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Painting: Ixupi's shiny green


ixupi

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Well, as most of you might have seen I posted my Terminator Chaplain that I created for a DIY chapter and a painting competition. If you are clueless, here is the result: Emperor's Dragon Termie, Well to say the least, I had QUITE a few requests on how exactly I did that green. So that brings me to this guide, i'll be documenting the creation of a rank and file assault marine for my army, so you'll get to see blues, NMM golds and most importantly a shiny looking green. Further updates will be put on the original post to allow things to keep organized so keep an eye out. If you have any questions, suggestions, comments or otherwise feel free to post or PM me. I'd be glad to help out fellow brothers!

 

 

So where to start? With the supplies!

 

Most importantly, the paints I use. Which will consist of pure white from reaper's master series assortment and dark angel green from GW's range.

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/supplies1.jpg

 

For those interested here is ALL of the colors i'll be using. Including....yes, basic acrylic for the blue. I don't have any other, don't kill me!

 

names from left to right: Dark angel green, Beastial brown, Snakebite leather, Bubonic brown, Pure white. With the blue basic being in the back.

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/fullpaintslist2.jpg

 

Secondly, the model! I chose a assault marine simply because I bought a lot of SM stuff and randomly had 10 assault marines sitting around(go figure, eh?). Note: I used green stuff on some pieces to fill in gaps and re-adjust the wrist to give it a more 'commanding' look.

 

Body: Note: Don't mind the mold lines on the grenades. :P They are gone.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/body1.jpg

 

Limbs + jump pack: Note: I used green stuff on some pieces to fill in gaps and re-adjust the wrist to give it a more 'commanding' look.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/limbspack1.jpg

 

Okay, I primed and based. Sorry, I didn't take pictures of that process and I actually had to fight myself to not simply because of the lack of reason. Don't need much of a picture to explain 'prime black', 'base your colors'. But anyhow with that in mind!

 

Step 1 - Prime: Their is two ways you can do this. Either paint black, then use dark angel green OR just prime dark angel green...how ever you decide to go about doing it...as long as you end up with Dark Angel green you'll be fine.

 

Step 2 - Base: Apply your base colors if you don't already have your dark angel green. If you do, apply any other base colors. In my case this would be any potential blues or gold. But since i'm doing this FOR the green, i've got a bit lazy and only focused on the green, leaving the rest partially done. Sue me.

 

Front:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/body2.jpg

 

Jetpack:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/back2.jpg

 

Rear:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/rear2.jpg

 

And just to let you know I didn't forget about the limbs, they'll be coming along soon.

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/limbs2.jpg

 

Alright, so you've got your model primed, based and otherwise? Good. If not, hurry up.

 

Okay, so now onto the first layer. This will be your true base that'll you'll be working on and will give the model a nice general green feel. The ratio for you math bums is 4 parts dark angel green to 1 part pure white. This can be easily adjusted for other colors/brands i'm sure. To those of you not very good with math or perfer to do things the old fashion way(by eye). The mix should look a bit darker than a 'basic' green. Depending on how your monitor is set this is roughly the shade, which with my settings is spot on...so don't take this too seriously, just here for looks:

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/greencolor3.jpg

 

When applied over the dark angel, the color should be nothing short of a 'solid, good ole fashion green.' It will take roughly 3 layers to cover in the manner I did. Depending on how well you thin your paints this will be more or less(most likely more though). A good idea, in my opinion is once your layers dry, is to take what left you have of your drying paint and thin it out a great deal. Applying this pseudo-glaze will make the color more uniform and solid all around.

 

Once you've done this, the results should be more or less like this:

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/turbine3.jpg

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/turbineb3.jpg

 

Still with me? Good. Because next comes the fun part. -_-

 

Okay, now you should have covered the areas you want your green to be naturally. For me, I painted up just the jet pack and....tada!

 

Due to image restrictions....everything will be link from here on out. Sorry!

 

PICTURE Pre-paint 1

PICTURE Pre-paint 2

 

Now, the area I will be doing first, is the front plate, where most of your light will be hitting head on, as if he was charging into battle!

 

PICTURE Pre-paint 3

 

You can see by looking at a model where the light hits it the most. I typically find my source points, memorize or write down and use my imagination the rest of the way.

 

Now, i'll describe the first layer you apply more accurately than the rest. But first take a look at these three pictures.

 

PICTURE First layer part 1

PICTURE First layer part 2

PICTURE First layer part 3

 

Now, what about them? The first picture is the result of the first wave of the first layer. A simple slap down of the paint and covering of the general area, I didn't highlight the sides yet or anything. The second photo, I used a bit more watered down left over to smooth out and give the color more uniform. Thirdly, I used normally thinned down paint to touch up around your edges, by simply using a flat edge of the brush and running it along, I typically make the first highlight brush up onto the model somewhat, so the later colors blend 'slightly' better. Now, this will be the basis of every layer you'll apply from here on out. You'll repeat this steps for each extra layer added, with a few exceptions that will be mentioned. You're first layer's ratio should be 1 part dark angel 1 part pure white now. I usually like to cover 3/4ths of the area i'm working on in the first layer, give it a board area seeing as how it'll barely be noticable as seen in the pictures. Here is a front view to get a better look.

 

PICTURE First layer part 4

 

The effect is barely noticable right now. Which is what it should be. Now the next part is simple. For my model I used a total of 6 layers. Ranging from my base color all the way to white. As to how you achieve each new color? Simple. Mix up your 1 part pure white 1 part dark angel green, so that your 'puddle' is roughly the size of a normal button, if not smaller. Tap the very tip of your brush into the pure white so it covers only the first 2mm of it and stir it into the puddle. I usually dip the very point of the brush into a water/dish soap solution before mixing it in to help stir it together instantly as well as make the paint apply smoother.

 

Below I put the next two layers. The first you'll be adding the one tip of paint and in the second, two tips of paint. Not sure how that works in measurements, i'd assume it's about an extra 1 to 8 ratio. 1 being the pure white of course.

 

PICTURE Layer 2

 

PICTURE Layer 3

 

 

Now, for the next layer, you can go ahead and use a 1 part dark angel and 4 parts pure white to give it a nice glowly pastel color.

 

PICTURE Layer 4

 

The next we'll be going back to the ole' trick of the tip of the brush(1:8 yadda yadda). Now, you can choose to stop after this layer if you like the effect. By all means, do it. It looks amazing as is. BUT if want a nice shiny glare look, step it up and go down to the last layer.

 

PICTURE Layer 5

 

For this one, it's plain and simple. Pure white all the way. Thin it down slightly and apply it to only the most front/raised up areas. It creates a completely different look, so toy around with it. I myself like it, but if you find out you don't? Thin down some green to ink consistency and go over just the green, it'll even itself back out.

 

PICTURE Layer 6

 

Well that's it for now! I'll be covering rounded surfaces next!

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Updated:

-Added a picture of ALL the paints i'll be using.

-Added pictures of primed and based model

-Steps 1 and 2 completed.

 

Stay tuned for more updates.

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Sorry for the double post. Updated quickly once more.

 

Added the first layer.

 

Feel free to comment, ask questions whether it's paint, thinning, model or otherwise related. Then I won't feel so bad about updating as much!

 

Stay tuned.

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UPDATE! I finished part 1. Time for a break....feel free to leave comments and suggestions. I'd love to make it more understandable/helpful if I can.

 

-Added guide to flat surfaces.

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Keep up the good work! go go go! we want more! lol.

Cheers,

MCA.

 

Thanks! But, anyone else get a chance to look at this? I'd like to at least hear if it's useless or helpful? :tu: Only worth continuing if it's going to help people. Let me know!

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After seeing how semi quickly i go through black paint, going craft paint probably isnt a bad idea (probably get more from craft paint for the same price i pay for a bottle of vallejo).

 

 

The Guide is coming out VERY well.

 

Any chance incorporating the tute into say a word document (when completed) that way everyone who would like one could have a hard copy and seeing some of the changes in the paint might be a bit easier than having 'x' many tabs/windows open. :blink:

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After seeing how semi quickly i go through black paint, going craft paint probably isnt a bad idea (probably get more from craft paint for the same price i pay for a bottle of vallejo).

 

 

The Guide is coming out VERY well.

 

Any chance incorporating the tute into say a word document (when completed) that way everyone who would like one could have a hard copy and seeing some of the changes in the paint might be a bit easier than having 'x' many tabs/windows open. :D

 

Tch, craft paint is undeniably cheaper. Here in Japan GW paint runs me 420 yen a pot. 450 for Vallejo IF they have your color in stock. Craft paint...heh, 50 cents a bottle three times the size of a GW pot. Trouble is, if you don't take your sweet time and thin the things to near darn muddy water the texture is comparable to sand. :blink: But using craft paint REALLY saved me money and allowed me to practice my heart out.

 

About the word document. I still have two more parts to make for this tutorial one for curved/rounded sections and one for awkard sections. I'll bust my butt and get another entire section done tomorrow. Once it's all complete i'll try and host it and compact it into a nice little guide. I PM'ed Oblit and he said he 'might' be able to get around the image amount limitations, if not no worries i'll figure out something. I feel real bad having that many links. ;)

 

Thanks everyone for the comments and support, if you have any suggestions as to what would make the guide more helpful, feel free to speak your mind. I'm doing for you guys aways!

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Alright, so we've made it to part 2! Thanks again guys for all the comments on part 1 and thanks ahead of time for any comments/suggestions/advice to come. If you have no idea what i'm talking about, look here: Ixupi's shiny green - Part 1. for the start of a tutorial on how I made the shiny green armor of my Terminator Chaplain located....here. Emperor's Dragon Termie,

 

Anyhow, in the first part we covered flat surfaces. But that's just one of the many shapes you'll be finding on your power armored angels! So it wouldn't be very nice of me to leave you with just that. Thus, part 2: curved sections. Seeing as how curves tend to be a bit more random compared to flat surfaces, i'll try and select more than one section to guide you through. Hopefully we all learn something from this(including myself). Maybe this might rouse you to get up and paint those minis that have been sitting around for ages or make you realize; "Hey, it's not as hard as I thought." Who knows, either way I hope this benefits someone, somewhere out there.

 

Last time we saw our hero, he was merely base coated and a few layers added. With only one pad of his jetpack done he looked hopeless! Fear not, to give you a better understanding of how this green looks together i've painted more. So here he is, in his current state.

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/bothpadspainted.jpg

 

Alright, so here is part 1 OF part 2. I chose a turbine on the jet pack as my target for a larger curved section, a smaller section will come next. I will forewarn though; the attempt was to make the model quite bright. I wanted a nice blinding glare reflecting off of the turbine. If you simply do not want it this shiny, the solution is simple. Cut down on your layers and adjust the glare width to your liking or simply make them darker, which is quite easy honestly. I on the other hand want a nice blinding army, charging into battle! With that said... let's get to the painting!

 

Prespective: As it is important with any form of art, be sure to understand the shape you are working with. Flat surfaces, awkard shapes and curves react differently to light and protray different glares. The shape i'll be working with is a perfect example of this as you'll see soon. If you are ever confused try to find either a glossy plastic or metallic household object and angle it within reach of a light source in the manner that suits you, it helps you understand this first hand.

 

Quick note: I timed myself to see how long it would take me to do just the area photgraphed. It took aprox. 30 minutes. Now...before you go '30 minutes!?' allow me to elaborate. 30 minutes includes a number of things in my case. I took exactly twenty pictures, had to clean up a bowl of thinning water I doused some minis with, fumbled with a bad layer/dry paint(see layer #4), stopped to take notes for this tutorial. So in all fairness with no BS, it should take you roughly 15 minutes if you play your cards right. Which I think for the quality isn't THAT bad. But you let me know what you think.

 

Pre-painting: If you missed the previous thread, check it out for a better understanding of supplies! If you need a rough summary....here it is: Dark angel green, pure white(or it's equal). A brush, the model and some water! Tada, simple huh? Either way, to prepare your model you'll need to have it based in dark angel's green. You can either prime it white or black, though i'd suggest black. But just make SURE it's dark angel's green.

 

Base color: The ratio for base color is 4 parts dark angel green to 1 part pure white. This will be your base color and should give the model a nice solid green tone. Make sure your coverage is solid or you'll be encountering some uneven colors later! As stated previously you'll want to cover AT LEAST three times to get things right, three being if you thin your paints correctly, if you doubt yourself, give it another go!

 

layer 1

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/layerone1.jpg

 

Layer 1: The first layer's ratio is 1 part dark angel to 1 part pure white. A good trick and something that I always do, is once your paint is beginning to dry up and your current layer is nice and dry. thin out your paint with water till it's nice and cloudy, creating your own mock glaze. Go over the layer with it gently and only once so you don't smear it, as the extra water makes it easier to rub off the previous layer. *small* puddles(provided they aren't in recesses!) aren't a bother as the water will just dry right off of it and give the model a more even coat. Using this same mixture can be used around the edges of the layer to create a blend. Simply run the brush along it's edge then quickly wash the bristles clean, leaving them slightly moist. Now with a gentle hand, carefully flicker outward the line of watered down paint you just applied, this layer will be naturally much more opaque than the previous, creating a subtle transition. The first layer's coverage depending on the area of course should roughly be 3/4ths of the section.

 

layer 2

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/layertwo1.jpg

 

Layer 2: Your ratio for layer two should be mixed as 1:1 dark angels green/pure white, with a pinch(Roughly 1/8th or dipping the very tip of the bristles into pure white) of pure white to achieve the next shade. Same deal as before, just cover less area, go over where you want your definitive layer to be, make sure it's solid and then dilute the paint down with water to blend the edges. No purpose in highlighting any corners yet, as the effect wouldn't be drastic enough and will just be covered by future layers!

 

layer 3

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/layerthree1.jpg

 

Layer 3: Your ratio for layer two should be mixed as 1:1 dark angels green/pure white, with two pinches(explained above) of pure white to achieve the next shade. It's like clock work by now, just narrow the playing field. Applying less and less to slowly form a strip at the point you think the most light is going to hit. You MAY if you want now, start to add with the side of the brush high lights to the darker edges. Though, it's not manadatory at this point.

 

layer 4

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/layerfour1.jpg

 

Layer 4: Your ratio should be 1 part dark angel green and 4 parts pure white. *BLEEP OBSCENITIES* By the Emperor! I swear! I use these pictures to prove a few points. Number 1: ALWAYS let your layers dry first. Number 2: ALWAYS work with fresh paint. A combination of these things lead to what you see before you. Messy streaks and holes in your layers. Forunately the solution is simple, dilute some paint and let it pool over the patches, it'll seal it right up, just takes a bit longer to dry! Let this be a lesson learned....ugh. If you haven't started high lighting the edges of the model by now, i'd suggest you do so! The contrast of colors should be great enough by now. REMEMBER to blend.

 

layer 5

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/layerfive1.jpg

 

Layer 5: Your ratio should be 1 part dark angels green and 4 parts pure white, with a pinch of pure white. Depending on how bright you care for your models to be, this may or may not be the final layer. This will be a fairly narrow band in comparison to your first and depending on whether or not you choose to use pure white, your narrowest overall. Make sure to highlight the most central sections of the model's edges as well to give even the boarder a transition of color.

 

layer 6

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/layersix1.jpg

 

Layer 6: Your ratio for this should be simply pure white. Be sure to thin down your white carefully, as straight from the bottle it cakes too easily but also thins out way too fast in my mind. You should apply a narrow vertical band of thinned white along the very center of the section. Careful with it though, as you want the white to be more so opaque than slapped on. Also, apply minor sections to your highlights to give them a section of glare without being overbaring, or if you want immense glare, fully highlight with your white.

 

Finished product:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/finalshot.jpg

 

After thoughts: Despite the screw ups and unique look to it, I think it came out beautifully. If only a little bright, but considering that was what I was aimming for, I can't complain. If I hadn't of had to worry about taking notes, cleaning up my waterfall diaster and taking notes it would have been cleaner without a doubt but beggers can't be choosers and i'll just have to suck it up! Please, give any and all comments/questions/suggestions/etc by either posting here in the thread or by PM'ing me directly, i'll be glad to help out!

 

This is only the first section of part 2, so stay tuned for more!

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Part 2- Smaller curved areas. Helmet/calf armor

 

Pre-painting - Current state of the model.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/pre-paint.jpg

 

For reference: Dark Angel Green = D Pure White = W Pinch = Very tip of the paint covered in paint.

Paint layer ratios

 

Base - 4D/1W

Layer 1- 1D/1W

Layer 2- 1D/1W + 1 pinch(1/8th respectively?)

Layer 3- 1D/1W + 2 pinches(1/4th respectively?)

Layer 4- 1D/4W

Layer 5- 1D/4W + 1 pinch(1/8th respectively?)

Layer 6- Pure White

 

Pre-painting: Practically the same thing as part 1 though, this will be on a smaller scale. So the angles might be a bit sharper and curves a bit more awkard. Either way, it's all a matter of adjusting your glare bands down to suit the angle and size. For reference if you aren't interested in doing green...I had someone ask me to do blue. Seeing as how there are only two colors involved in the green, you may if you choose to simply switch out the green for another color of your choice. Dark Angel Green to Chaos Black to Beastial brown respectively, etc. Not saying all colors will have the same effect/look as good but that goes without saying. As also previously mentioned if you need reference as far as lighting and glare is concerned, try and find a house hold object to use as reference. It helps ALOT. Anywho, lets get to the details.

 

Layer- 1

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/part2-1.jpg

Layer 1: It won't be much of a problem for you, seeing as how you'll be doing one section at a time...but it really proved to be difficult for me to try and cover two areas with the paint, glaze, photograph, etc. all at the same time. It often left me without enough paint. Either way, make sure you've used your base coat before doing layer 1 of course. You'll want to as previously stated, covering practically 3/4ths of the area with this layer, naturally take into consideration spots that would be darker due to location and light source availability. Remember to blend after each layer! (Unlike me.)

 

Layer- 2

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/part2-2.jpg

Layer 2: Easy layer, simply cover less of the area within layer 1 with the second layer. Don't worry about highlighting edges at this point, as it's not bright enough of a shade.

 

Layer- 3

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/part2-3.jpg

Layer 3: Easy layer, simply cover less of the area within layer 2 with the third layer. Don't worry about highlighting edges at this point although, this will be done next layer.(Whew, realizing how messy the rest of this model looks, really need to try cleaning it up and painting the gold -takes notes-)

 

Layer- 4

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/part2-4.jpg

Layer 4: It's becoming a broken record by now, though now you'll want to start highlighting the edges to give the model some shine and contrast.

 

Layer- 5

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/part2-5.jpg

Layer 5: Continue as you would with the previous layer, but narrow your glare bands. Depending on how bright you want the model to be, depends on whether or not you'll continue onto the next layer. If you do NOT want a brighter model, stop now and narrow the glare band even more. Otherwise continue along.

 

Layer- 6

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/part2-6.jpg

Layer 6: Simple enough, mostly highlighting this time as you'll be using pure white, be sure to thin it down so it becomes a bit more opaque and the wonderful thing known as "drying" will even out the color a bit and give it a better look.

 

 

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/ixupi/part2-done.jpg

 

Conclusion: As far as the tutorial is concerned, I think it's coming out pretty nicely for a good way to spent a few extra minutes in creating a 'cool/good' looking rank and file. This is by no means supposed to be any sort of display quality as you might have noticed. This can be used as a basis FOR heading to display quality though, as it'll give you what you need on the step to learning how to properly blend and layer, but to do that for a WHOLE army would take simply too long for anyone i'd imagine, so I tried to cut down the time as much as possible. Going at my speed/attention span I would comfortably do a mini a day BUT, could fit in two or three if I was rushing it. Which I really don't like to do. : (

 

Stay tuned for the third and final tutotial, the conclusion to Ixupi's shiny green!

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I'm loving this tutorial for the green :3 I think I found a way how to paint my MedusaWing master to have him stand out from the rest of the normal green dudes :) Hope to see more and also more models in the future from you for inspiration.

 

Thanks! I'd love to see it if you do get around to painting it with this green. ;) Heh, i've been on a bit of chaplain spree lately, and am about ready to get ready to convert one of the newer chaps to a jump pack one, so we'll see how that goes.

 

Managed to get my brush yesterday, expect an update soon...

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