Hey all,

Just wanted to share some photos with you. These are the Warhammer Wood Elves War Dancer command group, a champion and a musician. Hope you like them. They are very close to being done, I'll have to touch up just one or two things before I can call them finished.

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Mclimbin,

Those are great! How long did those take to finish? Amazing detail work! Do you use a magnifying glass? I love the shadowing in the muscle definition. Did you use dry brushing or another method?

Thanks FLGM,

Well, I don't like to think about how long it takes me to paint like this--I'm a slow painter actually. Maybe around 20-25 hours for the both of them? I was trying to do my best job yet on these, so it was a long time. It's good that I like to paint, as I'm hoping to sell these for around $40 on Ebay. Let's just say that I'm not planning on quitting my day job anytime soon.

I use a thing called an optivisor for faces (especially eyes) and when I'm trying to be really really careful, like on the blades (the highlights and shadows are painted in). It is also really good for when I'm trying for an effect but can't seem to get it. I put the optivisor on and I can usually see what the problem is. I don't like to use it all the time though, it's hard on my eyes and kinda uncomfortable. My wife calls it my "dork hat," and it's a testiment to how much she loves me that she doesn't laugh at me when I'm wearing it anymore.

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The producers of "the 40-Year Old Virgin" *totally* dropped the ball when they showed him painting minis with a magnifying glass instead of the optivisor! LOL

I used two techniques on the flesh called glazing and layering. Both involve watering down your paint until it's translucent and applying it carefully so that you get a smooth transition between colors. I might write an article about glazing and layering at some point for the Scroll, but I think most people would be more interested in more basic stuff first.

Thanks for your compliments!
Michael

Crap, I meant to get a closer look at these yesterday, they look fabulous. The detail work is amazing.

I don't know if it's something I would ever take up, but I'd be quite interested in reading about the techniques you use, basic or advanced.

Too bad, I would have loved to show them to you.

m

Here are some of my first orcs! (I have a sucky camera)

Those are pretty cool! You gotta love greenskins. They are great fun to paint.

For taking photos, if you are interested, here is a little advice:

Do you have a "macro" mode on your camera? The icon usually looks like a little flower. It will allow you to take a photo within 12 inches, so they will come out less blurry. Also, you can tell from the difference between the first two shots and the third that using a flash is not the best thing to do. If you can, try to use 2-3 lamps, one on each side and one from the top. That way there won't be any shadows and the light will be even.

Good job on those guys! Feel free to start your own thread next time.

Thanks for the photo tips! I followed your advise now look....

See!?! Those photos kick a$$! And they show how much your minis kick a$$ too. Very nice job on those.

If you'd like to work on those orcs a little more here is a suggestion. Dilute some black paint or ink A LOT--I mean about one drop of paint to 5-6 drops of water. Test if it's too thick by painting a piece of newspaper. If you can see the words, then it's ok. If you can't see the words, add more water. Take this diluted paint and go over the parts of the mini that are textured--the chain mail, fur, etc. Don't wipe too much, as you might damage the last coat of paint. Just go over it lightly. The diluted paint will wash over the ridges and higher parts of the texture and settle into the crevices. If it gets too dark, wipe off your brush so it's fairly dry and use it to wick some of the paint up. Go easy at first and when it's dry, go again, if needed, in the even more recessed areas of the mini (under arms, etc). Careful though, it might take a long time to dry. If you want, you can use a hair dryer to speed things up.

This technique is called a wash, and it's used to quickly get shadows and add more dimension to textured surfaces. It should look really cool!

Oh, you can do the same thing with all the metal parts, but instead of crevices the paint will gather around the rivets and stuff. Let me know how it works out!