[Lucio]

Any advice would be appreciated. Would you consider this to be tabletop quality? I eventually want to do tabletop quality commissions and would like to know what to work on next to get to my goal. Thanks.

 

[aquatic_foible]

it's definitely table-top quality, sir. i've seen much, much worse in my time :grin: one little thing though, i believe the white needs a little bit more definition [you've done a decent job of highlighting everything else] - maybe a wash into the recesses of the terminator helmets, to help bring out the detail.

not sure, if it's "commission" standard yet, but it depends on the level of detail that the client expects.

have you tried looking at the guys on heresy who already offer commission services, to see their work, and what they consider to be table-top quality? that might be a good place to start... :grin:

 

[normtheunsavoury]

The Space Marine looks OK but if you're going to be doing this for money I would say get some practice in on the details, especially the eyes. I know they're a nightmare sometimes and I struggle with them but if you're charging for a painting service they need to be spot on.
Maybe get yourself a magnifying lamp, like a desk lamp but with a big magnifying glass in the middle, I use one and find it really helpful.
For the Terminators IMO you need to work a little harder I'm afraid. The highlights are too harsh and the white looks flat, just some very basic blending would make them look a whole lot better.

I am sorry if that all sounds hyper critical but if you want to charge people for painting their minis your work needs to be top notch.
They are definitely of table top quality and in any other circumstances I would congratulate you on a job well done but to charge they need to be better.
Don't be disheartened, keep at it and keep practicing.
They are nicely done and you should be proud of them, just a little more work and you'll be there!

PS. 1000th post. and possibly the record for the longest time getting there!

 

[Lucio]

@aquatic What kind of wash would you recommend? I've tried Badab black on a purity seal and it didnt really do 'definition' as much as it did 'dirty'. Thank you very much for the compliments and suggestions! I will go over and take a peek at the standard level of commission on here. Thanks again!

@norm Its fine, constructive critique is exactly the kind of replies I need! I will definitely try to get working on the eyes a bit more. They're so small and I jitter, but I will make sure the next batch I will get them right! The terminator white I was very much unsure of what to do with, black wash didn't go well in the above mentioned example and I was hesitant to apply it to the heads. I'm not sure what you mean by harsh, too much contrast? Thank you!

 

[LTP]

Heya Lucio.

For a wash over white i normally use brown ink as it stops it looking dirty like you mentioned

You are well on your way to getting to a good table top standard.

I have a few suggestions to help you out.

White: is a pain in the butt lol. When i do white i start with a brown and then work my way up. I normally use a mix of khermi brown and dheneb stone foundation paints. then i wash it with devlan mud then when thats dry i go back over it with dehneb stone carefully and keep adding white until its nice and bright. This will give you definition and it is fast and easy to acheive.

Highlighting: Your highlights seem a little bit too thick. You are applying them in the correct places however which is great, when you do them just wipe most of the paint off your brush and do the thinnest line you can on the edges. Also they would look loads better if you took the highlights up a notch in brightness by adding more white.

for example.

On the backpack and the leg etc.

sorry for the essay hope some of this helps.

 

[Lucio]

I agree with the white, it is a pain. So you layer the white starting with brown using gradually lighter colors till you get to bright white? Progressively coloring a smaller area so the recesses look darker, right? Having been able to do much blending as of yet, but I will definitely give it a shot! The highlights give me a pain, I need a detail brush, but I tend to be rough on them and they don't last so long.

 

[normtheunsavoury]

Yeah sorry, the contrast is a little much and as LTP says the lines need to be thinner.
They are in the right places and pretty much the right colour but they stand out too much. A highlight should be subtle, just a slight change of tone to show where the light is hitting the area. Another good tip I found on here (can't remember who it was that said it, sorry!) is to take a photo of the mini with just the base coat done. Aim a bright light at it from whatever direction you want, take the pic then either print it or have the image on you computer. Use this as a reference.
Build your highlights slowly, one layer at a time then using the thinest of lines (I find using the edge of the brush rather than the tip is best) paint a line of very bright colour. If you can get the line thin enough you cant actuallu see it from normal distance but it really brings the highlights to life.
Use this technique sparingly though, only on the points that need the brightest of highlights.

 

[LTP]

I agree with the white, it is a pain. So you layer the white starting with brown using gradually lighter colors till you get to bright white? Progressively coloring a smaller area so the recesses look darker, right? Having been able to do much blending as of yet, but I will definitely give it a shot! The highlights give me a pain, I need a detail brush, but I tend to be rough on them and they don't last so long.

Yep pretty much . It takes some practice but after a while it will be easy. I would suggest a detail brush. It would make yuor life easier when painting small areas.

Yeah sorry, the contrast is a little much and as LTP says the lines need to be thinner.
They are in the right places and pretty much the right colour but they stand out too much. A highlight should be subtle, just a slight change of tone to show where the light is hitting the area. Another good tip I found on here (can't remember who it was that said it, sorry!) is to take a photo of the mini with just the base coat done. Aim a bright light at it from whatever direction you want, take the pic then either print it or have the image on you computer. Use this as a reference.
Build your highlights slowly, one layer at a time then using the thinest of lines (I find using the edge of the brush rather than the tip is best) paint a line of very bright colour. If you can get the line thin enough you cant actuallu see it from normal distance but it really brings the highlights to life.
Use this technique sparingly though, only on the points that need the brightest of highlights.

ooo i haven't used the photo technique before sounds interesting.

Agreed on the edge of the brush technique. Also try wiping off as much paint as you can you really dont need alot at all.

 

[Lucio]

Apologies for the wait, printer is having issues reading my memory card for whatever reason.

Highlighting like this? Left hand side of the right indent in the hull. Little orange line on the edge of the red.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[moo]

I think you might want to try highlighting on something else, working on a tank and a figure are two very different ways of doing things and also red is usually the one colour which photographs horribly so you either need to get a good camera setup (which you'll want anyway if you want to do commissions) or work on more contrast.

When I refer to more contrast you want there to be a difference from dark to light and to work almost from pure black to pure white in your colours as an extreme example, however all the intermediate steps in between need to be really smooth and blended together to give a good impression. From what i saw at your above pictures i concur with all that's been said so far. Tabletop standard but im not sure how well you would do for commission work.

Thinning down the paints as LTP has suggested is a major factor when painting to a high standard. I actually have very little paint on my brush when i paint (which is kinda why it takes me so long) I have a napkin or something which i wipe off the excess paint and water from my brushes while im painting. Might want to try using a palette rather than out of the pot also as this gives you the ability to add water and mix paints to the consistency you want.

Norm is right about smooth blends with the use of thin layers of paint overlapping each other can give you much better results. For example on my chaos tsons dreadnought i used loads and loads of thin layers of paint to achieve the results. But as mentioned vehicle painting is actually quite different to single figure painting.

 

[Cadian81st]

Just parroting what else has been said. Work on the white, clean up your lines and highlights a bit, and you're fine.

 

[Lucio]

I see. Still a bit new at this. Please forgive my newbness.
If possible could I get a link to something with techniques for vehicles? I have a rather odd way of deciding what to paint next (unit that has the highest damage ratio) so any help in that direction would be appreciated.

I'll prolly try a White Scar marine to get a hold of the white concepts... Would you highlight white at all or just blend it so the crevices are darker?

 

[CLT40k]

Hey Lucio, nice looking minis...

I've been serious about painting since Nov/Dec of last year when I decided I needed better looking stuff...

Since then, I've made painting pretty much my second hobby... to the point where I moved a desk and chair into the living room so I could still hang out with the wife in the evenings....

I typically, paint the details, apply a wash, and highlight... I'm not at the point like LTP is where I'm 100% crisp... but I can see progress in my own paiting and that's enough. Thankfully, this is a hobby where you may never actually reach perfection.... And there's always somebody out there who puts your stuff to shame....

My advice would be to just keep painting stuff...

Also, if you're doing stuff in a production line, keep going back after you finish and look for things you could clean up, add detail to etc... For example, you could go back and paint the pouch on your tac marine.

Also, washes are great... Delven Mud, Gryphonne Sepia, Inks from Reaper (I use a lot of brown and Grey)

Here's an example of where I'm at right now... I know I have a ways to go but, it's where I'm at...

 

[Lucio]

Thanks for the inspiration! I will definitely keep going and keep improving.

 

[Lucio]

Got to the fourth layer on the pauldron on the White Scar... very unforgiving technique. The space I left between the layers is way too big (still) and I'll prolly go at the shoulder again with the dark paint and go over everything and give it another go. When I get it to where it looks acceptable to my eye (ie crappy on camera but worth a look) I'll put a pic up.

 

[Salio]

Here's my tips on painting all white models; don't start from black, it can work for just parts of a model (e.g. a terminators head) but starting from black on an entire model is a real pain, and much too time consuming if you're just going for a table top standard.

A much quicker way is to basecoat the model white, then do a wash of devlan mud (this gives the models a dirty look) or badab black. After this is done go over the model again with white, just leaving the crevasses (e.g. between the shoulder trim and the main area of the shoulder pad) the previous washed color. After this, if you want a little more definition, you can blackline (basically just painting a thin line of black in the deepest areas to give it more shading) the model. I really hope this helps if you are interested in doing white scars as more than just a test model. If you need more info, feel free to send me a PM.

 

[Lucio]

Thank you for the suggestion! I will try it and post the results along with the blending on the pauldrons. Ravenwing is the third on my list of things to get and if I fall in love with them I may try out a White Scars army for fun. Thank you.

Also, how on earth do you get clean lines?

 

[CLT40k]

Best advice I got was to use short strokes with the fine detail brush... For some reason that seemed to make a lot of sense... I also wear 2.5x reading glasses when I paint so I can see the area better.

 

[Lucio]

i see. As of the second layer the model looks decent, but the third and fourth just seem out of place to me. It looks like it was intentionally layered and not like the light is hitting the white armor and creating highlights and shadows. :/