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Okay... The last time I painted a model was sometime in 2003 when I was a kid (oh, about 14?) in the middle of her Daemonhunters obsession. Things came up though, I drifted away from the hobby, but well... A friend showed me the new Grey Knights and I had to leap back in!

I've had to work with a very limited amount of paints that I've got, so haven't been able to do anything fancy unforunately. And my painting ability isn't great to begin with! (Oh, how I envy the fancy Force Swords some people do). So heres my first model for my new army, and the first I've painted in a long long time






If anyone has any critique or advice, I'd certainly welcome it!

i think thats a really good result there.i like the darker tone to the armour and im glad you drilled out the barrels and flash eliminator.

It's very very good!

My only critiscism is that it could do with an Asurman Blue wash to give the model a little depth.

Other than that, you're pretty much on the money with it!

Psy.

shingouki wrote:i think thats a really good result there.i like the darker tone to the armour and im glad you drilled out the barrels and flash eliminator.

Thanks! And while I like the drilled out barrels... I wish I had a >slightly< bigger drillbit. And that it wasn't such a pain to do to 35 Grey Knights in a row. And that I hadn't done some of them slightly wonky.

PsyberAngel wrote:It's very very good!

My only critiscism is that it could do with an Asurman Blue wash to give the model a little depth.

Other than that, you're pretty much on the money with it!

Psy.

Thats something I actually tried, but it made it a little too, errr, blue for my tastes So ended up going with Badab Black. Maybe if I watered down the Blue some, hmm...

Alairan wrote:

PsyberAngel wrote:It's very very good!

My only critiscism is that it could do with an Asurman Blue wash to give the model a little depth.

Other than that, you're pretty much on the money with it!

Psy.

Thats something I actually tried, but it made it a little too, errr, blue for my tastes So ended up going with Badab Black. Maybe if I watered down the Blue some, hmm...

Yes, I find that even washes need to be watered down sometimes! According to White Dwarf it should go " Boltgun metal -> Asurman Blue -> Mithril Silver" with the blue showing in the recesses.

Great job. It surpasses the 6" rule.

Criticisms...hmm... Maybe another wash of the shoulder pads to bring out the lettering a bit more. I saw a video tutorial on blending feathers but the same technique is used to get the NMM effect without using an airbrush... That would make the model 'pop' as the sword is a major focal point.

Oooh.... Well, anything to help with making the sword look less shoddy than it does now is awesome.

And yeah, I'll see about throwing another wash on the shoulders.

I think the sword is actually really good; I like the shadowy-clouded look you've achieved!

I may have to pinch it!

Psy.

It looks great!

Maybe you want to try a freehand on the shield on his schoulder?

I was considering trying freehand, but... Well, the idea is terrifying, considering I had enough trouble keeping a straight line going across it. May have to attempt it though.

I like the lightning effect you see a lot on swords. I've tried it but it always looks terrible when I try.


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That shield (if you don't want to try freehand) is begging for a decal. The right decal would look great right over the two-color paint.

Wow like the moddle what did you do to the sword??

Looks really great, especially the face. Good picture too!

Jordankeeps wrote:Wow like the moddle what did you do to the sword??

Err... I essentially flailed at it randomly with paints and washes in an attempt to achieve something.

I believe it started with Boltgun Metal, then heavy Badab Black wash, drybrushed with Chainmail, then washed with Azureman Blue... Then a light bit of Mithril. I then literally dipped the end of the sword into the Azureman Blue wash, and used a straw to lightly blow it down the rest of the blade. Then edges done in white.

Many of those steps are perhaps incredibly pointless, as like I said, I was stumbling my way through.

Samus_aran115 wrote:Looks really great, especially the face. Good picture too!

Thanks! I was pretty pleased with that. Tried to do a slight eye glow but not sure it shows well.. Need to find a better method!

really awesome man you've inspired me even more. But i do have one question. How are you guys achieving such smooth and shiny metallics. I must be to dumb or to impatient to figure it out. Thanks

storm wolf wrote:really awesome man you've inspired me even more. But i do have one question. How are you guys achieving such smooth and shiny metallics. I must be to dumb or to impatient to figure it out. Thanks

Honestly, theres no real trick I'm using. Brush goes into pot, gets wiped on the palette so theres not too much on, then just start with smooth brush strokes.

I may try using the citadel spraygun that was given to me to get the basic coat on all of the models, but... This thing scares me.

Really like how your painting is so clean and crisp. Looks like he just got the armor of the showroom floor. Great job.

I left the hobby in 03 as well (then came back and left again in 06), and I can say your stuff is a damn sight better than mine was coming back, definitely good gaming quality. Keep it up man.

Looks really good for the first model after a long break in the hobby. I'll be in the same situation myself soon enough, once I get done with conversions and all. Kind of dreading paint a little actually, but this gives me some inspiration.
Anyways, if doing a freehand design is imposing to you... you can always cheat and make a template of the design you want and then affix that to the model where you want it and paint over it. Nice and crisp every time almost.

Are you... a /b/ronie?

Funk3140 wrote:Are you... a /b/ronie?

Yes and no. I idly browse 4chan and take great amusement, but I was into MLP before it really took off there, since I was a little girl really. Most of my toys are from the old generations, the FiM stuff has just added to it.


And thanks for the advice all! I might very well have to try and come up with a nice stencil.

Nice model

Looks great.

Very nice.

That's really nice work, I wish I could say my first few new GKs were that good.

As for the wash, I found a 60/40 mix of Asurmen Blue and Badab Black with a little bit of thinning worked out rather nicely for a faint blue hue on it.

I'd say the highlighting of silver is a little obvious/thick in a couple patches, but take that with a grain of salt as I don't even highlight because I suck at it.

Lookin good, and the first pic in particular looks fantastic. Minor criticisms though- The white on his right shoulder isn't quite up to scratch compared to the really clean, crisp look on the shield. Could use a bit of cleanup. Also seems like there's a bit of errant gold on the back sides of the shoulder pads which could use some cleaning up, but that might just be glare. Otherwise, it's all looking pretty ace.

nice work, your painting is not bad at all and youwould not notice that you are only using a limited amount of paints either.

Your highlighting could use a little cleanup - go back and bring the edges back in with your original color, so your highlights are just on the edges of the model where they belong. The difference between a good model and a great model is time spent cleaning it up!

Also, base your models! Basing them makes any given model look ten times better. Just some drybrushed gravel would look awesome. Your painting is otherwise very good, and your whites and reds are very bold!