Very nice. Mine are also woodlands based and I pondered over changing scheme too. I ended up sticking with the film look but just woodland basing.

yours look great though, nice job and nice scheme.

Regards your first post, I actually think the SWL models are pretty good.

So. Here is the first squad of my Stormies ... Flocking of the Bases follows.

The texture on the pauldron looks great.

Thank you. I am really happy how it turned out ... almost exactly how I planned it

Nice pauldrons.

Great looking imperials, white is a hard colour to paint, but you pull it off effortlessly, just impressed by the amount of contrast and the smoothness you manage to get, really impressive job

Thank you guys. Besides using more glazes then thick colors, here is what I think makes a big difference too... the light:

This is the lamp I am using, which creates a large illuminated area with a very bright neutral light.
This light makes it possible to see even the finest nuances (of white or even other colors) ... Taking Photos of the Minis then, makes them also look almost exactly like you see them during the painting process ...

BUT: It seems to me that it doesn´ t create the best results regarding the presence of the Minis on the Tabletop. They often look to dark there and under some circumstances some of your gradients are "eaten up" and make your Mini simply look **** (at least if you are like me and don´t care for the smoothest gradients ... at least for such an army-paintjob).

TLDR: The Lighting matters. a) For your painting itself and b) As a result for the circumstances where your Mini looks good.

On that note, let me pose a dilemma:
To use a nice, high CRI (color rendering index) lighting and create super fine gradients that are then "eaten up" on tabletop, or just paint under less then perfect conditions and have a mini with less detail?

I am sure there are painters out there who are able to achieve a result, that does both ... but that is not me (Sure, I hope I will get there someday). The lamp I use simply does that ... they look good during painting, good on the Photo ... but not always on the tabletop. I am okay with that, because during a game the difference between a Mini where I invested 5 hours and the one that was done in 1h is hardly noticeable or matters that much.

It's not just time, also style. To make a mini pop at game distances you often need a level of highlighting and gradient that looks cartoonish as painting or photo distance. Minis that look great close up are often washed out at game distance.

I personally tend to paint somewhere in the middle and try to use contrasting colors to avoid the little green army men effect. But there is a choice there.

I also think that, at tabletop distance, your eye will focus on one detail of the mini. So if you have one eye catching element that will make the mini seem okay under tabletop conditions. Think if things like the Paul drinks or the goggles in the trooper leaders. Even on a mini you don’t want to waste much time on, if you out a few minutes into one thing and make sure it has a bright color or obvious impact I think that makes it look better.

Stormtroopers are the exception. I think the table top is pretty kind to messy or uneven stormtroopers and all you really want is some good clean detail on the helmet and gun for the natural black/white contrast.

On 6/11/2018 at 8:41 PM, Han Soko said:

So. Here is the first squad of my Stormies ... Flocking of the Bases follows.

Good Job, especially the pauldrons, but ashamed of my rushed, slightly highlighted pauldrons now ?

Regards the white armour, are they glossed or Satin Varnished at all?

I experimented a little and thought Gloss was too much, Satin not worth the effort so atm, while I consider them finished, they dont have a gloss effect of any kind atm.

No, no varnish until now, but I will use my ultra-matte varnish as usual, because I have my “light-effects” painted and don’t want them to collide with real reflections

Here are my almost done speeder bikes (first 2 of 3 squads).

I hope to get my basing stuff this week to finish everything that is painted so far.