Ah, yes. The painting bug!

6/7/2011

Its hit me once more, so I'm going to take advantage of it while I have the chance. With as many models as I have left to paint, I cannot afford to waste valuable motivation! Just rolling with a few of my Initiates at the moment, so I can get back in to the flow of things. Discovered I left a few of my good brushes back at my old place (I recently moved), so I'll have to get myself some more Floquil brushes soon.

Finally purged myself of all of the Citadel paints, so now I have the much superior Vallejo line to work with. The exception is the Citadel washes, as they are simply the best on the market. I'm hoping that I'll be able to replicate the shading that I produced on some of my previous miniatures, but time will tell. The Crusader squad initiates definitely won't be super well painted, as they are basic troops, but I do have a certain standard that I'm trying to live up to. Unfortunately, this is a little difficult on the models I'm painting currently, as they have their weapons attached already and that makes the painting process much more difficult.

Nevertheless, crunch time is upon me. I need to start cracking if I'm going to get my shit painted in time for Nova Open. The list itself is pretty much done, with some minor tweaks possibly coming (i.e. plasmaguns or flamers). :)

A lot of my marines for my gunline army are still in pieces to allow for easier painting. Thus, they won't be put together until they have their paint jobs done. I do want to put together my Terminator squad though, as I can still get to all of the areas of the armor when they are assembled. I still need to put searchlights on the Predators/Razorbacks though. What do I need to purchase yet to make my list WYSIWYG?

1x Terminator squad, plus the bits for another CML.
3x Land Speeder Typhoons

Not too bad actually. All of the rest of the stuff I have. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, its long overdue to take an inventory of my models. I need to off-load a bunch of the stuff I don't use anymore. Perhaps I'll even make enough extra cash to finish buying my Dark Eldar army. There are a lot of things such as an old school Predator Annihilator, Land Raider, and Dakka Predator that I don't use anymore because I have magnetized versions now. I also have a lot of metal miniatures from 2nd/3rd Edition that I don't like using because I prefer the newer models. Anyway, I'll take a look at putting that all down on paper and may

32 Comments

Morningstar

6/7/2011 05:04:45 pm

In what way are the Vallejo line superior?

I'm going to get my painting on soon so would it be worth buying a bunch of Vallejo paints to replace my Citadel ones?

I'm not satisfied unless my models are all looking amazing, no crappy paint jobs for me!

lucion

6/7/2011 08:15:39 pm

Could a templar paint tutorial be of service? I paint models to order

licon

6/7/2011 08:54:03 pm

Vj paints excel at airbrushing due to higher pigment. They were designed this way. An airbrush will replace the need for buying under coat sprays as foundation paints can be used and are better due to giving a basic color.

Pigment means the density of paint bits. Citadel foundation paint has high pigment density. Vj does too.

High pigment means you just paint the colour once for vibrance. So don't need repeated layers. For example try painting a citadel red over black, and you will need to do it 5 times. Try white and do it 7 times. That's a lot of time.

Citadel paints used alone are good for layering and feathering (blending out\into) other colours. They are probably better at this than vj. They have a more translucent or transparent appearence. They are also excellent for mixing with other paints for different shades or foundation paints.

6/7/2011 08:56:31 pm

As for brushes go with kolinsky miniature series 7 size 1, 0 or 2.

Their pricy but worth 10 of any brush I have used.

You need proper stuff to keep them clean too but its worth it.

I can get direct links if need be.

6/7/2011 09:00:58 pm

Probably not worth buying an entire paint range to do an army. Better have specifics for the small pallette, all you should need.

Most armies are only 3 to 4 colours. However the foundations, washes and colors to add tones to these 3 or 4 must be specific to get best results.

Algesan link

6/7/2011 11:21:21 pm

CML? Front of Typhoon ML (the bit with the missiles). Fill back with green stuff, including the little notch things on the sides. Get two 1/8" x 1/16" magnets, Superglue both to the top of the Terminator's back (don't worry about the little angle), then Superglue the Typhoon bit to the magnets. Tada, WYSIWYG CML.

Trignama

6/8/2011 02:05:41 am

CML's? I just strapped hunter killer missles on the back of my termies, called it a day.

6/8/2011 03:47:55 am

Good to know. I might locate and drop by a local hobby store tomorrow and pick up some VJ paints and see how they perform.

As for actual painting, I'm pretty good. Except for painting eyes/etc. I just can't get them both looking the same! So I end up with one awesome eye and one terrible one.

I find it's always interesting and informative to see how other people paint their models. Personally I like my Templars to be a very dark grey, almost black but not quite. It looks black, but has more depth.

Lucion

6/8/2011 07:26:49 am

If it helps - try two black bits first, then fill in the white parts after..

Black needs to be worked with alot to get the most out of it. Plain black, is plain boring. But no fear, there are many ways to make it interesting.

Yes, grey is a way to get that colour black to "speak" if it were, and give it more expression. Metallics work well too, as well as gloss. Search for any black armour in the history of armour, and it is glossy/metallic!

In addition Templars are based on Knights. Try a Mithril highlight over a sharp edge, and see how it looks. I've tried it on ultra marines so far and it looks great. I am not sure how it will look on black yet. Sharp grey highlights work well for the templar helmets, but a super fine detail with Mithril will look more shiny than a white.

Dante77 - I believe - uses Grey and metallic dry brushes. Very light dry brushing.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/browse/page/2/submitter/Dante77

Most importantly about black I have learned is - give it an edge, if it has edges, it has form, and the back doesnt seem so "fathomless".

6/8/2011 08:05:03 am

Sorry Morningstar - the first sentence I meant for the eyes. Didnt make enough of a point of it.

I meant white first, then black :)

Devjon link

6/8/2011 09:23:54 am

3-4 paints for an army? Man, I feel like an overachiever now. 7 colors are standard for me.

6/8/2011 11:07:57 am

Sure let's see what you have painted.

Marshal Laeroth (Admin) link

6/8/2011 03:28:26 pm

@ Lucion

Go for it sir. I paint my stuff a very specific way, but others definitely might benefit from a tutorial. Strangely enough, even though I don't focus on the hobby side of things, I get a lot of emails about how to paint BT.

As for buying the whole line, this is past tense. lol! I've got pretty much all of the Vallejo line, with multiples of the well used colors like black, white, and the shades of red I use.

@ Algesan/Trignama

I kind of like the look of the real CML to be honest. Plus, I already have the funds set aside for my purchases, I just don't want to overload my plate while I'm painting up my stuff. Kind of depressing looking at all the unpainted stuff. lol!

@ Morningstar

It is just based on my experiences with the two lines (though I hear Reaper's paints are even better than Vallejo).

Citadel paint requires lots of thinning down in almost all cases, even with a fresh pot. I'm not sure why it is, but Vallejo is perfectly diluted straight out of the dropper. I prefer REALLY watered down stuff though, so I still dilute a little more. But it isn't required. Straight out of the bottle, Citadel paints are gloopy and don't flow well, which is not the case for the Vallejo stuff.

The other thing I really don't like about Citadel paints is the design of the bottle itself. It has a handy little paint catcher thing to use as a palate, but if you do that, the paint is exposed to open air. Which dries it out. If you want to get the paint out of the bottle to put on your own palate (highly advised), its a huge pain due to the design. However, the Vallejo paints are in a little dropper bottle, so its really easy to get the exact amount of paint out of the bottle you need. This prevents it from drying out early and they last eons longer than the Citadel paints do for this reason.

Finally, as Lucion touched on, Vallejo paints have much higher pigment count. Combine that with the better flow of the paint, you can easily cover a black undercoat with a single thin layer of white for example. When I was using Citadel paints, it took me a foundation guide coat on the shoulder pads (over the black undercoat), then 7-8 thin layers of white to create the consistency needed. With Vallejo? I need 2, MAYBE 3, layers to create a bright white. And that is without a foundation guide coat.

And did I mention that the prices are very similar? I think Vallejo charges maybe $0.20 more, but you actually get more paint because the bottles are bigger. ;)

@ Devjon

Which army are we talking? Black Templars? I use 12 or 13 different paints. Blending and highlighting tends to do that. ;)

And that is a relatively simple scheme. You should have seen what I used on my friends Blood Angel's army...

6/8/2011 09:15:32 pm

When talking about using 3 or 4 colours I don't mean it literally.

Gold for example will include mithril and a wash, so its 3 colours not 1.

But all the colours one uses to highlight or blend another colour, its still just dressing up one colour.

Sure for a green I will add khaki to it, mottle it, up a tone it up in areas, down a tone in areas, weather it, it might be 4 or 5 other things I add but its still green but with layers and depth.

I make the point because a lot of the great work uses very little, and that's why it looks so distinquished.

In addition if your painting a 2k army in a week you not interested in multiple blends, you need short cuts and simplicity.

A lot of people adopt a watered down eavy metal approach to painting models they've got from white dwarf but painting one marine a week to do that way properly is not the only style.

Will add some pictures later as a run through because writing about painting is meh.

Lucion link

6/8/2011 11:59:36 pm

So I am contributing this to help IL as it has offered a great service to people.

Its my way of learning so far, and I hope it may help.

Black Templars - From the Book style.

Here is a Templar painted with typical grey highlights. It works quite well to portray the black, but notice the use of gloss to give the black more life. Without this models look rather toy like in my opinion. Most black armour you find on the internet is gloss.

The effect is normally achieved with multiple fine highlights of grey. However, this takes alot of time.

It is however very effective for the face, and painting 50 or so templars in a hurry one should paint just the face and a few parts on the armour - then add metal for final highlights.

Overall this method of painting is quite ineffective for armies due to the time it takes. However the basic colours elements are there, and there is alot of room for improvisation such as sharper highlights.

Tip - if your wanting to get lots of highlights done fast - forget doing codex grey then fortress. Get a good brush - go straight from black to fortess, then use another brush with black later to sharpen it.
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4311.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4313.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4314.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4315.jpg

Next up here is a Templar which incorporates forgeworld paint effects.
There is an emphasis on powder, oil and sponge here. These techniques can be employed at a much faster rate. This model did go too heavy on the mud and blood, and typically its density would be at 1/3 once perfected.

Metal is used to help the armour gain expression, rather than a reliance on sharp edge highlights.

As seen on a close up of the armour, with more time and experimentation one can start to move from copying a book to moving towards painting something representative of Templar Art. that is something which encompasses the darkness and damage of a battlefield.

http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4325.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4321.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4317.jpg

Both models taken side by side show different effects. The next step for myself would be merging the two together getting the best of both worlds. That is the bright and colourful and the dark and realistic. Notice the use of metal instead of grey. The grey is nice, and on some edges it is nice. However, it lacks a certain atmosphere.

http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4324.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4323.jpg

Next the history. What did templars look like, what do knights look like?
We will find the traditional knights to use metallic colours - not greys.
It also suggests perhaps a black and gun metal look can give our black further life, instead of just black and gloss - black, metal, and gloss.

http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4326.jpg

6/9/2011 12:09:59 am

Ok now for some non templar stuff but to draw further examples.

Ultramarines -

Here again I use Mithril highlights over blue. It takes much less time because mithril carries the blue further and gives it more life than painting every edge a lighter blue.

http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4327.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4328.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4329.jpg

Here is an example of a palette using only four colours with one wash, but executed effectively and with forgeworld techniques.

http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4330.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4331.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4332.jpg

Finally some tanks. These models are painted with layers. That is one effect, ontop of another, and another.

This is rather than relying on some - very time consuming and incredibly ineffective(also incredibly unrealistic) massed highlights on the edges.

Black can be worked up in a similar way, again, using colours like grey and metal along with rusts.

http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4334.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4333.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4335.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4336.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4339.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4340.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4338.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4341.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4344.jpg
http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad268/Eye0fHoruS/IMG_4345.jpg

I hope this may provide help to somebody or at least a change of perspective.

For anyone wishing to take a class in this, I provide classes over at Spectrumofwar.com

6/9/2011 12:25:00 am

So I forgot to leave a tutorial for the templars and noticed some things on the images.

First of all they are not the end product, before I create any model I always use tester figures to develop a formula.

The templar one is currently "in the air" so is not finished. Rather its a collection of possibilities which will merge into something.

I am considering something like this though. (This would be merging the effects together)

1. Chaos black spray.
2. Astonomican grey for white areas and parchment.
3. Skull White on the astronomican.
4. Spray shoulder pads white seperately.
5. Paint boltgun metal for the gun and chainsword, and mechrite red/blood red mix for eyes and purity seals.
6. Light drybrush of boltgun over armour
6. Spray with gloss.
7. Sponge boltgun/mithril onto weathered areas lightly
8. Pick out edges on face with fortress grey and mithril silver
9. Pick out general armour areas which would weather such as shoulder pads with mithril or boltgun.
10. use a brush to splatter on brown oil paint/fw weathering powder and red oil paint to (seperately) represent mud and blood.
11. Matt spray on lower legs to represent the dust taking away the gloss.

That might seem like alot, but take my word, if your painting 50 templars it will take 1/5 the time of painting them this way compared to relying on pure edge highlights.
It also much easier.
Pure edge highlights are not eliminated, simply the focus is taken to other areas, such as sponged boltgun metal and mitrhil chips which will provide the contrast so important on models.

Unfortunately I dont have a model to represent this yet, but - using your artist imagination - a combination of the images shown previously - is enough for now.

6/9/2011 01:26:04 am

Hmm, that Mithril highlighting looks pretty good, I might try it out and see how it goes.

Anyways, here's some stuff I've been working on: https://www.dropbox.com/gallery/20983386/1/40k?h=390936 (I'm quite pleased with how well my SGS2's camera works btw!)

I never really use the painted marshal, but I think it's coming along well and I like the blue variation of the tabard/cloth so I'll probably carry that across my army.

As for the other guys, I wanted a sweet Emperor's Champion and thought a giant spear would work for that.

And because there's hardly any lightning claws for power armour I thought I'd keep with the Champ's theme and build my main marshal a spear to count as a LC.

The Marshal's arms are modified Terminator ones mixed with PA shoulders so they're the right size. I think it worked out well.

Also, how awesome are the Forge World storm shields? So much cooler than the puny standard ones.

6/9/2011 08:03:43 am

The TH SS storm shields are amazing. Inspiring enough to make an army.

Hmm the link to the pictures it not working?

6/9/2011 01:30:26 pm

@ Lucion

I'll see about getting that posted up in an article somewhere so the links are active. Unfortunately, hyperlinks don't work in the comments and I can't turn that on. :(

6/9/2011 06:34:12 pm

@ Lucion

Odd about the link, it works for me. Maybe it's a problem with your browser?

6/10/2011 05:38:35 am

Hi guys.

Laeroth, probably better to wait until I can make a proper video to go with it. You may put it up if you wish, however. I find pure text a bit misleading when it comes to explaining anything.

Morning - I saw the pics and really like what you've done with the SS. I will have to nick that idea. I never thought about giving a guy in power armour one of those shields.

Nice inclusion of blue there. Looks european.

6/11/2011 11:37:28 am

@ Lucion

Lol! Alright. I shall await said video. ;)

6/13/2011 10:30:19 pm

Ill try and develop what I was talking about into a video but look at it more as a journey of inspiration than a finalized destination.

6/14/2011 11:18:34 am

I'd suggest any work you've been doing or have done you put up in pic of vid form. That way I can have an idea of suggestions.

Ill aim to get something down on the weekend .

6/18/2011 11:55:44 pm

Ok so here I am, not heard much from anybody.

Not seen any pictures either. I dont feel willing to make a video yet because it just doesnt seem anybody wants to take part.

So I have invested in a proper forum and post for doing this.

http://www.spectrumofwar.com/painting-forum.html#/20110619/black-templars-project-662466/

Youtube video here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQwZcqaaEwU

6/19/2011 06:05:49 am

Unfortunately, painting hasn't been possible the past few days. Furthermore, the models that I'm currently painting are very much a test run and wouldn't be up the the standards I'd run a tutorial on. In other words, those four miniatures going to be barely table-top standard. lol!

Having the weapons attached is a bit more difficult to the painting process than I thought. The whole chest is pretty much sub-par and I don't like it. But I don't want to risk breaking the miniature by taking them off. :/

Once I start painting miniatures worth taking pictures of, I'll start doing so. Hopefully, this will be within the next few days as I want to start working on the vehicles. I'm going to try my hand at airbrushing them to give a more consistent color. Just got to set up my airbrush booth. I tire of brush strokes all over my hull. :D

6/19/2011 06:19:38 am

@ Lucion

I'm pretty sure I signed up on the SoW website. It says I need Admin approval of signing up. If I need to do something else, I'll figure it out. Signed up using my Weebly account. :D

As for your tutorial thing you're doing, do they need to be fully assembled? As I mentioned before, I prefer partial assembly (i.e. body, head, base); with the arms, weapons, and shoulder pads separate. Just makes it way easier for me to paint in this fashion, as all parts of the miniature are easily accessible with a paint brush. Models like the ones you have in your video aren't so bad, as you can still access everything on the model without a problem.

The reason I ask, is that Nova is coming up and I would prefer to paint models that I need for the army, rather than spending time on models that won't be included. :)

6/19/2011 08:58:01 am

Yes thats fine,

Infact I am going to take this opportunity to build a small BT army.

I will build the models as you suggested as I dont normally do that "bits unattached" but I will try it out.

Ok airbrush tips ill include on sow for it.

6/19/2011 09:19:17 am

I havent seen your membership request part

I logged out of my weebly, signed in with facebook, and I could do it. I then added myself "lol"

I am new with this!

Let me know, but so far, I didnt see your name "weebly or other" there.

Alex

6/19/2011 09:24:25 am

I changed it too sign in or log in, try it without weebly.

Doh first time with it :)

6/19/2011 10:00:23 am

@ Lucion

Signed up again, and it said it sent you a message. Hopefully it works this time around. :D

As for the bits "unassembled" method I'm speaking of, I only use it this way when the arms/weapons block a good portion of the actual miniature (i.e. bolter, special, or heavy weapon marines). When you're working with BP/CCW marines or something similar, its very rare that those pieces block the body so I just assemble it like normal.

My painting quality is actually fairly good, when I have access to all of the miniatures. The reason these four won't be as good, as I didn't have the foresight to make sure they were not assembled before painting. Its causing me problems now. Hard to paint a maltese cross on the chest of a marine when the lascannon is blocking it. ;)

Airbrush tips would definitely be helpful, as I've never used one on 40k miniatures before.

Ah, yes. The painting bug!

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