Wednesday Workbench 30 March 2022

 

I've been doing a few of the follow-up tests today, trying different primers including with varnishing. I'll take photos and post the results tomorrow, whilst cracking on with the next set of tests.

Errmm, that's it for today I guess.

Tamsin's Test Lab: Army Painter Speedpaints Test #1

 Before I crack on with a return to some actual figure painting, I decided to do some proper initial tests of the Army Painter Speedpaints I bought a few weeks ago.

On Model Railway People

Yesterday afternoon I quickly (and a little messily to be totally honest) used the Speedpaints on the four model railway figures I primed a short while back. One figure had been primed white, one pale grey and two were primed black with white zenithal highlights. Not all the colours in the starter set were tested.

Top Tip: Avoid the temptation to use the biggest brush you think you can get away with. You can't! These were done with an Army Painter "Regiment" brush and it was difficult to control where the paint went (although that might have been due to too much paint in the brush).

White primer, grey primer

Black/white zenithal primer

Grey primer, black/white zenithal

White primer, black/white zenithal

This evening, the figures having had 24 hours of drying time, I decided to see if the Speedpaints do reactivate. To this end, I brushed on un-thinned matt white paint.

Short answer - yes, they do.

Long answer - if you keep smooshing the paint around, you definitely get reactivation and bleed-through. this is more obvious with some colours (red, blue, green) than others (brown, flesh).

I also tested it by wiping a damp brush over them with the same results.

I think the black/white zenithal was too dark a base for them to work properly, although the Crusader Skin was an interesting result.

I also noticed that they seemed to run off some parts of these figures. I'm not sure if that is down to the models, how I applied the paints or the primer I used.

Follow-Up Tests

1. Does mixing the Speedpaints with matt medium or matt varnish stop the reactivation? Does it stop them performing correctly?

2. Try different primer surfaces (spray primer, brush on primer, airbrush primer, varnished airbrush primer).

3. Try different primer colours (including metallic).

Mixes

With just ten paints in the starter set, I thought it would be a good idea to see how well the different colours mix (mixing turned out to be no problem) and what colours could be produced by doing so. 

I planned to do 1:1 and 1:3 mixes, and the best way I could think of was to test each mix on the same texture. The easiest way to do that would be to use a regular-patterned wallpaper. So, off to B&Q I went to get a free sample. I then cut out some 22cm x 22cm squares and ruled an 11 x 11 grid on two of the pieces, fixed them onto art board with spray mount adhesive then gave them a couple of good coats of varnish to seal the surface.

After leaving them to dry for a couple of hours, I marked one for the 1:1 mixes and the other for the 1:3 mixes. Then I cracked on with mixing and applying the mixes.

Top Tip: Clean your palette within a few minutes of mixing Speedpaints on it to avoid permanent stains - running under the hot tap for a few seconds should do the trick.

Guide to grid - L to R and Top to Bottom: Zealot Yellow, Fire Giant Orange, Bloody Red, Hive Dweller Purple, Highlord Blue, Orc Skin, Pallid Bone, Crusader Skin, Hardened Leather, Gravelord Grey.

1:1 Mixes

1:3 Mixes

3 parts - colour across top; 1 part - colour down left side

As you can see, mixing in different proportions produces a good range of greens, browns and blues.

Pallid Bone and Crusader Skin are weak; Zealot Yellow is a bit less weak; Fire Giant Orange, Hive Dweller Purple, Hardened Leather and Gravelord Grey are quite strong; Bloody Red, Highlord Blue and Orc Skin are the strongest of these.

Now that the full range is available as singles, I might get a few of the other colours. The "white" and the black are definitely on my list.

Other Tests To Do

1. Varnish the painted figures and then test reactivation.

2. I'm sure another will occur to me at some point.

Finished: SciFi Terrain

 

I finished these yesterday, but didn't get a chance to photograph them until today. I decided against weathering the generators and crates.

Shipping Containers

Yes, another six of these, doubling the size of my container park.

Crates

Small Generators

Large Generators

The small generators are from Blotz, the rest are from TT Combat.

Paint Table Saturday 26 March 2022

 

I've done a fair bit since Wednesday. All the terrain has been painted; I just need to varnish it, but that will have to wait until tomorrow morning. Looking at the photo, I do seem to have gone a bit OTT with the rusting on the shipping containers, but what the heck?

I'll only be doing the varnishing tomorrow as this weekend Rebellion/2000AD are livestreaming a series of panel discussions to celebrate 45 years of 2000AD, so I'll be watching those in the afternoon. 

Wednesday Workbench 23 March 2022

 

As you might guess from the photo above, I spent some time today priming the remainder of the MDF terrain that I had assembled a couple of months ago. My plan for tomorrow is to airbrush the main colours onto them, then start work on the detailing. I should have them finished before the weekend is out, then I can set about wroking on the remaining figures that I had primed. I might do a test of the Army Painter speedpaints in between or alongside.

AHPC XII 18th & 19th Entries - Barbarians and Pulp Adventures

 My final two posts got published yesterday.

18th Entry - Oscar And The Barbarians

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19th Entry - Operation Rescue Oscar Part 5

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I've been taking things easy today. The only workbench stuff I have done is to clean my paintbrushes and airbrushes. Tomorrow my plan is to get everything out on the table to take some group photos.

AHPC XII 15th, 16th and 17th Entries - WW2 Japanese and Mega City One

 I didn't do a Paint Table Saturday post yesterday for two reasons:

1. There were no WIPs to show; and

2. I was very busy setting up scenes, taking photos, resizing them and then writing posts for three submissions.

Those three submissions all got posted overnight (well, before I got up this morning - I had a long lie-in!).

15th Entry - Operation Rescue Oscar Part 3

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16th Entry - Oscar's Dredd of Robots

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17th Entry - Operation Rescue Oscar Part 4

linky-link

I've got two more entries to take photos for this afternoon. There will be another post here for them tomorrow.

Wednesday Workbench 16 March 2022

 

Yes, I'm onto the SciFi terrain at last. On Sunday I decided to finish off the robots you saw on Saturday, and added two others that didn't need the airbrush. I did the varnishing on Monday before heading to the club for a game of ADLG - it was nice to get out and play with toy soldiers!

Yesterday I started on the terrain. I cracked on and finished the plaza sections, scatter pieces and the roofs for the buildings that you can see in the picture. 

Today I've got the main block colours done on the buildings; I just have the metal details and some spot colours left to do. I should finish them tomorrow, and then I can focus on finishing the last few figures and vehicles I need for the final posts.

AHPC XII 13th & 14th Entries - Papuan Porters & Time Traveling Troopers

 I had two small submissions published yesterday. We're now in the final week and it is "free fire" and I could in theory submit stuff and have it published every day. I do have five more posts, but they will all end up being posted next weekend as I am waiting on a vehicle to arrive and the SciFi terrain needed for two posts will take me a few days to finish up.

13th Entry - Papuan Porters

Oscar encountered these chaps in his latest adventure: linky-link

14th Entry - Operation Rescue Oscar Part 2

In which Curt and I test out the modified time travel device and go in search of Oscar. linky-link

Paint Table Saturday 12 March 2022

 

Well, that's what's on my paint table right now. Three droids for Judge Dredd which I'm partway through airbrushing the main colours onto. I realised as I was doing two of them that I really needed to go back and re-whiten one of them and do the same for the shoulder pads of another as the base zenithal priming was too dark for the yellow. I got that done, but then it was too late for me to be airbrushing, so I'll need to finish them off tomorrow.

Yesterday and today saw me airbrushing the main colours onto the SciFi terrain:

Over the next few days I'll be doing the detailing on them. Despite appearances, that shouldn't be too much work. I've also got a few more figures and vehicles to paint - my plan is to alternate between those and the terrain.

This evening I did photo sessions for two posts, which have now been written and submitted. They should get published tomorrow.

Wednesday Workbench 09 March 2022

 

I haven't started on the SciFi terrain yet as I want to get some figures painted first which need a day or so extra for the basing (that can be done alongside work on the terrain). In case you are wondering, it's a few more WW2 Japanese and some Papuan porters.

On Monday I got a bit of priming done:

Mostly Judge Dredd figures, but also a few 1:50 scale model railway people that I will use to test the Army Painter speed paints and the barbarian cannon and crew. I've finished painting the latter, they just need static grass to be added. Some of the Judge Dredd figures might get painted up next week once the terrain is done.

Some goodies arrived from North Star today:

Some more late war Germans and a few character figures, two of which might get painted next week. I should have them prepped by the end of play tomorrow.

AHPC XII 11th & 12th Entries - I Scream for Ice Cream plus Cats & Dogs

I've had two entries published yesterday, both quite small in terms of points (35 and 21) but I've got bigger posts to come over the next two weeks.

11th Entry - Operation Rescue Oscar Part 1

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Entry 12 - Cats & Dogs

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Paint Table Saturday 05 March 2022

As you can see, I am set up ready to paint some figures. I'll be starting on them tomorrow; there's also a vehicle which I've started but isn't in the photo. If all goes well, I should have them all finished and varnished on Tuesday. Which will leave me clear to start work on painting the SciFi buildings.

I've finished the first two sets of character figures, taken photos and submitted the posts which should get published tomorrow.

When I ordered more black primer, I also decided to order the starter set of Army Painter's "Speed Paints". 

They arrived on Thursday and I tested them on a white index card to see how the colours look:

Zealot Yellow, Fire Giant Orange, Blood Red, Hive Dweller Purple, Highlord Blue,
Orc Skin, Pallid Bone, Crusader Skin, Hardened Leather, Gravelord Grey

I do have some figures in mind to test them on, but that might not be until after the Challenge.

Wednesday Workbench 02 March 2022

 

I got a bit more priming done on the SciFi terrain after Saturday's post. I've still got the containers, crates and generators to do, but I ran out of black airbrush primer. I ordered some more on Monday and it was meant to arrive today, but didn't. I'm not too worried about those bits though.

Since finishing the priming, I've started work on the figures for the last few entries. I've finished painting the first three character figures (they just need varnishing and black-lining) and started on the next set. As I was painting them this afternoon, I realised that it might be good to add the remaining dogs from the pack I got from TAG, so I dug them out and tacked them onto bases. I'll prime them when I do the varnishing of the other figures.

I've also made some decals for one of the vehicles. The cut out space was an extra that I used to test to see if I'd given them a good enough gloss coat after printing. I had, so the rest will get cut out ready to go this evening.

"There's a corner of something in the first photo..."

Why, yes there is. And you're not going to see any more of it until it's finished and submitted! Likewise, you aren't getting any close-up pics of the figures I'm working on!