[Tuto] Glakk!

[Roolz]

Here's the english version of my brute with shotgun painting tuto, that should be included in one of the future Compendiums. Thanks to Jay Adan for the proofreading.

 

Glakk! - Painting of Clayface disguised as a Brute with Firearm

 

Foreword

 

The goal of this tutorial is to paint Clayface disguised as a "brute with firearm" to a decent standard without spending as much time as on superhero or supervillain miniatures. Especially since there are 4 identical "brutes with firearm" miniatures. So I tried to create an optimized sequence to paint several minis simultaneously, "assembly-line-mode".

I decided to use the colour scheme of the game’s illustration (coloured 3D rendering of the miniature), to ease the identification of the tiles and the miniatures. Note that the mini is inspired by a drawing from Jim Lee (in "All-star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder"), where a fattie is smashed by Black Canary. Glakk!

 

 

 

A little bit of technique

 

Few advanced techniques for these henchmen. I’ll mostly use basic techniques: washing, blending, drybrushing, and some glazing here and there.

Regarding washing, blending, and glazing, I invite you, friendly reader, to refer to the article by Martin Grandbarbe in Compendium Vol 2. Now to drybrushing...

 

Glossary

Drybrushing: This technique consists of using a flat or round brush (anything but a pointed brush) and undiluted paint (or barely diluted). Load the brush with paint, then wipe it by brushing on a clean paper towel until almost no paint remains on the paper. Then, brush the mini, without applying too much pressure. The near-dry paint deposits on the raised edges of the mini. It allows you to highlight very quickly. The look is typically rougher than with blending, although it’s possible to create extremely subtle gradations using drybrushing (requires time and experience, of course).

 

Paint ranges

I use a bit of everything, depending on the case. Usually, a lot of Vallejo (Note: Vallejo and Prince August are the same, only the label changes).

On these figures I will use Army Painter (AP), Games Workshop (GW), Vallejo Model (VM), Vallejo Game (VG), and Vallejo Model Air (VMAir) products. I’ll specify the exact references and designations, but also the "normal" names (for example "Blue" instead of "Dead arctic hamster vomit"...).

And I will try to not mix colors, once again to optimize painting time.

 

Sequence

1-

Deburring, washing, then spray-prime with White (Matt White AP spray primer).

Deburring (removing mold lines) is a tedious but necessary step: remaining mold lines are an eyesore once the paint-job is complete.

After deburring, tiny bits of plastic and roughness often remain on the mini. To correct this and get smooth surfaces, just take a small stiff brush, soak it in acetone and brush it on these areas. It's a trick from the famous Rémy Tremblay, it works quite well on PVC minis (liquid glue for model kits, as used by Martin G., also works very well!).

Washing (with soapy water) eliminates any trace of finger grease deposited during deburring and ensures good primer adhesion.

I primer the minis with white spray primer (Matt White AP). The primer coat must not be too thick, otherwise it fills the detail and loses its grip: no need to look for 100% opacity, if it’s slightly translucent and one can see the plastic underneath, it’s not a problem.

Once the mini is primed, I put a stroke of off-white (Ivory VM 918) on the eyes and teeth to increase the opacity, and then I draw vertical black lines (Matt Black AP) to make the pupils. As with most minis, it's easier to paint the eyes first. It goes over the edges, but it will be corrected on the next step.

 

 

2-

I basecoat the main surfaces.

I paint the skin flesh colour (Flesh Tone VM 815), then the shoes dark brown (Burnt Umber VM 941), then the pants bluish grey (Russ Grey GW), and finally the t-shirt light greenish grey (Stone Grey VM 884). If need be, I apply several thin layers to get a good opacity. Painting in this order makes it easier to correct if I go over the edges on a previously painted surface.

It's super easy, just be careful not to put flesh on the eyes and on the teeth (it can be corrected afterwards, but it's harder than being a bit careful on the beginning).

 

 

3-

I shade the previous basecoats, using washes.

The skin is shaded with a ready-to-use Flesh wash, brownish-red (Reikland Fleshshade GW), then the shoes with a black wash (Black Ink VG 94), then the pants with a dark blue wash (Blue Tone AP), finally the t-shirt with a greenish brown wash (obtained by diluting Japanese Uniform VM 923 with Lahmian Medium GW). I apply a first wash slightly diluted with water on the whole surface, then one or more undiluted washes only in the shadow areas and hollows.

If everything goes well, the washes dry as you move from one mini to another. It's still easy, and the mini already looks decent. Again, be careful not to splash buckets of wash all over the place.

 

 

4-

I highlight all that...

First, I drybrush very lightly, to bring out the detail a little bit. The skin is drybrushed with flesh (Flesh Tone VM 815), then the pants with bluish grey (Russ Grey GW), finally the t-shirt with light greenish grey (Stone Grey VM 884).

Then I finish these highlights by doing blends, with the same colours as before. To simplify the blending process as much as possible, I apply only one or two very thin and diluted layers, placed locally.

The t-shirt receives a final highlight on the edges of the collar and cuffs, with very light greenish grey (obtained by mixing Stone Grey VM 884 and Ivory VM 918).

Finally I highlight the shoes by doing a blend with medium brown (Leather Brown AP), going to the tip of the shoes.

This is progressing…

 

 

5-

I accentuate the shadows and outline the different surfaces.

The skin and the t-shirt get local dark brown washes (Agrax Earthshade GW), the pants black (Black Ink VG 94). Like before, the washes are applied only in shadows areas, deeper recesses, and junctions between surfaces.

The shotgun is painted dark metallic grey (Gun Metal VMAir 072), the left bracelets medium gold (Glorious Gold VG 056).

The hair and the shotgun’s grip and pump handle are painted light grey (Light Grey VM 990).

The lower lip and elbows are tinted by applying local dark red glazes (ready-to-use wash Carroburg Crimson GW). I repeat once or twice until I’ve achieved the desired hue.

The arms’ veins are tinted by applying local dark blue glazes (obtained by diluting Prussian Blue VM 965), then highlighting the veins details with flesh (VM 815), and finally unifying the colours with a glaze of flesh (obtained by diluting Flesh Tone VM 815). I repeat each step once or twice if necessary.

It is possible to skip the “vein” steps to save some time. But everyone knows that thick blue veins are always impressive. Ahem...

In short, our brute begins to look brutal. We can acknowledge that it’s appropriate.

 

 

6-

I paint the right armband dark brown (Burnt Umber VM 941).

I finish the left bracelets: I shade them with a hazelnut brown wash (diluted Brown Ink VG 092), and I highlight the top edges in light gold (Polished Gold VG 055).

I finish the shotgun: I shade with a black wash (Black Ink VG94), and I accentuate the shadows with this same black wash applied locally. Then I highlight the metal parts with dark metallic grey blends (Gun Metal VMAir 072), and the grip and pump handle with light grey (Light Grey VM 990). Finally, I do the last metal highlights with chrome (Chrome VMAir 064).

I finish the hair: First a diluted black wash (Black Ink VG 94). Then thin lines of black paint (Matt Black AP). Finally I highlight by painting thin lines of light grey (Light Grey VM 990) on the tuft of hair and the top of the head. The eyebrows are simply painted black (Matt Black AP).

Almost there…

 

 

7-

I paint the string of the tuft of hair with yellowish brown paint (Tan Yellow VM 912)

And I finish the right armband: First a black wash (Black Ink VG 94). Then I highlight with a blend of medium brown (Leather Brown AP). And I do the last highlight on the edges with yellowish brown (Tan Yellow VM 912).

Only the base remains, which has the good taste to already be textured. This allows it to become a nice looking base in two shakes: a dark grey basecoat (Dark Grey VM 994), a black wash (Black Ink VG 94), a dark grey drybrush everywhere, then a medium grey drybrush (Neutral Grey VM 992) focussed on the periphery, then a light grey drybrush (Light Grey VM 990) even more focussed on the periphery. The edge of the base is painted black (Matt Black AP).

Et voilà.

 

 

8-

I spray a coat of matte varnish (Anti-shine AP spray) to protect the minis. Then a few touches of gloss varnish (Gloss Varnish VM 510) applied selectively on the teeth and the lower lip, the end of the shotgun, and the top of the left bracelets.

And here are the brutes ready to have their butts kicked by Black Canary and squeal “Glakk!” Except it's Clayface in disguise, so it's Canary who might be going “Glakk!” The poor girl.

 

  

 

Hoping that it helps you, thank you for your attention, friendly reader!

 

 

Edit/PS : a similar tuto for the Brutes with Chains can be found there.

Edited May 21, 2019 by Roolz

[SAM_626_95]

Awesome job. 

[Roolz]

Thanks, my pleasure!

[Herbert]

Awesome! Thank you for posting - please do more! 😄

[Roolz]

3 hours ago, Herbert said:

Awesome! Thank you for posting - please do more! 😄

 

Doing a decent tuto takes quite a bit of time :).

However... at the time I painted these ones, I also painted the Brutes with Chains & took pics in the process. And recently I used these pics and notes to write a tuto then translate it in english.

You'll find it there.

 

 

[Shadowfane]

Thanks, Roolz. I certainly appreciate the time you've taken to produce these (it's a considerable amount of effort) so a huge thank you!

[Roolz]

Thanks, much appreciated !