Sunday, April 19, 2015

It gets hotter in the Smokehouse!


We return to the smokehouse from Burn in Designs.  The same technique will be applied to the outer walls as I did to the floor.  

However, this time around I added a bit of light flesh tone.  When this is added to that dark green/red mix, you get some outstanding mid tone colors that will look bleached and weathered.

The more green you have in that mixtures, the more gray it will appear.


You can see a very nice variation of colors here.  I also picked out some individual boards, mostly with the flesh tone lightened shades.


The back of the sign got a bit of highlights as well...


I wanted the outer walls to have more of a tan appearance, but I needed to set that up with my darker colors.  Again, the idea is to work quickly, so that I can blend the tans into these darks while it's still wet.


Time to add that tan!  It's already making some fun colors as it mixes with those darks!


It's a little trickier to pick out those individual boards on the exterior, but it really yields some fun results.  you can see that more of the reddish tone was used on the left side, and more green on the right.


The sliding door was given more form by picking out certain boards.  For the most part, I made the cross pieces lighter, so that they would appear to be 'above' the planks that make the door.


That's about it for all the exterior walls!


Now for the sign.  I want it to be glowing with RJ-1027 energy, so I have left the area in front of the sign a little darker.


Beginning with a generic red, I made sure that I got down into all the crevices.


The wood has just enough texture to allow me to use my fingers to blend the red glow onto those boards.  By the way, I used this technique on all the 'regular' boards as well.


If you are wondering why the letters are missing, I am putting those broken letters on the roof and other places to make it seem as if all the mayhem in Wappelville has lead to them being shot out.


You can't have RJ glow without Vallejo fluorescent orange!

Things continue to heat up in the next episode, to be sure not to miss it!!


Smokin' Hot


What's cookin' in the Smokehouse?

Some hot stuff from Burn In Designs.  In this case, I made use of those extra punch out pieces to create some tables, and handy step stools to get up to the windows...


I used three of the pieces just to make something very quickly... nothing fancy!


Out come some colors... green and red together for the deep browns, and then two mid tones.  Cooler green, and warm tan.


The nice thing about the deep green mixed with the red as the darkest brown is that I can change the temperature quickly when necessary.  The cooler darks will help to set up the warmer mid tones and lights.


You can see this in action.  Working quickly with the large filbert brush, I was able to set down large swathes of greener shades in one area, and more of the red elsewhere.


Now to infuse some lighter colors into the mix... you can see how the colors blend all by themselves!


In no time at all, you have yourself a fantastic floor of panels!!


I went back in with the #8 round brush to pick out individual boards.


The walls were a simple mix, applied quickly so that I could blend them right there on the walls.


A quick application of more darks on the roof interior and the little tables, and then it will be time to paint the doors.  Stay tuned for the next episode!


This way guys!


The second set of Thralls continues.


This is number 14 of 20.  Quite the collection of diving bell helmets!


The groups shots of these folks will be very interesting...


Saturday, April 18, 2015

A great weather(ing) spring day


A little more work on the building today.  When I last left you, the shingles over the porch were being painted to match those on the roof...


And here's that roof.  Simple cereal box shingles.

I made sure I had a variety of 'bleached' colors... reds, tans, and even a touch of green.  Combining the red and green with a bit of light flesh tone can make an interesting gray that can change appearance very easily with just a bit more red or a bit more green, and so on.


Speaking of tans, I lightly brushed in a little tan around the bottom edge of the building, pulling the roof color down to the ground level.  This helps to tie in all parts of the building together.


You can see that I have added a bit more white to the window frames.  Notice that I have left the bottom areas the darker shade.  This is to indicate some dirt, dust, etc.  It also gives them a lot more 'form' than if I had simply painted them entirely white.


You can see the building is starting to take shape!!!


I like to add weathering powders to my buildings.  It adds one extra layer of texture, and the wood is absorbent enough to really hold the pigments.

In this case, I used Secret Weapon weathering powders.


This quick combination of pigments creates a fantastic dust effect which will match the game mats we use to cover the table!


Unfortunately, I did't bring the store advertisement signs that I printed out, but I knew that I had to have a wanted poster on the wall, to demonstrate just how pervasive the Lawmen are in town.


There's still more to do on this building... not only the paper signs on the interior and exterior walls, but some fun little signs tacked onto the porch pillars as well.

 The final touch will the the lettering on the upper facade... stay tuned!


It comes in green too


This weekend is all about assembling dozens of minis, and for a break, painting Burn In Designs buildings for several hours!


I thought I would start snapping some pictures of one of the structures as I painted it


I had already done a lot of the exterior walls.  Like the train station, white and green would be the main colors.  It would be reversed however, with white trim and green walls.

I was using the same artificial filbert style brush, as you can see.


You can also see that the walls were not done as one solid surface.  There's a lot of variation in the shades and tones.

I even mixed a deep red with the darkest greens to make sure that the green didn't get too far away from the browns of the floors and other elements.


You can see the white trim beginning to take shape!


Here's a peek at the interior.  Wooden planks, grayish white walls.

I will have a number of advertising posters and fun things inside to spice up those walls!


The floorboards of the front porch are painted in after all the greens.

You can see the variety of colors that I have on hand.  Since I am working in such a small area, it's easy to work rapidly enough to be able to blend it wet into wet!


Front porch almost complete!


I also added some browns and tans to the bottom sections of the outer walls to represent some dust being kicked up.


The roof of the porch was done in simple grays and browns to match the shingles that I was painting on the main roof.  

Stay tune for part two tomorrow!!!


Friday, April 17, 2015

How do I look now?


This completes the third set of Myrmidons.


The first group of this type had red robes... it was very interesting trying them out in white!


This leaves a set of group shots... first these guys, then the entire group of nine!