Never painted miniatures before

[Sjeng]

I actually really like the LotR minis, probably going to buy a set of elves, dwarves & men to use as Men-at-Arms and maybe a Gandalf to replace the Wizard (I hate the HQ one).

care to share a box? Shamrock has some leftover GW boxes. I've picked up some for Big Bene and Thrawn and myself. Shipping to UK shouldn't be too bad for a simple bubble envelope with some sprues in it. Check this topic, we can continue the subject there.

[The Road Warrior]

I actually really like the LotR minis, probably going to buy a set of elves, dwarves & men to use as Men-at-Arms and maybe a Gandalf to replace the Wizard (I hate the HQ one).

care to share a box? Shamrock has some leftover GW boxes. I've picked up some for Big Bene and Thrawn and myself. Shipping to UK shouldn't be too bad for a simple bubble envelope with some sprues in it. Check this topic, we can continue the subject there.

Thanks for the offer Sjeng but I don't have any money to spend on these at the moment.

[bruenor]

Those Ghosts turned out lovely, good job mate.

[The Road Warrior]

What does everyone do with the Chaos Warriors legs?

There's an area between the chain mail and the knee that doesn't look like it's armour? The red and black area on the 2 in the picture.

[chaoticprime]

You mentioned dry-brushing earlier. Its a good thing for painting scenery or bases, and is pretty much required for painting stone. However, its use on miniatures is really not as good a thing as people would have you believe. Trust me, because miniatures gets painted in my house almost every single day of the week. Here's a gallery: http://s619.photobucket.com/user/chaoti ... t=3&page=1

I'm not going to suggest you jump right into non-metallic paint metals, but using a small sponge-brush for the same task you would relegate to dry-brushing will always give you a better result.

That said, the skeletons on page 1 are really good looking, especially for a first-time painter. Generally, however, putting a detail layer of paint on a miniature that you intend to be used frequently as part of a board game, can be a waste of your time. The best defense against having color degradation from handling, is to mix up some white glue with water (or use Mod Podge) and brush it onto a miniature in a thin coat. It will dry perfectly clear, totally protect the paint from human skin, and it will keep paint from chipping off. You can then matte seal it, if you dont like the shiny.

[The Road Warrior]

Thanks for the advice. I've chickened out of layering on my other minis but I plan to give it a go with the Chaos Warriors.

That's a really great gallery you have.

[chaoticprime]

Thanks for the advice. I've chickened out of layering on my other minis but I plan to give it a go with the Chaos Warriors.

That's a really great gallery you have.

Thank you. My wife is really the superior artist over me, though.

Layering with a sponge-brush is so simple its basically cheating. The brush, if not over-saturated with too much paint, simply cannot apply paint to any but the out-most relief. You cannot accidentally fill in a crevice, or such, with one.

[Sjeng]

I have never heard of a sponge brush, but that sounds very logical and easy indeed! press hard with dark colour, press less hard with lighter colour and so on, right?

[chaoticprime]

I have never heard of a sponge brush, but that sounds very logical and easy indeed! press hard with dark colour, press less hard with lighter colour and so on, right?

Maybe seeing one will explain best. http://www.finearttips.com/wp-content/u ... mBrush.jpg

You basically do not even press down at all. With the brush bone dry dip it into the paint uniformly covering the edge. Lay strokes down on a scratch pad to get rid of any excess paint--you want there to be nothing but absorbed paint. You basically want the whole triangular tip to be full of paint. The technique calls for you to build up to dark from light by layering your strokes. Each stroke should actually be little more than dragging the edge overtop of the details you want pronounced. You will notice, right away, how alarmingly well it applies paint only to the most outer details.

Another good technique, is to start from a black primed miniature, and then use the sponge-brush to apply layer after layer of grey. When you go to paint the miniature fully, only paint the grey parts. You will not need to apply ink or wash.

When you go to buy the brushes, you will want to get a few, because they're easy to tear up, and they take awhile to clean and dry in order to switch colors.

There is also pretty much nothing better for adding luster to metal, weathering to stone, or tone to fur.

[Daedalus]

What does everyone do with the Chaos Warriors legs?

There's an area between the chain mail and the knee that doesn't look like it's armour? The red and black area on the 2 in the picture.

One version had purple Chaos Warriors of Slaanesh sporting nekkid legs in back.

You mentioned dry-brushing earlier. Its a good thing for painting scenery or bases, and is pretty much required for painting stone. However, its use on miniatures is really not as good a thing as people would have you believe. Trust me, because miniatures gets painted in my house almost every single day of the week. Here's a gallery: http://s619.photobucket.com/user/chaoti ... t=3&page=1

I'm not going to suggest you jump right into non-metallic paint metals, but using a small sponge-brush for the same task you would relegate to dry-brushing will always give you a better result.

That said, the skeletons on page 1 are really good looking, especially for a first-time painter. Generally, however, putting a detail layer of paint on a miniature that you intend to be used frequently as part of a board game, can be a waste of your time. The best defense against having color degradation from handling, is to mix up some white glue with water (or use Mod Podge) and brush it onto a miniature in a thin coat. It will dry perfectly clear, totally protect the paint from human skin, and it will keep paint from chipping off. You can then matte seal it, if you dont like the shiny.

I need to try both of these suggestions. Both sponge brushes and white glue are cheap, easy, and readily available. I may even try cutting up a sponge brush to create new ones with chopsticks in order to conserve paint (getting more sponge brushes to boot). Do you think this technique can work with paint diluted with water or dish soap for a subtler blend?

Another technique I've seen students here in Asia using to "paint" Gundam models is to use a marker that is sold for the purpose of coloring the models. The big advantage is it's clean, portable nature. Has anybody else come across this?