Alf 24 Robot

[ErikB]

This is Reaper's ALF 24 robot.  Did not turn out at all like I expected but I think I'm happy.

Experimented with making inks out of base-color mixed with a darker color and lots of flow-improver.  That seems to have done the job better than I had expected.  I'll have to apply this technique more, especially to hair and wrinkles in clothing.

I am very displeased by the lack of crispness in between joints and colors in my painting.  Will have to work on that.  Any suggestions?

Comments and criticism welcome.

[Remington]

I think the paint-job is lovely actually. It definitely made me put this robot on my to-buy list.

Crispiness between colours and joint is probably going to be difficult to achieve with washes and inks. A wash isn't as controllable as a normal coat of paint. To go into more detail a clearer picture would be helpful.

Still... that is just nitpicking cause you asked. I love the little fella.

[ErikB]

Thanks for the nitpicking.  I appreciate it.

I prime, do the undercoat, then some highlighting with the main color.  Then I ink with a darkened version of the basecoat (vallejo khaki with some delvan mud).  Then, try to clean up with that main color (vallejo Buff).  That's "supposed" to clean up those lines. 

Then, highlight with buff/white and white.

Does this sound reasonable for trying to produce some more sharpness?

I'll try to take and post better photos, too.  This is in my office with a cell phone camera.

[Remington]

That's more or less how I painted the blacks and blues on my sailors. But I did two passes of this procedure to get a result I liked and still the edges of these surfaces are not as crisp as I'd like them to be. What helps is proper blacklining afterwards.

[ErikB]

I'm trying to develop the skill of blacklining with a darkened version of the basecoat so as to create a more subtle shading.  Still not quite getting it right.

I have some great little 0.005 mm Micron pens for making small black marks but for darkened basecoat I need to mix paints and flow-improver and use a brush.  That brings me back to the original challenge with this little guy.

Care to post a link to your sailors?

[Remington]

Sure thing:

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=21847.0

The dark blues and blacks were painted using washes.