Shiny parts, metal, wet things. Yeah. Sweaty flesh. Hehe!
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Shiny parts, metal, wet things. Yeah. Sweaty flesh. Hehe!
Thank you Smithy, very kind, but remember that's after years of art school and practice
I haven't done any since Clint a while back, he took me about 4 months to complete in-between work and life, I still got all the equipment and mean to get back into it (one day) but found modelling as a new passion and absolutely loving every minute
Here's my friend Clint
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Being a working class, ex-military Brit I cannot express my feelings about that without swearing.
I stuck the things down this evening. The painting’s good enough for me. (I should have used the airbrush - lazy man).
I achieved this effect, the light areas were achieved using the "dry brush" method on the gun ports, highlighting the loops. I will get to this in the review very soon. I applied light beige or gray paint with a dry brush over black paint and it also highlighted the highlights perfectly. And in general, the last photo of the general view is very beautiful, I really like it.I've been painting again today.
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I've not had much enthusiasm to spare for modelling today due to other distractions and I was mostly was applying that second thin coat so no reason for a photo. However, I've used a technique from figure modelling that you might not have seen before. It's called edge highlighting and that probably tells you most of what you need to know.
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The idea is to apply a lighter colour to edges which would catch the light on the real thing. When you look at a boat in a harbour in the sunshine, all of the edges shine, even on matt painted surfaces. we see this without noticing and use it to comprehend the volumes of the various objects that make up the boat. As I look around my apartment, I see that shine on the edges of the bookshelves, the hiking pole, my coffee cup. It's so everywhere that normally only artists see it, but take a look and it's there. The problem for modellers is that on a miniature, that effect is lost in the small scale of the object. Mini painters learn to reproduce the effect with paint.
First a lighter shade of the base colour is used along all of the edges, then an even lighter one on the topmost parts and finally a white dot or two on the very highest points. If it's done well it's very subtle almost impossible to see on a photo because it looks so normal but the mini really seems to 'gain volume' when it's in your hand. I don't do it well because I'm not a big fan of subtle.
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The effect I'm aiming at is something I call 'Grand Opera'. I don't want my models to look like life, I want them LARGER than life. Think of the costumes and scenery at an opera house and you'll get the idea. I use only one layer of a colour which is quite markedly lighter than the base colour; mid grey over 'almost black' or a yellow orange over red.
It's not difficult to do and the effect can be quite dramatic. Often the viewers will know there's something happening to make the model 'pop' like a Viewmaster slide (remember them?) but they won't know what it is.
I don't know whether I can make it work as well over a great big boat model as I could on an armoured knight or a tank or aircraft though. We'll soon find out.
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To get those fine lines right on the edges I use the side of my brush in an almost dry condition, scrubbing off the wetness with paper. That's really hard on the brush and though I use cheap semi-disposable brushes, I do like to make them last as long as possible. I recommend using this or one of the many equivalent products at the end of a painting session. They make the brushes last and make them work better too.
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And finally, finally...
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I was bored with that running gag so here's the tidy abrasives drawer. Usually it's only like this at the beginning of a project so this is a bit of a bonus for me.
The pegs hold pre-cut strips of the various grades I use, of a size suitable for the erasers which I use as blocks when sanding curved surfaces. The spare pieces of MDF from laser cut frets are used as sanding sticks and pads for flat surfaces. I make both the eraser and the MDF shapes as required for a particular job and then come to love them and use them over and over again. You'll see 120, 240, and 600 grit. I need 400 rather than 600 which is a bit fine for wood but great on plastic so I have lots leftover to use up
I use good quality wet and dry paper which is capable of being unclogged easily with either a toothbrush, a standard eraser or the special sticky rubber pads (top right) sold for cleaning disc and belt sanders. Most of the paper we throw away isn't blunt, it's just clogged. I get four or five times the use out of my paper by cleaning it, though of course it does wear out eventually as the cutting edges fall off or more rarely become dulled.
The cheap scissors are for cutting the paper and amazingly they still work after at least seven years of this scissor torture.
The big jar is 0000 wire wool for taking the shine off varnish and also for applying wax polish over a varnished surface.
The small jar has a small patch of tights/pantyhose which is excellent for getting that final polish on plastic (It's also the best material ever invented for getting a parade gloss on your shoes, assuming I'm not the only man left in the world who shines leather shoes - I seem to be the only one around here!)
Almost invisible next to the scissors is a fibreglass pencil for cleaning metal surfaces for soldering.
And that, guys and gals is where I'll stop for the night, though I've only just scratched the surface of the subject.
Coming from you Sir I am humbledPhotorealism. Unbelievable. Everyone here’s a genius..
@The Ships Cat its a bit ‘grand opera’ isn’t it? More real than real life, bigger, makes me see more detail than a photo. Interesting.
Thanks mate, the odd thing here is that I can see my errors in him, like you see your errors in your work of art but to everyone else she's beautiful.
Thank you very much. It means a lot when you say that. (I’ve seen your work!)
Yes, there’s little difference between edge highlighting and drybrush. The main thing is to move the brush only downwards, in the direction of the light falling onto the object.
Two beautifuls? I’m outvoted.
Actually, now the deck is populated and there’s more colour I think she’s a fine craft too. I refer to the vessel, not the model, because, as you say, I know where it’s not quite right.
I’m far too new at this to get complacent. There’s lots more to do and do better.
I’ve done little today on the model but spent a lot of time on SoS, learning.
I did however, fit the shot garlands. Half the ball bearings fell off during the process. CA doesn’t like sticking to polished steel? I glued them back in with some very stringy sticky jewelry adhesive but then had to repaint them. I’ll re-highlight them later.
The channels are mounted. The instructions said pin them because they take the strain of the shrouds. That’s not really true as the tension of the shrouds holds the channels ON as it bends around them through the chains to the hull below and that’s where I will be using pins.
I declined to pin the channels but did add a discrete reinforcing strip underneath. Just in case.
Work of art mate, those highlights are definitely the way to go.
Unsure of how I could apply the same thing to Franken-Durance but I'll definitely be looking on areas to apply a bit of depth.
Like 3000 feet under pack ice
Unsure of how I could apply the same thing to Franken-Durance but I'll definitely be looking on areas to apply a bit of depth.
Like 3000 feet under pack ice
I think my next job will be stropping me deadeye, which sounds like an Aussie euphemism if ever I heard one.