Starting the Heroes

Long Winded, Lots of Pictures

I've mentioned at least once that there is one more enemy to do to finish the set, but I'm going to hold off on it for a bit.  First off, I've never actually used the model in a game yet.  More importantly, I'm just not sure what I'm going to do with the miniature.  Now, that is pretty common when I work on models, as I kind of experiment as I go.  However, for whatever reason, this model strikes me as challenging, and as it is so big it is going to attract attention.  I'm going to hold off and work on other things for a bit, and so I started the first couple of heroes.

I thought it would be interesting to at least some of you to see the steps involved in painting a mini, to the tabletop standard that I usually go for.  Here is the finished product, and you'll see bit by bit how I got there.

I chose to work on these heroes first because their color schemes are so similar.  Both are elves, so they have similar skin tones, both are dressed brown cloaks, and they shop at the same boot store.

Before I do any painting, there is a bit of preparatory work to do on the minis.  It may be a surprise, but the first thing that I did was take a drill and make a hole in each base.  The reason for this is that I've found the best way to store my miniatures is using magnets.  

I didn't bother trying to get good lighting here, but I hope the photo gets the idea across.  The case is vertical in the picture, by the way.

I used to store minis in foam, but either the model fits loosely in the foam and rattles around, which can rub paint off, or it fits snugly, in which case paint can rub off when inserting or removing the mini.  It is sort of lose-lose.  Using magnets, the paint never touches anything (except my fingers), so there is a lot less risk of damage to the paint jobs.  Also, it is just easier to see every mini and know exactly which ones to pull out of the case.

A lot of minis have a recess under the base where a magnet can be glued, but these are attached to solid disks.  I could remove the models from their bases and glue them to something else, but that seems like a lot of effort, and instead a couple minutes with a power drill leaves a perfect space to insert a rare earth magnet.

With the magnets glued in, the next step is to wash the miniatures.  Sometimes I'm lazy and skip this step, but I've also gotten burned before by not doing it.  You see, when models are created, the molds are coated with "mold release."  It is similar to something like WD-40, and prevents the plastic from sticking to the mold.  The problem is that depending on how much remains on the model, it can also keep the primer from sticking to the plastic.  A simple scrub with dish soap and water, and then it can be left to dry.

Next, I prime the model.  Paint doesn't stick well to bare plastic.  A primer is a special layer that is designed to bond to plastic, and also give it a "grainy" surface that makes paint adhere better.  There are advantages and disadvantages to any color used to prime, but through experimentation I've found I prefer a dark gray.  My current primer of choice is Rustoleum 2x Ultra Cover "Flat Gray."  I wish it were just a touch darker, but this is the only primer that I can regularly prime in one attempt.  Every other primer I use, I hit the model, let it dry, and find massive areas that didn't get primer.  I retouch, and then repeat 2 or 3 times until I'm satisfied.

The last thing is to attach the model to a handle to make it easier to hold when painting.  I just use old pill bottles, and use dollar-store foam mounting squares to stick them on.

After all these steps, the models look something like this.

For these models I decided to start with the eyes.  Eyes are really tricky, and can either make or break a mini, so much so that it is often best to just leave them out.  (See the previous ruffians for an example of that.)  Because I'm still pretty bad at doing eyes, it is best to work on them first, so I don't screw up other things as I'm fumbling with trying to get them right.

I start by painting the eye sockets a dark flesh color, in this case Citadel's "Bugman's Glow."  I don't care if I go too far outside the sockets, as I'll be cleaning this up later.  I then took an off-white (Citadel's "Screaming Skull") and watered it down a lot.  Instead of trying to paint the eye, I pretty much ended up dribbling it into the socket, and then cleaned up the edge using the Bugman's Glow.  Finally, I took a black ("Abaddon Black") and thinning it as little as possible to allow flow, painting vertical lines down the middle.  When painting a mini, it generally looks better to have the irises a little further toward the outside than is really natural, because otherwise the mini ends up looking cross-eyed.

If you look closely, the eyes aren't perfect.  Elena (the female) has an eye that looks a little blobby.  Honestly, though, given the size, these are pretty good, and few people would ever notice.

On to the flesh tones.  As these are elves, I want them to be very fair-skinned.  So, other than the eye-socket stuff I've already done, I'm starting with what I'd normally use for mid-tone on the skin (Citadel's "Cadian Fleshtone").  I paint the faces and hands with this.  Other than avoiding the eyes, I go pretty fast with this, and don't worry much if paint gets on other parts of the model.  I keep the paint thin, the brush wet, and build up the color through multiple coats to try and keep the paint smooth.

Next, we add some tonal variation to the skin.  I start by putting a wash (Citadel "Reikland Fleshshade") into the areas where there are recesses... the ears, the fingers, and so on.  After that dries, I start highlighting with Citadel "Kislev Flesh," going over about 60% of the fleshy areas.

After looking at it, I decide that some of the transitions are too harsh, so I mix the Cadian and the Kislev flesh paints together and try to smooth them out a bit.

One final highlight, a mixture of Kislev Flesh and "Pallid Witch Flesh," kept do just a few prominent areas, and I'm calling the flesh tones done.... for Legolas.  I want to do another couple of things to Elena.

I don't tend to put a lot of makeup on my fantasy women, but I wanted to do just a bit to make her more feminine.  A mixture of Cadian Fleshtone and "" is applied to the lower lip, and a touch of P3 "Skorne Red" is mixed with Kislev Flesh and thinned down a lot to apply some blush.  I tried to keep both of these very subtle.

With the flesh tones done, I next want to work on the cloaks.  There are areas of the cloaks that are very hard to reach, so I'd like to get into those recessed areas before doing much else.  I think starting here I'm not going to take so many pictures.... This post is already longer than most people will read, and when things *don't* go well, I'm desperately trying to fix them instead of thinking about stopping to photograph.

For Elena, I decided to go with a fairly neutral-brown cloak.  The process went something like this:

Basecoat of P3 "Bootstrap Leather"

Shade of Citadel "Agrax Earthshade"

Decide I don't like the effect, and instead mix Bootstrap Leather with Citadel "Rhinox Hide" and try to put in the shadows manually.

Decide the shadows still look like crap, and do a *ton* of back and forth between 3 different shades on the spectrum between Rhinox Hide and Bootstrap Leather trying to get them to look decent.

Move on to highlights with Citadel "Steel Legion Drab," and then mix in "Zandri Dust" for a final highlight.

Again, go back and forth a bit, before finally saying "I give up, good enough."

Legolas was much the same process, just starting with P3 "Bloodstone" to have a more reddish-brown cloak.  I did try to do a bit of two-brush blending, with limited success.

Shirts are next.  The concept art colors are very muted and difficult to distinguish.  I'm reading it as Legolas having an olive, and Elena having a bluish-gray.

At this point, the models are really diverging, while I thought they would be very similar color schemes.  Such is the way mini psainting goes...

For Elena's shirt, I mixed Citadel "Dawnstone" with P3 "Cygnar Blue Base" to get a nice blue-gray.  That served as a basecoat, and I added more Cygnar Blue Base to do shadows, and Citadel "Ulthuan Gray" to do highlights.  That wasn't enough contrast, so I did a final highlight of pure Ulthuan Gray.

The ribbing, I started with Citadel "Incubi Darkness," but it really bled together with the previous shading.  So, I did a stark edge highlight with Dawnstone to try and separate the regions.

The trim at the bottom was also originally painted with Incubi Darkness, but I decided to switch to Rhinox Hide for more contrast.  I highlighted with some of the browns on the palette from the cloaks, and I've lost track of exactly what I used.

To break up the colors, I wanted the belt to be bright.  I started with P3 "Rucksack Tan," (I think... the label has come off the pot), shaded with Agrax Earthshade, and highlighted with some P3 "Moldy Ochre."  I'm really not happy with how this turned out, but in terms of composition I think I made the right choice.

For Legolas, I did a base coat of P3 "Ordic Olive," and then mixed in some Citadel "Sotek Green" and "Screamer Pink" to create a highlight.  For a second highlight, I just added some Ulthuan Gray to the mix.

Edging was some Rucksack Tan and Moldy Ochre, again.

I'm not sure if Legolas is supposed to have bare arms, or if he dresses in layers.  I chose layers, and so the tiny bit of cream showing was done with Zandri Dust and Ushabti Bone.

At this point, I doubt anyone is still reading, and I really want to get these models done, so I'm going to wave my magic paintbrushes and get the models finished.  I'll come back with photos to talk about the basing.

And, through the magic of asynchronous communication, they're done.  I've started by applying a layer of Vallejo "Brown Earth" Earth Texture.  This is basically a paste that you can spread around the base to give it an earthy, muddy look.  It has enough adhesion that I can stick a couple of aquarium rocks into it as well.

Next up, the rocks get painted with Citadel "Mechanicus Standard Gray" and the whole base, including the rocks, gets a drybrush of Ushabti Bone.  I'm rushing a bit to get these models done, and I don't let the paste completely dry, which causes problems, but I fix them as best I can and move on.

Next, the bases get a generous wash of Agrax Earthshade, and then I paint the rims black.

As a last step, I glue some "Gamer's Grass" tufts onto the base, and then you get the final product from the first photos.

If you made it this far, let me know either in the comment section below or on facebook, if this was at all interesting.  I have a feeling that my next couple of blog posts are going to be more along the lines of "I painted a thing!"  If I do another detailed post on the painting process, it will focus on on particular area rather than the whole mini.