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Post by sgtslag on Oct 4, 2022 22:28:43 GMT
So I've had my eye on these minis for months. I finally ordered three boxes, or 120 figures. Came in at $0.38 per figure, delivered.
Anubis was always black skinned, with black hair. I sprayed them with Black + Primer Rustoleum. They have a lot of bare skin, so all I have to paint is the parts which are not skin.
They have surprising detail for injection molded plastic figures. They have fantastic sculpting of their chests, which will be hidden by matte black paint. These will be a perfect test subject for using white Magic Wash on, to bring out their details on their black skin surfaces.
Planning to finish a couple of test subjects quickly, as proof of concept. Then, full steam ahead, Baby!
I suspect I will finish this army within a month: only small bits and bobs that are not black, so they will paint quickly. I paint assembly line style, which means 10-15 minutes painting per figure. The Magic Wash will raise the fine sculpting from the black skin, fast and easy.
Will it be a stunning success to write songs about, or will it be another dirge to sing with several beers?... Time will tell. Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Oct 5, 2022 17:22:48 GMT
Here is a photo showing the details in the figure. Clearly discernable in the bare plastic, but hidden by the matte black primer coating. I will apply a white Magic Wash [Pledge Floor Shine (no longer manufactured) + White Acrylic Paint] to a few of these black primed test figures, to see how well it brings out the details in the matte black painted mini's. I hope to try the white Magic Wash, this evening. I will know the results upon application, as it will pass/fail, immediately... If it fails, I will need to consider other options. One thing I will try, if the white fails, is to use a medium, to light blue, Magic Wash application. I may do that, still, to their hair, to give it some details. They have braids in their hair, along with jewelry, so experimentation will tell all. Tossing around the idea of using Bronze/Copper weapons, borrowing a page from the Percy Jackson books: they used magical bronze weapons, which seemed more powerful than Adamantium fantasy weapons of D&D. It would make the figures stand out a bit more, if they had bronze or copper weapons, instead of silver-colored, steel weapons. I might experiment with this concept, as well, on some of these test figures. Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Oct 5, 2022 17:26:33 GMT
Deleted duplicate message. Sorry.
I might use Copper weapons to denote leader figures, as well. In 2e BattleSystem, Leader figures need to be somewhat different from their troops, so players know who is a leader, and who is just another Grunt in the line. I started marking the Leader's bases, with a different Unit Marker, but using Copper weapons (and armor?), would help them to stand out even more. Lots of options... Cheers!
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Post by sgtslag on Oct 7, 2022 19:19:19 GMT
Here are some photo's of the Blue Magic Wash'ed figures, completely dried: frontal view, and side view. I have some figures which needs bases, first, then black priming/base coat painting. I am on the fence about using the White Magic Wash on them… I really like the Blue Magic Wash results, thus far. I think the blue wash will look better, overall, more 'natural', than the white wash will. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well the blue wash brought out the sculpting details in the figures. In some cases, it did not bring it out as much as I had hoped, but overall, I am satisfied with the results, thus far. I hope to spend some time, next week, applying gold, copper, and other colors, to finish one of each of the 10 poses in the set. This will give me a model to base my color schemes off of, for the remaining 110 mini's in the army. Like I said, I plan to do something different with the leader figures: either a golden weapon, or more likely, a bronze weapon. I used an expensive Gold acrylic paint to cover a toy Dragon figure, applying Royal Walnut Minwax Polyshades to it, to turn the gold, into Bronze, making a nifty Bronze Dragon. The original factory paint was gold -- I might have gotten away with just applying The Dip Technique to the factory paint [note that you can see the factory, yellow gold, and the antique (darker) gold acrylic I was applying, in this photo prior to The Dip Technique being brushed onto it – see next image], but I did not think of it, until now… I like the Bronze coloration of the Dragon, so my hope is that this will achieve the same result, on the smaller weapon areas on the Anubis figures. Experimentation is King, Baby! Cheers!
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Post by skunkape on Oct 9, 2022 0:15:32 GMT
I like the Blue in the recesses of the figures!
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Post by sgtslag on Oct 9, 2022 3:50:35 GMT
Thank you, so do I. I originally planned to do some White Magic Wash treatment with a few test figures, but I'm sold on the blue: Testors Matte Island Breeze.
If I used a darker blue, it would be quite hard to see it -- too subtle. If I went any lighter of a blue, I suspect it would be too bright, too close to a White color.
In comic books, illustrators use a blue highlight, on black hair. I like the effect that has. That is what inspired me to use a blue.
On a figure which is 29mm tall, I went with a blue lighter than comic book art, to exaggerate, without being too light. I think the Island Breeze is just about perfect.
I have around 1/2, or 60 figures washed with the blue (so much for, "a few test figures"). I have another 60 to blue wash.
I might finish one figure of each pose, to fully vet my theory. I'll do some with steel weapons, and some with Copper and Bronze weapons, to see what I like best, for both rank and file troops, as well as leaders. Experimentation is King, Baby! Cheers!
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