12 replies to this topic

[JackMann]

Okay, finished another mini. This time, a figure from Ral Partha's Werewolf: The Apocalypse line, in the #69-003 Glasswalker set (thanks to Buglips for the identification).


Here we have a front view. Gray might not have been a good color for the shirt, but I wasn't sure of a good color to go with the blue jeans. Went with gray, white and red for the sneakers. May redo the gray as black. Eyes are better than the last human figure I did.



Here you can see the back of his bandanna. I figured a US flag pattern would be prety simple to do. I now notice that the red highlights on the sneakers aren't as neat as they look from above. May need to touch that up. Same with the open part of his sleeve.



A better view of the bandanna. May need to fix up the places where the red stripes hit the blue.

[buglips*the*goblin]

Now that I can see the back, I see "JAJ". That makes it a Jim Johnson sculpt, and he's the same guy who sculpted the Anhurian dude you did in your paint kit. (He also did my much-beloved Partha Factol Rhys)

Your brush control has come along nicely, and the US flag bandanna is a nice touch.

[chaosscorpion]

Love the bandana.

[Inarah]

Nice work on an awkward sculpt. The details like the bandana and shoes help bring it to life.

I notice the figure has a bit of gritty texture to it, that's probably from priming. I'd suggest spraying a little closer to the figure next time, the grit happens when the primer dries before it reaches the figure.

As for the eyes, a small swipe of flesh tone along the bottom of the eye will eliminate that bit of white under the pupil and give you a better looking eye.

[Peithetairos]

I do like what you did with the bandana. That is a very nice idea and gives the miniature character. The gritty texture does indeed look a bit odd, but I guess than can be addressed with the next miniature you are painting. The combination of colours works well, as do the red stripes on the shoes. I would, if you want to make the miniature even better, give it another round of highlights. I see there are some already applied, but I think a bit more contrast woud make the folds stand out more. Maybe also try it with a wash like Devlan Mud or Agrax Earthshade (or any other manufacturers wash). That will give the miniature depth and does not take much time. either cover it totally or only apply it to specific parts, say the jacket or the pants. I think the pupils need to be bigger to prevent the flashlight effect. There should be only a bit of white on the left and th right, but not much at all.

I hope this was constructive and not too harsh. I overall like the miniature and I reall like the effort you put in the bandana.

[JackMann]

Yeah, this was my first attempt at using a spray primer. I actually got a few in one go, so my next few might be similarly gritty (I don't have any paint solvents yet, and don't want to wait until I get back from my folks' place to paint the next mini). I'll be more careful to spray from closer up in the future.

I've got some Agrax Earthshade, so I'll give that a try on the clothes while I'm touching him up. Actually, since I find myself doing this as I type...



Yeah, the grittiness is really showing here. It doesn't really show if you look at it in person, though. The earthshade really helps the shirt's folds show, and gives the jeans more dimension. They don't look as flat now. I increased the size of the pupils, and reduced the size of the whites with a little more flesh. I also added some eyebrows with brown liner.



Touched up the highlights on the shoes a bit. Also used the earthshade on the concrete.

Hmm. I may talk to my dad and see if he has anything that I can use to strip the other minis. I've put too much work into this guy (and he looks okay close up), but I don't like how hard it makes the mini to photograph.

[Doug Sundseth]

(I don't have any paint solvents yet, and don't want to wait until I get back from my folks' place to paint the next mini).

...
Hmm. I may talk to my dad and see if he has anything that I can use to strip the other minis. I've put too much work into this guy (and he looks okay close up), but I don't like how hard it makes the mini to photograph.

Short answer, Pinesol or Simple Green, soak overnight, scrub with a dead toothbrush.

Longer answer:

The Stripping Materials Compendium

[Peithetairos]

The contrast is much better now. I would make it even darker or highlight even more. I assume you already thin down your paints to a certain extend, so I would go for a couple of thin layers for the highlights, to get a smooth transition betwen them. The eyes are much better now, but I think the pupils could be even bigger. If you feel to put in even more time, you could go for a rather bright red (mix it with gold yellow) and highlight the flag stripes. This would give it more depth and seperate the blocks of colour better.


Best adn easiest way to get rid of paint on metal (!) miniatures is Aceton. You might find it in your local pharmacy.

[cloudshaper2k]

I'll second Doug's suggestion of PineSol. I have a huge bottle I keep around just for stripping minis.

[Jordan Peacock]

Heh. I think I actually have the werewolf mini that goes along with this guy, as part of a grab-bag deal I got years ago. I thought I recognized that shotgun! (It's a somewhat gawky-looking werewolf who's still clutching the shotgun, even though it looks ridiculously small for his size in that form.)

[JackMann]

Well, I decided that he was about as good as I was going to get him at this point. If I keep fiddling with him, I think I'm going to wreck what I already have. Plus, it's time I moved onto something else. So, he's my first experiment with sealant. Got some spray varnish from Michael's. Got a coat of gloss, and now a few coats of matte. He's still looking a bit shiny, but I'm hoping that'll dull after the varnish dries. I'll post pictures later.

Removing the varnish worked well. They seem to be less gritty with the latest coats of primer. Depressingly, the six dollar can of Rustoleum worked a lot better than the fifteen dollar can of Citadel primer I was using. Probably will switch to Rustoleum in the future, or just keep using brush-on primer. Expect more painting shenanigans tomorrow or Sunday!

[Jordan Peacock]

Re: Primer: Oddly enough, I've experienced a similar situation where the cheap primer works better for me than the expensive stuff. I think it might have something to do with the fact I'm in Florida (very high humidity), or something oddball like that -- in other words, that I'm not working in the "ideal" environment.

[JackMann]

Hmm. Well, it is pretty humid at my folks' place right now. Maybe I'll give the Citadel stuff another try when I get back to Tucson.