Rabscutle’s Road to Adepticon: How a Newb Learned to Paint
Hi all, Rabscutle here again with an update on my Road to Adepticon.
So I’ve been furiously painting up models for the Warmachine Hardcore Event. Going from nothing to 50pts fully painted in two weeks is no small feat. I play Orks in 40k, and my usual paint concept is much less detailed, but that works for Orks. Also, washes hide sins and create depth without the requisite skills of a true shader.
With Warmachine, especially with Menoth, the amount of small detail on each model is in some cases extreme. The broad stroke approach doesn’t work here, so I had to get new tools.
I splurged and got my first really good brushes. I’m amazed at how much of a difference just the quality of the brush tip makes when painting detail. It makes things so very much easier to create a fine line when you can guarantee a point. That and organic brush hair makes a huge difference in keeping paint on the brush vs. synthetic. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my old brushes, but the extra few bucks at Jerry’s Art-O-Rama was definitely worth it.
Needless to say, this makes painting very fine details on models a very tricky proposition. Even with glasses, the double vision persists and I’ve had far too many “oops” moments when trying to do a fine highlight than I care to recall.
Enter my girlfriend’s father. He had never seen models like the ones we play with and was amazed at the level of detail any of the painters would need to get. He decided I needed something to help me out and he gave me his Jewelers Glasses.
I’ve always had an easier time painting larger models (see Stompa or Mek Boy Junka from last year’s narrative event), so making everything bigger seemed like an obvious idea. Felt kind of dumb for not thinking of it first.
I’m lucky to call Spanky Harrison and Psyberwolf good friends, and without their considerable hobby knowledge to lean on I wouldn’t have gotten the look I wanted.
Psyberworf found the perfect paint for the color scheme I’m going for. I’m a University of Texas grad and was going to go with Burnt Orange, but there isn’t a really good fit. He found something in the Reaper Pro Paint line, Blazing Orange, that matched almost perfectly. Spanky Harrison suggested using GW’s Ogryn Flesh Wash to get that wonderful wash effect and what we have is damn near perfect match for University of Texas Burnt Orange.
Spanky Harrison was especially helpful when it came to those little touches that make things come out more. Little hints of white highlight makes the washed white cloth stand out just enough to look good on the table. That and having him to constantly suggest little changes was invaluable.
As most of you can attest, painting all day can take its toll on your back and shoulders. At the Narrative last year, I was barely able to stand after the marathon painting cram to get everything ready. For this project I made a point to avoid that nonsense. Aleve and a heating pad when I went to bed subdued my chronically sore left shoulder (hooray tendinitis) and made it possible to really keep trucking and get everything done in time.
So what do you guys think? Have any other suggestions for a new painter?
