My very First Minis. A WIP.

After much debate as to wich I wanted to paint first, I went with orks. Bad Moonz, all the way!

This is my very first miniature ever painted, so go easy on me.





Heres my second one.







I know, theyre not great, but they are my first.

Since taking these pictures, I have made the following improvements.

-Touched up EVERYTHING. Cleaned up the yelows and browns especially.
-Added metallics on metal parts. E.g. guns, axe handle, chainsword.
-Did some VERY basic freehand on the axehead and shoulderpad.

I can;t get updated pictures, cuz the digital camera is in Florida...

So, what do you guys think?

Lots of newb mistakes there, but an 'A' for effort

With all the new players around we should probably try to do a painting class some time. I'm pretty sure Chris would be willing to have one at Castle House if someone wanted to run it. There are lots of little basic techniques that are a lot easier to show in person than to describe that would help any new painter.

For now, I'll just give a couple tips. When painting bright colors over a black basecoat, I usually start with a light gray. Find a light gray with good coverage and paint that on first, then paint the bright color on top of it. It usually makes it easier to get to a nice solid bright color as the light gray usually goes on nicely with one coat and gives you a much lighter foundation to work off of.

Also, don't be afraid to use multiple coats. Assembly line painting is good for this as you could start painting the brown on one miniature and then by the time you've done the fifth or tenth (depending on your speed) the first is probably dry enough to do a second coat. This lets you get full coverage with those paints that have lower pigment levels. When doing this you usually need to use a pallet and water your paint a bit to avoid getting the coats of paint too thick, but now we're getting into that "easier to show than tell" territory

The sad thing is... all the yellow on those minis is anywhere from 3-5 coats. More, now that they've been touched up.

Also i would say try like a foundation paint. They help out a lot with some colors. If your ever down at castle house and want to give it a try just let me know I'll be more then glad to help with that.

What are the foundation paints for?

The foundation paints have very high pigment. You can go over dark colors with them in one or two coats. They make a yellow (Iyanden Yellow maybe?) They work really good for going over black.

One suggestion that I have on your Orks is to try a wash on them. Buy a pot of Devlan Mud and wash the whole model with it and see what you think. That is how I do all my Orks. It is amazing what a coat of Devlan Mud will do to a model.

Doh, yeah a foundation paint would be another good choice as a basecoat for that yellow. I'm still getting used to their being available

I'm also a big fan of washes. You can't go too far wrong by picking some foundation paints, blocking in the appropriate areas and then hitting the whole thing with a wash for your troops.

I think Devlan Mud would be a great wash over those minis.

Good deal one the painting. I'm glad to see some Ork-love on the boards. Keep us updated and don't get burnt out when painting them in squads of 30 like me.

Devlun Mud = Devlun Miracle = Miracle Mud = Pixie Dust.

Instructions

1) dip brush in Miracle solution

2) apply Miracle solution to the afflicted area (or whole model)

3) let dry

I'm surprised Devlan Mud hasn't been accalimed as a wonder-drug yet. I'll have to pick a bottle up.

Thanks for your suggestions. Unfortunately, I'm having a tough time bringing myself to paint the Deffkoptas. Thers just so mmuch detail, and compared a a normal Boy, it's rather imposing. I'm hoping a breif break from orks to paint my Spess Mehrines.

That, and it's difficult to work up enthusiasm to paint with football practice everyday, and school about to start. But, hey, I'm working on it.


Thank you all, for your suggestions. As soon as I get access to a digital camera, I'll post my Big Shootah Boy.

Nice job on getting a good color coat on the whole model. My first models were very very very bad, and yours are far beyond my first attempts at painting minis!

I agree with the rest of the chorus. Put Devlan Mud on the model all over. You can try Badab Black over the silver parts if you want them to look less rusted.

I think you will be very pleased at what the wash will do for you.

Anyone wanting to do some painting classes would be welcome at CHG.

Different people have different techniques and none are wrong.

I put a coat of Devlan Mud on my Fantasy Orcs and I think it made them a little too dark. They look like Fantasy Black Orcs would look, in my opinion. They still look like greenskins, but dark ones.

I'll see if I can get some pics up for everybody to critique

I've heard that a good foundation paint is from Applebarrel paints, the cheap stuff you can get at Walmart and craft stores. It's called Titanium White and has a very very high pigment content, able to cover up over dark/black with very minimal effort; like one coat, and still not erase your underlying details.

Great effort, keep painting.

E

Umm, I have several boxes full of Apple Barrel paints. They will stay in the boxes most likely.

GW, Vallejo, and Reaper have much better paints to use for a foundation. So far I am happy with GW's Foundation colors. That's just a personal choice, though.

I use the titanium white for basing only. If you want a pure white you can use it, but it is a thick paint. I find it perfect for working with snow effects. It is by Folk Art paints, though - not applebarrel. Its available at Hobby Lobby.

If you want to do yellow check out "Iyanden Darksun" (mentioned earlier as "Iyanden Yellow"), covers just so nicely. Oh, and yellow is really really hard to paint, just look at my own attempts on my blog (http://flekkzo.blogspot.com). I won't be winning any golden deamons anytime soon :)

Get the Thrakka Green wash for the green orky skin. My oh my, washes are the stuff of legends. Gryphonne Sepia is a pretty nice wash too btw:)

Also try drybrushing metal. It is just so easy, just remember to do it before you do the other colors since it is messy:) Also a Badab Black wash over metals is a great thing, and if you wanna be fancy try Devlan mud for that, well, kinda rusty/muddy look.

Also remember to water your paints a bit just like Fulminata said, makes a huge difference when you get it right (but don't fret if you don't get it right directly).

Also nothing I've suggested is hard to do, in fact, I can't perform any difficult techniques really. I'm pretty much a paint n00b (Nob?^_^) :)

And make the most of hands on help, nothing beats getting helped by an experienced painter and being able to ask questions!

Oh, do not think you can get away with not posting more pictures of your progress. I wanna see what you have done since you took those photos!

I also want to see your progress. Painting the figures is my favorite step. Lol.

I'm still middling in skill but I will offer this piece of advice. Use a good primer/base coat and use fewer coats of paint. In my experience 3 or more coats tends to crud up the details on the models.

I will post my necrons tonight though all I have done is the base coat and an ink wash. They still look good though. I can't wait to do the detail work after I figure out what colors I want.

The tip to thin your paints a bit was a VERY good one. It helps keep the paint from filling up crevices and details. Also learn to drybrush. I tend to do a super-drybrushing where there is so little paint on the brush it takes a few work overs to get the metal to really stand out.

As others have said, if you want any help or training, just let me know. I'd be happy to help you out with the techniques I've learned. :-)