Hey all, I'd like to create this thread here to showcase my painted version of the minis for Descent 2nd edition as I paint them. I think players here will get a kick out of seeing these as I finish each one and share it.

I'll keep this post updated as each figure is finished. These miniatures are SO tiny compared to most minis that I paint, but my philosophy is that if there is detail that can be sculpted, it can also be painted. Sometimes the detail on these figures is so...small...that it's hard to distinguish what it is that I should be painting, but the card art is very helpful to have as a reference.

I just finished Ashrian this morning after a couple of hours at a time here and there over the last week and here is my rendition, trying to keep as close as I could to the wonderful character art on the card, while adding my own touches to personalize my figure and bring it to life a little more. Here she is:

Well ****... no lie I was going to give my go at painting my Descent minis this coming weekend (haven't painted since my warhammer days) and this depresses the hell out of me.

In all seriousness though, that's an amazing job friend, I'll be happy if I get to 20 percent as good as that.

I really, really, really ... (googolplex more), really hate you.

Nice work. Sigh.

WoW !

the eyes thing is strange, but job is insanely good ! Jealous

Wahhhhhooow. That is really really excellent.

I actually think the eyes are done really well. Not sure how you managed that on such a small mini but they look fantastic.

Everything looks great, show more

Marvelous. More please !

Well ****... no lie I was going to give my go at painting my Descent minis this coming weekend (haven't painted since my warhammer days) and this depresses the hell out of me.

In all seriousness though, that's an amazing job friend, I'll be happy if I get to 20 percent as good as that.

Thanks and don't be afraid to jump right in and paint, it's a wonderful way to relax. If I have one tip it's to make sure you're using some kind of eye magnification as these Descent minis have some seriously tiny detail and it will help to see it all

I really, really, really ... (googolplex more), really hate you.

Nice work. Sigh.

Thank you haha

WoW !

the eyes thing is strange, but job is insanely good ! Jealous

Thanks I had to outline it a darker color because the white of the under-eye marking got lost against her skin.

Wahhhhhooow. That is really really excellent.

I actually think the eyes are done really well. Not sure how you managed that on such a small mini but they look fantastic.

Everything looks great, show more

Thank you, I had to use some magnification lenses while painting this gal for sure!

Marvelous. More please !

Thank you, there will be plenty more in this thread as I get them painted up. It's currently my 'off time' project to paint all these wonderful minis and I'll be showcasing them here over time absolutely.

Holy bananas!

2 hours, seriously? Man, you´re killing me. This is a pro job unless you've really been in the painting hobby for a long time. Hats off in any case, you are truly talented.

What material do you use?

very, very nice.

That's the first "high contrast highlighting" I've seen that looks really good.

What brush or brush substitute are you using to paint the eyes? Normally I would use a needle for these very tiny dots, but even a normal needle is too thick for that scale.

btw. he didn't say 2 hours, but "after a couple of hours at a time here and there over the last week". I'm still curious how much time it took you in total. Maybe you can give us some estimates?

impressive

Ok! That's it!! ~ I am gonna start painting too!

Since you and a few others do amazing paintjobs on those pretty Descent miniatures, I cant stand the look of those grey, vanilla en red coloured miniatures anymore

Really amazing work!

Enjoying your work on Youtube also. If you made a vid of painting this Descent figure, I would be very interested to see it appear on your channel as wel.

Holy bananas!

2 hours, seriously? Man, you´re killing me. This is a pro job unless you've really been in the painting hobby for a long time. Hats off in any case, you are truly talented.

What material do you use?

I wish 2 hours! Haha, no this was over 2 hours 'here and there' at a time over a week. When I had time for my own projects. I am indeed a full time commission painter for the last 11 years, and I'm not a fast one either. Thank you for the compliment, I wish I could knock out something like this in 2 hours!

very, very nice.

That's the first "high contrast highlighting" I've seen that looks really good.

What brush or brush substitute are you using to paint the eyes? Normally I would use a needle for these very tiny dots, but even a normal needle is too thick for that scale.

btw. he didn't say 2 hours, but "after a couple of hours at a time here and there over the last week". I'm still curious how much time it took you in total. Maybe you can give us some estimates?

Hi, thank you. For the eyes I use a regular old detail brush, in this case, the figure is very small so I used a smaller than normal brush, a Winsor and Newton Series 7 "Miniature" in size 00. I don't typically paint with the miniature versions of the Series 7 but they're good for this sort of detail once in awhile. They're practically made for it.

As far as time taken I'd say 6 to 8 hours. Would be longer had I done a base, would have been shorter had I not spent so much time on the fur and left out the freehand detail.

impressive

Why thank you

Ok! That's it!! ~ I am gonna start painting too!

Since you and a few others do amazing paintjobs on those pretty Descent miniatures, I cant stand the look of those grey, vanilla en red coloured miniatures anymore

Really amazing work!

Enjoying your work on Youtube also. If you made a vid of painting this Descent figure, I would be very interested to see it appear on your channel as wel.

Hey thanks! Ya know, I was thinking about this the other day. I should set up some time to paint the descent figures and show my process for these to help others looking for ideas and inspiration for painting their own sets. I can't promise anything because I have too many irons in the fire right now but I'm not going anywhere so this may be a thing down the line. I'd like it to be. Need more hours in the day!

Hey there, I've finished up Avric Albright and well...here he is:

That's two down! This one took awhile due to the shield, that thing has all kinds of crazy detail to paint around and it was tricky to get to look halfway decent for sure.

Amazing work! Amazing details! Exceptional highlighting and shading!

I dont know if you are active on boardgamegeek, but I know the Descent community and the miniature painting community overthere would definitely have a blast seeing your work!

And yes, I look forward (hope) to see you work in progress on your Youtube-channel one day.

Theses are perfect !

I'm jalous of your work and your talents

If only mine were the same. But i'm not skilled enough.

And on top of that, base are black, like I always wanted

Simply amazing man... incredibly well done...

you should show thoses to coolminiornot, you would have succes

How much to do mines ?

Amazing work! Amazing details! Exceptional highlighting and shading!

I dont know if you are active on boardgamegeek, but I know the Descent community and the miniature painting community overthere would definitely have a blast seeing your work!

And yes, I look forward (hope) to see you work in progress on your Youtube-channel one day.

Hey thank you! I will go and setup an account there and take a look around, thanks for the tip

Theses are perfect !

I'm jalous of your work and your talents

If only mine were the same. But i'm not skilled enough.

And on top of that, base are black, like I always wanted

They are less than perfect ( I see all the flaws haha) Thank you though! I kept the bases simple as I too like them like them like that. I'm painting them each with their associated archetype color, in Avric's case and in Ashrian's case, the priest indigo color. I think the colors are balanced out that way and it's kinda neat looking on the table.

Simply amazing man... incredibly well done...

Hey thanks man I appreciate it

Omg you detail is amazing! i love Ashrians eyes/makeup, and the work you did to her rope! Not to mention that small seem on her shirt under her arm. How the hell did you get in there?
I've thought that I should share my attempt on painting Ashrian and Avric, I've never painted before. So the Descent board-game has to suffer my amateurish attempts. But I'm really loving it, it's like meditation for me. Except when I miss, or can't get the details right

What kind of brushes do you use? if you are using a brush at all?
for me i find it really hard to use the thinner brushes since they can't hold the paint properly, and it find it impossible to get the strokes right. I would love to get more detail on my paints.

Is there anything on this list that you are not doing?

Thin your paints

Use only the first 1/3 of the brush tip

Absorb the paint into the brush .. dont let it sit on the surface

Apply in layers (except for the occasional hard line)

Have a wet clean brush always on hand to immediately erase mistakes

your pics are certainly good enough for gamer quality. What the original poster is doing is overkill .. cool sweet pure awesome overkill.

What the original poster is doing is overkill .. cool sweet pure awesome overkill.

I never tried to paint because i'm a perfectionnist and the "awesome overkill" is a minimum to me. But i'm never going to have thoses skills by doing nothing fearing to do not as good as aggerhomes.

Omg you detail is amazing! i love Ashrians eyes/makeup, and the work you did to her rope! Not to mention that small seem on her shirt under her arm. How the hell did you get in there?

I've thought that I should share my attempt on painting Ashrian and Avric, I've never painted before. So the Descent board-game has to suffer my amateurish attempts. But I'm really loving it, it's like meditation for me. Except when I miss, or can't get the details right

What kind of brushes do you use? if you are using a brush at all?

for me i find it really hard to use the thinner brushes since they can't hold the paint properly, and it find it impossible to get the strokes right. I would love to get more detail on my paints.

Hey thank you and you're right it's a kind of meditation when you are in the 'zone' after painting for awhile. Believe me it's a huge draw for me doing this all the time, it really is a meditative practice.

Regarding the brushes I use Winsor & Newton Series 7 size 0 for practically everything, sometimes I go to the W&N Series 7 Miniature range for tiny details. These brushes are designed to hold and release paint in a very consistent way. You will have to practice much (and watching others paint really helps) to get the feel for the consistency. It takes time and most people struggle with it until they get it. My video series on painting the Ogre Chieftain from Reaper demonstrates my entire technique in exhaustive detail from brushes to paints to consistency to everything else I ramble about. My youtube channel has those videos somewhere which you can find at youtube.com/user/darkstarminis

Be warned though these are long videos with no shortcuts but I do show my personal approach and the series was designed to give insight for those new to the hobby as well as veterans, but they're not short little how to videos at all. They are rambly and long but that's the point, to show everything.

your pics are certainly good enough for gamer quality. What the original poster is doing is overkill .. cool sweet pure awesome overkill.

They are indeed! And our little group here is excited to game with these pieces when they're all done someday in the distant future!

What the original poster is doing is overkill .. cool sweet pure awesome overkill.

I never tried to paint because i'm a perfectionnist and the "awesome overkill" is a minimum to me. But i'm never going to have thoses skills by doing nothing fearing to do not as good as aggerhomes.

This is true you have to practice. But there's nothing to fear at all. I still hold on to my first painted minis to show people that ask, believe me they don't look that great...although they would be fine in a game on the table. But the key is to just go for it, jump in and get some practice and see what you can learn. For every smooth blend or pleasing detail you see...what you're not seeing is the hundreds of minis I've painted before these to learn how. Each of those was necessary to get to this level, and each has it's own challenges and hurdles. It all takes time, and devoted practice, and you really have to be the kind of person that likes enjoying a 'process' when it comes to painting minis, because really it is a process. Step after step, layer after layer, thousands of untold times over and over again...if you're a perfectionist who enjoys the process (and learning from the mistakes that come with it) this is the right hobby for sure!

Keep a notebook handy when starting in case you stumble on something that you like for later, mine goes back to '03 when I first started and I reference it all the time.

Great job--I've seen a lot of painted Descent minis, and this might be the most impressive!

Those are some awesome paint jobs! I wish I had even a drop of talent with physical media (painting, drawing, sculpting, etc) but all my skill points went into writing (exactly how many points that is is up to my readers).

Finished up Grisban over the last week:

Great job--I've seen a lot of painted Descent minis, and this might be the most impressive!

Hey thank you for the kind compliment!

Those are some awesome paint jobs! I wish I had even a drop of talent with physical media (painting, drawing, sculpting, etc) but all my skill points went into writing (exactly how many points that is is up to my readers).

Hey thank you I appreciate that Never too late to roll and add a new feat, takes practice though (for me about 10 years of practice and counting!)

Next up will be Jaina Fairwood. I work on these about an hour a day so it's slow going but it will one day be a completed project.