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Tag Archive Tutorial

Hobby Advice: Anything Can Be a Stencil

Let’s talk Stencils. There’s just so many awesome airbrush stencils out there. The world around us is filled with them, even though we’re used to pass them by without further notice…

No, I ain’t talking about these! These are all professional stencils, some of which are crazy expensive! Nope – I’m talking about all the stencils that you might already have at home and not know about it! Some may be found in the kitchen, some inside your bathroom, some can even now be in your reach, across the hobby desk!

“But Maciej, you resourceful genius” I hear you say “how come?!”

Here’s the thing: “Anything can be a stencil!” Still don’t believe me? Check these out!

Plastic Hairband

Dirty, dusty effect – why not?

Flowers Decoration

Still haven’t used, but I know there will come a time to do it 😛

Insect Repellant

Cuz there’s never enough hex in your life!

Steel Whool

I call upon thee God of Thunder!

Blue Tac

Not a stencil, but totally worth consideration 😉

Net Bag

My favorite source of elastic, detailed stencils.

Feel inspired to rampage across your home and try to find as many stencils as possible? Feel like “gonna catch them all!”? I wish you good hunt!

PS: What are yours favorite DIY stencils? Let me know in the comments or under THIS facebook post 😉

Tutorial: Basing Miniatures

In this step-by-step tutorial I’m going to show you how to base miniatures.

Basing miniatures is an overall easy thing, still every now and then I stumble upon hobbyists asking on how to properly do it. Let’s start the answer with: “There’s no one proper way, but there are certainly plenty of bad ways to base miniatures.” A quick example of a “bad way” would be if you glued irregular sand on top of a base and tried to glue a miniature on top of it with cyanoacrylate glue. Glue would go on a rampage all over the sand while it won’t hold the miniature in place due to insufficient area of contact. Another example of a “bad way” would be gluing a miniature on top of a painted base without a pin resulting in miniature being glued to paint rather than the base. This can only end badly for the miniature and your paint job. Ok, so what are the “proper ways”? Here’s three major techniques I use:

No Pin:

Some miniatures seem stable and have a large, flat area at the bottom be it giant feet, or an underside of a robe. In this case I usually go with with no pin at all and trust in the vast area of contact to keep the miniature in place.
Here’s how I go about it:

  • I start by removing the rail from under the miniature.
  • I then ensure the contact area on both the miniature and the base is flat and fit one another.
  • I apply Super Glue.
  • I glue the miniature on top of the base and use Magic Super Glue Activator to cement the glue before it spills from under the miniature.

Pinned:

I use this method in case of wobbly miniatures with small area of contact that for some reason don’t have the rail. Such miniatures require to be pinned to the base to ensure their safety and durability. Note that pinning requires additional tools as well as proper pins. Alongside a trusted hand drill you can also purchase original hobby pins, but these are expensive. Depending on how thick is the miniature I use either paperclips or a thin steel wire.

The steps I undertake to pin a miniature:

  • I ensure the contact area on both the miniature and the base is flat and fit one another.
  • I drill a tiny hole in the miniature’s area of contact.
  • I glue the pin into the hole with Super Glue then cut off the extent of the pin, leaving just few mm.
  • I drill another hole in the base, checking with the miniature to ensure it fits the base.
  • I apply Super Glue to area of contact.
  • I glue the miniature on top of the base.

Natural Pin:

This is my favorite method. I believe that a natural part of the miniature is better at holding it in place rather than a smooth steel pin.
This is what I do:

  • I cut off most of the rail from underneath the miniature, leaving just a piece or two in place.
  • I then ensure the area of contact on both the miniature and the base is flat and fit one another (except for the pieces I left deliberately).
  • I drill a large hole in the base, sometimes I even leave some loose space on top to “guide” the pin in.
  • I apply Super Glue to area of contact.
  • I glue the miniature on top of the base.

From all the other methods this one works the best for me. Plus it’s faster than normal pinning. Just remember, there’s no one proper method. If you feel like a miniature might use a pin – Just follow your guts on this and pin it. Better safe than sorry.

I might drop another article on basing miniatures in the future. Maybe some Painting Philosophy type with insight on why I paint my miniatures based and not separately. If you think it’s an interesting topic and/or if you liked this article – consider letting me know in the comments or at my Facebook profile… or even share if you think the article deserves it. 😉

PS: Check this stuff out! It blown my mind! XD

Tutorial: Magnetizing Resin Bases

In this step-by-step tutorial I’m going to show you how to magnetize resin bases – easy and fast!

Magnetizing entire army for an upcoming delivery of a brand new A-Case carrying bag seem like a great opportunity for a tutorial, doesn’t it? The thing about resin bases is that they rarely come with magnet holes at the underside and even when they do (for example Warsenal) it’s still better to drill your own precise holes. Below are some of the shortcuts and hacks I use when magnetizing resin bases.

I USED:

  • Paper thin Plasticard,
  • Super Glue,
  • Driller,
  • 3x3mm Magnets,

Step One: Drilling

Tip number one would be to use a drill that is the size of the magnet you want to put into the base. This would usually be too big to use in a hand driller, thus we land on Tip number two – use a regular driller instead! I know this might come up as crude and a bit scary, especially when we’re talking fully painted miniatures, but with just a bit of focus it goes smooth. To ensure your miniature’s safety, hold the base firmly and avoid holding the miniature itself.

Step two: Inserting Magnets

I recommend Army Painter Super Glue, or any similar glue to mount the magnets firm inside the holes. Tip number three would be to use a hobby knife. This way you can “cut off” a bottom magnet from the stack and simply insert it into the hole, using blades side to push the magnet in until it’s parallel to the bases bottom line.

Step three: Sealing Magnets

You can skip on this one, but if you want your magnets to hold firm inside the base and for the miniature to come off the case with it’s base attached you might consider this Hack. Simply glue a circle of paper thin plasticard on top of the magnets. This barrier won’t be as thick as to significantly weaken the pull, but will definitely make the transition onto and out off the metal surface smoother. It will also keep the magnets inside the holes – no matter what.

Do you find this article helpful? Please consider sharing it and/or dropping me some feedback down below or at my Facebook profile!

Tutorial: DIY Gravestones

In this step-by-step tutorial I’m going to show you how to create gravestones. Please treat this article more like an inspiration, rather than tutorial.

I recently started collecting Guildball and decided to create graveyard themed bases for my Mortician’s. In the miniatures world gravestones are a rare bitz to come across. Sure there are some graveyard themed miniatures sets but getting them just for the sake of gravestones seem like a ludicrous idea – at least for me. Cuz why not just make your own? It is pretty simple you know…

I USED:

  • 2mm Plasticard,
  • Super Glue,
  • Hobby knife,
  • Stone,
  • Decorative beads, gears and keys,

BRONZE CHARMS:

Before we get into it, let’s talk all the charms, decorative beads and bronze gears. Ever heard of Aliexpress? Just search for “decorative charms bronze” and prepare yourself for a mind blowing experience – cause miniatures modelling would never be the same from now on…

Step one: Cutting plasticard

Using a hobby knife I cut 2mm plasticard into pieces of more or less gravestone size and shape.

Step two: Applying texture

I then “textured” each gravestone with a rock. I know how it sounds, but yeah – I simply rock’n’rolled on top of the plasticard to create an uneven texture.

Step three: Detail

With basic gravestones done I added some detail. I glued plasticard and some of the bronze charms on top and on the sides.
Good to know: Bronze charms are easy to work with. They can be broken into smaller pieces with tweezers and just a bit of force.

Well… that’s all. Job done! That was easy, wasn’t it? Plus it costed barely couple bucks for an entire graveyard worth of material! Not that I need as much 😛

Now just waiting for all the Mortician’s to show up. Can’t wait to get these painted!

You find this article helpful? Don’t be a stranger and drop me a comment below!

Tutorial: DIY Wet Palette

Wet Palette – a hobby tool every or at least a vast majority of pro painters has. A Wet Palette is simply a piece of parchment sitting on a wet sponge that keeps your paints thin and allows you to “save” a certain colour mix to go back to without the necessity to mix the paints anew in hope to achieve same results. In this article I will show you how to make your own Wet Palette.

I USED:

  • White Baking Paper (Parchment Paper),
  • Soft Kitchen Sponge,
  • Hermetic Box,
  • Sharp knife and ruler,

THE BOX

Picking a right box for the job is very important. For best results it should be hermetic, rather shallow and as wide and long as you prefer. I know a very good painter who uses a Ferrero Rocher box, I preffer to use a more hermetic and smaller Games Workshop Turf box. It suits my needs better, as I don’t use Wet Palette too often. Either way…

Step one:

I measured the insides of my box of choice and cut a piece of kitchen sponge to be approximately 5mm smaller. This is to leave some space for a sponge that might grow a bit once filled with water.

Step two:

Next I cut a piece of baking paper to fit the sponge, again leaving about 5mm space between the edge of the sponge and the paper itself.

Step three:

I filled the “palette” with water until the sponge couldn’t take anymore. The key is to avoid water outside the sponge.

Step four:

I then put a piece of baking paper on top of the sponge and held it in place, so that it took a little bit of water and flattened. That’s actually it – Wet Palette complete and ready for action!

Now I can “save” the paints for later use…

Important tip: You will be switching the piece of baking paper every now and then, but I advise you to occasionally switch the sponge too. Depending on what kind of soft sponge you’ll use it might get smelly after long use. It’s because nowadays kitchen sponges are made out of algae and similar organic material. Just saying 😉

You find this article helpful? Don’t be a stranger and drop me a comment below!

Basing: Jade Bases

Welcome to Painting Jade Bases tutorial. Here I will take you on a Step-by-step trip through the process of painting jade Sci-Fi bases the same way as seen at: Gallery: Aleph S.S.S.

Before we start, some notes:

* This one requires an Airbrush.
* What works for me might not necessarily work for you.
* I used Zen Terrain “Futura” base toppers.

I used:

  • Coal Black (P3),
  • Panzer Dark Grey (Val, air),
  • Turquoise (Val),
  • Light Livery Green (Val, air),
  • Pale Wych Flesh (GW),
  • Waywatcher Green (GW),

Let’s begin!

*  I started by airbrushing a thick layer of Vallejo Panzer Dark Grey.

*  I followed with a layer of P3 Coal Black, mixed with Flow Improover.

*  Next I applied a layers of Vallejo Turquoise, mixed with Flow Improover, but this time made sure to leave some spots of previous layer visible.

*  Using a regular brush I then highlighted all the edges with Vallejo Turquoise.

*  Next I partially higlighted the edges with Games Workshop Pale Wych Flesh.

*  Back to airbruush, I applied a layer of Vallejo Light Livery Green on top of all lower parts of the base.

*  I then washed all recess spots with Games Workshop Waywatcher Green, being careful not to leave stain outside the lower parts of the base.

*  Finally I painted side edges black. Job done.

That’s all! If you followd this tutorial and painted your own bases this way, be sure to leave a comment and drop me some pics via Facebook 😉

Cheers!

Tutorial: DIY Gaslands Desert Scenery

In this easy, step-by-step tutorial I’m going to show you how to create a Desert Scenery as could be found in “Gallery: Gaslands”.

I USED:

  • Basing Glue,
  • Super Glue,
  • Hobby knife,
  • Lighter,
  • Sheet of Cork,
  • Plaster (Gypsum),
  • Sheet of 3mm thick Plasticard (or styrofoam),
  • Foamed PCV,
  • Sand,
  • Random trash,

*  I started by cutting foamed PCV (or styrofoam) into basic rocky blocks.

*  I then used lighter to gently heat blocks on the sides, avoiding heating up top and bottom surfaces.

*  Next, using a hobby knife, I cut bases from 3mm thick plasticard.

*  I then glued rocky blocks on top of the bases with basing (PVA) glue. I also glued some blocks on top of one another for the scenery to look more diverse and interresting.

*  Next I crumbled a sheet of cork into small pieces and glued them on top of the blocks with basing glue, sanding them before glue dried out to fill the gaps inbetween separate cork pieces.

*  I then used plaster (gypsum) to build a gentle transition between bases and blocks.

*  A time has come for me to add some detail. Not much, just some texture to bring more life to the wasteland. I cut pieces of plasticard and used toothpicks, MDF leftovers and a toy car to create ragtag barricades and post-apo racing signs.

*  Lastly, with a regular brush, I applied basing glue then sanded all the plaster, sides of the bases and some areas around cork pieces on top of the blocks.

Couple of hours later I have painted this stuff and added some tuftsthe end result looks like this:

Tutorial: Painting Infinity Daofei Camo

Welcome to Painting Infinity Daofei Camo tutorial. Here I will take you on a Step-by-step trip through the process of painting Daofei Camo the same way as seen at: Gallery: Yu-Jing.

Before we start, some notes:

* This one requires no Airbrush.
* For better visibility there are two different sizes of the pattern.
* What works for me might not necessarily work for you.

I used:

  • Bastion Grey (P3),
  • Pale Wych Flesh (GW),
  • Panzer Dark Grey (Val, air),
  • Interior Green (Val, air),

Let’s begin!

*  Start by applying a smooth layer of P3 Bastion Grey.

*  Create basic pattern, applying Pale Wych Flesh spots leaving similar sized gaps inbetween .

*  Next apply Panzer Dark Grey spots between Pale Wych Flesh, so that every new spot touches at least one from the previous layer.

*  Follow up with a third layer of pattern, using Interior Green and following the same rules. Be sure to leave some spots of Bastion Grey visible.

*  Lastly add tiny spots of Panzer Dark Grey on top of Pale Wych Flesh pattern. Some might touch the edges.

That’s it, you have painted the pattern. Congrats! Be sure to visit Infinity Yu-Jing gallery for further inspiration if need be 😉


Tutorial: Painting Infinity Guijia

Welcome to Painting “Guijia” tutorial. Here I will take you on a Step-by-step trip through almost entire process of painting Infinity the Game “Guijia” Special Project

Before we start, some notes:
* This one requires an Airbrush.
* Paints are to be properly thinned before airbrush application.
* As usual, please take note that what works for me might not necessarily work for you.

Allright! Undercoat the miniature with black, check your gear and let’s do this!

*  Start with a solid layer of airbrushed Val. Orange Brown. I applied mine in three delicate, overlaping layers. I went around the miniature, with top and bottom, focusing on Armor Plates areas.

*  Next, airbrush Val. Scrofulous Brown. Mostly from the top and up to 45* degree, focusing on the most exposed areas. You can start building transitions to previous layer avoiding shadowed areas.

*  I forgot to take a picture of this layer. That's on me. Fortunatelly the result can be seen on the next picture. The layer is a mix of Val. Scrofulous Brown and Val. Off White, applied from top onto the center of all exposed areas.

*  Next, outline all the edges with Val. Ice Yellow

*  Lastly, underline armor plates with Army Painter Soft Tone Ink. I also used strongly dilluted Soft Tone to apply some more shadow in certain 'over the edge' areas.

*  This is the most difficult part of the process. Mix Val. Black (air) 1:5 with Val. Panzer Dark Grey (air) and apply it to everything, that is not external armour plates and blade. The difficult part is to not mess up all these sexy Orange-to-Yellow armour plates. If you do, you can try out Erasing Bloopers following one of my tutorials, still the airbrushed nature of the layer will make it extremely difficult.

*  Next apply a watered down GW Fenrisian Grey over black areas. It is important not to fill any recesses. You can apply more than one thin layer, overlaping each other and even leave some irregularities - this will work to the overall paint job's advantage.

*  Next, higlight edges with GW Pale Wych Flesh. This time no thinning down the paint. You can imitate some scratches, reflexions etc.

*  Now wash it all with a thinned down Army Painter Dark Tone Ink. Once again be extra carefuul not to paint over finished armour plates.

*  Now it's time to make it POP! Using GW Pale Wych Flesh and Val. Off White, highlight the edges and create some points of focus, scratches, reflections etc.

*  Start by masking the Guijia's leg. I used a piece of foil and masking tape to cover areas that I didn;t wanted to get dirty. Then manually applu a layer of Val. Prussian Blue, avoiding areas of Black Mesh.

*  Next airbrush a layer of Light Sea Blue, focusing on the most exposed areas of armour.

*  Next, airbrush a mix of Val. Light Sea Blue with a bit of Val. White focusing on middle areas, creating a transition from previous layer.

*  Next highlight the edges with GW Pale Wych Flesh.

*  To seal Blue, wash it with thinned down GW Guilliman Blue Glaze. You can see that I have also painted some battle damage. I did it using Val. Cavalry Brown, underlined with Val. Off White.

I leave adding Black Under Armour and additional details to you. Now to the Sword… To be honest, because of strong light, pictures taken during this one’s painting process did not captured how the sword looked like and I really don’t like how they turned out. That being said – I will still show you the Sword and name the paints used, but instead of a Step-by-step tutorial, let’s just call it a BONUS.

BONUS:

List of paints:
Val. Warlord Purple,
Val. Off white,
GW. Pale Wych Flesh,
AP. Purple Tone Ink,

I leave the base and additional detail to you. Congratulations, you have painted a Guijia 🙂

Was this tutorial helpful? Did you enjoyed it? Leave me a comment 😉

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.

Basing: Toxic Sludge Bases

In this easy, step-by-step tutorial I’m going to show you how to create a Toxic Sludge Base. I designed these bases for Warhammer 40,000 Death Guuard Plague Marines.

I USED:

  • Basing Glue,
  • Shoe moist absorbers**
  • Vallejo Interior Green,
  • Vallejo Duuck Egg Green,
  • Vallejo Light Livery Green,

**Where I’m from there’s a small paper bag filled with moist absorbsion balls in every shoe box. If you can’t get that, just use some grains or make small balls out of green stuff or modeling clay.

*  I started by covering entire base with a layer of basing glue.

*  I then put couple of tiny balls onto the base, creating 'buubbles' and let it all dry.

*  Once dry, I covered are around the bubbles with another layer of basing glue.

*  I let it all dry for about an hour, then undercoated entire base black.

*  I then airbrushed a layer of Vallejo Interior Green over entire base.

*  Next I airbrushed a layer of Duck Egg Green concentrating on bubbles and surrounding areas.

*  Last thing to do was to airbrush two layers of Light Livery Green over entire bases and paint the sides black.