Painting some Followers of Bone

[PaulinKendal]

Then the figures are attached to those spatulas and primed using the airbrush. First black -


- and then a zenithal white prime:



If you don't know, a zenithal prime is where you spray white primer down onto the figure from above, creating strong highlights and illuminating detail.

Here's another figure that shows off the zenithal prime rather better.



It also highlights the rather speckly finish I'm getting with the white primer. This is not great but it doesn't affect the finished figure. I probably need to adjust the white primer with retarder to stop it drying in mid-air before it hits the figure.

The zenithal prime makes it really easy to see the detail of the sculpts, and identifies where you need to paint highlights and lowlights.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Paul
More interesting info here. Not come across a jewellers block before. Does it actually hold the figure or is it just a firm surface to work on? Nice trick on the CA and PVA, I’ll have to try that one….not sure I’d ever go with no clean up, even though it’s a phase I absolutely hate
I’m a recent convert to Zenithal priming myself. However, I highlight using white paint because it’s already primed LOL…. Before that I used to prime in grey, then wash in dilute black to outline the detail. I sometimes include an intermediate grey highlight because I prefer painting over mid grey. The spray method is quite a lot quicker and if you’re painting a largish rank and flank force time comes into it….

 

[PaulinKendal]

Hi Tim, the block just acts as a compliant but firm surface to rest the figure on, or more accurately to hold it down to. The fact that it is raised above the surface of the worktop makes it easy to grasp and hold the figure comfortably - it's quite difficult to explain what's so good about it, but it definitely makes life easier.
Highlighting in white paint rather than white primer is ridiculously obvious - why didn't I think of that?!
Re. no clean-up, like you I hate doing it, but I am quite uneasy about skipping it. But I'm firmly of the opinion that you have to try stuff out to move forward and improve - even if it doesn't always work out!

 

[Tim Marlow]

I didn’t really think of the white paint idea….I ran out of white primer and used paint to keep a project moving….then thought Doh!!!

 

[JR]

Most interesting conversation between the two of you, like Rick I'm leaning a lot here. .

 

[Mini Me]

Yes indeed.......zenithal is new to me and might be worth a try in 1-87 scale......should help to speed things up a bit. Good tip on the white paint Tim. See here, you both have secrets to divulge! LOL
Rick H.

 

[PaulinKendal]

So, at this stage I've run out of excuses not to start actually adding colour.

Deciding on a colour scheme is quite fraught, I find. The colour scheme here is broadly the same as my entire horde army - a mix of greens and browns. With some units I've added some blue and a bit of metallic, and the monsters (giants, mammoths) and special characters have lots more colour variety.

But green and brown do work well. It's important to remember that these are the main colours, but they are the background, not the foreground. For example, on this unit the key colour feature is going to be all the bone. And the figures are not defined solely by the colours anyway - the sculpts themselves ensure each unit really stands out from the others.

To start with I really just slap on the colour. No need to worry about going over edges yet.


I started with just a couple of figures (the complete unit is twelve, plus the unit leader), with the hope I can work out what is going to work well, before painting the rest of them as a single batch. That's the plan - for now!

 

[PaulinKendal]

Even after just the first figure, where I started with the greens, I realised it would be better to do the browns first and the greens second. So that's what I did with the second figure.


Then I did a first coat of bone - just beginning to take care not to chuck it around too much.

Hopefully you can see how thin these first coats are, from that bone colour. I've been trying hard to get my paint dilution right, and it's not easy. Generally, the thinner the better, but not so thin that it's just a wash that runs everywhere.

You can also see that I realised it would be better to paint his club bone first, not brown, so I corrected that.

This all seems very pedestrian, but I'm trying to show just how hesitant and hit and miss the whole process is, for me at least. It's really not "step by step" at all, just blundering around working out what works best.

 

[PaulinKendal]

And that's where I'm at right now.


I'm not sure this is of any great value to anyone, but perhaps seeing how you can just tentatively take the painting process one step at a time, thinking about how it works (or doesn't), making adjustments and stepping forward one pace more is a perfectly legitimate approach.

The other thing I always find is that, until I've taken quite a lot of steps along the process of painting a group of figures, I really have no idea whether or not I'm going to make a right pig's ear of them. That's how I'm feeling about these right now.

I was even less certain when I did my first batch, back in February. For those I used Vallejo contrast paints (they call them inks). I can distinctly remember how it was only when I put the last colour on, and there was no white primer left to see, that I realised it was working - quite a "Eureka!" moment.

Maybe that uncertainty is all part of the fun?

 

[Tim Marlow]

Nice start. That’s complex figures, so I’ll be interested to see how you progress….I like the way you are keeping the preshade so giving interest to the surfaces on the miniature. I tend to overdo this and have to paint it back in

As to colour schemes, that’s where historicals score. You just copy the actual uniform……Fantasy figures take a little more thought.

I too paint a couple of figures first if I’m starting a new imaginary scheme. I use several methods to decide on a scheme though. I use the colour wheel, pictures or photos where the colours work together, home decorating resources, or sometimes just port over historical uniform schemes and use them in a different context……I also try to contrast warm and cool colours to give more contrast. I am really jealous of the true artists that can do this instinctively

I too struggle with paint dilution. Sometimes it’s spot on, flowing well, and covering as required. Other times it is too thick, too thin, or lumpy! The wet palette helps, but as you pointed out earlier, some colours just suck up the water and over dilute….I do tend to use a dab of flow aid or Matt medium with the water these days because it helps the paint flow off the brush in a more consistent manner.

Have you experienced light colours turning chalky? I’ve had it happen a couple of times, due primarily to over dilution. I tend to only make washes with darker colours these days.

Do you unload your brush first before painting? I find it improves control, stopping the paint flooding off the brush. Basically I touch the loaded brush to a sheet of kitchen roll or cartridge paper to wick off the excess moisture. The paint then only flows off the brush when you work it, not when you just touch the surface.

By the way, Vallejo inks are just that….inks. They are not contrast paint. Contrast paint will give basic highlights and shading when used thickly over a smooth primer. Inks are more controllable and much more versatile from what I’ve seen.

If you add glazing medium to the inks they make superb glazes, by the way, and are fantastic at adding richness to a painted surface when used as a glaze….Daler Rowney inks are fantastic for this as well as Vallejo.
The Payne’s grey is a great shader, desaturating and darkening a colour so it can be used for shading. The white is a really nice colour when freehanding a design on a shield or such….

This is a really informative SBS. You’re really letting us into your thought processes, not just saying “put that colour there, and this one here”….great stuff!

 

[PaulinKendal]

Ooh there's lots of interesting stuff in there, Tim.

Not sure what you mean in your first para, "keeping the preshade going"?

Can you explain how you incorporate flow aid into your diluted paint? I find with the wet palette, a jar of plain water to regularly rinse out the brush and my own saliva, there's enough moisture around already!

Light colours turning chalky - I've heard this commented on before, but not really sure what it means tbh.

Your use of inks sounds really interesting - I've only used them like contrast paints, never for glazing or shading. I think you need to do an SBS on inks yourself!

Thanks for your interest and comments Tim - really, really helpful.

 

[PaulinKendal]

Oh, and unloading the brush, I do that on the back of my right thumb (I'm left handed).

 

[Mini Me]

Bravo........makes two of us south paws Rick H.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Ooh there's lots of interesting stuff in there, Tim.

Not sure what you mean in your first para, "keeping the preshade going"?

Can you explain how you incorporate flow aid into your diluted paint? I find with the wet palette, a jar of plain water to regularly rinse out the brush and my own saliva, there's enough moisture around already!

Light colours turning chalky - I've heard this commented on before, but not really sure what it means tbh.

Your use of inks sounds really interesting - I've only used them like contrast paints, never for glazing or shading. I think you need to do an SBS on inks yourself!

Thanks for your interest and comments Tim - really, really helpful.

I meant that your colour coats are thin enough to still show the zenital shading under the paint layer.

I add flow aid by diluting the paint as you describe, then touching the brush into a small puddle of flow aid (kept on the wet palette) and mixing that into the diluted paint. You will see the consistency of the paint change and become more fluid. It isn’t a dilutant, just an additive that reduces surface tension in the paint. For those old school modellers out there, it then acts more like enamels, flowing better off the brush and is less likely to show brush marks.

As to chalkiness, I hadn’t experienced it until I did The paint starts to act like chalk powder in water, not sticking properly and not maintaining any structure.

Inks can be fun…..just have a play and see how you get on….they tend to have higher pigmentation than paints, so can put down some really vibrant colours, and stand up better to being used as washes and glazes, giving smoother coverage than diluted paint.

Glad you are OK with my replies, I was a bit concerned I was coming across as preachy, pushing “my” way of doing things. What I’m trying to do is compare and contrast our two techniques, showing where we differ and where we are pretty much doing the same thing.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Oh, and unloading the brush, I do that on the back of my right thumb (I'm left handed).

Not sure this is the same thing. I test paint delivery on my left thumb nail, making sure paint won’t flood out, but I remove overloaded paint on the paper. May be this is why I can’t paint for very long without the brush running dry and needing to be reloaded LOL…
Have you watched any Vince Ventruella videos on YouTube, by the way….he seems to be able to paint forever off of one paint charge….

 

[PaulinKendal]

No problem with your replies AT ALL, Tim - do keep them coming.

I'll try flow aid like you say - I've got Vallejo airbrush flow improver, which I guess is the same, more or less?

I think we both do the same thing when it comes to ensuring our brushes aren't overloaded - you only have to completely ruin a section of a model by flooding it with paint to avoid doing THAT again!

Re. chalkiness - yes I've certainly had paints separate out into liquid and tiny solid fragments. It looks wrong, so I've always starts again with fresh paint when that happens.

 

[Tim Marlow]

The airbrush flow improver is probably flow aid and retarder to minimise tip drying during spraying. Should work the same. You are looking for the paint consistency to change to a more fluid self levelling quality when you add it. It’s worth getting g flow aid if you see it though, especially if you spray with model air. A drop of that is the magic ingredient that stops tip drying. I got that tip on here, but can’t remember who from (sorry whoever)….might have been John Race.

 

[dalej2014]

Also following with interest. I used to paint minis too, many years ago. Will dig out some of the old ones and post pics soon. Enough of hijacking your thread. Getting popcorn, sitting back

 

[PaulinKendal]

@Tim Marlow , I've just seen those wolves of yours - SO impressive! Do you have a thread of your work, or are they all buried in the "on the bench" thread?

 

[dalej2014]

@Tim Marlow , I've just seen those wolves of yours - SO impressive! Do you have a thread of your work, or are they all buried in the "on the bench" thread?

They really are excellent. As indeed is your own work. Real talent both.