Step by step Dwarf Hero

[mousekiller]

Ok, someone asked me a while back for tips on how to paint skin. So, instead of just doing that piece, I am going to do a full step by step on the entire model.

Model: Dwarf Hero
Model Number: AoW01
Manufacturer: Avatars of War
Sculptor: Felix Paniagua

Background on the model and the sculptor. Felix Paniagua has done a lot of models in his time sculpting. You can see some of his other things at: Felix's Site. He started his Avatar's of War company a few months back and ever since I have been in love with his models (he currently only has three in his range, but they are all magnificent). This will be the first of his models that I have painted, so I am really looking forward to it.

Chapter 1: Pinning.

Ok, this model has come in 4 parts: The main body, the right hand and axe, the mohawk hair, and the lock of hair.
Tools needed for this section: Clippers, super glue, model pinning drill and a 1/32 bit, a paper clip, and a razor blade



Ok, the very first step will be to clip the three small pieces (axe, lock of hair, mohawk) from the piece of flash that they come on. Use the clippers to do this (sorry no pics of this step).

Next will be to decide where you want to pin the pieces together. There is no great science to this. Some people suggest that you pin one end, line it up, put a dot of paint, and that will mark where you will drill the adjoining hole. I just guestimate and save myself all that heartache.



Next, cut yourself some pieces of paperclip to pin with. I use the paperclips that have a rubbercoat on them, as they fit perfectly into my 1/32 inch holes.



Once you have that done, place the paper clip in the smaller piece and glue it into place.



Then, match the two pieces up to make sure that you have a proper fit. You may have to trim the paper clip or drill your hole deeper at this point. You also may have to trim some of the pieces a bit to make sure that they fit.



Once it all matches up, add some super glue to the area to be pinned and join the two pieces together. You do not need a large amount of superglue, just enough to cover the area.



And it is as simple as that. For larger pieces (dragon tails, etc) I use a larger drill bit (1/16) and pieces of coat hanger.



Up next will be prepping the models... so stay tuned.

[razhburz]

This looks very nice mate Looking forward to the rest

[mousekiller]

Chapter 2: Prepping the model

Alright, so we have pinned the model. Now we have to get it ready to be painted. This means washing the model, getting rid of mould lines and flash, and filling in any gaps with epoxy putty.

Washing the model
Equipment needed: Dish soap, hot water, tooth brush.

Alright no pics here... because I skip this step. It is highly recommended in almost any painting manuals that I have read, but I have never done it and never had any problems.

Mould Lines
Equipment needed: Exacto knife, files, dremel

On this particular model, getting rid of the mould lines was easy, and there was almost no flash at all. All I had to do was use my exacto knife to carefully shave away the mould lines on his arms and the axes. However, on other models this can be a major step, and may involve more tools like files and a dremel, which I highly recommend getting if you are serious about painting.

Filling in the Gaps
Equipment needed: Exacto knife, epoxy putty (two part putty, green and yellow, often referred to as green stuff), and water

Mixing the epoxy putty is very easy. Cut yourself a small piece of yellow and a small piece of blue (or just pull it off the lump). Wet your fingers (this is probably the most important step, as it keeps the putty from sticking to you). Then roll the putty between your fingers until it has a nice green look to it. Easy.



On this model we have three main parts that needed to be fixed up.

The first is that gap between the mohawk and the tail in the back. In order to get the putty into the gap, I find it to be much easier to take a small piece of putty on the end of my exacto blade and stick it into the gap. Then, I dip the blade into some water and use the back of the blade to blend the putty into the model.



The second area that needs attention was mostly my fault. At the end of the tail in the back of his head there needs to be a piece of hair, and I think that that is the piece that I stuck to the center of his beard in the front. Oh well, I think it looks better anyway. So, the easy fix is to sculpt a quick little tail. This is very easy to do. Take a ball of putty and stick it under the tail where you want the extension of hair. Then, wet your blade again. Start by using the back of the blade to make indentations in the putty, making sure to pull away from the join. Once that is done, flip the blade over and use the sharp side to distinguish the blades of hair to your liking.



And the last place that needs attention is the join of the wrist where we pinned the right arm. This is the easiest piece. Take a small piece of putty, very small piece, and place it in the join. Then, just like before use the back of the exacto knife to blend it into the creases of the hand.



Now, the last stage of this game is to set the model aside for a few hours so the putty has time to dry. This will prevent you from accidentally ruining your work with fingerprints.

Up next will be basing.

[menace]

Always useful to see another hobbyists methods on things, the most exciting thing for me is the sculpt, i'm waiting for the release of his new elf hero and then i'm ordering all three, really looking forward to see what you do with this guy

[bruenor]

Nice tutorial, I noticed one thing you sculpted the end of the braid of hair down his back, didn't realise you'd glued the end to his beard, I nearly threw mine away, plus I didn't need to fill any gaps either, wonder if his molds are losing shape?

[mousekiller]

Jnr: Thanks. I always wanted to do one of these, but the pain in the butt part is taking all the pics.

Bruenor: I got the little tuft of hair, but for some reason I wanted to pin it to the front, under his beard. Looks good there, and I didn't notice that it should have gone on the back until after I was done.

[Tim C]

Great tute so far mate I look forward to reading the next update.

[mousekiller]

Chapter 3: Basing

Ok, so we have the model prepped. The next step for me is to base the model, or at least get the majority of the stuff that I want on the base there. This is important because it allows your basing material to get a coat of primer also.

Step 1: Decide what type of base that you want.

For me this is my favorite step, as I really enjoy doing bases. Also, if you are building an army, it is important to have a really nice theme. Usually, for dwarfs I go with a rocky, wintery theme, so for this one we will do the same.

Step 2: Base it.
Materials needed: Cork board, elmers glue, super glue, sand mixture

Choose the materials you want to use. There are so many things out there that you can use, from real rocks to bark to erasers, the sky is the limit. I like using cork because it is nicely textured and very light.

Take the piece of cork in your hands and start picking pieces off of it until you are happy with the product. Set them on the base in the layout that you prefer, and make sure that you test it with your model before attaching anything permanently. Once you are happy with the product, super glue the pieces of cork to the base.



Let the superglue dry for a bit so you don't mess up the cork. Then, add some texture to the rest of the base using sand. I do this by applying a couple of drops of elmers glue (or any sort of wood glue will do) and smearing it in the areas I want texture with a brush. Once that is done I dip the entire base into my sand drawer and press it into the sand.

NOTE: I think it is very critical to keep an entire drawer of sand. Some people use baggies or tupperware, but I really like the ability to get into the sand and play with it. Also, I use a mix of fine and medium sand to give a more realistic texture.



Step 3: Attach the mini

Ok, sometimes I find it best to permanently attach the mini later, but for this particular mini I am going to permanently attach it now. This all depends on taste, and how complicated of a base you are going to have.

To attach the mini, I clipped off the slotta piece from the bottom of the miniature with my clippers. It may be necessary to file some of the excess off the miniature, but in this case it did not make a difference. Then I drilled a hole in his right foot so that I can attach the model to the base. Once this was done I clipped a piece of paper clip and attached it to the hole in his foot.



At this point you would normally have to drill a hole in the cork and the base to attach, but somehow I managed to line everything up so that the original diagonal slot on the base had just enough of a hole that I did not have to do this (amazing how things work out sometimes).



Next up will be primering.

[razhburz]

Nice, very nice I like cork bases too. cork is a nice material to work with.

Looking forward to the next part

André

[menace]

You've gotta love that sand drawer! Just one niggle, the mini seems to be leaning back a little too much for my liking, perhaps a little more basing under the back foot

[mousekiller]

TimC and razhburz: thanks for following along.

jnr: I thought that too when I saw the pic, but I think it might be more the angle of the pic. From a side angle it is a bit less dramatic.

[mousekiller]

Chapter 4: Primering

Ok, so we have the model prepped and ready to go, now all we need to do is primer him so we can begin painting.

Something to keep in mind here is that there are a few different ways to primer, the top three being spray primer, brush, or air brush. If that was not difficult enough, you also have to decide what color to primer, the primary choices being black and white, but almost any color can be used. I prefer to use a spray primer, and the brand in particular that I use is from Games Workshop. A also prefer to primer in black, but I will on occasion use white. The big difference in my opinion is the way the paint looks afterward. If you primer with white, then your initial base coat color is going to be much brighter, but you will also need to make sure and do more darklining. If you primer in black then your basecoat is going to be much darker, but the shadow areas will need much less work.



Weather can play a big difference when primering. If it is raining or humid outside, then the primer is not going to stay on the model as well when you first spray. If it is below freezing, the primer may not stick at all.

To begin, make sure and get yourself an old box top so that the excess paint does not go everywhere. You should always spray paint in a well ventilated area, as many of the fumes can be toxic. I do all my primering on the back porch and place my box top on an old stool. The stool helps because it allows me to rotate the box.

The next step is to shake your primer vigorously for a full minute, as this will help to ensure the ingredients are well mixed. This is especially important if the can of primer has not been used in some time. With the model in an upright position, begin spraying by holding the can approximately 12 inches away and spray evenly across the surface of the model in short bursts. You want good coverage, but do not go overboard because you may obscure the details of the miniature. If need be you can always go back and respray the model. Once the model has a good coat on it, begin rotating the box around on the stool so that the entire model gets a coat. Allow this to dry for 30 minutes.



Once dry, lay the model on its back and begin primering again in the same manner as above. This will ensure that you are able to get the entire model. Allow this to dry for 30 minutes, then lay the model on its stomach and repeat the process.



Allow the model to dry for at least 30 minutes. Then you can take some watered down black paint and an old paint brush (I achieve this by dipping my brush in my water, then into the paint) and touch up the spots that you missed with the primer. Don't worry if there are still a few small spots that are showing, as this will be covered up later with the initial basecoat.



Let the model stand overnight, and you can begin painting.

Up next, starting on the skin...

[wolffang]

Hmmm, I was waiting to see one of those painted. Looking forward to seeing the result.
Nice tutorial to. Will come in pretty handy, since I have almost no experience with Green Stuff at all.

Cheers, Wolf Fang

[menace]

I stick my minis on the end of a brush shaft and go all around in one go (well, many short bursts) this way i don't wait, top, sides and bottom all done in one go..although i'm fortunate to have a warm garage..

[mousekiller]

Wolf Fang: I was really intimidated by GS when I first started using it, thought if I messed it up it would really ruin the model. It is actually a lot easier then it should be to do things like hair and fire.

jnr: That is a great idea. I think that would be much quicker and more efficient way to do it.

[mousekiller]

Chapter 5: Painting the skin

Ok, now the fun begins. To start, I want to explain how to hold the brush. This is important, especially if you have extremely shaky hands like I do. Hold the miniature in one hand, and the brush in the other. The trick is to keep the bottom portion of the hand that is holding the brush against the miniature, this will allow you to place the brush exactly where you want it on the mini. Take a look at the picture to see what I mean.



Lets start painting. For a really nice table top quality model I like to use between 7 and 9 stages of paint to achieve the desired effect. If you want to enter golden daemon then I would go with up to 10 to 12 layers. Or, if you want a quick and good table top quality you can go with 3 to 5 layers. To paint the skin we are going to be using a technique called Feathering, which is simply the application of progressively smaller transparent layers of color in order to visually blend each layer into the previous one.

First we have to decide what colors to use. In my case I am going to use Citadel Paints for the skin: Dark Flesh, Tanned Flesh, Dwarf Flesh, and Elf Flesh. So, we will end up with a good 7 stages:

1. Dark Flesh
2. 50% mixture of Dark Flesh and Tanned Flesh
3. Tanned Flesh
4. 50% mixture of Tanned Flesh and Dwarf Flesh
5. Dwarf Flesh
6. 50% mixture of Dwarf Flesh and Elf Flesh
7. Elf Flesh

Another question I get a lot is what do I mix into my paints for consistency. My answer is simple: water. When I use paints a lot, like I do with this particular skin recipe, I will add the water straight to my bottles and also I will have my 50% mixtures all pre mixed in there own bottles. Remember that the definition of feathering includes this statement "the application of progressively smaller transparent layers of color". So to get a transparent layer of color I go with a 50% mix of water to paint, with the exception of my base color which is a 25% mix of water to paint. The thing to remember is that you want your paint to have a nice milky substance when you begin painting.



Stage 1. DARK FLESH

For this stage I use a Fine Detail Citadel Brush (which is not as small of a brush as they would lead you to believe). I simply cover all the areas that are going to be skin, ensuring to get right up against the edges of things like bracelets, hair, etc. This only needs to dry for a few minutes.



Stage 2. DARK FLESH and TANNED FLESH MIX

This stage is going to use the same brush as before. I am going to ensure to cover all of the skin areas, leaving only a little of the Dark Flesh showing at the edges where the skin meets the bracelets, clothes, hair, etc. Again, this only needs to dry for a few minutes.



Up next, the next few stages...

[Tim C]

This is turning into a great tutorial, I am with jnr in as much as as soon as the Elf Hero is released I am going to order the set of three. I am hoping he does a chaos warrior some time soon too.

[matty1001]

Well i ordered the set of three (even though i already have the dwarf, somewhere!)
This is a great tute, it explain everything, even if it is not normally thought of, such as how to hold a brush!
Fantastic for somebody starting out and wanting to know every little thing in one go.

[mutantpotato]

Looks really good so far. Looking forward to see the progress. I think you should find nother way to prime it, I think laying the mini down at a sheet with wet paint is not good and may ruin the undercoat. I stick the base to a bit of cork and just hold it by hand or on something that will give it a bit more height.

Good luck ;D

[mousekiller]

TIMC: he is really a great sculptor, and still has his mind in the warhammer world which is really great. I've got the elf on the way now, but it is probably my least favorite of the three. I am definitely with you about the chaos warrior... and maybe a imperial wizard...

Matty1001: The other thing I notice about tutorials is that they are geared either towards a really experienced painter, or are really really basic in there essence. So you are either trying to paint a golden daemon or you are drybrushing your whole force just to get it on the table. Hopefully I am showing the inexperienced ones, and some experienced ones, a different way of thinking.

Mutantpotato: I agree. Haven't had any trouble doing it this way, but I could probably prime a lot faster if I used your idea.

[mousekiller]

Chapter 5: Skintones cont.

Stage 3: TANNED FLESH

At this point, I drop my citadel paint brush and start using a 2/0 Vellejo Kolinsky Sable Brush. The goal with this stage is to leave the Dark Flesh/Tanned Flesh mix showing in only the deeper recesses of the muscles. Also, start getting into the habit of following the path of the muscles with your brush, as it will give the strokes a more realistic look. During this stage you are effectively breaking your model down into a lot of little parts with the deep creases being the breaks. Take a look at the picture below.



Stage 4: TANNED FLESH and DWARF FLESH MIX

Ok, now we are getting somewhere. At this point you want to start recessing your strokes a bit, so that each inidividual muscle still has a little bit of the previous color on it. Also, start breaking the individual muscles down a bit to give them further definition. See the picture above.

Stage 5: DWARF FLESH

At this stage we want to start really dividing the big muscle groups into smaller ones (like the biceps, shoulder muscles, etc) so that they start taking on a sinewy look. I really like painting like this because it gives all my heroes a superhuman looking strength. Take a look at the picture below.



Stage 6: DWARF FLESH and ELF FLESH

Ok, at this point I drop my brush size down to a 3/0 Vellejo Kolinsky Sable Brush. I do this so that each brush stroke can be just a little separated from the last, which will allow us to separate those muscles even more. This color will be an extreme highlight for the lower portions (like under the arms, the belly, under the legs, etc). Take a look at the picture above.

Stage 7: ELF FLESH

Alright, this is the final highlight, and should only be used to eccentuate the muscles on the upper portions of the body, the parts that would be getting hit by direct sunlight. Also, really define these lines. Take a look at the pics below, in the close up I think you can see what I am talking about.



And that is it for the skin. Really simple. We will revisit later when we come back for final touchups.

Up next, we will start the hair...

[menace]

Great definition on the muscles, i would tend to go a highlight further, i use elf flesh/ skull white/ a touch of raw umber (artists acrylic pigment)

[jabberwocky]

Great tutorial, MK! I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this one progress.

[mousekiller]

Will do JNR. I will probably do a final chapter for touchups and last highlights. Thanks.

Good to see you Jabber.

[mousekiller]

Chapter 6: Painting Hair

Ok, so the skin is done. Now, let us move on to the next piece, and that is the hair. For those of you that do not know, Dwarf Slayers are supposed to be fanatic type dwarfs who die there hair in really rediculous colors to add ferocity to their look. I like to paint my slayers with flaming orange hair. So, let's get our colors together:

1. Dark Flesh (Citadel Paints)
2. Blood Red (Reaper Pro Paints, although it is very close in color to Citadel's version)
3. Blazing Orange (Citadel Paints)
4. Fiery Orange (Citadel Paints)
5. Merigold Yellow (Reaper Master Series)
6. Sunlight Yellow (Reaper Master Series)



Ok, I use four different brands of paint: Citadel, Reaper Pro, Reaper Master Series, and Vallejo Model Color. If you only use one brand of paint, you can still follow along, just substitute a color from your brand. For instance, Merigold Yellow can be achieved by mixing 50:50 of Fiery Orange and Sunburst Yellow from Citadel Paints.

Stage 1: Dark Flesh
This is going to represent the deepest shadows, so apply a solid basecoat. I use the Fine Detail Brush from Games Workshop for this step. See the picture below.



Stage 2: Blood Red
Ok, at this step I begin using a dry brush. Dry brushes can be achieved in several ways, I myself use an old Fine Detail Brush that has lost its point, but some companies also sell Dry Brushes. Either way, the technique is very simple, just apply paint to the brush, rub the brush across your finger or a napkin to get rid of the excess, and gently pull the brush across the model. If you want more coverage, than go back and apply the step again. For the water ratio on this one, I add very little water when I am dry brushing. Also, for this color, you want a liberal dry brush at the base, and almost complete coverage at the top. See the picture above.

Stage 3: Blazing Orange
Ok, this step we are continuing to dry brush. At this stage, we want to apply a somewhat liberal coat of Blazing orange, as this is really the goal color that we want for our dwarf. See the picture below.



Stage 4: Fiery Orange
This is the last stage where we can get away with drybrushing, so go easy. Apply a gentle drybrush across the hair, allowing yourself to be a bit more liberal just at the top. See the picture above.

Stage 5: Merigold Yellow
At this stage we are going to switch to a Vallejo 3/0 Kolinsky Sable Brush. Here you want to start picking out individual strands of hair and highlighting the higher points. Make sure your paint is at that milky phase that we talked about during the skin chapter. Also, make sure to dab your brush on a napkin or against your hand to take off the excess water so that it does not leak all over the model. Take a look at the picture below:



Stage 6: Sunlight Yellow
Last stage, and the easiest. Same as stage 5, just hit the really high points to bring them out. Take a look at the picture above.

A Quick NOTE: I will probably go back once the model is "done" to apply one additional highlight to every stage. I usually wait to do this because it allows me to touch up any parts of the model that may have gotten messed up at the same time.

Up NEXT: Metallics