Are you Slap-Chopping? - Now includes Suck Cut (yes, really!)

[nozza_uk]

My social media timelines seem to be inundated with references to a newish painting technique called 'slap-chopping'.

If you've never heard of it (and I hadn't), these YouTube vids may help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH3WGHw9eDw & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKztEjvGsVw

Has anyone tried it? What's your experience of 'slap-chopping'?

[Hobgoblin]

I think I could make a reasonable claim to have invented it three years ago - or at least to have been one of the first to try it:

http://hobgoblinry.blogspot.com/2019/09/contrast-paints-and-black-undercoat.html


It is a very quick technique for getting miniatures done quickly. One of the refinements I've picked up from YouTube is to use colours other than white and grey. For these trolls, I used buff and ivory - and I got all three done in about an hour.

[Bloggard]

thanks very much for posting that nozza.

seen links on YT, and, put off by the usual gurning expressions and click-bait titles of the 'personalities', have passed on watching.

But that's a nicely done vid. (that's the guy that was all over GW and then 'disappeared', right?).

No doubt Hobgoblin is correct.
**Also it seems, effectively, to be the 'zenithal' highlighting technique (just not so ... zenithal / directional) that people were talking about pretty much as soon as contrast paints launched.
[edit: ah right - see comments from others below]

But it's nice to see it given this easy encapsulation / point of entry, with a memorable name (**actually, Tikitang puts it very well below - it is actually a very dumb name - but ... memorable) etc.

I think his result is a little 'weak' finally (for my taste).
Also, he seems to be calling Contrast paint decanted onto a wet-pallette, but not further diluted, as 'stock', which can't be the case - it has to be absorbing water (?) - might explain how it turns out.
I prefer the full-brightness effect with CPs.
Hobgoblin get's closer in his post (excellent stuff as ever).

But I guess there's always going to be a trade-off between transparency and strength of colour with this technique, also avoiding the shadow areas becoming to muddy etc.

anyhow, giving this a proper go might actually get me to the point of 'painting' some figures again.

[snitcythedog]

I am more of a shake weight kind of guy. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwIJlEsIVZQ

[Bloggard]

thank god you didn't post a link to the 'shake-weight for men (unofficial)' ...

[BeneathALeadMountain]

This technique isn’t new at all and has just been ‘promoted’ recently by the poor souls who thought they could enjoy their hobby and make money through it with YouTube (good for them but it looks like miserable, formulaic work at times) and was called underpainting when I was shown it as a basic technique (along with dry brushing etc) in the 80’s.

To be honest the only reason it’s become “the new thing” is it’s not only easy (hands up all who have miniatures still waiting for paint) but also gives better results than it used to as there are lots of new paints designed for this style coming from every manufacturer. I’m not a massive fan of the look generally but it’s perfect for getting models to the table, and once at a base level you can start adding highlights etc. when you want to.

Stay safe,
BeneathALeadMountain

[DS615]

This technique isn’t new at all and has just been ‘promoted’ recently by the poor souls who thought they could enjoy their hobby and make money through it with YouTube (good for them but it looks like miserable, formulaic work at times) and was called underpainting when I was shown it as a basic technique (along with dry brushing etc) in the 80’s.

Exactly, I was going to say the same, but you've done it better already.
Not new.  Except for the dumb name, that's new.

[tikitang]

Don't like the name (sounds like the name of the latest fad that teenage delinquents are doing in the streets, probably involving the assault of random passers by), but also, no, I'm not doing it, and don't intend to either. That said, Hobgoblin's "slap-chopped" beasties are, as ever, impressive, particularly in light of the time taken. It usually takes me an hour just to put one layer of paint on one miniature!

[BeneathALeadMountain]

  Apologies I didn’t mean to sound quite as angry/cantankerous as that came off I’m just tired of the way the hobby is approached through social media (particularly youtube) - I’m running out of YouTube hobby channels I can watch 

BeneathALeadMountain

[Hobgoblin]

This technique isn’t new at all and has just been ‘promoted’ recently by the poor souls who thought they could enjoy their hobby and make money through it with YouTube (good for them but it looks like miserable, formulaic work at times) and was called underpainting when I was shown it as a basic technique (along with dry brushing etc) in the 80’s.

To be honest the only reason it’s become “the new thing” is it’s not only easy (hands up all who have miniatures still waiting for paint) but also gives better results than it used to as there are lots of new paints designed for this style coming from every manufacturer.

Yes, indeed - I did the same thing with inks/GW washes c.1989-1990, but it was much less effective because (a) the inks/washes were much less heavily pigmented and so much less effective at the job and (b) I didn't apply sufficiently heavy coats of the intermediate grey or whatever. My experiments then led to very dark and dull miniatures!

As I noted in that blog, contrast paints over a black undercoat are actually much better for speed-painting than contrast paints over the recommended white/off-white undercoat. That's because the neatening up (lining or whatever) takes much longer than the painting over the light undercoats; the splotches are hidden by the black base. I've got boxes full of semipainted stuff from when contrast paints first came in: I just haven't found the time to tidy them up!

[Fitz]

Back in the distant past, when mighty mammoth roamed the tundra (the 1980s), I used to do this sort of thing with transparent watercolours. The effects weren't as good as with some of the modern speed-paint formulations, but the principle was exactly the same. More recently I've been using Vallejo (and others) acrylic inks for the same job, though the pre-mixed colour ranges are small.

I'd like to try some of the Army Painter speed-paints to get masses of mooks on the table quickly, but nobody local stocks them and I don't have a plump enough wallet to order them from afar on the off-chance that the colours are just what I want.

[robh]

My social media timelines seem to be inundated with references to a newish painting technique called 'slap-chopping'

Not new or even newish, not by any means.
The technique has been around the gaming figure industry since the early 1980s to my knowledge. It was originally done with pigments (ink, enamel or acrylic for different effects) mixed with enamel gloss varnish.

As with pretty much everything on social media some "influencer" copies an existing thing, renames it and claims to have invented the newest bestest thing ever to boost their thread "click" count.  Total bollocks.

[Vanvlak]

Even I have been using this for at least a couple of years, that usually means the whole world is doing it as I tend to arrive late. In my case I use a more slapdash application of the lighter coat to get what I call a comic book effect. I agree it's fast and effective for finishing large numbers of models to a more than decent quality.

[nozza_uk]

Total bollocks.

 

[nozza_uk]

I'm failing to see how slap-chopping is any faster than using contrast paints or washes.