Messages posted by Fire_Forever - Forum (2024)

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Flinty wrote:
Edge. Just draw it along.

This.
Trying to use the tip leads to lines that are all wobbly in thickness. Using the side of the brush, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way down from the tip works well. Sometimes due to the position of the miniature it's not possible to use anything but the tip of the brush so do your best in those cases, but wherever possible, edge.

"Edge highlighting miniature" or 'edge highlighting paint' are much safer terms to search.

The consistency of the paint and how loaded the brush is are both critical to good edge highlighting. Too thick a paint and it'll blob. Too thin and it'll run into places you don't want. Too much paint on the brush and, again, it'll blob or run. Not enough paint and the line will be patchy.

Most people learning the technique overload their brush with paint that is too thick - it should be thinned like layer paint and conservatively loaded in the belly. If you can scoop a blob of it on the tip of the brush, it's too thick. If the point of your brush splays when it touches the paint, then it's too thin. Finding that sweet spot can be frustrating but once you get it, progress tends to be limited only by brush control.

Essential Oil cases are readily available online, and will fit dropper bottles like Vallejo / Army Painter. Personally I've used a Plano vertical tackle box thing with four removable drawers. Those only fit the shorter Citadel pots but the upper clamshell area is tall enough for any miniature paint. Your local hardware or thrift store can be a gold mine for potential paint storage options.

Currently most of my paint is living in clear stackable drawers since I don't have to travel with it, and I like being able to take just one sub-group to the adjacent table to pick out colours from.

Brushes are a very personal thing. The only qualification for a good brush is one that gets you to put paint on your models!

That said I tend to favour the more traditional rounds. They require steadier hands and better brush control but offer a deeper belly for holding more paint and with practice can cover everything from a very thin line to a large area. I like their flexibility.

The main downside of a shorter tuft is that it's harder to avoid getting paint up in the ferrule. Spotters need to be cleaned extra well after use.

If you want more obvious transitions, one option would be to basecoat in black or very dark grey, and push the highlights. Might have to also adjust the top coat to a brighter & lighter colour, as it has to be at least semi-transparent and will pick up more of the dark from the underpainting.

Personally though I think what you've got looks good. Subtle is a nice place to start, since you have room in both directions for additional shaded areas and highlights.

A half dozen mono-pose plastic Dwarfs I cannot even remember how I obtained are the worst stripping I've had to do. They were so caked with paint there must have been at least ten layers of it. You couldn't make out their features or the details on any of the parts. Took multiple months of soaks + scrubs with a brass brush to get them back down to bare plastic, and even more work to fix the horrendous sloppy glue job that was underneath.

I'm guessing their previous owner was <8 years old just based on how much glue they thought was necessary to apply!

If you've got a Princess Auto near you, try there. I've gotten two sets of jewelry files from P.Auto over the years, one standard and one diamond grit and they're also a good source for high grit wet sandpaper. Pick up a brass brush while you're at it for cleaning 'em.

Princess Auto also has an online shop, if you're out in the boonies.

Might want to mist that pot with water every once in a while. It doesn't take long for Drys to go from squidgy-clay to completely unusable rubber.

Everyone I've heard talk about the Citadel Dry paint line complains that they have zero shelf life, sometimes bad right from the store - especially the white. Fresh they can be as thick as frosting.

Lookin' good!
For the mould lines, a hobby knife / x-acto blade generally does a good job of scraping off the unwanted plastic, especially in tight areas. I have a dull blade I keep around specifically for this purpose.

Really really fine sandpaper is also an option, the kind that's used to polish polycarbonate can get all the way up to a mirror shine. Wet-dry automotive sandpaper in 600+ grit is more commonly accessible and works too. Can be cut to size and glued to a wooden popsicle stick of any size/shape you desire.

All those skellies look like they're perched on snow covered hats - a good solution to your temporary mounting challenge.

An old x-acto blade works really well. I keep one around specifically for that. Dull it on fine sandpaper if necessary. Gives you two wedges to scrape with, thick and thin. The point gets into tighter spots than most files.

Bellerophon wrote:

Fire_Forever wrote:

I'd second the recommendation for some serious hardware for jointing that bad boy together. Magnets aren't going to cut it.

I've got magnets in the waist of my Warlord, and they absolutely do the job if they're big enough - I'm talking 20kg pull magnets here. I've even arranged it so that they're deliberately separated by a few mm rather than direct contact in order to weaken the pull enough that I can actually take it apart without being worried about damaging it. You can pick it up by the torso, and there's no question of the legs falling off. I don't know whether the same sort of size of magnets would fit in the Reaver's waist though, it depends on the size of the waist joint as to whether there's enough space to fit something that beefy. Bolts would certainly do the job too.

Fair point - standard sized magnets aren't going to cut it. If you have access to, say, old hard-drive magnets or better, those are pretty darn beefy. I was thinking more of the extra bits though, where free rotation could cause issues without enough friction.

Valkyrie wrote:
One trick I've heard is placing the model in the freezer for a couple of hours, which apparently causes the glue to expand and weaken.

This can work, but it depends a lot on what material the model is made from and what kind of glue was applied. It's not a one-size-fits-all solution. And I don't think it makes the glue expand. Cold causes most materials to shrink, heat makes them expand. Ice is one of those weird, weird exceptions due to going from an amorphous molecule arrangement into a lattice. Presumably this works when there's a differential in the rate of contraction, causing the glue to shear off?

Deathklaat wrote:

Fire_Forever wrote:

theunicorn wrote:
Purple Power, a degreaser that you can buy at Wal-Mart will strip the paint, eat most of the glue and not harm the resin. I have stripped FW and recasts and never in 12+ years has it harmed the model.

Purple Power (it goes by another name up here, I can't remember what's on our jug) is great stuff. I've only used it on plastics and metals, but will be filing away that it's also good on resins for future use.

Purple Power also goes by the name Super Clean. Purple Power comes in a purple container while Super Clean's is white.

That sounds about right - ours comes in a big white jug.

theunicorn wrote:
Purple Power, a degreaser that you can buy at Wal-Mart will strip the paint, eat most of the glue and not harm the resin. I have stripped FW and recasts and never in 12+ years has it harmed the model.

Purple Power (it goes by another name up here, I can't remember what's on our jug) is great stuff. I've only used it on plastics and metals, but will be filing away that it's also good on resins for future use.

Big fat NO to acetone + resin. Not worth the risk IMO.

I'd second the recommendation for some serious hardware for jointing that bad boy together. Magnets aren't going to cut it. Bolts sound like the most sensible choice. Two individual foot bases would be my first instinct too - with a model that size any fall is going to be disastrous, and reposing the feet without breaking it apart is going to be tough.

Aw, that lamp is adorably small. Not very practical but my inner child is delighted. If you're looking for big corks, try 'mason jar cork' or 'wide mouth jar cork' as search terms. They're pretty big! Blu-Tack and a spare small jar or pot will get you started in the meantime.

Only thing I'd add to your setup beyond what you're already planning is a notebook. Keeping track of what mixes you use for models, which paints you liked or ratios for washes & glazes is surprisingly handy. If you get an artist one with thicker paper you can even keep paint swatches in there.

That matches up pretty well with my research into what Scale75 is like, and it was analagous with my trial bottle of Violet Scalecolor. Personally I was not a fan at all of the ultra-matte (it looks weird on most surfaces besides fabric, esp. skin, scales, horses, weapons, etc.) and the working properties did not endear me to the line, but please do update once you've gotten your brush wet and had a good shakedown with 'em. I would recommend getting some Vallejo Extra Opaque, P3's or Citadel Bases (Foundations? Whatever they call their opaque line these days) for your base colours, otherwise it takes a ridiculous number of coats to get the basics established.

Definitely treat yourself to a wet palette, especially if you're in a drier part of the world/season. It makes a huge difference. I waste so much less paint since making the switch to a DIY wet palette. Metallics aren't the happiest campers with 'em but most of the other paints survive quite well. Some will overhydrate (washes, glazes, thin paints) and others slowly dry out anyways (heavily white favouring paints are common culprits) but that usually takes many hours if not days.

ced1106 wrote:
Yeah, I even have some discontinued paints in 10ml bottles that work just fine. I still use their green / gold Kickflip paint for my bubbling cauldrons!

My only experiences and complaints are with the INSTAR Vintage line. Maybe they use a different acrylic binder than the Kickflips? Rules out the bottles being the a potential culprit, but I didn't suspect the container of being the issue to begin with. Still good to know.

I've never gotten to paint with other people, but I can see how it would make for great motivation. Usually I'll just throw on an episode of Paint Bravely or Trapped Under Plastic for company.

Anfauglir wrote:
I went with scale 75 as I got a good discount making them just as cheap as Coat D'Arms etc.

How are you liking the Scale 75? I'm particularly interested in your opinion since you're coming form a similar hobby era as I have. Did you find it hard to adapt to 75's differences?

Anfauglir wrote:
I'm debating allowing myself any purple, I suppose it's still a cool colour as long as I build it up from blues and hardly any reds, but it might make for a good colour for HQ fabrics as a sign of aristocratic wealth and decadence, and also a black-purple for the inside of monster mouths (terrorgheist)? And also purple inks for shading skin / dead flesh

I'd go for some purples - there are plenty of rich, cold purples out there that'd suit. Heck even a few pinks, like Tentacle Pink (re-creatable with P3 Carnal Pink + P3 Beaten Purple, or nabbing a purple-y pink from whatever range suits your fancy) look cold. P3 Bad Bruise might also be worth a look. It's a very purple leaning deep, rich blue, similar to hex pot Nauseating Blue from the 90's range, but darker.

I've looked into getting P3/Coat D'arms bottles, there's at least a couple of UK suppliers/stores. Sadly most of the options I looked at don't ship to Canada.

https://www.theplasticbottlescompany.com/shop/product/cap-20mm-tamper-evident-flip-top-white/

Plastic Bottle Co. has the best price, but they're set up for local / bulk orders.

https://www.shcweb.co.uk/store/20ml-plastic-paint-pot-with-white-flip-top-lid.html

Also stocks 'em, but much more expensive.

I know right? Nothing like the kick-in-the-teef blue of modern Ultramarines. Way more moody and dark.

Those are some fine looking Marines! From what I remember, the Blood Angels Red base colour on 'em back in the day was indeed more of an orange, not red. The red came from the red ink applied on top.

Coat D'arms Blood Angel Red is transparent, just like the original. It's an old school paint and needs either undercoating (aka Terracotta method) or many layers glazed over white. Can be pretty shocking for painters who are used to only the modern paints with high opacity.

Loving the classic look!

Supershandy wrote:
so some of these paints may have been on the shelf for a while which may have contributed to the poor performance,

Nice when a company straight up tells you they're selling on old paint that degrades before they can even get it into a customer's hands. Seriously what's with this marketing spiel? Your whole post reads like an advertisem*nt. "Professional painters can paint better than almost everyone else with our paint!" doesn't mean anything. Those crazy talented blokes can make craft store dollar paint look like a million bucks. I'm just an average hobbyist, like almost everyone else here and like the vast majority of the market for miniature paint.

I can't paint with stuff that's the consistency of snot, and waters down into dish water. Maybe my batch was bad. Maybe something happened in transit that ruined the paint. Maybe it was improperly stored before being sold. But you never tried to figure that out or make it better.

So my assessment stands; don't buy INSTAR Vintage.

Supershandy wrote:
Just seen this thread and thought I should weigh in on the comments made by one of the posters.

Our Vintage and Paint line were part of our original line up which we're currently having a clearance sale one (Which the poster bought) so some of these paints may have been on the shelf for a while which may have contributed to the poor performance, especially with the smaller size (5ml) bottles, the paint and vintage line certainly are not ones to turn a nose up at as we have had many painters create some very nice works with them

How nice to know that your paint has such an awful shelf life, it degrades into 'poor performance' (your own words!) in the time it takes to get sold, let alone how long it might be in a customer's working collection. I have vintage paints from the 90's, 00's, and '10's that are perfectly fine, but I guess that's the difference between commercially formulated paint and INSTAR?

I had multiple bottles of INSTAR Vintage that were under-filled, only discovered long after my first complaint via e-mail where one bottle was obviously almost empty on arrival. Most of what was in the bottle was agitator, not paint. The medium was like slime. And I can see the colour mismatch in several of those pictures without even looking at the full size versions - my own attempts turned out even worse. How I wish those had been featured on the website instead, because I wouldn't have wasted my money.

The whole selling point for the Vintage line was a supposed 99% colour match, which they fail at because the only colour which is considered is the masstone, leading to dead, flat looking colours that don't mix properly nor have that characteristic vintage vibrancy.

I wanted to love these paints. I was incredibly excited by the hope of having replacements for my old Citadels, only to have those feelings slowly spiral into dismay and disappointment the more I tried to use them. The customer response that basically dismissed all of my concerns except the nearly empty bottle was the bitter icing on top of a rotten cake.

In my experience almost any acrylic paint works great for terrain. Even the pound/dollar store stuff. There's no real fine detail to obscure so go wild and pick whatever's cheap, plentiful and available in your local area.

Also looks like there's some sliver chipping / extreme edge highlighting on the metal plates in a few spots. Particularly visible on the horizontal edge of the panel above the main turret with the red light on it.

You'll be doing your friend a grave disservice by selling this as a single lot because its target market as such is resellers, who are going to want to pay <25-50% of what they can sell it on for.

Simply splitting it into armies will easily double your profit for not much extra effort. There are a few oddball items - first pic is a Space Marine bike, 9th is a High Elf Noble, etc. but most of those are solid full armies you'll have no trouble at all selling as such.

The wash on there looks more red to me than Agrax in places - zoom in on the riveted panel above the tread gun mount and the top edges around the turret greebles. It looks close to crimson in places. So potentially more than one wash. The metal areas and deep recesses look more like a black wash.

Base colour is definitely a cold blue-grey or neutral grey with blue-grey highlights. Bottom looks to have lots of rust coloured weathering powder or paint on it. Same with the treads, there's red-brown in there probably suggesting dirt and/or rust.

Easy way or hard way?

Easy way would be to print at 200% size via the printer dialog or document preferences. It'd mean taping sheets together as some parts are going to be cut in half though.

Hard way is opening the PDF in a vector capable program like Inkscape and manually resizing the parts, then rearranging them onto the sheets.

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