Customizing 101

TheSameIdiot

TheSameIdiot

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For the time being, I deleted our Customizer's Workshop subforum. Unless we someday have demand for a separate subforum, we'll host all custom threads, questions, WIP threads, etc. on this board.

I've been psyching myself up for my third earnest attempt at customizing. After unrealistic ambitions and lofty expectations doomed my first two tries, I'm coming in with more practical plans. This time, I'm looking at doing some washes, dry brushing, and maybe a few part swaps. I'm not Raybot.

I posted one of these on Fwoosh a few years ago. I believe Discogod provided a ton of helpful pointers (miss that guy), but we lost the thread before I was able to apply any of the advice. So, again, I need your help. I'm coming in with virtually no base knowledge.
  • What do I buy?
  • Where do I buy it?
  • How do I do it?
 
I received a ton of helpful tips about painting armor from folks on page 25 of the Mythic Legions thread. Posting some of the more general tips here:

altcunningham said:
Dry brush the edges and wear points, then wash.

My favourite wash is the Warhammer Nuln Oil. Always looks gritty and grimy.
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Buttmunch said:
You’ll get more realistic weathering if you think through how something got weathered. If they are walking through mud, their shins down are probably going to be grimey-er than their upper body. They will probably take more blows to their front than their back so the back shouldn’t have as much damage. Do they carry their sword on one side all the time or their shield in certain place. Thinking of how everything is worn and used will help you know where to add and where to leave alone. And being asymmetrical is key to realism!
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altcunningham said:
You’ll get more realistic weathering if you think through how something got weathered. If they are walking through mud, their shins down are probably going to be grimey-er than their upper body. They will probably take more blows to their front than their back so the back shouldn’t have as much damage. Do they carry their sword on one side all the time or their shield in certain place. Thinking of how everything is worn and used will help you know where to add and where to leave alone. And being asymmetrical is key to realism!
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Picto Nocturne said:
Their marketing guy used to do some customs videos, which were pretty useful. I used this one to muddy up some skeletons:

This is another one I found that was helpful for rusty weapons:

The videos on painting miniatures posted above are great too, as the same techniques/paints, etc. can be applied to figures. They're quite calming to watch as well. I really like this one, which shows how dry brushing can make really convincing looking metal:


Might be information overload but hope it helps!
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Damien said:
I'm late so there's already lots of good suggestions. When I need help, I always look for Duncan Rhodes on YT. His current channel is Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy, I think. He used to be the main on-screen personality for the official Warhammer channel for all the painting videos. He is not only an incredibly talented guy, but he's very good at the actual 'teaching you how to do it' part without it being a 45 minute video. So both his channel and the Warhammer official channel (particularly the old Duncan stuff, but the new people are okay too) are terrific.
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There's a few companies that sell washes and drybrush paints specifically for the types of looks you're going for. Citadel (Games Workshop) is the most obvious one. Army Painter has some as well, for sure. The where depends on you. If you've got a local gaming store.... there. Games Workshop stores obviously carry a good selection of their lines of paints, and your friendly local gaming store likely has a larger overall selection but possibly fewer paints per brand.

There's also like.. a fuckton of places online to buy them if you want to go that route. It's worth noting that sometimes Citadel paints are actually cheaper from gaming stores than they are directly from Games Workshop, for some fucking reason.

I can probably give you an idea of what specific colors to buy from Citadel (that's the brand I use most), but it'll depend on exactly what you're trying to do and what the base color is you're going to be working on.
 
I would also recommend visiting a local gaming store for paints, as the prices have been better there too in my experience. They also have a wider range of brands to choose from, in case you can't quite find what you're looking for in your preferred brand. I've only ever used citadel and vallejo so far (and mostly only used citadel to paint miniatures years ago), but both have been good.

If you're just getting started and looking to paint some armour, then you can get small sets of basic colours (including usually one metallic) or sets that are just metallics. A black/brown wash should also be enough to get started.

The citadel undercoat primers/sprays are also really good if you're painting something completely from scratch (such as a 3d printed part). I would usually go with grey for most things, but apparrently black can be good for metallics. Would again recommend watching a couple of tutorials to help get you started and ensure that you get a light even coat before you paint.

One big mistake I used to make was to put the paint on too thick, when it's best to build up in thinner layers. It takes longer, but it looks much more natural and avoids that tacky/gloopy finish. This is why working with a wash and then dry brushing to start with can be helpful, because it helps pick out the detail with tiny amounts of paint.

Another quick customising tip that has shown up in numerous places is to use some matt clear coat on glossier figures to give them a more even looking finish. The video below is the one I used to get started (at around the 3 minute mark), and it can make a really big difference. You just have to be careful to apply thin even coats and make sure it's not too hot/cold when it's applied. Also 100% use a mask (that goes for any undercoats/primers too):


For any of this stuff though, the main thing is have a read around, watch a few videos and then maybe practice on a figure (or some random accessories) that you're not too afraid to mess up.
 
That matte sealant tip is the single-most important one for realism, imho. I've found that scatter-brushing a few coats of matte onto skintones from all directions helps give it better depth-of-light-penetration and reflectivity like skin has. It's extremely subtle in-hand but how light reflects off flesh is different from how it'll reflect off manufactured surfaces.
 
Brushes... I've seen a few silicone brushes on pegs lately, but the instructions seem to imply they are for sculpting and not painting. It would be surprising to find out brush technology has changed for the first time in 10,000 years. Anybody have experience with these or knowledge of their efficacy.
 
Red Ogre said:
Brushes... I've seen a few silicone brushes on pegs lately, but the instructions seem to imply they are for sculpting and not painting. It would be surprising to find out brush technology has changed for the first time in 10,000 years. Anybody have experience with these or knowledge of their efficacy.
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Silicone brushes are stiffer and don't absorb paint the same way other synthetic or sable brushes do. So they're easier to clean, technically. But they're kind of useless if you're into painting miniatures and probably most action figure customizing because they don't hold a lot of paint in the 'belly' of the brush, like normal synthetic or hobby brushes. So you're going back to the paint often. They seem to me more like general crafting brushes for kids' projects and stuff than dedicated hobby tools.

But I don't have a LOT of experience with them so YMMV.
 
Yeah, synth brushes have never satisfied. Paint neither 'holds' in the brush as well, and comes back off the brush in blobs instead of a smooth smear; imho.
 
Anyone here have a DC multiverse rubber crotch cover, male sized? Need it to cover a neca gargoyle. I'd actually like 2 as I'm making 2 customs. Preferably plain. If so, please hit me up and let me know how much for it (or them).

Thanks!
 
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