https://i.imgur.com/O4MMvFZ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/i966XDv.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mAx7NTT.jpg

Ok ... few things ...

• Have not built a model in a LONG time
• Have not painted in a LONG time
• Never painted a mini for a game
• In anticipation of Legion arriving I am trying to teach myself how to model and paint
• Coming from place of absolute novice

Sources ... to give some credit and, then, help other new or newer guys or new guys afraid to try

• The Terrain Tutor and ALL of this stuff. Just excellent stuff especially if you want to understand the science behind some things
• Sorastro's Painting Guides. The complex made super simple. Great examples of how to use washes, glazes and use of specific wash/glaze against or with other colors
• Table Top Minions. Really great videos for a beginner
• Miniwargaming.com. Their How To videos are solid
• Luke Towan. Just flat out amazing stuff related to modeling / building of scale models
• The Boards ... reading along and seeing other people try gave me the push needed to get going

The Terrain Piece

I figured something set in the desert would be forgiving ... easier ... and familiar, as I spend a great deal of time in south & southwest and northwest Texas, which is dry, dusty and rocky. Also, fits into the trilogy fairly easily.

I wanted to depict a piece of old, forgotten equipment. Lots of that standing in the middle of nowhere in the parts of Texas I mentioned. ALL of it covered in a film of dust. For example, a piece of Old Republic equipment forgotten on Tatooine.

Lastly, I figured making terrain is forgiving and a great practice area to work with washes, different materials, paints and apply what I have learned. Start here. Move onto minis.

The Piece of Equipment

Have done a bunch of research on the architecture of SW. Consistent use of 30, 45, 60 and 90 degree angles in the Old Republic & Imperial buildings/equipment. Did what I could to replicate that with thrown away items.

The Rock

I wanted to see if I could mold/make a rock from latex. Intellectual curious and wanted to see how it would turn out.

The Parts & Materials

The Piece of Equipment

• K-Cup / Keurig Pod
• Card Stock
• Office Labels
• Foam paper
• Wine wrapper's foil
• Small piece of wire
• A few tiny glass beads

The Base

• Foam Board
• Acrylic Spackle
• 2 different sizes of small modeling rocks/grit
• Baking Soda

The Rock

• Mold Builder (Latex)
• Plaster of Paris Mix

Glues

• PVA
• Super Glue
• Testor's Rubber Cement

Primers

• Rust-Oleum Camo Dark Brown
• Rust-Oleum Camo Tan
• Rust-Oleum Dark Grey

Paints

• Vallejo's Black, Neutral Grey and White
• Citadel's Leadbelcher, Evil Sun Scarlet

Washes

• Citadel Sepia, Nulin Oil, Agrax Earthhade, D Nightshade

Dry/Texture

• Citadel's Dry Terminatus Stone & Slyvaneth Bark

Tools

• A #1 Windsor Newton (As a novice, I noticed how much different this worked against my $5 pack of 5 brushes)
• A flat, cheap brush
• A pointed/round cheap brush
• Wet palette (This thing makes painting so much easier ... so much easier)
• Sponge

What I Learned ...

You know. All those painting and modeling videos making everything look super simple. Some things are. Some things are far more complex and, well, the guys on Youtube are super talented.

Accidents happen and are not always bad. For example, I used black foam board by design. My understanding is that it would not warp under the pressure of the Acrylic Spackle, yet, it did a little. Lesson learned. Next, the spackle dried a fairly bright tan, as the white let some black show through. Pretty cool. Same with the Rock. It dried a bright white and, when primed with the Dark Brown Camo, it created nearly 100% of the effects you see in the photos. That was unexpected. The Tan primer was dusted over the base. Given the dynamic between the dried spackle and black foam board not much was needed.

Spackle can be moved around and molded a fair amount. I built a pretty cool ridge to hold/balance the large Rock. I hesitated placing the Rock onto the final base, as the ridge came out far better than I expected. Throw on some rubber gloves; grab an old knife or fork and have at it.

Sharp hobby knives make things easier. Much easier. Especially cutting foam board.

Watered down PVA serves a purpose. I used it to help seal my foam board prior to doing anything. I locked all the small rocks/pebbles into place with it. I also sealed the Equipment structure with it.

Apparently, you collect trash to make terrain. Seriously, I now have a large tub full or cleansed pieces of plastic and small scraps of different types of wire and paper products.

Different glues are needed on different objects.

Dry brushing ... Creates some nice effects especially the dry/texture paints from Citadel

Mixing washes for tonal effects, which I learned via Sorastro, is handy. The Equipment is a mix of Nulin Oil and the D'hof Nightshade. The blue gave it just enough of a tint to make everything look more steel-like.

Baking soda does give a nice effect with super Glue but DO NOT let it touch you, while applying. It burns a little.

I learned I can put washes on top of one another in phases to achieve certain looks. The Sepia was used in small doses over a few applications on the Rock and Base.

I know zero about color theory or any of that ... none. I did figure out using a single color on everything ... the Dry Terminatus Stone ... tied everything together.

Take progress photos. I took none.

There is something to this 3 foot, tabletop view. My photos show the finishes product UP CLOSE. You can see minor errors and such. At a distance inside or in the sun it looks fine.

Finally, ground terrain really cannot be "messed up". I have crazy OCD and just sort of rolled with whatever was going on and it came out ok.

Up Next ...

I bought the Alliance Ally pack and a $20 build a squad from Mad Robot Miniatures. Also, I primed a piece of art paper made specifically for water colors with white, grey and black. Made my own little color wheel, as I have notice stuff in bottle; stuff on webpage and stuff dried looks different. Also, as I saw with the my primer on the Rock and base, I wanted to see how rich/light something would look over white, grey and black primer.

My goal is to get 1-2 guys painted in Rebel Pathfinder colors (via Rogue One)

Very cool man!

Thank you, sir

It is; 1. Interesting, 2. Effects movement, 3. Visually appealing.

So you have a hit.

1 minute ago, Sirdrasco said:

It is; 1. Interesting, 2. Effects movement, 3. Visually appealing.

So you have a hit.

Thank you

To point #2 ... now, that I look at it, I understand what you mean by that

This looks great. I'm also a noob, and I remember in one of Terrain Tutor's vids (the path/road one I believe) he puts the brown packing tape on the bottom of the bases to counteract warping.

Sincethe spackle will shrink when drying, and the packing tape does not stretch at all, he said it should prevent the minor warping you may see in your base.

I also am using foam board as a base and just had one warp ever so slightly on me last night. I remembered the tape trick and am gonna try it next time.

36 minutes ago, manoftomorrow010 said:

This looks great. I'm also a noob, and I remember in one of Terrain Tutor's vids (the path/road one I believe) he puts the brown packing tape on the bottom of the bases to counteract warping.

Sincethe spackle will shrink when drying, and the packing tape does not stretch at all, he said it should prevent the minor warping you may see in your base.

I also am using foam board as a base and just had one warp ever so slightly on me last night. I remembered the tape trick and am gonna try it next time.

And ... completely missed this step / rule.

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated.

I am trying to find screen shots or blue prints/design art for the fusion generator supply tanks. Looking at photos I think I could easily make them. Just need to sort out their size and having hard time finding a photo of those with a person or anything mentioning dimensions

1 hour ago, Dash Two said:

And ... completely missed this step / rule.

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated.

I am trying to find screen shots or blue prints/design art for the fusion generator supply tanks. Looking at photos I think I could easily make them. Just need to sort out their size and having hard time finding a photo of those with a person or anything mentioning dimensions

I'm not 100% sure which devices you're referring to, can't picture it, but, you could try Googling images from Star Wars Battlefront, as I've had good luck finding reference pics from the game, often with players in the image, to determine size. I'm doing this with an uplink/supply station from Endor, where players were standing around crates and cargo containers to properly judge their size.

Excellent terrain piece! I couldn't tell if that was a found rock or not. You should try October's Community Challenge!

By the by if you want to place images from imugr in your post:

Hover your pointer over your username in the top right. A drop down menu appears. Click "Images".

If you've uploaded any pics, they should show here. If not load your images (it's the green bar).

Select your image to upload by clicking on the preview thumbnail. A pop up window should appear with the picture you selected and a list of links to copy.

Copy the BBC Code (for message boards and forums) by clicking the blue "copy" button to the right.

Then paste that into your forum post.

Voila!

Thanks for the note, FM.

I had originally done that and the pics transferred, as I saw your instructions in another thread. They were HUGE. Thus, I opted for the links. Never used Imugr and have to figure out how to resize the photos.

I have 2 ideas for a power source. Started my first mini today. Painting. My respect level for people that do that ... and film .. and make it look so easy ... has multiplied considerably.

Since it is a budget of $10 or less the idea is trending towards more salvaged plastic / things I have around the house.

8 hours ago, Dash Two said:

Thanks for the note, FM.

I had originally done that and the pics transferred, as I saw your instructions in another thread. They were HUGE. Thus, I opted for the links. Never used Imugr and have to figure out how to resize the photos.

I have 2 ideas for a power source. Started my first mini today. Painting. My respect level for people that do that ... and film .. and make it look so easy ... has multiplied considerably.

Since it is a budget of $10 or less the idea is trending towards more salvaged plastic / things I have around the house.

I look forward to seeing you over in the October Challenge thread. You're off to an amazing start!

Not an attempt to pump my stuff up. Attempted to edit my initial post per FM's suggestion and running into some issues. This was the quickest workaround to post the pics for quick viewing.

I should take some close ups of the little grey Equipment, as my weathering effects came out decent. I am my harshest critic but the results were far better than I expected for first time out. The sides are good. The top has an unfortunate wash stain on it.

Stains=Character

9 hours ago, Force Majeure said:

Stains=Character

Apart from in real life...

And ... my first attempt at painting a mini ...

For those of you that have done this for years ... appreciate any pointers/tips; realize I am a novice and my hope here is to share what I am learning with anyone else new, who may be afraid to get going. The community got me going so trying to pay it back a little.

Photo on left is base layer and second photo is post washes with boots, gaiters, belt and backpack highlighted.

What I am Shooting For ...

Big Rogue One fan and like the Pathfinders. I bought the book Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Dictionary. That along with painting videos from Sorastro, Miniwargaming.com and Table Top Minions have/are providing the direction and help. My goal was to get a test model completed in Pathfinder gear.

I took a little liberty, as the yellow you see is on all their uniforms in either a small rectangle and or as a color of clothing. None, though, have a jacket of that color and well aware this model does not represent a Pathfinder in R1. My mini ... dig the color ... need the practice ... mixed it up a little. Speaking of mixing ...

That blue, which is a hue of clothing native to Columbia sportswear ... yeah, was difficult to arrive at. Trial & error. Ended up being a 2:1 mix of The Fang with Vallejo's Black Grey and, then, washed with watered down Nulin Oil. D'Nightshade instead of Nulin Oil returned an almost identical result with just a tiny bit more blue.

What Has Been Learned or I am Learning ...

Those videos of pros painting make this look about 1,000,000x easier than it is.

Patience required.

A wet palette, thinning medium and glazing medium all serve a really valuable function.

Layers. Many, many, many layers of finely thinned paint get you to where you want to go. I think I spent an hour on the backpack and could go do more.

Wet blending is handy and not nearly as hard as it appears. Now, making it look pro level is a different story but I was able to get some decent results once I tried it.

You hear "pushing the paint" on many of the tutorials. It did not take long to figure out with thin paints you can literally drive the paint around the model. And wherever your brush stops last ... yep, the most paint is in that spot.

If the paints are super thin, even a minor mistake is quickly resolved with a quick wipe with a brush; cotton swab; finger or can be covered up with another layer of paint.

Patience required.

Paints in bottles; paints on palette; paints on model; dried paints on model and, then, dried pants post washes ... all my look differently. I took a large, throw away piece of plastic ... some type of food container ... primed part of it white/grey/black ... and did test runs on colors with different washes placed upon them.

Washes, like, paints can be thinned.

Washes, like paints, can be placed on a model in super thin layers achieving decent results.

Washes, like paints, can be mixed to enhance or subdue tone.

Patience required.

I tried out worn/distressed leather on the belt and, then, backpack. Sorastro does it a few different ways, as do Miniwargaming. I gave it a go. The belt, though, has not had a tie together wash, like Sepia, ran over it to dull it down/pull together. Same with backpack.

I made a huge mistake on the final highlight layer of the backpack. Too much of the color got loose on the top of the backpack. Since I had all the colors laid out on the wet palette I went back 3 hues; watered it way down; started applying to the effected area and it fixed it. I learned something in the process.

The pros are REALLY good and patience is required.

I am extremely slow? I have chipped away at this a little bit each day this week. Thought I might be done by now. It will take me a decade to paint an 800 point army.

To get the color I really wanted via base layers pre washes ... took about 4 applications. That about normal?

Great start! The more you paint the easier it will get.

If you break it down to these steps, you shouldn't have to over think it:

1. Prime your figure(s)
2. Paint your base colors, starting from the inside out the way you'd dress yourself: skin & undergarments first, then shirt, pants, belt, shoes, jacket, backpack, hat/helmet, etc.
3. Add details like buckles, buttons, wires, etc.
4. Apply washes as necessary
5. Re-apply base colors where/if an area became too dark or got away from you
6. Dry brush/edge highlight where necessary

Of course you might fiddle with the order of some of the detail/wash/highlighting order to suit the figure or the look you want.

Regarding the time you spend on a figure should really depend on your experience and if you have a unique fig like a hero or a generic. You typically spend more time on uniques as they tend to have more attention paid to them.

You are doing well. Paint generics in small batches so you don't burn out, and do it in assembly line fashion.

You're going to be surprised how quickly your skills will improve from your first fig to the fifth!

Thanks for sharing your painting journey!

Thanks, FM. Baby steps ...

Goal was to finish this weekend and did not happen. Progress with the pants being done and started on gloves/helmet (khaki).

Went back and tied the leather straps (back pack) and belt together with several thinned layers of Sepia Wash.

I screwed up on the pants. Instead of using a lighter brown to soften the olive drab I used the flat earth from the belt/strap. It created a slight orange tint. Sort of happy with how the pants came out but realize, while looking here, I could probably use a glaze to soften the transition on his left leg.

Your miniature looks great. There is no wrong way to paint these Alliance Rangers. I like how you gave them more of a Rogue One look than an Endor look.

I prefer to paint my miniatures to look more like the Star Wars action figure line. Bold colors with minimal washes and because I purchased multiple sets I wasnt afraid to create Pre-Disney expanded universe paint schemes. (Shadow troopers, Elite Royal Guards, Rebel Trooper Captains, Boba Fett from TESB and ROTJ)

If you like you can view some of my painted minis in the Imperial Assault forum.

1 hour ago, C3POFETT said:

Your miniature looks great. There is no wrong way to paint these Alliance Rangers. I like how you gave them more of a Rogue One look than an Endor look.

I prefer to paint my miniatures to look more like the Star Wars action figure line. Bold colors with minimal washes and because I purchased multiple sets I wasnt afraid to create Pre-Disney expanded universe paint schemes. (Shadow troopers, Elite Royal Guards, Rebel Trooper Captains, Boba Fett from TESB and ROTJ)

If you like you can view some of my painted minis in the Imperial Assault forum.

Thank you and I saw your stuff at some point this weekend. Pretty cool concept. You achieve that look, as they do like like the action figures. The Greedo was a good one.

I liked the look of mine pre-washes. And I did not understand the exaggerated shadows/highlights until I actually started painting. Up close it sort of looks silly. From a distance it provokes movement, which is the point.

I am hesitant to start on the face due to how difficult it appears it will be and the lack of access to an entire side due to his arm/gun. Not an ideal situation for a new guy

19 minutes ago, Dash Two said:

I am hesitant to start on the face due to how difficult it appears it will be and the lack of access to an entire side due to his arm/gun. Not an ideal situation for a new guy

Yes these were challenging figures to paint! Trust me when I tell you that painting the face was the part I dreaded most about each and every figure. I finally got a method down and I made it more of an assembly line process once I finally felt comfortable.

I actually just thinned my flesh tone paints almost to a wash and applied them in coats. I did enough of them at once that I could apply the next coat to the first one by the time I finished the last one. Painting over 260 miniatures it took a little while to get it right.

I used the same technique on my Stormtroopers. Most people will say they tackled their Stormtroopers first but I didn't. I wanted to achieve a smooth look as opposed to using them to find a rhythm. I applied a matte finish almost like a heavy dry brush as my primer and then slowly applied coat after coat of a thinned down semi-gloss white until I achieved a nice smooth finish similar to their polished armor. (There is little to no texture to my Stormtroopers, Snowtroopers and Scout Troopers armor like you sometimes get with a spray primer and using a semi-gloss I didn't feel like I needed to apply a spray finish to protect them.)

Ok ...

I would like to say I walked away from the project. However, I threw all the painting stuff in the box in frustration.

Faces are super hard.

Faces for me, as a new painter, on a model with 2/3 of said face obstructed ... really hard. Like, I should have picked something a little easier to navigate first time out.

I stopped painting the face and switched to the blue jacket/helmet for highlights; rushed; screwed up and, essentially, have to redo all the blue.

Lesson(s) Learned ...

Faces, as stated, difficult. Faces with limited access? Maybe start with the face in the future and, then, finish rest of model

If frustrated, stop. Don't start another part of the model. Just walk away. Come back later.

I was afraid of this, as I have slight OCD and little competitive. And everyone in "how to" tutorials stated it. If you are new, your models are not going to look like a professional's. Have realistic expectations.

The paints and backpack went easily and came out about how I had wanted. Went into the face thinking ... oh, this will be simple. Wrong.

Glaze Medium far superior to water. At least for me, as a new guy, the glaze medium REALLY helps. Today, I forgot to thin my paints with that and only used water. Once items dried I could tell a difference.

i used Bugman's Glow; C'dian Fleshtone and Kislev Flesh. Bugman's Glow base. R'land Fleshshade wash. Started with 1/2 each of Bugman's Glow/C'dian. I only painted that side of face. Gave up trying to fit a brush in to hit the other side.

As usual, thanks for following along.

Anyone with pointers on faces? Let me know.

One nice thing is that Legion's figures will be larger, so they should be easier to paint.

I don't have any more pointers that you don't already know: base in color X, use thin wash, add details (eyes), highlights, make sure you thin your paints, etc.

Don't compare yourself to other more experienced painters; it's unfair to yourself. It looks good. It really does.

It takes practice to get where you're okay with what you're able to accomplish. To grossly paraphrase an old saying: Art is never finished, only abandoned.

And either way, a painted figure looks better than the unpainted one.

Never finished ... only abandoned. Going to remember this.

I am headed out of town until Sunday. Goal is to wrap up the blue, yellow and revisit face upon return. Call it a day. Then, move onto the next with a different color scheme.

Appreciate the help.

Finally, finished or at least done messing with it for now. Onto painting the other 2 and basing.

I threw in the towel on part of the face. As a brand new painter ... the gun provided some problems in terms of generally being in the way.

Learned ...

In the background you see another model primed in a dark brown. Going forward basic grey not the best choice.

On a model with the face obstructed start there and, then, the rest.

Some colors are easier to work than others.

There is something to this "table top" / 3 foot concept. From 3 feet away even my face, which is just not awesome, has enough contrast that the little guy looks ok.

Looks awesome, great job!