Thursday, May 7, 2009

Gaming Pieces - Trollbloods

I'm never gonna paint all the models I own; I know that now and can accept it. Taking a page out of Franzoni's book, I give you... gaming pieces! These are one-color models, with a heavy wash to bring out the details, great for getting some color on the table.

1. Begin with a black primed Trollblood model. Mount it with poster tack onto a small wood block. Touch up anywhere the primer missed or rubbed off. Get a nice solid coat of black.
2. Holding the block, and using a can of Duplicolor Sandable White Primer, held directly at the top of the model, begin spraying back and forth, right to left. Meanwhile, rotate the model front to back, along it's front arc, about 45* each direction (forward and backward - for a total of 90*). Yes, the model's movement and the can's movement will be perpendicular to each other. This will create a strong highlight. Allow to dry.
3. Take a can of Design Master Floral Paint Robin's Egg, and begin spraying the same way, from above. But this time rotate a total of 180*; from directly above to directly level, but don't rotate up underneath the model. This creates a nice gradiant from blue-over-white, to blue-over-black, to straight black. You may have to rotate the model around a bit to get the sides; avoid the underside of the model!
4. Mix up a batch of wash using GW Asurmen Blue, a drop or two of VMC Matte Medium, and a touch of water. Give the entire model a healthy wash, including the base. Be sure to avoid large pools and use the wash to darken in the deep recesses. As it dries, add more to reenforce the shading. Use a BIG brush; it helps speed things up so you can move the pools around before the drying rings develop. Overall, a smoother outcome.
5. Repaint the lip of the base only with VGC Black. Paint front arc markings using P3 Trollblood Base. It should match almost exactly. Wash it over with the blue wash just to even it out.
6. Coat with varnish - either gloss, then matte; or just matte. These are simple pieces after all.


Voila! Done... they're not technically fully-painted, but they look nice and are a heck of a lot better than just having primed or, even worse, bare metal miniatures on the table. My test model - a Fell Caller - took about an hour. I didn't even wait for everything to dry at each level before moving on. Works like a charm! WARNING: Individual models look kinda "meh", but as the collection grows, the sense of unity and function works terrific! They really look good.

Let me know what you think. I'll post some pics when I have a bunch done - probably the battlebox with the Fell Caller. Feed back is welcome and needed!