Ototo

[Shintoninja]

Compliments, critiques and commentary all welcome. 

Haven't painted in 18 years so take is easy on me. 

After having an ink issue with my Torkarage miniatures, mainly discolouring, I decided to paint Ototo differentially.

I preassembled Ototo,  I retrospect a bad idea. Used mixed washes with base colour and black. Dry brushed  back to base colour and highlights mixed with white. 

I wanted Ototo to have a Kabuki theater feel so I wanted multiple colours and attempted a Kubuki style mask. 

 

I give myself a solid 7 out of 10. Im still a sloppy and impatient hobbist. I should learn to slow down.

Will finish the base once I have sand. Will make it look like lime stone rock sand with grass tufts. 

Thanks for the look.

[Argentbadger]

Good work, especially for someone coming back after an 18 year break.  I look forward to seeing it with the basing finished.

[case.card]

Wow!  Looking good!  Welcome back to the brush obsession!  

I also paint using a lot of glazes over thin layers of paint (in fact I don't think I've used straight black paint in forever...), so it's great to see someone else also using the technique!  From your post it sounds like you are mixing up a wash of the base color with a bit of matte black?  I don't think I've ever tried that; thought it would turn out to harsh.  You might want to try using a complimenting glaze just for fun.  Paint on your base color (I like to use a light grey), then take a wash and thin it waaaaaaaaaaaaay down.  Apply this "glaze" thinly over the model in 5-12 layers.  You'll get super smooth shading and highlights out of it.  You can get all sorts of crazy combos by varying the base and glaze colors.  Alternately, you can carefully hand layer highlights on, then use less glazing to get some pretty bright results too!

[iamfanboy]

It looks just fine aside from the unpainted magic flash coming from his tetsubo. I do like the kabuki look a lot.

One thing you might want to look into if you're an impatient painter is Magic Wash. 1 part floorwax + 2 parts water + any color acrylic paint = instant wash for miniatures. Paint a flat color, wash it with the proper shade, and MAYBE drybrush a highlight, and you're finished.

It saves an amazing amount of time, is hugely versatile, acts as a protective layer, and is a lot cheaper than buying a bunch of premade washes. The only downside is that it makes the minis shiny, and the only thing I've found which cuts the shine adequately is Testor's Dullcote - which I just ran out of last month.

I also try to remind myself of something simple:

Painting miniatures is craft, not art. You can convert the most awesome miniature and paint it spectacularly, taking minutes or hours contemplating each brushstroke before carefully placing it, but that doesn't matter a fig if you place it on the table and it immediately tips over because it's massively unbalanced; in that case, an empty base with the model's name scrawled on it is more useful. It has to fulfill its function FIRST, and then be beautiful to look upon. No one would use a quilt that had flourescent tubes sewn into it, or a car that has a bunch of random stuff glued to it (Japanese dekatora aside!)

[Shintoninja]

Thanks for all the responses. Im glad that this thread is continuing. The advise is greatly appreciated. 

I have moved away from dry bryshing more heavily and am appling multiple washes.  

Washes were mixed lighter with white and darked with a comparable darker shade. Matte black is to hard to control . 

I'm now using extender medium to create washes which is sucessful. 

Personally I thought the energy wave of Ototo was poorly done. So in finishing the based I incorporated into the terrain.  

I felt the same about Masaki's engery foot swish.  

I don't have the skill to pull off the look properly nor have I seen it done well. With the exception of one expectional professional. 

 

I will post photos of my crew some time soon.  

I know that there are alot of improvements to be made but that is all a part of the journey.