Friday, September 2, 2011

Painting the Model

One of the most time consuming parts of the hobby is painting the model. However, depending on how you look at it, it may also be the most rewarding part. I know for me I barely have one model fully painted, especially when I am looking at the daunting task of basing 100+ core models of daemons and more than that of Bretonnia men at arms. A lot of my friends love this part of the
hobby and I would say nothing is more regal than
a fully painted Bretonnia army on the march.
Here's a look and some tips:

  1. 1
    Clean up your miniature by scraping off mold edge remains or other casting mistakes with a scalpel or pen knife, or use modelling files as these give a much better finish.
  2. 2
    Decide on a colour scheme, keeping it simple. Decide on two/three bright colours and one balancing dark colour (e.g. red, moss green, black or rich yellow, bronze, dark brown).
  3. 3
    Apply a layer of undercoat to the model you are wishing to paint. Use either Chaos Black or Skull White. Use white if your miniature will be colourful, or black if you’ll use lots of metallics. Use spray paint, air brush or simply paint it by hand. Spray painting will give you the best results fastest - the undercoat gives subsequent coats of hand painted work something to adhere to, and is much faster than setting up the airbrush. Painting the base-coat of a model by hand can work, and is good to do if you miss a spot with the spray paint, but is best done with slightly thinned Black or White paint. Keep the coat thin so you don’t cover the detail. Let dry.
  4. 4
    Get a palette to mix the paints with some water. This loosens the solution and makes it easier to work with.
  5. 5
    Paint larger areas with single colours. Let each colour dry before you paint on top of it. Paint smaller and smaller areas, but there’s no point painting tiny details yet.
  6. 6
    Paint darker areas – shading, crevices etc. Ink any textured areas (fur, chain-mail etc). Inks are the solution to realistic shading – they will run into areas that should be out of the light.
  7. 7
    “Dry-brush" on highlights. Mix a lighter colour, dip your brush and wipe it so that it won’t drip, and softly brush the protruding areas of the figure, starting the stroke at the top. For example, for painting a Caucasian face, you’d start with flesh colour, then put darker shades under the eyebrows and jaw, and finally mix some white with the flesh paint and dry brush the forehead, nose, upper lip and cheekbones. On metals, mix metal with a little black/brown first, then use ink for the grooves and dips, and dry-brush highlights in unmixed metal colour.
  8. 8
    Paint the fine detail on the model, diluting the paint to prevent clumping. For painting on gold, apply a layer of Bestial Brown first, then Shining Gold.
  9. 9
    Finish the job by painting the base carefully and neatly.
  10. 10
    Wait for the whole figure to dry, then get a brush and put glue on the top of the base, and dip it in sand. Shake off the excess sand.
  11. 11
    Let it dry.
  12. 12
    Paint watered down PVA glue over the sand to fix it firmly and wait for it to dry.
  13. 13
    Paint the sand Bestial Brown or any other colour you wish.
  14. 14
    Allow to dry, then brush the base with a lighter colour, such as Bleach Bone.
  15. 15
    Put little spots of glue on the base, pick up static flock and stick it on.
  16. 16
    Protect the miniature (once it's dry) with matte varnish.

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