So, this is my second repaint other than fighter-squadrons for Armada. For my first, a Poe repaint, I used some mid-grade model paints. It turned out alright, but it wasn't anything special.
After that, however, I decided to do something different for the good of everyone who is starting out. I got some cheap artist's acrylics from Walmart for about $5.
Seriously, cheap stuff. I can't imagine painting a canvas with these...
But, for miniatures, I figured that I could thin them enough for it not to matter how crappy they were. I started out by mixing a gray color for my primer basecoat.
I mixed that with a 1:1 ratio of water:paint(protip that I learned on youtube: mix in your water slowly, or you'll get clumpy paint. Add a few drops, mix, add a few more, mix, etc), but it turned out way too dark, so I doubled up on the white to get it to a tolerable tone. I added water with the white, of course.
Then, I diluted that by another 1:1 ratio with water for use in my airbrush. You don't need one, but I used mine because it was faster than applying several thin layers with a brush. Alternatively, you can skip the primer step completely, apparently. I haven't tried it, however.
You may see three ships there... but, I can say that this is my second repaint, because I focused on one of them shortly after this point.
So, should I continue or just jump to the end?
Painting X-Wing with cheap acrylics and no experience.
keep going..... its usefull for someone. and i like seing other people work.
If it's better than the Apple Barrel stuff, then you are good. It looks better. Just make sure to go to a hobby store and/or buy some Games Workshop ink wash. It is almost the same price as what you just paid for, but it is actually worth it. It turns not great paint jobs into really decent.
You may proceed.
Please do continue.
I only recently started painting too, always good to see these step by step photo guides, to see how others do it.
Can you post an end-shot so we can see how this turns out, and then continue the journey along the way? As others have said, seeing other people's technique is always useful.
"These are your first steps into a larger world"
What helped me a lot is getting a magnifying glass attached to a clamp. The bigger the mag glass and longer the clamp the better
I can't find a better picture right now but I have one of these. It is awesome. Not sure what the green thing is, I don't have one of those. But seeing it here, I wish I did. Whatever it does.
Alright, then. Buckle up and prepare to make the jump to mediocre!
Once the primer dried (It was dry to the touch almost immediately because it was airbrushed on, but it felt tacky. Cheap paint doesn't work flawlessly, it turns out. After a full day, it was much better and we were ready to go again), I mixed up some black.
Then thinned a little with 4 parts water to make a wash. Sorry, heychadwick... I was sticking with cheap acrylics to see what they could do. I would like to get some nuln oil or something similar in the future, however.
Then gave one of the y's and the x-wing a wash.
Turned out pretty good, actually! Here's a comparison of with and without the wash:
Turns out that another weird thing about these cheap acrylics is that there is no "letting it pool in the recesses, then wiping it off the high spots". The water from the wash was too much for the day-old "primer", and it washed off the highest points when I tried to gently wipe away some of the wash. So, don't try that unless you are very quick. Just give it a wash and let it sit for a day. You can see some of the original yellow from the model where the primer wiped away in the next image. I'll go ahead and mention that I forgot to clean my models before beginning, so this incident may be my own fault...
I decided not to post the end result, yet. Here's my Poe, intead:
It is technically unfinished, but good enough at the moment.
I can't find a better picture right now but I have one of these. It is awesome. Not sure what the green thing is, I don't have one of those. But seeing it here, I wish I did. Whatever it does.
It's an OTTLITE. Should be a color balanced task light.
Nice work! One comment about thinning with water. Too much water will dilute the binder in the paint and it won't stick. Use a bit of acrylic medium to mix with the water. This replaces the binder and lessens the chance the paint will flake off.
The YouTube channels for Lester Bursley and Ichiban Painting both have tips for thinning acrylic for airbrushing.
I started applying the white basecoat to the washed Y, but discovered that the pigment was not strong with this {brand}, and was a lot of work to get a solid color. As a result, I switched my attention to the X-Wing, and it became the official second repaint.
I mixed another very light gray, even lighter than the primer, and drybrushed the entire model, avoiding the recesses. Before it dried fully, I went over it again with a wash of the same color, again avoiding the recesses. The watery second coat helped smooth out any brush strokes left behind and it ended up being kinda' nice. Considering its heritage, it came out much better than expected.
The next order of business was to figure out what to actually do with the repaint. I could repaint it as Red Two, but there was too much gray in the base coat, and I didn't want to add another full layer to make it match Red Squadron's colors. I chose to do a custom design instead, and after toying with ideas, I came up with an idea: My game store, Dragons Eye Games in Canton Ga, is awesome(as in 20-30% off msrp for EVERYTHING all the time awesome. I tell everyone that every chance I get.), so I decided to do a design for what I thought a "Dragon Squadron" X-Wing would look like. I figured that green and yellow would be suiting, so I went to Google. After some searching for inspiration, I saw what WWPDSteven, I think is who it was, did for his X-Wing for a HotAC campaign and liked it a lot. I used it as a basis for my design.
But, before I could actually paint, I had to mix some green. My acrylics only came in reb, blue, yellow, brown, white, and black, after all.
A blob of yellow, with a dash of blue
and we get the color I want on pretty much the first try:
So, I then used that ratio on a larger scale to make a pot of the green for future use. I'd like to make Dragon 2 through 6 in the future if I ever get around to it; if I could ever get enough players for a league, I think a Dragon Squadron X-Wing would be a nice addition to the prize pool... assuming I don't turn out to be a terrible mini painter.
While I may be new to mini painting, I am a graphic designer by profession, so I know a couple things about colors, and one of them is that bright colors often look tacky. I took the green that I made and mixed it 1:1 with the same light gray that I used for the basecoat. The gray desaturated the green perfectly to my liking on the first try, thankfully. I then added a little more water with my brush to get the gray-green color down to a "milky" consistency and painted on the first markings.
For the sake of consistency and time, that is an image of the top of the X-wing, but I actually painted the markings on the bottom first. Doing it that way gives time to practice. If you screw up, it will never be seen!
Also, it took more than a single coat to get the solid green stripes shown in the last picture. I think it has 3 at this point. If you get a solid color with only one layer, your paint is waaaaaay too thick.
Nice work! One comment about thinning with water. Too much water will dilute the binder in the paint and it won't stick. Use a bit of acrylic medium to mix with the water. This replaces the binder and lessens the chance the paint will flake off.
The YouTube channels for Lester Bursley and Ichiban Painting both have tips for thinning acrylic for airbrushing.
I actually made my own thinner with 60% water, 30% IPA, and some flow improver and liquid retarder, but didn't get into that, as I only used it for the airbrush part. I used water after that to simplify everything.
A medium is something I have been meaning to try out, however.
Looks good. Nice job.
I'd say that probably the most important thing to get is a decent brush. Or at least treat your brush that works for you well enough. "The Master's Brush Cleaner" is amazing and will clean your brushes like nothing else. If you happen to have a cheap brush that works, that's fine, but it often doesn't last long. This brush cleaner helps it live a long life.
Edited by heychadwickI added some more markings. The standard stripe down both sides of the main body, some green on two of the cannons, and a darker cockpit frame.
Next, I added a tick to the wings and a block at the front of the sides of the fuselage's markings to designate it as "Dragon One", and a brown wash to give it a rusty look where wanted. I also started cleaning up the edges on my markings(while simultaneously screwing it up in other places). The stripes down the sides are pretty frustrating to get crisp...
Another funny thing about the cheap acrylic is that you can use a wet brush as an eraser for the paint that you've applied within the past couple hours. May be all acrylic does this, but I really doubt it.
Looks good. Nice job.
I'd say that probably the most important thing to get is a decent brush. Or at least treat your brush that works for you well enough. "The Master's Brush Cleaner" is amazing and will clean your brushes like anything. If you happen to have a cheap brush that works, that's fine, but it often doesn't last long. This brush cleaner helps it live a long life.
I definitely need some better brushes. For now, I bought a $5 pack of various very small sizes from Michaels, and they actually work pretty good. I've been using the same one so far, and if it finally gives up the ghost(or bristles), then I have 4 more.
I also have a couple other larger bristled brushes that I use for a wash. I think these are higher quality, but I got them when I was a kid and wanted to try doing model cars. I didn't wash them properly, so they look like the stumpy tail of a mangy dog now, but they work well for dry brushing and washes.
Once I decide to paint at a higher level, I'll definitely get some better tools of the trade. Thanks for the tip about the brush cleaner. I'll look it up.
Edited by WichenstadenThis is the brush cleaner. You can get it online or at any art supply store. They come in different sizes, but you don't need much.
Not only does it clean the paint out of the brushes well, but you can also rub some of the stuff in and leave it in when it dries to "re-train" your bristles to retain a point. This stuff really is amazing. I've found it in every private art teacher's class that I've seen.
It doesn't look like you need much advice in how to paint as you are doing an excellent job. I commiserate on the detail work and keeping lines crisp. The secret is just another coat to fix your mistakes...and another one to fix those mistakes....and another one to fix those mistakes....until it's "good enough".
As for brushes, if you find anything with a fine point that you like, that's good enough. People will always recommend the Winsor Newton series 7 brushes. You only need one for fine detail work. It's really anything with Kolinsky Sable hair should be good enough. They really make a great point for small detail. Not good for broad strokes, but great for X-wing stuff. I'm always torn about how to order. If you get online, be sure to check it and send back anything that isn't up to snuff. If you look locally, you have to ensure they have enough in stock. Check out the bristles and don't buy the last dredges at the store.
Excellent job on everything.
This is the brush cleaner. You can get it online or at any art supply store. They come in different sizes, but you don't need much.
Not only does it clean the paint out of the brushes well, but you can also rub some of the stuff in and leave it in when it dries to "re-train" your bristles to retain a point. This stuff really is amazing. I've found it in every private art teacher's class that I've seen.
It doesn't look like you need much advice in how to paint as you are doing an excellent job. I commiserate on the detail work and keeping lines crisp. The secret is just another coat to fix your mistakes...and another one to fix those mistakes....and another one to fix those mistakes....until it's "good enough".
As for brushes, if you find anything with a fine point that you like, that's good enough. People will always recommend the Winsor Newton series 7 brushes. You only need one for fine detail work. It's really anything with Kolinsky Sable hair should be good enough. They really make a great point for small detail. Not good for broad strokes, but great for X-wing stuff. I'm always torn about how to order. If you get online, be sure to check it and send back anything that isn't up to snuff. If you look locally, you have to ensure they have enough in stock. Check out the bristles and don't buy the last dredges at the store.
Excellent job on everything.
Interesting... I was totally expecting it to be like a brush cleaning "station" or something, not just a little can of a brush cleaning compound. I'll grab some sooner than later. Thanks!
I learned the "paint over your mistakes, then paint over those" from a guy in one of the main painting posts. I can't remember his name at the moment, but I'll find it and edit. It really does work well, even with my crazy line work.
Interesting... I was totally expecting it to be like a brush cleaning "station" or something, not just a little can of a brush cleaning compound. I'll grab some sooner than later. Thanks!
It really is cheap and is kind of amazing at what it does. It's one of those little things that rocks.
I learned the "paint over your mistakes, then paint over those" from a guy in one of the main painting posts. I can't remember his name at the moment, but I'll find it and edit. It really does work well, even with my crazy line work.
Yeah, I learned to paint checkerboard for Orcs and Goblins in WHFB. Very tedious, but if you keep at it, it looks really good. At least I didn't need the lines to be THAT clean for Orcs and Goblins.
Yeah, I learned to paint checkerboard for Orcs and Goblins in WHFB. Very tedious, but if you keep at it, it looks really good. At least I didn't need the lines to be THAT clean for Orcs and Goblins.
It would be a sad day indeed when an orc was cannibalized because the others did not like his artistic accuracy.
I just want to say thanks for these posts. I've been itching to try painting for a while now, and I have some free time coming up--but the relatively high buy-in for good paints and brushes (e.g., the Games Workshop stuff my FLGS sells) has turned me off. If you can really do a decent job with $15 worth of supplies from a craft store, then I might try it out!
Edited by Vorpal SwordYou might really want to spend the $10 on a decent detail brush. So, make it $25 and you should be fine.
DO NOT go for the Apple Barrel stuff from Wal-mart. The medium is no good and it comes out gloppy. It's OK....but really thin or too thick at times (from the same bottle).
I just want to say thanks for these posts. I've been itching to try painting for a while now, and I have some free time coming up--but the relatively high buy-in for good paints and brushes (e.g., the Games Workshop stuff my FLGS sells) has turned me off. If you can really do a decent job with $15 worth of supplies from a craft store, then I might try it out!
For starting out, you can absolutely try it out for $15. These are the paints that I got: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Daler-Rowney-Simply-Acrylic-Paint-Set-12pk/17617569 That's actually 2x as much as I got, but I couldn't find the 6-pack online. That 12-pack may save you from having to mix all of my colors like I did, though. Now that I know that artists acrylics are easy to paint miniatures with, I'll probably make the jump to nice W&N acrylic. I just wanted to see if it was feasible for someone new like me to use the cheap option.
And these are the brushes: http://www.michaels.com/craft-smart-round-brush-set-golden-taklon-4-piece/10408282.html#start=26 I thought it came with 5, but I guess it only came with 4. I've only used these for my detail work, so I honestly can't say how good they are in comparison to anything else; only that they work for me. If I had to gripe about something, I would say that they don't hold paint too well, so I have to get more after a couple strokes, but I'm used to that now. I would probably attribute that to them being synthetic. As I mentioned earlier, I've only used one of them so far, so you may want to just spend that $5 plus a little more to get a single nice brush for detail, then a single nice brush for washing and dry brushing like heychadwick mentioned.
You'll also need something resealable like these paint cups for mixing your paint: http://www.michaels.com/artists-loft-mix-and-save-cups/10271583.html#pmpt=qualifying&start=46
And, finally, you'll need to make a wet pallet to thin your paints in. Just get a small resealable sandwich container, put a wet paper towel in the bottom, then a piece of parchment paper used for baking over that. If you mix small amounts of paint on top of that, those drops will last for a very long time. You can open it several days later and the paint will still be wet. These are cheap paints, though, so know they you will have to remix any custom colors you've made after they sit for awhile. In my case, I would have a pool of gray and a pool of green.
If you run into any problems, or have any questions, just ask. I'm sure I can give you all sorts of bad advice.
You might really want to spend the $10 on a decent detail brush. So, make it $25 and you should be fine.
DO NOT go for the Apple Barrel stuff from Wal-mart. The medium is no good and it comes out gloppy. It's OK....but really thin or too thick at times (from the same bottle).
I'm glad I didn't buy that stuff instead. It sounds like this experience would have been much different if I had.
Edited by WichenstadenI've had super cheap brushes that worked amazing for me. So, while expensive brushes are nice, you don't HAVE to get them. Saying that, though, I have to report that I've had many horrible experiences with cheap brushes. Buying a $1 pack and finding a great brush isn't so bad and spending $1 and getting nothing isn't bad, either. DO NOT buy Games Workshop brushes, though. They are some of the worst brushes of any type ever used.
You don't need a wet pallet, but it helps if you are mixing your own colors. It will keep it wet for a few days.
As for the Apple Barrel.....well....it might not be as much of an issue with X-wing. It's cheap and gloppy and doesn't spread too well. If there is a color that is just perfect and you won't have to mix your other paints for....then it's worth it....if it's just a little bit of detail. If you are needing to coat any area of space, it will be too thin or to thick and not be worth it. It will look bad. So, don't get the off white in an attempt to paint your whole X-wing with it. If there is a really cool off red or something and you want to paint a strip on your ship, then it might be fine. Of course, some colors are better than others. Don't get their metallics at all. Their greens aren't that good. White is fine, but off white isn't. I wouldn't trust their yellows, unless you expect to put a lot of coats on.
Oh....any time you want to paint a nice color on the ship.....start with a darker under coat. So, let's say you want to put a nice bright red on. You start off with a dark red. Then you paint a regular red. Then you paint the red red. The paint is always a bit see through and instead of just trying to paint the bright color you want starting off....it will come out looking washed out. So, you paint the darkest color and work your way up in brightness.
Hey, my Bachelors in Arts comes in handy every now and again!