Weathering with base paint and salting

Not much of an entry but rather this is a record of what I did with the structure to the SF Sohpie diorama.  I took some better picture of the structure.  This is what it looks like now, next step will be some very careful air brushing to emphasize the lighting effect.

This is what I started with.  By the time I finished it had got a few thick coat of paint and glue already.  Because it's just the base so it doesn't really matter though.  The rust is painted with a mix of Secret weapon wash with a lot of pigments.  Although most of this gone to waste because I haven't put enough salt on it before I apply the air brush.

The result is actually quite impressive.  This is the first time I use this technique and it turns out just fine.  I can always do some more careful weathering of course, but kind of regret that I haven't sprinkle on enough salt on it.  Also I should have done this before I did the rock slide so that I could try submerging it into warm water to remove the salt, instead I scrapped it off with a brush and carving knife.

Troy's Proxy (part 2) - Zombicide Kickstarter Exclusive survivor proxy miniature

Well, not that there's anything wrong with it, I am not gay. Having said that, I am very happy when painting this guy. Male muscle is so much easier than female bodies, especially for this tough guy with strong muscles. So with the dark and light spray painting method the contrast is really happening here.  When I hold him in my hand, for the very first time my eyes told me that I am holding something much bigger than the miniature: the higher contrast created the illusion of size.

By the way, it is very hard to look for quality and detailed miniature fitting for modern days (or post apocalyptic) 30 mm miniatures.  I think from all I had seen so far, tales of war has the best and most detailed men and women miniatures.  Frankly some of the face is a bit off , I'd put that down as artistic styles, but in general they are of outstanding quality and details.

http://www.taleofwar.com/shop/

"More zombies?"

One small regret is that I really should have gone all the way with the air brushing.  By that I mean using air brushing the skin and pants before starting brush work. My problem now is I had invested so much on Reaper's paint and I really don't want to invest yet again in another line of paint, being paints for spray paints.  Yes they say the paint is also good for air brush, but alcohol based paints are a lot easier to handle than water based ones.

He is very heavy because of his size

 Again I haven't done the final highlights to him, I figure that I will go through all of the zombies and survivors and go back to them.  I am using them all as game pieces anyway and interested to see how general gaming wear and tear does to these miniatures.  Also I need to learn how to spray paint protective varnish on them later on...  Metal miniature gives the good feeling of sturdy and weight when moving it around, but they also chips other metal miniature easily.  Without varnish I am guessing it will get damaged easily.

Got to be proud of the middle bit of that vest

Troy's Proxy (part 1) - Zombicide Kickstarter Exclusive survivor proxy miniature

The fast and easy way to paint is to use air brushing a lot.  First is to lay down a layer of shadows at spots that doesn't catch much light, like the inner fold of vest, area under the arms, in between the legs, neck, etc 

by the way, these are pictures taken with my mobile so they looks a bit off and the color isn't too rich.  Will have better pictures in the next post.

Nato Black

Then depending on whether I want to play with lighting, in this case no, air brush thin layers of white or light color.  Here I just used flat white.  I was again in a rush coz I am not feeling confident with my last paint job, so I stopped there.  What I could have done, is to air brush the base coat for them.  I think it will do that for the guy in suit as that's what the mini is all about, his suit.

Tough guys

 One thing that made me proud of myself is how I had done his skin.  From my collection of Vallejo Pigments I mixed black pigment with white pigments together to from a grey pigment.  Then I lay it down with a very thin skin paint.  While the paint is still wet, I applied another layer of pigments on it.  In hindsight I could have mix muddy brown with black to create the sense of dense hair at lower part of the head.

 What I had also down is I had and thin painted the skin areas too.  The light/shadow air brushing function as a guide and also the dark paint at the shaded area makes painting on deeper skin tone color easier.

Then I painted the vest, again that's something made me very proud of it. Thanks to the air brushing the highlights are already there.  So most of the painting was really to paint the shading area.  After that's done I mixed the paint with white and done the highlights.  I again used the pigment to give the vest more textures to make it looks like suede leather. I had painted the shot gun while I was paint the two girls. There's a gap between the wrist band and the arm, that's where they connect.  I'd fix that up after I connect the other arm.

**UPDATE! he is done! check it out! http://51-cent.blogspot.hk/2013/08/Troy-proxy2.html***

Vallejo Pigments
http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/en_US/pigments/family/19