I use generic bluetack and plastic shot glasses. And yeah, it's to make it easier to hold, you can just hold the glass/bottle/cork in your palm to hold it nice and steady.
I'm just holding onto the glass, with one finger supporting the model. I never have to touch the model with my fingertips, where is where most of the skin oil is. When painting I have both elbows on the table for steady support and rest the right hand on the left one and only move my fingers when painting.
Yeah, having your mini holding hand and painting hand locked together really helps to keep things steady.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
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ArcticLancerBest served chilled.Registered Userregular
As Echo says, poster-tac is the way to go. It gives you a much larger area to hold and keeps your fingers off your work. It's also easier to do things like flip it around and still be able to hold it comfortably.
Awesome, thanks guys! Now to, uh, "acquire" some dram bottles from work... It's cool I work in a pharmacy. And before you ask, yes, the bottles will be empty.
PSN: JesterKing13 Blizz Battletag: tehjester#1448
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valhalla13013 Dark Shield Perceives the GodsRegistered Userregular
If you use pill bottle like I do, make sure to put some coins on something in the bottle to help give it some stability, otherwise, you're model will fall over at the slightest breath.
I'm about to prime in white for the first time. How fucked am I?
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admanbunionize your workplaceSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
I primed white for the first time recently and it was pretty easy. The only downside is that it can be harder to tell where bare metal is still showing, but honestly you're way better off with a slightly incomplete coat than an overdone coat.
Also colors seem to go over white waaaaay easier than black.
White isn't bad but when I use it I like to jam a super dark layer of the main color I'll be using right up in the armpits and other hard to reach areas before I put the rest of the base coat colors on.
Rule no. 1 of good pictures: photograph against a uniform background, even a piece of paper will do. The only things on the photo are supposed to be your minis and the background. If the background consists of two things (like floor+wall) that's already sub-optimal.
If you're taking photos with an actual camera (not a cellphone) I can provide additional tips (this is what I was able to squeeze out of an old Canon a530, an old compact camera: http://goblinart.pl/mps/photos/lvl2/022-ultras.jpg)
Please do not actually shoot your minis with a cannon
I encourage you to dig it out and give it a try. Photographing your minis is pretty fun by itself, you learn a new, useful skill and end up with nice documentation of your work.
@Lind : Noice! I can see the paint is applied a bit thick but if these are your first minis, I must say the cleanliness is astounding.
My two main suggestion for the best improvement would be - thin down your paints a bit more and try a bit of edge highlighting. If you work on these two elements, you've got a great TT+ ready. A whole army painted this way is going to look fantastic.
If you're planning on building a DA army, investing in a can of dark green spray is an excellent idea. But learning how to thin your paint properly is a must anyway.
Are you just using water? I don't consider dedicated thinners as necessary as many top painters will. But when thinning down for the first layer of a given colour, use 1 part dish soap and 20 parts water for an even coverage.
Yup, it's just the front part of the corpse cart cut up a bit and put in place of the front ram.
I dunno about sword arm guy. He looks a bit too animated, like an actual zombie instead of a grisly trophy. That might be what you're going for though.
Also I think they are both very fantasy-ish. Some wires or bionic bits or guardsmen stuff would probably look good.
If you're planning on building a DA army, investing in a can of dark green spray is an excellent idea. But learning how to thin your paint properly is a must anyway.
Are you just using water? I don't consider dedicated thinners as necessary as many top painters will. But when thinning down for the first layer of a given colour, use 1 part dish soap and 20 parts water for an even coverage.
It really depends on what paint he's trying to thin. You should know if your paint is water based, alcohol based, or whatever... A little water is usually fine anyway but definitely use thinner with metallic paints or they'll separate.
In other news, here's some slightly unfinished Nobz:
In that case, yeah, prepare a mix of 1:20 dishsoap:water and use this mix for the first layer of a given colour. This will be your basic thinner.
I'd say roughly 2:1 to 1:1 of paint:thinner is a good start, though the new citadel colors may behave a bit different than what I remember, so experiment. If your paint is pooling in crevices, that means it's a bit too thin - try to keep just a bit above that threshold.
Yup, it's just the front part of the corpse cart cut up a bit and put in place of the front ram.
I dunno about sword arm guy. He looks a bit too animated, like an actual zombie instead of a grisly trophy. That might be what you're going for though.
Also I think they are both very fantasy-ish. Some wires or bionic bits or guardsmen stuff would probably look good.
In general though I really like it so far!
I had some similar concerns when I was first putting it together, but I figured I could dismiss the 'animated' look to the fact that they put these guys on here while they are still alive and they slowly decay and die.
Hopefully they won't stand out too much as fantasy parts when the army is all together, this will be the only vehicle done up like this. My raiders will have the normal ram bits.
I will see about going back and adding some wires/tubes though. That is a good idea.
Halos Nach TariffCan you blame me?I'm too famous.Registered Userregular
edited April 2015
If you just clip that raised sword arm off they'd probably look fine to be honest, corpse on the right (raider's left) is suitable limp looking, corpse on the left looks like it still wants to pick a fight.
I'm going to take a look to see if there are any other limp arms I can use, if not I may just cut it off at the elbow.
Thanks for the suggestions guys!
Edit:
So I spent a little more time on this. I draped the sword arm over the spike he is sitting on which definitely makes him look more lifeless. It will be tricky to add cabling since it's all glued together, but I managed to add two small tubes to help fill it out a little.
I also detailed the decking a little, adding a little brazier where the sail should go and few resin body parts on the floor.
Once I add a front gunner this should be it for the Ravager. Now onto the Raiders for my Grotesquerie!
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The white with black-lined panels, while laborious to get done, looks really nice. It could be better in places, but I'm happy with it on the whole.
And as a bonus, since I was almost done with them as well, I also finished up my Free Rasalhague Republic (Space Vikings) Lance.
It's kind of hard to make it out in the shitty cellphone pic, but they're based with snow for the arctic climates they guard.
You have some mighty fine mechs there.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
I'm just holding onto the glass, with one finger supporting the model. I never have to touch the model with my fingertips, where is where most of the skin oil is. When painting I have both elbows on the table for steady support and rest the right hand on the left one and only move my fingers when painting.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
Yes you could...you just don't like listening to podcasts enough.
Also colors seem to go over white waaaaay easier than black.
I also wanted to armour up the front of my Ravager a little since it is Av11. This is what I have come up with so far.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
If you're taking photos with an actual camera (not a cellphone) I can provide additional tips (this is what I was able to squeeze out of an old Canon a530, an old compact camera: http://goblinart.pl/mps/photos/lvl2/022-ultras.jpg)
I encourage you to dig it out and give it a try. Photographing your minis is pretty fun by itself, you learn a new, useful skill and end up with nice documentation of your work.
Yup, it's just the front part of the corpse cart cut up a bit and put in place of the front ram.
My two main suggestion for the best improvement would be - thin down your paints a bit more and try a bit of edge highlighting. If you work on these two elements, you've got a great TT+ ready. A whole army painted this way is going to look fantastic.
Are you just using water? I don't consider dedicated thinners as necessary as many top painters will. But when thinning down for the first layer of a given colour, use 1 part dish soap and 20 parts water for an even coverage.
I dunno about sword arm guy. He looks a bit too animated, like an actual zombie instead of a grisly trophy. That might be what you're going for though.
Also I think they are both very fantasy-ish. Some wires or bionic bits or guardsmen stuff would probably look good.
In general though I really like it so far!
It really depends on what paint he's trying to thin. You should know if your paint is water based, alcohol based, or whatever... A little water is usually fine anyway but definitely use thinner with metallic paints or they'll separate.
In other news, here's some slightly unfinished Nobz:
I'd say roughly 2:1 to 1:1 of paint:thinner is a good start, though the new citadel colors may behave a bit different than what I remember, so experiment. If your paint is pooling in crevices, that means it's a bit too thin - try to keep just a bit above that threshold.
I had some similar concerns when I was first putting it together, but I figured I could dismiss the 'animated' look to the fact that they put these guys on here while they are still alive and they slowly decay and die.
Hopefully they won't stand out too much as fantasy parts when the army is all together, this will be the only vehicle done up like this. My raiders will have the normal ram bits.
I will see about going back and adding some wires/tubes though. That is a good idea.
It's a neat conversion though, looks good.
Thanks for the suggestions guys!
Edit:
So I spent a little more time on this. I draped the sword arm over the spike he is sitting on which definitely makes him look more lifeless. It will be tricky to add cabling since it's all glued together, but I managed to add two small tubes to help fill it out a little.
I also detailed the decking a little, adding a little brazier where the sail should go and few resin body parts on the floor.
Once I add a front gunner this should be it for the Ravager. Now onto the Raiders for my Grotesquerie!