Super Dungeon Explore Minis

Nefaro · March 15, 2015, 03:07:26 PM

At the risk of catching hell for painting these 'chibi' minis for the Old Console/Legend Of Zelda-inspired Super Dungeon Explore, I decided to post a quick shot of my progress painting the various heroes from the base set.

I decided to paint something rather different this time around, and doing these cartoon-y ones was definitely that. I was terrified of doing the huge eyes. I've never really done much with eyes before so had pretty much no experience with even normal-sized ones. Fortunately I found an excellent YT vid on how to do them and they turned out surprisingly well for my first time.

Once I got started, these actually became very fun to paint. Maybe because I get to do a lot of experimenting. :))

Two heroes finished, Royal Paladin and Ember Mage; rest are WiP:

I'll provide a clearer photo once I eventually finish this group.

GDS_Starfury · March 15, 2015, 07:43:01 PM

good work there! O0

Staggerwing · March 15, 2015, 08:08:48 PM

Did you outline the eyes?

Nefaro · March 16, 2015, 02:33:33 AM

Quote from: Staggerwing on March 15, 2015, 08:08:48 PM
Did you outline the eyes?

Not really for the end result.

I first outlined the eyes in the darkest skin tone I was going to use, before doing anything else. The eyes on these models are a fair bit higher than the surrounding skin, so it made sense to do this first before any of the eye color that would be painted higher on the model. This was mainly to help me visualize where I was placing the iris and pupils for each pair of eyes, in relation to each other. I later painted the lighter (final) skin tone up to the edge of the eye, after they were done, and left a tiny sliver of the darker skin undercoat where needed. There may be a very slight transition line look to it but it doesn't stand out like a deliberate line would (which is as intended).

You can still see that darker flesh undercoat outline around the bear cape's eyes on the Druid (the unfinished one in the middle).

Second, I painted the eyes white. Next I painted the iris in the specific color for each one, starting from a center point and ultimately filling in a 'U' shaped area touching the top of the eye. I practiced the rule that you should place the center of the eyes a bit closer to the nose than the outer side. I then mixed the iris color with some white to lighten it and painted in a smaller half-circle or the bottom of the 'U'. A black dot for the pupil, carefully place so they were positioned well to avoid having a wandering eye, mimicked the iris shape on the inside, and sat just above the lighter iris coloring. Lastly I dipped a toothpick tip into white paint and dabbed the lens reflection(s) onto the same part of each eye, in different spots for every model. Some minor clean-up but it didn't really need much at all; maybe one or two tiny spots where a line was broken.

Not sure if I want to paint pronounced eyelashes on them. I probably should but don't want them too thick.

Doing nine models' eyes like that, for the first time, took me a couple hours or more. I was being careful and taking it slow for my first attempt. The final look of the first two finished ones is very encouraging.

My biggest issue is the damn mold lines. I trimmed quite a lot of them when I was gluing this set together but I'm still eternally doomed to regularly miss them. I'm terrible at getting them all before painting despite having multiple tools for doing so. They're everywhere! Fortunately this is for gaming, not some fancy display, and they still look great. :) I also have to remind myself not to speed up too quickly when painting multiple minis in a row. I expect the first one or two in a new set take longer, but I also don't want to rush them too much despite the urge. Bit of a war with myself in that respect.

Nefaro · March 16, 2015, 02:43:04 AM

I also got to experiment with the 'Glowy Ball' effect. No, it isn't related to a Russian submariner's family jewels.

The Ember Mage's staff is supposed to have a fiery ball in it. I've not perfected painting fire effects, so I wanted to try a glowing ember effect I had seen recommended somewhere.

I had it looking like it was glowing after numerous layers of tiny increasingly lighter dots on top of each other, but I put too many of the light yellow ones on the outside and covered up too much of the internal 'glow'. May have to go back and start at the orange color and work back up again to get more of that look back. It really looks like it has an internal glow if you get it right. O0

Emeraldlis · June 11, 2015, 03:35:28 PM

Can I just say you've done a great job , they really look awesome ;)

I'd love to give it a go myself , but first of all I need to find a game to buy that I'm intrested in with the figures in it for painting ^-^

When I do I'll be coming to you for advice nefaro O0

Nefaro · June 11, 2015, 06:18:34 PM

Quote from: Emeraldlis on June 11, 2015, 03:35:28 PM
Can I just say you've done a great job , they really look awesome ;)

I'd love to give it a go myself , but first of all I need to find a game to buy that I'm intrested in with the figures in it for painting ^-^

When I do I'll be coming to you for advice nefaro O0

Thanks.

I only started painting minis about a year ago and only do a handful of hours every month. I studied various techniques beforehand, but it's down to getting experience actually doing it now. The study have certainly helped my early novice attempts improve quickly, however.

I plan on packing away the cartoonish SDE minis soon in favor of those in Star Wars Imperial Assault, or more Shadows Of Brimstone. I've done more painting on these SDE ones since the photo in this thread, but it's tapered off lately so time to change it up. :)

Emeraldlis · June 11, 2015, 06:35:10 PM

I read your shadows of brimstone thread and the game looks good , but I'm leaning towards getting Star Wars imperial assault , I just wanted to see how it played first with an AAR .

You'll probably get the game before me , or maybe you already have it O0 and I'd be intrested to see how your figures turn out when you paint them . I'm gonna guess you'll make them look awesome ;) it's amazing how well you've done after only a year .

Maybe you could post a rundown of how you do it ...then ya know I can copy you !! Well they do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery !! And as long as you don't slap a patent on a patent , I'm gonna try and copy :)

And there's nothing wrong with cartoony mini's in my opinion , they are just a different genre but still cool , but that's just my humble opinion :)

bayonetbrant · June 11, 2015, 07:26:36 PM

Quote from: Emeraldlis on June 11, 2015, 06:35:10 PMMaybe you could post a rundown of how you do it ...then ya know I can copy you !! Well they do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery !! And as long as you don't slap a patent on a patent , I'm gonna try and copy :)

Here are a pair of videos about painting figs, from the very early days of GH

http://grogheads.com/?p=318

http://grogheads.com/?p=323

they're not everything you need for painting, but they'll help get you started.

Nefaro · June 11, 2015, 07:59:00 PM

Quote from: Emeraldlis on June 11, 2015, 06:35:10 PM
I read your shadows of brimstone thread and the game looks good , but I'm leaning towards getting Star Wars imperial assault , I just wanted to see how it played first with an AAR .

You'll probably get the game before me , or maybe you already have it O0 and I'd be intrested to see how your figures turn out when you paint them . I'm gonna guess you'll make them look awesome ;) it's amazing how well you've done after only a year .

Maybe you could post a rundown of how you do it ...then ya know I can copy you !! Well they do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery !! And as long as you don't slap a patent on a patent , I'm gonna try and copy :)

Check out this guy's YouTube vids on how he painted his Star Wars Imperial Assault minis. They look superb!

That's approximately how I'll end up doing them, although I usually prefer black primer for anything that isn't supposed to be white or cartoon-bright in the end. I even spend the extra time to use brush-on primer most of the time since the weather here is usually hot & humid as a devil's ass or cold and dry so I don't have to time my outdoor primer spraying with the fluctuations. Can do it indoors whenever I want. Takes more time, however. He also uses GW's paints, while I prefer mostly Vallejo. All personal preference.

I'll probably skip some of the blaster damage extra touches he added to the armors, just to keep things moving. I still need to learn to speed up my painting techniques (the experience thing, again, I'm sure) and there are quite a few minis in there.

Anyway, he uses some typical methods in the whole series that you can utilize for painting any style of minis. Not just Star Wars. O0

Back-to-back series starts here, with episode 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZUsfAtyEM0&index=1&list=PL6xOeNhrVj9to2nKZjk5H8OAQbG9izBrH

Quote
And there's nothing wrong with cartoony mini's in my opinion , they are just a different genre but still cool , but that's just my humble opinion :)

Nope, nothing wrong with them. I've enjoyed painting the SDE minis even though the cartoon aesthetic isn't normally something I'm into. They're a larger size than others, and often more detailed. After doing a few Shadows Of Brimstone heroes (with their poor half-melted details) it has been a joy and I will continue painting them in the future.

Emeraldlis · June 12, 2015, 08:57:45 AM

Quote from: bayonetbrant on June 11, 2015, 07:26:36 PM
Quote from: Emeraldlis on June 11, 2015, 06:35:10 PMMaybe you could post a rundown of how you do it ...then ya know I can copy you !! Well they do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery !! And as long as you don't slap a patent on a patent , I'm gonna try and copy :)

Here are a pair of videos about painting figs, from the very early days of GH

http://grogheads.com/?p=318

http://grogheads.com/?p=323

they're not everything you need for painting, but they'll help get you started.

Thanks Brant for digging those out of the archives ! He has some great suggestions , good to watch before running out to the shop to buy supplies O0 it's definately enough information to get me started :)

Emeraldlis · June 12, 2015, 09:09:26 AM

Thanks Nefaro for the YouTube link ;)

I've watched the first episode and your right his figures look awesome ! The good thing is I already have a lot of art stuff , I have the brushes and palettes and acrylic paint . I'd just need to buy a couple of things really , like the primers and varnish for finishing :)

I think I will have to try the brush on primer because I live in Ireland and it's not a warm place most of the time ! I'm wondering if I can just buy some cheap figures to practice on , that way I won't be worried about ruining them and it would be good to practice before buying the real deal .

Anyway you've given me some really great pointers there , thankyou . I hope your next painting venture goes well for you ....I can't wait to get started on something myself now , if I hit any snags I'll be asking more questions , lol , I hope you don't mind :)

Thanks for sharing .

Nefaro · June 12, 2015, 04:10:34 PM

My biggest concern regarding spray primer is the humidity, and rain/snow by extension. Not so much temperature as long as it's not extreme (which can still be a problem here). I've had one batch turn out not so well due to weather.

Then there is the potential for roaming pets, children, and critters wandering through my yard and interacting with them while they're drying. Along with wind gusts blowing them over while still wet. Maybe I worry too much but Murphy and I are fast acquaintances.

Still.. if I happen to be in the mood and the weather's nice, I keep a can or two of spray primer handy for getting many primed at once. Because it is so much faster. Problem is.. I'm often in a mood to do such things when the weather isn't cooperating. ;D

You can wait on picking up Varnish. It's not essential.. just an extra protection coating for the long-term. If you're not going to be tossing the minis around and scratching them up in use then you don't necessarily have to worry about it. I'm usually pretty careful with mine - have only varnished a few thus far. I plan on eventually doing so just for the long-term but it's not pressing. Primer is a must for the base, though.

My first painted minis were some starships. Mechanical or inanimate objects are easier to do since you don't need to do skin, hair/fur, etc and the little details are pretty uniform. I then moved on to game minis that didn't have terribly good details, but they still ended up looking better than having no paint at all, so I wouldn't worry about messing up a paint job. You can always paint over mistakes or experimentation anyway, they're not difficult to fix.

My biggest bane is trimming all the little flash before priming & painting. I always miss some and don't see it until I've put paint on. But they're gaming minis that usually won't be seen close up so I don't worry about it too much.