25 Jan 2007
By: Vincenti
Stronghold Basic Skills Bootcamp
Seeing as we get a lot of questions regarding some basic modeling activities, that we all know the answers to, Ive come up with a place new modelers can look at to learn the basic stuff. This is by no means a comprehensive guide, but it should educate new hobbyists about the techniques they need to know, and maybe get them interested in learning more.
Assembly
What tools do I need?
Modeling Clippers - X-Acto knife - modeling file - plastic glue - model super glue - Green Stuff or similar modeling putty
All items available at a hobby shop or Games Workshop.
How do I do it?
Bits - Using your clippers, carefully cut the needed pieces off the plastic sprue. Avoid clipping too close to the bit, as this could damage the piece you want to use.
Mold Lines On the pieces you clipped out, youll notice ridges of plastic running down the sides. These are mold lines, and should be removed for the sake of a good-looking model.
Take your X-Acto knife. Arrange it at a 45 degree angle to the mold line, angled away from you, then place it on the model and drag the blade towards you, down the line. When done correctly, this will scrape the line off the model without damaging it.
Mold lines can also be cleaned up and eliminated using a modeling file, but take care not to file parts of the model flat.
Once mold lines are cleaned off, youre ready to assemble your model. Go piece by piece, usually starting at the torso and working out. Using small beads of plastic glue, apply the glue and press corresponding pieces together. The glue will bond the plastic together, but the join will be weak until it fully cures.
For metal models or metal-plastic hybrids, use superglue rather than plastic glue for assembly.
When your model is fully assembled, all you have to do is put it on its base. Using small beads of plastic glue (some prefer superglue for this), apply it to the models feet and press onto base position. Let the model dry thoroughly so it has time to bond to the base.
Painting
What tools do I need?
Spray Primer (from hobby shop) Small Paintbrushes Model Paints - Paper Towel Small water container
Materials available at hobby shops or are household items.
How do I do it?
After your model is assembled and has fully dried, youre ready to paint.
You need to lay down a good basecoat to paint over. Youll use your Black (or White) Spray Primer for this.
In a well ventilated area (outside, open garage, etc.), arrange a bit of a spray booth an empty small box, stood on its side, in a clear area. Place models for priming in a row within the box. Once thats set, shake your primer can for about a full minute. You want the paint mixed up so it covers evenly. You can try a few test shots on the box.
Holding the can no closer than 1 foot (10-15 cm.) from the model, apply short burst of spray. Do it one angle of the model at a time, and be light so there is good coverage without build-up.
Once fully dry, your model is ready to be painted.
[The following summary of painting techniques is courtesy of Ghorgoth the Blind, with a little editing. - Vincenti]
Drybrushing
Drybrushing is a kind of 'rough and ready' form of highlighting. It works best over highly textured surfaces such as fur, chainmail, rocks, etc., and doesn't work as well over large flat areas. Here is basically how to do it.
1. Base coat your model in whatever the basic colour is - let's say your painting some human skin-tone, so you are using Dwarf Flesh.
2. Take a lighter, but similar colour (GW make their paints in 'groups', so that for each colour there is a family of similar - although lighter or darker - toned colours that you can use). In this case, it will be Elf Flesh.
3. Take a brush (preferably an older brush, as drybrushing really takes it out of the brush) and dip it into the Elf Flesh.
4. Wipe off the paint on some paper, or a tissue, or something, until only the faintest trace of paint is still coming off.
5. Lightly 'flick' the tips of the bristles over the detail of the area you wish to highlight. The paint should only be drawn off the brush onto the raised areas.
Inking
An ink is a very thin (like, water-thin) paint with very strong (although also very translucent) pigment. The theory is that when you 'wash' an area of a miniature with an ink, it rapidly pools in all of the recesses, giving you instant shading.
You may have mixed succes with inks - they tend to be quite shiny, and often the ink is much stronger than would be ideal. Layering is a bit slower, but also a bit better way of shading a model.
Here's how to do it:
1. Again, using the human skin-tone example above, paint the area with Dwarf Flesh.
2. Take some Flesh Wash.
3. I strongly advise that when dealing with inks you water them down somewhere in the ratio of 50:50. This will prevent them from being too dark, particularly if you are shading a colour as light as Dwarf Flesh.
4. Paint all over the area. The wash will coat everything, but will gather more strongly in the recesses, providing natural shading.
5. Wait for the wash to dry completely (go make a cup of coffee... mmmm... coffee...).
6. (You can skip this if you want) Drybrush the area with Dwarf Flesh. This will increase the definition of the shadows.
7. Drybrush (lightly) with Elf Flesh. This will give some highlighting as well.
These last two steps are not, strictly speaking, necessary: just the shading from the wash will add a lot of depth to your miniature, but with steps 6 and 7 you will effectively have what looks like four layers of highlighting (almost pure wash, Dwarf Flesh with thin amount of wash, just Dwarf Flesh (step 6), just Elf Flesh (step 7).
Layering
Layering is the best basic painting technique there is. For "Army Quality" painting, most surfaces will use 2-3 layers of progressively lighter colors. It has become the basis of painting an army.
1. Always ensure your paint is thinned. It should be a little thicker than the consistency of milk. This will mean that often you will need to put on multiple coats to achieve a good solid finish, but it's worth it for the decreased patchiness of the effect.
2. For your base coat, use a darker colour than you are intending to have as your main colour. For the skintone example above, perhaps use Dark Flesh, or Tanned Flesh.
3. Mix up a 50/50 mix of the base coat and the main colour (ie: 50/50 of Dark Flesh and Dwarf Flesh) and paint that everywhere except in the very deepest recesses.
4. Take just the main colour (Dwarf Flesh) and paint it everywhere except the recesses (you should be able to see a thin line of Step 3 around where you paint this layer).
5. Make up a 50/50 mix of Dwarf Flesh and Elf Flesh, and paint this over all of the raised areas.
6. Paint pure Elf Flesh on the very highest edges.
With this technique, it really helps to visualise it before you paint it. Picture in your mind exactly what it's going to look like when that layer is complete, and draw invisible mental lines on the miniature of where the paint is going to go - then it's just like colouring in.
You can go as nuts as you like with this. The mixing stages (Steps 3 and 5) aren't really necessary - they just make the transition smoother. Depending on the detail you want to go to, you can have
2 stages (base coat and simple highlight)
3 stages (dark base coat, main colour, simple highlight)
5 stages (those coats with blending in between)
and so forth.
Glazes
Here goes:
A glaze is a very thinned down coat of paint (much like an ink wash) except that its purpose is to tie the layered colours below together.
When you use the highlighting technique above, particularly if you cut out the mixing stages (ie: Steps 3 and 5), the layers can look a bit too contrasted, when what you are aiming for is smoothness.
In this case, you can use a glaze.
1. Highlight your mini as described in the layering instructions, above.
2. Take the main colour (Dwarf Flesh).
3. Thin it down an enormous amount. This should be really thin, as it needs to be very transparent and show all of the layers. It should look like dirty paint water.
4. Paint it all over the area you have highlighted. You should still be able to see all of the layers that you have painted, but they should all be 'Dwarf Flesherised', which will unify the colour, and make them all look like shades of the one tone. Apply a few glazes; one will not be very noticeable and more are needed to fully smooth transitions.
5. Reapply the final highlight (Elf Flesh) on the very very highest points.
Glazes can also be used to introduce a tone that is absent from your current highlighting. For instance, if highlighting up through Kommando Khaki, etc, a glaze of Desert Yellow will add some much needed warmth.
General tips
This is just some general stuff that I've found -
1. Always thin your paints down. A ton. This will give you far greater control over the paint, and when you start to try out some more advanced techniques, you will have much better success with thin paints.
2. Concentrate on just being neat. Layering is just like painting flat colours - you just have to paint progressively smaller areas, is all.
3. Always paint from the 'inside out'. That is, paint the skin first, then the clothes, then the armour, then the weapons. You will sometimes make a mess on the higher surfaces when trying to paint detail on the deeper surfaces, so best to do them first.
Fully painting a model is a bit too long to be explained here. Rest assured it isnt hard to find great painting tips and guides quickly, and the Games Workshop websites have a lot of step-by-step guides. Check some out: http://us.games-workshop.com/games/warhammer/ogrekingdoms/gettingstarted/paint_ogre.htm
Basing
What tools do I need?
PVA (white) glue or Wood Glue sand other choices include: Gravel, Static Grass, Modeling snow, slate, moss, etc.
Basing materials (sand, etc.) found outside work just as well.
How do I do it?
Put some PVA glue down on a palette of sorts, and mix it with a good amount of water to thin it down. Using an old (!) brush, apply the glue onto the whole top surface of the base. Use a smaller brush to get in crevices and between feet and such.
While the glue is wet, take the model and dunk it up to its feet in a container of sand a bag, cup, Tupperware container, whatever. Raise the model out and give it some good shakes and blow on it to get all the excess sand off. Set it aside to dry for awhile.
Once dry, youll want to seal the sand in so it doesnt break off while painting or playing. To do this, just take more PVA glue and REALLY water it down. Apply this mix over your layer of sand, and let it dry thoroughly. This prevents sand from being rubbed off. You could also use superglue for this step, but be careful not to get any on your model.
Paint Stripping
What tools do I need?
Simple Green Degreaser (available at Auto Shops)
For metal models Nail Polish Remover the Acetone will melt plastic models
How do I do it?
Paint Stripping is removing old paint from a model to start fresh.
For anything plastic, youll want to use Simple Green Auto Degreaser. You can buy this on the cheap at auto shops like AutoZone. This stuffs great its non-toxic, so you can just pour it down the drain when your done, it smells good (rather than some choking chemical), and works better than anything else.
Stripping paint is simple. Take a good-sized, sealable jar and fill it with Simple Green. Then, submerge whatever model you want to strip in it. Seal and set it aside for a few days. No, really.
Back already? Great. Take that model out, and run it under a slow, warm tap. While youre doing this, scrub at it with and old crappy toothbrush to scrape off any leftover paint. Wash out the model with water and set it out to dry for a while.
This thread is worthless without pictures