Parts to Painted: Ace, Part 2

By: Johnathon P.

Ok now that we have our model assembled it’s time to start slapping some paint onto it.  First let’s go over some of the supplies I like to have at hand when working.

1. Brushes:  These don’t need to be anything fancy; I usually pick up a couple sable brushes from my local hobby shop whenever I have a spare coupon.  For sizing I use a size 0 for smaller detail work and a size 1 for layering.  In hobby brush terms a fine detail and a standard are good.  For any drybrush work I prefer a small flat brush with an angled end.  Now you may ask what’s layering or drybrushing, don’t worry we will get to that later, for now just know these 3 brushes will do all the work you need to.
2. Paints:  Acrylics, that’s about all you need to worry about, I could wax philosophically about how vendor A is better than vendor B for X reason but it all really boils down to personal preference and availability in your area.  Personally I like Vallejo paints as they don’t require much watering, have what’s known as a high pigment count (the ratio of colour material to the fluid they are suspended in), and most importantly for me come in an eye dropper bottle so I can easily measure out how much I use.  This is especially important to me as I do airbrushing work.
3. Pallet:  This is just a fancy word for the thing you put your paint onto prior dipping your brush into it and applying it to your model.  “But why can’t I just dip my brush directly into the bottle?” you may ask.  Well for one thing if you’re using eye dropper bottles like I do that is not an option, another is most paints need a bit of fluid added back to them prior to use so you can do nice thin coats (we’ll get into the reason why later), and most importantly is it can be hard to judge the amount of paint you are getting onto your brush if you’re dipping into the pot, plus you can transfer gunk into your paint source you don’t want to (hair, dried paint, etc.).  For me Pallet’s come in 2 forms, dry or wet.  A dry pallet is just a surface you keep your paint on, it can just be a piece of cardboard or a fancy plastic device with sections for multiple colours, and once again it’s personal preference.  A wet pallet is a sponge with a piece of material on top of it that is porous enough for the moisture to come up from the sponge but not enough that you soak the surface.  You can buy them at most hobby stores or make your own with a house sponge and some paper towel.  The purpose of a wet pallet is that the moisture keeps your paints from drying out quicker.
4. Base coat:  I list this separately from Paints as for me they occupy a separate state.  A base coats purpose is to bond with the surface of your model and provide a layer for your paint to easily adhere to.  There are many brands and colours out there, I will get into them when we talk about basing the model but most commonly people us rattle (spray) cans to apply them.  The important thing  here (and with sealers, that we will discuss next) is that your environment can have a detrimental effect on them.  What I mean is that heat and humidity can ruin a base coat, I have seen models look like they have been dusted with snow from a simple white basecoat or coal dust from a black.  It is important to only use them in low humidity environments and a brand you trust.  For myself I’ve stopped using all but Testor’s brand rattle cans as I have had too many issues with other brands.
5. Sealant:  This is the final stage of painting a model for me, some consider it optional but for me after spending hours working on your model why would you not want to protect it?  This hobby is hard on models, we’re not just setting them on a shelf to collect dust, they are on the table, being knocked by other models, falling off hills, it is dangerous to be a mini these days!  In all seriousness there is nothing quite as disheartening as spending time completing something just to have it ruined the first time you play because it bangs into something, seal your models!  There are 2 types of sealer I use, gloss and dull or matte coat.  Why 2 you ask?  It has to do with the strength, gloss coat provides a much stronger protection, but leaves your model shiny and most of us are not going for that.  So what I do is apply a coat of gloss sealer for the added protection it provides, and then follow up with a coat or 2 of dull coat to remove the gloss and some extra protection.  It also provides the added benefit that as the dull coat wears down due to handling it reveals the gloss undercoat so you know to touch up your models
6. Model Stand:  Something to attach the model to while you are working on it so that your hands are not constantly touching the base etc. and removing paint with your fingers (yes this happens).  Some people use a cork, I myself use old rattle can tops, and I have a ton from all my base coating and sealants over the years I’ve kept for terrain making.  To adhere the model you can use a bit of glue but what I use is just some silly putty, take a bit and press it onto the surface, then press the model onto it, this allows you to hold the stand and rotate the model much easier as you work, just make sure the model is secure, it sucks to be mid brush stroke only for your model to go bouncing away, chipping paint as it does so.  A quick note that some may like to pin their models to their bases, especially if they are using custom ones, in this case I will use a cork (you can by large ones from a hobby store) as you can just leave the pins long sticking out the foot of the model to insert into the cork, and then just trim them when you are ready to attack to the base.

 

 

1. Airbrush (optional):  If you look back in the archives of this site you will find an excellent getting started post on airbrushing, I highly recommend one as it makes life way easier.  I use it to do all my base coating as well as the layering of primary colours on my models.  I won’t go into super detail about it during these posts but will touch on how I use mine in combination with standard brush work and where it replaces some of the techniques I will cover.

Whew, well that was a lot to cover just for supplies now we are going to go over base coating the model and getting that first few layers of paint on.

“But Johnathon” you ask, “isn’t it just a case of spraying my model down with paint to get the base coat on?”  You have no idea.  Expanding on my notes above about base coating, the purpose is to have a surface you can easily apply your paints to, this means we have several things to take into consideration when applying our base coat.

1. Colour:  This is the most important decision you may make, the colour of your base coat will affect every other colour you apply to the model.  What I mean is if you pick a dark base coat, this will darken all of your subsequent layers of paint above it, which can be great for say a Cryx warjack, but if you are working on your Menoth it can be very hard to bring a dark base up to a creamy white.
2. Thickness:  You need to be careful when applying the base coat not to go to thick and obscure the details of the model, or to thin and render the base coat worthless.
3. Ventilation:  Always be sure you have adequate ventilation when working with rattle cans or an air brush, rattle cans especially produce toxic fumes so you want to use them outside or somewhere with a vent fan, a cloth mask and eye protection can also be needed if you have limited space.
4. Spray Box:  I don’t personally use one as I like to hold the cap I have the model attached to and watch for spots I miss but some like to set their models in an enclosure when they spray, this means that the vapor is circulated more around the model and more paint hits areas you may not notice usually.

So now we have our model on its stand, and our source of primer we’re ready to go!  As I’ve said I use an airbrush for a lot of things and this is one of them, but the same techniques apply to using a rattle can in this case.  I usually start with a black or very dark gray coat, holding the model by the cap and rotating it as I do short up and down sprays to provide a light even coat across the entire model.  Be sure to pay close attention to areas where an arm or shield may cover other parts of the model, you may need to angle the model or the paint source to insure you hit them.

Once I have my initial base coat I let it sit and dry for upwards of an hour, this insures the paint has time to settle and cure some before I apply the next base coat.

“Next base coat?”  You ask, yes I use two coats, not to insure extra coverage but for what is known as “preshading”.  I mentioned above that the initial coat can greatly determine how your final paint tones look; to this end I now take a very light gray (almost white) and apply an extremely light coat to certain areas.  First I hit things like the face (if exposed, i.e. no helmet) and any other areas of light skin (obviously not a concern with Ace), then I hit things like power coils in Cygnar, or flames on other models, and finally I provide a bit of lighting by holding the model upright, with the paint source above and forward of it, and then just hit the model a bit with a circular motion.

What this will do is as we apply our colour layers the subtle shades between light and dark will make certain areas easier to paint as well as give the effect of a light source above the model (i.e. the sun) hitting it.  For Ace I hit his cloaking nodes as well as I planned to do some lighting from them.

Now we come to layering our initial coats.   On a warjack like this what I usually do is apply the primary colour to it first with the airbrush, then finish with regular brush techniques.  So as we are doing a Cygnar ‘jack I will be applying the blue coats first.  Layering is very similar with both a brush and an airbrush, the objective is to apply successive coats of paint, starting with a dark shade and working up to a lighter one, this creates shadowing where needed and in the case of a standard brush multiple thin coats reduce brush strokes in the paint as it dries.

I start by applying a coat of Dark blue to all the surfaces of the model, I do not have the best brush control but as this is the first coating you don’t need to, just be sure to avoid any areas you plan on doing differently, in this case I just had to work around the stealth nodes.

A bit of over spray is to be expected, but as I said at this stage it is not a huge deal.  If using a standard brush first you apply the paint to your pallet, then water the paint until it is the consistency of skim milk (I use a pallet with recessed holes so to test I use an eye dropper to apply liquid to the paint, then take a brush and dip it in, dragging the paint up the side of the recess, if it flows back down at the consistency I need I am ready to paint, otherwise I add more water).  You may need to apply the same shade in multiple coats to get a nice even coating, if your paint is to think you will see it build up on the model and the brush will leave strokes in it.  It can take multiple models until you learn just how to apply layers correctly, just remember that you can always add another coat if you get the paint to thin, it’s much harder to fix if you put it on to think.  Another note with regular brushing is to not over saturate the brush, just apply the tip of the brush to the paint and it should pull the paint up into the bristles, you want about ½ the brush to have paint on it, never let paint get all the way up to the metal of the brush this can dry where you cannot see it and ruin the bristles.

Once you have your initial darker coat on you can begin to apply lighter coats on top, gradually working up to the final shade, you can do this either by mixing lighter shades into your original dark source or purchasing multiple shades.  Note that just adding white or black to lighten or darken paints is not the best way to go, just look at reds, you start adding white into red you’ll get pink, add black and it will start to go brown, always apply lighter/Darker shades of the colour itself instead.

When I apply my lighter coats it is with the intention of leaving just enough of the previous coat below to shade, so I do not apply the coat to all the way to the edge of the previous one, or directly along seems or recesses, this creates shadowing on the model and is one of the hardest things to accomplish for me.  Patience is key when layering; I usually do at least 3 different layers sometimes 4.

Now I begin to apply additional layers of other colours as needed, usually all by regular brush after the first primary colour but it depends on the size of the model and how safely I can apply the other shades with the airbrush.  For Ace all the other basic colours will be metallic so I take a dark gray and apply it first to all of the surfaces I want to apply the metallic colours to, this provides a suitable base to apply metallics to as they usually contain particulates that show better on a darker surface.  For other models I would apply other shades starting with the lowest level of the model on up to the surface.  This usually means applying any flesh, then exposed under shirts/clothing, then armor, and finally any bags, satchels, and straps.  By going in this order you reduce the possibility of accidently hitting areas you have already painted with your brush as you apply the next colour.

Now I apply the metallic colours over the dark gray.  As Cygnar is a high tech faction with access to refined metals I apply these in nice smooth, solid coats.  If this were my Troll Bloods I would instead want the metals to look rawer, unrefined, so to do so I would drybrush the metal on.  Drybrushing is a technique of lightly applying one coat of paint over the top of another in irregular patches; this allows the bottom coat to show thru.  To achieve this we take our drybrush (usually a short, flat brush so the bristles are stiff) and dip it into our top coat just as we would for a layer, but then we take and wipe of 90% of the paint (I use a piece of paper towel), it is important not to leave moisture on the brush just pigment.  Then using light short strokes drag the brush over the surface of the model a few times, this should give a mottled, uneven effect.  In metallics this makes them look more unrefined so you can do good pig iron vs a solid coat looking more like steel.  This same technique can be used to apply pigment only to the raised surface of a section of a model, in so doing this can bring out detail that may otherwise have been lost in a solid coat.

We now have most of the model covered, leaving only the smaller details to complete.  Next time we will cover these as well as some glow effects with the airbrush, and using washes/inks to shade recessed areas before we finish up the base for the model.