242 replies to this topic

[Dread]

Back when I started this hobby and even now sometimes I would take some small cups and go for a walk. Seeing different dirts, rocks, twigs, etc. And use them on my bases. Paint a base color then use Elmer's glue or PVC of some kind, pour it on and situate small rocks or twigs that was pleasing to the eye, let the glue dry. After seal with a spray clear to help keep it safe and stable. If no spray clear then carefully with a brush on varnish, I've thinned them and poured on to not disturb with brushes. Bout as cheap as you can get.

Hope this helps.

Edited by Dread, 30 September 2020 - 02:44 AM.

[Dwango]

Still unsure about these colors. Gems are a bastard with nerve damaged hands. I would dearly like some C&C. Also, home-made basing tips? My budget for supplies is non-existent. 
 
https://i.imgur.com/aTLvuqf.jpg
 
https://i.imgur.com/Qjkwzzx.jpg

What Dread said,

I used sand and stones found by a local stream on this base. I built up the height by making papier-mache. The only things paid for were pva glue and some basing flock and tufts but you don't need these. Twigs and the like will add some further texture. You can just paint moss in for colour variation.

[Captain Coolpants]

Exactly as others have said. Rocks/stones and sand are the go-to!

The models on my submission were just little super glued rocks that I picked from a gravel car park.
If I just put some sand on the base and painted, they would be done.


The good thing with small rocks is that they're versatile. If you can find little ones with square-ish shapes (just something with numerous edges), you can paint them purple or green or whatever and go for the gem/crystal look. Or just basic rocks, or mud piles, or ice boulders ect.

Same for sand, can be unpainted and just be sand, paint it grey and its gravel, pile it up in and make it uneven, and you paint white for snow or brown for mud.


I've also used some sprue as well. Rounded sprue is perfect for pipes/trees and such. Square sprue is perfect for small girders, or if chopped up, small bricks. I've made a wishing well terrain piece before, that in my opinion, looked pretty good! Made out of nothing but chopped up sprue.

Edited by Captain Coolpants, 30 September 2020 - 06:21 AM.

[Sandalphon]

Still unsure about these colors. Gems are a bastard with nerve damaged hands. I would dearly like some C&C. Also, home-made basing tips? My budget for supplies is non-existent. 
 
https://i.imgur.com/aTLvuqf.jpg
 
https://i.imgur.com/Qjkwzzx.jpg

The colours are great! Greens and purples well highlighted. Could probably use something to offset them like a hint of brown or gold, something warm.

I won't pretend I know how to paint with damaged hands but you have my condolences. If steadiness is the problem inks/shades washes require less precision so you could start lighter than you might normally and shade down to get more contrast. Or cheat and just drybrush white over the main colour and shade over

I would suggest doing the same to the metallics, black basecoat is good to drybrush over but then shading it will smooth the transitions/ add texture (sepia over boltgun can make for a more worn metallics)

All the basing suggestions are spot on so far depending on what you're going for. Cork is good to crumble up and so is polystyrene for rocks provided you don't use superglue!

GWs astrogranite is basically sand, PVA glue and grey paint so that could be an option too, just mix it up and slush it around, but being rangers I'm liking the twig suggestions.

Gems can be painful, this simplified version might help:
0. White basecoat, regardless of the undercoat of the rest of the mini
1. Solid and bright mid range colour to the whole gem
2. Watered down black/dark tone of same colour to top third, spread downwards keeping top darker, in a circular shape
3. Watered down white/light time of same colour spread up from lower third to keep base brighter. Spread in a U shape of possible,
4. Once dry, wash with diluted original colour/ similar ink/ shade (optional but makes for better transitions)
5. White dot on top of black area (could be optional if 6. Is super shiny)
'6. ardcoat/ gloss varnish to whole thing

It's a lot of steps but there are usually a lot of gems so the first is dry by the time you're done, or you can do other things between steps...

Regardless of the orientation apply the same.principal to keep the light source consistent. Also I haven't used this technique in a while so I haven't listed colours..

Gem cheat 2:
White basecoat to whole gem
Black circle/blob on top third
Paint over with thick watered down colour 75/25 paint water?
Varnish/white dot optional

Gem cheat 3: paint them metallic

Gem cheat 4: treat as same colour as the armour it's sitting on, like a blister concealing alien tech

Hopefully useful!

[TrawlingCleaner]

I'm with Dread and the others, gravel/sand from outside is always a great shout. Anything organic is a big no-no for me but that's just personal preference

 

With gems, I would personally recommend going the opposite way especially if steadiness is an issue (I have quite shaky hands). Lighter colours tend to be hard to fix when you go over with them with darker colours, I'm not knocking on how other people do gems, it's probably better to try different ways of doing it to see what works.

The way I do it is an old How to paint High Elf gem tutorial from GW:

 

Base the gem in the darkest colour it will be

Layer about 3/4 of the gem with a slightly lighter colour, roughly cresent moon shape

Layer about 1/2 of the gem with a slightly lighter than before colour, again cresent moon-ish shape leaving previous colour

Layer about 1/4 of the gem with an even lighter colour in the corner but still trying to keep that cresent moon shape

A small dot of white in the opposite corner

 

That should look like this:

 

 

You can do all of that with just one colour and a white, just mixing more white in each time

[Dwango]

Jain Zar and banshees done.



And another vow, Drazar and incubi

[The Blood Raven]

On another painting topic, here's an update on the death jester vow for The Good, The Bad, The Aeldari - Event. I hope it is obvious these are still in progress. I decided to complete a second model because I'm not liking where the first one is going.  Surely one of them will count for the vow.

 

original look:

 

Spoiler

 

and here's the other attempt. 

 

Spoiler

 

Thanks for looking and the inspiration.

[WarriorFish]

The new Banshees are really great models, though I'm not sure if they're good enough for the price outside of Blood of the Phoenix Good to see you're moving on to the Incubi I will get round to mine one day!

 

Keep the updates coming everyone there's a lot of good work happening so it's nice to see it

[Axineton]

Managed to prime the crimson hunter this morning at work. Still undecided what colour I should go for though. Hopefully make a start on the basecoat over the weekend

[Dwango]

The new Banshees are really great models, though I'm not sure if they're good enough for the price outside of Blood of the Phoenix Good to see you're moving on to the Incubi I will get round to mine one day!
 
Keep the updates coming everyone there's a lot of good work happening so it's nice to see it

They're great models. I really enjoyed painting them! The incubi are looking good too. I'm planning a ynarri themed force (or at least one that can linked to one as well as be a stand alone army) so blood of the pheonix was a no brainer for me.

[Harrowed]

Thanks, all! I'll keep my eyes peeled while walking with the kiddo tomorrow.

[Greywing]

I'm calling these ladies and gentlemen finished:

 

 

Revered Kin of House Greywing (Second Blade); L to R: Brute, Vengeance Scream, Fortress, Valor Strike, and Slow Walker.

 

Some individual shots:

 

With his extraordinarily unusual soulname, it is perhaps unsurprising that Brute's initial presentation to his Prince nearly ended in disaster. In the end though, he pledged that no harm would ever befall a member of House Greywing so long as his spirit animates this shell.

Spoiler

 

Vengeance Scream only recently entered the Circuit and she is blessed and cursed with vivid memories of her mortal life. Here, she is pictured with one of her still-living sisters:

Spoiler

 

 

Fortress, the Ever Vigilant.

Spoiler

Edited by Greywing, 03 October 2020 - 03:32 PM.

[TrawlingCleaner]

Jain Zar and banshees done.



And another vow, Drazar and incubi


 

 

Dwango, these are gorgeous. Amazing job and well done for getting another vow in! 

 

On another painting topic, here's an update on the death jester vow for The Good, The Bad, The Aeldari - Event. I hope it is obvious these are still in progress. I decided to complete a second model because I'm not liking where the first one is going.  Surely one of them will count for the vow.

 

original look:

 

Spoiler

 

and here's the other attempt. 

 

Spoiler

 

Thanks for looking and the inspiration.

 

I can't actually pick the better one, IMO they're both really great 

 

I'm calling these ladies and gentlemen finished:

 

 

 

 

Their face plates are great and contrasts so well with the yellow, really great stuff Greywing! 

Any thoughts on a revow?

 

Really great progress guys, keep up the great work!

[TrawlingCleaner]

I got my Wave Serpent done, it took me ages because it's got such a large surface area, pretty proud of how its coming out. I might have the War Walker done today too 

 

 

 

[Trokair]

It has been a few days since I had a look in this thread, so let’s see.

 

TrawlingCleaner, nice job on painting the Wave Serpent pilot, I always skipped that part and opaqued the canopy. Also how do you do the pink on your weapons, especially on the wraithblades and Warlock.

 

Greywing, nice job on the Wraithblades, how did you do those heads?

 

Dwango, Jain Zar looks so fragile with only the hair holding her up!

 

Sandalphon, Looking good, how come his skin is blue, is he secretly a tau?

 

 

For gemstone and similar one thing that I use a lot is the three gemstone paints from GW, if you have a light silver (for blue and green) / gold (for red) underneath then the nature ofthoes paints means that they bull together a bit and leave one area naturally lighter than the other. It does require a metallic underneath for the shine.  They may not be as impressive as multistage approach, but if you have steadiness issue give it a try.

 

 

Epic is a curveball but definitely a welcome one! Welcome aboard Trokair

 

Thank you, we need more Epic in this game. I am wishfully hopeing that Adeptus Titanicus will get an expansion at some point with Eldar Titans.

 

My own progress has been minimal, but I did manage to strip, clean, rebuilt and undercoat so that my models currently look like this:

 

Edited by Trokair, 04 October 2020 - 01:55 PM.

[Greywing]

TrawlingCleaner and Trokair, thanks for the kind words. A little affirmation goes a long way, and I sincerely appreciate it.

 

Regarding a re-vow: that's a firm possibility of a definite "maybe." I'm feeling a little ambivalent right now about the hobby.

 

Regarding the 'eads: I used a technique cribbed from Guy at Midwinter Minis, which has rapidly become one of my favorite YouTube channels. He painted up an Eldar Start Collecting box in the video below and used a nail polish technique on his wraith heads. I've wanted to try that ever since I saw the video, which is why I chose my last box of 'Blades for the vow instead of several other options that would have been a lot less effort. (I didn't mention that in the vow to leave open the possibility of chickening out.) Where Guy used a white base coat and shimmery/somewhat subtle nail flakes, I used a black base with very vivid blue flakes. I'm glad you guys like the results, but honestly, I didn't get quite the effect I was after. As mentioned, I used different flakes and they behaved very differently from the ones Guy used. His came out of the pot in fairly small pieces, where mine came out in huge-ish chunks or clumps. Long story short, I was aiming for kind of a gradient with a lot more black showing. I was not able to manage that. I have one more model in my Pile of Opportunity that might warrant another attempt at this technique--an ancient metal Wraithlord, the version with the gigantic melon. If I do try it again, hopefully the second time around I'll have a bit more control over the process and won't over apply.

 

Anyway, here's that video; I highly recommend it.

 

 

[Sandalphon]

Hey there's some great stuff coming out of this!

@Greywing those helmets are awesome! I like the mottled look, reminds me of that alaitoc blue camo scheme from years ago. I had a feeling it was nailpolish, something I'd used on Gundam kits but not 40k - looks great!

@Trokair good to see the epic come back! Re: the skin, I never considered the farseer having exposed skin in space, painted them as matching gloves, but looking at it again I can see how it could read like that!

@Trawlingcleaner looks great! They do take up a lot of paint but that's a smooth outcome and nice colourscheme - you're getting through a lot!

@dwango those banshees are tasty! Great work on the re-vow look forward to seeing them!

I've not managed to find my exodites (yet) bit have found some undercoated odds and ends including these guys I've avoided for years: http://image.boltera...210_1006405.jpg

One has some paint on him but it's not a scheme I'll stick with... i think I'll re-do, (could be re-vow?) or just unfinished business but plan to hit them up soon

I already have some green originals so will go with an alternate scheme, just not brown..

Edited by Sandalphon, 04 October 2020 - 09:31 PM.

[TrawlingCleaner]

It has been a few days since I had a look in this thread, so let’s see.

 

TrawlingCleaner, nice job on painting the Wave Serpent pilot, I always skipped that part and opaqued the canopy. Also how do you do the pink on your weapons, especially on the wraithblades and Warlock.

 

Epic is a curveball but definitely a welcome one! Welcome aboard Trokair

 

Thank you, we need more Epic in this game. I am wishfully hopeing that Adeptus Titanicus will get an expansion at some point with Eldar Titans.

 

My own progress has been minimal, but I did manage to strip, clean, rebuilt and undercoat so that my models currently look like this:

 

 

Thanks man, the blades were nice and easy. Just a smooth layer of a white paint with Volupous Pink Contast paitn over the top. I thinned the contrast a lot so it took a few layers so that I could build up the colour a bit more closer to the bottom. I'm looking forward to seeing more progress on your vow!

 

TrawlingCleaner and Trokair, thanks for the kind words. A little affirmation goes a long way, and I sincerely appreciate it.

 

Regarding a re-vow: that's a firm possibility of a definite "maybe." I'm feeling a little ambivalent right now about the hobby.

 

Anyway, here's that video; I highly recommend it.

 

I had watched this video just before seeing your Wraiths and did think that you'd might have used that as inspiration. Really great stuff, whether you meant them to loook like that or not they look absolutely rad and should be proud!

There's no pressure to re-vow at all, if there's no hobby mojo at the moment definitely don't force yourself. Motivation is a fickle beast and in my experience it shouldn't be forced to do anything

 

I've not managed to find my exodites (yet) bit have found some undercoated odds and ends including these guys I've avoided for years: http://image.boltera...210_1006405.jpg

One has some paint on him but it's not a scheme I'll stick with... i think I'll re-do, (could be re-vow?) or just unfinished business but plan to hit them up soon

I already have some green originals so will go with an alternate scheme, just not brown..

I do love some Striking Skorpions, definitely one of the aspect warrior sculpts that have withstood the test of time

 

 

Yesterday was a productive day, I got the Warwalker done and started on the Farseer:

 

War Walker

 

 

 

Farseer

 

 

[Sandalphon]

Nice warwalker but that farseer is stealing the show!!

[Dwango]

I agree. Great conversion!

[Trokair]

Greywing, thank you for explaining and the video, that is a really interesting technique. I’ll certainly keep it in mind if anything suitable ever comes up. While it might not have worked out as you intended it looks amazing. Out of curiosity is the end result smooth or rough to the touch?

 

Sandalphon, ah gloves, should have seen that, especially as it is a similar shade to the belt and shows.

[Lord_Ikka]

Update- work is progressing on Craftworld Laenyrchal, just fairly slowly. Still, it's a fairly simple acheme with not a lot to mess up, so it is going.

Here's the WIP I have right now. These two need some cleanup, jewels, finished weapons, and basing. Still, it shows the base colors.

[WarriorFish]

Slow progress is still the right kind

[Snazzy]

I've made some progress on armor basecoating and cleaning up small details.  I've also made my peace with VGC Hot Orange, and actually prefer the darker tone.  Eventually, all of my existing Drukhari will be given a coat of the darker stuff.  Also, experimenting with highlight colors.

 

Waiting on a new shipment of paints so that i can finish weapons and sashes before finishing off the bodysuits with a high gloss black. 

 

 

In the meantime, this unit is getting packed away to make room for the 20 Kabalites, 6 Reavers and Succubus that i am priming and basecoating.  Priming by hand, and an orange basecoat are extremely time consuming, requiring no less than 3 layers of Hot Orange.  I may not be making progress on my vow during this time, but progress where it will count.  It works out because i have no desk lamp (lost in our move) and have been working with the flashlight on my cell phone.  Priming and basecoating is not detail work while i lamp shop.

 

[Greywing]

Sandalphon, thank you for the compliment, it is very much appreciated. I hadn't thought about the Alaitoc similarity until you pointed it out, but I totally see it now.

 

TrawlingCleaner, thanks again for the kind words, and your Farseer looks amazing!

 

Trokair, thank you again as well. The wraith heads are quite smooth, but not perfectly so. The nail flakes are extremely thin and they're under at least three layers of gloss lacquer. But, eyes closed, I can tell a difference by touch between these new ones and their First Blade cousins.

 

Lord_Ikka, love your base colors!

 

Snazzy, that sounds like a real challenge. I do not have that kind of dedication when it comes to painting.

Edited by Greywing, 07 October 2020 - 06:27 PM.