Airbrushing and Masking Miniatures - Plus Blue Steel NMM Technique

Masking, is there anything worse? It just never seems to go quite right, and no matter what fancy product you use it can be a bit of a battleground. Most of the time, it tends to go two ways; you either mask so well that you end up peeling the paint off when you take the tape away, or you do it too tentatively and end up with overspray and a bad finish.

Despite these concerns, I've been working on a technique that gives good coverage and protection, whilst not doing any damage. I managed to try it out this weekend on my Infinity Guijia, and it worked wonders.

I started by painting the orange armour sections with the airbrush (as orange is the main colour I didn't do any masking). I completely finished these by adding in edge highlights with the standard brush, and when I was happy, I gave them a coat of Vallejo Satin Varnish. This has the same lustre as the regular paint, but helps protect it from the next steps (It is also very important for my secret overspray defence technique, but more on that later). I painted in the areas that I wanted to do in Steel NMM in black with a regular brush as I was going to add a blend with various greys to them.

At this point, I usually find that something strange will happen. I'll be sitting there at my painting table and the airbrush will start to talk. It'll eye up the masking tape and say "Hey buddy, I thought you were a real man ... you don't need to mask anything, I wouldn't overspray on you". Try not to listen though - it's a trick. Even when it brings up all the progress you've made, and how nice your last mini was...

I find that Tamiya make good masking tape. It's pretty much as simple as that. I've used a few different brands, but it's the only one I trust not to weld itself on and come off with all of my hard work stuck to it. I have the varnish too for protection and I try not to leave it on there too long (an hour or so should be enough time to get what I need done). It does take a bit of time to get the tape on there and get coverage that you're happy with, but you really can't cut any corners. If you only need to mask the model to paint one thing that sticks out, I recommend using some plastic wrap like you used to have for your sandwiches, as the coverage is good and fast and I've never had any problems with peeling it off.

Blue-Steel NMM (Non Metallic Metal)

Top tip for mixing paint for the airbrush - mix it separately, not in the airbrush's cup and the consistency is right when it runs freely.

For the blue steel effect, I painted 4 layers over the black with the airbrush:

1. A general highlight with a mix of black, Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue and white. This is a pretty dark mix, and the blue seems to help get some interest into it as well as aids the non metallic metal appearance.
2. I followed up with another highlight, mixing in a greater quantity of white this time, and focusing on the upper areas and places that seemed like they should be reflective.
3. I finished up with 2 highlight layers of pure white. The reason for the second coat was to try to intensify the "shine" that I was going for.

This was the colour that I used for the original mix (although this picture is from when I was painting it with the normal brush later)

After that, I painted his sword in blue, and then it was time for the moment of truth; peeling the tape. Luckily, thanks to all that preparation, it went rather well.

Even with all of that masking, I still had a little overspray on some of the orange parts to contend with. This was quite noticeable on the pilot's arm, where the end had got speckled with white unintentionally. Luckily though, I was prepared to deal with it, and that varnish was a real time saver.

Dealing with Overspray

Remember that varnish? If you're looking to make this work, I hope you applied it!

Like I said, this only works if you added varnish during the earlier step. This is because it protects the paint from what I'm about to do. Working quickly, I grab my airbrush cleaning fluid. This stuff is designed to break down paint in the mechanism, so it'll eat the paint right off. I take a fairly soft old brush, dip it into the fluid and then apply it directly to the overspray. I rub it for about 10 seconds, or until I see it dissolve and then wash the whole area out with a lot of clean water. I want to make sure that there won't be any cleaning solution left as I have no idea what it would do, so I recommend a lot of water (so obviously only do this once the paint you were applying is dry!).

Finishing Up

After a delicate scrubbing, the few little bits of overspray were gone and the mini was ready for the final steps. In this instance, that meant painting in some of the steel bits that I couldn't reach with the airbrush and then finishing up the steel with a final shade in the recesses and sharp highlight to get a bit more shine on it. For these steps, I used pure black and pure white respectively.

Guijia TAG and Pilot - Almost Finished!

This might be my finest work yet. Occasionally, when painting a miniature I have a jump forward in technique. This time, it came when I was painting the grey NMM steel on this Guijia (don't ask me how you pronounce that). Handily, I took a few pictures during the process, so I should be able to talk a bit more about it later. 

One of the things that I really progressed in was actually not what you'd expect. Oddly, I improved my technique when masking the model, which in turn allowed me to go further with the airbrush and push the application to 3 separate blended colors - namely, the orange armour, steel, and blue sword. I still haven't finished the base, but I was so excited that I couldn't wait to take a few pictures. 

The pilot is cool too. I'm not sure how often I'll actually get to see her in the game, but I like the mini. She reminds me of Evangellion or something. I struggled a bit with her face though. I might have to go back and make some corrections to her later. Faces can still feel a bit like a gamble; you never quite now how it'll turn out!

The orange is even more saturated this time too, thanks to an additional shade of red that I added to make it pop even more. I love the design on this thing too. It really screams Gundam, which is always a good thing in a sci-if robot.

I was particularly happy with the calf parts as the gave me a nice big space to work up the NMM. The surprising part about this thing is  that even now, I've probably only spent 5 hours on it over one weekend, which for the quality of the job is pretty damn good. Unfortunately, my speed  is also sort of a curse, as I lack the patience when it comes to actual competitions. I guess I'll live with it, as the trade-off is having a lot of really nice minis!

The other side. I didn't want to put too many layers into the airbrush for the steel looking NMM as I wasn't sure how it would turn out. I might layer the highlights more next time I use this technique to push the contrast.

Like I said earlier, I'll post more about the painting techniques later. For now, I'm just gonna take a break; painting this intensely sure is tiring!

Infinity - Yu Jing Showcase

I've been working towards a fully completed 200 point force for the past few weeks for a few Infinity games that I've got coming up. With this post, I'm happy to announce that the force is all painted up and ready for deployment!

I even had some extra time to paint up a spare miniature or two, so the force is a bit larger than I need for the games that I have booked. I'm still adding to it too, so there will still be more miniatures coming off of my painting desk soon. I've really enjoyed working on these miniatures, and it struck me how quickly you can become accustomed to working with metal again. I don't know about everyone else, but I don't tend to see a lot of manufacturers working with metal anymore, and it really isn't always a good thing! (Finecast... I'm looking at you...).

From a personal standpoint, I'm all about the detail, so as long as the detail is there, I'm fine with any material (although I still like the quality and malleability  of GW's plastics, and the sheer detail quality of Anvil's resin products).

The more recent additions to this force are mostly from the Yu Jing starter set from Red Veil. It really feels like Infinity has hit its stride now, and almost every model coming out is a sight to behold. The designs are top notch, and everything has a nice defined sci-fi style. These miniatures are going to be used in conjunction with some of the ones that I've already featured (the Ninja, Domaru Butai and bike). I'll add a picture of them below. Next up is the Guijia and some scenery. Luckily, I've got a start on both, so the next part of the force should be up soon!

Infinity - Red Veil Ninja

I've been hard at work again. This time on another mini for my Infinity Yu Jing force. Don't ask me why, but there's just something about all of these 40k 8th Edition rumours that makes me really want to focus on a different game for a while; until the edition is out and we start getting really solid info and pictures that is!

Back on topic, I'm really impressed with this Ninja. She is a special edition miniature that comes in the Operation Red Veil Starter set that I purchased at Salute recently (£50 from Troll Trader!). I really like the design, and also the nice dynamic pose. She painted up really nicely too, so that was a big bonus.

As the rest of the force are orange, I wanted to do something different and interesting to differentiate the ninja (the standard scheme is black). It just to happened that I was priming a batch of Yu Jing minis grey and I liked the look of it on the Ninja, so I decided to keep it. It worked with the scheme too as white is one of the accent colours that I've been using. I added an extra shade with dark grey and then a white highlight both with the airbrush to get a nice blend going on as a base for the mini, and then I started painting from there.

 

What I didn't realise was that the grey colour scheme with orange accent as almost exactly like Ninja in the original Metal Gear Solid (Grey Fox). That made me like the scheme even more, as to be honest the model was obviously inspired by him (she basically look like a gender-swapped version!).

 

 

After that, I started working on some basic troops. I hope to get the force tabletop ready soon.

 

While working on this post, I accidentally posted it to the blog exchange, so I guess you can all enjoy it a day early! Just don't forget to check out my work on that bike that I posted earlier today!

 

 

The Orange Bike of Doom

A while ago, I started painting up this bike for use with my Yu Jing force (technically, it's an Aleph model, but I couldn't resist). Anyway, I finished her over the weekend, and I'm over the moon with how the orange bike came out. She looks great with the force too.

I based the highlights heavily on Angel Giraldez's work. One of the reasons I bought this bike was specifically because she was covered in his first masterclass book and I wanted to give it a go myself; albeit with rather different colours. Out of all of the pictures, this group shot actually displays her in a way that is very true to what the model looks like in person (for some reason, photos often tend to change colours or warp things a bit). 

If you missed it, you can read how I painted the orange here:

 how-to-paint-infinity-yu-jing-orange

She is actually featured in the tutorial, so it's well worth checking out if you're interested. Speaking of the method, I've now updated it to include an extra step; pure white highlights to create a "shine" at key points. They do tend to disappear a bit in the photos, but do make a big difference in person.

True to form, I've included a dynamic shot too for your viewing pleasure. I've got a lot of Yu Jing cluttering up my painting table at the moment, so stay tuned as hopefully there'll be more of them appering on here over the next few weeks.

TT Combat Japanese Style Terrain

I picked up some laser cut MDF terrain recently at Salute for a project that I've been working on. For a while now, I've been slowly building up a collection of Yu Jing miniatures for Infinity, but I really wanted some matching scenery for the faction. Most of the Japanese style pieces I has seen were a bit expensive and I couldn't really justify it for one skirmish game (especially when I haven't finished painting up my force yet!).

My normal board is really very 40k centred; with a pretty heavy smattering of ruins and gothic buildings that just look completely out of place for Infinity, which has a much more modern-day up-to-date feel. Infinity is really a near-future sci-fi. Sure, there are aliens and robots, but the main aesthetic is nothing like the barren post apocalyptic gothic that we're used to in 40k. With that in mind, I'd always been tempted to get some terrain specifically for the game.

I headed off to Salute determined to come back with one or two things specifically for Infinity. By coincidence, I was going with my brother who was also looking to buy a bunch of terrain, so we had the same goals in mind. It was at this point that we stumbled on the TT Combat range at the Troll Trader Stand. It turns out that at some point, they branched off into MDF terrain, and from the look of the number of products on offer, they never looked back. I'd always fancied some Japanese-style terrain (having been to the country a few times) and infinity gave me the opportunity to include some in my games. The aesthetic is very much traditional for these pieces, but it blends in well for Infinity and should be nice and characterful to play on.

One of the real selling points was the price. This stuff is seriously cheap compared to most products out there, and the Salute discounts made it absolutely irresistible. For example, the total cost for both buildings was £13. When I compared the price to Games Workshop's latest scenery releases following Shadow Wars, which come in at £30 for one small tower, it really is shocking. You could cover most of a table for that price with TT Combat products! (incidentally, they actually sell a bundle pack for ruins that is well suited to 40k, and breathtakingly thrifty).

Price aside, the quality is really good. They do take a little bit of building though - with a lot of separate components to cut and glue. Another thing that is worth mentioning is that as the kits are wooden, you have to use PVA glue to stick them together, which can increase the amount of time it takes to build them compared to good old fashioned cyanoacrylate! It is worth mentioning that they don't come with instructions, although they are available online on the website in pdf format, and are fairly easy to follow once you get used to the material.

The wood isn't heavy either, which some people might be concerned about. The pieces are thin, but strong and the fit has been very good so far. The kits are supplied in sheets, with the pieces being laser cut through with one or two connections left to stop them falling out of the boards. The parts don't take a long time to prep and have been a lot of fun to put together for the most part (although some of the more fiddly bits can be a bit difficult!).

The TT Combat terrain sets are available online direct from Troll Trader if anyone is interested (the range is pretty massive and you can get it on eBay too). For mine, I went with Japanese as a bit of a change, and because I knew we'd be able to use it to spice up my brother's industrial parts for a nice characterful  board. The other ranges they make variously include sci-fi, gothic, fantasy dungeons, a Venusian style cityscape and other styles too. I was a particular fan of the gantries, cranes and  that they make. The massive ship was a really tempting piece too, as little skirmishes across a container ship would be awesome. I only managed to hold off on that one because I have nowhere to store the thing.

Painting wise, I've heard that MDF needs sealing with PVA and that it will "suck up paint". I was a bit weary of that at first, but I was determined to blast the stuff up with the airbrush as fast as I could whilst still getting a good result. I know some people really love to lavish a lot of time on their terrain and I can only applaud them for it. For me, I want it to look good and enhance the battle, whilst still leaving me plenty of time to paint my actual miniatures and get a game in occasionally.

In total, these pieces took me about 2 hours to paint (and a lot of that time was spent cleaning the airbrush!). It turns out that primer applies fine directly onto the MDF, so it was pretty easy in the end. I used a lot of tricks to get some tonal variance and interest into them fast too!

Infinity Domaru Butai Painted

Well, the blog has been a bit quiet lately; must be time to break the silence with something fresh and different!

I've had these miniatures sitting about for quite a while now, and I was looking through my drawer the other day and I decided that it was high time I finished them. Those of you with good memories may remember them from my Painting Orange Tutorial from a while back.

If you don't play Infinity, they're from a faction called Yu Jing that are basically a conglomerate of futuristic Chinese and Japanese factions. These guys are specifically from the Japanese Sectorial Army. Like I mentioned, I did a tutorial on this color scheme a while back for anyone interested. Technique wise, I use the airbrush to lay down a blend and use a bit of pre-shading. The thing that I really like about this scheme is how saturated the colours look. It's basically the same as my Necron scheme, although for these miniatures I went a bit further to get a higher quality look.

Another thing that you might find interesting is that they're all metal. A rarity in this day and age, but the detail is great, and given how much of a minefield resin can be, I'm glad they went with metal for the whole Infinity range.

I figure it was a weekend well spent. I'm hoping to continue with the force soon, but with Salute breathing down my neck (well the painting competition anyway) I might have to hold off till I can finish Greyfax up, as I still have a long way to go.

Well, that about does it for now. If you like these, feel free to check out the PanOceania stuff I painted too:

PanO Post

How to Paint - Infinity Yu Jing Orange

This week I'm looking at the art of painting orange - with a step by step tutorial for the Yu Jing faction for infinity. These are also the exact same colours I use for my Orange Necrons, so keep that in mind if you're interested. I'm using the airbrush heavily for this scheme, so if you want to know a bit about airbrushing you might find it interesting.

Lets get started!

As the weather was rather nice (a rarity in England) I've set up my airbrush outside for once!

Step 1 - Undercoat, Chaos Black

The first thing I did was undercoat the models with Chaos Black Spray by Games Workshop. This makes sure we get a really resistant finish and prevents any chipping (especially important on Infinity models as they're all metal). I haven't taken a picture of this stage as it seemed a bit superfluous. Just remember to keep the can a good distance from the mini, shake well and don't ever use the stuff under 10 degrees!

Step 2 - Undercoat, Grey Primer

I then primed the models with a good coat of Vallejo "Surface Primer - Grey". This stuff is almost white actually and gives a good base to work from for our bright colours.

Step 3 - Basecoat, Hot Orange

A goodly Basecoat of Vallejo's Hot Orange comes next. As this is a basecoat I'm just giving the model a goodly covering and really just getting it all on there!

Step 4 - Highlight, Orange Fire

I then run a highlight with Vallejo's Orange Fire. This time I'm adding fairly wide highlights across the panels to add a bit of definition to the shapes and to start to create the final colour that we're going for. I'm also painting up an Aleph bike in orange to use as an Aragoto for the Yu Jing force as I like the model.

Step 5 - Pre-Shade, White

Who just said that it looks terrible? Well, you'd be right.

In this stage what we're actually doing is adding a pre-shade of white. We'll be following it up with a final highlight of Yellow, but to get the yellow to show strongly over the orange we have to add a few points of light with our white first. This stage is the most difficult as you have to be really carefull not to get too trigger happy, or the whole thing will be a mess!

Step 6 - Final Highlight, Sun Yellow

I then go in and  spray a coat of Vallejo's "Game Air, Sun Yellow" straight over the white points that we added. This adds a stark highlight, but is easily smoothed into the base colour. The best part is that the "Air" paint range are already thinned and this layer acts a lot like a glaze that unifies the whole model and gives us the final piece of the smooth orange look that we were going for. 

Other Details

With the Orange complete I then turn my attention to any swords that I want to do in a crystalline blue. For this I mask the models off using a good quantity of Cellophane. It's worth noting that you should let the orange dry thoroughly first as you don't want to paint to stick to the wrap!

As the first layer, I use an ordinary brush to add a coat of Vallejo "Dark Prussian Blue" to the blades. 

I then Highlight with a layer of Vallejo Green Blue applied with the airbrush, then a layer of 50/50 Green Blue and White and finally a pure White Highlight. This gives the result pictured below. For my Necrons, these are the steps I use to paint their power coils and other glowing details.

Time to Grab a Paintbrush!

With all of the airbrush work complete it's time to grab your ordinary paints and go to work. It was also a relief to get inside again as the sweet smell of Vallejo products on a sunny afternoon was creating a veritable insect orgy on my patio!

The first step after using an airbrush is always inevitably to create some definition in the panels. For this I used an applied wash of Khorne Red directly into the recesses on the armour. It is really important that the paint is applied carefully and not washed over the whole surface or it'll destroy the highlight we've built up. If you're into Oil Washes this would be the time to break one out.

A Khorne Red wash is applied directly to the recesses

After that I continue to add definition by highlighting the edges of the panels with GW's Yriel Yellow. With this step the Orange armour is complete and all I have to do is paint in to other details.

A Yriel Yellow edge highlight finishes the armour off nicely.

Finishing

After all of that excitement I finish off the models with a few simple coats of paint. As I'm feeling generous I thought I'd share the other colours I used. 

White Areas - GW's Ulthuan Grey Base, Vallejo White Highlight

Blues - The same as I used in the airbrush. I then add a final highlight to the sword blade edges etc. with pure white

Blacks - Vallejo Black with GW's Codex Grey Highlight

Purples - GW's Xerus Purple with a Genestealer Purple Highlight and a Druchii Violet wash