12 replies to this topic

[recruittons]

Okay, so I've just been brought into the minis painting game by the KS (as I'm sure many people have) and I wanted to try my hand at it before I got the very nice ones from Reaper. I dug my copy of Castle Ravenloft out of my games closet and went to work painting and learning to paint as I went! There are 42 total minis in the game, and I painted about 18 of them myself over the course of this last weekend.

Near the end, I started experimenting with washes and shading a bit more, and my level of detail went up considerably. My final piece was Strahd Von Zarovich himself, and I was quite proud of how well he came out (not perfect, but at least I got a good amount of detail in)

I painted these all with un-diluted craft acrylics using a 3/0 and 0 brushes. I know better now, and will be picking up some of the paints from the KS


Real simple light brown base coat with a cream colored dry brushing.


These were the first guys I managed to get some level of detail onto.


Botched this guy the first time by using enamel testor paints. NOT COOL. Redid him entirely in black and gray. You can't see it well (sorry for the picture quality), but I've done his eyes, talons, and some trim on his horns with silver.


My very first washed mini. I used a slightly darker red and it came out really well (hard to see, but I was pleased!)


Simple coloring and highlighting


Not mine, but my girlfriend LOVED painting this guy.


Gravestorm the Dracolich, his color is a bit washed out, but he is actually a yellowed cream color and his wing membranes were done with blue wash over light blue paint. He uses lightning breath, so I figured in life, he was a blue dragon.


This one is the piece I'm pretty proud of. I intentionally used enamel testor paints for the torn flesh bits to give them a little extra sheen, then went over the rest with acryllics. He was a bit of a challenge for how many small stitches he has, but he was fun.


Strahd was SO much fun! I loved doing all the little buckles and straps, painting the silver chain armor right next to the brown leather layers. I know eyebrows are not commonly done, but I think they worked out alright.


And here is the full set. Can't see much more than what I've shown, but this is all of the minis!

And there ya go! My first experiment in painting was a partial success. I learned an absolute buttload over the coarse of the few days I worked and I think if I keep at it, I'll be able to do my new Reaper minis justice when they arrive.

[ub3r_n3rd]

Cool stuff, I'm doing the same thing with my Ravenloft minis! My first time picking up the paint and brush to paint minis just because I invested in the KS as well. Good job on your minis I'm going to have to steal some of your ideas for colors!

[dwarvenranger]

Hmmm, well thanks for posting. I might have to pick this up now. I know at least one guy on the Hirst Arts board was building 3D tiles for it. It could be kinda fun, in a what am I thinking I have way too much stuff to do already kind of way.

[Serenity]

I see where you note you used undiluted craft acrylics. Have you tried diluting them at all? I understand if you use an acrylic thinner of some sort, they will behave better than with plain water. I use Reaper MSP paints primarily, so can't really help with using craft paints specifically. MSPs work very well with just water in many cases, though I sometimes add matte medium and flow improver depending on what I'm trying to do. Just thought I'd throw that out there in case your paints are actually better than you think, and just need a little tweaking.

[recruittons]

I see where you note you used undiluted craft acrylics. Have you tried diluting them at all? I understand if you use an acrylic thinner of some sort, they will behave better than with plain water. I use Reaper MSP paints primarily, so can't really help with using craft paints specifically. MSPs work very well with just water in many cases, though I sometimes add matte medium and flow improver depending on what I'm trying to do. Just thought I'd throw that out there in case your paints are actually better than you think, and just need a little tweaking.

I started working on them all with undiluted paints and realized a while into the project that diluted painted would be better. I started using water to dilute near the end, to create some VERY basic washes, and it worked alright. Results weren't spectacular, but they were mildly functional. I've since started finding what parts water and cheap craft paint I should use to paint properly. Once I get my MSPs, it'll make my life a whooole lot easier!

[badocter]

Nice work for your first goes!

You should check out The Army Painter Quickshade products to do quick and simple shadows and protective seal in one step.

http://www.thearmypa...y.php?videoid=2

The strong tone and dark tone do pretty good shading effect, whereas the soft tone pretty much just seals.

The minis below were both block color basecoated and then the shading done using Quickshade.

• bugbear (bones) -quickshade strong
• medusa (metal) - quickshade strong
• queen (metal) - quickshade soft
• the "problem solver" (metal) - quickshade dark

Note: the quickshade dries shiny. I like them that way, but you can hit them with dullcoat if you don't.




Ultimately if you have the time and the practice, you have much more control and potentially much better quality if you paint shadows and highlights -- time vs quality is the tradeoff. If you paint on, you should still seal the mini with a clear varnish to protect the paint job.

If you go the brush on route with quickshade for a larger figure, I recommend you get a bag of super cheap brushesat Hobby Lobby (the 30 for $1.99 pack is my choice) so you can throw away the brush after using...otherwise you will need to keep turpentine around to clean brushes.

[Adrift]

Nice start! Welcome!!

[recruittons]

@badoctor: Holy crap, thank you so much for that!

I didn't buy the quickshade stuff itself, but reading up on it, it's really just a nice version of wood varnish! I happen to have a pint of ebony wood varnish in my garage and I dipped a few of the minis. The effect was instantaneous and gorgeous! It really gave them a lot of pop! I actually had just painted my first Bones miniature today (Minotaur of the Maze) and thought he needed a little something. A quick drop in that black, stinky pool and BAM! He was complete!

[badocter]

You're welcome . Glad it worked out well for you with the wood varnish.

[Hibou]

I think Gravestorm the Dracolich looks appropriately fierce. If this is what your stuff looks like having just started out, then I am eager to see what your work is like after you paint your way through all those kickstarter minis.

[recruittons]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! I had a ton of fun doing these and I'll probably be picking up another D&D adventure game if only for the minis. Legend of Drizzt has an awesome Balor and drider in it, and Wrath of Ashardalon has some sweet dragons and grell

[Last Knight]

Pics or it didn't happen. :) Seriously, share some love, man.

@badoctor: Holy crap, thank you so much for that!

I didn't buy the quickshade stuff itself, but reading up on it, it's really just a nice version of wood varnish! I happen to have a pint of ebony wood varnish in my garage and I dipped a few of the minis. The effect was instantaneous and gorgeous! It really gave them a lot of pop! I actually had just painted my first Bones miniature today (Minotaur of the Maze) and thought he needed a little something. A quick drop in that black, stinky pool and BAM! He was complete!

[recruittons]

Well then! I just took some new photos of a few of the ones that came out best.

Dracolich Gravestorm

Spoiler

Gave Gravey a nice, dark coat all over that shadowed him nicely.

Flesh Golem

Spoiler

Fleshy the Golem got a bit too shiny, so I cut that a bit with some dullcote, but the shading effect really brought out some of his muscle detail.

Kobald, Strahd von Zarovich, Werewolf, and Ghoul

Spoiler

The kobald, Strahd, the werewolf, and the ghoul all benefitted greatly from the higher level of shading. Especially the ghoul!

Zombie

Spoiler

The zombie here got nicely darkened by the dip, some extra detail popped out, and the shine I found to fit him well. It made him look dripping and decaying. Glossy with disgusting decay.

Wolf

Spoiler

The wolf got a nice, healthy, shiny coat! He looks well fed.. although that might not be a good thing for innocent villagers and heroes. Also, the teeth look much nicer with the spaces between them made darker.

Wraiths

Spoiler

I botched the green one's face in the first place by putting too much paint there, but the purple guy's face looks really nice with the shadows enhanced via dip! Both of these were dullcoted a little to cut the gloss, but they still have a little shine.

Skeleton

Spoiler

This picture is bad, but my camera wouldn't cooperate, and my hand tremors were getting pretty bad, so I was having trouble snapping photos at the 1/15 shutter speed (which was necessary for the poorly lit room they are sitting in right now). However, you can see his bones are quite well lined and his hip is quite dark on top, where the dip pooled a little bit. Overall, really happy with this guy.

And there you have it!