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Hey,

So I'm looking at making my stand in Inquisitors weapons seem less flat, though don't really know where to start with doing so. Here's the model:



I'm looking to do something along the lines of:



Or



Any suggestions on how to do so? Base coat, layer, wash, varnish, layer, varnish, layer, varnish?

Any help appreciated, thanks

The trick is to put a grain texture on rather than flat block areas. Use a fine pointed brush and just do wavy lines to represent the wood grain.

So brown base, wash that down, then highlight in streaks with brown, adding a little of whatever you want to lighten it.

More layers and mixes make for a finer looking, smoother grain. Fewer and you get a rougher, coarser look.

Should get something like:

Thanks, I'm wondering about just "wavy lining" with my micron pen, see if that gets the effect in after. Maybe give it a wash or glaze after to try and dampen it so it's not too over powering.

 kitch102 wrote:
Thanks, I'm wondering about just "wavy lining" with my micron pen, see if that gets the effect in after. Maybe give it a wash or glaze after to try and dampen it so it's not too over powering.

I think micron pen will just give you zebra stripes. If I were trying to recreate it with care, I would try sponging on a 25/75 mix of wash + paint. Paint the handle a lighter reddish brown than you intend, then sponge on a darker paint (with some extra medium or mixed with wash) unevenly. Should give you a more marbled effect.

If I were going to do it quickly, I'd just hit it with a small drybrush, wash it with brown after; I think it'd be "good enough".

In either case, I'd basecoat the wood, and give the barrel and metal parts a black/brown coat (no metallic yet), then do the wood effect, which is messy. After that, I'd paint the metallics, carefully.

Good brushes are better than pens. You can get finer lines and better feathering effects.

Microns can work. He trick to avoiding the 'zebra' effect, since they do give much starker edges than thinned paint brushed on, is color selection. You need to ramp up contrast to make things visible, at this scale, but only to a degree. Using their standard black on a very dark brown or their brown (which is reasonably dark) on a medium brown will give you enough contrast to show up, but not so much that a wash or ink glaze can't make it look reasonably natural. If you want new or lighter wood, even sepia may be too dark. For dark, stained woods, though, they're a viable, if not ideal, option.

Personally, I usually add physical grain if I want it painted, allowing washes to do the work. Depending on scale and the desired complexity, I'll either engrave it with a square burin, scribe it with a strong pin, or scratch it in with coarse sandpaper or saw teeth raked across the surface. If there's actual texture, things become much simpler.