On My Painting Table - Wizard Repaint (update)

I have been working on this wizard some more, and I am happy with the progress. I have removed some (not all) of the shine from his robes. I created a new paint additive, using a mix of matt medium and flow improver, and used this to make a dark purple wash, which I applied to the robes. I also used this new creation and made a black wash, which seems to perform a lot like GW's Badab Black, but I need to test it some more, before I can say, it is the same sort of thing. You can see this black wash on the wizard's hand, the one which is hold the staff. It looks like the old fashioned "Black lining", that used to be painted on minis, back in the 90s. I also created a new flesh tone, quite by accident, but I think I like it more than the "official" flesh colours produced by GW. Again, I will need to experiment some more, and see if I like it.

The next step is to clean up the base, as well as apply some actual basing material to it.

Here are the photos.

Tools of the Trade - Introduction

All jobs require tools. And for our hobby of painting miniature men, we have very specific tools. The obvious ones, are paints and paint brushes, but there are other tools as well. Everyone has their favourites, and not everyone uses the same kind of tools. I have been sourcing and collecting useful items (tools) for my painting table, since I started this hobby. I now have a very comfortable set-up, and I believe having such a comfortable set-up, makes this hobby more enjoyable. There is nothing more frustrating than not have the right tool for the job. I would like to start a series called "Tools of the Trade" on my blog, which looks at all the tools and items I have accumulated over the years that helps me with my hobby. I am not saying that everyone needs to go out and purchase these items, but it may be useful for people to see what I have and what I use.

A very important rule that I follow, is to try to acquire my tools as cheaply as possible, while still maintaining a high quality item. I grew up with a father who was a cabinet maker, and I used to watch him work. I quickly learned that there is no substitute for a good quality tool, so I try to avoid purchasing sub-standard tools. Having said that, I still like to source them as cheap as possible.

The types of tools I plan on covering in this series are; Paint Brushes, Paint Brush Cleaners, Paint Additives, Wet Palette, Dry Palette, Wash Tray, Water Containers, Model Scrapper, Exacto Knife, Medical Scalpels, Dental Picks, Model/Jewellers files, Clippers, Scissors, Pliers, Rulers, Cutting Matts, a Variety of Storage Containers, Drying Racks, Paint Racks, Lighting and more...

On My Painting Table - Wizard Repaint

After moving my painting table to my room, it has been a LOT easier to just pickup some painting time, between being a father to my children (and being a grown-up in general). I find that I paint something, then leave it, and go and do grown-up stuff, like cook, clean, wash, mentor, tidy, organise, fix, etc..and then give myself a 15 minute break to go back and paint some more. I find that this works really well, except the fact that my 15 minutes usually turns out to be about 30 minutes.

Here is a photo of what I have been painting.

This is a wizard that was in my lead pile. It has been a LONG time, since I painted a wizard, so I simply started painting over him. I didn't bother stripping him back to bare metal. I was just keen to start painting. I used purple ink (amongst other paints), and it has left a shiny area in some of the recesses. I will need to go back to fix this up. Just in case you were wondering he is not finished yet.

On my Painting Table - Hobgoblins

I have returned to painting these hobgoblins, and I am making progress on their skin, and the highlights of their robes. I am happy with most of the progress, but I did do some silly things, which I am not happy about. I drybrushed over some of my highlights, which was really sloppy and crude, which I now need to fix.

The weapons are not finished (or not even started), and I need to base them.

New (Temporary) Painting Table

I thought long and hard, whether to set up my painting table in a new part of the house, or whether I would wait for the leaking roof to be fixed, and then resume painting again. I finally decided that I couldn't wait any longer, so I measured up my old painting table, with the water damaged top. I took those measurements to my bedroom, and after moving some stuff around, I SQUEEZED the old painting table into its new (temporary) home.

It is not perfect, and it is a tight fit, but it works for now. At least I can get some much needed painting done. I will take photos of it when i put my paints, brushes and other tools back into place.

Water Damage

My hobby table has been damaged by a leaking roof. After a bad storm, the roof over my hobby room, let in a lot of (unwanted) rain. The rain poured all over my painting table, via a downlight. The vintage (1950s) wooden table was completely soaked, and table top is ruined. I really liked that table, I still remember when and where I purchased it from, back in 1997. All the papers, sticker sheets and labels on the table, were ruined (luckily my painting dairy was in a different area, and was not damaged). My paints, paintbrushes, tools and minis did get wet, but were salvaged (mostly). A few minis had their bases ruined, and some labels on my paint bottles are a little crinkled or torn, but this was minor damage.

Anyway, the roof is currently being looked at by our insurance company, and is still not repaired. It has been about 4 weeks now. The quote I received was AUD$8000 (about USD$8000) to replace the entire roof. Which at the moment I simply cannot afford. So I have packed everything up, and stored them a couple of large boxes/crates, and I am catching the leaking water in a bucket.

Here are some photos.

Here is the bucket catching all the leaking water.

Here is what my painting table did look like.

My Ork skin formula

I am sharing my ork skn paint formula. I personally don't like bright green skin on my orks or orcs, so I try and paint them a little darker and a little less green. How do I make green, less green. It's sile, I mix in some brown.

Painting the Ork skin 1. Undercoat black. 2. Mix Flat Earth (VMC)  and Scorpion Green (GW), at about a 4:1 ratio, and paint 2-3 thin layers. 3. Mix some Filthy Brown (VMC) into the above mix, and paint the raised areas if the Ork skin, like the muscles in the arms. 4. Add a small amount of White to the mix, and lightly over-brush the skin. 5. Apply a few wash layers of Devlan Mud and Badab Black, to the skin area. 6. Finally lightly drybrush some Foundation Knarloc Green (GW) over the skin, and your done.