misterfinn

17 hours ago, wobbly_goggy said:

Bonus points if you can name the wrestler whose kit the wrastler stole...

Blue Demon Jr.?

On 5/15/2018 at 9:05 AM, Franchute said:

@misterfinnthis skin is amazing. How did you get this redish tone?

Thanks! It's a straightforward layered buildup from a dark red-brown basecoat up through rust red and a light brown-orange to a final mix of light brown-orange and mustard yellow. Maybe five or six layers in total. I haven't used GW paints in many years so I don't know what their closest equivalents are. I can check the rack at my FLGS next time I'm there if that'd be helpful.

@Franchute Great work so far. I think the contrast on your blues is effective and it looks like your facial detail is sharp.

@Burnin' Coal Impressive scratch builds, even more impressive paint. That moss-on-stone effect is super realistic. I can tell that part of it is the subtle texture from the Stone Paste...I'm guessing judicious application of green, brown, and yellow glazes to accomplish the rest?

@Chou I dig the colors on your Yasunori. If you don't mind me saying, I think the mount would benefit from some more contrast in the neck and chest scales - either one more layer of highlight or a careful wash to accentuate the lines between scales. The robe, mane, and tail all have pretty good contrast so the scales look a bit washed out in comparison.

As for my mid-month update, I've finished the Steam Trunk (3ss). I hardly ever use it and building it was a pain so it's a cursory paint job - just enough to call it done and move on to something interesting.

So what's interesting? The TTB model I pledged for this month. Here's some WIP - skin is finished, moving on to clothing today:

I'm a long-time fan of the Reaper Master Series paints so I decided to try out their HD paints for the skin. I hate 'em. Totally don't fit my blending style at all. They remind me a lot of Vallejo Model Color (highly pigmented for smooth layering) but their dry time is longer. If I'm going to layer, I want a fast drying time. If I'm going to wet-blend or feather I want less pigment density. I foolishly bought a set before trying them out so I'm stuck with 18 colors I won't use. PM me if you're in the US and they sound like you might have better luck with 'em.

Has anyone used the Scale 75 metallics? I hear good things but I wasn't impressed by the YouTube demo I found of the gold set.

@Rikk  that’s a magnificent supply wagon marker. 

@Phinn  really creative and well executed Stitched! I like the bright colors on the Effigy too. Nicely done. 

to @Solicitor 6 for a fast and easy trade. Would trade with them again without hesitation. 

@Boomstick good luck. 😉 That’s quite a pile of models! It’d take me all year to paint that much...

I’m in for last month’s mulliganed pledge: steam trunk (3ss) and TTB character model/proxy (5ss). 

@Shock & Awe nice work with the freehand! She’s a great looking model, regardless of how you feel about painting skin. 🙂 Your eye pupil placement is really good too. She could maybe use some stronger eyeliner on the bottom lid, but that’s just my personal preference.

@prof_bycid you’re right, that’s adorable. I like the weathering a lot. I think the dust puff might be fun and certainly fits the whimsical nature of the model. 

@Franchute that’s a really clean paint job but the lighting in the photo is quite stark, at least on my tablet. Would love to see it with a bit more ambient light. 

I’m disappointed to report that I’m taking a mulligan this month. I’m having an RSI flareup in my wrists and need to keep my hand activity to a minimum for the next couple of weeks.  Probably won’t be around on the forums much either. 

@Joachim going crazy with the freehand! I dig it. The little skulls hanging from her sombrero look like candy. 🤤 

Looking forward to seeing how your bold color choices carry over to the rest of the crew. 

On 4/13/2018 at 2:41 AM, Caedrus said:

If you want to stretch your skills on fire, here's a good link!

 That’s a nice looking campfire. One thing to note about the tutorial: flames don’t always go all the way to black. The black tips work here because they suggest smoke. For cleaner burning fire that doesn’t consume a lot of solid material like wood or coal, you want to stop with red or even orange. Laszlo Jakusovszky has the best article on fire theory that I’ve seen. Well worth the read. 

Digging everyone’s work so far this month!

Pledging a steam trunk and a TTB multipart model that I'll probably use as a Midnight Stalker proxy:

Claiming 6SS for Miss Terious:

One of my least consistent models in terms of quality, I'm afraid. Happy with bits of it, cringing about other bits.

Congratulations to all who finished in what seemed to be a hectic March for everyone.

@Piccio really liking your brushwork this month - blends and freehand both look stellar.

@Viruk glad you and your daughter are both OK.

@Burnin' Coal sign me up for the Creepy Fleshy Wing Admiration Club. 🤘🏼 I think I see how you’ve achieved the mottling using glazes. How did you do the blood vessels? I’ve attempted that effect before but never managed to get it anywhere near this realistic. 

Thanks @Franchute and @mrcoblin - I agree that the coffin can use more contrast and the bottom needs to be darkened. Wouldn’t have put my finger on it without your comments :)

Gonna be down to the wire this month - haven’t even primed the “miss” yet!

Some OSL WIP:

The blobby bits around the elbow/forearm area are actually teal flames. They stick straight out from the coffin toward the viewer so they're difficult to capture in the photo. Any comments on the work so far? In particular, I'm looking for places where the illusion breaks down - is the light source itself bright enough, is the light dispersion too tight or too broad, is the color fade/opacity right or is the coloring too dramatic, does the shadowing look accurate...that kind of thing. Be as nit-picky as you want. :)

@mrcoblin Very solid work. Your highlighting and shading give a natural look to the models. It's not too contrasty, but still plenty defined on the tabletop. I like your color choices too. Basing looks fine to me. One suggestion, if I may: I think both models would benefit from more consistent darklining. You're getting there with the choker and shoulder straps on the first model and the boots & shoulder straps on the second model. I'd like to see that definition between skin and garment carry over to the armbands and other transition areas.

@Phinn Good luck with your thesis!  Is it for your master's or your doctorate?

@Strangely Brown I think your NMM is looking solid. Highlight and shadow placement looks right to me. Dial up the contrast a little bit and I think you’re good to go.

4 hours ago, Amdor said:

I've got some ideas, but would like to know how others achieve the chitinous look.

In my experience, highlight placement and brightness is similar to what you’d use for NMM. The brighter the highlights and sharper the transitions, the shinier it will appear.

I’m intrigued by your idea of using contrasting colors for highlights. Are you going for an iridescent effect? Something otherworldly? Just experimenting? Tell us more :-)

Miss Terious (6ss), for realsies - nothing in progress to fall back on this month!

Sculpted some flames coming out of the coffin and I think she will have glowy undead eyes so this’ll be an OSL-fest. 

@RustAndTheCity This crew is epic. Basing, SFX, colors, brushwork, all of it. Just...wow. 

@Phinn just got the chance to look at your additional photos. Definitely worth the wait! I’ll echo Varuk and Burnin’ Coal here - you’ve done some lovely work, with the wings and boils as standouts. Great color too - brings out the detail and gives an otherworldly look without becoming garish. You’ve set yourself a high bar for the rest of the year ;-)

Thanks @Burnin' Coal - I have a couple of cardstock "interactive" color wheels that show complements/triads/tetrads and basic hue combinations. I rely on those pretty heavily for selecting paint schemes and doing rudimentary color mixing like "use purple to shade yellow". So far I haven't had much luck experimenting with more advanced color mixing the way you've done it on your Stitched. You've got reds, purples, greens all playing together in your shading. It's almost Impressionist in style. I'll have a look at the Itten book - I like Bauhaus architecture and design quite a bit. Then more experimentation! Always something new to learn...

Whoa, so many new models since yesterday morning! Just a couple of comments to add to my "likes":

23 hours ago, tjgreenway said:

I'll definitely try some darklining too on my next lot of mini's, the plan is to crack on with both sides of the starter set this month If I'm to use paints already in my collection for the darklining, would a higher ratio of water be advised or would it be better stick with the same ratio and just use the tiniest bit of paint on the brush tip? And muchos gracias again for your kind words!

@tjgreenway A higher ratio, but not by much. It may seem counter-intuitive, but you actually want a pretty good sized brush (at least a 0, I use a 1) so it holds some paint. Then it's a combination of a light touch and a sharp tip to get the thin straight lines. If your brush is too small, you'll often run out of paint partway through your line. Here's a picture of the Specialist I painted for January with my primary brush (a size 1 Winsor & Newton kolinsky sable) next to it:

Also I recommend using a dark almost-black rather than a pure black. A 2:1 mix of your darkest brown:black should do it.

@Phinn Love your color choices. The whole model is lovely but the wings in particular stand out. I'm excited to see the final pictures.

@PetitDalek Hahaha weeping angels! "Blink" is IMO the scariest episode in the entire rebooted series. Great concept, very well executed. I respect the time and effort you put into your bases! They look fantastic. A bit of unsolicited C&C :-) is on Teddy's tummy. The rest of the model (including the heart itself) looks like it's got the standard overhead lighting source but the highlighting on the checkers looks like it's lit from the upper left of the photo. I'd expect the dark areas on the left-hand checkers to be on the left-bottom side - essentially mirror images of the right-hand checkers.

7 hours ago, Burnin' Coal said:

the blends were done using a mix of contrasting orange,violet and pale green built up with many many layers of Vallejo Glazing Medium which is a whole new game for me but allows for all sorts of adjustments along the way without obscuring any details - cannot recommend it enough

@Burnin' Coal The contrast color shading is just stunning. Reminds me a lot of the old Rackham Confrontation models, especially the Mid-Nor dwarves and Alchemists of Dirz. I'd like to practice this style with some Resser models waiting for me down the line but color is the biggest gap in my painting knowledge/ability. What resources (if any) can you recommend to learn about this kind of color theory?

12 hours ago, Caedrus said:

My pledge for this month will be a 50% increase! Behold the 36 parts that make up the 3SS Steam Trunk!

I salute your modeling fortitude. I put the left track assembly together and then decided I'd just let my poisoned Freikorps burn.

I'll finish the Nothing Beast this weekend in all likelihood but my real pledge is Miss Terious for 6SS. I can already tell she's going to be a pain to prep. Terrible casting offset.

@Treehouse That golem is really striking. I dig it.

@Franchute Nothing wrong with that "cheap" OSL. The severity of the effect matches the perceived brightness/heat of the flames. If you'd made the effect more dramatic I don't think it'd look as realistic.

@Caedrus Glad to see the finalized vomit worm. :-) Those day-glo colors are surprisingly effective! They don't look gimmicky or garish to me at all. The only critique I have is for the OSL. I like that you've gone bold and bright - it's a good experiment and I think it mostly works. I'd like to see brighter highlights on the flame itself so it looks hotter. That'd give you more room to play with brightness/contrast on the reflected light areas. Also the reflection on the middle tail segment (front of the third picture) should be more diffuse - a bit less bright in the center and more spread out with the darker tint. It doesn't quite hang together with the reflected light on the stones.

Your Lynch model is super fun! I like the duality of color and the attention to detail: card face, peeling wallpaper, necktie, buttons, all very clean. I totally feel your pain with the varnish frosting. I had that happen to me on a competition model once, just a couple of days before the comp. 10 hours of work down the tubes and no time to repaint. Had to scrap the entire mini-diorama. FWIW you've done an excellent recovery job. I wouldn't have been able to tell if you hadn't said anything.

@Stonewall78 Very tidy paint job. Nice work.

@tjgreenway I don't see any poor brush skills here! Your paint is smooth and the colors are painted neatly. I like your color choices. As a next step (before you get into highlighting and shading), I suggest building on the clean brushwork you're already practicing. Try some darklining - painting very thin lines of dark paint between areas of the model where colors meet each other. Examples: between hand and coat on the nurse, between jacket and vest on the handler, between glove and arm on the handler. This technique helps to make the model "pop" from a distance and adds polish when viewed up close. Darklining's also very helpful as a brush control exercise for painting fine detail and correcting small errors. Make sure you've got a decently sized brush (no smaller than a 0, I'd say) that holds a sharp point. My go-to paint for this is Reaper Master Series brown liner (part #09064) because it's not as stark as pure black and I like the flow.