My Laughable Painting Attempts

[BanzaiCat]

Thought I'd start documenting where I'm at with painting some minis for my Shadows of Brimstone game.

Note that what you see here has taken a few minutes here, a few minutes there, over the last four weeks. Not all at once - that's crazy right now.

It all started with this - a bundle of Forbidden Fortress goodness sold at a very good price (this is the third of three Core sets for SoB):



Well, technically, with my trading earlier this year for the City of the Ancients and Swamps of Death core sets. Plus the Frontier Town expansion. And the Feudal Village expansion. And the Prospector character pack, and the Old West Allies pack, and some paint sets/washes, and brushes, and a few other odds and ends. Oh, and the Blasted Wastes expansion, too.



BW is supposed to be a hell of a great addition to SoB.

But wait, before you think I have acquisition issues, you should see some of the guys on the Shadows of Brimstone community group on FB.

But anyway.

Upon the advice of these fans, I decided to do one set at a time. It might take me months to get it all done, but that's okay. I decided to start with the Forbidden Fortress core set. Here's the assembly guide for its minis:



These slowly but surely came together:

















After a bit of research on storage solutions, I decided that the option of gluing a small (20mm-ish) magnet to the underside of the figures, and then using a basic cookie sheet to place them upon, would be the best one. And it works splendidly. That's the box in the lower right corner of the last picture, holding the 20mm magnets I ordered. I thought they may be too small but they work great.

[BanzaiCat]

The next step is priming. At least, according to an awesome YT video I found on painting minis. Honestly, there's so many of the bloody things out there saying "THIS is the best method!" that I just went with the first one, and this guy has a lot of great tips for beginners.

So, I mimicked his priming scheme, using a base coat of black and then putting a light dusting of white from up above. I think it came out very well.







So far, so good, anyway.

I just brought them inside yesterday:



And with a few odds and ends and very little table space, I just need to set up a paint bowl according to the video above (a plastic container like a sandwich container, a soaked, small stack of paper towels with the excess water drained out, and then parchment paper on top. Then, paint will be dabbed on top of that, and the moistness should help keep the paint from drying too quickly - especially if I'm slow, which I foresee.



I've not gotten to setting up the paint yet - will need an hour or two of uninterrupted time, and that's really going to be a challenge.

[Undercovergeek]

excellent - any paint is better than no paint

nice use of the zenithal there - the videos ive watched utilising it now uuse washes or contrast paints to help the zenithal do its work - otherwise youre just painting over your priming

[bbmike]

Looks like a good start. I recently acquired an unpunched copy of Battle Cry (the first one) and was surprised at how detailed the minis were. It's tempting to try to paint them but it's also easier to just use the blocks from Hold the Line ACW. 

[bob48]

That should keep you quiet occupied for a good while.

[Hethwill]

Good variety of figures !

Go forth and never look back ! We want to read those AARs and see pretty pics !

[GROGnadsUSA]

Hoi, as 'moi' barely elicited any slight 'chortle' from espying these, so, I am OWED further "laughworthy" prospects, or else ascribe yet another 'topic' of such! Good Day, sirrah!

[mcguire]

Missed a spot.

Yours helpfully,

Me

[Bison]

Nice start! Keep it simple.

[BanzaiCat]

Thanks, everyone.

I bought another set of paints (didn't think I had enough with just 20, wanted more variety and actual base greens and browns), paintbrush cleaner, and a paint set organizer to keep things neat. The organizer won't fit all my brushes but that's no big deal - it was super cheap and has lots of space. I also got a Citadel Miniatures handle for the 30mm figures. It won't fit the larger ones but I'll figure something out with that.

I just spent a handful of minutes this morning gluing 20mm magnets to the bottom of each figure, so that's all done. I'm hoping to get something started this weekend. I will update with pics if I can get to this.

[bayonetbrant]

GrogNads has a point - you haven't given anything to actually laugh at yet, ergo this thread title is false advertising

[BanzaiCat]

Just you wait

[Steelie]

BC, they sucketh not. You're gonna have to try harder to live up to the subject matter.   

[BanzaiCat]

Here we go...

Got a short break from everything to try my hand at this.

I'm starting with three larger figures (40mm I think), called 'Oni,' which are large demons from the base Forbidden Fortress set. I painted a base red coat on them and then, assembly-line style, painted another coat as they had plenty of time to dry (I think, anyway...prob about 15 minutes each).







I'm relatively happy with the results, though they seem splotchy. I don't know, I don't have much of a base of reference.

Do you mini painters out there ever do three layers of paint? Or maybe I should just leave it as is. I don't want to lay it on too thick.

[bob48]

There are many techniques for shading and highlighting and using acrylic inks, but although tips from painters are useful, there is really no substitute for experimentation and gaining experience.