Blood Rage Ravens Done

First clan is finished and ready to be protected with transprent matt varnish.

Some close up of tokens

ship

chieftain

seers

warriors

and some random details

Plenty more to paint, five other clans, monsters, giants, gods ...

Blood Rage Ravens 3

I start layering the main colours.

The first colour will be a grey blue of which I select a "shadow" tone and apply it to the tunic and trousers having care to leave a thin black line between the different elements like the tunic and the armour in the example below.
Then i over paint with the mid tone leaving the first layer where I want shadows to be.
The final stage is layering the light tone where they are most needed to show the shape of the elements, like the creases on the wool tunic.

Try to work from inside to outside and not to miss spots that are very important to show the depth, like the tunic under the magic pot in the example below.

I use to give the shadow layer two coats of paint to have a good solid base on which to layer the subsequent tones.

As you can see in the example below, after only one coat some black is still showing from under the grey blue.

This are the three tones used. I use to leave the dried paint on the palette for later reference if I need o to mix again the same tone.

The same technique is used to paint flesh

and raw wool clothes.

Here the whole clan with main colours completed. 

Blood Rage Ravens 2

I start dry brushing metals.
First tone is 'Tinny tin' from Vallejo game colour followed by 'Plate Mail' from Army painter.
Then a layer with some matt black is used to clean all the parts that were not supposed to be metallic, eventual spots that were missed during the priming are touched up.

Here are the raven clan warriors in the three different working steps.

All the clan warriors, chieftain and mystics ready for the next stage.

While the metals are drying i add some colour to the clan token and the drakkar.

I'm pretty surprised by the quality of the models. The warrior models show plenty of details very well sculpted and defined. You can definitely find the same quality  in the clan token and the ship even if it is in a smaller scale. As an example here are some details of  the chieftain's armour.

Now i begin applying the colour scheme suggested by the owner. The result is submitted to his approval.

Once it is approved it will be applied to the rest of the models.

Blood Rage Ravens 1

Starting a new project: painting the whole components of blood rage board game from kickstarter.
The base game miniatures and the addons from kickstarter campaign are going to sum up to 86 standard size miniatures, 7 big miniatures and almost 30 tokens. I will be pretty busy in the next days 😳.

Just starting from the ravens clan.
The miniatures are been checked for mould lines which are then removed.
I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality of the plastic material used that leave very few mould lines and that can be worked with files to which plastic usually don t react so well.

Miniatures are then washed with warm water and soap using a toothbrush.

After the bath miniatures are going to be dried with the help of an hairdryer that will also be used to make all those spear straight again.

Here they are, dried and with some straight spears.

Preparing the supports where miniatures will be attached with the use of double sided tape.

All the clan and their tokens are ready.

Running low on ammunition.

An heroic warrior is been prepared by the Valkyries of priming to join his brothers in the Valhalla of black primed warriors 😨.

All the clan primed. The black clad warriors stood in the mid of the night waiting to board the black ship over the black sea .... you get the idea.

Next step will be the proper painting.

Painting guides - books

This article originally appeared on my now closed website.

Almost anyone beginning to paint miniatures, looking for help and advice, will come across many guides on the subject.

It's not easy to figure out which one could be better for us, and you are likely to spend money (which could instead be better spent in other miniatures) to find yourself with a book full of pictures but containing few really useful information.

Since i've made this mistake several times, I can say I have some experience about this subject and I want try to give my personal opinion on some of these books, hoping that others will find it useful.

Eavy Metal the complete guide to painting Citadel miniatures - Mike McVey

  I start from the book that for me is one of the best about miniature painting.
 Please do not confuse it with one of those newer ones that have almost  the same title.
 Let's start by saying that the book is a bit dated, this means above all that the examples are illustrated by "old-style" models now out of production, painted with rather saturated colors and color combinations flashier than what we're used to nowdays.
 None the less the information is complete, exhaustive, detailed and well explained. There are insights on how to paint the faces, eyes, gems and jewelry, a whole chapter on horses, armor, banners and furs.
 This book do contains all you need to know to start painting miniatures and even bringing them to a higher level. The techniques involve the use of the brush, no mention of airbrush.
 Written by Mike McVey when he was in charge of Games Workshop's eavy metal team , when they were definitely the best, the book presents techniques that were and are still effective  for painting miniatures at any level. The explanations are exhaustive and accompanied by many sample images.
 The book is now out of production, but it can be found on eBay at a price ranging between 30 and 40 € but can go higher testifying to the validity of the product even after more than 20 years (but do not buy it if it's too high priced, just wait for another offer).

Foundry Miniatures Painting and Modelling Guide - Kevin Dallimore

Dallimore has bee one of the first to approach miniature painting in search for a "method" to be applied to any model, and he found it. After The Dallimore way, more known as "foundry style", you begin by priming the model in black then you follow up painting  the different parts of the model leaving a thin black line between them, achieving a very effective and rather fast blacklining. For the different colored parts you use one to three different colours from darker to lighter, not blended but rather stratified and placed in the right spots.
The effectiveness of this method, is demonstrated by the fact that for years  it had become the reference method for the GW and other manufacturers. The advantage of this procedure, compared to others, is that it allows you to get excellent results (in the version 3 colors) in a short enough time to allow  you to really paint whole armies.
The guide covers many (and many) times the process both in the one colour version (a bit poor, but definitely fast), two and finally three colours (where it is at its best). Many  well-detailed and clarifying images are provided. The book contains basic information on the necessary tools, tips on how to sit and how to hold your hands to decrease shaking , clarifications on the primers and on the final varnish, the light sources, etc. There are  also many sample models of other painters painted with different techniques which are also briefly explained.
The book refers to the Foundry paint line but the technique is usable with any other brand and on the web there are many conversion tables between the different brands.
Surely a very complete  and useful book , but it is only worth buying if you're interested in that style of painting.
The price ranges from 40 € up and ultimately you can' t find it anymore in the foundry site where instead they still have his second handbook, which is dedicated to the most' advanced techniques but with a complete example of the basic tecnique too.

How to Paint Citadel Miniatures

  An handbook with no special qualities. As of  content it is certainly poorer than McVey's one, it illustrates almost the same techniques of its predecessor without adding anything but a more modern graphical format using photos of more modern models (but some already out production). There's also a current newer version which, however, i don't have access too.

In my opinion it's not worth to buy it except as a fallback if you can' t find the old one.

It is on ebay and also on amazon from 15-20 €

Modelling and Painting Figures (Modelling Manuals) osprey

This handbook is more suited to modellers than to wargamers as it illustrates the painting of figures to be used as part of dioramas or even individual pieces so it focuses more  on quality and less on speed. Certainly full of information if you're interested in the genre.

In my opinion nothing exceptional but at the time I bought it anyway ... 😌

It is on ebay and amazon from 15-20 €

Infinity: Painting Miniatures from A to Z - Angel Giraldez Masterclass Vol 1  Giraldez

 In a word: airbrush. The book is almost entirely dedicated to the use of the airbrush to paint miniatures which are then finished by paintbrush. The airbrush looks a bit of a magic wand in the hands of those who really know how to use it (and Gimenez is one of the best) but it is quite complicated to use and this is the main flaw of this book in which many images appear of the beautiful miniatures by Gimenez but only a few initial pages are devoted to the explanation of the techniques used (and those few seem copied from other books) actually leaving the reader to contemplate astonished the beautiful images.
In my opinion it's pretty useless for a beginner.
It is starting from 40 € on ebay and amazon.



These are the five books of my collection of which it is worth to speak about, the others are devoted to very specific topics or are too useless to report about... thow i've bought them anyway😌
In conclusion, if you are interested in the "foundry style" the Dallimore book is the way to go otherwise I'd really buy McVey's one  although at the moment it's a bit hard to find.

Valid alternative to handbooks are the countless video-tutorial (streaming or DVD) to which I will devote a future article.

Why this blog?

Why starting this blog ?
 The web is packed with blogs, websites and videos showing beautiful miniatures painted by great professionals, often real artists. These miniatures will entice even the "mere mortals" to try but comparing to such examples could be very demoralizing.
 This blog  want to be a place to show miniatures painted to a good standard by a non-professional. I'll show various references to articles accessible to all (for the level of difficulty) in the web and i'll try to give some suggestions for those who want to get miniatures painted at a good "playing" level, nothing that will win prizes or exhibitions but will surely provide hours of enjoyment and personal satisfaction in having created a good product.
I will also try to suggest materials and techniques that can save you some money, so you can buy more miniatures !!
English is definitely not my mother language but i will try to keep on it as much as i can (my apologies to english mother language readers)😅