"Painting 'anime style' - any hints ?" Topic

I bought into the Relic Knights KS and it may be shipping soon. In order to avoid it heading for the "shelf where projects go to die", I'd like to do a bit of preparation / planning.

I consider myself a competent painter of historical figures (read: matte finishes) but I want something brighter with these.

Some random thoughts I have are:

Maybe try a gloss white undercoat – but that might be too 'slippery' to paint over – not to mention the challenges of getting a smooth gloss white finish even with an airbrush.

I currently use Vallejo paints but what about trying enamels, specifically gloss – i.e. Testors or Humbrol ? Going back to my roots in a way there…

I'm also not sure about highlighting or shading – I'm kind of thinking bright, solid colours but maybe some shading is still necessary.

Any suggestions ? I really want these to look 'different' than a typical historical figure.

Do not use a glossy primer. The paint is too slippery like you thought.

I would not use any dark colors.

I have also bought into this as well. Lots of interesting figures.

This is different, and something I've thought about trying to emulate on occasion:

link

It's a cell-shaded technique (used on 'nids), but I think it would work well for the effect you're going for? I would post a pic, but my broswer at work won't allow me to capture the image URLs.

Jeff

Yes, that tyranid tutorial is very cool and would be a great way to approach the SDE and Relic Knights.

I too backed the RK Kickstarter and have been thinking about it in advance so it doesn't get buried in the lead pile. I envision brighter and more 'flat'.

Try Cel Vinyl paints. They are the paints that cartoonists use. They have better coverage than most other acrylic paints on the market whether hobby or craft.

Prime White, but not gloss white. I use white gesso for my minis.

You will want to shade the minis, but you can get away with rougher color transitions.

I'd use an ivory color for some of the highlights, or Ivory mixed with your base color.

And finally, blackline the minis. Use a micron pen or a mix of black ink, matte medium (or Future), and water in a 1:1:8 ratio or thereabouts. You basically want the wash to settle into the cracks and spaces between surfaces.

HUGE EYES!

This will clearly be a "too simple/too complex" answer.

Airbrush on your primer. Make it white.

Airbrush on the colors using transparent layers.

Spray on clear gloss coats in between layers to get additional depth of color.

It seems so easy in text, right?

Anyone else get a picture of Psy (Gungam Style) painting figures from reading the title?

I basically just hyper highlight mine.

You'll probably find it helpful to peruse the RK Painting & Modelling board on the Soda Pop Forums: link