shmeep
Junior Strategist
Posts: 742
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Post by shmeep on Jun 24, 2019 10:39:15 GMT
When your paints rub off, is it while you're touching it or after the fact? What happened with my scribe was that almost all of the color on his back flaked off, but hours after I even came close to touching it. Left, came back, paint's gone.
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Post by Soul Samurai on Jun 24, 2019 11:03:40 GMT
When your paints rub off, is it while you're touching it or after the fact? What happened with my scribe was that almost all of the color on his back flaked off, but hours after I even came close to touching it. Left, came back, paint's gone. For me the paint rubs off where it's handled; usually edges and corners. I've never had or even heard of paint flaking off on it's own! That's very strange. What kind of primer did you use? How long did you leave the primer to dry before painting? Did you use any kind of thinner in the paint?
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Post by deathbymelancholy on Jun 24, 2019 11:49:43 GMT
did you scrub it first? sounds like the release compound was a. heavy and b. not removed all the way
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shmeep
Junior Strategist
Posts: 742
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Post by shmeep on Jul 2, 2019 7:19:54 GMT
@ Soul - I used the same primer I usually prefer to use, which is the gray one I own. It tends to be very runny, but I didn't have any problems with flaking until that specific model. I'm not sure if it was because I didn't spray enough of the stuff or whether it just doesn't mesh well with metal. @ Melancholy - I always scrub my models very aggressively before priming, so that seems pretty unlikely. I actually did two scrubbing runs on the scribes rather than just one, so it seems really unlikely that's the cause. For now I've been putting my minis on a little stand while painting as you've suggested. It takes some getting used to, but it's worth it to keep the paint safe. I've noticed that even with the plastics a tiny bit of paint gets rubbed of the models on the edges. Specifically the edge of the leather waistcoat (?) on the troll light beasts. I'm skeptical about using varnishes, from what I've seen they tend to massacre the paint, but my minis are meant for table play so I really don't have a choice. The only place around here that I know sells varnishes overprices them to such a ludicrous degree that it goes beyond robbery, so I'll have to look into brush-on stuff as usual. IIRC vallejo and liquitex sell those. Any recommendations? More progress pics. -On the fennblade I pushed the highlights, especially on the shoulder blade as far as I dared, and I'm pretty happy with how it looks. The face and elbow need more work, they look nice in the pics but IRL they just look kind of awkward. -The axer got a hefty splash of purple paint in the shade of his armor, but it doesn't actually show in the pictures at all. Barely registers IRL as well, so I'll have to do another round. The leather collar and waist sections got a cleanup, they looked really chalky with the white highlights, I like the yellow highlight color a lot more. I might push it a bit more, not sure though. the armor plate on the back also got a bit more highlighting and shading, and I finally colored (and shaded) the straps on the back. -The bouncer's in a strange spot. I decided to try something new with the face, painted it the usual fester blue but used menoth base as a highlight color, slowly introducing pure white into the mix. While painting it I pushed it way farther than I was comfortable with. It's odd, the paint is a LOT brighter than on the axer, but it doesn't register on the camera at all. It might be down to the lighting, this is the first time one of my minis looks better in dim light. That being said, the face definitely attracts the eye the most on the mini, but it also looks pretty chalky. I might go back to the method I used with the impaler, using a more saturated color for the highlights (cygnar blue) and mixing white into that. Finally, photography - I still don't have a stand for the camera, so I still can't do good quality pics looking down at the models. I still did a couple at massive ISO, just to give a better idea of what they look like when I look at them normally. Another takeaway from this is that I need to make the pics a lot brighter than I intuitively feel they should be, they tend to look a lot brighter on the camera monitor than they actually are. That's about it for this wall of text. Thoughts and advice appreciated, as usual.
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shmeep
Junior Strategist
Posts: 742
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Post by shmeep on Jul 2, 2019 7:31:25 GMT
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Post by Soul Samurai on Jul 2, 2019 8:27:16 GMT
As far as brush-on primers go, the only good matt I've found is Vallejo matt varnish. Gloss varnishes are much easier, I haven't had too much trouble with them. Right now I'm waiting on a couple of Vallejo varnishes that I want to try to use with my cheap crappy portable airbrush. I will say that Alclad's Aqua Gloss varnish, when applied through an airbrush, is basically invisible - it doesn't seem to change the surface finish AT ALL. I don't know how robust it is though, and I think it has to be airbrushed to work.
I really like the highlighting on the fennblade. I think you're right about the Bouncer's highlights looking off; the more saturated highlights on the Axer look better in the photos.
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shmeep
Junior Strategist
Posts: 742
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Post by shmeep on Jul 2, 2019 8:48:00 GMT
As far as brush-on primers go, the only good matt I've found is Vallejo matt varnish. Gloss varnishes are much easier, I haven't had too much trouble with them. Right now I'm waiting on a couple of Vallejo varnishes that I want to try to use with my cheap crappy portable airbrush. I will say that Alclad's Aqua Gloss varnish, when applied through an airbrush, is basically invisible - it doesn't seem to change the surface finish AT ALL. I don't know how robust it is though, and I think it has to be airbrushed to work. I really like the highlighting on the fennblade. I think you're right about the Bouncer's highlights looking off; the more saturated highlights on the Axer look better in the photos. The more time goes by the more tempted I am to buy an airbrush, but the setup for them seems really expensive. From what I've read, apparently gloss varnishes protect the model a lot better than matt varnishes, so some people put both on their models. The axer's highlights aren't even that saturated, goes to show just how chalky the bouncer looks. I'll redo it in the impaler style, it'll probably look better. to recap, the axer recipe is just fester blue +increasing amount of pure white, bouncer is fester+menoth base+white, and impaler was fester+cygnar highlight+white. giving the highlight on the face the most saturation on the entire model sounds like it'd help pull the eye towards it. I mean, it seems logical, but we'll see about that after I actually test it.
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Post by Soul Samurai on Jul 2, 2019 9:06:46 GMT
The more time goes by the more tempted I am to buy an airbrush, but the setup for them seems really expensive. From what I've read, apparently gloss varnishes protect the model a lot better than matt varnishes, so some people put both on their models. Yeah, I've always heard the same thing so I always use a gloss then a matt, but then I'm a bit obsessive sometimes. BTW if it's just for basecoats and varnishes you can pick up one of these for pretty cheap and just use it outdoors: www.amazon.com/Multi-Purpose-Airbrush-Set-Compressor-Capacity/dp/B07MM1HV5K/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=portable+airbrush&qid=1562058151&s=gateway&sr=8-3Of course you'll want some airbrush cleaning supplies, but that's all you really need, at least for simple basecoats and varnishes. Personally I'm still figuring it out; there is definitely a learning curve.
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shmeep
Junior Strategist
Posts: 742
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Post by shmeep on Jul 2, 2019 9:35:21 GMT
The more time goes by the more tempted I am to buy an airbrush, but the setup for them seems really expensive. From what I've read, apparently gloss varnishes protect the model a lot better than matt varnishes, so some people put both on their models. Yeah, I've always heard the same thing so I always use a gloss then a matt, but then I'm a bit obsessive sometimes. BTW if it's just for basecoats and varnishes you can pick up one of these for pretty cheap and just use it outdoors: www.amazon.com/Multi-Purpose-Airbrush-Set-Compressor-Capacity/dp/B07MM1HV5K/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=portable+airbrush&qid=1562058151&s=gateway&sr=8-3Of course you'll want some airbrush cleaning supplies, but that's all you really need, at least for simple basecoats and varnishes. Personally I'm still figuring it out; there is definitely a learning curve. Do you keep that massive cartridge at the bottom attached while spraying? that strikes me as pretty clunky. And how do you reload (for lack of a better word) the compressed air? Also, why specifically outdoors? toxic fumes?
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Post by Soul Samurai on Jul 2, 2019 9:57:57 GMT
Do you keep that massive cartridge at the bottom attached while spraying? that strikes me as pretty clunky. And how do you reload (for lack of a better word) the compressed air? Also, why specifically outdoors? toxic fumes? That "cartridge" is a rechargeable battery powered air compressor. It's a bit clunky, but less so I think than having a traditional compressor with trailing air hoses and power cables when you're trying to spray outside or on a balcony or something, I've personally found it to be very manageable for coating an entire model (doing fine work is a different story), and overall I just find it quite convenient (at least for a starter airbrush). As much as acrylic paints are supposed to be non-toxic, I don't really want to breath in airborne paint (it's my understanding that breathing in too much of pretty much any kind of airborne particle can do damage in the long run), so I initially did my airbrushing on a balcony, at least until I picked up a proper spray booth with an air filtration system (something like www.amazon.com/Master-Airbrush-Portable-Painting-T-shirts/dp/B00BMUH8L6/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=airbrush+booth&qid=1562061253&s=gateway&sr=8-6).
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mazog
Junior Strategist
Walking and talking
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Post by mazog on Jul 3, 2019 2:34:03 GMT
Well, that's comforting. That is the exact airbrush booth that I bought!
I also use a professional grade air filter mask with the replaceable cartridges because airbrush thinner stinks and I like my lungs.
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shmeep
Junior Strategist
Posts: 742
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Post by shmeep on Jul 3, 2019 4:34:33 GMT
Well, that's comforting. That is the exact airbrush booth that I bought! I also use a professional grade air filter mask with the replaceable cartridges because airbrush thinner stinks and I like my lungs. It seems buying a gas mask is inevitable. What model do you use? The A2P3 model I mentioned earlier in the thread is suppoaed to help with particles and biological fumes, but I suspect thinner ain't organic. I'm honestly considering putting on mask every time I sand my models, I doubt breathing in metal and plastic is doing my health any favors either.
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mazog
Junior Strategist
Walking and talking
Posts: 748
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Post by mazog on Jul 3, 2019 14:26:08 GMT
I went to a local hardware store and bought the one they had in stock at reading some recommendations, particularly to get one with replaceable filter cartridges. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful in this one.
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shmeep
Junior Strategist
Posts: 742
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Post by shmeep on Jul 3, 2019 18:39:50 GMT
I spent most of the day faffing about with youtube tutorials. I'm absolutely shite at handcrafting stuff, but my terrain and table aren't gonna build themselves. Sadly it seems woodland scenics don't have any decent international shipping, so I might either bite the bullet and buy it at a slight premium over amazon or try to get my relatives abroad to bring some of that stuff with them when they visit. Sure, I could buy locally, but I'm not paying 20$ for 20 g of flock. It's phucking flock, not cocaine. Trying to find out where I can buy plaster was also a nightmare, but it turns out they sell it at a hardware store not too far from my place. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if the stuff actually works, though. I made these according to Luke's APS sculptamold tutorial. the chunk in the bottom will be a forest and the one the bouncer's on a hill. I also made a tree as per Miscast Terrain's tutorial. It worked out relatively well, and I'm glad I finally found a use for the wire armature I had lying around.
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shmeep
Junior Strategist
Posts: 742
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Post by shmeep on Jul 5, 2019 15:39:58 GMT
Plaster experiment was sadly a failure. Most of the plates I made sort of crumbled, some of them had too little plaster mixed in, and others had too much water and now they're eternally moist. I also tried coating them with PVA glue to garden them, didn't seem to do shit though. I think I'll try to make some more before I buy into sculptamold, though. A question about terrain - I want to (eventually) cover my boards with static grass. Pretty much every source I've seen mentioned you should use an applicator (homemade or bought) when putting it on your board. I wonder if that's relevant for a gaming table? the grass will get trampled a lot, and I don't have a decent place to store it either, so the plates tend to get smushed in some corner most of the time. Or will the grass end up sticking to the table completely flat and look like shit? And some more mini progress. As usual, I'm astounded by how much better the camera's eye is than mine (plural). Makes me feel like a grandma trying to read the effect text on Relinquished. I definitely feel like I'm improving. I still don't have the patience to spend 10 hours on a single mini, though, and that's what I really need if I want to make these things look proper good rather than fine. I've also been watching a bunch of Miniac's vids recently and he always talks about making the head / top of the mini brighter than the rest of the body, so I tried to make a sort of gradient from the feet to the head. p.s. the tiger balm stand looks really dumb, but it's definitely made painting a lot easier. I switched the soft putty I used to hold it in place with blue tack, now that it's actually attached firmly it actually feels good to hold it. You could also say this is the closest the swordsman will ever get to riding a ferox :^)
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