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Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





I am really struggling with getting the look I want for the wing membranes on my Nazgul on Fell Beast. What I want is something like this (from the GW website) - darker grey areas near the spines, very light, translucent grey for the membranes. The GW website lists Skavenblight Dinge and Storm Vermin Fur as the colours used to achieve this effect.

I've been following an otherwise really great video for how to paint this model (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOGaokIWx34) but using his technique just doesn't seem to be getting close to this result. He uses the same colours and applies the Storm Vermin Fur to the wings mixed 50-50 with Lamian Medium and then covers the whole thing with Agrax Earthshade. I did that but for one thing the Storm Vermin Fur is more of a brown grey than the light grey shown on the photo and for another no matter how many layers I've used it just doesn't seem to be getting light enough. The transitions around the edges are also not smooth. I'm also not sure what the point of the Lamian medium is. It dries VERY fast. It starts of water like but after a few minutes of pushing it around the model it's getting tacky. I eventually realised that while I thought I was concentrating the paint in the middle of the sections by brushing those the most intensely as the medium was drying I was actually brushing it off the model and leaving patches just where I want the light part to be. So that's one thing learned at least.

But I'd be really glad of any tips for nailing this effect. What could I do better. I the medium necessary? Would I be better with water glazing? Or dry brushing? or just layering? And do I need a different colour than Storm Vermin to get that light, translucent looking grey?

And also, having already put about 8 layers over the wings and still not having them look right are they too late to salvage or is it worth persisting?

In short - help!!!
[Thumb - Screen Shot 2022-01-21 at 09.57.17.png]

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/21 09:23:43


 
   
Made in gb
Frenzied Berserker Terminator




Southampton, UK

This is a nice tutorial. It mentions airbrushing - you can do it with a regular brush but you won't get the colour gradients to be as smooth. Substitute the appropriate grey colours for the violet he's used.

https://eyeoferror.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-airbrush-leathery-bat-like-wings.html

The wings on this video are all brush-painted if I remember correctly. It's a different style, but looks very effective:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoKDaQpCggM
   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut





Thanks a lot. I actually just got an airbrush - should have used it - would have been MUCH easier. I can see that now.

And that Squidmar video is amazing but FAR beyond my level of skill. That's something to aspire to for the future. Wow.
   
Made in au
Grizzled Space Wolves Great Wolf





As mentioned in your other thread, there's a lot of ways to approaching it that will produce different looks.

If you're trying to follow that video tutorial, spend some time also looking at glazing tutorials, as there's overlap between what you're looking at and just traditional glazing. As you already figured out, you need to learn how to "sweep" the paint so that you end up with more in the middle of the membrane than near the parts where you want it darker, then build that effect up over multiple coats allowing them to dry in between so you're not removing the paint from the previous coat.

In terms of the paint drying too fast, maybe your house is too hot and too dry. In my house, if I try painting on a summer's day the paint dries almost instantly, whereas in winter I can work it a lot more. OR, maybe you're just not working fast enough. You can add drying retarders to the paint to slow the drying and give yourself more time to work, which can be useful for some techniques.

If you want to branch out into other techniques, I mentioned in the other thread the idea of drybrushing / stippling, or you can try wet blending, or you can try oil paints. Just search on Youtube for "wet blending miniatures" or "oil paints miniatures". Marco Frisoni has some guides on oil painting miniatures, like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_pxojd7kp8

I'm not saying you should use oil paints, I simply throw it in the ring as an option that you can consider along with other techniques.

I think the drybrushing / stippling approach (I linked a video in your other thread) is probably the easiest way for a beginner to get some nice colour transition effects. But all methods you need to learn, the best way to learn is to have someone guide you face to face, the next best thing is probably to watch videos where they show the whole process start to finish (not just doing a couple of sloppy coats then cutting to a beautiful final product!).

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2022/01/21 11:13:07


 
   
Made in gb
Thane of Dol Guldur





Bodt

The chances are the gw example image had some techniques applied that aren't mentioned. Pre highlighted and pre shaded with an airbrush for example, as well as possible modifications to the actual image.

To solve your problem, I would advise adding white to the paint that isn't light enough. It sounds too simple, but it will definitely help you get the effect you want, and solve the issue of you not pre highlighting the pieces.

Heresy World Eaters/Emperors Children

Instagram: nagrakali_love_songs 
   
Made in ca
Regular Dakkanaut





Oh Canada!

What sticks out to me the most is that the base colour of the membrane is a cool grey, while the highlight is a warm grey, almost cream. That cold-to-hot transition of colour hue is what gives it contrast and visual interest. If your two GW greys aren't cutting it, add a bit of deep navy/deep blue to the base colour and buff/cream to the highlight.
   
 
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