My (DE ofcourse!) Army Diary

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Mnesthius
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My (DE ofcourse!) Army Diary

Post by Mnesthius »

Hi all

i'm relatively new to the whole minatures thing.. sorta... ive been hanging around on D.net for a while, but ive finally got my minis and some gear, so i decided to make a diary of sorts where i will present my efforts to your comments and criticisms as well as ask some pretty basic modelling quesitons (hopefully not too many)

first up, these are the crossbowmen ive made
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj19 ... C-875F.jpg
side: http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj19 ... C-876F.jpg

EDIT: now these no longer work, i shall replace them soon with color shots

they have shields strapped (blu-tac-ed actually but i want to paint the crossbow bits before i glue them) to their right arms, the backrow guys have the spikes on the vambraces of their right arms chopped off to allow for the shields

Now... question time: how do you guys trim the tops of their shields?? im using a combination of knife and sandpaper, but i find that the sand paper (im using small piece of fine paper) damages the surrounding areas, and the knife tends to scratch the going uppy bits (although im getting better at that) Im also having trouble getting the sides of their faces clean.. :( for the same reasons.

thanks!

ps. i dont really understand the fuss about the shield + crossbow problem... they seem to fit and rank up fairly ok (mind you i havnt tried 3rd rank)
Last edited by Mnesthius on Wed Jan 02, 2008 3:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Mr. anderson
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Post by Mr. anderson »

Mnesthius wrote:how do you guys trim the tops of their shields??


i normally put the shields on their backs - but you obviously don´t so i say: take a plastic cutter and carefully remove the part of the shield you don´t want. then you take a hobby knife and make it a bit smooth - then you take files and make it as smooth as possible - that is the way i cut my plastic shields for the CoK´s of mine.

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Post by Dictator »

i normally put the shields on their backs - but you obviously don´t so i say: take a plastic cutter and carefully remove the part of the shield you don´t want. then you take a hobby knife and make it a bit smooth - then you take files and make it as smooth as possible - that is the way i cut my plastic shields for the CoK´s of mine.


Ditto. What I did was rest the shields on the ground and cut them down there so I could hide the "scars" easier.
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Post by Mnesthius »

thanks!

now, im up to doing the command units, and whilst i realise its full command, and not full commando, i still want to have my lordling equiped with sword, crossbow, as well as shield. Im looking at it right now, and it seems fine, but do you guys think it TOO unrealistic (emphasis on too, because i dont mean for it to look that realistic, just as long as its not OTT then im happy)

ps. this is toned down from getting the standard pole, sword, crossbow, shield, and horn all on the same guy :shock: :mrgreen:
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Post by Mr. anderson »

as long as it looks cool, it doesn´t matter. and to be honest: whether one guy in a unit has a crossbow or not is not going to make any difference, even if that one guy would actually be allowed to shoot. one way or the other - he would kill nothing.
i say: go for it!

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Re: My (DE ofcourse!) Army Diary

Post by Heldrak »

Mnesthius wrote:Now... question time: how do you guys trim the tops of their shields?? im using a combination of knife and sandpaper, but i find that the sand paper (im using small piece of fine paper) damages the surrounding areas, and the knife tends to scratch the going uppy bits (although im getting better at that) Im also having trouble getting the sides of their faces clean.. :( for the same reasons.


The best way to remove the rough piece of plastic at the top of the shield (where it was once attached to the sprue) is by slicing it off with a very sharp thin-bladed knife (an Exacto Knifewith a #10 blade is good). slide the edge of the knife along to top of the shield, angled to follow the angle of the shield's rim. You can clean the cheek-guards on the helmets the same way (slice, don't scrape).

Sand paper (no matter how fine) is awkward to use and too rough for plastic models. Get yourself a set of needle files instead (they come in different grades of fine-ness- get the finest grade you can). Get a round, a flat, and a half-round at a minimum (square & triangular are also handy).

What are you using to remove the pieces from the sprue? A good pair of angle cutters is essential for removing tiny finely-detailed components from the frame. The cleaner the cut you make getting the piece off the sprue, the less work you'll have to do cleaning it up later.
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Re: My (DE ofcourse!) Army Diary

Post by Mnesthius »

Heldrak wrote:The best way to remove the rough piece of plastic at the top of the shield (where it was once attached to the sprue) is by slicing it off with a very sharp thin-bladed knife (an Exacto Knifewith a #10 blade is good). slide the edge of the knife along to top of the shield, angled to follow the angle of the shield's rim. You can clean the cheek-guards on the helmets the same way (slice, don't scrape).


yay thanks, at least i know im doing it (technically) correct, now for the hard part.. practice! :p

thanks to mr anderson too, i'm actually not too concerned with performance anywho, since i dont even have a copy of the 7th ed rule book (got 6th ed left over from my first and failed foray into warhammer)
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Post by Mnesthius »

ok, ive done a bit of painting, and here's what i've got http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj19 ... C-879F.jpg (natural lighting)
and a brighter one (flash) http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj19 ... C-880F.jpg
(see links further down for group photo)
question is, what do you guys think? i'm not pretending the quality is high (photographic and otherwise) or anything, but any comments will be welcomed

does the color scheme look bland? will it be ok with black shields and black sleeves AND black xbows? - im thinking not, but have no clue about what colors i should use on shield (im thinking it could work with black xbows and sleeves, just not shields as well)

as i said, any tips on painting and criticisms of my attempt at highlighting will be appreciated
Last edited by Mnesthius on Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Draithon »

I think could look good but the base combined with the blue cloaks is just eugh.I would change the base colour.
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Post by Lord adrianus »

I totally agree with Draithon. Change the base colour quickly!
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Post by Mnesthius »

Draithon wrote:I think could look good but the base combined with the blue cloaks is just eugh.I would change the base colour.


what is a good color to change it to?
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Post by Mr. anderson »

Mnesthius wrote:
Draithon wrote:I think could look good but the base combined with the blue cloaks is just eugh.I would change the base colour.


what is a good color to change it to?


i would recommend putting sand on it, paint it with scorched brown, drybrush with a lighter color (like snakebite leather) and then seal the surface with watered-down PVA glue. after that you should put grass on it in a few spots and paint the base with scorched brown. i really dislike a base just painted with a color - it looks odd and it sort of implies that you don´t want to finish your models off properly ;)

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Post by Mnesthius »

cool, thanks everyone for the feedback

i'll go out and buy some sand and stuff, meantime, i've finished painting the 3 models (the models, not the bases~ don't worry) so when i get a camera, i'll take some better pics and replace the ones linked above

i added some blue trim to the shields, and am quite fond of it

EDIT: new pics (3rd jan 08) http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj19 ... bowmen.jpg and http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj19 ... owmen2.jpg
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Post by Mnesthius »

hi all

after a dry spell since i'd finished the crossbowmen, i've finally made another trip to the store and got myself some corsairs (love the models) and an assasin (the one with the sickle thingy) so yeah, got them cleaned up and will undercoat in a couple of minutes...

just wondering... how do you guys highlight on black

2 thoughts i have been having about the assasin's cloak: highlight using really dark red - Khaine colored which will make him really stand out, as a chromal highlight (if thats what its called, i could ask my girl friend about that) or if you guys will tell me how to tonal highlight black, i'll paint a red rune on his back or something...

off to undercoat now!

PS. got a nice reaper model for $10 NZD (cheap!) and i might show you guys... later... when i've done something with it... might make a good sorceress
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Post by Draithon »

Get the green on those 3 away quickly!,the black looks better than the green(bases).A snow base might work well......To highlight black,i would put black undercoat then white lines where you want the highlight,Then black wash.
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Post by Dictator »

The shields blue: is it suppose to be a trim? Or is it to be a highlight? I would say it would look great if you faded it to the blue from the black. It would really make the shields "Glow."

I have to agree with the bases too. Not to many people are using the all green look anymore. It's the style of a dark and sinister world: black.

Good Luck!
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Post by Mnesthius »

ugh... i think i totally stuffed up my first batch of corsairs... = ( real poohs...

i got lazy when undercoating, and didnt cover the metallic bits properly... now i think the paint might start flaking off... !cry!

still.. i'll have pics up later of all 9 of them just so you guys can see

might just strip the ones that go **** and start over, the command + 1 model should be ok, i undercoated them properly today

EDIT: here are the pics: Front: http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj19 ... MG2229.jpg
Back: http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj19 ... MG2230.jpg
Command (WIP): http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj19 ... MG2231.jpg
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Post by Mnesthius »

hi again, i've almost finished my corsiars, except i've run across two problems, the musician's horn - which i want to paint in the same colors as in the codex - and the gem at the top of the standard which i had wanted to be blue

i've seen the gem painting guide on GW but was wondering if you guys used a different method and what it was

as for the horn... no idea... how / what colors do you guys paint it??

(for poor pics of my poor models see above)
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Post by Mr. anderson »

i just painted the horn with bleached bone and then drybrushed it with a 70:30 mix of white/bleached bone. and then with white.

normally i paint gems the way GW does, but instead of adding a white spot (which looks nice on photos, but ridiculous in reality) i paint the whole gem with gloss varnish when i´m done with highlighting.

i can only see black silhouettes on the pictures - is that what´s meant to be there? so i can´t really comment on the corsairs paint job...

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Post by Dictator »

i can only see black silhouettes on the pictures - is that what´s meant to be there? so i can´t really comment on the corsairs paint job...

Yes the pictures are too poor to conclude on. Could you put up some new ones with better lighting?
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Post by Mnesthius »

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Post by Dictator »

Ah, ok. I believe you've got a good couple of minis there. I would try to make a better spread between the cloaks:blue and the underside of the cloak: brown. Just my personal preference for the eye to be able to make out colors and shapes without having to fight to see them.

This concept comes about especially when you are looking at them from tabletop distance. Which is exactly what most people do.

Metallic parts should have been done with a steel/boltgun color and then highlighted with the silver.

The skin i think looks pretty good. The seperation between the fingers etc are good. The eyes look pretty close to natural as you could get them.... By the way, how'd you do them so WELL!?!!?!? Let me know because I have tried almost every trick in the book. The second part of my question would be how quickly are they done?
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Post by Mnesthius »

thanks

by the way, the blue on the shields is a trim, but the fading idea does sound very cool, i just cant be bothered as they are all assembled now :P

by "spreading" do you mean i should use more contrast with my highlights?

the armour is drybrushed a mix of silver and black, inked with blue, then dry brushed / highlighted with straight silver.. the swords... just silver and black, some have a silver highlight.... i should probably buy a pot of boltgun metal but... what IS the difference between those paints? some more black...? i dont understand it..

eyes...

i've only just started painting really... but eyes.. i thought it'd be nice to try them, and so i did, so thanks for your compliment! its no pro standard, but i like them better than all shut eyed

umm... honestly, no technique.... i read this from somewhere and just played around

Begin with a black undercoat and do the eyes first. This may seem counter-intuitive, but in practice it works very well.

You make the eye by first painting two tiny almond-shaped slivers of white (or off-white)in the appropriate place(s). Then, when the whites are dry, paint in the iris in the center of each almond. I recommend using a dark brown or dark blue, as if you use black for the iris it's difficult to separate from the surrounding black undercoat.

before you go any farther, look at the finished eye(s). Do they look straight? Not cross-eyed? Not wall-eyed? This is the time to fix them, before you do any further work on the face. This is where the genius of doing the eyes first comes in- the eyes are the most finnicky part of the whole model, but if you do them first, you can re-work them as may times as you need to get them right without ruining any of your other work.

Once the eyes are satisfactory, you can work on the rest of the face. The flesh basecoat is also helpful in shaping the eye, as you can use it to reshape eyes that aren't quite even or narrow eyes that are too wide.

One of the most common failing with eyes is that people make them too large and that they don't properly define the edges (this is sometimes called "fried egg eyes"). They real key to doing eyes (as with everything else in figure painting) is practice and repetition.


the person said he / she had lifted it from Kevin Dallimore's Painting Guide

the thing is... im really lazy... so i paint the face first, contrary to his sensible advice (i just dont want to mess up the eyes while painting the face, but that can be avoided with caution)

i just take a teeny weeny bit of paint with the very tip of my brush, i find the prefect amount allows you to paint 1 eye - the white bits - using a small amount i've found stops the eye from splashing out onto the face.. we're not chaos warriors are we? but if you use more, then go lightly, imagine that you were using a feather to tickle something... (sorry about the wierd analogy)

anyway, the corsiar models actually have really well defined eyes, they 'stick out' quite nicely, so look closely, and only put white on the oval bits...

hope that helped

EDIT: the nine guys took roughly 4 days, with one hour? per day on average, its the holidays, i only paint in the morning, i get up at 9ish, walk the dog, breakfast, take a break... not forgetting the long getting up times... so yeah... you get the idea, is that slow? i dont really mind as im not a gamer, well... not right now, i only have 6th ed. rulebook etc so dont go into stores, all my friends stopped before i started etc... only interested in painting really :)
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Post by Mnesthius »

i've been trying to assemble some horses for my dark riders today...

to cut it short, i have no idea how to use green stuff, and when i tried today, it was a bit of a mess really

could anyone give me a run down on the basic steps? would be grate if you did that in the context of filling gaps for DR steeds (mainly between head and body)

any links you have to a tutorial / FAQ kind of document would be appreciated too

thanks in advance
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Post by Phierlihy »

Mnesthius wrote:i've been trying to assemble some horses for my dark riders today...

to cut it short, i have no idea how to use green stuff, and when i tried today, it was a bit of a mess really

could anyone give me a run down on the basic steps? would be grate if you did that in the context of filling gaps for DR steeds (mainly between head and body)

any links you have to a tutorial / FAQ kind of document would be appreciated too

thanks in advance


Here's some quick tips for green stuff...
- there is a thin strip between the yellow and blue strips that touch where a chemical interaction is taking place. Cut it out and use it for something like joints where people won't see it. If you don't cut it out, your green stuff will turn out lumpy.
- if you're making anything for a flat/smooth surface (banner, cloak, etc) roll it out to the thickness you want and then let it sit for 30 minutes before you cut it (use an exacto knife or other super sharp object for cutting it) to the shape you want. The 30 minute curing time will make it a bit more rigid so it will keep it's shape better and not stretch/tear/
- curing time is based on humidity and heat. Shining a light directly on green stuff will harden it much faster.
- a bit of glue plus a bit of green stuff will join almost anything very very well. The glue melts the green stuff and gives it super holding ability.
- a cheap set of sculpting tools are great for molding green stuff. mne costs $4.


Good luck!!
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