by ravenclaw77
I picked up Descent 2nd edition last month and I've painted the base set miniatures, but am not totally satisfied with the results and I'm looking for absolute beginner painter help before I begin work on my expansion figures.Priming:
I was taught to always prime with black spray paint years ago. I have since determined that I far prefer white primer for the bolder colors and easier coverage. I also got away from spray primer because it left the models tacky, and now brush on Gesso, which adds a nice tooth and I get more even coverage without losing detail. I thin the Gesso just slightly, mostly by soaking the brush with water before loading the Gesso.
I've read that using too much causes it to lose its tooth, should I be applying enough coats to not see for example the red plastic of the master monsters? Is there a good way to know how much is 'enough'?
Paints:
Originally, I bought Apple Barrel because it's so cheap -- $.50 for 2 oz. I found the coverage was terrible, and switched to the twice as costly Folk Art $1.00 for 2 oz. Usually I buy these at the local WalMart, but I was at a Michael's craft store and in their acrylic paint aisle, they had a chart for what paint to use for what surface. For painting on plastics, they recommended Folk Art Multi-Surface, which is $1.69 per 2 oz.
Have people used FolkArt Multi-Surface, and is it better than regular Folk Art for plastics? Is it really worth getting the Testor's craft-paints, they're like $4 for 1/4 ounce and I'm on a fixed income.
Surface Tension Reducer:
As my regular brush-wetting water, I'm adding a small amount of dish soap with "3x every day grease fighting power". I figured the goal was to lower the surface tension as much as possible -- can I lower it too much? How would I know?
Correct Brush Loading technique:
I soak my brush in the water, then drag it across my palette to remove excess water. Then draw it through the paint, turn it over and drag it through the paint on the other side, loading the paint about half-way up the bristles, making sure not to get paint in the ferrule. Then I drag that across the palette on both sides to remove excess paint.
Is this the correct technique? Is it a matter of personal style or is there a better way?
Base-Coat:
I think I am actually too afraid of losing detail. I find it takes 3-5 coats to get good coverage, especially on master monsters. Maybe I'm using poor quality paint, or maybe I'm thinning too much, or maybe it's just supposed to take a few coats. I'm having inking issues (below) and maybe too thin of a base coat is partially to blame?
(I haven't gotten to the point where I feel ready for layering or blending yet, so I skip those steps for now.)
Inking:
24 hours or more after the base-coat is done, I apply an india-ink wash for added contrast. I've seen amazing results in online videos, but my washes ruin my figures completely. They lose all their brightness and become so dark that all the colors are hard to distinguish on the table-top. I painted a shadow dragon bright purple, but after applying a wash, the whole dragon looks nearly black. My ettins skin tone now looks nearly indistinguishable from their clothing, and their flesh looks ... dirty. There's rings around one of his legs, his belly, and around the indent of his spine. The club, his head, and his clothing came out fine, good even.
For an example of how much my colors darken, I painted Jain Fairwood's cloak in pantone red ( #ED2939 hex ) and it looked bright and bold, then when I inked it, I got the black in the design and that looks good, but the cloak itself now looks carmine ( #960018 hex )
Is this enough information to figure out what I'm doing wrong? I'm afraid to apply washes to my figures because it ruins them, but I really want to learn the technique because I see how it's supposed to look and I love it.
Basing:
I was told kitty litter and Elmer's glue makes a decent, low-cost base, and I tried it. The kitty litter looks too large for these models, and the glue doesn't seem to hold it very well either -- my table top gets kitty litter on it when we play. I have a bird and am going to try using some of his calcium gravel mix as it's much finer, like sand.
Sealing:
I use Future floor polish, or whatever it's called now, watered down 50/50. It definitely adds a glossy shine that a lot of people seem to dislike, but I don't mind the look. It definitely adds a hard 'shell' and feels like it will protect my figure very well.
Thanks everyone in advance, I know this is a long post and screams 'beginner'. I really am developing a passion for miniature painting and have a strong desire to learn and improve. I appreciate any help you can offer.