Started to screw around with swords.

Amazing

ugh making my painting skills look like i just started....

That sword is amazing though. Is that an airbrush trick? I havnt seen anyone give the sword that kind of detail w/o an airbrush

7 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

ugh making my painting skills look like i just started....

That sword is amazing though. Is that an airbrush trick? I havnt seen anyone give the sword that kind of detail w/o an airbrush

Don't need air brush for that, nmm glazing techniques will see you there.

2 hours ago, Ywingscum said:

Amazing

Thanks, glad you like it. If I get some more free time I'll see if I can do some write-ups on some of the techniques used (though almost everything is in the tutorial collection thread).

12 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

ugh making my painting skills look like i just started....

That sword is amazing though. Is that an airbrush trick? I havnt seen anyone give the sword that kind of detail w/o an airbrush

It's too small for my *** airbrush. It's all done with a Size 2 round brush, a bunch of paints and water.

I use the airbrush to prime minis without the spray smell and to do the main base-coat color for large groups or large surface areas. The base coats I used to do with a regular brush size 8 and larger and tbh, this is just quicker, you can get as smooth of a finish with a large brush.
On Cavalry Maro I used it to do the bone horror glow but for tabletop quality I could have just as easily painted the main area of the magic parts and drybrush a transition around it to make it "glow".

tbh i thought about getting an airbrush for priming alone lol.

Especially on cavalry models i find it difficult to prime the whole model with a spray can. Im either leaving parts of it basically unprimed, or gumming out detail. Usually i prime my models in pieces with 0 overlapping parts, but RWM's horses are one solid piece with a base in the way of the bottom half.
Plus, then i can do it inside. Wind is annoying sometimes....lol

For glow, you can replicate the air brush with glazes, it does take time though. Time and patience to work light glazes. Worth it imo, looks less shabby than dry brushing. It is work and just making the glaze is a learning curve.

1 minute ago, Vineheart01 said:

tbh i thought about getting an airbrush for priming alone lol.

Especially on cavalry models i find it difficult to prime the whole model with a spray can. Im either leaving parts of it basically unprimed, or gumming out detail. Usually i prime my models in pieces with 0 overlapping parts, but RWM's horses are one solid piece with a base in the way of the bottom half.
Plus, then i can do it inside. Wind is annoying sometimes....lol

Just do it in a larger workspace with good ventilation and preferably wearing a dust mask.

One more thing about the swords, especially the one on Maro. You have two flat areas meeting at an angle. You can use that and paint each half of the blade using the side of your brush. Make sure your paint is thin tough. Dry paint in your bristles and painting with the side will not end well for the brush.

1 minute ago, Darthain said:

For glow, you can replicate the air brush with glazes, it does take time though. Time and patience to work light glazes. Worth it imo, looks less shabby than dry brushing. It is work and just making the glaze is a learning curve.

To add to this - glazes are similar looking in consistency to washes but washes run more.
Best way to make a glaze is to take some paint, add water and then add glaze medium to it. Sorastro if I recall had some good ratios in some of this Blood Rage painting tutorials.

But you don't really need an exact ratio. Just thin your paint with some glaze medium and water, load some paint onto your brush, touch the side of it to the edge of a napkin and paint it onto your thumb nail.

If it runs wild, you made a wash - use less water/medium.
If you get a very slight tint you're good. You will then use this nearly clear paint to build up a lot of layers. This creates the smooth transition.

There is also a trick for transitions where you thin your paints well, then load your darker shade first, then your highlight color and you paint from the highlight out. As the highlight color in your brush tip runs out, the darker paint comes down. I haven't practiced this enough though to get it right every time.

5 minutes ago, Polda said:

To add to this - glazes are similar looking in consistency to washes but washes run more.
Best way to make a glaze is to take some paint, add water and then add glaze medium to it. Sorastro if I recall had some good ratios in some of this Blood Rage painting tutorials.

But you don't really need an exact ratio. Just thin your paint with some glaze medium and water, load some paint onto your brush, touch the side of it to the edge of a napkin and paint it onto your thumb nail.

If it runs wild, you made a wash - use less water/medium.
If you get a very slight tint you're good. You will then use this nearly clear paint to build up a lot of layers. This creates the smooth transition.

There is also a trick for transitions where you thin your paints well, then load your darker shade first, then your highlight color and you paint from the highlight out. As the highlight color in your brush tip runs out, the darker paint comes down. I haven't practiced this enough though to get it right every time.

Loaded brush blending, you devil. That's a tricky one I have not practiced.

@Vineheart01
If you have time, go through this series. It's amazing.

that is definitely above my skill level lol.

I tend to be a bit rough with my brushes. The main "trick" i use is drybrushing and wash staining, which of course drybrushing can butcher brushes lol. I tend to use cheaper brushes as a result, ruining a couple of cheapos for a dozen or so models feels cheaper than an expensive brush i have to be ginger with, even if it yields better results. Ive tried just going in with a fine tip but i seem to always end up with a hard edge somewhere there shouldnt be a hard edge unless i drybrush it lol
Showcase levels are not what i aim for, my hands arent steady enough for that (nor my vision sharp enough, i can only paint at max an hour and a half before my vision starts to blur from looking at the same thing for so long). I would love to be able to paint at that level, but good god that was a 40min video for a chestplate! I think my Hawthorne took 40min from start to finish (doesnt look remotely as good as yours but still looks pretty good imo)
Lighting is my bane atm or i'd post a pic of him. Feels like everything i try in this apartment to raise the light levels makes my pictures look even darker - even in a light box lol.
I really should do the NMM technique on my red armor though, its kinda flat compared to the gold trim. Atleast a minimal effort so its got the extreme edgings like the peak of the shoulderpad.

12 minutes ago, Vineheart01 said:

that is definitely above my skill level lol.

I tend to be a bit rough with my brushes. The main "trick" i use is drybrushing and wash staining, which of course drybrushing can butcher brushes lol. I tend to use cheaper brushes as a result, ruining a couple of cheapos for a dozen or so models feels cheaper than an expensive brush i have to be ginger with, even if it yields better results. Ive tried just going in with a fine tip but i seem to always end up with a hard edge somewhere there shouldnt be a hard edge unless i drybrush it lol
Showcase levels are not what i aim for, my hands arent steady enough for that (nor my vision sharp enough, i can only paint at max an hour and a half before my vision starts to blur from looking at the same thing for so long). I would love to be able to paint at that level, but good god that was a 40min video for a chestplate! I think my Hawthorne took 40min from start to finish (doesnt look remotely as good as yours but still looks pretty good imo)
Lighting is my bane atm or i'd post a pic of him. Feels like everything i try in this apartment to raise the light levels makes my pictures look even darker - even in a light box lol.
I really should do the NMM technique on my red armor though, its kinda flat compared to the gold trim. Atleast a minimal effort so its got the extreme edgings like the peak of the shoulderpad.

Regarding lighting, check this out, helped me immensely, particularly with tiny armada fighters. :

You could also get one of these LED globes. I use one in my work lamp. Look for the 6500K or "Cool White" ones. Though for pictures I just use a ring flash adapter.

24 minutes ago, Polda said:

You could also get one of these LED globes. I use one in my work lamp. Look for the 6500K or "Cool White" ones. Though for pictures I just use a ring flash adapter.

Just use any standard bulb desk lamp? I'm looking for some ideas to upgrade my somewhat ineffective reading lamp (too much shadow being cast)

6 minutes ago, Glucose98 said:

Just use any standard bulb desk lamp? I'm looking for some ideas to upgrade my somewhat ineffective reading lamp (too much shadow being cast)

Desk lamps are same issue, directionality. IMO anyway. I use absurd amounts of light painting though.

Yeah you can use any desklamp. I have a 13W LED bulb in my desk lamp that isnt suppose to have more than 50watts incandescent. 50W regular bulb isnt very bright, but a 13W LED is a dang sun ray lol. Desk lamps are only regulated to the power they can handle (watts), so if you find something thats 100W equiv, but only uses like 10-20W, it can use it. Bare in mind though thats a 20USD bulb lol....

Problem is, its too bright. That thing casts "rays" of light too rapid for our eyes to catch but the camera sure does. If i bounce it off a wall or a sheet of paper it doesnt pick up the rays, but then the brightness is way way down. I need to get 1-2 more of these lamps with a more moderate watt level (maybe 75 instead of 100 equiv)

Its weird. My last apartment only had 1 window and it was blocked due to nowhere to put the TV. This new apartment has several windows, i figured the lighting would be improved...it got insanely worse... im betting the beige-colored walls has something to do with it, i had white before.

3 hours ago, Darthain said:

Loaded brush blending, you devil. That's a tricky one I have not practiced.

I miss painting buddha. They just fell off the face of the earth, it seems.

Where did you get the sweeping ghost additions to the maro model. They really work well with the original look

1 hour ago, Warpedstorm said:

Where did you get the sweeping ghost additions to the maro model. They really work well with the original look

Age of Sigmar Malignants starter. I am building a Coven Throne as a display piece for my desk and every other part is kitbash candy for my Waiqar got some great lances for Carrion Lancers, swords, shields, heads, chests etc.

2 minutes ago, Polda said:

Age of Sigmar Malignants starter. I am building a Coven Throne as a display piece for my desk and every other part is kitbash candy for my Waiqar got some great lances for Carrion Lancers, swords, shields, heads, chests etc.

Works really nicely, good choice. Don't think I can justify buying the set just for those additions but it's tempting lol. Love what you did there

1 hour ago, Warpedstorm said:

Works really nicely, good choice. Don't think I can justify buying the set just for those additions but it's tempting lol. Love what you did there

@Warpedstorm you could ask around in your area to see if some Age of Sigmar players went with the Coven Throne and has the Mortis Engine bits laying around. Or ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/WARHAMMER-BIN-BITS-VAMPIRE-COUNTS-MORTIS-ENGINE-3x-SWARMING-BANSHEES-/331829332087?epid=1207784881&hash=item4d4291c877:g:qGAAAOSwz2lXDFf~

RE: lighting issue

I got one of these fluorescent magnifying lamps for my birthday: https://www.uline.com/BL_607/Desktop-Illuminated-Magnifier . I really like it. I don't use the magnifying part all the time, but the light is excellent. And it's convenient having the magnifier right there, just in case.

I need to take a break from Maro before going back and catching some details I know I missed.

So here's some other stuff in the works.

PS: I HAVE GONE ON A NMM LEARNING SPREE SOMEBODY STOP ME BEFORE I PAINT A SWORD AGAIN!


WIP Kari:

WIP Waiqar Champion (modified)
(the parts in true metallics on the unit upgrades I want to turn into NMM eventually)