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Welcome to Painting Star Wars: Shatterpoint Super Commandos tutorial. Here I will present to you a Step-by-step of a basic painting process for Mandalorian Super Commandos and a few extras.
Before we start, some notes:
Both Mandalorian Super Commandos were prepared in the same way as previous Shatterpoint miniatures. Visit Tutorial: Painting Star Wars Shatterpoint Clone Troopers article for a detailed step-by-step guide.
I mounted the miniatures on a stick with a piece of Blu-Tack, then undercoated them with The Army Painter White Matt Primer.
I started by applying Grim Black Speed Paint to most of the miniature, leaving out only a few selected armor elements and backpack exhaust fumes. My brushes of choice were Wargamer: Regiment Brush and Wargamer: Character Brush.
TIP: I then used a tip of a toothpick to softly scratch any mistakes of black paint getting where it wasn’t supposed to.
Next, using the same two brushes, I applied Slaughter Red Speed Paint onto white armor plates.
I then repeated the process, adding another layer of Slaughter Red to add warmth and deepen the red color.
For Belts and Weapons I applied a layer of Ash Grey. I used the Wargamer: Character Brush and the Flatbrush technique to do this.
TIP: Flatbrushing is done by putting the tip of a brush in paint, then brushing the excess paint off onto a piece of paper or other smooth surface material, then brushing the remainder of the paint onto the chosen surface, in one direction and perpendicular to any edges. This technique works best with brushes equipped with a long “head” or synthetic brushes with a long “belly” part. You can learn more about the technique HERE.
Focusing on easy methodology I built a volume of smoke like color by thinning Ashen Stone Speed Paint with water, and covering the entire surface with the resulting mix.
I then applied another mix. This time I used water to thin down Ash Grey in a 1:1 ratio.
Next I manually applied some Matt White (Air) to the upper, most exposed parts. Air paints are thin by nature, which resulted in a nice color gradation between upper and lower areas of fumes.
Finally I painted the top of the exhaust fumes with Maize Yellow Speed Paint, followed short by Nuclear Sunset Speed Paint at the very top.
To make the colors pop I drew a few lines of Matt White along the most exposed areas.
To make dark clothes, armor, belt and weapons pop I applied a simple, selective highlight of Mummy Robes. I focused on the most exposed, easy to access edges, painting thin lines with a side of Wargamer: Detail Brush.
I have switched paint to Barbarian Flesh and repeated the process for Red armor.
To add a final touch I have painted the chest armor pin Matt White, followed short with Maize Yellow Speed Paint.
Finally I have painted bases and Varnished both miniatures following steps previously presented in the Tutorial: Painting Star Wars Shatterpoint Clone Troopers article.
I hope you find this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Many thanks to Rebel.pl for sponsoring this content. Stay tuned for more Star Wars: Shatterpoint tutorials.
Welcome to Painting Star Wars: Shatterpoint Battle Droids tutorial. Here I will present to you a Step-by-step of a basic painting process for Battle Droids.
Before we start, some notes:
In case you are totally unfamiliar with the hobby, I have prepared a short guide on Shatterpoint miniatures preparation and assembly, including some in-depth notes regarding priming and particular painting techniques. You can find it in the previous article: Tutorial: Painting Star Wars Shatterpoint Clone Troopers.
TIP: To better present the painting process I have kept one Droid on a separate base. If you feel it might be difficult to paint multiple miniatures glued to a single base, you can paint them separately, then glue together just before the Varnish step.
I mounted the miniatures on a stick with a piece of Blu-Tack, then undercoated them with The Army Painter White Matt Primer.
With Wargamer: Monster Brush I have applied a thick layer of Ancient Honey Speed Paint over the miniatures, except for weapons. This created a strong, bright base color.
TIP: No need to worry about the weapons too much. The painting process was designed to cover any mistakes made at this point.
Next, with a softer Wargamer: Regiment Brush, I applied a solid layer of Soft Tone all over the armor. Washes, such as Soft Tone, provide strong pigmentation in all recesses, adding color depth. They also tone down the entire color a bit, which in case of Battle Droids, works to our advantage.
For weapons I went with the Grim Black. This Speed Paint was already tested during the Clone Troopers tutorial, so I knew it would cover any previous mistakes left on the painted areas. I used a Wargamer: Regiment Brush and did my best to avoid messing up the bright Droid armor.
TIP: This might be a difficult step for anyone not familiar with a brush. I recommend switching between different brush sizes and moving the miniature around for easier access. Speed Paints are thin, so you do not have to ‘lead’ the tip of the brush too much. Delicate touches will do.
To apply an overall highlight I Drybrushed Skeleton Bone all over the miniature. I used Masterclass Mighty and Moderate Drybrush for this, but it can be done with Wargamer: Large Drybrush as well.
I used Poppy Red Speed Paint and applied it on top of chosen areas with Wargamer: Insane Detail Brush. As a Speed Paint the Poppy Red is perfect to cover bright paints underneath, including edges, previously highlighted with Skeleton Bone.
Next I applied a layer of Red Tone wash on top, to add depth and darken the color just a bit.
To make weapons pop, I used a Wargamer: Regiment Brush and applied a Dark Tone wash over them.
I then highlighted the edges with Mummy Robes, similar to how I did it in the Clone Troopers tutorial.
For bases I applied a layer of Raven Black (air) with a Wargamer: Regiment Brush. Just like with Clone Troopers, I deliberately used air series paint for an extra messy end result.
I then applied a strong drybrush of Ash Grey all over the bases and feet of the miniatures.
Finally I finished the bases with smooth, black edges. One layer of Matt Black, applied with Wargamer: Regiment Brush.
Lastly I sealed the paint job with Anti Shine Matt Varnish.
I hope you find this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Many thanks to Rebel.pl for sponsoring this content. Stay tuned for more Star Wars: Shatterpoint tutorials.
Welcome to Painting Star Wars: Shatterpoint Clone Troopers tutorial. Here I will present to you a Step-by-step of a basic painting process for Clone Troopers, with few optional extras.
Before we start, some notes:
In case you are totally unfamiliar with the hobby, Star Wars: Shatterpoint being your very first step into the overall Wargaming, below are a few basic steps of miniatures build and preparation.
Undercoating miniatures is a topic on its own. Each primer color and technique of application has some advantages. For this tutorial I chose The Army Painter White Matt Primer and sprayed the miniatures around, mounted on a stick with a piece of Blu-Tack. This resulted in a durable, smooth surface, perfect for this kind of paint job. It also allowed me to skip an otherwise difficult first step – white armor.
With a Wargamer: Character brush I applied Grim Black Speed Paint over weapons and cloth. I then switched to Wargamer: The Psycho to apply more paint into recesses between armor and onto helmet visors.
TIP: This step is a bit tricky. A lot can go wrong. Fortunately, thanks to spray undercoat’s durability and smoothness, any bloopers can be erased using a toothbrush soaked in water. Simply soak the tip of a toothpick in water, then flatten it with a pair of pliers to make an ultimate bloopers eraser.
Next I applied Magic Blue Speed Paint onto shoulder guards and in selected areas on helmets and chest plates. I used Wargamer: Insane Detail and Wargamer: The Psycho brushes for this. Usually, when using thin paints such as Speed Paints I go with larger brushes, but here I aimed at precise application.
I then used a tip of a toothpick to scratch blue surface, adding some character with thematic battle damage. This wouldn’t be possible on most undercoats, but The Army Painter primers leave a really strong plastic-like surface.
Using a Wargamer: Regiment Brush I then applied a highlight of Mummy Robes onto the top edges of the guns. Due to wider, more sturdy heads, I find larger brushes better for this kind of job. The key was to keep the paint to a minimum and slide the brush perpendicularly across the top surface of each gun.
I then used a pair of tweezers and a piece of foam to stipple Oak Brown all over the armor plates. This broke the otherwise flat looking armor and provided additional detail to the miniatures.
For bases I decided to keep them relatively simple, to make the miniatures stand out. First I applied a layer of Raven Black (air), starting carefully around the miniature’s feet, then expanding outwards. I deliberately used air series paint for an extra messy end result – free details on the painted surface. I used Wargamer: Regiment Brush for this and the next layer.
Next, using the same methodology, I followed up with Crow Hue.
I then drybrushed entire base with Ash Grey.
TIP: Drybrush is done by putting the tip of a brush in paint, then brushing the excess paint off onto a piece of paper, foam or some other material, then brushing the remainder of the paint onto the chosen surface. This can be done with either standard Small/Large Drybrush, or Masterclass for easier, faster application.
For sand I applied Yellow Dune (air), followed by a wash with Flesh Wash paint.
TIP: Washing is done by applying Washes, or Inks in large quantities and letting them dry. The pigmentation goes into recesses, highlighting any raised areas.
Next I drybrushed sand and surrounding areas with Mummy Robes.
To add depth I highlighted concrete plates edges with Mummy Robes…
… then thinned Mummy Robes with a bit of water and wiped the brush off with a series of semi random movements, onto flat concrete areas. I used Wargamer: Regiment Brush.
To make the miniatures stand out and underline them, I painted bases’ edges with Matt Black. Wargamer: Regiment Brush again.
Finally I sealed the paint job with Anti Shine Matt Varnish. This protective layer will keep my Clone Troopers secure from damage, while I game them into oblivion. With this I have finished the paint job.
I hope you find this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Many thanks to Rebel.pl for sponsoring this content. Stay tuned for more Star Wars: Shatterpoint tutorials.
Ahoy Sailors! As you know I am most and foremost a passionate hobbyist. That being said I am also a pirate, a scoundrel and a fanatical enthusiast of Mantic Games Kings of War: Armada – a naval strategy game set in the rich world of Pannithor, pitting multiple wonderfully crafted and strongly themed factions against one another. Today I’m here to share some of my maritime experience.
With new book on the horizon, new fleets on the way, introduction of STL files, easier than ever rules accessibility via Mantic Companion and finally Warhall, the Armada has entered a golden age. I would bet my boat that the number of games played across the globe will increase drastically. This is mainly due to the influx of new players coming into the game on a wave of excitement.
I know for a fact that some games of Armada can sometimes drag a bit, but it does not have to be this way. In order to keep the games fast paced and fun for everyone, especially new players, why not try to speed up your play like a pro?
Below I will present to you a few tips that changed the way I play miniatures wargames, that I then implemented to improve time management during my Armada experience.
Know your fleet
Knowing your fleet and especially rules available in your list is the key to maintaining a smooth thought process when strategizing. Sure, checking stats of particular ships mid-game is a common thing, but fleet-wide rules and important upgrades should be engraved in your memory before the game. This will also help prevent decision paralysis, that is one of the most prominent Player Downtime* factors.
*Player Downtime is when one player is forced to wait for the opponent, with no interaction between the players.
Skip on Ship Cards
Ship cards look cool, but result in a messy, difficult to manage lists with all the counters, upgrades and stuff just mixing around. Instead I recommend using either printed lists or the Mantic Companion Play (beta) app. Not only will all upgrades be in place, but also stats will get adjusted automatically (Sturdy Construction, Ogre Mercenaries), plus you will be able to skip on most gaming tokens. Printed lists are very pencil friendly (damage, fired, blaze, surrendered), whereas MC Play allows to track everything in-app. No need to search and adjust tokens means less wasted time.
Keeping Stuff Organized
Keeping tokens, turning arcs, templates and dice well organized is key to avoid searching for particular game aid mid-play. This can be done before the game, but I also advise putting an extra effort to move things back to their designated area after using them. This way they will be there next time you need them.
Single shot Dice selection
There’s really no need to pick a particular colored dice for a single shot. Same goes for multiple shots of one weapon type (like 4H broadside). Grab any D10 and roll!
It might also be applied to two weapon types rolls of uneven number of shots. Like if you fire two H and one C, two dice of color A plus one dice of color B will leave things obvious without the need to waste time searching for appropriately colored dice. A heads-up in line with “Blue is L” when rolling will clear things out even further.
Single Dice Rolls and Mods
While on the topic of dice rolls, skip on counting Mods for single dice rolls before the roll. More often than not the result will be obvious, like if you try to hit with Indirect Weapon against a faraway, fast moving, partially visible target and roll 5 or lover you don’t even need to to count the Mods and waste your time. Same goes for Nerve Checks, Evade Rolls and other Skill Tests of either “1” or “6”. These two results alone transfer to 33% chance of saving time counting Mods if you roll the Dice first.
Speed and Damage counters
If there’s one thing that really slows things down in Armada, that would be speed and damage tokens management. The solution would be to use either multi faceted dice, or special counters. There’s plenty of these available on Etsy. Alternatively a sheet of adhesive tape and erasable pen will make your life so much easier.
Laser Pointer
Flat line laser pointer is a precision tool, perfect to manage activation order and firing arcs. With this puppy you will save time otherwise spent on moving around the table with a tape measure, or eyeballing and arguing over activation lines. You can grab one from The Army Painter, or google search for alternatives.
Chess Clock
No, I ain’t suggesting you play with a chess clock, switching time with your opponent. Chess clock is just a fine tool to have standing and running beside the board in order to better manage remaining time. I find the sole presence of timer ticking down to be good for motivation and decision making.
Reference Sheets
It’s always good to have a copy of the Rulebook at hand, just in case. Still, when it comes to consulting the reference sheets the main book might be a bit unwieldy. This is why I recommend printing a copy of Reference Sheets. Can be done in horizontal two on one pages setup to save space around the gaming board. Checking Wind roll, Critical Hits, Boarding Actions and Weapon ranges will become as easy as glancing sideways.
Marking Deployment
To ease the decision process for deployment it is good to mark the entire Deployment Zone beforehand. This way you will outright see all the available space to deploy your ships to.
Shoreline markers
Marking Shorelines ahead of time can be a great help. Skipping on all the measuring will definitely ease the decision making and speed up the game. Shoreline markers can be made with thin translucent plastic, acrylics or just sheets of paper and they do not have to be precise. In my opinion WYSIWYG* Shorelines are fine, even if not precisely 2″ wide around the island, as long as both players agree on it before the game. Personally I use ”Round Acrylic Disc F” from Amazon. These are 1mm thin round acrylics and they have met with fantastic reception at the latest local Armada event and in-house games.
*What you see is what you get.
Rapid Deployment / Let’s Move Out!
While on events, be sure to carry your miniatures in a way that allows for fast deployment. It can be anything from a simple flat pad, up to a professional miniature carrying case. Anything that does not require you to wrap/unwrap your miniatures every time you start a game is a win.
On that note, remember to grab all your stuff and put it in one place right after the game. Once the next round of pairings is out, everyone will start to move around, searching for their appointed tables. Nothing worse than arriving at the game table only to wait for someone else to come back from a smoke break and start packing their things.
Try Not to Overthink It
Armada is meant to be fun, for both players. Try not to overthink your play and just go with the flow. The more games you play the better you will become at managing your ships. Being human means learning by making mistakes. You need to make some in order to grow as a player. It is an integral part of evolving, adapting, and overcoming.
Now you have the tools to Speed Up Your Game. Let me know if there’s anything I missed. I would also love to know if any particular advice is new to you. Until then – have a great Armada gaming!
I hope you find this article interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional Warhammer miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.
Converting miniatures, am I right? There’s probably nothing more satisfying for Armada hobbyists, other than tinkering with their tiny resin ships. Adding bits and relocating parts to add more personality to one’s miniatures has always been an important part of the hobby, but with Armada it really takes a collection to the next level. This is doubly true for Ghost Fleets, that does not have dedicated miniatures. Still not everyone enjoys converting miniatures. There are many reasons for it, not having enough skill or idea to name some.
What if I told you converting ghost ships is far more easy than you might think? What if I showed you…
Before we start, some notes:
A good way to distinguish ghost ships amongst other fleets is to add significant hull damage. This can be done easily by cutting a chunk of hull with a pair of piers and/or drilling holes with a hand drill. The latter is perfect for damaging sails. For a natural damage look I drilled some holes then moved the drill bit up and down to produce a slightly more irregular shape.
To add more dynamism to the sails and some key features I used a tissue trick. First I moisten a piece of tissue and form a basic shape. I then glued the shape to the ship with Super Glue. I followed by smearing more Super Glue on top of the tissue with a tip of a toothpick. Once hardened the shape made a solid foundation for some more advanced techniques.
One of the most recognisable ghostly features is the body/hull distortion dragged by the etheric winds. A good way to represent this is by mixing PVA and Super Glue (cyanoacrylate) then smearing and dragging the resulting goo on top of ship features. The way I usually go about it is to apply some PVA glue on the surface, then apply Super glue on top and start smearing with the tip of a toothpick. I always try to smear the ‘glue goo’ in one direction to form dynamic shapes and interesting texture. Once the base shape is formed I let it dry and just let the goo do its thing.
An interesting way of presenting a ghost ship is to take it out of the water. A ship drifting in the air has a truly menacing feel to it. The way I did it was to drill small holes in the underside of the ship, then glue metal wires into them. Once glued firmly I then bent the wires to look like floating under the ship.
Next I modeled an underside of the hull using a Hey Clay, which is a plasticine-like toy for kids. It dries firmly pretty fast, becoming semi hard and very lightweight afterwards. Perfect for this kind of work, with glue goo to further improve its durability and texture.
To greatly enhance the theme of battle damage I have added some damaged woodwork. Ice cream sticks, toothpicks and skewer sticks are all a good source of properly shaped wood. First I cut them into small planks and mast elements, then broken each in half to get that extra feel of splintered wood. Once glued onto the ship it was all covered with thin Super Glue. This increased durability, which is pretty important when considering gaming with such stuff in the future.
Either 3d printed or pieces of other sets, a few extra bits to add character. I fancied myself an anchor dragged on a chain behind one ship – simple stuff once special chains for miniatures are around. Same for any ghostly visages coming out of hulls and sails. Nothing that a bunch of 28mm scale skulls can’t handle.
These are basically all the tricks I used while converting Ghost Fleet ships. The end result can be seen below and in Armada: Ghost Fleets gallery.
I hope you find this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or at Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.
Welcome to Crimson Crags Bases tutorial. Here I will take you on a Step-by-step trip through the process of creating Crimson Crags themed Bases the same way as seen at: Gallery: Warhammer 40,000 Crimson Fists.
Before we start, some notes:
The “Crimson Crags” is a name of a self designed Warhammer 40,000/Kill Team scenery setting themed around my Crimson Fists Astartes collection. The idea behind the setting is reinforced rocky ravines ravaged by war. You can see more examples of the scenery and basing in the Killzone Crimson Crags gallery. I have already covered painting Crimson Fists and modeling the scenery in previous hobby articles. Now is time to present to you the basing.
For this tutorial I will be using:
Let’s get it out of the way – yes, I am using natural stones. I like to have my miniatures heavy and stable on the board, plus trying to imitate the effect with self made elements would be rather time consuming. These particular stones are something I’m being asked about a lot, so here’s what I can tell you about them. The stones I’m using are regular decoration gravel from construction/home/garden stores. They are sold in small packages for about 1-2€. Unfortunately I do not know the professional name for this kind of stone, but am sure you will find similar stuff in either Ikea, or other home/garden stores. Below an old pic for reference.
Rocks out of the way, let’s rock! (You see what I did there?).
The modeling process is pretty straightforward, starting with base rock formation, after which the miniatures are mounted on top, everything gets undercoated then painted. Lastly the second part of modeling kicks in with textures and finishing touches.
Step one: Rock formation
I started by applying PVA glue on top of the base. There’s no need to keep this one smooth – a clumsy random layer will suffice. Next I applied few drops of super glue on top. Finally I put few flat stones on top. Both glues mixed under preassure, filling most gaps between the stones and keeping them in place.
Step two: Increased Volume
Depending on the size and future assignment of the base I sometimes add volume to the rock formation. Some miniatures have one leg slightly raised, or I just want to get a more dynamic posing for my Astartes characters. Having that in mind I applied a drop of PVA glue followed by a drop of super glue and added another stone on top.
Step three: Undercoat
Once the mix of glue dried up nicely I moved to undercoating. This was done with a smooth layer of Citadel Chaos Black spray primer.
Step four: Base Color
I started painting by airbrushing a strong layer of Vallejo Panzer Dark Grey (air), straight from the pot. I then applied a slightly thinned Vallejo Light Grey Green (air), followed by Vallejo Cold Grey (air). In both cases I tried to reduce the area of paint to add color differentiation.
Step five: Highlights
Next I applied a drybrush of Vallejo Medium Sea Grey all over the bases, followed by edge drybrush of Vallejo Wolf Grey. Finally I softly airbrushed Army Painted Strong Tone Quickshade onto the middle points of each individual stone on the base, and slightly around. All of this to add more visual volume.
Step six: Final Highlighs
I then stippled a bit of Vallejo Wolf Grey on the edges of each individual stone, to make them stand out a bit more.
Step seven: Ground Texture
Next I moved to my favorite texture of all time – AK Interactive Dark Earth diorama series that you can learn more about here. I applied a thick layer of the texture, let it dry than drybrushed Citaled Karak Stone on top.
Step eight: Leaves
Then I applied few small drops of super glue and put a Birch tree seed on top of each. Once dry, leaves got painted with Army Painter Soft Tone Quickshade, to add color depth and just some durability.
Step nine: Final Touches
Finally I repainted base’s edges black and airbrushed a strong layer of Vallejo Polyurethane Matt Varnish all over. Job done.
I hope you find this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or at Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.
Welcome to another entry in the ‘Painting Philosophy’ series, where I let you in on ‘how’ and especially ‘why’ I do some things in a certain way. In my opinion a proper approach to painting is crucial to maintain a healthy, rewarding experience and to produce satisfactory results. Today I will focus on brush handling and hand support during painting.
Handling a brush is a personal thing. It depends mostly on your experience, preferences and muscle memory. It would be inappropriate for me as a painter to tell you how to handle your brush, but I can definitely share some of my own habits. For starters, brush control and hand support, both heavily impact precision of the painting process. I found these skills worth practicing early on.
When painting, I usually hold a brush with three fingers (see pics) and control it with small movements of my fingers and wrist. This is where most of the brush movement originates from, regardless of inclination. I tend to hold brushes close to the “crimp” on the ferrule, which gives me better control over the tip. Most of the time I loosely support the handle of the brush on my hand, between the pointing finger and thumb. This decreases brush vibrations and makes it follow the movement of the hand much smoother. On occasion, in the midst of painting, I might raise the handle off of my hand to gain access to a spot that is otherwise difficult to reach (such as painting obscured eyes), but most of the time it stays in the resting position. All of this combined allows for a wide range of smooth, precise movements with which to work with.
Shaky hands or just unnecessary movement might render even the most professional brush handling ineffective. I always keep my wrists supported on the edge of a painting desk. This is to properly immobilize the miniature but also reduce any macro movement (breathing, elbows etc.) translating onto the brush. To make this a bit less uncomfortable for my wrists I use smooth edge covers for furniture permanently glued onto a working desk (you can learn more about this life hack here).
When in need of increasing precision even further, I like to ‘link’ my hands, supporting brush hands pinky on the hand that I hold the miniature with. Both hands micro movements synchronize and I get more control over the tip as a result.
Frankly speaking, the aforementioned methodology does not work the same for every painting technique. Depending on the size and type of the miniature I sometimes deviate from the norm. Some techniques, such as drybrushing or washing, might not require much precision, whereas detail heavy techniques will definitely benefit from proper brush handling and hand support.
I hope you found this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate if you’d consider sharing my content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally, if you are looking for a professional Warhammer miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me via this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours. If you don’t see anything from me by then, please check your spam folder.
Third time’s a charm thus welcome to the third ‘Painting Philosophy’ article, where I let you in on ‘how’ and especially ‘why’ I do some things in a certain way. In my opinion a proper approach to painting is crucial to maintain healthy and rewarding experience. Final result depends on it in the same way as on techniques, know-how and tools being used. Nowadays internet is full of painting tutorials yet it takes some inner understanding of our own capabilities to find what suits us best and fully benefit from all acquired knowledge. That being said – In this series I will reveal what works best for me as a painter. I hope you will find some wisdom in it…
In last article I wrote a lot about the edge of a base and what it represents. Do not let yourself be fooled by a similar title, as today we’re talking a completely different topic. I introduce to you the ‘Edge highlight technique’. Something that I used to avoid, but at some point got lured by Games Workshop to try out. Before that I struggled to keep colors juicy and interesting, preferred dark, murky color schemes and avoided any type of lining, including edges. I was a bit disappointed with my own work as a result – so a not very healthy relationship with paints and miniatures. It all changed once I got my hands on GW’s Edge paints, which was the first step to realize how important strong edges, combined with proper lining, are.
Edge highlights is a technique of applying paint to the natural edges of a surface, resulting in strong contrast and nice surface outlining. I find edge highlighting, combined with lining, to be a great way to make a color pop and literally change how an eye can perceive it. It works especially well with multi-layered surfaces of detailed miniatures but should work for you regardless of what miniatures you paint. Here’s an example of edge highlights in action – two sets of miniatures painted the same, except one set was then edge highlighted (with barely few extras):
I’m not a guy that looks at miniatures through magnifying glass. Being a commission painter I paint projects related to gaming and this kind of miniatures should be able to catch an eye while being used on the gaming board. I like my miniatures to pop, to be sharp and ‘edgy’, to have personality and coherent color scheme. For me edge highlights provide all that and more.
First of all, like with most painting methods, I avoid overloading my brush with too much paint. This is very important as too much paint would run down and ruin a crisp, sharp edge. Other than that I try to:
Now you know how I approach edge highlighting and with that I would like to close third the Painting Philosophy article. Please take note that what works for me, might not necessarily work for you – still there are many ways to accomplish certain things – mine is just one of them. I encourage you to try and experiment with this technique. As usual I put a lot of effort into preparing this article, but if it helps at least one painter out there – I consider it a time well spent.
I hope you found this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate if you’d consider sharing my content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally, if you are looking for a professional Warhammer miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me via this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours. If you don’t see anything from me by then, please check your spam folder.
Keeping a clean and tidy workspace might seem like a chore, but it does not have to be so. In this article I will share with you some tips on organizing your hobby workspace, based on my own experience. I will also let you in on what benefits are there from working in a well organized environment.
Before we start, it is worth noting that I am a full time, professional commission painter. For years now I have been testing different solutions to try and improve my personal workspace. Moving from town to town required me to build my workbench from the ground up multiple times and provided a lot of insight into what to aim for. You might not necessarily have space, funds or need to achieve a similar setup, but if my adventure has taught me anything, it’s that there is always the space for improvement. Here’s the best proof of that – some previous iterations of my trusty workspace:
Regardless of you being a weekend hobbyist or a professional, a workspace’s main purpose is to provide comfort of your painting process. This includes the ease with which you access tools, manage projects and even how you feel when painting miniatures. A tidy, clean workspace translates directly into your work and motivation. It is far easier to take on a new project when you don’t have to take care of the mess first. Less time spent in search of tools or bitz means more time spent on the actual thing you want to do. Most importantly keeping things in established spaces allows to train muscle memory, thus increasing productivity.
For the purpose of this article I have narrowed down the list of useful advice to a few tips that greatly improve the quality of life while not being too hard or expensive to implement. Without further ado, let’s get into it!
With how popular the hobby has become, a variety of innovative brush storage utensils are being introduced to the market every year. Still when it comes to it, there’s nothing better than a good old mug. Well… not entirely. Toothbrush cups come in a variety of shapes and styles, bringing all the best that mugs have to offer, but without cons. Bathroom cups are usually plain, without handles, occupying less space and being easier to store around the workspace. Plus, depending on your tastes, they might up the visual style of your hobby area.
Trays ain’t on a list of your typical miniatures painter must-haves, but they definitely should! One of the things that used to frustrate me the most was having to switch projects or move stuff around in order to dig for a tool. It became a none-issue once I introduced trays into my hobby. Nowadays groups of hobby tools, paints and even entire projects can be moved around freely, saving me a lot of time. More so, on top of clean and friendly work conditions, setting up ongoing projects on trays defines particular stages of the work, helps me to define goals and keep the motivation up.
Self adhesive, rubber cable organizers are a useful tool to help keep all those nasty air hoses and cables in check. More so, with a bit of a lifehack’ish mindset, they can be used as a fantastic mid-work brush holders.
And while we’re at it, airbrush air hoses are usually very difficult to tame. They’re rather stiff and tend to curl. Fortunately, it’s nothing that a sailing block can’t handle! These puppies will keep the air hose where you want it and allow for rapid airbrush deployment when the time comes!
It is easier to switch a cover than an entire desk. Respect your desk and it will serve you longer, plus there’s probably nothing worse than dusted, grainy, irregular, dried paint surface irritating your skin when painting. Don’t even get me started on a sharp desk edge cutting a side of a wrist (shivers internally). Personally I use a thick cutting mat and a self adhesive PVC corner cover, but anything will do as long as it’s water resistant, easy to clean and stiff enough.
‘Enlarge your p’ …ainting space with a single pull. This simple solution expands your working area when needed, but does not take up much space when not being used. I sometimes find my desk overwhelmed with miniatures and instead of transferring a part of work to secondary space, I just extend a shelf from underneath and continue working. It’s especially useful when I have something messy to do, like applying static grass or pouring resin, but don’t want to risk the entire project getting dirty.
These can be found in almost every house & decor store. Plastic baskets, food containers, tool organizers, clothes storage boxes. Instead of keeping all the boxes, packaged miniatures, spare paints and other stuff stacked on shelves and one another – why not keep it more accessible? Pulling a box from a shelf is much faster and more comfortable than ‘excavation’.
Some stuff is not very comfortable to stack around the workspace. This is especially true for large tools and packages of hobby tufts. There are of course some workarounds. Here’s a pretty simple way to store these items. These self-made tool racks are thin bamboo planks with small hooks and handles, screwed to the ceiling. For tufts I used a metal rod mounted on a piece of plastic on one side and inserted into a hole in a wall at the other. Tuft packages have then been cut on one side, as seen in the picture below, to allow them to be taken off and put back on the rack individually. This made an otherwise unused space into a nice storage area.
I think I should dedicate an entire article to the water bowl and how superior it is compared to a cup. Maybe even a book! But in all seriousness, the more water there is, the longer it will last. It is easier to clean an airbrush, or a regular brush in a larger area of water. Cups and mugs are prompt to topple and need to be cleaned and refilled more often. Plus there’s the lid. This magnificent contraption protects your desk from water when put on, allows for safe transportation to and from the sink and allows to use the space otherwise occupied by the bowl. Just epic!
When it comes to bitz, they tend to take up a lot of space. A good way of dealing with that is cutting all the separate parts from the sprues and zipping them in a thematic zip bag. These can then be stored in translucent plastic boxes to allow faster bag identification. Bitz of particular type in a single bag and a tray should let you fish out any bitz you need much faster, than searching through a room full of mixed, half emptied sprues.
At this point you might see a certain pattern so there’s no need for me to hide it anymore. I admit I might have a little fetish. I tend to bring home a fancy looking food container, a bamboo tray, or some sort of other cool looking stuff whenever I go shopping. If only you saw my kitchen… Anyhow, stylish food containers combine fine looks and functionality. They can be stacked on top of one another and tend to take up less space than standard, flatter boxes. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, made of either wood, plastic, metal or glass. There’s something to fit any workspace and they have a wide range of storage uses.
This is a well known classic, so I decided to throw it in. There is a variety of paint racks, tiny drawers and even entire Modular Workshop Systems in the market, such as the popular HobbyZone. Although dedicated painting racks can only be obtained through hobby related companies, tiny drawers and wooden organizers can be found at house & decor stores. In my experience these are similarly priced so there’s not much difference, other than looks, style and in compatibility with other Modular Workshop System.
Have you ever found yourself reluctant to throw out an almost empty drop bottle paint, because ‘there is still some left!’ ? Personally I dislike keeping two paints of the same type on a hanger rack, but am also not keen on wasting paint. To avoid diving into backup paint box mid-work, I ‘retire’ old paints to a special self made rack (a box with a few holes drilled in the underside). I keep them close, ready to use at all times. Took a while to make a habit of prioritizing old paints over the new ones on the hanging rack, but once it kicked in I started to save a lot of time.
I’ve been using the above solutions for some time now. They’ve been my allies in a fight against workspace entropy. Now it’s your turn to put them to a test. Let me know if any of these spiked your interest. Are any of the above completely new to you? Which, if any, do you plan to implement in the nearby future? I am eager to read your feedback in the comments below. I’m also available at Facebook and Instagram if you’d rather prefer reach me there. Finally I would appreciate if you shared this article with your hobby buddies.
If you are looking for a professional Warhammer miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me via this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours. If you don’t see anything from me by then, please check your spam folder.
When it comes to spicing up your miniatures naval games, there’s nothing better than nice looking scenery. This is especially true for games full of finely detailed miniatures, such as Kings of War: Armada. Today I would like to take you on a Step-by-step trip through the process of creating and painting an alternative scenery for Armada – the Sargasso. These can be used as either Sandbanks proxy, or as something completely new, as you see fit.
Some notes:
High end materials right from the get go. I do prefer my scenery to be durable and high quality, thus I went with laser cut translucent acrylics. That being said, there’s nothing preventing you from using a cheaper and more accessible material, such as clear plastic – maybe food packaging leftovers, or miniatures blister package? As long as it’s clear and sturdy enough you should be fine with any substitutes.
I started by applying some Citadel Militarum Green Contrast in a random pattern all over the base. I used a large, soft brush and applied few large drops of the paint, then added some more to link them.
Next I used a large, round brush to stipple Citadel Nurgle’s Rot paint on top of still wet Militarum Green. This was a bit tricky and I used a paper towel to clean the brush very often. The idea is to apply Nurgle’s Rot from the top by touching the previous layer, bot not smear nor mix the two paints too much.
Once the paint dried I decided to add more live to the mix. Using a large, round synthetic brush with a flat tip I stippled wet Vallejo Heavy Khaki paint all over the previous layer.
Next I applied a thick layer of AK Interactive Pacific Blue. I usually go with Atlantic Blue instead, but this time I aimed at a brighter, more translucent effect.
Finally I applied few lines of AK Interactive Water Foam texture. I then used a clean synthetic, flat tip brush to reduce volume and shape thin waves.
And that is basically all. Sargasso, Seaweed, alternative Sandbanks or some sort of awesome new Armada scenery is now complete.
I hope you find this tutorial interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below or via Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.
