I will try the wash as soon as I have a chance. Thanks for the advice.

Your ion troopers all look good. I agree that the green based one looks the best, just because of the contrasting colors. I also think the wash will help the other two, although you don’t have to go crazy with it.

The tan one looks like it only has the base colors so far; a little shading and highlighting would do wonders here.

Looking good though.

Thanks guys. I will definitely try that wash as soon as I can. I just wanted to make sure I liked the colors on them enough before I used the wash on them.

Here is a castle terrain that I custom made.

Comment below if you would like me to post a video on how to make it.

Here is my Leia commander:

Here is my General Veers.

Comments are welcome.

...nice work....

Thanks.

On 4/16/2018 at 1:54 PM, Fort Defender said:

Thank you all for the comments. I got some black wash to use on a test mini and I will post it soon.

When you have a good method of getting a good basecoat....adding Washes can really help take your painting on to the next step in terms of improving them for very little effort.

I used the wash on Leia but I haven't gotten a chance use it on my friend's Veers yet. (I've been too busy making terrain. ? )

But I totally agree with you on how much of a difference it makes.

Yavin 4 terrain.

All of it is custom-made besides the barricades.

Comments are welcome.

The link to the battle with it.

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/277501-fort-defenders-friday-night-battles-picture-heavy/

A great start. Would you be opposed to applying paint to your mat? If you dab a natural sponge in paint (not soaked, just a little on the surface) and apply it in random patterns, you can transform the monotone green field into something with more visual interest.

Do different layers of a number of colors: brown, tan, gray and a light green.

I will try that. I see what you mean and I agree that it will make it seem more realistic. I appreciate the advice.

cardboard or maybe balsa wood can be used as a base for your trees. I don't know how heavy they are or if falling over is even a problem. Also, after using an ink wash, I at least dry brush the same or a lighter color to bring out highlight details on my miniatures. Just brush off excess paint on a paper towel. Takes a little practice, but you will figure out what is about right - not as easy to explain, but less is better

On 4/15/2018 at 2:40 PM, Fort Defender said:

I did not use any washes. What would you recommend?

Avoid Citadel etc. in my opinion. Use thinned down paint with a teeny amount of dish soap since you are brand new. Later, go to AC Moore/Michael's/etc. and get inks with droppers in the lid and matte acrylic medium, read a little online or ask around, and start doing stuff with those. It costs a fraction of Citadel et al, and is like the difference between memorizing a song on the guitar, versus learning your musical scales and how to read sheet music so you can really play.

Also get a color wheel and read for ten minutes about how it works. It'll save you a ton of time and a fortune in wasted paint.

Color wheels are like $3, a 1oz Liquitex bottle of ink with a nice dropper in the lid are like $7 each, a giant thing of medium is like $14. Sales and coupons at bigbox craft stores are common though. It'll be enough medium to last a hobbyist for years.

I finished up some terrain and just wanted to post something since it has been so long.

Got the x wing cheap and it was missing a bunch of parts so i decided that it could make it into Legion terrain.

Also, I finished the washing of the test mini.

Comments and suggestions are welcome. Hopefully my fleet troopers will be done by the end of next week.

My forest fleet troopers and Han Solo!

Comments and suggestions are welcome.

a crashed X-Wing always looks good. The paint on Han's shirt and pants looks a bit heavy, so be sure to thin your paints and do multiple layers of thinned paint, but overall they look good.

Yeah, I don't know what is wrong with his pants and shirt because I did 4 or 5 thinned coats for each.

13 hours ago, Fort Defender said:

Yeah, I don't know what is wrong with his pants and shirt because I did 4 or 5 thinned coats for each.

First, I think your painting is great and getting better. I haven’t been in this thread in a while but I like your stuff. The terrain is cool and it’s different than what everyone else is doing so well done.

I really like the visual contrast between Han’s coat and his pants. That profile shot looks great. I might have gone cream or tan on the shirt just to make it a bit less jarring but I think the painting looks good. As far the paint textures - I have sometimes had this happen when the paint is a little old or dry in the pot. You end up with some small gluey particles that you might not even notice as you paint but in the end it seems too thick. Besides just getting new paint you can thin a larger volume of it and then (theoretically) any bits will settle out and you can load your brush by the top and sides. I don’t know if this will actually help but it’s a suggestion.

edit: lighting for miniature photographs is a pain, but definitely you could use a bit more light in these photos if you can swing it.

Thanks! I really appreciate those comments. Yes, my paint is old and a little dry. I try to do everything as cheap as possible like the castle terrain was 5 bucks to make, the shield generator was $1, and the crashed x wing was 5 bucks. This is mostly because my budget is split across multiple FFG games. Also, I figure that no one is going to be three inches away from the miniature when I'm playing so I just do the best that I can with what I have.

I try to do the three color minimum with base, but tabletop is all I an trying to achieve. Go with what you are happy with and don't worry about anyone else. As a photographer, I might look at a photograph through a magnifier, but an 8x10 should be looked at an arms distance away. Miniatures aren't much different.

I really like your custom terrain. What rules would you use for each piece?

Thanks. Some of my rules can be seen in a post up above or right below that takes you to a picture by picture battle between me and my friend.

The others:

Shield generator:

Always cover 2 if you are at range one (This is because it is a shield).

The crashed x wing:

Cover 1 or 2 depending where you are. The cockpit does come off so as an action, you are allowed to climbed inside (up to two). But, a unit may shooting at it and if they roll a crit, they blow up the x wing terrain and all the minis inside it (up to 2).