"15mm EIR (Corvus Belli)" Topic

Started another DBA army with the (soon) arrival of DBA3.

Link:

link

I am actually bothered that no matter what i do i can't get quality out of these figures. I am patient and i do not rush but it seems i simply have problems with getting the paint on the right spots.

Can i get some tips regarding 15mm painting? I am tempted to switch to 25mm for DBA simply because i want to have good looking miniatures. Is it a matter of brushes? I do not have any fine detail ones in case it matters.

Brush applied dip to the non-metal areas would really pick the figure details up … plus, for my tastes, some shield designs (could be decals though I would use paint) – doesn't need to be too complex …

Of course all troops look a bit plain til you ground work the bases – Good bases really make the army (the smaller the scale, the more important the basing *Baccus* knows this )

Enjoy the Romans

Phil
Ancients on the Move

For what it's worth, here's my two cents on the subject. Just as you did, I begin by painting the figures black (dark), but unlike you my next step is to dry brush the armor. Once the armor is dry brushed I go back with black in clean up the mess I've made with the armor dry brushing. When everything is nice and neat again I add the color to the cloth, shield, and flesh. I also remember that if I make a mistake I can go back and tidy things up… don't have to be perfect with each stroke of the brush. Having shared my wisdom, it is probably only fair to let you see the results of my efforts so that you can judge whether my suggestions are worth your time. Most of my Romans are Old Glory 15s but I have Essex and Corvus Belli as well. The best pics of have of my Romans are pics, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11; those are largely Old Glory and Essex. Pics 12 and 13 are the Corvus Belli marching figures (neat figures). You can see them at link

I agree with Phil – I would use ink or dip on armour and flesh, leather and wood bits, decals on shiels and do the bases.

I would suggest that your colours are all rather dark, and on such small minis that makes them look a bit flat. i.e the Gunmetal, dark crimson, and gold shades are all dark. Try using using a really bright scarlett, and more of silver/aluminium colour to make them 'pop' a bit more and then use a darker wash or dip to shade to recesses.

That should help everything standout a bit more. This page has some great ideas which may help.

hourofwolves.org

I don't usually paint the whole surface of legs, arms and faces. Your face esp I think has too much coverage.

A dot/line on the forehead, cheeks, nose and chin will do.Even less if the face area is small.
On arms I tend to do strokes that roughly conform to the muscles.

Good advice here. So it seems my mistake is doing too much paint and on a darker scale then needed. I know indeed that small scale minis need to be bright as they darken naturally due to the size.

So:

1. Get a fine detail brush
2. Apply bright colors
3. Use small lines and stop block painting
4. Detail the shields and bases (basing not yet done)

They only need a little touch up. As suggested, a darker wash to bring out the details on the figure (dark brown or black wash for metal areas, a reddy brown for the flesh areas) and a lighter highlight here or there to make the colours pop (particularly on the shields and tunics).

A smaller brush to make sure that you're not putting paint outside of where you want it and Bob's your uncle.

Put them on a nicely flocked base and you'll have a nice wee army.

Good luck and enjoy!

Cheers,
Aaron

I agree with Simon, the smaller the miniature ,you need brighter colors. Most of the time the figures are going to be about 2 feet away. Use gold for bronze and silver for Armour.Then use a black wash or thinned ink. P3 make a great Armour wash which really works. Yes like Phil said get some shield decals, which will really make them noticeable.

If you want brighter, try dry brushing white over the black primer. Painting over this with thinned paint gives a very good effect. Alternatively you could try white primer. This tends to give more luminosity ( I think that's the technical term) to the colours. When block painting finished, gloss varnish, then use Magic Wash with black ink pigment( or if you have got money to waste, Army Painter dip). Finally matte varnish.
I would also buy AB figures- much better than Corvus Belli IMHO.

"If you want brighter, try dry brushing white over the black primer. Painting over this with thinned paint gives a very good effect."

This is my favoured technique. Very forgiving.

I prefer a white undercoat to have light colur tones

I had a wee bit of time this morning before going to work and i drybrushed white over the armor. The result is staggering. The color now goes completely to silver (from 2 feet distance).

I'm probably redoing the scabbards as green and the straps as dark brown for added contrast.

Still need to find a fine detail brush (as right now i am using a small pin for details)

Thank you everyone for the kind advice and the pictures really did help. :)