"Progress of drybrushing stone and wood, my experiences" Topic
10 Posts
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Baranovich | 05 Sep 2015 11:48 a.m. PST |
Recently completed several terrain projects that required extensive drybrushing of both stone and wood. I had done similar projects a number of years ago, and that experience was really helpful this time around. One of the new things that I learned which really improved my work with stone was that the best drybrushing results were achieved after the brush had visually seemed to run out of paint. In the past I had simply used too much paint and the drybrushing was blocky and streaky in some parts. But when I got the technique down with virtually no paint in the brush, I found that I could "scrub" or "dust" with the brush and the scrubbing/dusting is what really brought out the full potential of the stone's detail. By the time you're done you are scrubbing/dusting the piece with a 99% empty brush and it works amazingly well. In the photos of the GW Mighty Fortress I used the scrubbing/dusting technique to excellent effect, in fact I was able to do almost an entire wall piece with one paint load on the brush, and was able to do the same with the fortress gate. I used the same scrubbing/dusting technique on the GW watch tower as well as their Skullvane Manse kit. Here's some of the results: link link link link link link link link link link link link |
CeruLucifus | 06 Sep 2015 11:21 a.m. PST |
If you over-drybrush you can wipe the paint off while a damp rag (although to repaint immediately you probably want to blot with a dry rag). However if the paint has dried or cured, the best thing to do is mix up a stain or glaze (like a wash but more pigment) and paint the individual brick with it. This will color the excessive highlight and settle into the recesses revealing the obscured detail. With a gray on black scheme you would use black stain, but … you can greatly enhance the look of model stones by picking a couple colored stains, say green and tan, and hitting a few of the bricks, say 10-20% with each. In principle this is all you need to do but if the stain color comes out too rich, drybrush over a highlight with the same gray highlight and it will fit right into the existing color scheme. |
Xintao | 08 Sep 2015 7:10 a.m. PST |
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Achtung Minen | 18 Sep 2015 9:03 p.m. PST |
I've had a couple of Mighty Fortress sets (the styrofoam ones) hanging in my closet for a while because I was too nervous that I would mess them up. This is good drybrushing advice though and I feel a little more confident to paint them up as they deserve! |
Baranovich | 19 Sep 2015 6:30 a.m. PST |
Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated. I'm also glad that my tips and suggestions are helping others to try it out as well! @Achtung Minen, That's awesome! Oh man, I'm so jealous – I have been trying for ages to get my hands on one of the old styrofoam Mighty Fortresses. They show up on Ebay every now and then but gamers know how much in demand they are and they are mega-expensive! I might try to go the route of buying an incomplete one that's missing some of the plastic components so I at least can get the gate, walls and towers. All of my GW stuff is 7th and 8th edition minis and terrain, but the ONE thing I always still wanted was that old fortress. I like the newer plastic one but I think that old stryofoam one has more character. Hard to believe that came out in 1988, 27 years ago. Dang I'm old. :) |
Achtung Minen | 19 Sep 2015 8:34 a.m. PST |
Baranovich, I picked my last one up a couple years ago for around $60 USD, but I was happy to pay almost $100 USD for my first one (the exuberance of impatience). If you find a set missing the plastic components, you can always pick up the doors from a Heroquest auction (I am 99% certain the Milton Bradley boardgame used the same plastic doors as the Mighty Fortress, but I can confirm if you'd like). The trapdoors and ladders can be either left out or custom built. Note, I am pretty sure the Mighty Fortress never came with enough plastic doors anyway… There are a ton of doorways on the model (remember, this was an edition of Warhammer Siege when you could be fighting WITHIN the walls as well as on top of them). |
Baranovich | 20 Sep 2015 7:27 a.m. PST |
Achtung Minen, Ohhh wow, sure enough there's one available on Ebay right now! $150.00 USD in near mint condition in the box!…gotta seize the opportunity! auction You pointed out what I loved most about that time period for Warhammer. Warhammmer Siege for 3rd edition is my single favorite GW book of all time. As you said, this was a time when you could actually fight inside the castle walls, including the courtyard as well as on the walls! Great stuff! That's a great idea about Heroquest auctions, and I would not be surprised during that time period if Milton Bradley did indeed utilize the same generic plastic doors for HQ, I believe all the sprues were brown plastic if I'm not mistaken. |
Achtung Minen | 20 Sep 2015 4:21 p.m. PST |
Whoops, I meant the doors from Advanced Heroquest, and I can now confirm that they are indeed identical. $150 USD for a Mighty Fortress still in the box is very reasonable. It's a great looking (and remarkably solid) piece of terrain that is highly customizable. |
jwebster | 20 Sep 2015 8:07 p.m. PST |
This is great stuff I find drybrushing a hard technique for some reason. As you say, brush has to be really dry – a softer brush helps as well. I use craft paint for scenery – the thick paint is great for drybrushing. Some ideas you might want to try out - add some light green in a few places – that is how stone looks - vary the tones – no real wall is that even - could add some stains in a couple places, particularly where water might drip down - lighter at the top of the wall than the bottom, as if light was coming in from overhead … Very nice buildings John |
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