Miniature Painting
- Thread starter jfetters
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The Hinterworlds Rambler
SOC-14 5K
Get a can of a good primer. I use K-Mart "Fresh and Easy" Gray, Black, or White (about a 1.50 or so) even cheap, it produces a good flat basecoat. Get several cans. The basecoat sets a "tone". White makes good, nasa like ships, and black makes good "nasty" ships, by and large. Gray is good for both.
Are they metal? Prepainted already? IF they are in water based paints, strip them by soaking thme in a closed jar of Pine Sol or Turpentine/Paintstripper for oil based paint)
Enjoy the gruesome task of toothbrushing them to get the gunk off.
Stick them to a long flat stick by means of sticky foil duct tape, or even blobs of candle wax. If they have bases Glue em on and stick them to the stick.
I then basecoat them with the primer, LIGHTLY! and then pick out colors that I am going to use overall. Then color by color, I do all the details required in the appropriate color, working from Largest detail area to smallest.
Example: Fleet X has Dark Blue Hulls, with light blue and black and silver details. I paint the DB hulls first, then go on to lt blu, then black, then silver for the engines and such.
If done systematically like this, you end up with a fleet that looks cohesive.
(Next: Weathering, if any)
Paint... Hmm Paint... I use acrylics. I have a huge case of all kinds of model paints, but have recently discovered that you get just as good results from regular acrylics in big tubes. They are easier to customize and mix, and a lot cheaper! I use testors-style metallics for metallic bits. These are usually quite cheap ant K-mart in the toy section.
Red paint will always be expensive. WArhammer Red paint is particulary vivid. For gold, I base coat first in red, then apply the metal paint. For silver, I use blue. Variations on these spit coats can produce realistic Titanium (drop some orange into silver, or base coat with orange.) and may other metals.
Brass = black base, gold top
Bronze = dark red/brown base, gold topcoat
Are they metal? Prepainted already? IF they are in water based paints, strip them by soaking thme in a closed jar of Pine Sol or Turpentine/Paintstripper for oil based paint)
Enjoy the gruesome task of toothbrushing them to get the gunk off.
Stick them to a long flat stick by means of sticky foil duct tape, or even blobs of candle wax. If they have bases Glue em on and stick them to the stick.
I then basecoat them with the primer, LIGHTLY! and then pick out colors that I am going to use overall. Then color by color, I do all the details required in the appropriate color, working from Largest detail area to smallest.
Example: Fleet X has Dark Blue Hulls, with light blue and black and silver details. I paint the DB hulls first, then go on to lt blu, then black, then silver for the engines and such.
If done systematically like this, you end up with a fleet that looks cohesive.
(Next: Weathering, if any)
Paint... Hmm Paint... I use acrylics. I have a huge case of all kinds of model paints, but have recently discovered that you get just as good results from regular acrylics in big tubes. They are easier to customize and mix, and a lot cheaper! I use testors-style metallics for metallic bits. These are usually quite cheap ant K-mart in the toy section.
Red paint will always be expensive. WArhammer Red paint is particulary vivid. For gold, I base coat first in red, then apply the metal paint. For silver, I use blue. Variations on these spit coats can produce realistic Titanium (drop some orange into silver, or base coat with orange.) and may other metals.
Brass = black base, gold top
Bronze = dark red/brown base, gold topcoat
There are a number of websites with good suggestions/guidelines/tutorials on painting. Most have to deal with figure miniature painting, but you can take many of the ideas and apply them to ships.
Some that you should visit are:
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Some that you should visit are:
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- Reaper Miniatures</font>
The Hinterworlds Rambler
SOC-14 5K
Try Devcon "Two Ton epoxy" on the ship to stand merge. Also suggest drilling out the holes a bit more where the stand goes in.
trader jim
SOC-14 1K
Hi - guys
I read this thread and you all hit on a GREAT idea!! This thread should become PERMANATE!
There should be a forum/board devoted to painting
Minatures that can be used in traveller. there should be a list of painting Web Sites..Folks who
paint a lot can offer their "tips and advice"
I think that this could help us all..especialy
ME. maybe we could photograph and post our work on this site?
I read this thread and you all hit on a GREAT idea!! This thread should become PERMANATE!
There should be a forum/board devoted to painting
Minatures that can be used in traveller. there should be a list of painting Web Sites..Folks who
paint a lot can offer their "tips and advice"
I think that this could help us all..especialy
ME. maybe we could photograph and post our work on this site?
The Hinterworlds Rambler
SOC-14 5K
Yes, but for best results, make sure the edges that are to be glued together are Relatively free of Oxidized Lead Surface.
Scrape off the dark lead "skin" with a dull xacto blade. Not so much to mess up any seams or fits, but just enough to "silver it up" An emory board would work even better.
The most common problem is over application. The idea is to have enough to exactly fill the void between parts. I normally use:
A coffee straw
or robust sort of toothpick
(not the flat kind)
or Wooden Match
or a Q-tip
to apply epoxy with. they are disposable. The Q-tip, (with or without the fuzz) is probably best for this. Medical Culture Swabs, even better. Equally important to judging amounts of epoxy is application control.
YOu want a 50/50 mix of elements A and B. the wrong mix can cause it to never cure, and also be really nasty and sticky, or it can cure but will be a brittle hold, and will break. You dont need to be micro exact, +/- 5-10% should be ok.
When setting let gravity do the work. Let a little part sit on a big part, rather than taping them up. try to set them in as close the final position as possible, on a nice level surface.
During part of the curing process, the epoxy can drip as its chemistry changes. This drip can happen so slow , you'll see it the next morning.
2- Ton should set to handle in 30 minutes, and ok to paint in 24 hours. Best Bet is to let it sit for 24 hours.
DONT:
Try to wipe off a glob if it gets on the ship. best bet is to wait for it to set and sand or cut it off. On the first day after curing, it should chip off easy. If you try to wipe it off beforehand, the epoxy will pull fibers from wahtever kind of cloth you are using and get nas-T.
DONT:
Use epoxy over a year old, it will never cure. It will be yellow, sticky, and never loose the epoxy smell.
DONT:
use the epoxy you have mixed when it starts to get sort of stiff and tacky, the bond will be weak.
If you want an easier go, I recommend Pacer "Zap-A-Gap" CA+, in the flourescent Green tube. This is a fast acting, gap filling, superglue that is easy to control, and incredibly versatile. The good thing about it is that it can be cracked off easier than epoxy if you want to repaingt or change the model in the future. The other benefit is that it sets in 30 seconds, and Is much easier to control than off the shelf superglue. You can get in online or at hobby stores.
The other recommendation is try stuff out. Both methods can be redone with no real trouble, but better overall results can be had with better control over the application of the glue. There is a small practice curve to application, but when you get good at it, you can really see it.
Scrape off the dark lead "skin" with a dull xacto blade. Not so much to mess up any seams or fits, but just enough to "silver it up" An emory board would work even better.
The most common problem is over application. The idea is to have enough to exactly fill the void between parts. I normally use:
A coffee straw
or robust sort of toothpick
(not the flat kind)
or Wooden Match
or a Q-tip
to apply epoxy with. they are disposable. The Q-tip, (with or without the fuzz) is probably best for this. Medical Culture Swabs, even better. Equally important to judging amounts of epoxy is application control.
YOu want a 50/50 mix of elements A and B. the wrong mix can cause it to never cure, and also be really nasty and sticky, or it can cure but will be a brittle hold, and will break. You dont need to be micro exact, +/- 5-10% should be ok.
When setting let gravity do the work. Let a little part sit on a big part, rather than taping them up. try to set them in as close the final position as possible, on a nice level surface.
During part of the curing process, the epoxy can drip as its chemistry changes. This drip can happen so slow , you'll see it the next morning.
2- Ton should set to handle in 30 minutes, and ok to paint in 24 hours. Best Bet is to let it sit for 24 hours.
DONT:
Try to wipe off a glob if it gets on the ship. best bet is to wait for it to set and sand or cut it off. On the first day after curing, it should chip off easy. If you try to wipe it off beforehand, the epoxy will pull fibers from wahtever kind of cloth you are using and get nas-T.
DONT:
Use epoxy over a year old, it will never cure. It will be yellow, sticky, and never loose the epoxy smell.
DONT:
use the epoxy you have mixed when it starts to get sort of stiff and tacky, the bond will be weak.
If you want an easier go, I recommend Pacer "Zap-A-Gap" CA+, in the flourescent Green tube. This is a fast acting, gap filling, superglue that is easy to control, and incredibly versatile. The good thing about it is that it can be cracked off easier than epoxy if you want to repaingt or change the model in the future. The other benefit is that it sets in 30 seconds, and Is much easier to control than off the shelf superglue. You can get in online or at hobby stores.
The other recommendation is try stuff out. Both methods can be redone with no real trouble, but better overall results can be had with better control over the application of the glue. There is a small practice curve to application, but when you get good at it, you can really see it.
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