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Lamenters Assault Marine Step-by-step tutorial 1.) Introduction (before I start to paint): There are always several important things you have to consider before you start to paint your miniature (at least that’s how I see things). The first and most important is a general idea on how you want the model to look like (colorscheme, background, etc.) Before I pick a miniature I always check some versions painted by other painters, the miniature background, ‘codex’ colorscheme, to know where’s my starting point, etc. There are usually some great works on the web of the same or similar models done by many masters of the brush! I try to develop my own vision of the mini, something which is at least a bit different and original, something that would get me inspired. After I get a general idea I start to search the web some more. Now comes the time to gather the references. I always try to gather and extensive range of different references for most parts of the miniature (it could come from movie wallpapers, artistic photography, drawings and paintings, really anything) For instance, when looking for references for some high-tech armor surfaces I like to search for high quality pictures and designs of cars. After the references have been gathered I prepare the miniature itself (sanding, polishing, removing mouldlines). An important thing is to pin the miniature if it consists of several elements. Also pinning the miniature to the base makes it much more unlikely to suddenly fall of the base! The last thing I do before getting down to paint is to list the colors I will use for different parts. I write them down in sections in my notebook. I find this very helpful when I need to go back to some surface after some time. There is no need to rediscover the color by mixing, I simply know rigth away how to achieve it! 2.) Painting the miniature Enough of the introduction, I need to finally start the painting! I start from basecoating the entire miniature by a Citadel Codex Grey paint. I apply it using airbrush, which isn't really necessary, but I find it just shorten the time and makes it much easier to cover the entire model with an equaly thin coat of paint.
Pic.1 ----> After that is done I mix Bubonic Brown/Bestial Brown (50/50 mix, which means 50% of Bubonic Brown and 50% of Bestial Brown). I also appy some water to the mix as well as some Glaze Medium (Vallejo Model Color), as I will apply the mix with an airbrush again. It it possible to work with an airbrush and use standard acrylic paints, however you always have to remember to delute the paint a bit more then when using brush. I also use special thinners, but a mix of water and Glaze Medium will work just as well. I applied two following thin coats of paint.
Pic.2 -----> For the basic highlights I mixed Bubonic Brown/Golden Yellow/Beige(Vallejo Model Color) in about an 80/10/10 mix (80% of Bubonic Brown to 10% of Golden Yellow and Beige). The dilution is the same as in the prvious stage. This is the last stage in which I used airbrush. Again, it wasn't really necessary, but I find that this techniques greatly reduces the time of placing basic highlights and makes the miniature easier to plan the further stages, so I advice to give it a try!
Note: I was not trying to be precise with placing highlights in this stage. The purpose was to apply paint in the general areas where the light would normally fall: zenital lighning, which means that the imagined source of light is coming from directly above/front of the miniature. In later stages I would redo the shadows and midtones and give attention to smoothness of blending and color nuances. I applied one thin coat of paint.
Pic.3 ----> In this stage I applied some 2nd highlights, this time using the brush. I mixed Bubonic Brown/Beige/Menoth White Highlight (P3 formula Privateer Press) in a 50/25/25 % mix. I also diluted the mix with some water (about one part of paint to one part of water, which is a standard dilution for me for applying all the shadows and highlights). This time I made the painting area smaller, limited to the actual places where the lights would be reflected strongest (knee caps, shoulder pads, top of the head, etc.) Again I wasn't trying to put too much attention on the smoothness of blending (the paint is a bit rough as you can see). I would correct this later on when reworking the midtones (basecolors). Note: I only painted one shoulder pad as the other one would be covered in a checker board pattern, so there's no need to waste time painting it.
Pic.4 ----> In this stage I started to repaint the midtones (basecolors, which means all the colors/tones that are between the shadows and highlights) which became obscured during highlighting stages. I prepered two independent mixes of paints: Bubonic Brown/Vermin Brown 50/50 mix Bubonic Brown/Snakebite Leather 50/50 mix For reworking the midtones I was using the technique of glazing which, in general means applying highly diluted paint in very small quantities to a limited area, like between the highlights and midtones (for an example on how this technique works in real life, check my Nurgle Dreadnought video tutorial where I'm using this technique alot!) Since I was glazing, I diluted the paint some more (about 2-3 parts of water to one part of paint). I then applied the paint different areas in the midtones, using one and then the other mix to introduse some diversity in tones even at this stage. Note: When painting a color I always try to make it more eye-catching by introducing contrast in the hue of tones, using both cold and warm tones. For example when painting the sandy color of the marine's armor I decided to use bluish/grey shadows in one place and brownish/red in the other. This technique is a bit over-the-top representation of how we preceive color in reality, whis is always a combination of many shades and tones, both cold and warm, even when it seems there is only one color. Pure colors exist only in artificial creations, like comic book art, etc.
Pic.5 ----> In this stage I introduced some more tones of colors in the midtones and shadows. For this purpose I used glazes again, mixing different paints to work on the cold/warm contrast. I used the following mixes/paints: Fortress Grey/Bubonic Brown/Space Wolves Grey 50/40/10 Fortress Grey/Bubonic Brown/Coal Black (P3 formula) 50/30/20 Bubonic Brown/Bestial Brown/Sanguine Base (P3 formula) 50/30/20 Leviathan Purple (Citadel Wash) Bubonic Brown/Hawk Turquise 80/20 I used those mixes in the same way as in the previous step, the only difference was that I tried to blend the shadows with the midtones this time, as they were mostly a bit darker. Finally I applied Leviathan Purple diluted by Glaze Medium and water in the deepest shadows to create an effect of additional depth and contrast.
Pic.6 ----> I noncentrated on increasing the contrast by painting the final highlights on the edges and spots of most exposed surfaces, as well as do the darklining in the lines between the armor plates. For the final highlights I used a mix of Beige/Menoth White Highlight 50/50 The dilution was one part paint to one part water. This time I tried to be very careful and precise with my brush. I didn't want to mess the midtones anymore! Also I applied additional 'cold' spots of highlights in a few places, painted with a mix of Space Wolves Grey/Menoth White Highlight 50/50. You can see this clearly on the shoulder pad. Note: I basecoated the machanical parts in the jump pack and some other parts with a dark grey color to better emphasize the contrast on the light parts.
Pic.7 ----> Scratches were painted on the armor using the tip o my finest brush. I tried to be very precise with this stage. The key to the success with this technique is to do the scratches as small as possible and as random as possible in order to make then look convincing. I always reinforce myself with some reference pictures while doing them. I used a mix of Bestial Brown/Coal Black 80/20 for that. Also the trim/ornaments were basecoated with a mix of Graveyard Earth/Dusky Grapes (Reaper Master Series) 50/50
Pic.8,11 ----> I underlined the scratches with a very thin line of Menoth White Highlight. Again I used my finest brush and maximum precision to make them as this as possible. The theory is that they should be thinner that the dark scratch itself, otherwise they will look unconvincing. This technique provides a very powerful
impression of semi 3d shape, a bit exagerated, yet still gives the entire surface a pounch!
Pic.9,12 ----> The trim/ornaments area received highlights. For this purpose I created a mix of Graveyard Earth/Moldy Skin (Reaper MS) 50/50. Again, precision and smoothness wasn't my priority in this stage, rather the general outline which would be then worked upon.
Pic.10 ---> This stage consisted of glazing the previously highlighted surface, going from highlights to midtones and from midtones to shadows. I mixed both cold and warm glazes to increase the contrast and make the area more interesting to look at. Also in this stage I smoothed all the harshness of the paint. Glazing is truly the ultimate technique in painting miniatures!
I created the following glazes: Graveyard Earth/Space Wolves Grey Graveyard Earth/Warlock Purple Graveyard Earth/Sanguine Base
50/50 80/20 50/50 (used in the deepest shadows)
The previous dark grey ereas were basecoated with a mix of Space Wolves Grey/Fortress Grey 50/50 Also the shoulderpad was basecoated with a Base/First Highlight 50/50 mix colors from Andrea White Paint Set
Pic.13 ----> I painted the rough checker board pattern using a mix of 1st Shadow/2nd Shadow 50/50 mix colors from Andrea Black Paint Set. This was just a general outline, the shape of the squares will be corrected during the next stage. The centre of the shoulder pad remained unpainted, since it would be a place for the chapter icon. The handguard of the chainsword received shadows by mixing Codex Grey/Coal Black/Bestial Brown 60/20/20. The same was done with other parts previously undercoated with Space Wolves Grey/Fortress Grey.
Pic.14 ----> I corrected the shape of the squares using the white mix used previously. Whet the shape was satisfying enough I underlined the black squares with 3rd Shadow from Andrea Black Paint Set, while the top of the most visible white squares receive a thin line of 3rd Highlight from Andrea White Paint Set.
The handguard received further highlights with a mix of Space Wolves Gray/Pale Olive (Reaper MS) 50/50. After that I worked with the glazes applying a mix of: Codex Grey/Enchanted Blue 80/20 Codex Grey/Bestial Brown 50/50 The heart was basecoated with Sanguine Base and that Higlighted by mixing to the color a bit of Red Gore and a tiny bit of Menoth White Highlight for the edges.
Pic.15 ----> Scratches were added in the same way as on the main armor, using the 3rd Shadow paint from the Black Set. Metals had been basecoated with Boltgun Metal.
Pic.16 ----> I added rust/dirt to the soulder/chainsword pattern, mainly to make the areas more eye-catching and interesting. I did that in two stages of first and second shadows: First shadows: Codex Grey/Bestial Brown 50/50 Second Shadows: Bestial Brown/Lich Purple/Sanguine Base 50/25/25 After that the midtones between the rust and the pattern was treated with a glaze of Fortress Gray/Snakebite Leather 50/50 in order to smoothen the harsh border.