C.D. Gallant King's Blog, page 5

R is for Resin Printing

In chemistry terms, a resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers (a polymer is a synthetic material like nylon, polyethylene, polyester, Teflon, and epoxy).In terms relating to miniature and model painting, resin printing is a type of 3D printing used to create highly-detailed models, exactly the kind that can be used for

Q is for Quality

A lot has been written about the “Quality” level of miniatures. Warhammer even has semi-official rules about what quality of painted miniatures are allowed at official Games Workshop events, though their definition of what constitutes an acceptable level of painting is annoyingly vague.Basically, miniatures can be graded as to whether their paint jobs meet certain standards. Exactly what those

P is for Primer

Priming is the first step of painting, so it’s only appropriate that we’re finally talking about it on, what is this, day nineteen? Oh well, better late than never.Primer, also called the undercoat, is the first layer of paint applied to your model. It’s used as a matte, non-reflective surface with “teeth” that makes it easier for your further layers to adhere. When I first started painting years

O is for OSL

Object-Source-Lighting or OSL is a mini-painting feature where the actual source of the light is depicted on your model or its base, such as a torch, lamp or glowing sword. Basically, the model is painted to look like the light is being projected onto the rest of the mini.This was the first OSL mini I saw, and it totally changed my view of what could be done with a miniature. The subtleties with

N is for NMM

Non-Metallic-Metal, or NMM, is a technique that tries to trick the eye into thinking something is metallic when painted with regular matte paints. The highlights and shadows are painted in a way that appears metallic. I absolutely have not figured this technique out yet, so I will once again have to rely on second-hand material.If you're going to reference someone else's work, you can't do much

M is for Masking

Masking is a technique used to cover portions of your model to keep unwanted paint off of certain areas. This becomes extremely important when using an airbrush, which as I mentioned way back on Day 1, is something I don’t use! So my discussion of masking will all be second-hand.There are numerous ways to mask your model depending on your preferences and budget. A popular choice is masking tape.

L is for Layering

Layering is another technique used to build light, shape and contrast. There is no single way to do it, but the general idea is to create layers of colour, light-to-dark, to create the colour transitions (gradient) on your model. Sort of the opposite of using darklining, that we discussed a few days ago.You can layer dark to light, light to dark, or some combination thereof. It depends on

K is for Kolinsky Sable Brushes

Kolinsky sable brushes are considered one of the finest brushes you can use for miniature painting, specifically the Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes. Hand made in England, these brushes are actually intended for watercolour painting, but miniature painting works very similarly. You need a fat brush that can hold a lot of water, with a fine tip for detail work. They have a great “spring” to them,

J is for Jokaero Orange

Miniature paints come with ridiculous names, none more ridiculous than Citadel Paints, which are manufactured by Games Workshop (the guys who make Warhammer).Anyone who has ever looked at paint swatches at Home Depot can tell you that paint manufacturers have to get creative when trying to come up with twenty different ways to say “white.” But while house paint companies go with things like “

I is for Inks

Image Source: VallejoInks are another form of liquid medium used to paint miniatures (and anything else you want to stick your brush on, really). They are much less viscous (in other words, thinner) than acrylic paints, as they use liquid dyes instead of fine pigments.* They also have a much higher colour saturation than most acrylic paints.*Quick Science Sidebar: Since I haven’t mentioned it