Quick Warmachine Game Table verDC23

Just wanted this quick project archived here in my blog. This is a simple Warmachine / Hordes table mat / table for me and my kids. This is far from done as my son is requesting trees ( forests ), damaged houses and more details. Looking forward to adding modular obstruction pieces and forests from time to time.



I used to play with my 8 year old son on top of the dining table but after putting up this table a couple of weekends ago, me and my son are enjoying our games so much more! We play at least 2 back to back games in the mornings and 2 back to back games in the afternoon. Yesterday ( Sunday ), we even played a game before going to sleep.



I never realized that playing a tabletop game ( Warmachine / Hordes ) on top of a custom table, makes the game 10x more fun! Looking at the opposing army on top of a painted terrain makes the experience so much more exciting.



This post is not really a tutorial on how to make a custom Warmahordes table as this is too simple in the first place. But I do hope to inspire others that making a table mat is so simple and easy. I got three ( 3 ) 2feet x 4feet styropors, cut them to shape, glued ( wood glue ) some aquarium sand, painted with cheap acrylics, and sealed with polyurethane varnish... voila! super fun table that is relatively cheap!



Hope to add more details on the table once in a while and post some battle reports sometime soon. Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post guys! :)

The Noob Way Of How To Paint Miniatures

I am so shy to tag this as a tutorial, much more put it up with a banner on my tutorial page, I do hope a younger miniature or a less experienced miniature painter finds this helpful though.



My very first painted miniature was back in 2012. I painted a Trollbloods Madrak Ironhide metal model from Privateer Press. I got hooked painting minis back then, until I eventually went into hobby hiatus. I am starting to enjoy painting Privateer Press miniatures again these days. Although I still mainly work on my Gundam commissioned works and I plan to join GBWC 2015 at the end of the year, I really find hand painting minis so much more relaxing.



I just want to share how I paint my minis.



1. Zenithal Priming



I start by priming them and doing Zenithal White painting that would serve as my base coat. The Zenithal painting exaggerates the shadows and highlights of the model. I shoot 90 degrees on top of the model with white paint. This technique brings out the details of the model effortlessly. 

2. Black Ink Wash



I use Black Game Ink highly diluted with Glaze Medium. The wash further brings out the details of the model. The Glaze Medium helps increase the flow of the ink and will flow through the crevices of the details of the model. Now you are ready to paint the base colors.

3. Paint the Base Colors



I am still learning on how to blend colors in hand painting. I used to use distilled water in thing my paints. I now know that mediums are way better than distilled water in thinning paints. Distilled water will expand and weaken the binder once dry. The paint will dry a bit more brittle than desired. Mediums are basically the same components as the paint minus the colored pigments. It will keep the elasticity of the paint and will not weaken the cured paint. Chemistry aside, using mediums for blending is like magic! It dries a bit slower than using distilled water thus you could do wet to wet technique a lot easier.



I also hand paint a thin layer of Retarder Medium over the model before painting the base color. The retarder will further retard the drying time and wait until you paint the highlights or lighter colors and shadows.

4. Paint the Details and Highlights



The photo below does not show the highlights and details yet. I shot a Matt Coat over the model to see how the main colors are blending. I will try to finish this model tonight and will update this blog post. :)

I also sometimes shoot the main color of the model with an airbrush. This is the quickest way to paint the base color. However I do not do this often ( except for naked models like the Dire Troll Blitzer below ) as I feel black and white is still the best base color for my minis.

The Khador Wardog is shaping up nicely. I think I am slowly but steadily learning how to blend colors in hand painting. I highly recommend mediums in thinning your Vallejo paints for hand painting! The mediums work like magic!

How to Paint Gundam Pilot Figures Tutorial

I felt I have to put up a quick tutorial on how to paint the small pilot figures that come with most Bandai Gundam model kits. To be honest I do not put so much time and effort in painting these pilot figures normally. I do quick paint jobs on some small figures for my dioramas that are mostly base color and washes that looks okay from afar but looks very unimpressive in close ups.



I am very fond of painting miniatures ( Warmachine ) these days, does I thought of putting up the Pilot Painting Contest.  Although far from world standard miniature painting, I hope this simple quick tutorial would help guide young modelers on how to paint those tiny pilot figures.

1. Glue or Cement the figures on something ( cork ) that would not be stressful on your fingers. If you glue the figures on a piece of styrene rod or stick, your fingers will get tired fast.



2. Always prime your figures. Primer gives you a nice textured surface that paint could adhere. Primers also has special agents that adheres to plastic, metal or resin way better than normal paints. I paint all my kits ( metal, plastic, resin ) with Vallejo Surface Primer. You need to let the Primer cure for 48 hours if you applied them on metal or resin. 6 hours on plastic is okay.



3.I do Zenithal Priming / Painting in all of my miniatures. So I thought why not adapt this technique in painting Gundam pilot figures. Zenithal Painting makes the details pop and gives you a nice base for your semi-transparent colors to produce subtle tonal shading later. I exaggerated the Zenithal painting by shooting black paint from below ( use black primer to skip this step ) and I shoot white primer directly on top of your figures. Notice the nice shadows produced by this technique after shooting the white primer.



4. Give your figures a nice subtle wash after Zenithal Priming. The wash will further enhance the shadows and deep details of the figure before painting. I use Glaze Medium to thin down my Vallejo Game Inks. Mediums cures to a stronger finish than distilled water and gives your washes a very flowy consistency.



5. After the black wash ( diluted with glaze medium ), you now have a very nice black and white figure to hand paint on. Paint the base colors. Paint from deep recesses upwards. So paint the skin first, then the shirt, then the jacket. The trick is to paint the parts that are sticking out last and paint the deeper areas first.



6. After painting the base color, give the figure another subtle wash. The wash will make the details pop again. This wash will guide you where to paint the highlights and the shadows.



7. Paint the highlights and the shadows



8. Paint the figure with a diluted color ( glaze medium or matt medium ) of the base color. This will blend the highlights, base color and shadows together. Apply thinly as you do not want to lose the detail painting you did in step 7. Apply another layer of highlights if necessary.



9. Top coat with varnish. I use Vallejo varnishes in all my top coating jobs. Top coat with a thin coat of gloss varnish ( for strength ) before the final satin or matt varnish.

I hope this simple crappy ( lol ) tutorial helps guide you to paint your first tiny 1/144, 1/100 or 1/60 figure! The figure in the photos are from 1/60 Perfect Grade Gundam model kits.



Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post guys! Just enjoy the hobby! :)

Primer and White Modulation with Vallejos before Hand Painting

I started painting miniatures less than 2 years ago ( March 2012 ) and I am still learning so much on how to work on metals, basing materials and hand painting. So although I am tagging this post as a tutorial, I think I cannot post this up at my tutorials page as I am far from credible in doing tutorials for miniatures as of now.



I am enjoying this hobby so much as I find hand painting after long work hours ( 11am to 8pm ) more relaxing than sanding and sniffing plastic dust. I still love working with Gunpla, but I prefer to sand, scribe, cut and modify plastic kits during weekends.



So I hope you get used to my Warmachine and hand painting posts from now on.



Anyways, I just want to share how I prepare my Privateer Press Warmachine ( metal ) models before I hand paint them ( still learning to hand paint though ).



I use Vallejo Surface Primers ( Polyurethane ) for all my priming needs these days. They dry nice and smooth without obscuring the delicate small details. Vallejo claims that their primers adhere to metal, plastic and resin surfaces, so it is an all in one primer for most of your priming needs. Vallejo also offers clear primers ( have yet to get my hands on them ). Clear primers should be great for some toy repaint projects.

Vallejo Surface Primer



I primed these metal models with Russian Green ( I run out of Grey and Black Primer ). It is very important to note to allow 48 hours for the primer to cure for best adhesion.You could paint the models after a couple of hours but very careful on handling the model. Painting after a full 48 hours ( or longer ) curing time will be best as the Surface Primer has cured by then.



I shoot the Vallejo Surface Primer undiluted with my .3 nozzle siphon fed airbrush at around 25 to 30psi. You can dilute the surface primer with Vallejo Airbrush Thinner, but less or no dilution means stronger or better adhesion to the surface. Notice that the primer dries smooth even without dilution and the beautiful details of the models are well preserved.

Vallejo Premium Paint and Zenithal White Modulation



White Modulation is a nice "pre-paint" / " pre-color" step that gives you nice subtle color gradation during painting. Most colors ( specially the bight colors - reds, blues, greens, yellows ) are semi-transparent and shading your models with dark color ( Black, or in this case Russian Green ) and White gives you a nice base that would produce subtle tonal blending once you paint most colors on top.



Unlike Gunpla were you pre or post shade the edges with black or dark greys before painting the colors, They call it Zenithal Priming / Painting on miniature models.Zenithal Priming / Painting is painting the highlights based on the source of light. I always shoot 90 degrees on top of the models with white paint leaving the crevices and the shadow parts dark. This technique makes the details pop out even more once painted.



After Zenithal Priming / Painting, my Warmachine models are ready for hand painting! Sometimes I shoot the main color with an airbrush if the model has a dominant color, but sometimes I just hand paint everything if their is no dominant color.



I thought of using a different range of Vallejo paint for the white modulation this time. I used Vallejo Premium Polyurethane Acrylic White Paint for the modulation. Vallejo claims that their Premium range is the strongest acrylic paint they have. Vallejo Premium was designed for outdoor use. Premium paints are for painting motorcycle helmets, RC Cars, RC Planes, Guitars or anything you need to be super strong.



I will be experimenting on using some Vallejo Premium paints on Gunpla ( for the moving parts - internals ) soon... and if they are as strong as Vallejo claims once cured, I will never ever need to paint with toxic lacquer and enamel paints on Gunpla moving parts ever again.



I did not dilute the Vallejo Premium Paint for use on my airbrush. I did shoot at 30Psi and it worked like a charm. I cleaned and disassembled my airbrush with Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner right after use.



Well that is about it! Now all these models are ready for hand painting. I will be sharing more Vallejo paint experiments soon! Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post guys! Just enjoy the hobby! :)

Airbrushing Vallejo Surface Primers and Vallejo Game Airs

I have here some photos on how I painted this beautiful Privateer Press Hordes Skorne Mammoth Gargantuan resin kit. I airbrushed Vallejo acrylic ( polyurethane ) surface primers, Vallejo Varnishes, Vallejo Model Color, and mostly Vallejo Game Airs. I am basically taking a month long ( January ) break from playing plastic robots ( Gunpla ) as I have been testing some of these Vallejo Mediums, Varnishes and the new Vallejo Game Airs on a personal miniature project.



I learned a few very important facts while painting this project and as usual I would like to share them with you. Sharing these facts should help new modelers or miniature painters to eliminate some trial and error with airbrushing using their Vallejos. Some facts I learned from other Vallejo users and some from Vallejo themselves. So here are the list...



1. Clean your kits thoroughly



As usual you should clean or even sand your kits lightly. I clean my minis ( miniatures ) with an old hard bristled toothbrush. I clean using some detergent liquid soap and warm water then finish up cleaning with denatured alcohol ( 90 % alcohol ) with the toot brush. I specially and vigorously brush the metal parts as these parts has obvious white dusts ( used during the molding process ) that will hinder in the adherence of primers and paints.



2. Never dilute Vallejo Surface Primer 



Although you could dilute all of the Vallejo Primers, Paints and Auxiliary products ( Varnishes and such ) with distilled water ( or even with tap water ), diluting the Vallejo Surface Primers ( even with the Vallejo Airbrush Thinner ) will weaken it's bond or adherence to the surface of your kit. The Vallejo Surface Primers has special acrylic, polyurethane and resin components ( all non-toxic ) that are best use undiluted. The more dilution the weaker the Surface Primer gets. I adjusted my .3 airbrush for primer use. I push the pin backwards making the nozzle of the AB bigger. As you can see in the photos, I did not have ANY problem using the Vallejo Surface Primers for the Black and White Modulation. I did post and pre-shading with the undiluted primers without problems ( clogging ).



3. Allow at least 2 days for Curing Primers on Metal Parts



Vallejo insists of allowing the Surface Primer to cure for at least 48 hours for maximum strength. Allowing 48 hours is too much curing time for plastic and resin parts as I personally think that the surface primers adhere to those surfaces well anyways ( after a day at least ). Metal miniature parts even if cleaned thoroughly is a different matter. The metal surface is too smooth thus you should allow at least 48 hours of curing time before handling the kit to avoid scratches. However once cured, miniatures that I painted a year ago have been so resistant to scratches even if I clean with a hard toothbrush. Great stuff once cured! I now plan to prime metal miniatures during Sundays and handle them the next weekend. That should give it maximum strength!



4. Coat with Satin or Gloss Varnish before Masking



After allowing 2 days ( or a day on resin and plastic parts ) for Vallejo Surface Primers to cure ( on metal parts ), and allowing at least an hour before Varnishes ( 2 thin coats of Glass or Satin or Matt Varnish ), and allowing another hour of curing time for the Vallejo Varnishes, you can now be confident to do some masking with some modeling tapes. Allowing those crucial curing time will ensure that you will not have any problems of paint being picked up by the masking tapes after painting.



5. Thin with Vallejo Airbrush Thinner



All of the Vallejo Paints, Washes and Inks can be diluted with water ( Vallejo advises distilled water as impurities in tap water could further weaken or affect the color of the paints ). HOWEVER, diluting with distilled water weakens the adherence of the paints on the surface. I now personally decided not to use water for dilution. I have all kinds of of Vallejo Mediums for diluting the paints during hand painting and I only use the Vallejo Airbrush Thinner to dilute for use on my airbrush. It is important to note that you should NEVER use the Vallejo Airbrush Thinner for diluting paints for hand painting. The Vallejo Airbrush Thinner has components that will harm dried up paint in hand painting.



6. Clean Airbrush in between colors



I have a tub of water in front of me during airbrushing. I just dive my airbrush in the tub of water and gurgle the airbrush for quick clean ups in between colors. I do use a very small amount of Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner as it has some lubricating properties to prolong the need to dis-assemble your airbrush.



7. Dis-assemble airbrush right after use



Vallejo dries really fast and hard! I highly recommend dis-assembly of your airbrush and cleaning with Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner once you are finished.



8. Clean with Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner



Clean with a very small amount in between colors and clean your airbrush with Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner after use OR risk losing your airbrush ( lol ).



Well that is about it! Thanks as always for dropping by! I hope you enjoy your Vallejo paints as much as I do. Thanks as always for dropping by! Until next post. Just enjoy the hobby! :)

The photo below shows the kit before hand painting. All of the details and metallic colors will be HAND jobbed, I mean hand painted. :)