I just "finished" my first mini ever (just picked up this great hobby last week). I'm looking for advice on how to make this guy look a bit better . Part of the problem was with how I started with the Matte White primer -- I didn't get very good coverage. The other issue is, it seems to be hard to work with white as the main armor color? My scheme for the Daqan is white primary, red secondary (cloth) and silver trim.

Anyway here is the result of my first Daqan Spearman - https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/imEuatUlVDgbUoNmBGqJAL3Odq5FJ79IBmX1uhWH3ci

Here were the steps I took (roughly) -- these are all Army Painter brand

1. Matte White Base & Primer (and not enough on this first mini, I've done a ton better on subsequent ones)

2. Dragon Red for cloth, Leather for boots / gloves, Plate Mail for silver trim, Barbarian flesh for face, Oak brown for spear shaft.

3. Dark Tone wash (water based from the bottle - not the varnish based) applied everywhere -- probably didn't need to put it directly on the center of the shield. Mopped up pools with the brush.

4. Highlighted with more matte white to get some of the armor brightness back (too much Dark Tone on major areas I think). Shining silver for the trim highlighting. Pure red for cloth highlighting. Monster brown for straps on boots and shield.

And here is a collection of photos along the way -- https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/wuYDNPUqoOpJlTqvC6dH99Dkbyd0EoQep4HYCnANwrF

I think the biggest issue is that the silver and white are too similar. You should probably go with a darker trim, in my opinion. It will make the white look whiter, I think, and having that contrast will make the paint job look crisper because the colors won't blend together too much.

This advice brought to you by another complete novice, so take it with a grain of salt.

As a first attempt I think he looks great. White is always tricky. But it looks good. I agree with Budgernaut in that the silver and white don't give enough contrast. Perhaps try a lighter silver highlight or maybe try a gold trim.

Try a dry brushed highlight on the red to bring that out too.

i used to base models in white but now I'm a big fan of using black. It does mean you have to put more layers on top of that but it does give a darker effect and more contrast in the recesses.

the thing that transformed my painting though was the agrax earthshade wash from gamesworkshop. I definitely recommend trying some of that.

White is difficult to paint, but remember if you want to look white, at least 50% of the area HAS TO ACTUALLY BE WHITE.

Mop washing over your white won't be white anymore, if you want to darken areas, try pin washing them, that is to say very selectively applying wash as shadows only in selective areas. Dont slap wash over white panels, if you want white panels.

Otherwise looks fine, as we are not entirely sure of your full intent. My spearmen don't look much better as I didn't feel like getting fancy when I have 64 to paint.

Personally I think the white and silver is great, but you'll need to keep it clean to pull it off. Currently it is more grey and grey, also fine, but push contrast. Maybe white and gunmetal? You can have 3 types of contrast when it comes down to it. Colour (hue), brightness, and luminosity (shiny vs not, glossy vs matte, etc)

I'd try thinning your paint down a little bit. There seems to be too much contrast happening too quickly. Try a 3:1 mix, 3 parts paint to 1 part water.

And use a good primer, don't skimp on a cheap brand. I use Tamiya Surface Primer Fine White spray, which should be available at any model/hobby store.

If your going for a white/silver I would stick with a white primer. Going to a grey or black primer would mean putting on more layers.

Lastly I think you may need a smaller brush to get in closer, there seems to be a bit of silver surrounding the white of the shield.

I think I'm going to try a few things on the next figure.

1) gold trim to better differentiate

2) soft tone wash to keep the shadows looking too dark

3) NOT brush the wash on the white, only on the very edges

Thanks for the advice. I'll post my next result.

Edit:

Actually for the next one I'm going to try slightly darker silver trim, and not washing the white panels, since I like the silver on the leggings. It's really the chest that lost all detail ( and I darkened the shield way too much with shade )

Best thing is keep practising and trying things. If it goes wrong just leave the model in dettol overnight, brush with an old toothbrush, paint all comes off and you are back to square one

good luck

for my whites I use pallid witch flesh from GW, it's a slight off white. The wash darkens it, I then go over again with pallid witch flesh then highlight with a white to make the detail stand out

4 hours ago, Darthain said:

White is difficult to paint, but remember if you want to look white, at least 50% of the area HAS TO ACTUALLY BE WHITE.

Mop washing over your white won't be white anymore, if you want to darken areas, try pin washing them, that is to say very selectively applying wash as shadows only in selective areas. Dont slap wash over white panels, if you want white panels.

Otherwise looks fine, as we are not entirely sure of your full intent. My spearmen don't look much better as I didn't feel like getting fancy when I have 64 to paint.

Personally I think the white and silver is great, but you'll need to keep it clean to pull it off. Currently it is more grey and grey, also fine, but push contrast. Maybe white and gunmetal? You can have 3 types of contrast when it comes down to it. Colour (hue), brightness, and luminosity (shiny vs not, glossy vs matte, etc)

D'oh! never thought of that - next models.

I liked the white, but liked the shading - never occurred to me to leave some of the white alone in shading.

Good Tip!!

I actually really like that scheme!

the white reminds me of all the Imp Stormtroopers I had to paint for IA. OMG. what a pain.

Sorastro has a great method for painting the armor. look for the video detailing the Heavy Stormtroopers.

On 6/17/2017 at 2:03 PM, CaribbeanNinja said:

I actually really like that scheme!

the white reminds me of all the Imp Stormtroopers I had to paint for IA. OMG. what a pain.

Sorastro has a great method for painting the armor. look for the video detailing the Heavy Stormtroopers.

Thanks for the tip -- here's the link for anyone looking -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In12QLHJxqc

Here's another similar one with Army Painter paints - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvdWv4CQKA4

I think the big take-away from these two is I should thin out my Dark Tone shade with QuickShade mixing medium.

I'm going to try that on my next run, and keep the silver / white look (and probably pick up some GunMetal for the chest silver)

I finally got to the wash stage of my first batch of spearmen. This time I used the Army Painter Dark Tone combined with the Quickshade Wash Mixing Medium. I did a 2:1 ratio (8 drops of medium, 4 drops of dark tone) and mixed it up.

I have my highlighted / finished spearman on the left, and a bunch of ones that 'just went through the wash' on the right -- so they still have some highlighting to do (and basing). I think the thinning actually worked pretty well for the white armor. I was content with the results -- I may need to brighten the original reds on the first guy a bit to match, but I think it's coming out alright.

Here is the image - https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/Gw6tKNbBQWDTPtoyo5i7X2n3K3WwVQlg56xQTU5O4G3

Awesome work well done

Looks good to me. Nice scheme.

Looks great! Can't wait to see a full horde of these guys!

My only advice: I think that's part of the helmet, not a nose.

I think you're right. I blame this video for leading me astray.

I wasnt sure about the helmet/nose either.....decided to paint as a nose just to show a bit more fleshtone on the model.

I should have used this as reference.

one massive honker if it was a nose lol

Well I fixed the nose guards, and finally have my first batch of spearman completely finished, started working on my next batch of 8 already.

Here's a picture of them (sitting on my X-Wing mat of course).

https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/B14SFMBY3SpnMGnoeNDo6thXLoQLXN0ChUNbUjZoWyS

Someday soon, I'll post the whole pile of finished ones, and probably some horsey pictures.

Thanks for all your help!

your white is surprisingly clean. Thats probably one of the hardest colors to paint properly.

I have the Weapons Master model painted with white armor since to me he looks like a Cleric and even just that 1 model took me awhile to look right lol

1 hour ago, Glucose98 said:

Well I fixed the nose guards, and finally have my first batch of spearman completely finished, started working on my next batch of 8 already.

Here's a picture of them (sitting on my X-Wing mat of course).

https://www.amazon.com/photos/share/B14SFMBY3SpnMGnoeNDo6thXLoQLXN0ChUNbUjZoWyS

Someday soon, I'll post the whole pile of finished ones, and probably some horsey pictures.

Thanks for all your help!

I did the same thing, for me, a genetic trait of the Daqan is big honkers.

2 hours ago, Vineheart01 said:

your white is surprisingly clean. Thats probably one of the hardest colors to paint properly.

I have the Weapons Master model painted with white armor since to me he looks like a Cleric and even just that 1 model took me awhile to look right lol

Most of my white is from the original priming. Also yes, I regret picking white, it ends up showing brush strokes, looking chalky, and in general doesn't have a lot of differentiation. But I always liked making 'white armies' in the warhammer 40k video games and what not. I just like the look.

2 hours ago, Vineheart01 said:

your white is surprisingly clean. Thats probably one of the hardest colors to paint properly.

I have the Weapons Master model painted with white armor since to me he looks like a Cleric and even just that 1 model took me awhile to look right lol

Oh -- have a picture of your Weapons Master?

1 hour ago, Glucose98 said:

Oh -- have a picture of your Weapons Master?

Normally i paint the metal tip of their boots, but i figured white boots would be odd so i left it black like all the leather is. Even as is, i wasnt 100% pleased with the chest but space kinda prevented clean, smooth strokes there.
Obviously not based yet. That process is just a long time of waiting so i just do it whenever i got a dozen or so models that need bases.
This also shows why i dont have many pictures of my stuff yet. Lighting in my apartment is an issue....