Author Topic: CSO paint-along with Gunji  (Read 218522 times)

Wotan

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #30 on: 25 September 2013, 02:30:32 »
Ok neither having a Mjolnir nor being interested in that particular camo, but very interested in understanding how you do your awesome paintjobs. ;)
I am the only one on board who is already totally puzzled by "dusting" a mini ? Would like to give it a try and started yesterday. But either i have a black or a White mini afterwards.  :D

Also the tip with Grey primer and black wash sounds good - if not i'm lacking any Grey primer.

That Project and all the great comments are very helpful i think. Will follow this closely. ;)

SteelWarrior

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #31 on: 25 September 2013, 03:45:39 »
Ok neither having a Mjolnir nor being interested in that particular camo, but very interested in understanding how you do your awesome paintjobs. ;)
I am the only one on board who is already totally puzzled by "dusting" a mini ? Would like to give it a try and started yesterday. But either i have a black or a White mini afterwards.  :D

Also the tip with Grey primer and black wash sounds good - if not i'm lacking any Grey primer.

That Project and all the great comments are very helpful i think. Will follow this closely. ;)

Dusting is when you give the mini a short burst of primer.  So you get a light spray "dusted" effect.
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GunjiNoKanrei

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #32 on: 25 September 2013, 03:54:19 »
Ok neither having a Mjolnir nor being interested in that particular camo, but very interested in understanding how you do your awesome paintjobs. ;)
Well, as you can see you could easily use another mini. And about the camo ... you like FWL, don't you? Fusiliers of Oriente, Oriente Hussars and Orloff Grenadiers make heavy use of dark green ... ;)
I am the only one on board who is already totally puzzled by "dusting" a mini ? Would like to give it a try and started yesterday. But either i have a black or a White mini afterwards.  :D
When you spray the mini, do you start spraying already in line with the miniature? If so, stop doing that. Easy to get way too much paint on the mini. Start spraying next to the miniature, then move the can across the miniature while spraying. Do this relatively quickly and repeat until satisfied. Also don't use long bursts, just short controlled bursts.
Now if you do this with a black miniature and white primer ... not spraying the miniature full on ... instant 'dusted' miniature.
Sounds more complicated than it actually is. Trust me ;)
Maybe the amazing *cough cough* scribble I have attached will help.

GunjiNoKanrei

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #33 on: 25 September 2013, 05:00:44 »
The subject of color list was brought up. Before I give you a list of colors I have used I want to stress that it is not important to have the exact same colors. Similar colors should work just fine. I wanted to suggest alternative colors, but realized this quickly clutters the list. If you'd like to have me suggest alternatives for any of the colors just tell me and I will gladly do so. Of course all of those alternative colors have different nuances, but even using the very same colors I have used you shouldn't expect to get a 100% match.

People will have different preferences. As with techniques some colors (brands) 'work' for them, other don't. For example I avoid Vallejo Game Colors like the plague and am not very happy with the new GW paints, but love the old ones. Take the colors (brands) you are comfortable with.

Colors I have used (not comprehensive at this point):

Basecolors:
- Vallejo Model Color Reflective Green (basecolor for the green parts)
- Reaper Master Series Mahogany Brown (basecolor for the red parts) - for shading/highlighting I will also make heavy use of GW Scab Red as basecolor for mixes
- GW Boltgun Metal (basecolor for the metal parts like the hammer) - the old GW metallics are hands down the best metallic paints in my opinion, followed by Vallejo Model Air
- Vallejo Panzer Aces Dark Rubber (basecolor for the dark grey parts like the fingers) - definitely the least important of the basecolors.

Shading Colors:
- Vallejo Panzer Aces Periscopes (used all over the miniature) - best shading color ever!
- Black - my personal preference is Reaper Master Series black as it is very flat, but of course any black will do

Highlight Colors:
- Vallejo Model Air Interior Yellow (used sparingly on the green parts)
- Vallejo Model Color Pale Sand (used on both the red and green parts)
- Vallejo Model Color Ivory (used for final highlights)
- White - I don't really have a preference here, currently I use Vallejo Model Color White

That should do it for now. But no worries, there will be more colors ;) And I may have forgotten a shading or highlight color, but the once mentioned are the "core colors" so to speak.

Again, just post if you'd like me to suggest alternatives for any of the colors. It is not necessary for you to buy all of those paints if you don't have them readily available.

Wotan

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #34 on: 25 September 2013, 06:25:28 »
Thanks Gunji - sounds good. Will give an old Orion a try on that. ;)

Ace_Crew135

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #35 on: 25 September 2013, 07:36:51 »
Looks good. I got my Talon ready to go. Looking forward to the next step
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serrate

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #36 on: 25 September 2013, 09:41:28 »
Enforcer III primed and "dusted"


Edit: Meant to add a little more detail. I prime with Liquitex Gesso Black. I used to spray prime, but I've found that the Gesso is just much tougher. Of course, I learned awhile back that touching the mini at all will cause paint/primer to wear off (especially on edges and pointy bits), so attaching the mini to something definitely helps me not rub paint off as well.

Gave it a quick dusting with white primer this morning. Just cheap Krylon stuff that I've had for awhile so I hope it comes out ok when dry.
« Last Edit: 25 September 2013, 11:53:36 by serrate »

GunjiNoKanrei

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #37 on: 25 September 2013, 10:47:39 »
I hope everyone has had enough time to prepare and prime a miniature and is ready to slap some paint on it. Not everyone has posted a picture yet, so if the next step is too soon, please speak up so I can give everyone enough time to catch up. As mentioned earlier I guess we have to find out on the fly what the best speed will be :)

Before we get to the basecolors I want to say a word or two about thinning paints. Always thin your paints. There are a few exceptions, but almost always I thin my paints at least a little. To thin my paints I use distilled water almost exclusively. Distilled water because tap water can contain chalk and other stuff which can have a undesired effects on your paints.
Now you probably want to know, how much I thin my paints ... honestly, I can't give you exact formulas. I thin my paints differently for different applications (basecoat, shading, wash, ...) and always until I feel it is right. Sometimes I use drops of water from a dropper bottle, sometimes I just pick up some water with a brush (yes, this can even be my painting water at times). When I started painting I used think in exact ratios, but to tell the truth it was liberating to stop thinking about painting as if it was a rocket science. Same with mixing paint, but more on that during later stages. The amount of water to thin paint to behave like you want it to can actually vary from color to color even when from the same brand. A pigment rich color might have to be thinned more to be applied as a wash than a color with less pigments. And to make it even more complicated there isn't only "not thin enough", there is also "too thin". So in the end it does all come down to experience, experimenting and practice.
I know this doesn't help much, so I will try to give approximations when possible. But don't take those approximations (or observations in some cases) as exact ratios.

Acrylic paint gets more transparent the more you thin it. This characteristic will come in very hand in later steps and we will rely on it heavily. But we want a more or less opaque basecoat to work from so I don't thin the basecolors that much. I'd say not thinner than 50/50 paint water.

Maybe now is also a good time to loose a word or two about brushes. Brush size doesn't matter. It is all about the tip. You can paint the finest detail with a size 1 or 2 brush when the tip is perfect. A too small brush (smaller than 0 or 000) can actually cause more problems than it is worth. The tip won't be finer than of a good size 0, but the body will hold much less paint, meaning you have to pick up paint much more often (which you don't want when painting a freehand for example) or in the worst cause even mean the paint dries on the brush before hitting the miniature.
Sable brushes hold the best tips. I have never had any luck with nylon brushes as they don't hold the tip well and usually end up with a bendy tip sooner rather than later. My preferred brushes are from Da Vinci (I think it is series 10, but I will have to look this up when I am home). They are expensive, but they last a long time even when you don't treat them well (which I don't ...).
I usually use brushes size 1 and 0. Sometimes I use a size 2 or even a flat brush to apply a basecoat and in very rare cases I use a 000. The Mjolnir was completely painted with brushes size 1 and 0.

But let's get to the miniature ...

First we take a look at the description for the Republic Standing Guards scheme as per Field Manual 3085:
"The basic color scheme of militia units is olive drab with maroon highlights on prominent areas of the unit."

Step 3: With this in mind my basecolors are:
- Vallejo Model Color Reflective Green for the green parts - a nice olive green, not too dark, but not exactly bright and vibrant either.
- Reaper Master Series Mahogany Brown for the maroon parts - if you google for maroon you get a wide range from bright to dark red-brown, but a relatively dark reddish-brown seems to dominate. Mahogany Brown is a very rich color, maybe a bit on the brown side, but we can adjust that later.
- GW Boltgun Metal for all metallic parts - hammer, elbow joints, "disks" on the outside of the knees, laser barrels on the right and arm and torso and the jumpjet exhaust ports.
- Vallejo Panzer Aces Dark Rubber for fingers and the "vents" on the wings (head) - not part of the scheme description, but adding little things like this adds interest and detail to a miniature. I also often do this on joints where there seems to be some sort of (rubber) cover instead of bare metallics.

As mentioned above I thinned the basecolor not more than 50/50. I applied each color in maybe 2-3 thin layers.
When working with thinned paints it easy to pick up too much paint which then will flow freely on the miniature. To counter this I usually lightly drag my brush across a tissue (paper towel) after picking up paint and before hitting the miniature.

The coverage of the basecolors is not quite, but almost, opaque and relatively even. You don't have to be super neat at this stage.
Some areas were painted black (cockpit, bars at the cockpit, "disks" on the outside of the hips). These areas will get some special treatment during later stages (warning stripes and canopy). Also, while I had black on the palette I painted the borders of the base with it. This is of course purely optional at this stage, but I like to frame the miniature.

It might be of note that I painted the metallics over the light primer too. Often you hear that metallics cover better on dark/black surface. While there is some truth in that, I find that 2-3- thin coats over a light primer cover equally well, or at least well enough. I did paint the metallics first though as they can be very messy. I highly recommend using a dedicated set of brushes only for metallics. Nothing can be more frustrating than getting a smear of metallic pigments on the miniature with the last glaze you apply. And there will be metallic pigments left in your brush, even if you clean it thoroughly. Also change your painting water after using metallics before using another color or you will get metallic pigments all over the miniature. Better yet, use an extra cup of water only for metallics (I don't, but really should ...).



At this stage the miniature looks like a piece of poo and it will continue to do so for quite some time ... to tell the truth this is the part about painting miniatures I hate most: starting a new miniature and literally fighting through the first painting stages. I do have many miniatures in one of the early stages sitting in my cabinet of shame ...  :-[

Anyway ... I wasn't quite happy with the green color so I decided to tweak the color a bit.

Step 4: Mixing Reflective Green with a dab of black I prepared a wash for the green parts. For a wash I thin the paint quite a lot so it has a very watery consistency. Applying a wash often means more or less flooding the miniature with paint, allowing the paint to flow into recesses and the like. I didn't do that in this case. You can almost say, I only glazed the dark green on. To have control over a wash it is very important not to have too much paint on the brush. So after unloading the brush on a paper towel I applied the paint in controlled strokes, painting from light to dark, literally pushing the paint into the recesses. I completely covered all green areas that way. Looking at the pictures you can see that I only got a bit of definition, but that the green has been darkened very evenly. Goal achieved.
This step is optional. Had I chosen a darker green as a basecolor I probably wouldn't have done this. The only purpose was to tweak the green.

At this stage I also washed the metallics with black (watered down black paint). Here I just slopped the paint on, not caring about neatness, even application or pooling. Looks quite messy, but it is easy to clean this up later.





Phew, this post got much longer than I planned and we still haven't done much painting ... sorry and sorry for the wall of text (I still feel, I forgot many things...). But I think it is important to get the basics down and to give you insights into what I am doing and why so you understand how I do things.

Now I am looking forward to your basecoated miniatures and questions should you have any :)

Mastergunz

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #38 on: 25 September 2013, 11:01:55 »
Quote
Vallejo Panzer Aces Periscopes


I want to bring this up as I am sure others out there have the same question. Is this a medium you use when you shade. Do you add other colors to it. You said you use it all over the minature.

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GunjiNoKanrei

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #39 on: 25 September 2013, 11:47:11 »


I want to bring this up as I am sure others out there have the same question. Is this a medium you use when you shade. Do you add other colors to it. You said you use it all over the minature.Zu

-Gunz
Periscopes is a regular color from the Panzer Aces line,  a unsaturated dark blue similar to Vallejo Model Color Dark Sea Blue. I use it in mixes and neat to shade pretty much everything.

Spaceman

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #40 on: 25 September 2013, 22:28:24 »
So after day one of actual painting I am behind where I want to be. I spent about an hour painting and got the cockpit, the sides of the base black, 95% of the metallics are covered with there coats of paint and the red base is about 45% done. I am finding working with thinned paint more difficult than unthinned paint right now.

I will post a picture tomorrow as I have to upload it to my computer to edit.
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Force of Nature

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #41 on: 25 September 2013, 23:53:33 »
I am a little confused by what you did Gunji.

The scheme is for olive and red, yet you started out with olive and then darkened it with a dark wash. Are we to give the olive green coat a dark wash also even when it says that it is optional? If we don't do the dark wash, our results are going to be different than yours.

By darkening the green with the wash, are you no longer painting the canon colors for the unit? Dark green is not olive after all.

Should we have just started with a dark green instead as you suggested?

I have painted with olive green but have not done the wash yet. If I don't do the wash, my results are going to be skewed from yours from the beginning of this tutorial.

Thoughts?

SteelWarrior

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #42 on: 26 September 2013, 02:12:55 »
I am a little confused by what you did Gunji.

The scheme is for olive and red, yet you started out with olive and then darkened it with a dark wash. Are we to give the olive green coat a dark wash also even when it says that it is optional? If we don't do the dark wash, our results are going to be different than yours.

By darkening the green with the wash, are you no longer painting the canon colors for the unit? Dark green is not olive after all.

Should we have just started with a dark green instead as you suggested?

I have painted with olive green but have not done the wash yet. If I don't do the wash, my results are going to be skewed from yours from the beginning of this tutorial.

Thoughts?

The wash adds depth.  I cant speak for gunji but youll likely layer another coat of olive over top of it, leaving some of the darkness behind.  More than likely this mini is not even half way done :p. 
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GunjiNoKanrei

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #43 on: 26 September 2013, 03:52:15 »
@Spaceman: If you never worked with thinned paint it does take some getting used, but it is well worth the effort. That being said, how much did you thin your paints and what exactly do you find difficult? If the coverage is not good (you only get an opaque basecoat after many many layers) try thinning the paint less. If the paints freely runs off your brush, pools everywhere and the coverage is very uneven, try unloading your brush on a (paper) towel or pick up less paint.

@Force of Nature: Don't overthink it ;) Do a google search for olive green and look at painted examples on CSO. You will find a huge varity of olive greens. Who is to say what THE (canon) olive green looks like? Is my Reflective Green (with or without a dark wash) the one true olive green? Or the green wackrabbit used? That's one of the nice things about the canon schemes. They don't give exact values, but just a name for a color which can be interpreted by the artist.
I darkened the green for two reasons: first, it was a bit too bright (or rather too intense/saturated) for my liking after seeing it on the miniature, second I already wanted to add at least a bit of definition to the miniature. This step is optional because it won't really be noticeable once the miniature is finished. We haven't started shading and highlighting the miniature yet, a lot is yet to come. It is also optional because you don't necessarily have to agree with my thinking the basecolor is too bright once applied to the miniature. Also your basecolor may already be darker than mine, because you have chosen another color or painted over a black primer (which I know you didn't, I'm just generally speaking). (And after shading we will come back with the base Reflective Green when we start highlighting.)
Your results will be different from mine. Even if you use the exact same colors I have used. But they will never be sk(r)ewed. Color mixes will vary from painter to painter, application will vary from painter to painter, where you start and stop a brushstroke varies from painter to painter.
If you follow my steps you will at least get a close approximation of my final result. I think the important part is not get an exact match in hue and color value, but to understand the technique how to get a certain result or effect.
After you post your next pictures I won't point out that your green isn't an olive unless it looks really off to me. I will be looking at paint application, coverage, evenness and during later stages contrast, placement of shades and lights, ...

My biggest problem before starting this paint-along was the fact that my painting is very intuitive, maybe even chaotic. I had to tweak my usual method of operation a lot to get everything down to individual steps and structure the process in a way that is (hopefully) easy to follow. Most of the time when painting I jump all over the miniature, working a bit here, a bit there. This dark wash was certainly one of those intuitive steps where I just felt it would be a good idea, a spur of the moment decision. Bear with me and trust me when I say that there won't be many of those optional steps coming up (unless you choose to omit the weathering for example). So I hope future steps will be less confusing.

I hope this helps  :-\

StCptMara

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #44 on: 26 September 2013, 04:44:39 »
I am a little confused by what you did Gunji.

The scheme is for olive and red, yet you started out with olive and then darkened it with a dark wash. Are we to give the olive green coat a dark wash also even when it says that it is optional? If we don't do the dark wash, our results are going to be different than yours.

By darkening the green with the wash, are you no longer painting the canon colors for the unit? Dark green is not olive after all.

Should we have just started with a dark green instead as you suggested?

I have painted with olive green but have not done the wash yet. If I don't do the wash, my results are going to be skewed from yours from the beginning of this tutorial.

Thoughts?

I have a lance of Republic Standing Guard I have been working on. The wash is optional, but recommended.
It does a number of things. First, as stated, it brings depth to the green. The wash goes to the lower areas,
darkening them, while leaving the raised areas lighter.  It also flows into the panel lines, bringing them out,
making them much darker, and easier to find for when you begin the highlighting process.

It is my opinion that the four skills that any painter should have are: Washing, Drybrushing, mixing, and
brush control. If you can master the first three skills, and are decent with the fourth, there is little you
can't do.  Also...OK, Gunji..thank you for this..while I won't be putting mini pics up, I will be watching this.
And look forward to your next one of these.

(NOTE: I would like to see your "live tutorial" with how you normally paint...)
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GunjiNoKanrei

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #45 on: 26 September 2013, 05:02:37 »
I have a lance of Republic Standing Guard I have been working on. The wash is optional, but recommended.
It does a number of things. First, as stated, it brings depth to the green. The wash goes to the lower areas,
darkening them, while leaving the raised areas lighter.  It also flows into the panel lines, bringing them out,
making them much darker, and easier to find for when you begin the highlighting process.
I'd like to jump in here to point out that I used the dark wash on the green areas more as a glaze than a wash (as stated above in the description of the step). StCptMara is describing what a wash 'normally' does - flow into recesses to bring out panel lines and the like. This is NOT what I did here. I never had that much paint on the brush that it could flow around on the miniature. Yes, I achieved a bit of definition, but that was more to please my eye than for anything else. The actual shading (adding depth) will come later. The main purpose was to evenly tint the green color and darken it. As stated above.

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #46 on: 26 September 2013, 08:27:39 »
@Spaceman: If you never worked with thinned paint it does take some getting used, but it is well worth the effort. That being said, how much did you thin your paints and what exactly do you find difficult? If the coverage is not good (you only get an opaque basecoat after many many layers) try thinning the paint less. If the paints freely runs off your brush, pools everywhere and the coverage is very uneven, try unloading your brush on a (paper) towel or pick up less paint.

@Gunji I want to say 50/50 paint water mix but it feels more watery then that. It goes on either almost like a wash or if I use a paper towel to soak some off it paint hardly shows up and I have to paint over an area several times to get paint of the brush. I don't know if I am describing it correctly but I will try to take a picture for you later. Thanks for doing this!
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serrate

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #47 on: 26 September 2013, 09:07:58 »
Quote
At this stage the miniature looks like a piece of poo and it will continue to do so for quite some time ... to tell the truth this is the part about painting miniatures I hate most: starting a new miniature and literally fighting through the first painting stages. I do have many miniatures in one of the early stages sitting in my cabinet of shame ...  :-[

Can I just say that this paragraph right here is immensely valuable to see, especially coming from you Gunji. I've got so many mechs in that "cabinet of shame", for essentially the same reason. I finish basecoating and they just look terrible. That's one of the reasons I enjoy the Iron Painter contest so much, as it forces me to push through that stage. I'm glad to see that it's not just me or my technique that is at fault, but rather that generally minis just look like crap until you start to move beyond basecoat. Thanks!

Alright, speaking of basecoat. I used Vallejo Model Color Reflective Green (Hobby Lobby had it in stock!) for the green, GW Boltgun Metal for joints and barrels, Reaper Carnage Red, and a basic Ceramcoat Black for base, cockpit, and rear of the left arm barrel.




I was tempted here to simply pull out my usual washes (GW Baal red for the highlights, Thraka green for the green, and Tamiya Smoke for the metallics), BUT this is about learning to paint Gunji-style!  ;)

So I mixed a drop of the black, green, and about 4x as much water to make a wash. It was mostly black, so I have to admit this part scared me. I was worried that I was about to muddy up the whole mini and make it much darker. It did seem though that there couldn't possibly be much pigment actually setting on the mini, because the wash was very watery, so I started applying it to all the green areas first. Then I went back back and applied it a little heavier to the metallics. I didn't wash the red areas at all. I took the pictures this morning so everything had time to dry:


« Last Edit: 26 September 2013, 11:49:27 by serrate »

GunjiNoKanrei

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #48 on: 26 September 2013, 09:27:18 »
@Spaceman: Yes, a picture would be good. But just from the sound of it I'd say try thinning a little less and see what happens. Which colors did you use btw?

@serrate: Looks good as far as I can see, I'd say you are well on your way to Gunji-style ... I wouldn't mind some bigger pictures though ;)
Your maroon looks very red, but this is not a problem. Just something for me to keep in mind.

serrate

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #49 on: 26 September 2013, 11:50:40 »
@serrate: Looks good as far as I can see, I'd say you are well on your way to Gunji-style ... I wouldn't mind some bigger pictures though ;)
Your maroon looks very red, but this is not a problem. Just something for me to keep in mind.

Ok, I modified my pics so I'm zoomed in closer to the mini.

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #50 on: 26 September 2013, 14:19:09 »
Ok, while i'm totally behind (mini is just primed black and will be dusted now #P ) your explanations are very useful. I'm looking forward to follow this guide and see what it does.
I always envy your calm when i see you painting. Other than you i like to apply the base coat and make the first steps to bring out the camo. But i hate to go in detail as i miss the needed patience for that. Also the reason i mostly paint with less thinned colors ... and lastly tend to drybrush and wash. But i'm so happy to go with you step by step on this project.

Pictures will follow as soon as there is something to show. ;)

klarg1

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #51 on: 26 September 2013, 15:55:26 »
@Gunji I want to say 50/50 paint water mix but it feels more watery then that. It goes on either almost like a wash or if I use a paper towel to soak some off it paint hardly shows up and I have to paint over an area several times to get paint of the brush. I don't know if I am describing it correctly but I will try to take a picture for you later. Thanks for doing this!

One of the most liberating pieces of advice I ever got from a pro painter was to play around with glazes. Tint a color towards another hue. Darken it. Lighten it. It's amazing how many times you can go back and forth, playing with colors until you find something you like. Painting should be fun experimentation.  :D

I am sad that I will be away from my paints all next week, so I can't jump in. I might come back later in the fall and try out "Gunji-Style" on my own time.

Lbcwanabe

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #52 on: 26 September 2013, 16:55:27 »
Gunji Do you ever have an instance where you mist a light spray of black over white primer?  I realize that it wouldn't do any good when it came to darkening the recesses, but maybe to help with understanding the lighting of the mini.  Thanks!

GunjiNoKanrei

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #53 on: 26 September 2013, 17:16:32 »
@serrate: Yes, much better. Still looking good, nothing to add from my side at this point. Or wait, the more I look at ypur pictures the more I think your metallics could use another black wash or two. We will tackle the metallics later, but here the wash is actually the first shading. Don't be afraid to go dark (and flat) in the shadows.
You could also try to find one or two good spots for warning stripes and paint them black. But this can also be done later when we get to details such as this.

@Lbcwanabe: No, never done that. But if you want to understand the lighting of the mini or even use the primer as a pre-shade white dusting over black is the way to go in my opinion. This way recesses are dark, raised areas are light as this is where most of the "dust" from the white spray collects. Misting black over white would give you a negative image as you have light recesses and the raised areas in black.

I always envy your calm when i see you painting.
You should see me in a painting frenzy during detail work. Nothing calm there ... ;)

Spaceman

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #54 on: 26 September 2013, 21:27:05 »
This is where I got to last night. Going to try to finish the red up and move to green. I went with Scab Red as I don't have any reddish browns on hand. I am going to play with thinning paint more.
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Spaceman

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #55 on: 26 September 2013, 22:19:11 »
Well as I was painting my marauder the left arm fell off. So I have to repair that before continuing. I did find it eaiser to paint with thinned paints today. I had to have the right mix of paint an water. I think yesterday my paints were to watery.
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TheDean

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #56 on: 27 September 2013, 00:20:14 »
Well as I was painting my marauder the left arm fell off. So I have to repair that before continuing. I did find it eaiser to paint with thinned paints today. I had to have the right mix of paint an water. I think yesterday my paints were to watery.

Always pin.

Also great work guys!

Mastergunz

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #57 on: 27 September 2013, 01:32:59 »
Ok Mike, so the Argus I was planning to do is needed elsewhere so i'm going with a Hell's Horses Alpha Keshik Urbanmech IIC.

Black Primer with White Dusting. I've used this technique in the past to mixed effects. I'm hoping you make a beliver out of me.  ;)


Used a 50/50 mix of Army Painter Matte Black (my new favorite Black!) and P3 Bastion Grey for my base. Paneled in Reaper Carnage Red and GW Boltgun Metal followed by a target wash with GW Devlin Mud. The Red still wasn't quite dark enough to work up a good contrast so I gave the whole thing a Black Wash. Black based schemes have always been my Achilles Heel as far as getting the right contrast with the highlights and not looking 'overdone' so here is hoping I can learn some magic from you.  O0


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« Last Edit: 27 September 2013, 15:40:43 by Mastergunz »
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SteelWarrior

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #58 on: 27 September 2013, 02:34:21 »
Well as I was painting my marauder the left arm fell off. So I have to repair that before continuing. I did find it eaiser to paint with thinned paints today. I had to have the right mix of paint an water. I think yesterday my paints were to watery.

First time I thinned my paints i HATED it.  went back to straight out of the bottle for the next mini i did.  Once they were both painted up it was obvious thinning was the way to go.  Since then I CANT stand painting out of the pot.  Its insane and takes twice as long and gives horrible results :)

Your minis are easily 50%+ better just by thinning.
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GunjiNoKanrei

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Re: CSO paint-along with Gunji
« Reply #59 on: 27 September 2013, 03:18:21 »
@spaceman: sounds like you are getting the hang of it :) Keep at it and you will get more comfortable with thinned paints. The red (Scab Red is fine btw) looks solid so far. You may want to touch up a few parts to get a more even coverage (see attachment). Getting down an even basecoat is important for the next steps as this  is probably the most opaque layer of paint we will apply.
No worries about the damaged arm (TheDean's suggestions is a good one though), I will still wait a day or two before posting the next steps so everyone can catch up.

@Todd: Nice "Hunchback" ;) A different scheme is a challenge, but I think I am up to it. Black is indeed a difficult color to work with, but also a very interesting one as you can easily achieved a dull or a shiny finish depending on how you highlight.
It wasn't necessary to already darken the panel lines on the red parts. We will get to it when we do the shading, but it doesn't hurt either.

Ok, as mentioned I still want to wait a day or two before posting the next steps, giving everyone time to catch up. By the way, the next steps will tackle the red parts, first going through the shading stages, then introducing highlights.