I used to be heavily into miniature painting, specifically Reaper, Citadel/Games Workshop, Rakham and a few others. I loved going to regional and national competitions as well as online. Won and placed a good bit, became a judge... I got out of it about 12-years ago, selling off a lot of stuff. Recently, someone I gave a lot of my painted stuff to returned them when I said I was thinking of getting back into it, saying he thought I needed the inspiration. So, here we are now. I've already bought a number of figures to start working on, and feel that getting back into the swing of things is the right thing for me. I wanted to start this thread to showcase my old and new work, but also to allow others to show off their own creations. So, if you paint, used to paint, or want to paint miniatures, stop in and share your work! Inspiration oftentimes comes by example, so please, bring forth the legions of tinys!
This is from a line designed by the artist Brom. Can't remember the name: These are both from Rackham's Confrontation line. The minotaur is one of my personal favorites:
The Predator was a resin cast from a garage company. Pretty nice detailing: This is a Reaper lizardman. It was the winning entry in a speed-painting competition. We had an hour to do the figure from the ground up. I was done with about 15-minutes to spare, so I ripped a loose string from my pants and strung the bow. Two more Reaper figures:
Damn. Suddenly I don't feel nearly as good about my miniature painting. You've painted details that I assumed wouldn't even be worth attempting at that scale. Still, here's a few of mine.
Nah man, be proud! Those both look awesome. The face on the "Sorcerous" eagle looks quite realistic, and that Treelord (?) Is sublime.
Thanks! Question: what exactly did I do wrong on these figures? The rough texture was not intentional at all. It kinda works for Bumblebee and I went ahead and played it up a bit for a weathered look but I don't like how textured the pirate chick's face is.
It all really depends on the paint. Is the paint good quality? Is it thinned out enough? Did you straight layer or build up? Lots of factors go in to how smooth paint looks once applied.
Citadel but I probably didn't thin it - I really struggle with thinning my paint. If I thin it with future, it works great but it's too glossy. If I thin it with water, it loses too much viscosity and becomes super difficult to work with - difficult to get any coverage at all and likes to pool in the crevices. Also it seems like the ingredients separate a bit, though that doesn't happen as much if I use distilled water. It probably also doesn't help that I'm in a super dry climate. Like I never have to worry about letting a coat of paint dry before I start on the next one or before I can handle the figure cuz it dries so fast. Maybe I should set up a humidifier in the room when I paint.
Distilled/purified water is best. I never thin the paints themselves in the pot, just what I'm using directly. I pull some paint with the brush onto the pallet, dip the brush in water, then mix it into the paint. If you use a cheap plastic pallet for this, it works quite well. Doing this method will require you to do it numerous times, but it works better than getting the paint too thick or too liquidy. Humidifier may be a good option for super dry climates. I often have a fan running on low just to stir up the air, but never directed at my work space.
Also, That citadel paint dries out fast af. Love the colors, hate how fast it goes to hell. Now I'm going to have to post a few gems.
