Painting some Followers of Bone

[PaulinKendal]

Well I’m going to try it on the big Viking…..

Oh excellent. If it goes horribly wrong it's nothing to do with me!

 

[Tim Marlow]

The worst that can happen is that I have to repaint the base…….the figure will be untouched.

 

[PaulinKendal]

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….

I've just started watching him, very interesting stuff.

Re. the inexhaustible paint charge - he mentions in one video (Understanding Brush Control) that he's using a Raphael 8404 No.3 - that's a big brush.

I've been amazed at how much more paint my new No.2 holds - I reckon the even bigger No.3 brush is the secret to those endless shots of him perfecting a miniature on one paint charge.

 

[Tim Marlow]

I've just started watching him, very interesting stuff.

Re. the inexhaustible paint charge - he mentions in one video (Understanding Brush Control) that he's using a Raphael 8404 No.3 - that's a big brush.

I've been amazed at how much more paint my new No.2 holds - I reckon the even bigger No.3 brush is the secret to those endless shots of him perfecting a miniature on one paint charge.

That’s a big and expensive brush! Don’t think I’ve seen that one, may have to look for it. You could well be right though, it might be how he can paint for so long. I use a size one, but may one day move up a bit.….. I also don’t know how he picks up so much paint from his wet palette in one hit, by the way……I think he’s a great communicator and I do like the way he goes through all the paint ranges showing pluses and minuses without favour.

 

[PaulinKendal]

This is where I'm at now. It needs considerable tinkering yet, but it's getting there.


Having wondered whether I'd gone too far with the mauve skin first time around, I've now gone considerably further with it!

The little hat with that terrible yellow plume has got to go. I'm thinking of painting it all ice blue.

And I'm thinking that the third set of four (in this twelve-strong troupe) had better be painted in shades of yellow - I've clearly got some learning to do with that particular colour!

 

[PaulinKendal]

 

[Tim Marlow]

Coming on well isn’t he. Know what you mean about the yellow plume….blue and mauve work, but the yellow plume clashes a bit. Not sure about ice blue though, it’s a cool colour and the rest is quite warm in tone? A blue toned red might work?
Yellow is fun. I’ve been a bit hit and miss with it myself. The issue is that yellow is transparent so doesn’t cover well. Coming up from a sienna type brown to an almost white highlight can work, well it has for me in the past……I usually overpaint the lot with yellow ink to give more vibrancy to the final colour. Apparently painting the object like flesh, then painting over with yellow can work as well.
I find Vallejo yellow ink can give a good intense colour, but the undercoat has to be “right”. Be very careful about painting yellow over black and blue. The top coat goes green very quickly. In the same way, any obvious red in the undercoat turns the top coat orange….

 

[PaulinKendal]

Pale blue with orange banding. An improvement over the yellow and brown, but that bar was very low. The orange has got to go.

I could go for metal banding, of course. I think I'm going to get some of the Vallejo Metal Colors. I've got some of their Game Air metallics, but the Metal Color seems even better. ScaleModelShop stocks of this are patchy - and I'm not sure what colours to get.

Oh, and I've got a Molotow chrome pen, but never thought to use it on miniatures - I'll have to give that a try.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Not sure on the blue myself. It is too similar to the fur cloak I think….doesn’t really ”pop”..
The Metal colours are fantastic. First metallics I’ve had that paint like, well, paint….. Most useful I think are Gunmetal, Steel, and silver….they make a good triad up to steel highlights. I also have Burnt iron and Magnesium to sometimes vary the steel colour. Copper is not that great, but that might just be me. Not tried the Gold, can’t find any They don’t do a brass or bronze unfortunately. Best gold/brass/Bronze colours I’ve found are from Darkstar metallics, but they are gel paint not like the Metal colours.
All of them work best over a dark base….Gold over dark red is a good combination, as is steel over Indigo or Payne’s grey.

 

[PaulinKendal]

How do you protect your metallics, Tim? I matt varnished Game Air silver and, predictably, it goes grey. Vallejo do a gloss Metal Varnish - I might try that. Can I matt varnish the whole mini, then brush the gloss varnish onto the metalwork - would that work?

 

[Tim Marlow]

You could try it, but to be honest, I usually put on the first darker coat, say Gunmetal, varnish the figure, then add the main colour, steel, and highlights, silver, to get some shine back. I also find the metal “reads” better that way. After all, it’s a high contrast colour block, so if it all shines it looks a bit toy like. I’ve never had any issues with them wearing off. I find Metallics are harder wearing than normal paints.

 

[PaulinKendal]

Another painting pause. A long weekend away enabled me to put my Free Folk faction on the wargaming table for the very first time. What fantastic fun!

But in the heat of battle, a Thenn Warrior got bent out of shape - a reminder that these are primarily playing pieces. No point in being too precious.



Honestly, if you've never tried table-top wargaming, give it a try!

 

[Tim Marlow]

Oh dear, a battle casualty….easy fix though….unusual break, looks like a casting flaw. They usually bend if that happens…..

 

[PaulinKendal]

Oh dear, a battle casualty….easy fix though….unusual break, looks like a casting flaw. They usually bend if that happens…..

They're plastic, and it was caused by me flailing my arms around in despair as three dragons laid waste to my horde!

 

[Tim Marlow]

They're plastic, and it was caused by me flailing my arms around in despair as three dragons laid waste to my horde!

Ah, right, of course they are….it looked like a whitemetal Casting break

 

[Tim Marlow]

Agree ref. Gaming though…..great fun with the right rules and the right gamers….interestingly enough it’s usually more fun if you get hammered as well……

 

[adt70hk]

Agree ref. Gaming though…..great fun with the right rules and the right gamers….interestingly enough it’s usually more fun if you get hammered as well……

I seem to recall the board wargames we used to play up in a mates loft could take an interesting turn given that they used to smoke certain substances.....I never partook myself but given that it was in a loft with no ventilation I can only assume a certain amount of passive smoking took place......

 

[PaulinKendal]

The Warrior is repaired: spear removed, fist drilled out, then fitted with metal reinforcement to the spear halves. One hour.

 

[PaulinKendal]

One Follower of Bone has had bone highlights added.

In one hour it went from.this:


To this:

 

[PaulinKendal]

Those two jobs: two hours total.

Over the weekend I faced off against some very handsome army units, completed by their very skilled owner in just two hours of painting and basing - per unit of twelve. Two hours!