Novice painter's first effort

Wow, you guys were so right! I've been playing with washes and the improvement is astronomical! Still not up there with the other stuff I see around here, but I feel much better about the quality of my work. Thanks again everyone.

This guy might actually be done! It's time to move on to new models!





I was so excited, I immediately got to work on a new crossbowman I added. I think everything I've learned is making a huge difference.

Massive improvement!
Awestruck by how clean you got the eyes on the ninja guy,
still cant make eyes without my 0.3 pen (yes even after reading every guide there is on the subject. my Inquisitors are a different matter,I think I've developed a phobia against 28mm scale irises)
for tackeling the mountain of madness that is symetrical eyes right from the start I salute you

another snub of things one can do to make a huge difference for small amounts of effort is scraping off the seamlines that more or less every model gets to some extent when cast.
(There's probably a guide for it somewhere around here) but like this:

Press down just enough so you still have relatively low friction (mostly depends on material and
Confidence, remember its better to do to little than to much.)



adjust angle after how much you need/want to shave of 45 degrees or less in the direction of travel
is usually sufficient,use a sharp corner on a sprue to try it.

Hope that made any sense

Wow, there really is a difference between the miniatures, well done! You managed the improvement that took me about a year within a few days

However, I still have to criticize something I think you should mix the gravel used on the ninja's base with some finer sand to get a coherent surface, and perahaps cover the whole base with it and glue the fighter on top of it (using superglue or PVA, not sure what works best), because right now, it looks a little like he dropped a bag of stones

Apart from that the minis look very cool. And the quality of your pictures did improve, too!

FANTASTIC PROGRESS! As someone who listens to advice, you ARE the RAREST of all creatures, AND have the makings of a fine painter! WELL DONE!

Try to avoid using light colors for the pupils; it gives them a wild-eyed, staring look.

Sorry for the delayed reply! I had to fly out of the country (Peru, family stuff) and only just got back. These little tips and tricks are incredibly helpful. I was kicking myself for not removing mold lines earlier. That's just dumb. I'll def do that.

yeah, the bases are whack. Unfortunately, the combination of a paucity of bases and liberal applications of cyanoacrylate (superglue? the bottle just says cyanoacrylate) have left these little guys fused more or less permanently. What are good basing techniques? I'll definitely try out adding some sand.

hey deaf, don't you find yourself a teensy bit intimidated by the wild-eyed stares?

INTIMIDATION! (the little giants... loved that movie when I was a kid)

The basing technique depends on what you want achieve with it, ie. in which setting you want to put you warband.

For Mordheim proper, cobblestones (sculpted from GS or just bought as a sheet of plasticard) work well, as well as sand with some rocks painted black and grey.
For Empire in Flames, you could paint some sand brown and add a little static grass to the bases.
For Border Town Burning, snow patches look excellent.
For Sartosa, you could either use planks, or have a plank lying on some sand (like wreckage on the beach).
Also, you can use large rocks, corpses, plant, little animals, whatever comes to your mind.

Goosetipher wrote:

hey deaf, don't you find yourself a teensy bit intimidated by the wild-eyed stares?

Hey I'm a Wild-eyed, Crazy, Old Man...NOTHING intimidates moi.

Actually pale colored pupils tend to look "wild-eyed'. If you do a dark color, black comes to mind , with a dot of lighter color in the center, it loses the CRAZED look.

In my not-all-that humble opinion GSing a base is, considering how EXPENSIVE GS is, a bit of overkill. Plumbers Epoxy Putty or Miliput work as well if not better for bases, dry quicker, & is/are MUCH cheaper.

If you have occasion to want to disassemble a Crazy/Super Glued mini, soaking in an ammonia based cleaner like Parson's or Windex, softens the bond. It also takes off the paint; SO...unless you're planning to repaint, this might not be a good idea for taking your minis off the bases. Of course, the careful application of a sharp Exacto would do the trick.

BTW I hope things worked out well with your family issues. I would LOVE to visit Peru SOMEDAY!

Very nice work on the cloak! You are picking up and improving ALOT quicker than I ever did. Keep up the great work!

I'll try out some new basing and put some pics up, but I had a couple of questions: what is a .3 pen? Monkey mentioned that. Also, what is plasticard? that sounds easy, if nothing else.

I suppose a .3 pen is a pen with a .3mm tip?

Plasticard, also called polystyrene sheets, is just plastics in form of sheets, rods and tubes, which can be used for converting miniatures and building vehicles, buildings (if you are rich ) etc.

For your bases:

Something to consider about cyanoacrylate (Yes it's superglue by it's technical name) it's that is a glue incredibly resistant to TENSION but not to TORSION. (i.e. it's near impossible to take apart 2 flat pieces glued just by pulling them appart, but if you can TWIST the pieces a little, the glue isn't so resistant).

This can be useful for metal miniatures, but thin plastic can give way before the glue, so you'll have to decide.

As nala said, a cutter (xacto knife) it's your friend here.

Plasticar is commonly sold in sheets of various thicknesses ranging from 1mm to 9mm iirc, with increases of 1mm each.

By far the most useful for me are 1mm and 3mm, but you may think differently.

In art and model shops you can buy A$ sized sheets with some engraving as bricks, stones, roof tiles, etc. But I think they are pretty expensive, and usually don't buy them.

Hope that helps.