LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!

One of my favorite YouTube channels is called Tabletop Minions.  The host of the channel is Adam Loper, who goes by the handle "Atom Smasher" or "Uncle Atom".  He's a lot like me - a handsome, bespectacled, bearded gamer in his 40s, with a family and other real-life obligations, who finds relaxation in this hobby.

I like the channel because Atom is very sensible, down-to-earth and laid back.  He has a good tone and doesn't feel the need to annoy viewers by acting like an ass.  Most of his vlogs focus on ways that the common gamer can get more enjoyment out of this hobby.

One of the videos that really grabbed me was the one on light boxes.  As you may have seen in my previous posts, I have a lightbox (called the "LimoStudio") that I am not really satisfied with.  Atom mentioned a product called the Foldio (by a Korean company called OrangeMonkie).  This nifty little invention is a foldable light box that's small enough to stow in your bag if you want to take pictures on the go.  It's a good size for a 5-man squad of miniatures (or more if you set them up properly).  It is too small for anything bigger than a Rhino transport, but for smaller subjects it is fantastic.

It sort of reminds me of a takeout box in the way it assembles:

And it comes in two models: One with a single LED sttrip and another with two (additional LED strips sold separately if you wish to upgrade).  I paid $60 plus shipping for mine on eBay.

The strips are powered by a 9-volt battery each, and because LEDs use so little power, I expect that battery life will not be an issue (especially as you disconnect them when not actively using the box).

My Foldio arrived today and I wasted no time unpacking it and getting it ready to use!  Here is the first shot, taken with the single LED strip before I installed the second.  It's a bit off-center but I think you can see how much better my Deathwing squad looks in comparison to the banner at the top of the page (which was taken in my LimoStudio):

I got a few shots of some of my Wolf Guard Terminators from my Space Wolves army.  All of the shots were taken with my HTC One M7 cell phone camera, mostly on "torch flash" which is a constant frontal illumination from the phone's flash.

I tried the camera in standard flash mode to see if it improved the quality of the shot, but I am not certain.  Here are the same models with torch flash and with standard flash:

 

Either way, this little light box has a lot of potential!  It comes with three different backdrops (black, grey and white) and of course you can print out different backdrops on sites devoted to miniature photography.

The next step for me will be to acquire a decent digital camera.  I'm not looking for an expensive model - something under $200 USD, the ability to specify white balance is a must, and it needs to be as portable as the Foldio (since aside from miniature photography, I want to be able to keep it in my pocket for regular photos too!).  More on that in an upcoming post.

Now that I have a good light box, I expect to add more photos to this blog, which has been, up to now, more text-heavy and lean on the pics.  Thanks, as always, for reading!

REVIEW: DICK BLICK ART MATERIALS

It may seem unusual for me to review a business, rather than a product, but this is the kind of GOOD news that hobbyists and serious painters need to hear.

A few days ago, discouraged with the inferior quality of the "new" line of Citadel brushes and at the end of my rope trying to find good Kolinsky brushes locally, I broke down and ordered some brushes online.  I have always been hesitant to do this, as I do not have the opportunity to examine a brush to make sure they have (and keep) a good point.  I have rejected Kolinsky brushes by even the best manufacturers in the past, because I know that any hand-made product might have the occasional errant bristle.  The "finest sable" brushes you usually find in a gaming store have not measured up - Reaper allegedly uses Kolinsky in their Master Series brushes, but every single one I've bought has needed to be replaced within a few months.

How do you test a brush, you ask?  The fellows at Genessis Models demonstrate how in their YouTube review of W&N Series 7 Brushes.  Take a moment to view the video to get an idea of what you're looking for.  A brush that won't hold a point after just being dipped in water and run over the back of your hand, will not hold a point when dipped in paint and run along your model.

Since I can't do that with a brush I'm buying by mail, I have until now been reluctant to order brushes online.  But I remembered an article I read at Hand Cannon Online when I started getting serious about painting and using good brushes, and Ghool had mentioned that he has had good experiences with Dick Blick Art Materials.  For those who haven't heard of Ghool, he is hands-down one of the best painters of Warmachine and Hordes miniatures and I made his acquaintance on the Privateer Press forums years ago.  He gave me some stellar advice on what to use for best results, and I'm passing this along to you.

It's difficult to find quality Kolinsky brushes in the United States, for a couple of related reasons.  First is the nature of the Kolinsky sable: It is made from the tail whiskers of the Siberian weasel (not an actual "Sable" per se).  You can imagine that this is a rare animal, and even then, surely not all of the bristles are up to the standards of quality for a premium brush.

Because these brushes are made with natural hair from such a rare animal, import falls under the regulation of the US Fish & Wildlife Service.  Now, I don't expect that they have to kill these weasels just to harvest the tail hairs, but with all of the political friction between the USA and Russia, there has been a partial embargo on importing products made with these bristles.

But I digress.  The main purpose of this article was to let you know about my experience with Blick.  I ordered three brushes - a Windsor & Newton Series 7 Miniature brush in #1, and Raphael 8404 brushes in #1 and #2.  Each of the brushes was around $15 USD, which is reasonable and far less than what I paid for my W&N #0 and #00 in an art store,  Total with shipping was about $55.

When I placed the order, I noted that I am very particular about my brushes and asked them to select only pristine specimens and to please pack them carefully.  They took my request very seriously, and noted these instructions on the packing slip.

For three brushes, I was expecting a package about the size of a box of spaghetti - maybe 2"x4"x9" or so.  What I got was a much larger box - something large enough to ship a couple reams of printer paper!  Inside the box were several of those little air cushions, which surrounded a taped bundle of large bubble wrap.  Inside that was a cardboard sleeve, which had been taped around a plastic-wrapped bundle containing my three brushes.  All of them had snugly-fitting point protectors, and as expected the W&N brush came in its customary tube.  So these brushes were very well protected from the rigors of shipping and the sometimes rough handling that may occur at the hands of carriers who lack our dedication to precision and finesse.

I have never used a Raphael brush before, so I was somewhat surprised to discover that the bristles had been packed in some kind of preservative or protectant.  It was almost like they had been pointed with hair gel.  I've seen that in other brushes before (which makes it difficult to test them in a store) but it's not a big deal.  It rinses off easily in water.

I gave each of the three brushes the point test from the aforementioned video.  Both of the #1 brushes passed with flying colors.  You know a brush is good when simply dipping it in water brings it back to a nice, sharp point after use!  The Raphael #2, however, did not fare quite so well.  Close examination showed that a couple of the bristles were sticking straight out to the side of the tip.

This is not a major issue, since the #2 is intended for applying base coats to an already primed miniature.  But when you are paying $15 for a brush you have every right to expect quality - and if a couple of bristles are out of point, the entire brush will lose its ability to hold a point sooner than you should expect.  I gave Blick a call and Julia, the customer service representative, was very helpful and accommodating.  I explained my concern and she promised to ship out a replacement right away.  She advised me to discard or donate the defective brush when the replacement arrives.  Other painters who buy Kolinsky brushes from Blick have told me about this no-hassle, no-return-required policy, and it's one of the reasons I chose to purchase from them.

I like not having to go to the trouble of packing up an item, going down to the post office and then waiting for a merchant to receive the return before shipping the replacement.  I like being able to articulate a valid concern and being treated like a serious artist and not like someone who's trying to get something for nothing.  Blick is a professional art supply company that treats their customers like professional artists, and for that reason they have my continued patronage and my highest recommendation.

If you want the best results, it helps to use the best tools - and Dick Blick is the best place to get them!

NOTE: I do not recommend using Kolinsky brushes for the following: Priming (especially using my preferred Acrylic-Polyurethane Surface Primer), Metallics (which will rapidly ruin any brush), ink washes and glazes (especially Army Painter Quick Tones), and of course varnish or other topcoat (even acrylic).  All of these substances contain materials which can shorten the lifespan of a brush and impair its ability to hold a point.  Get yourself some good but inexpensive synthetic brushes at your local Michael's or your FLGS (friendly local game store) for those applications.

REVIEW: CITADEL'S NEW BRUSH LINE

White Dwarf magazine issue #66 (which I was sadly unable to obtain) had a spread on the new line of brushes that Citadel was releasing.  Having seen them for myself, I thought I'd let you know what they're all about.

Apparently, they have different types of brushes for different purposes - not only the shape of the tip, but also the materials from which the bristles are made.  The line includes Layer, Base, Shade, Glaze, and Dry brushes among a few other specialty brushes like an enormous Terrain brush.

These brushes arrived at my FLGS today and I looked over each of them carefully before making a purchase.
The much-touted Artificer brush was either poorly packed or not as good as they say - because it had one wild stray bristle, making it useless for the fine detail it's meant for.
Most of the other brushes didn't keep a good point, either - in the end, the only kinds that were satisfactory to me were the S Base, M Base and M Glaze brushes.  I looked through so many of the M Layer brushes trying to find one with a good point, I eventually realized that even if I did, they were obviously bad brushes all around.

The bristles seem like a natural bristle but obviously not quality sable.  Honestly, they seem like the same old brushes as last go-round, only with new names and new handles.

I welcome you to check them out for yourself and see if they are satisfactory to your purposes, but aside from the three brushes I mentioned above, none were good enough to merit a purchase.  As others have mentioned, for the price you are better off with Winsor & Newton, or perhaps Rosemary & Co. for good sable brushes.

The quest to find satisfactory sable brushes locally continues.

E Tenebrae Lux Painting Challenge

I am a member of The Bolter & Chainsword forum, which is a gathering place for those of us who paint or play the armies of Humanity in Warhammer: 40,000.  Basically, this encompasses Adeptus Astartes (Space Marines), Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard), Adeptas Sororitas (Sisters of Battle), and the various adjunct organizations such as the Adeptus Mechanicus, Inquisition, and Imperial Agents.  There are also discussion boards there for players and painters of Chaos Space Marines, Chaos Daemons, and Traitor Guard.

Every year, the B&C undertakes a forum-wide painting challenge called E Tenebrae Lux (Latin for "Light From Shadow").  It's not a painting competition in the traditional sense - there is no judging or scoring and no formal prizes are awarded (except bragging rights).  Instead, it is designed as a way to motivate members to get some of those miniatures out of the boxes and off the shelves, and painted for play or display.  Anyone who's been in this hobby for even the briefest time can attest that we tend to accumulate a backlog of projects that often go unfinished.  ETL is the fire that's lit under our butts to get it done!

The contest runs from May 1st to August 1st this year.  Participants make a formal "Vow" before their peers on the forum, to complete a specified number of units of their choice during this time period.  When the vow is entered, the models can be assembled and primed but must be unpainted.  Painting may begin after the vow is made.  If a vow is completed, the points value of the models is recorded and awarded to the forum sub-section that the painter is representing (based on the faction that is being painted).  A participant must select a specific faction and can only make vows for/from that faction.

The sub-forum that has the most points at the end of the challenge is awarded the title "Primus Inter Pares" (First Among Equals) for the year, and other recognition is granted to the member from each faction who completed the most points (Faction Champion) and other extraordinary vows.

Participants may make up to five total vows, each of no more than 3,000 points total.  However, there is one catch:  You only receive credit if all of your vows are completed.  This retains emphasis on completion rather than over-reaching, and helps to keep painters focused on doing their best work rather than rushing for the sake of points.

The goal is to get one's army painted, and it could not come at a better time for me!  Having recently embarked upon a Dark Angels army, I was astonished to discover that I have accumulated some 3,500 points of miniatures over the last two months.  Points-wise, I've painted approximately 20% of that total already.  For my first ETL vow, I will be painting an 8-man Deathwing Knights squad and a 5-man Deathwing Command squad, for a total of just over 700 points.

As I'm currently taking the summer off from work, I expect that I should be done with this vow within 3 weeks, at most.  If I complete this vow before the deadline, my next vow will be a full Ravenwing Attack Squadron (six bikes, Attack Bike and Land Speeder) and my custom-built Interrogator-Chaplain on a bike.

Posting about the ETL here has a two-fold purpose: First, it helps to hold me accountable for my progress and results, but also I hope that it motivates some of you to either participate in the ETL yourself (B&C is a great place for 40K hobbyists!) or simply to just pull out some models, pick up a brush and paint some of the things that have been sitting around for far too long!

I look forward to sharing my progress on these vows with you (and hopefully to showcase my custom Ravenwing characters such as the aforementioned Chaplain, a biker Librarian, and Master Sammael on his Land Speeder, Sableclaw!

Tactical Squad finished

I thought I had posted pics of these guys before but it seems I overlooked it.  I did manage to finish up the first of two planned tactical squads, but with the Ex Tenebrae Lux (ETL) painting competition coming up on the Bolter & Chainsword forums, I put the second squad on the back burner to assemble and prime as much as possible before the 3-month event begins on May 1st.

I am not satisfied with the picture - the painting results came out nice but didn't photograph well, and for some reason it was hard to white-balance it properly.    Everyone got some nice edge highlighting and I'd say the final result was a high tabletop standard.

Stay tuned as I begin painting more units starting next week - I have prepared a Librarian biker, an Interrogator-Chaplain biker, the DV Ravenwing Squadron (which will become part of a full-strength Ravenwing Assault Squadron with 3 more bikes, an attack bike, and a speeder), Sammael on Sableclaw, and a Deathwing Command Squad.

HeadHunter's Thinner Recipe

(Updated: 05/14/2015)

We've talked in the past about the necessity of thinning your paints.  It's of utmost importance to control the consistency and flow of your paint to achieve the best results.  The main questions are "what do I use?" and "How thin do they have to be?"

Consistency is sometimes a little arbitrary and often difficult to explain.  General rules of thumb are a 1-to-1 ratio of thinner to paint (be sure to do this on a palette!) or the consistency of milk.  It's more important to describe it in terms of how it flows from your brush and onto the miniature.  This is something that comes from experience and practice.  What you want is paint that flows freely from the bristles without needing to drag or scrub the brush onto the surface.  In that case, your paint is not thin enough.  On the other hand, if the paint pools off your brush and flows uncontrolled onto the model, ruining your work, it's clear that your paint is too thin!  It's a fine line between control and easy application - but when you get that consistency right, painting becomes easier and looks better.

What are the benefits of proper consistency?  Most importantly, it allows you to get pigment onto the miniature without obscuring the fine detail of the model.  A few thin coats will accomplish this better than one thick coat.  Also, when your paint flows nicely from the brush, you will not get the streaky surface that shows brush strokes and ruins the illusion of authenticity.  It will also allow you the maximum level of control, permitting greater detail, finer lines, better highlights and layering, and a more professional finished product overall.

So, now we have talked generally about "how much" you should thin your paints, and why it's important to achieve the proper consistency.  But what should you use?

There are a lot of products available, and much of it is up to individual preference and what else you might be looking for in your paint.  We're going to confine our discussion to acrylic paints (because in my opinion, enamels are for amateurs who don't know any better or true professionals who don't need my guidance - there is no middle ground) and the products that work with acrylics.

There are various supplemental products one might add to paint to change how the paint performs.  Chiefly among these, let's talk a little about flow improvers and drying retarders, as these are the two things you're most likely to want to change about off-the-shelf paints.

Flow aids work by increasing flow and absorption and decreasing film tension and friction in your paint.  In layman's terms, that means the paint leaves your brush more easily (allowing greater control over application) and gets into all the nooks and crannies of the surface you're painting on.  In a previous article, we talked about the self-leveling characteristics of AV Surface Primer and Citadel shades.  Flow improver basically helps to impart this characteristic to your regular paints, allowing you to achieve more uniform coverage and thinner coats.  It also slightly slows the drying time of the paint.  However, slower drying time is not the main benefit of the product, and there is in fact a better product made specifically for that purpose.

Drying retarders (sometimes called slow-dry medium) increase the working time of the paint, allowing you more time to blend layers as well as keeping paint from drying on the brush as quickly.  This helps you achieve more natural transition between layers, more natural shading and highlights, and incidentally gives you more time to fix those occasional mistakes that require another clean, damp brush to remove paint unintentionally applied where you don't want it!

There are a variety of vendors that sell these products.  Hobby paint manufacturers like Reaper and Vallejo sell small bottles of these mediums, but for best value and performance, try a store that sells art supplies and look for products by Liquitex, or Winsor&Newton (yes, the company that makes those great Series 7 brushes!)  Instead of paying $3-4 dollars for a half-ounce of the stuff from a hobby line, you can get 4 ounces of professional artist-grade product for about $10.  You end up paying 25-30% as much by volume, and a 4-ounce bottle of each will last you a long time.  We will see why in a minute.

The aforementioned products do not, in and of themselves, work directly as thinners.  Dilution is recommended on the product labels.  Flow aids are recommended for use at a 10% ratio, and retarders at no more than 5% of volume.  This is because neither product contains a binding medium.

So let's get back to talking about what you might use directly to thin your paints.  For a long time, I used the AV acrylic thinner, a milky-white fluid that works fairly well for the purpose. I do not, however, recommend using it with metallic paints and certainly not for washes or shades because it is not transparent when applied (even if it dries that way in normal non-metallic opaque colors).

A better medium to use for thinning paints is Citadel's Lahmian Medium.  This is a transparent liquid that is great not only for thinning paints, but also for turning them into washes or shades when used in a greater proportion.

However, both products suffer from the same expense issue as the other mediums in a hobby line - and if you're aiming for a 1-to-1 ratio with paint, you'd eventually go through a dropper bottle of it for each dropper bottle of paint you own.  Do you really want to double the cost you're already paying for paint?

Some people have used isopropyl alcohol to thin acrylic paints.  I used to do this long ago and I do not recommend it!  Unless you are using something like Vallejo's Liquid Metal series or other alcohol-based acrylics (which require different care and techniques), avoid using alcohol to thin acrylic hobby paint.  It works by breaking down the binding medium of the paint, which reduces adhesion, durability, and can ultimately ruin your paint.

The least expensive, most common and ultimately best recommended product to use for thinning acrylic paints is good old water.  Tap water will do, but if you can, I recommend distilled water.  It is free from all of the minerals, trace chemicals and sediment that you may find in your tap water and will not cause your paint to react in unforeseen ways.

Into the water, you will add other fluid mediums as desired, mixing well.  I have a large dropper bottle into which I mix the following recipe:

1 part drying retarder
2 parts flow improver
1 part Lahmian Medium
6-10 parts water

"But HeadHunter!" you exclaim, "You said earlier that you should use no more than 5% retarder and 10% flow aid!  That formula uses twice as much as the recommended amounts on the label!"
Well, that's true - but that's because of our target 1-to-1 ratio of thinner to paint.  Only half of the fluid, of course, is thinner.  The other half is the paint you are trying to thin - so 10-20% in the thinner bottle is actually 5-10% total in the thinned paint.  Hopefully that clarifies the confusion.

I keep this bottle on hand to thin all my paints to the desired consistency.  Until you have sufficient experience, I recommend transferring paint to a palette and thinning it there - but some more experienced painters will thin their paint right in the bottle or pot, once they can eyeball it for the proper consistency (or know what it should sound like when shaken).

I use a Citadel Palette Pad - it's basically the size of a half-sheet of paper and contains 20 sheets of stiff, non-absorbent paper with a glossy finish (you could use both sides if one gets too covered with paint from a series of projects).  Transfer a few brush loads of the color you'll be using onto the palette (be careful not to get paint up inside the ferrule!) and then add one small drop of thinner a bit off to the side - not directly onto the paint!  Use your brush to draw a bit of the thinner into the pool of paint and mix it around.  Draw your brush away from the paint onto a clean spot to draw off excess paint and point your brush.  You should now have a moist brush loaded with enough smooth-flowing paint to last a minute or two.  No more dipping the brush in the pot every few seconds!

Basically, this recipe costs me less than $20 for about 3 pints worth of thinner - enough to last you a very long time indeed.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Getting Your Army Finished!

If you've been playing tabletop miniatures games for any length of time, you surely have a backlog.  As user "Spaced Hulk" said on the Bolter & Chainsword forums:

Indeed. It's actually the 31st Law of the Lion: "Thou shalt buy more than you build, and build more than thou paint. So it is, and so it shall ever be, until the Sword is reforged."

I've only been doing Dark Angels for a month now - but according to Battlescribe, I already have enough models to make a 2500 point list.  And that's assuming I don't increase the squad size of my Black Knights or any of the Terminator Squads, or paint up the unused box of Scouts in DA colors.

So what am I doing to keep from being overwhelmed and to stay on track?  I'm trying to set goals for myself.  For a goal to be useful, it needs to be reasonable, realistic, and definite.  Saying "I need to eventually finish my army someday" is not a goal.  What I recommend:

1. Know your capabilities:  If it takes you two weeks to paint a 10-man Tactical Squad, you probably shouldn't expect to paint three squads a month.  Repeatedly falling short of your goals is more likely to discourage you than it is to motivate you.
2. Push yourself a little:  Allow yourself some flexibility to account for things which might impact your hobby time (work, family obligations, illness or other unexpected events) but don't take it so easy that you don't get anything done.  Again, if you can put out a squad in two weeks, setting a goal to do one squad a month will take you twice as long to finish.  But if you maybe set a goal of painting two squads this month, plus an independent character, you may find that you can do a little more than you expected!
3. Don't obsess with perfection:  This one tied me up for the longest time.  I like every model I paint to be to the best of my abilities.  It's fine to take pride in one's work, but painting your entire army to competition standard is only useful if you actually intend to enter it into a painting competition!  If you're looking to paint an army you can play with on the tabletop, you'll get one a lot faster if you don't paint every trooper like an independent character.  Besides, most of the time, you'll be viewing your miniatures from several feet away.  You want an army you can be proud of - and hopefully, one that looks better than your opponent's, for reasons I've explored in a previous post - but if you want to get the army finished, you'll have to decide what constitutes a "good tabletop standard" for you.  Sometimes this might mean realizing when "Good is good enough" and proclaiming a model "done", at least for the time being, so that you can proceed with the rest.
4. Find ways to speed up your production:  The best recommendation for this is an "assembly line" approach to squads.  Instead of painting each figure individually, one at a time, you'll be more efficient if you do each step on a squad of five or ten at once.  Assemble and clean the entire squad, then prime them all, apply basecoats to them all, wash them all at once, and so on.  You'll find that each step goes quicker and you'll finish them faster than you have before.  Also, seek improvements to your techniques that will get the same (or similar) results in less time.  For instance, I am not a fan of drybrushing when it comes to painting heroes and leaders.  But if I can get acceptably good highlights on my rank-and-file this way, in half the time, you had better believe I'll do it!
5. Reduce your backlog:  Many of us have a tendency to buy models and miniatures we'd like to work on "eventually" - whether this is due to a long-range plan for the overall army, a new release, or just something that catches your fancy.  Consequently, this can lead to an ever-growing pile of boxes and blisters, awaiting assembly.  As your backlog increases, so too can your discouragement.  Feeling like you'll never finish the army is a big barrier to even getting started!  My recommendation - don't buy anything new until you've painted what you've got.  That takes a lot of willpower, and if you're capable of sticking to it you are more dedicated than me!  Obviously, when starting a new army you will probably buy a large chunk of it at once, but if you must buy new models for an existing army, don't buy more in a month than you can paint in a month.  The idea is to continually shrink your backlog, not increase it.
6. Avoid distractions:  It's all too easy to eat up all of your hobby time surfing the Web, watching TV or playing video games.  But even if you are at your desk for a few hours a day, you might not meet your goals if you don't stick to the plan!  It's tempting to assemble that model you just got, but painting it isn't part of your immediate goals.  Before you know it, you've got a lot of stuff built and unpainted. I have a small "staging area" near my painting table, where I keep assembled models and works in progress.  If it starts to get overly cluttered, I know I need to get it under control.
7. Set a definite time frame and output amount:  This is perhaps the most important part of setting the goal itself.  If you tell yourself "I will paint a 10-man squad every two weeks" or "I will paint 500 points a month", you have set a definite goal - one that has a time frame and gives you an idea of what you will have in the end.  I find that points value tends to work very well for this, as leaders and larger models such as vehicles take longer to complete, but tend to have higher points costs in game.  
8. Participate in challenges and vows:  If you are a member of any sort of group, whether it's your local gaming club, a Facebook group, or an Internet forum, you may find that your group will occasionally conduct a painting challenge.  The scope of these challenges varies, but the idea is to motivate painters by publicly declaring what you intend to complete within the duration of the challenge.  Making a vow is good motivation to complete your work, because of the gentle peer pressure.  If you meet your promise, you will be able to show off your work and bask in the esteem of your peers.  If you fall short, you may get a friendly ribbing from those who lived up to their goals.  There's no real punishment if you fail to complete your vow, but announcing your goals will help you to feel accountable for them.

How does that apply to me?  Well, obviously I have not been able to meet my promised goal of updating this blog weekly.  I try to make up for that with useful content when I do post, rather than feeling pressured to "come up with something" this week.  However, I have been able to meet my other hobby goal - to complete my Dark Angels army in a reasonable amount of time, I have set a goal of painting 500 points of miniatures each month.

For March, I wanted to complete my squad of Deathwing Terminators from the Dark Vengeance box set.  Terminators have always been my favorite unit - I like the aesthetics, design and fluff, regardless of their performance on the tabletop.  And the squad is 245 points, a convenient size for a little Kill Team while my friend and I reacquaint ourselves with the latest rules for 40K.

But that's only about half of my stated goal.  The other thing I really wanted to do was to make my own version of Grand Master Belial.  He's my favorite Dark Angel character, and while his official model is nice, it lacks flexibility in loadout (I prefer to equip him with Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield for close combat power and survivability).  He's nominally only 190 points, but each of the three individual loadouts works out to about 30 points.  So doing all three sets of weapons is like painting up a 250-point miniature in terms of time it takes to build and paint it.

The works in progress were featured in the previous post from a couple weeks ago - but now I can proudly announce that Belial and Squad Barachiel are complete!

This is the first photo I've taken with my new light box.  I'd like to get a portable light that is bright enough for overhead use, to illuminate the box a bit better.  The photo was taken with my HTC One M7 phone, using the DSLR Camera app.  I then used Paint.NET to adjust the color balance and levels to make it look as close to the actual work as possible.  

So, there's my 500 points for March.  What's on deck for April?  I'd like to paint up the backbone of any Space Marine army - my Tactical Squads.  I have two such squads from the Dark Vengeance boxed set, each a 200-point squad with plasma weaponry.  I also want to paint up Company Master Balthasar, who can count as Azrael if I wish.  That's 515 points over the next 30 days - a little more than last month's 495-ish.  I've broken it down informally just to have a benchmark of if I'm staying on track.  Allocating a given amount of time to assemble and prep each squad, as well as how long it will take to work on the details for leaders, heavies and special troops, allows me to stay on schedule.  So hopefully, by Tax Day I'll have the first squad done, and before May I'll have both of them and Balthasar to show off.

Five Random Things

Sorry I've been away so long!  My goal was to do weekly updates starting in February, but that clearly got sidetracked by work, cold & flu season, and actual hobby time.

Since five weeks have passed, here are five updates, random thoughts, and glimpses at future plans:

1) I recently obtained a Citadel mould line removal tool.  I may do a detailed write up on it some time, but for now suffice to say it's a beneficial addition to my tool kit.  It's not perfect for everything - some areas still require the point of a standard #11 blade - but for most of the typical mould line areas (sides of legs, shoulder pads, etc.) it is much better.  Because of the shape of the tip, it scrapes away the line flush with the adjacent surfaces.

2) My light box finally arrived!  It's not a top-end model but it collapses into a sort of messenger bag for portability and storage.  The side and top panels fold out and act as diffusers for the two portable lamps (which are amazingly bright for their size!) and it has interchangeable backdrops of black, white, red or blue.  Perhaps this will allow me to take more professional pictures and add some photos to this blog!  I will post a more detailed review of it after I've had a chance to use it a bit.

3)  While visiting family "back home", I stopped in an art supply store and was able to procure a pair of Winsor & Newton Series 7 Miniature brushes, in sizes 0 and 00.  I've had the chance to use them a bit and they seem like all that everyone has said about them - quality brushes that are worth the considerable expense.  I'd like to get a Size 1 or 2 for basecoating when I have the chance.  They do require a little extra care to keep clean, but it's worth the time to protect the investment,

4) Though I've been a Space Wolves player since the days of Rogue Trader, I've begun another 40K army.  My friend Jason and I tried to get back into 40K when 6th Edition came out, but we only got in one game (wherein he demolished my entire army with almost no losses).  He wanted to try out 7th but wanted to split a starter box.  He doesn't like Orks, so Stormclaw was out (which would have supplemented my existing Wolves).  Tyranids were also out of the question for him, so Deathstorm was a no-go as well.  But he does like Chaos, especially after reading the background on the Crimson Slaughter.  And the more I read about the Dark Angels, the more I was really digging their style.  So we agreed to split a box of Dark Vengeance. 
     A few inexpensive purchases on eBay netted me an extra Librarian, squad of bikes and an additional Tactical Squad.  I was able to obtain the limited edition Chaplain Seraphicus from the 6th Edition box as well.  Then I traded in a bunch of unwanted games and minis at my local shop, and was able to get the Dark Angels expansion for a mere $20!
     So now I have a (relatively) inexpensive Dark Angels army (enough to do the Unrelenting Hunt detachment when everything is assembled) plus a couple boxes of Company Veterans and an extra box of Deathwing for a command squad.  Magnetizing the Dark Talon so I can also use it as a Nephilim is going to be a bitch kitty, but I'll save that task for last. 

Here are a couple of the Terminators I've completed so far:

(Yes, I've finished the base since taking this shot)

5) Speaking of Dark Angels, I really wanted to add Belial to my army - I love Terminators the most, and any leader that lets me use them as Troops choices is a must have (especially when he has Terminator armor too!).  It's what I used to love about Logan before the latest Codex removed the Loganwing as an option.
     I tried to find Belial in my local stores with no success.  Finally I decided to kitbash one for myself from Deathwing Knights and bits from the plastic Commander and Command Squad boxes.  I've magnetized the arms to allow him all the permitted loadouts from the Codex.  Here's what I've got so far:

"Come at me, bro!"

I decided to swap the storm bolter arm for one which can use the thunder hammer or Commander's storm bolter with strap.  I'm also considering another set of arms to give him a more impressive sword, fit for a Grand Master:

So, that's what has been going on with me, and why I haven't been updating as frequently as I hoped!  But being busy with the hobby can't be a bad thing, right?  I promise to include some good pictures when these guys are done.

I'll leave you all with a bit of philosophy, a subject I consider important to any artistic endeavor:

Every minute of time you spend on this hobby should get you a little closer to getting something done.

Most of the time, we don't have as much time as we'd like to spend building and painting miniatures, models, or scenery.  There's always something else that demands our time and attention - family, work, chores, school, and other social activities.  So it can sometimes be discouraging to see unfinished work on the painting table, knowing how long it might be before it's finished.  That can make it hard to sit down and pick up the brush when you might only have a few minutes to do something.

Use that time to your best advantage!  If you have five minutes before leaving for work in the morning, and a model that needs some shading, there's time to apply an ink wash, which will dry while you are away.  It doesn't really matter what it is - a model that will take you x  hours to finish will take about that long regardless of whether you do it in one sitting, or in 15-minute increments during lunch breaks.  Take the opportunity and press on, and you'll find that the sense of accomplishment motivates you to do even more!

(Just don't be like those people - myself included - who buy new miniatures faster than they can paint their existing collection.  A big backlog can be discouraging, too.)

Work In Progress

We're still working on new content for you!  I had hoped to have an article done for this weekend but work got in the way.  I could not do the article I planned to do, so I'm working on something else.  Stay tuned!

THE PAINTING PROCESS: STEP-BY-STEP

If you have followed all of the previous articles, you already know everything you need to paint your first miniature. Today's article is going to break down the various stages of the process, from purchasing the miniature to making it suitable for play or display.


Start Simple
If you're eager to get out there and buy some awesome, impressive model to try out your new-found skills, I applaud your enthusiasm. But I'd recommend you try something less complex first, until you have some experience and practice with the techniques. For our first Learn To Paint article (coming soon), I will be walking you through painting a basic Space Marine tactical trooper.

Trying to paint something with lots of fiddly little details the first time out can lead to frustration and dissatisfaction with the end result. If you've already bought some paints, good brushes and hobby tools, you've invested some money in this hobby. It would be unfortunate for your first efforts to lead to discouragement.

That said, don't feel too bad about what you do when you are just starting out! Nobody puts out studio-quality work on their first attempts (most of us can't do it after decades in the hobby). Even the greatest miniature painters have spent many years and thousands of hours perfecting their techniques.

No matter how far you come in this hobby, don't ever stop learning. Being open to new ideas, new methods and refinements of your technique will help you to continually improve. Even though I now write a painting blog, I still visit other blogs and forums and watch a lot of videos from people who get better results than me. I want to learn how they do it - and after I learn how to do it myself, I want to share it with others. It's an ongoing process of learning and growth, and it can yield immense satisfaction when you look at your latest work next to your previous work and see the difference.

A very important thing to remember: At some point in the painting of any given miniature, you may look at it in disgust and wonder why you want to bother to finish it. This is natural. Even after all these years, it happens to me on a regular basis. It's like remodelling a house - midway through the process, it looks like a mess. Remember that intermediate steps are not indicative of the finished result. Take a little time away from the piece if you must, and when you're ready to tackle it again, soldier on through it! If you do everything with care and patience, in the end you will have a miniature you can be proud of.


Cleaning and Assembly
So now, you have purchased your first miniature and you're ready to get started. We covered this process in "Preparing And Assembling Your Model" (01/28/15). Be sure to wash the mold release agents off of the miniature before you begin. Pay close attention to mold lines - areas like the sides of the head, shoulders, knees and hands are often easily missed. Scrape, sand and file these away as necessary.

If your mini is a multi-part model, glue it together and allow time for it to dry before you continue. You will want to make sure you can handle it during painting without spoiling your work, so glue it to a base or secure it in some other fashion. Some hobbyists pin the feet and then stick the mini into a cork or an alligator clip (XActo makes a "Helping Hands" workstation with clips and a magnifier). However you do it, make sure you don't need to touch the parts you're painting.


Undercoat the Miniature
Now that your model is cleaned, assembled and dry, apply a spray or brush on undercoat to prime the figure for painting. This process was covered in "Choosing and Using the Right Paints: Part Three - Primer" (01/29/15). Remember to apply thin coats of primer so as not to obscure detail, and if using a spray primer, be sure the weather outside is neither too hot nor too cold, neither too dry nor too humid, and not windy. Yes, optimal conditions for spraying primer (or topcoat) are very fussy - this is why a good brush-on product is the better choice.

For best results, remember to select an undercoat color that is appropriate to the colors you will be using on the model, and the desired effect. Black undercoats yield a more shaded, muted end result; white undercoats yield a brighter end product but may be harder to cover with colors like yellow or red. If a primer exists in the main color of your base coat, you will save some time in that step as well.


Wash Your Hands!
This is a recommendation that applies through every step of the process. The natural oils on your skin can leave fingerprints on the model, and if you paint over those areas, the finish will be affected. You also may have dust and flecks of plastic or metal on your fingers from cleaning a model, and you don't want that getting on or into your nice paint job.

It's quite likely you will get paint on your fingers when working on a miniature or from opening paint jars. Be careful - nothing spoils a great job like a paint smudge or fingerprint in another color, where it doesn't belong. Check and wash your hands often. Some painters wear rubber or nitrile examination gloves when working, to avoid fingerprints and for quick cleanup.


Stirring is Better Than Shaking
This is not James Bond's martini. You want to make sure your paint is evenly mixed in the bottle or pot before working with it. The pigment and binder have a tendency to naturally separate between uses, and so you'll have a thicker mix at the bottom and a watery liquid near the top.

The reason you want to mix your paints by stirring instead of shaking is simple: When you shake any liquid, air bubbles are introduced into the mix. You may notice with some washes or shades that there is a foam at the top of the pot after shaking. If you must shake a paint, wait for the bubbles to settle before you begin using the color.

If you are using dropper bottles, you usually won't be able to stir (unless you take off the nozzle, for instance when doing paint maintenance). Some people take off the nozzle and drop one or two BB's into each dropper bottle before using, to improve agitation and mixing when shaking. If you choose to do this, be sure to use something that won't interact with the paint or clog your nozzle.,

For flip-top or screw-off paint pots, stir with the handle of an old brush or anything of similar dimensions. You may feel a little resistance at first as your stirrer moves through the thicker part at the bottom. Continue to stir thoroughly until the paint is of an even consistency and color.


Remember to Thin
To achieve a uniform finish without brush marks and to preserve fine detail, remember that several thin coats are better than one thick one. This will also help you to build up color in desired areas without making the surface look like it's bee covered in paint. Be sure the consistency is even and remember that paints that are too thin will flow messily. You don't want your basecoat or layers to be as thin as a wash or glaze.


Apply Basecoat
Apply each of the principal, underlying colors to the appropriate areas of the model. For instance, when painting a Space Wolf, apply a thin coat of fleshtone to the face and any other exposed areas such as hands or arms; basecoat the weapons and flex joints in black; paint the armored areas in a blue grey; basecoat the areas that will be fur, bone or gold in a brown; and paint the shoulder pad, hair and other parts accordingly.

You will want to use a somewhat larger brush when basecoating the model. Many painters use a Size 1 or 2 brush for much of their basecoating. Citadel brushes are named according to their intended purpose, and if you are using a P3 brush, the Base Hobby Brush is probably the right size for most of your basecoating purposes.

The best way to go about basecoating is to use the "inside to outside" method. Paint the skin and hair, then the clothing, then the armor and finally the equipment. This will help to ensure that any mistakes you make by overpainting will be covered by the basecoat for the next area. However, sometimes you may wish to basecoat other areas first, if you know that your technique for shading or highlighting might spoil another area you have already painted. Some painters will apply basecoat, shading, layers and highlighting to an entire area before working on other parts. It depends on the miniature and your desired effect.


Apply Shading and Washes
Once the base coats are all dry, now you will want to shade the model to bring out the darker areas and recesses and to highlight detail. You will want to use a larger brush that's devoted specifically to this purpose, as washes can ruin the point of your good brushes much more rapidly. Citadel makes a Wash Brush, or you can use another Base Hobby Brush or a brush of a similar size. These don't need to be your expensive Kolinsky brushes, but you'll still want a brush with good natural bristles that don't come out when working.

The easiest way to do this is to apply a Citadel Shade or another brand of ink wash. The most versatile and effective products I've used for this purpose are Army Painter's Quick Tone line - particularly Soft Tone, Strong Tone and Dark Tone. Soft tone yields a sort of sepia effect and is good for skin and a slightly muted but richer effect on bright colors. Strong Tone is like Citadel's Devlan Mud or Agrax Earthshade (only better!) - it brings out details and relief when used on the entire model, and is ideal for hair, fur, leather, bone, and more weathered skin. Strong Tone or an equivalent will probably be your most-used shading product. Finally, Dark Tone is a black wash that yields the highest contrast and relief. It is ideal for armor panels, weapons, joints and other areas where you want a really dark effect.

Citadel makes a wide variety of shade washes, as do other brands like Vallejo and Army Painter. Depending on the model, you may find a wash that is ideal for your base colors. Take care to let the shade on each area dry completely before applying a different shade to another area, or else you may find that the washes run together and ruin the effect.

The most advanced painters will often use a thinned-down paint of a darker tone to shade each area, applying shading precisely with a brush rather than over an entire area with a wash. This is a more time-consuming process requiring greater patience, but the results are the best! Regardless of the method you use, take care to apply the shade carefully to the desired areas. You won't usually slather the entire model with a wash or "dip", because that just makes it harder to tidy up areas that don't need shading. When thinning colors for shades or washes, use a transparent medium (like Citadel's Lahmian Medium) whenever possible. An opaque thinner like AV Thinner can affect the color, while water may affect the flow and self-levelling characteristics you desire in a wash.


Applying Layers
Once your shades have had ample time to dry completely, tidy up the model by carefully reapplying basecoat colors to areas where shade may have gone unwanted. When you have done this, your model should have a neat appearance, with shading only in intended areas. The ideal brush for layering is a Size 0 brush, Citadel Standard (or Detail) brush, or a P3 Work Studio Brush.

Now you can begin to build up the desired colors and natural highlighting by applying one or more layers to each area. Your paint can be somewhat thinner than your base coats, as you'll be building on the existing colors with more translucent layers. Most paint lines have complementary tones for basecoats, shading and highlighting. Some advanced painters will mix bit by bit to build up the desried finish, but you can achieve great results simply by using the right choice of colors at this stage. Take care not to get your layer colors onto adjacent sections or into shaded areas. What you are doing at this stage is helping to build a natural progression from areas of shade toward highlights.

A good example of layering is when painting faces - you might start with a deeper or more ruddy base coat, shading it with Flesh Wash, and then layering the cheeks, nose, forehead, chin and ears with a slightly lighter tone before proceeding to highlight the very edges of those areas.


Highlighting and Drybrushing
Again, allow your final layers to dry before proceeding. Now you will apply highlighting to the most raised or well-lighted areas of your figure. The simplest way to do this is by drybrushing. You usually do not need to thin your paints when performing this technique, and you will certainly not want to use a good brush to do this. Many brush lines have a specific drybrush in various sizes, or you can use a brush that's lost its ability to hold a tip.

To drybrush, dip your brush partway into the desired highlight color and then wipe most of it off onto a paper towel. You want your brush to be very dry so that the paint does not flow from the bristles, but rather clings only to the most raised areas of the model's surface. Drag or flick the brush lightly along the area to be highlighted. You will notice the color is deposited only on the raised surfaces. You may want to do a second, lighter drybrush highlight with a lighter color - in this case, you don't usually need to rinse the brush between these steps - but be sure to wash it thoroughly when done, because paint really gets up into the bristles.

Drybrushing is an easy and effective method to bring out highlights, but it can cause your miniature to have a sort of "chalky" finish to it. After drybrushing, you may want to tidy up some spots with your previous layer color, or apply a wash or glaze to unify the finish. We will talk more about that in the next step.

As your skill increases, you may find yourself doing drybrushed highlights less often, and instead preferring to paint highlights carefully onto the model directly. Some areas like mail armor, fur, or weapons are always easier just to drybrush, but the edges of armor plates or the features of a face look much better with edge highlighting.

This requires a finer brush and much thinner consistency of paint, as well as a careful hand - but the results look much nicer than a drybrush highlight. An ideal brush would be a size 00 (sometimes called 2/0), Citadel Fine Detail Brush or P3 Fine Studio Brush. Just load a little of your thinned paint onto the brush and carefully draw the edge (not the tip) along the area to be highlighted. Done properly, the effect is fantastic! Citadel makes a small line of Edge paints for this purpose - I have found Blue Horror to be the perfect color for edge highlighting my Space Wolves.


Apply Glaze or Wash (optional)
Especially if you have used drybrushing to highlight an area, you may find that the result looks a bit "chalky" and unnatural. Or, you may just desire a richer, more vibrant color to unify a look or to bring out the best results on surfaces that are supposed to look like cloth. In these cases, use a glaze of the desired primary or secondary color appropriate to the colors beneath. This glaze is much thinner than the washes you may have used for shading, and should be an almost transparent application of color. Thin with Lahmian Medium or other transparent medium, or carefully with water. Be sure to allow each color to dry fully before glazing an adjacent area.


Apply a Protective Topcoat
Once you have finished painting your model, you will want to seal it with a clear varnish to ensure that your hard work is protected from chips, wear, and the inevitable handling it will encounter on the tabletop. Depending on how you base your model, you may do this step before or after finishing the model's base. If you are using ballast and rocks (or Citadel Texture for lower-quality line troops), you can topcoat the model after the base is done. If using flock, static grass, tufts or other similar product, seal it beforehand so as not to affect the look of the base.

If the weather is favorable, you may wish to apply a spray topcoat. Be sure that the product you are using is suitable for acrylic paints and be sure not to apply it too heavily. As with primer, you want a thin and uniform coating. Whether you use gloss, satin or matte varnish is a matter of personal preference - gloss varnish is more durable for models that will be handled extensively, but on most areas the finish does not look natural (and it photographs poorly). Matte varnish looks more natural, but may make some areas look dull. A satin varnish may be the best of both worlds, depending on the look you are aiming for. Most of the major hobby paint brands also manufacture a clear spray varnish in one or more types of luster.

When using a spray topcoat, it is extremely important that you are mindful of heat and humidity. If it's too hot or dry outside, the varnish will dry with a granular look. Too cold, and it will run. More importantly, humidity is the enemy of clearcoats. Spray when it's too muggy outside, and you'll find all of your hard work is now encased in a kind of cloudy layer of varnish. It's possible to rehabilitate these afflicted models in various ways, but the best advice is not to spray when the weather isn't right - or, better yet, to avoid spray varnish at all (until you have more experience).

If weather conditions are not favorable for spraying, or if you want different levels of shine on different areas of a model, you might want to consider a brush-on clearcoat. Citadel makes a 'Ardcoat varnish, and most other brands have a comparable product, but I am partial to Vallejo acrylic varnishes. I keep one of each type on hand to be sure I always have the desired result. As with shade washes or glazes, make sure each area is fully dry before applying varnish of a different luster to an adjacent area - and be extremely careful not to handle the figure until it's fully dry, or you will get fingerprints in the topcoat.


SUMMARY
If you've followed these steps carefully and patiently, you should have your first fully painted miniature, ready to play or display proudly. Even if you've done some painting before, you may find that your results are better than anything you've ever done before! Just remember - you can paint miniatures, and you can do it well. The secret ingredients are patience and careful application. The former comes from the proper state of mind, the latter is the inevitable result of experience and attention. If you take pride in your work and adopt a professional approach, you'll get results far better than you ever have before - and your armies will be the envy of your opponents when they face you across the table.

Do not underestimate the psychological benefit of a better-painted army. You may find that you play better than your opponent, whose models are hastily painted or not painted at all. They will feel less secure when facing your beautiful miniatures, and you will be more confident. It may sound crazy to say that a better-painted army is more likely to be victorious, but it can give you the edge you need to achieve victory!

Next week, we will do a step-by-step beginner's painting tutorial.  I had planned on using the Space Marine Paint Set. This kit contains small pots of 10 colors, a brush, and three Space Marines for you to practice on. However, the kit at the local hobby store was unsuitable - the paint appeared dried up in some of the containers, and seemed to be leaking out of another.  So... I'm not sure I'd recommend it as a "getting started" purchase.  I'll see if I can't find something more suitable, but either way we'll do a step-by-step guide, and a list of what paints to use. The tutorial will be accompanied by a list of other things you might need for best results, and pictures of each step in the process. Stay Tuned!

CHOOSING (AND USING) THE RIGHT PAINTS: PART FOUR - Consistency and Flow

Up to this point, we have discussed everything needed to get started in painting miniatures. We talked about the best brushes to use, the preferred types and brands of paints for best results, the tools you will need to assemble and prepare your models, and priming a figure that's been assembled and cleaned up.

Now, after a week of preliminary articles, we can get down to the main event - painting a miniature. But let's not be hasty - patience and knowledge are our allies in doing the best work possible. Before dunking your brush in a paint pot and spreading it over the figure, let's talk about the best ways to ensure that your paint has the proper consistency to flow correctly off your brush, and how to keep those expensive brushes lasting as long as possible.


Rule One: Do Not Paint Directly From The Pot!
This is advice you may have heard before, though you may not know the reasons why experienced painters repeat it so often. Actually, there are two important reasons, so let's talk a bit about each of them.

First of all, if you dunk your brush right into the pot, you run the risk of getting paint up into and under the ferrule. This can cause the bristles to splay, meaning you lose that nice tip and the ability to precisely apply paint to the miniature. You'll need to clean your brushes more often and probably more aggressively if you habitually do this, which can drastically reduce the lifespan of the brushes. This is inadvisable because a good brush is your most important tool and your most expensive investment. You don't want to be laying out that kind of money for new brushes every week or even every month if it can be avoided.

Get yourself a palette for your paint. If you have a brush tub like the kind featured in "Having the Right Materials", the inside of the lid is the perfect palette. You can use any flat, non-porous surface, but I prefer the kind that have dimples to keep colors from flowing into others, and a larger central area for those times you do want to blend.

If you're using paint in dropper bottles (like the AV Game Colors), just add a few drops to one of the dimples. You don't need a lot, and we'll see why in a moment. If you're using traditional paint pots, transfer the paint from the jar to the palette with a large brush or a pipette. I have an old eyedropper from a medicine bottle that works fine - but a glass one is easier to clean than a plastic one.

If you use a dropper, take care not to draw in so much paint that it enters the rubber bulb - otherwise you'll need to take it apart to clean it. Regardless of whether you use a dropper or a large brush to transfer paint, be sure to clean it thoroughly and immediately. Otherwise you run the risk of contaminating your paints with other colors.

The other reason you don't want to paint directly from the pot is that the paint in the pot is almost certainly too thick to ensure good flow from the brush and an even consistency to the coat. Experienced painters may thin the paint right in the pot to ensure it has the right consistency, but until you get the hang of the right mix, it's more advisable to thin it a little bit at a time on the palette. If you thin it too much, you've only wasted a few drops - but if you overthin it in the pot, you'll be buying a new jar. This leads us to the next rule...


Rule Two: Thin your Paints. Thin Your Paints, Thin Your Paints!
I said it three times because it bears repeating. I have never, in all my years in this hobby, found a paint that is of the right consistency straight out of the bottle. The main thing we want to achieve by thinning our paints, is to ensure that the paint is not drying on the brush before we have the opportunity to apply it properly to the model. If you don't thin your paints, they will not flow properly from the brush, which will make it difficult to apply it precisely to the model and can lead to an uneven application and brush marks.

You don't want the model to look like it's covered in paint, you want it to look like that's the color it was made of in the first place. The best way to ensure a convincing and appealing finish is to apply the paint in several thin coats, building up the color without obscuring the detail. That's a very important thing to remember:

Several thin coats of paint will give better results than one thick coat. Of the preferred brands we discussed in Part Two of this series, Formula P3 is the hands-down winner for thinning. The liquid pigment ensures that the color remains uniform, without separation or loss of brightness. This also makes them excellent as glazes or washes, which will be covered in a later intermediate article.

Let's take a moment to talk about the various things we might use to thin our paints. The first (and most commonly used) thinner is water. It's easy to get and is basically free. But it's not the best choice in many situations. Tap water can contain impurities and may be too "hard" for painting, but water from a softener still contains sodium. If you choose to use water for thinning, I would recommend distilled water or purified bottled water. A little bit goes a long way, so the expense is still almost negligible. Some paint brands thin better with water than others - Formula P3 being the most notable winner in this case.

The other commonly-available household thinner is isopropyl alcohol. I would advise against using this to thin your paints for a couple of reasons. Alcohol is a volatile solution, and thus you will find that paints thinned with it may dry more rapidly . This may be an effect sought by advanced painters in certain situations, but the whole point of this article is about keeping paint from drying too fast. You probably will not find that flow is improved in paints thinned with alcohol. Aside from thinning paints for use in an airbrush, the only time I have used it is when trying to rehabilitate a pot of paint that has started to thicken into a gel. Also, as mentioned in the article on brushes, cleaning a brush with alcohol is not recommended. It can strip the natural preservatives from the sable hairs and may dissolve the glue binding the bristles together in the ferrule.


There are many commercial products that are excellent for thinning. Vallejo makes a liquid thinner that is excellent for this purpose. It is available in a standard 17ml dropper bottle and in a larger size as well. It is what I used to use most commonly, before I developed my own formula for thinner (which I will cover in a later article).  However, it is a white liquid - while it does not change the color of the paint when dry, it can make your paint look like a different shade on the palette. If you keep this in mind and trust that the results will be correct, it is an excellent choice. If you are thinning inks or glazes, however, you are better off using water or a transparent medium.


Another great choice is Citadel's Lahmian Medium (also sold as 'Eavy Metal Medium). This is a clear liquid that is designed for thinning paints, inks, glazes and washes. It can also be used to prepare a surface for transfers, but we won't be talking about that any time soon. It's a good choice if you want to use your opaque colors make washes or glazes. Using a medium will allow you to thin a wash to reduce the intensity of the color without affecting its flow characteristics the way that water would. We will talk more about that in an upcoming article about glazes, washes, and inks. If you can find this product, give it a try!

Other choices to investigate are those products known as "flow improvers", "extenders" or "retarders". You will find these manufactured by various companies such as Liquitex, Vallejo, Winsor & Newton, and others. Be sure you are selecting a product designed for use with acrylic paints. Flow improvers work pretty much as the name suggests - improving how the paint flows from the brush and on the surface. Extenders and retarders increase the working time available, allowing for blending and other special techniques . All of these products have one common characteristic - they mean the paint will take longer to dry. Keep this in mind when handling your model.


Are there any times I don't want to thin my paints?
Yes, in fact, there are several applications for which thinning the paint may not be recommended. First of all, you should not need to thin your primer - if you do, I'd say that you're using the wrong kind of primer! The AV Surface Primer does not need dilution to apply a thin, uniform coat.

Another application that works best with un-thinned paints is drybrushing, which we will discuss in further detail in an upcoming article. For now, it's important to note that when drybrushing, you don't want the paint to flow off the brush in the same way as you would when applying base coats, layers, or edge highlights.

Generally speaking, you will not usually want to dilute a commercially available wash or glaze. Citadel Shades already have the proper consistency to settle in the recesses of a model, and glazes lose some of their color saturation and brilliance when thinned. If you want the same effects, but less color, be sure to use a transparent medium to thin these paints, instead of something like the AV Thinner.

How much should I thin my paints?That's a question that does not have a "one size fits all" kind of answer. Generally speaking, you want to thin the paint until it has the consistency of milk. This will give it enough viscosity to stay where you apply it, without going on too thick.

Depending on the paint and the kind of thinner you are using, you should aim for a 1-to-1 ratio of paint to thinner. Until you have some experience working with thinned paints, I suggest trying this out on a miniature that you don't care too much about. Paints that are thinned too much will flow all over the model, ruining it and defeating the purpose of thinning the paint, which is to provide an even and controlled application. Sometimes, I'll touch the tip of the brush lightly to a paper towel after loading it - excess moisture will be wicked away while the paint remains in the bristles.


Rule Three: Don't overload your brush.
Once you have your paint thinned to the proper consistency, take care in loading the brush with paint. Don't mash it straight down into the mix - draw it gently into the paint until it flows about halfway up the bristles. You want enough paint in the belly of the brush, but you never want to get paint up into or under the ferrule.

Having properly loaded your brush, apply the paint to the desired surface by holding the brush at an angle and drawing the tip gently along the area to be painted. Again, you don't want to "scrub" or mash the brush down. Let capillary action do the work for you - this will result in a more precise and even coat of paint.


SUMMARY
So now you know the essentials of preparing your paint to the proper consistency so that it will flow onto and off of the brush properly, without going on too thick and without drying on the brush too rapidly. That concludes our introductory series on choosing and using the right paints.

If you've followed along with the daily articles, you should now be ready to begin painting! Upcoming articles will examine the step-by-step process of painting an individual miniature from start to finish. This process will be broken down into in-depth examinations of basecoating, shading, layers, highlighting and glazes, and sealing the finished miniature to protect all of your careful work. Thanks for reading!

CHOOSING (AND USING) THE RIGHT PAINTS: PART THREE - Primer

                In the two previous articles of this series, we talked about what type of paint to use, what brands are recommended, and what colors to choose when getting started.  The third segment of the series will deal with the first of the auxiliary products you will want to have on hand to get the best results.

What is an "Auxiliary" product?

                This term refers to products that are not strictly "paint" in and of themselves, but are instead products which are applied prior to painting, used to shade, or used to finish a painted model.  To obtain the best results, they are equally as important as your basic paints - and used properly, they can make even the simplest paint job look even more spectacular!

Step One: Primer

Why do I need to prime a model?  Why can't I just start with the base coat?

                That's a question I've heard frequently from inexperienced painters.  Uusually the question is followed some time later by "Why does it take so many base coats to cover this bare metal?" or "Why do my figures all seem to chip and the paint rubs off?"

                Primer exists for a very specific and important purpose.  A bare metal or plastic miniature is very smooth and doesn't offer a good texture to which we will apply a base coat.  Primer is formulated to adhere to a surface and offer a good "tooth" for a basecoat to be applied.  Furthermore, standard paints do not offer the level of resistance to wear and chipping that a gaming miniature will need.  Unless you're sealing your finished model in a showcase, never to be played with, this is a very important consideration.  A good undercoat will improve the durability of your work.

                A lot of people use basic automotive primer (like Rustoleum) to prime their models.  This has the benefit of giving an extremely durable base upon which to paint, but even when done properly, it can obscure the fine details on the miniature if you want an even coat.  If you are going to use a spray primer, I would recommend one specifically designed for miniatures.  Citadel and Army Painter make spray primers for this purpose.

                What color you use depends on what you are painting.  If you're going for brighter colors, a white primer is recommended.  If you want the overall look of the finished product to be darker and more muted, a black primer is the way to go.  Later on, I'll be discussing a couple of ways to use a black primer to really bring out highlights and details on a mini.  A grey primer is a good choice for a "middle of the road" overall hue. 

                If you are painting a particular type of model, you may find that the Citadel or Army Painter line of sprays or the AV line of liquid primer (more on this shortly) have a specific color that's perfect for your models!  When painting Space Wolves (my favorite), Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Ultramarines or even Orcs, there's a color primer that's a perfect match.  This will save you a couple of layers on the base coat, preserving the detail of your model.

                If using any aerosol product (primer, basecoat or varnish), please keep the following things in mind:

Spray outdoors or in a ventilated spray booth - even in acrylic spray, the organic vapors from the solvents in the spray can cause short-term symptoms like headache and difficulty breathing.  Prolonged misuse can make these problems permanent, and can literally make you stupid.

Do not spray in times of high humidity - Even if your porch or garage is sheltered from rainfall, the humidity in the air can become trapped within the spray coating you are applying.  This can lead to a nasty texture that is impossible to remove, and if it's a topcoat, can become cloudy, permanently ruining all of your hard work.  Wait until it's dry out or use a brush-on topcoat indoors.

Make sure the temperature is moderate - If it's really hot outside when you spray, the paint will actually dry before it reaches the model and you'll find the undercoat has a granular texture.  If it's too cold, the undercoat will take too long to dry and may run on the model.  The closer the outdoor weather is to room temperature, the better your results will be!

Shake Well! - Shake the can until it starts to rattle, and then continue shaking for 30-60 seconds to really mix the paint with the propellant.

Sweep each spray evenly across the model - Start spraying before the model and end your pass afterwards.  Spraying directly onto the model will cause the spray coat to pool and ruin the detail.  Each pass should be slow enough to evenly apply the undercoat, but fast enough to prevent pooling.

Several light coats are better than one heavy coat - You will best preserve the detail of your model by applying a number of light undercoats from different angles, rather than saturating it in a single go.

Give it time to dry - Allow at least 4-6 hours for your undercoat to dry completely, but a full 24 hours is even better.  I know you want to get right down to painting, but if the undercoat doesn't get time to dry, your base coat can come out smudgy or you will not get the proper resistance to chipping and wear.  Remember that you are going to be handling these models frequently.

                As you can see, a spray primer can be a big pain to use.  The weather conditions have to be just right , the application has to be just right, and it takes a long time to get the undercoat done evenly.  Is it worth the one benefit - exceptional wear resistance?

                The short answer is: No.  The long answer is: Hell No, not at all!  There is a product that was recommended to me a few years ago that really changed how I prepare models for painting.  This miracle product is called Vallejo Acrylic Polyurethane Surface Primer.  It is available in the standard 17ml dropper bottle or a larger 60 ml bottle.  There are so many advantages to this product:

• It cleans up with water like any other acrylic paint.
• It is "self-levelling" which means it does not pool in recesses.
• It leaves an extremely thin coating to preserve all the fine detail of the model.
• It dries very quickly - Within 20-30 minutes instead of 4-6 hours per coat.
• It is incredibly durable and when properly applied, will make your model very wear-resistant.
• It can be brushed on or applied with an airbrush.
• It comes in 16 different colors, including black, white, and grey.

                This is the product I use on nearly all my work except for larger models like tanks.  I have a large bottle each of black, white and grey, and it only takes a few drops to prime a standard human-sized miniature.  I wouldn't use anything else and I guarantee you will be pleased with the results.  No other brush-on primer has come close, so don't waste your time and money on Citadel's "Imperial Primer" or similar brush-on primers from other lines.

Pro-Tip: Primer Highlights and Drybrush UnderCoat Highlights

                As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, there is a way to use a black undercoat to help accentuate the highlights on a model or to simulate lighting.  After the black undercoat is applied and dry, you can use a white spray primer from whatever direction the light would be striking the figure (usually above).  This spray coat should be light and does not need to cover the area completely.  Note that this is a technique you probably will not want to use until you get some experience with the more traditional painting techniques (Even I don't honestly use it, but it can produce amazing results).

                A similar technique that's easy for beginners is a drybrush undercoat highlight.  After your sprayed or brushed-on black undercoat has dried, gently drybrush the entire figure with your white basecoat or layer paint (do not use the primer for this).  Watch as all the detail pops out!  It will help you identify specific areas to basecoat in given colors, and it will naturally help to shade and highlight those colors as they are applied (assuming that you apply your paint properly, in thin layers).  Give it a try, you'll be amazed at the results.