Well you can't blame a guy for trying.

It's quite a testament to your tutorial skills that I'm afraid to continue painting my models. I know I could do a servicable job...but I know Sorastro can do it better and teach me something new along that way!

I've got some city building I need to paint and I'm pretty sure your wash and wipe technique from the ATST is going to come in handy there.

Well you can't blame a guy for trying.

It's quite a testament to your tutorial skills that I'm afraid to continue painting my models. I know I could do a servicable job...but I know Sorastro can do it better and teach me something new along that way!

I've got some city building I need to paint and I'm pretty sure your wash and wipe technique from the ATST is going to come in handy there.

I hear you. I'm unwilling to even occupy my time painting some of my other tabletop games until I've learned more from Sorastro.

I've also watched quite a few of the Games Workshop painting tutorials videos on YouTube. While I don't have any of their models to practice on (well, I guess I have Space Hulk) there are still some nice tips in there for neophyte painters such as myself.

Well you can't blame a guy for trying.

It's quite a testament to your tutorial skills that I'm afraid to continue painting my models. I know I could do a servicable job...but I know Sorastro can do it better and teach me something new along that way!

I've got some city building I need to paint and I'm pretty sure your wash and wipe technique from the ATST is going to come in handy there.

I'm getting caught up, and I don't mind the wait.

I just cleaned and basecoated my trandos last night. I think these might take me a few nights of effort anyway. I'm definitely doing the yellow and urban camo versions, the dark reaper/stormvermin and probably a green/brown/black camo as well. I'm getting confident enough to go off book a bit on some of them because I love the variety it brings.

For example I love my blueish, grey and black officers

However I have finished running tests and working out the main colors and techniques for the first two heroes, and done all of the prep and spraying for the whole lot to save time later (including the Wave 1 figures). I've also begun filming the first hero. So things are moving steadily but surely. I'll post another update once I'm into the editing phase of the first hero video.

I've only just started watching your videos, so perhaps this is something you cover in different ones (I've only watched the Stormtrooper and Royal Guard where the colors are pretty well determined), but how do you run tests for your color schemes? This is actually one of the big mental blocks that has stalled my beginning to learn to paint. I realize there's always going to be some uncertainty with how the end product will look, but I'd like to figure out a color scheme and see how good it looks before I start the actual mini.

Thanks for all the work you've done. Even though I haven't started trying yet, these videos have done a lot to push me in that direction!

He uses old figures he has laying around to see how things will look before trying new ideas on the actual IA figures. I don't know where he gets the old figures though.

You could get some army men or plastic cowboys from a dollar store to test colors out on.

Hi folks!

RE testing colors out: If I was just painting for myself I would usually just launch straight into painting the figure and improvising, knowing that I can always paint over a section I'm not too happy with, or make adjustments by adding shade and highlight as need be until I get a look I'm happy with. That's not usually possible when preparing for a tutorial of course because I need to plan the most efficient method beforehand and then get it right first time whilst filming.

For trying out colors and techniques I usually use old Games Workshop figures (I've got lots of spare figures and unused accessories of various factions including orcs, goblins, undead, Lord of the Rings, chaos space marines etc.) Gullwind's suggestion is a great one though if you don't happen to have old unused figures lying around!

Happy painting!

stuff

I'm finally done with my nexu - which means I caught up

Will post the images once I paint the base (which itself is a pain in the backside).

PS: I think FFG should send you a few spare boxes

Also I agree that the slow tempo gives us the chance to catch up.

Edit:

So Im in the process of cleaning up my droids and ATST from some crappy paint I tried. The Simple Green solution is working ok but Im just curious how clean I should get these. Should they look brand new or left over paint in the crevices ok. Im just concerned that once I go to prime again that I might start losing details. Its not a lot of paint left but enough that it has my concern. Also does the kind of primer matter? The primer I used was some cheap dollar stuff I had on hand. Both my black and white left a rough texture to the minis. Not sure if this was due to the kind of primer or if it was just old stuff.

if i remember right a ruff or velvet texture means can is too far from mini, paint is drying before it get to the models.

Primer matters a lot. As far as I know the good ones shouldn't be expensive either.

I'm using Tamiya fine surface primer and it's very good.

Sooo, I blew it on my Vader. When I sprayed on my matte varnish (army painter) and it dried it looked like Vader spent time in a blizzard on Hoth. Guessing I have to strip off the paint now...

Sooo, I blew it on my Vader. When I sprayed on my matte varnish (army painter) and it dried it looked like Vader spent time in a blizzard on Hoth. Guessing I have to strip off the paint now...

You need to pass the spray from left to right in quick motions. It's why it's usually better to spray multiple minis.

Sooo, I blew it on my Vader. When I sprayed on my matte varnish (army painter) and it dried it looked like Vader spent time in a blizzard on Hoth. Guessing I have to strip off the paint now...

In my totally not an expert and new to the hobby opinion, could you have sprayed the varnish in humid conditions?

Sooo, I blew it on my Vader. When I sprayed on my matte varnish (army painter) and it dried it looked like Vader spent time in a blizzard on Hoth. Guessing I have to strip off the paint now...

In my totally not an expert and new to the hobby opinion, could you have sprayed the varnish in humid conditions?

In my totally not an expert and new to the hobby opinion, could you have sprayed the varnish in humid conditions?

Possibly, but I think the larger problem was that I stayed up until 2am to try and finish him. I believe it was a case of being too tired and getting sloppy. In any case, the task now is to remove the paint without destroying the detail on the miniature...

I think insufficient shaking of the cans can cause frosting as well. I hope you not only manage to recover your Vader but to improve on your second paint job!

stuff

I'm finally done with my nexu - which means I caught up

Will post the images once I paint the base (which itself is a pain in the backside).

PS: I think FFG should send you a few spare boxes

Also I agree that the slow tempo gives us the chance to catch up.

Edit:

Wow Gecicmen! I'm totally blown away by all these fantastic nexus

Sooo, I blew it on my Vader. When I sprayed on my matte varnish (army painter) and it dried it looked like Vader spent time in a blizzard on Hoth. Guessing I have to strip off the paint now...

So sorry to hear about your varnish mishap mate. I'm no varnish expert and can't add to the good suggestions already offered as to why that happened (including the possible fatigue element you mentioned!). I like Muzz's positive attitude though; Get it stripped, learn, and do an even better job second time around

Little update from me: I'm half-way through filming episode 10 (still just managing a little each night). I've filmed a little more preparation footage than usual which has added to the shooting time, but it's coming along nicely.

Yay!

Looking forward to more from you, excited to see which hero you've picked first!

As for Vader, its true. The Dark Lord of the Sith bested me this time, but I shall prevail!

As we speak, he is soaking in some Dettol, and I'll let you all know how the paintstripping goes as it progresses.

And Muz- Absolutely. I was pretty happy with how Vader turned out until the varnish, but I do look forward to painting him again (I found him fairly rewarding to paint)

I'm anxiously awaiting episode 10, still plugging away at my trandos (also been busy and trying out different colors)

Dying for a hint... Can you say if it's human or alien?

About matte varnish frosting - I'm almost sure spray can varnishes don't spray water in humid environments - that's a thing about airbrushes, not spray cans.

4 most possible options are:

* Spraying in a single direction more than a moment (But remember, when you spray with passes, it takes a very long time for the varnish to take effect, but it's risk-free.)

* Not shaking the can enough (I shake 15-20 seconds min).

* Spraying from too far (it freezes until it reaches)

* Spraying from very close like 5 cm.

About matte varnish frosting - I'm almost sure spray can varnishes don't spray water in humid environments - that's a thing about airbrushes, not spray cans.

I believe a spray, in a humid atmosphere, catches water in the air. This causes a heterogeneous application. In doing so it affects the way the light is reflected which can result in frosting.

I won't way that this is 100 % a certainty. I am new to the hobby having been introduced by Sorastro. That said, when sourcing a spray varnish for my own use this was the most common explanation I came across. In fact I have some minor frosting on my probe droids when the other half was ironing in the same room causing a lot of humidity from the steam.

To combat this everyone said to shake well and spray in a dry environment.

I'm sure the spray application (distance, timing) can also cause frosting. There must be a reason why the sprays contain instructions which everyone follows to the letter. Rather safe than sorry I'd apply the sprays as instructed and within a dry environment.

On an unrelated note don't use those spray varnishes in an enclosed space. I made that mistake once and suffered quite the dizzy and nauseous spell!

About matte varnish frosting - I'm almost sure spray can varnishes don't spray water in humid environments - that's a thing about airbrushes, not spray cans.

I believe a spray, in a humid atmosphere, catches water in the air. This causes a heterogeneous application. In doing so it affects the way the light is reflected which can result in frosting.

I won't way that this is 100 % a certainty. I am new to the hobby having been introduced by Sorastro. That said, when sourcing a spray varnish for my own use this was the most common explanation I came across. In fact I have some minor frosting on my probe droids when the other half was ironing in the same room causing a lot of humidity from the steam.

To combat this everyone said to shake well and spray in a dry environment.

I'm sure the spray application (distance, timing) can also cause frosting. There must be a reason why the sprays contain instructions which everyone follows to the letter. Rather safe than sorry I'd apply the sprays as instructed and within a dry environment.

On an unrelated note don't use those spray varnishes in an enclosed space. I made that mistake once and suffered quite the dizzy and nauseous spell!

I'm new too, just like you I'm following Sorastro's footsteps, but I talked to a master model painter last week and he taught me all the details. I also asked these questions about humidity.

Istanbul, where I live, has one of the most humid environments second to only rainforests (today's moisture is 86%, I'm sweating like it's midsummer). And I didn't have any problems (did it in day time, at night etc.).

About matte varnish frosting - I'm almost sure spray can varnishes don't spray water in humid environments - that's a thing about airbrushes, not spray cans.

4 most possible options are:

* Spraying in a single direction more than a moment (But remember, when you spray with passes, it takes a very long time for the varnish to take effect, but it's risk-free.)

* Not shaking the can enough (I shake 15-20 seconds min).

* Spraying from too far (it freezes until it reaches)

* Spraying from very close like 5 cm.

Well, remembering back to when I did it, I probably didn't shake long enough and also I most likely oversprayed.

Lesson learned on my part. Thanks for the feedback Gecimen! You know your stuff!

Sorastro suggests spraying a Spray Lacquer over the figures when you're done painting for protection.

I did this and it gives the figures a glazed look, like they're coated in plastic. My Royal Guards went from cloth robes to shiny plastic robes.

Is it supposed to look like that, or am I spraying too much or too close? Any tips on this?

Make sure you get a matte lacquer and not a gloss lacquer. He actually uses both, the spray he is using is matte, he then brushes on a gloss to specific bits where it makes sense (like the royal guard helmet)