Painting & Modelling Q and A

[gralph!?!]

bottles?

anyway, the reasons whythe paint gets all screwy are due to 2 main reasons, the first being that it dries with the air and the second is lack of mixing paints.

so first with the airi drying aspect, nothing can be done about that apart from minimising the time the paint is exposed to the air. the first tip, as with all painting, use a pallette, can range from a kitchen tile, an old cd case an actual pallette or even a pag or something. take the paint from the pot and put on the pallette. after you take the paint out close the lid while it does stop alot of air getting to the paint when painting.

tip the second, if you get paint around the rims of the pots and it has dried or whatever, clean it all off(easier when it is a big lump of dried paint) if the paint is there then it can cause the "seal" of the pot to not form properly allowing a small enough gap for air to get into the pot and slowly dry some of the paint.

tip the third, before you use a paint shake the bottle/pot/whatever as it will remix any of the water and pigments that may have seperated. thus being put back to its original state.

tip the fourth add water to your paints every 2 or so weeks if they aren't in use, a couple of drops then shake means that any moisture that is lost due to heat or simple lost over time is replaced allowing it to stay liquidy longer, possibly 1 week if you live in a hot area.

these tips will help anyone take care of their paints and are all pretty easy to do.

[×ÏVÏøøÐz×]

How would you suggest I go about doing freehand on something like a cloak? I am going to attemp to make a large =][= symbol on my Inquisitors cloak, but, I am not so sure how I should go about applying it without screwing it up too much. Should I etch it lightly in pencil first, then fill it in with paint? I havent done much freehand, so any help would be nice

[gralph!?!]

well as with all freehand, first you design and practise on a bit of paper. then you get some watered down paint and carefully outline what you designed and practiced ontothe cloak then carefully go back and flesh out where necessary and highlight until you get it the way you want. also remember to break up anything you do so it is easier to flesh out.

[×ÏVÏøøÐz×]

Ah, okay, thank you very much . I will attempt to practive it on paper, as it is a fairly complex design to me, with all the skulls and that. So, should I outline the design when its done with a very thin line of black to make it stand out? Or perhaps just one side to make it seem 3D ish?

[Spetznaz]

got any tips for painting catachan green power armour?

its like painting watered down chocoalte. i have to do several really thick coats, and even then it doesn't go smoothly

[Baragash]

got any tips for painting catachan green power armour?

its like painting watered down chocoalte. i have to do several really thick coats, and even then it doesn't go smoothly

I mix Catachan Green with the Knarloc Green foundation paint because I had exactly that problem on this guy (WIP):



The green is a basecoat of Knarloc Green with one coat of a mixture of Knarloc Green and Catachan Green in this picture.

[Spetznaz]

yeah, but the colour i need is pure catachan, its too late to change. I bought Orkhide shade, but its too dark. Il get knarloc green, but i think ill just baseoat it with that. ALso does using GW spray undercoat vs Hardware store undercoat make a difference?

[Baragash]

yeah, but the colour i need is pure catachan, its too late to change. I bought Orkhide shade, but its too dark. Il get knarloc green, but i think ill just baseoat it with that.

In which case you might need to do a Catachan/Knarloc/medium green coat (Snot? My paints are all tidied up right now and my memory has failed me) so the Knarloc thickens it and the other green brings it back to the right colour.

ALso does using GW spray undercoat vs Hardware store undercoat make a difference?

Shouldn't really

[Spetznaz]

i think hardware store spray is too textured, thats why my paint doesnt go on smoothly

[gralph!?!]

the first thing sptznat is that you should ALWAYS use thinned down paints and many of them to get a smooth coverage. also with ork hide shade, it being darker is a good thing, it creates a base colour to work from that isn't as harsh as black which creates less obvious blotches.

i never really had problems with catachan green at all but if you have a smooth undercoat (especially on marines) then the paint will not stick very wel in the first place so undercoat your models as you do normally, then after that is dry, give it a dusting of black again so it has a slightly rough texture which sounds bad but isn't noticable after paint. so a quick squirt of paint from the can on the model and done, paint sticks much better to a rough surface than a smooth one.

[Vent]

I got a question regarding basing and attaching models to the base. Right now I attach and paint a model before I even worry about the base, but I was wondering whether I should paint and detail each separately and then attach them?

[Baragash]

I got a question regarding basing and attaching models to the base. Right now I attach and paint a model before I even worry about the base, but I was wondering whether I should paint and detail each separately and then attach them?

Depends how you base. I base with sand, so I base first, spray, then do the first 3 layers of drybrushing the base before I touch the rest of the model. It's the "messiest" bit, I'd hate to slip and muck up another part of the model that I'd finished.

[Vent]

Depends how you base. I base with sand, so I base first, spray, then do the first 3 layers of drybrushing the base before I touch the rest of the model. It's the "messiest" bit, I'd hate to slip and muck up another part of the model that I'd finished.

This is exactly what I'm afraid of. Thanks Baragash, I think I'll do it this way as well

[gralph!?!]

Depends how you base. I base with sand, so I base first, spray, then do the first 3 layers of drybrushing the base before I touch the rest of the model. It's the "messiest" bit, I'd hate to slip and muck up another part of the model that I'd finished.

what he said, i do sometimes spray white then put the sand on as sand isn't a good colour to have white as it looks a bit dumb.

[Spetznaz]

thinned down paints...man, shows my lack of experience. only been collecting for 6 years! *slaps head* But how much water? a drop? or not water some chemical.

Sorry im a nub

[Vent]

thinned down paints...man, shows my lack of experience. only been collecting for 6 years! *slaps head* But how much water? a drop? or not water some chemical.

Sorry im a nub

When you paint you take an amount out and put it on a pallette. Then put a single drop of water next to it and mix it to your preferred consistency. It'll take a little bit of time to get the mix right though, make sure it's not to thin otherwise it goes everywhere...

[Spetznaz]

thanks a bunch. im so cut off from the rest of the world that i never really got taught how to paint

[Vent]

thanks a bunch. im so cut off from the rest of the world that i never really got taught how to paint

I only started in August... You might want to wait for someone else

[Baragash]

thinned down paints...man, shows my lack of experience. only been collecting for 6 years! *slaps head* But how much water? a drop? or not water some chemical.

Sorry im a nub

When you paint you take an amount out and put it on a palate. Then put a single drop of water next to it and mix it to your preferred consistency. It'll take a little bit of time to get the mix right though, make sure it's not to thin otherwise it goes everywhere...

Pretty much....get a smooth surface for a pallette (I normally thieve sample tiles from DIY stores, easy to clean with wire wool). Put pain on brush, transfer to tile, dip tip of brush in water and mix into paint, add more paint/water to right thickness (I normally find a bit more paint is needed). The "right" thickness is such that the paint is not lumpy/thick when it goes on, but also covers the previous coat smoothly/non-patchy.

[gralph!?!]

thinned down paints...man, shows my lack of experience. only been collecting for 6 years! *slaps head* But how much water? a drop? or not water some chemical.

Sorry im a nub

ONLY, that is astill nearly as long as i have.

anyway, add a little bit of water to your paints so it is thinner, after mixing wash your brush off, and pick paint from pallette as normal and then whip excess off on a wet bit of kitchen roll or cloth then paint away. it is what i do, it also allows me to paint with paint that is the consitancy of water.