Step-by-Step painting of the Deep Soldier

[antimatter]

Hi folks,

This figure is the Deep Soldier for the Fortune Hunter force for DeepWars. The game is coming out later this year and was funded in Kickstarter but there is still a pre-order option. For some information on the game see this page. http://www.antimatter-games.com/deepwars.htm

Here is the sculpt without paint or base - before casting. This figure is cast in resin.





To start, the figure was primed in white, leaving off the gun arm.




The next step was to give the whole figure a wash of a mix of burnt sienna ink (Liquitex) + Indian Yellow (Golden Fluid Acrylics) + matte medium. This was mixed about 1/3 for each part and was left a bit gloppy, adding a touch of water but mainly leaving it a thick wash. While it looks strange, the idea behind this is to create an underlying color of bronze that will show through below the later layers.




The next step is the big one, as it controls the overall color of the model. This is a wash of Burnt Umber ink + Turquoise ink (Liquitex) + matte medium. It has a dual purpose, one, to shade the figure in the cracks and crevices, and two, to change the overall tone to a dark bronze. If doing a quick gaming mini this is probably all you need, but we want something with more depth.



The next step involves highlighting with a mix of a touch of Burnt Sienna ink and mostly Golden Highlight (Reaper MSP), up to pure Golden Highlight. The trick with this type of highlighting is to use a thinned layer of paint, maybe 80% water and build up layers of highlight with quick strokes of the brush. I call it scrubbing as the the quick strokes seem to be scrubbing the paint around. Other folks call it feathering but the idea is the same, to use quick brushstrokes which allow the paint only a short time to dry. Final highlights on edges are done with Golden Highlight + water at about 50/50. Thick enough to be opaque but still smooth enough to come off the brush. A sharp point is very useful for following the lines on all of the armor plates. What you have here now is an "underpainting" that is shaded and highlighted and needs color and tone.




Now the color work can start. The underpainted model is glazed with shaded of blue-green and brown, mostly different mixes of Burnt Umber, Sienna and Pthalo blue and Turquoise. These glazes are not washed on, but are actually painted on and are typically 90% water or more since the ink is so pure of color. It does not take much to change the color tone, so use the glazes sparingly. One thing about this technique is that it necessarily messes up the clean highlighting work done in the previous step. There is no real way around this unless the glazes are applied perfectly.

 

The glazed model is then re-highlighted with ink mixed with Golden Highlight, up to Ivory, especially on the edges of armor plates. The glass was painted with Turquoise and blue ink mixed with Ivory. The trick for the small windows was to paint an oval in the middle, leaving an outline of "metal". The oval was highlighted and the metal given a small edge highlight so it looks like there is a border around the glass. Additionally, some blue highlights were added to the left side of the model to make it look like a blue glow was coming from above in that direction. This was done with Pthalo Blue ink and Ivory in thin layers, practically a glaze.

 

The right arm and gun were painted using the same techniques, then attached when the body was done. The gold on the gun was done with Indian Yellow as the base, shaded with Burnt Umber and Sienna ink and highlighted with Golden Highlight. Part of the goal here is to use a limited palette. The worn spear was simply black washes over white, highlighted with gray and white.

 

Finally, the base was painted to look like a mottled seafloor, with many glazes of different colors of ink and highlights done with many speckles with the brush tip. Some additional blue highlights were added and glazes of turquoise to tie it all together.

 
 

[Svennn]

Nice work 

[smirnoff]

Really nice; learnt a lot from that. Thanks.
I can find the Liquitex and Golden Fluid Acrylic stuff in the UK, but not the Golden Highlight (Reaper MSP).
Is there an alternative out there available in the Uk does anyone know?

[antimatter]

The Liquitex ink (called Liquitex Professional Acrylic Ink) is excellent stuff. Golden Highlight is a nice color, a bit like bleached bone with a touch of yellow ochre I think. Any nice golden cream color would work well though, as long as it has the right consistency and is not grainy. Golden highlight is really good in that respect.

[smirnoff]

Thanks.
I use mainly Foundry and Vallejo; I would have thought they may be the wrong type of paint for the semi-opaque technique (that I have never tried)?

[antimatter]

well, you have the opaque part settled then

Golden fluid acrylics are translucent for the most part except the light tones. They have a nice bone color called titan buff though. They do not wear well though like hobby paints which seem to have different binding materials. The Liquitex inks are very different from other inks I have used, drying a bit flat and actually usable without medium. They blend well also, almost like paint for some of them.

[Andym]

WOW!! That's really nice!! Model and paint job! Is the model available separately?

[antimatter]

WOW!! That's really nice!! Model and paint job! Is the model available separately?

It will be available soon. I'm trying to have a bunch of new models for the starter sets of DeepWars come out in a couple of months.

[FramFramson]

The thing that always kills me with this sort of paintjob is the forward planning. I can't believe that some people are able to see five or six layers ahead and plan the right steps when there's often a world of difference between each layer. I mean, I know some trial and error would have come into it, but still... just a phenomenal job.

[Dr Mathias]

Very impressive, I love the look that happens with your transparent layering... multiple, distinct colors all working together. Beautiful!

[aggro84]

I really appreciate the tutorial. It's really made me think about how I approach miniature painting. 
Thank you for sharing. 

[Schogun]

Incredible work!


Thanks.

[lextheimpaler]

Stunning work, so many steps but the end product is a work of art 

[Mr.J]

Great looking mini and very helpful notes on your technique. What a great post!

[The_Beast]

Will the list of the despised competent ever end?

Even a curmudgeon such as I only has SO much hate to spread...

So lovely, I must shed tears of deepest frustration...

Doug