Fire lizards of Lustria.(better picture quality)

hey all would like to get some C&C on my the first miniatures I've ever painted. Don't expect anything pro but here we go.
(on a side note i would like to apoligize for the bad lighting, I was going to try again but my mother wouldn't take anymore photos of "toys", yes i did say mother but im only 14 so living with her still isn't that big of a diss )

first up is the slann i picked up for 20$


another view.


and one more.


Heres my scar vet.


side view.


back.


finally heres a WIP temple guard unit. when i can get the camera again I'll try to get some more views.


thanks.

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

Sorry but painting looks horrible, try to improve in every way...

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

I'll try to improve but I'll also try to get some new photos of them in natural lighting. And the reason the temple guard look so sloppy is because there a work in progress i haven't decided on the finished qualities of the all so i've just been putting down the base colors. I'll try to get up some more photos were u can see the actual photos and not the ones that have been brightened so that they could been seen.

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

I like the color choices, almost like fire lizards, with the red and black.

First off I can see that your paint is super thick. I would water it down and apply it in simple layers rather the glopping it all on. It hides the details, especially the little notches in the horns of the Slann's palanquin.

What you also may want to try, after you thin down your paints, again in the case of the horns of the palanquin is paint from dark to light in layers rather than throwing the white on in a 1st go. Start with a dark brown, then paint a lighter brown, but keep it out of the little notches and crevices, then use a mix of brown and bleached bone, but mainly near the pointy end, and finally highlight the whole deal with a very light brushing of bleached bone.

Another method, which simpler is what i have been doing for my lizards, is to prime white, paint your base colors (again, with thinner paint) and then just shade them with Army Painter Quickshade, GW washes, or Minwax Polyshades. the Quickshade and Polyshades will give you wet look, the washes should come out fairly matte.

Hope that helps!

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

Thanks ya it did seem really thick and i was wondering how to get the good lookin details in. normally i just go straight from the pot and onto the miniature so i have no experience with mixing or anything like that. were do you imx the paints and how much water should be used? also with colors like gold and for things like teeth should i water it down too? I currently don't have any bleached bone or white primer but i hope to buy both of them on my next hobby shop run. ya i like the fire wizard look too, once i can get the natural lighting thing down ill get some photos of the almost finished saurs and skinks i love the look of them thx again.

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

I usually do one of a few methods to thin down the paint depending on how much painting i need to do.

If it's just one character I usually use a paint palette or a sheet of wax paper, and put a glob of paint down and mix in drops of water until it's thin and runny, but not so much that it's all water.

For a large unit where you need a lot, I use the standard GW paint pots and when you open them the paint sits on the lip of the under-cover. I just make make sure that I go in with a wet brush to thin it down before applying it to a mini.

Also, if the whole pot is too thick, I just add a little of water from a dropper and shake the whole pot up to get it flowing again.

For the metallics, since you primed black, I would just drybrush (if you don't what that is, just ask and I will explain) the metallics which creates it's own highlights. Sometimes I find the GW golds to be too thin so I use more Mithril Silver with my guys.

Also, for shading, check out the image below. All I did was prime white, apply simple thin base colors, then I just hit it with a quickshade. It goes from ugly to passable in a few minutes, and an overnight drying time!

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

Wow thats a very constructive and helpful post, its his first model ever... Sorry but you're a horrible person, try to improve in every way.

A few tips to make a model look better if you are new to painting:

Drybrushing is your firend, use it to highlight areas in a good looking and incredibly easy way.
Washes are your friends, while drybrushing is great for ez-mode highlighting washes are a great way of shading your models.

Don't ever have an area that is painted in 1 color, it looks very one-dimensional and ugly. If you want a red area you can can paint it gore red, wash it with ogryn flesh or devlan mud and then drybrush with blood red. Just painting it a darker red and drybrushing a brighter red works.

Another option is diping, there are tons of guides on how to dip models, and it makes them look okay (you won't win any painting awards but its easy and gets decent results). All you need is to pain every area in 1 color then use the dip (like the ones from armypainter) and it shades / highlights the entire model for you. This is not a great way to learn how to paint tho, so it might not be the best idea.

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

Great example of dipping there. I use the washes on my rank and files and then follow up with a quick drybrush on the main scales on back, legs and arms.

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

thanks alot guys. I have looked at your post with the dipping models but the only thing is i find them to look a little wet and i'm not sure if thats how i'd like to my whole army to look I think i have the basics of dry-brushing down putting a small amount of paint onto the brush and running it over the areas? I do need to go and buy some more colors cause right know i only have about 20 . i do want to get a couple washes because it think that maybe a brownish wash over my merchrite red and then a quick highlight with scabe red would make it look nice. I really wanna get some pics of my sinks because i personally think that there quite nice. What do u think a good cold one color would look like? if my riders were the same color as my other units. And the one reason i use alot of gold is because i sorta think of the lizard-men like mayans and aztecs and that they use gold because its plentiful and shiny. An besides natural lighting do you have any ideas for how to get good lighting?

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

A lamp with a daylight bulb can get some nice lighting right where you need it. If you like the look of dipping but not the shine, a quick spray of matte varnish will cure that for you. I think a lighter skin (say bleached bone) and a reddish-brown for the scales would look great on Cold Ones with your Saurus colors. Maybe some Vermin Brown with Red Gore thrown in, something along those lines. I am like you. I use gold for the Lizardmen's jewelry and decorations. On their weapons I use bronze. If you find the gold is not covering well enough here is my secret: I used shining gold as a basecoat then highlight with burnished gold. It covers up the black primer I use quite well at that point and adds some dimension to the gold objects.

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

Thanks for the tip. For my gold i normally just do one or two coats of it which does cover stuff up so its not the best. matte varnish? i gotta get out more . i'm thinking of stripping and restarting my slanns horn things any tips for stripping?

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

A glass, some paint thinner, wait over night, then take an old toothbrush to it, then repeat until you think it's clean enough

Yeah, and for the dip suggestion as well, it's quick, and easy and gets an army fielded fast. I do agree it's not the way to learn to paint to the 'eavy metal standard.

You should check out the GW site as well, there are TONS of tutorials up there.

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

All right last question. When your washing a model do you add water to the wash or put it straight from the can? thanks for al the help i tried going light then dark for the grip on my skinks blow gun and it adds allot of details.

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

Washes are already pretty much colored water. You only need to thin down the paint. The OLD GW washes were really strong and needed to be cut, but the latest ones are very subtle and work out of the pot imho.

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

I'll second your humble opinion. I use Devlan Mud Wash liberally on my Lizardmen army, straight from the pot.

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

Chunky:

You have some good tips there but you need to start from another point... first off you need to water down the paints before applying to the miniature. A good measure for this is to make sure the painting doesnt leave trails at the surface. The more you water down the paint the better... but you may need more than 1 coat to cover an area, but the result is much better and cleaner. So you should start by this... its not easy to get used to a watered paint so start as soon as possible and adapt to it.

Then you can follow the other tips here.... drybrush can be a good tool but dont get used to it and dont abuse because at the end it gives a harsh finish to your minis. Its good for stuff like scales if you dont want to invest so much time... but nothing else.

If you follow these tips and have patience you will greatly improve.

Also try to have a variety of brushes ,thats very important. Dont force yourself to do some thin stuff without the appropiate brush...

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

Got some more photos with the flash this time to the photo quality is hopefully better.

First off is one of my skinks, these guys were fun to paint and I think they turned out well.


another skink, I'm debating if I want to put another color for the crests but I dunno.


I added the white onto my scare vest weapon in the water down/ multiple layer method tell me if it worked please.


heres a front view.


And a back view


A currently don't have my vet totally finished as I'm still looking into the feathers and some other minor details but C&C please. I hope now that you see the painting is totally horrible

 

They look pretty good I do like the color scheme. Now what I would suggest is putting a layer or two of highlights on there, slowly build up so highlights to give the model more depth. Also the eyes need something not sure what, maybe higlights there also. Keep working looking good

 

I am debating to do little black slits in the eyes but I'm not sure how that would look. im going to try a knarlock green catchcan green snot green and then maybe a small bit of skull white highlight. but thanks.

 

Re: Lizardmen army photos.

What the hell, you don't say that to people. Thats just rude. If you have nothing constructive to say, then say nothing at all. Everyone has to start somewhere, and I think it is great that he can post the pictures of his work because it allows people to give specific and useful advice on how to improve. I notice now you left a better post on the second page so I will leave it at that.

@chunky, people have already said all that I would have been likely to offer. I don't know if this has been said, but I suggest starting the bone areas with bleached bone rather than skull white. The white is a little too bright. Keep at it!