Post by PitYak Studios on Aug 22, 2005 16:00:20 GMT 12
I guess the majority of us here are painting multiples of figures rather than individuals, and there have been requests for tips about painting armies, so here's some of my thoughts.
When you are painting armies rather than display pieces, the approach has to be very different. Firstly, it would take a lifetime to turn out a couple of hundred display quality pieces, and secondly display quality painting isn't really suited to painting armies.
The first thing to consider is what you are trying to achieve. There will have to be a compromise between speed of painting and finished results, you have to decide which is more important. Two extreme examples would be a 15mm napoleonic army of several hundred soldiers compared to a 28mm skirmish game with a a dozen or so on a side. The 28mms will probably require a more detailed application of pigment than the little fellas.
Next, but related, think about how the finished armies should look, and from what viewpoint. By this I mean is each figure meant to be viewed under a glass or standing next to twenty of his mates on a table a metre away? I like to use the analogy of a magazine advert and a billboard. Both are used for the same eventual purpose of passing information on to viewers, but both need a very different approach to work. The magazine you read and absorb at your leisure, taking in all the details you might initially have missed. The billboard needs to be seen and absorbed practically instantly, you don't want to have to stand staring at the thing working out what it's trying to say. The same is true of your gaming armies. They should be instantly recognisable, but excess detail will detract from the overall effect. Try and imagine yourself viewing a battlefield from such a distance where the combatants resemble miniatures. You would probably be about a mile away. So you should try and turn out miniatures which, when viewed from a metre away, look like real men viewed from a mile away. In other words, you can't see their pupils, or read their name badges, but you can see what colour their uniforms are, and can probably pick out details like coloured hats or whatever. Using my example of Rorke's drift again, if you were watching this from a mile away, the british defenders whould appear as a wall of red with flashes of white from their webbing and pith helmets, while their assailants would appear as dark brown sillouettes, with again white flashes of loin cloths, shields et cetera. Related to this, I've noticed that even when painting troops who should in theory have a non-uniform appearance (my rebs) adegree of uniformity is still useful. Makes life easier when painting, but also makes your figures / units easier to identify (and again, contributes to that "viewed from a distance" effect)
So spend a bit of time looking at and thinking about your figures before you ever start. Also, this is a good time to think about what order you will tackle your colours in. When painting a display piece, I have a failry rigid way of working, but painiting armies it gets a bit more abstract. I will lay the colours down in whatever seems to be the quickest way for me. This is kind of hard to explain, but comes to thinking "if i lay that colour down first, i can tidy up with this next one. if i lay that one down, it's going to be tricky to get into the adjacent areas so i'd better do that last". Hypothethetically, if i was to paint an army of knights in armour with bare heads, i would probably decide it would be better to do the metallics first, then paint the flesh. Similarly, it's usually easier to pick out details after the larger areas have been laid down; paint your musketeers coats red, then add the white crossbelts.
So you know how they should look when finished, and you've worked out the order in which you will tackle the individual colours. Now think about your undercoat. Black or white are the main options, and again you should make choice based on the time / quality decision.
White or light undercoats allow for better coverage of pale colours, black is quicker as you don't have to paint in your shadows. Also, any spots you miss look as lot worse as white bits than as black bits (unless you're painting an army of snowmen or something). That's not the only options though. if your figures are predominantly blue say, you might want a blue undercoat. One member i know only uses a brown undercoat. Whatever is going to make your job easier (and quicker).
A good compromise is to use a light undercoat, then wash dark ink over the figure to give you some darker shadows, but leave the high areas pale. An alternative that I have never tried is to undercoat black then drybrush the whole figure with white. This will give a similar if more harsh effect.
So in summary;
1 Decide what overall effect you are trying to achieve.
2 Decide how you will tackle the colours.
3 Decide what undercoat will be most beneficial.
Time spent on the planning stage means time saved on the execution, or to put another way,
The Seven Ps
Perfect Planning and Preperation Prevents Piss-Poor Performance.
Next installment: I might see if I can come up with some actual painitng tips!
When you are painting armies rather than display pieces, the approach has to be very different. Firstly, it would take a lifetime to turn out a couple of hundred display quality pieces, and secondly display quality painting isn't really suited to painting armies.
The first thing to consider is what you are trying to achieve. There will have to be a compromise between speed of painting and finished results, you have to decide which is more important. Two extreme examples would be a 15mm napoleonic army of several hundred soldiers compared to a 28mm skirmish game with a a dozen or so on a side. The 28mms will probably require a more detailed application of pigment than the little fellas.
Next, but related, think about how the finished armies should look, and from what viewpoint. By this I mean is each figure meant to be viewed under a glass or standing next to twenty of his mates on a table a metre away? I like to use the analogy of a magazine advert and a billboard. Both are used for the same eventual purpose of passing information on to viewers, but both need a very different approach to work. The magazine you read and absorb at your leisure, taking in all the details you might initially have missed. The billboard needs to be seen and absorbed practically instantly, you don't want to have to stand staring at the thing working out what it's trying to say. The same is true of your gaming armies. They should be instantly recognisable, but excess detail will detract from the overall effect. Try and imagine yourself viewing a battlefield from such a distance where the combatants resemble miniatures. You would probably be about a mile away. So you should try and turn out miniatures which, when viewed from a metre away, look like real men viewed from a mile away. In other words, you can't see their pupils, or read their name badges, but you can see what colour their uniforms are, and can probably pick out details like coloured hats or whatever. Using my example of Rorke's drift again, if you were watching this from a mile away, the british defenders whould appear as a wall of red with flashes of white from their webbing and pith helmets, while their assailants would appear as dark brown sillouettes, with again white flashes of loin cloths, shields et cetera. Related to this, I've noticed that even when painting troops who should in theory have a non-uniform appearance (my rebs) adegree of uniformity is still useful. Makes life easier when painting, but also makes your figures / units easier to identify (and again, contributes to that "viewed from a distance" effect)
So spend a bit of time looking at and thinking about your figures before you ever start. Also, this is a good time to think about what order you will tackle your colours in. When painting a display piece, I have a failry rigid way of working, but painiting armies it gets a bit more abstract. I will lay the colours down in whatever seems to be the quickest way for me. This is kind of hard to explain, but comes to thinking "if i lay that colour down first, i can tidy up with this next one. if i lay that one down, it's going to be tricky to get into the adjacent areas so i'd better do that last". Hypothethetically, if i was to paint an army of knights in armour with bare heads, i would probably decide it would be better to do the metallics first, then paint the flesh. Similarly, it's usually easier to pick out details after the larger areas have been laid down; paint your musketeers coats red, then add the white crossbelts.
So you know how they should look when finished, and you've worked out the order in which you will tackle the individual colours. Now think about your undercoat. Black or white are the main options, and again you should make choice based on the time / quality decision.
White or light undercoats allow for better coverage of pale colours, black is quicker as you don't have to paint in your shadows. Also, any spots you miss look as lot worse as white bits than as black bits (unless you're painting an army of snowmen or something). That's not the only options though. if your figures are predominantly blue say, you might want a blue undercoat. One member i know only uses a brown undercoat. Whatever is going to make your job easier (and quicker).
A good compromise is to use a light undercoat, then wash dark ink over the figure to give you some darker shadows, but leave the high areas pale. An alternative that I have never tried is to undercoat black then drybrush the whole figure with white. This will give a similar if more harsh effect.
So in summary;
1 Decide what overall effect you are trying to achieve.
2 Decide how you will tackle the colours.
3 Decide what undercoat will be most beneficial.
Time spent on the planning stage means time saved on the execution, or to put another way,
The Seven Ps
Perfect Planning and Preperation Prevents Piss-Poor Performance.
Next installment: I might see if I can come up with some actual painitng tips!
) to paint some figures to basic gaming standard, so I've got the opportunity to try and get some wip photos and talk about how i go about a job like this.
