Friday, January 18, 2013

Painting your Rivet Warrior: A step by step



Here is a little 'how to' on painting one of your Ally Rivet Wars miniatures.  I started out with the usual prep work, and got them on pins...


I want to emphasize that I tried to use as limited a palette as possible to paint this, so that it was a little easier to absorb the information!

It was then primed with Vallejo Nato Green primer.  My first layer of paint was Reaper Field Grey, but a typical olive green could be used instead.


These images show the figure as I mixed in some Reaper tan, little by little.  I was using a #4 flat acrylic brush, by the way, with relatively dry paint.


I did't want to focus in on just the uniform, so it was time to work on the face.  I took some Vallejo brown rose and mixed that with a bit of the lighter field grey/tan mixture, so there would be more color consistency. With each layer (still working with that flat brush, by the way), I introduced more of the rose.


I used some dark brown for the hair, and then added some Vallejo parasite brown.  The lights were created by adding some of the reaper tan.  I added some lights to the face by mixing in some pale flesh with the brown rose.  The leather items, such as belts and cartridge cases, remained the darker brown.


Once all the areas have at least gotten a few layers of colors, I start to work in the final highlights.  This is done on the helmet, the arms (shoulders), the face and the hair.  Some lighter colors are added to the leather surfaces by mixing in some tan with the dark brown.


Here's a closer view on the highlights, and a bit of the gun.  I mixed Vallejo intermediate blue with highlight USMC.


Now for the most important part.  The eyes!  I tried to make sure that the areas around the eyes were somewhat darker, so that they would stand out.  These faces are tricky, for obvious reasons.  You are trying to superimpose one shape onto a completely unrelated shape, so you have to 'fudge' things a bit.

Once the whites of the eyes were placed, I put in the iris, and then painted the upper eyelid.  I mixed a little of the dark eyelid color with the brown rose, and shaded under the eyes.  I then highlighted the iris with a dot of white


The eyes are big enough to put color in the iris if you wish, and even paint in a pupil if you want!  However, this image is about the little insignia, and the rust effects.

I took a brown/blue mix and painted a few paint chips around the edges of the helmet, as well as the top.  The 'bottom' of these paint chips are highlighted with a tiny bit of tan, while the 'upper' edge is shaded with black.  I painted some rust streaks using that Vallejo Parasite brown.


Here's the base.  Basic grey with a blue/black shading wash.  The rust was done the same way as the helmet.


Here he is!!!


I will be filming the painting of one of these as yet another test video for my painting kickstarter... go check it out!




12 comments:

  1. James did you pretty much dry brush most of this? The texture is visible and the results are awesome.

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    1. Actually, the texture is mostly from the figure. I was using one of the test casts...

      I do use a very controlled drybrush (more of a dampbrush) for my shaded basecoat :-)

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    2. Interesting. I use a very wet brush, as i tend to water my paints down considerably.

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    3. I use a whole range of techniques on each mini, from the semi drybrish to lots of transparent layers of glazes and washes... It all depends on what's needed!!!!

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    4. I've only been painting less than 2 years, with not much time for practice. I have been learning to use lots of glaze layers and washes, too.
      My first trooper model ever
      http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/56858175@N02/5839039631/

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    5. Actually all the models posted there are the first handful of models i ever painted.
      I have been asked to commission some work, but at my slow speed it wont pay much for the time spent. Not bad for a noob, right?

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    6. Not at all! It's really all about the practice and the repetition. It used to take me a week to paint what I can do in a matter of hours now, and it looks 1o times better :-)

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  2. If only I could paint things in a few hours. I'd be able to make some decent scratch and by more minis!

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  3. Replies
    1. Keep in mind, we are talking about many years painting thousands of miniatures :-)

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  4. Great job painting those!

    How did you remove the minis from their base? I just bought the Eastern Front box from Amazon and the minis are glued to their bases from the factory. :( It seems almost impossible to paint some spots of the minis if they are on the bases (especially under the Sturmpanzer, MG08 Schlittens and Rocket Bikes).

    Thanks for any advice!

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    Replies
    1. These were sample casts, which mostly broke off the bases anyway :-) so, I just pinned them. You could use a razor saw to chop those off the bases...

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