Tabletop Warhammer?

gilljoy said:
How did you do his metallic red armour? It looks great
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The armour was primed white then basecoated with retributor Armour, on top of that a 1:1 mix of Flesh Tearers Red contrast paint and Lamian Medium, then a coat of Reikland Fleshshade and finished off with some Runlord Brass highlights to the sharp edges of the armour.
 
I had an idea to try and airbrush the scheme I had previously used on a couple of night Lords models and see how it turns out, now it's nowhere near as vibrant but that's probably a good thing. And actually I think it looks much better and means I have to spend less time with the brush. So I then spent hours saying everything back to black ready for rebasing all of it.

In order to save myself hours, I then decided to try and base the skulls on the spikes and on the body and turns out I was actually more accurate than I thought. I then went back and corrected any overspray with black and we'll do the blue armour at some point.

https://i.~ibb.co~/WWVnfB4L/PXL-20250622-194144185.jpg

I also think that a whole army all the same colour looks a bit boring. So I'm going to be doing some of the models as red corsairs which was another one of my distractions over the years.

I also made sure I could replicate the armour consistently which I can so these are going to end up like my emperor's children soon which will be a nice base coat on all the armour and then waiting for me to fill in all the trim and the other stuff. One day hey..

Not used any washes, I think I'll see how a blue oil recess wash comes off first, then maybe try a black one on the other.

https://i.~ibb.co~/7JsJPnRM/PXL-20250622-194515631.jpg

Not sure what base would work for both red and blue models though because I actually had a red base on another NL model, but red on red won't be great. Could try a desert or snow one maybe.

Oh and my order from Element Games on 7th June still hasn't been despatched. Everything I ordered said it was in stock and as usual what happens next is some of the stuff is awaiting stock, it's said expected despatch 'tomorrow' about ten times this month lol.
CBA to cancel the bits and order elsewhere. The holdup is on fresh engine oil, and turquoise lights oil paint.
 
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I need help mini painting experts! :D

I just got back into this after a friend of mine (who has also picked it back up) bought me a Space Marine lieutenant. So, I did that one as practice then went ahead and bought a box of Intercessors to start building an army with. I decided to go for Crimson Fists because I remembered well this piece of artwork. My terrible pictures:

https://i.~ibb.co~/JbGDLZg/PXL-20250628-174626170.jpg
https://i.~ibb.co~/MDGNWG8Y/PXL-20250628-174705066.jpg

I'm a bit stuck now because I'm into highlighting before varnish but I'm not sure how to approach it. Many youtube tutorials highlight Crimson Fists in what I think is a very cartoony way. I'm after something much more subtle but how should I do it? I tried with a lighter blue (actually a Vallejo Imperial Blue) but it just didn't look right. If I'm using Color Forge Tempest Blue / Kantor Blue as the base, what sort of colour should I be looking for?
 
@FirebarUK not even close to being an expert but I also dont like cartoony edge highlights. I tend to just use a shade lighter as a thin one and don't do the whole model unless I think it's actually noticeable.
That said, depending on the shape of the thing you are doing can be a variable if thick or thin looks better but I've never subscribed to the thick edge highlight followed by a thin one.
Especially not on rank and file models.

Why don't you think it looked right when you did it? Sometimes you have to unfortunately do most of the model before you see if it works for you.

An example of the cartoony style I personally avoid.

https://i.~ibb.co~/k2YTpg64/Screenshot-20250629-154724-2.png

Excuse the old bad photos but this is an example of how I prefer them. You have to strain your eyes almost to see them but they are the style I enjoy, subtle but noticeable.

Though there is a case to say why bother at all if they aren't obvious like the eavy metal style but I think it's a compromise.

https://i.~ibb.co~/r2rbWRWd/IMG-20250124-WA0020-2.jpg
https://i.~ibb.co~/j7MYCWL/IMG-20250124-WA0019-2.jpg
 
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Has anyone airbrushed with citadels emperors children layer paint? Such a nightmare with this this morning... evey other layer or base has worked fine, but this paint will not go through my airbrush for more than a second before it stops, it's not clogged or anything like that,Have thinned it as normal, tried less thinner, more thinner, water all kinds of combinations, different psi, but will not go through, have given the airbrush 2 serious cleans this morning aswell just to make sure, but nope.
 
evanswolves82 said:
Has anyone airbrushed with citadels emperors children layer paint? Such a nightmare with this this morning... evey other layer or base has worked fine, but this paint will not go through my airbrush for more than a second before it stops, it's not clogged or anything like that,Have thinned it as normal, tried less thinner, more thinner, water all kinds of combinations, different psi, but will not go through, have given the airbrush 2 serious cleans this morning aswell just to make sure, but nope.
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Have you tried adding a few drops of flow improver into your airbrush before you add the thinned down paint ?

Also which make/model of airbrush are you using, also the heat here in the UK is pretty extreme so that could be a factor as well.
 
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Really staring to enjoy using the game colour range but they do have a few quirks!!

They don’t like to over thinned with water for base coating. (Bubble issue) They also don’t really need to be shaked all that hard if they getting used regularly compared to some other brands. Just a few shakes and pop a drop on the pallet!! Compared to my fillings falling out using the shaker machine.

Probably the closest to the AK paint range but easier for me to use with their BSL system. Easy for me to mix and match.

Still trying to get used to their skin shades. Found it much easier to paint skin with AK and GW paints.
 
Noxia said:
@FirebarUK not even close to being an expert but I also dont like cartoony edge highlights. I tend to just use a shade lighter as a thin one and don't do the whole model unless I think it's actually noticeable.
That said, depending on the shape of the thing you are doing can be a variable if thick or thin looks better but I've never subscribed to the thick edge highlight followed by a thin one.
Especially not on rank and file models.

Why don't you think it looked right when you did it? Sometimes you have to unfortunately do most of the model before you see if it works for you.

<SNIP>
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I suppose I'm unsure whether to edge highlight or drybrush, these are both techniques I haven't really practiced much so bit worried about goofing it up. Perhaps I had the wrong colour for the highlight, the blue just wasn't white enough for edge highlighting so it looked like the more cartoony variety you mentioned. I think your Imperial Fists examples are spot on for what I'm aiming for, nice and subtle but enough to get rid of the flatness. I'll try and find a different hue and give it a go.

Kenai said:
How long were you 'out of this'? A week? :p

Very tidy so far
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Thank you for the kind words. I've been out of this for 20 years but have watched a tonne of Youtube videos over the last 6 months whilst practicing on a lieutenant model and an airfix plane (which turned out rubbish still because I wasn't thinning the paint properly). You should have seen my old painting back from my teens, it was quite typically bad. I just think I have more patience now. Biggest game changers for me were: (a) started priming with an undercoat to give depth (b) I bought a wet palette and learned to thin my paints (c) started looking after my brushes better and avoided getting paint in the stem. Totally transformed things compared to what I remembered.
 
FirebarUK said:
I suppose I'm unsure whether to edge highlight or drybrush, these are both techniques I haven't really practiced much so bit worried about goofing it up. Perhaps I had the wrong colour for the highlight, the blue just wasn't white enough for edge highlighting so it looked like the more cartoony variety you mentioned. I think your Imperial Fists examples are spot on for what I'm aiming for, nice and subtle but enough to get rid of the flatness. I'll try and find a different hue and give it a go.
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I personally prefer drybrushing highlights, post 10,455 in this thread has some photos of Ultramarines I painted this way.

Back then I was 'dry' drybrushing which left them slightly chalky looking - since then i've watched some of Artis Opus videos on drybrushing with a slightly damp brush and the effect is much better.
 
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