SteamHammer Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Hi, Another one of the recent wave of UK fans here. I've been playing for a couple of months now (although only had a few games) and thought it was time to stop lurking. Malifaux signals the end of about a ten year gap from wargaming. Myself and a colleague at work decided to start gaming again and took a while deciding what to play. We thought about Warhammer or 40k which we had both played when younger as there were plenty of cheap(ish) armies on eBay but decided it was just too boring in design. We looked at Warmachine and Hordes but while the miniatures looked great it also seemed pretty expensive. And then we found Malifaux. Great setting and models, free PDF rules to try it out and cheap to start out with small gang. Perfect! Of course, cheap forgot to take into account getting addicted to buying the miniatures to paint. Curse you Wyrd for making all the gangs so good! Plus fluff books, card decks and now puppets are swarming on the horizon. I only know of the one other person in my area playing but hopefully word will spread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Welcome! Always good to see newcomers! Don't worry, no one (well, most) will bite. What crews did you and your friend start with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 I started with Colette's box set while he did Perdita's. Games would usually go along the lines of Colette (mostly Cassandra) steamrollering the Ortegas right up until soulstones ran out. And then dying. It was early days where we were still very much in the "kill them all" mentality of the old games. Objectives were just things that you did while reloading or cleaning your blade. Since then I've also expanded Colette's gang and painted up Rasputina's and the Death Marshals. I have other models on the painting table but they don't count for anything other than proxy models for summons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Nice! Yeah, I've got Colette and Rasputina myself, both are definitely my favorite of the Arcanists. My group is fairly new too, most of them have only played a couple demo games, so they haven't been introduced to the strategies. Actually, you've got all three of the starters I got when getting involved...hmmm...interesting.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 So I've got a clone in the US. As you say...interesting... Obviously I'm the original. There is only one way to prove it. What was your next gang? If it is the one that I'm painting then you'll definitely need to go on the long walk (can't have 2 of me in the world). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Clone? Ha! Quite obviously you're the clone. I'm working on a Kirai crew for the "Tale of" project in the Miniatures Matters section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 You're safe (but I'm keeping an eye on you). I haven't any Resurrectionists yet other than a Miss Pack that came in my first box. The Witch Hunters are my next group to be painted to balance out the Arcanists having two gangs. The "Tale of" project sounds a good idea but I doubt I am a good enough painter for it. I'm a solid henchman level painter, no minion mistakes but I'll never be a master. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 That's not the point of the project, actually. The project is incentive to get models painted over a six month time. We'd be glad to have you! And practice is the biggest thing I'd stress for increasing your quality of painting. That, and a willingness to experiment. I've been painting for roughly ten years, and I didn't see any real changes in quality until the past four, where I started to really mess with blending and layering versus only drybrushing. You should put up some photos, we'd love to give you some pointers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 I'll see what I can do about photos. If they look anything like the actual models then I'll join up. Like you say it will be good motivation. Sonia has been sitting there just undercoated for a couple of weeks. Mostly due to the Steam sale and a combination of the Witcher 2 and Recettear. I never really blended or thinned paints (other than for washes) years ago but have had to start that for these miniatures as I'm using any paints I can find that have survived the test of time. There are 4 generations of GW paint pot plus a few other brands with paints in various stages of drying out. For a ten year gap I wasn't too upset with how the first ones have turned out. Maybe painting is a hard skill to lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAGabriel Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Welcome on the wyrd side! As Edonil told, would be glad to have you in the Tale. Don`t worry, painting comes with the time, and if you do not want to get better in painting only tell us and we will find many friendly words for your work. On the other side, if you really want to get better, nothing better than some constructive criticizm. Only be sure to tell us what you want. Nothing can be more disheartening than a "that blending could have been a lot finer" if you haven`t started with blending. CU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Hi DAGabriel, Thank you both for the warm welcome. Its good to know that I can ask you to go easy on the criticism. The only downside (for me at least) I've seen on this forum is that everyone seems a really good painter. I saw some other post from a newbie asking about what paints were needed to start his gang on a limited budget and the replies instantly went into thinning and other topics that I thought would crush their will to start painting. But constructive criticism is constructive and therefore useful even if only tried out in small chunks. I think I'll give it a go. I now just need to dig out the old digital camera and see if I can get it to take a good photo. One thing I know I've already got to do from this forum is get some Dull Coat or similar to protect the models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 So, I have one recommendation for you, and one question. The recommendation: get some marbles, drop them in your old GW paint, and add a few drops of water (at most ten). Then, close the lid, and shake it. Feel free to add in more water if you need to. This will help thin the paints out to a useable portion, even if you're just painting straight from the pot. The question: Where are you at with your painting skills? Do you paint flat colors, (btw, nothing wrong with that, I did that for six years) are you drybrushing, layering, whatever? Or, another way to put it, is there a painting skill you would like to acquire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 I do drybrushing, washes and the occasional layering but I know I need more advice on all of them, especially layering. I can't consistently make the paints the right thickness to work. Thanks for the marble advice. I never thought of putting something in the pot to help mix it when I shake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 How many layers are you trying to do? A decent effect can be done with three layers, five layers will get you a little more detail. Don't try to do the twenty or so thin, thin layers at first. A good place to start would be pick three colors (for example, Chaos Black, Adeptus Battlegrey, and Codex Grey) and paint your first layer with your darkest color. Mix in some of color two, a 50/50 mix, and paint your second layer as a highlight. Take straight color two, use as another highlight, 50/50 mix of color two and three, another highlight, and finally straight color three as your last highlight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 I currently do around three layers then a drybrush to "scum" it up a bit. So I could probably do with adding some more and blending them better. I think my next shopping trip should be painting supplies rather than miniatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Your call on that one. I know for me, I need to get some acrylic paint thinner, I've been using water and it's driving me nuts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 That could be my problem too and why I've avoided thinning so much. The paint thinned with water never turns out something that can be applied in an even layer. So my thinning at the moment isn't so much making the paint thin for nice layers as making it less thick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Well, the marble and water trick should help a bit with that. I honestly thin paints rarely, I just want to start having blends stay around a little longer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Do you store your blends somehow or just mix them as you need them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Depends on how frequent I use it. I have only one paint right now that I mixed myself, a mix of Tallarn Flesh and Hormagaunt Purple that gets used as a base color for any pale skin tones. Otherwise, I mix them as I need them, which is why I need a paint thinner, the paints dry within five minutes on my pallets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Shopping wishlist so far: Acrylic paint thinner Dull coat or similar Some new paints, definitely need a bleached bone type colour. Probably could use a new brush too Modelling drill for the larger models Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Doooo eeeetttt...lol In all seriousness, that looks like an excellent starting list. GW does still make Bleached Bone, so you've got that going for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 I'll hold off buying until I've looked into photos and joining the painting thread. That might give feedback that requires more shopping. I'd better start saving the pennies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edonil Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 I'll hold off buying until I've looked into photos and joining the painting thread. That might give feedback that requires more shopping. I'd better start saving the pennies. (Thumbs up) Good luck! Hope I've been somewhat helpful to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamHammer Posted July 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 Very helpful, thanks. Hopefully I'll post some pictures later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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