Byzantines in progress

[ErikB]

All I see are my mistakes....

This WIP is before doing some cleanup on the eyes and wrist sleeve/hand transition, before putting stripes on the spears, and before highlighting armor and skin.

Does anyone have any ideas to get that red and blue tunic to "pop" a little more?  The colors look nice and strong but lack zing.

Comments and criticisms, please.  

[fred]

The red I would go for a dark red wash - perhaps all over, but certainly in the folders to deepen the colour.

The blue I would perhaps add some very light blue highlights

The standing dude looks a bit 'starey' in the eye next to his spear hand

[Garanhir]

One simple trick to help make stripes stand out from each other is to darken the colours where they meet. One more shade of highlight might help add some pop.

I have similar trouble myself; I'm always bottling out on the highlights, but I am getting better. Well, a bit!

[ErikB]

I hear what you're saying with regards to the highlights only I'm not quite sure how to do it on those blue stripes.  With a raised surface I can edge the highlight but these are smooth and I'm not sure what to do.

So, how would you approach it?  Where would you paint?  The fabric doesn't have a lot of folds in it.  This looks nice in person but doesn't help me figure out where to highlight.

Also, regarding the straps, how do people get those tiny edges highlighted without messing up the surface below?  Flat brush?

Thanks!

[guitarheroandy]

For the blue stripes, you could try creating an illusion of folds in the cloth with a lighter shade ofthe blue, e.g. over the legs where there would be some kind of undulation in the cloth on a real person. To 'pop' the red, try limited  lighter highlights on top edges of folds that are already there. Combine with a darker wash as suggested above and you start to get a greater contrast...

[WillieB]

Really like your figures!
The easiest way to do it is to simply add a fine  dark purple line between the red and blue.
For highlighting ( dry-brushing) small surfaces I can heartily recommend the small 'Ivory' flats by Rosemary.

[ErikB]

For the blue stripes, you could try creating an illusion of folds in the cloth with a lighter shade ofthe blue, e.g. over the legs where there would be some kind of undulation in the cloth on a real person.

I got another color of blue and have put it on certain areas.  It's strange - I cannot really discern the difference color but the blue parts do "pop" a bit more.  I think it will become more obvious with a close-up photo.

Next step is the red.  I am satisfied with Cavalry Brown as a base color.  I'll have to mix up some wash with it and some kind of thinner.  The water where I live has a lot of mineral in it and has such a high surface tension that water beads up instead of going into crevasses.  

For highlighting, I just bought a brighter Vallejo red called Vermillion.  Haven't tried it, yet. 

Also, I got some Secret Weapon black wash.  I am eager to try it.  Enclosed is an image of a total failure with GW's wash on the scale armor.  The wash did a great job on the helmet, though.

All these photos are WIPs.  I'll post final images once they're ready.  It will be a long time coming, though.

I *really* need to fix his eye.  It's so small, a dot with a 0.005 mm micron pen.  It is hard to get the top of the eye shaped right from the top on account of the helmet.  That part is very deep and hard to reach.

Working on it....

[Garanhir]

With regard to the straps, I can tell you what I do, though better painters will probably have other tricks. Rather than try to highlight the edges of a narrow belt or strap, I start off in the light tone and shade the centre down. I find it a lot easier and just as effective.

[MediumAl]

Hi,
I find the brightness of red depends very much on the colour of the paint underneath it. I use an army-painter type dip, which I brush on over the base colours and then highlight to bring the colours back. I found that highlighting red left it still looking dull. My solution was to crudely highlight the red with yellow, and when that has dried apply a thin coat of red over all the red including the highlights. The bits where the undercoat is yellow are much brighter.

One tip on the eye - white first, black dot in the middle, then apply the flesh top and bottom to narrow the eye. If you're good enough to make it look like the eyelids, even better. I've followed the Perry's lead and even on 28mm only tend to paint the eyes on character figures. The wash I use pools in the eye-sockets to hint at their presence and I don't feel it detracts from the look of a unit.

[ErikB]

Great idea for the straps.  I'll try that on the next batch.

Regarding the eye, that's what I usually do, too, only in this case I am having a tough time getting the top and bottom horizontal lines in the right spot.

Next batch will get brand new brushes.  That ought to help on the brush control problems.

Here are these three guys done as far as I think I'll take them, except for red stripes on the spears, adding shields and sprinkling static grass, which I'll add when all of them are done so they get the same look.  Ideally, that grass will cover the transition from sand to flat base, both the square base and the metal part under the guys' feet.

I might put some more wash on the scale-armored guy's helmet to blend in that splotch of metal highlight and I may add some red/flesh was to the bronze that looks too highlighted with that silver.  Very frustrating.

Please keep the comments and criticisms coming!  I am *trying* to make this army (ca. 100 guys) the best I have ever made.  It's not going that well, yet.

[matiec]

Stick with it they look fine, just go steady on the eyes I think less is sometimes more. Me I'm a wash man so everything gets a simple base coat then a wash and then 1 or exceptionally two highlights then onto the battlefield. There are lots of better painters than me though.

[ErikB]

I am trying not to rely upon washes in an effort to really exercise my painting skills.  I'd like to get them to look like Dr. Phil's, Kevin Dallimore's or Moeterei's.

I think they'll be alright with the right highlighting and eyes.  That will be the challenge with this particular paint scheme.

[WillieB]

Do you like the eyes on this figures?
If so I'll tell you how to do it. Very simple in fact.

[ErikB]

Very nice!  How did you do it?

[Nevyen]

Yeah good effect do tell!