. and i must say, as pretty much everyone else has said. you're not quite there yet.

but i mean come on!

going from this, as your first portfolio picture.


to this!


in such a short time. that is a great job! and you are surely on your way to become a commisionpainter


also it's kinda fun to see how you in the start of the thread go straight into defensive mode when someone said something you didn't like. to later on acctually defending others that said what they thought.

i mean if that's not improvements on all front then i don't know what is.


anyway! keep going, you're doing a great job!

 DiDDe wrote:
also it's kinda fun to see how you in the start of the thread go straight into defensive mode when someone said something you didn't like. to later on acctually defending others that said what they thought.

i mean if that's not improvements on all front then i don't know what is.


anyway! keep going, you're doing a great job!

Thanks. I'll admit I get quite embarrassed when people say they've been reading this from the start. Flattered but embarrassed, I'm not proud of how I reacted initially. I like to think I've made progress with both my painting and attitude. Tbh that wasn't me though. I don't know where those outbursts came from, usually I'm a very placid individual.


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That hive tyrant's gone up to a 6 on CmON with 38 votes (though one of those votes was a 7 from myself :p). I guess I could've passed that off for being professionally painted instead for making £32 at a fiver profit. Ah well it proves I'm getting there. Kinda motivates me to go further as well.

Professionally painted means that you are painting for a profession. A significant amount of your living wages come from painting.

A commission painter is just someone that paints and gets paid to do it.

But keep it up man.

 Alfndrate wrote:
Professionally painted means that you are painting for a profession. A significant amount of your living wages come from painting.

A commission painter is just someone that paints and gets paid to do it.

But keep it up man.

Y'no know what I mean. I am a commission painter. I became one of those the moment I got my first client. By professional standards I mean I can put it on ebay as 'professionally painted' and not get bad feedback. My feedback is currently 100% and I don't want to do anything to tarnish that.