Death Master Snikch Painting tutorial (Pic Heavy)

[Durham_red]

Now that the Painting Comp has finished, I thought I'd post this thread.

While I was building the base for this figure I decide it would be a good idea to show the stages I go through and how I get the results I do when painting, in particular on Death Master Snikch.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/SnikchRooftoprelic.jpg http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/SnikchRooftopBackRelic.jpg

Firstly before I even start to put paint on the model I plan out what the colour scheme is going to be. In this case I chose to go with a colour scheme heavily influenced by the promo pictures for Assassins Creed II. I wanted to do something different to the normal all black colour scheme. It is a nice warm palette to which I could contrast with a cool palette on the building he’s standing on.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/ac2.jpg

Inside of the cloak

I want to do this red as in the Assassins Creed picture so I decided to use the method I commonly employ on my own figures.

Stage 1
Basecoat of Scab Red

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloak_Stage01_ScabRed.jpg

Stage 2
This is blended up to Blood Red, by mixing Blood Red with the Scab Red and some Glaze Medium, making sure to leave some of the Scab Red visible in the recesses. The Glaze Medium helps me keep the blending smooth.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloak_Stage02_BloodRed.jpg

Stage 3
Highlight of Blood red and Blazing orange mix (with Glaze Medium) and as before making sure to leave some of the previous layer showing.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloak_Stage03_BloodRedBlazingOrange.jpg

Stage 4
Highlight of the mix from stage 3 with more Blazing Orange added.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloak_Stage04_MixBlazingOrange.jpg

Stage 5
Highlight with pure Blazing Orange mixed with glaze medium.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloak_Stage05_BlazingOrange.jpg

Stage 6
Highlight with Blazing Orange mixed with Vomit Brown and glaze medium.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloak_Stage06_BlazingOrangeVomitBro.jpg

Stage 7
Final line highlight of pure Vomit Brown.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloak_Stage07_VomitBrown-1.jpg

Stage 8
Shaded with Asurmen Blue watered down with water and glaze medium. This was painted in to the recesses of the cloak in thin layers. This allowed me to build up the deeper shading with more control.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloak_Stage08_ShadeAzurmanBlue-1.jpg

Stage 9
The whole inside of the cloak was then glazed with a mix of Baal Red and Glaze Medium. This helped both strengthen the red colour and tie the layers together.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloak_Stage09_GlazeBaalRed.jpg

Stage 10
Black out the bits which are going to be painted differently later on. This stage of the process is optional but I like to do it as it gives me an impression of what the cloak looks like finished and allows me to see if I need to make any last minute alterations.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloak_Stage10_Blackout.jpg


In stage 8 I used Asurman Blue to shade the red. To some this might seem a bit of an odd choice, why not use a mix of Scab Red and Chaos Black or Scorched Brown. The reason for this is because of this colour wheel. I came across this while looking for colour wheels. To go into the details will take too long but in short this “Real Color Wheel” is primarily used in the printing process and as you can see the opposite colour of red on this wheel is Cyan to which the closest I have is the Asurman Blue. After numerous experiments using this Wheel I found that it worked best when using glazes/washes to shade and the more traditional colour wheel works better for the mixing of paints. So for example I would use Leviathan Purple to shade Greens, Baal Red to shade Turquoise and Thrakka Green to shade Purples etc.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/real_colour_wheel.jpg
http://realcolorwheel.com/

Skin

Stage 1

Basecoat of Tallarn Flesh.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Skin_Stage1_TallarnFlesh.jpg

Stage2

Wash of Dark Flesh watered down with Glaze Medium and water.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Skin_Stage2_DarkFleshWash.jpg

Stage 3

Wash of Scorched Brown watered down with Glaze Medium and water into the recesses.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Skin_Stage3_ScorchedBrownRecess.jpg

Stage 4

Blend up with Tallarn Flesh leaving some of the Scorched Brown and Dark Flesh showing.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Skin_Stage4_TallarnFlesh.jpg

Stage 5

Highlight the tallarn Flesh with a mix of Tallarn Flesh, Bleached Bone and Fortress Grey.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Skin_Stage5_TallarnBleachedFortress.jpg

Stage 6

Highlight with the mix from the previous stage with some added Bleached Bone.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Skin_Stage6_MixBleached.jpg

Stage 7

A final highlight of The mix from the stage 6 and Skull White.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Skin_Stage7_MixWhite.jpg

Stage 8

Black out round the skin.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Skin_Stage8_Blackout.jpg

Back of Cloak and Trousers

Stage 1

Basecoat of Scorched Brown with a little Dark Angels Green mixed in to take the redness out of the Scorched Brown when it’s highlighted.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloakback_Stage01_ScorchedDarkAngel.jpg

Stage 2

Highlight with Basecoat mix and Kommando Khaki.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloakback_Stage02_MixKhaki.jpg

Stage 3

Highlight with mix from stage 2 and Kommando Khaki.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloakback_Stage03_MixMoreKhaki.jpg

Stage 4

Highlight with mix from stage 3 and Kommando Khaki.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloakback_Stage04_MixMoreKhaki.jpg

Stage 5

Highlight with mix from stage 4 and Kommando Khaki.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloakback_Stage06_MixMoreKhaki.jpg

Stage 6

Highlight with mix from stage 5 and Kommando Khaki.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloakback_Stage05_MixMoreKhaki.jpg

Stage 7

Highlight with mix from stage 6 and Kommando Khaki .

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloakback_Stage07_MixMoreKhaki.jpg

Stage 8

Final highlight of Kommando Khaki.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloakback_Stage08_KommandoKhaki.jpg

Stage 9

Shaded with Asurmen Blue watered down with water and glaze medium. This was painted in to the recesses of the cloak in thin layers.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloakback_Stage09_Asurmanblue.jpg

Stage 10

Shaded with Ogryn Flesh watered down with water and glaze medium. This was painted in to the recesses of the cloak in thin layers. This warmed up the shading where the Asurman Blue was a little too strong.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Cloakback_Stage10_Ogrynflesh.jpg

Hood

Stage 1

Basecoat of Khemri Brown.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Hood_Stage1_KhemriBrown.jpg

Stage 2

Highlight with Khemri Brown and Bleached Bone mix leaving some Khemri Brown showing in the recesses.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Hood_Stage2_KhemriBrownBleachedBone.jpg

Stage 3

Wash with Devlan Mud in to the recesses.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Hood_Stage3_DevlanMud.jpg

Stage 4

Wash with watered down Devlan Mud and Asurman Blue in to the recesses.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Hood_Stage4_DevlanMudAsurmanblue.jpg

Stage 5

Rehighlight with the mix from Stage 2.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Hood_Stage5_KhemriBleached.jpg

Stage 6

Highlight with mix from Stage 5 with Bleached Bone.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Hood_Stage6_MixBleached.jpg

Stage 7

Highlight with pure Bleached Bone.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Hood_Stage7_BleachedBone.jpg

Stage 8

Final line highlight of Bleached Bone and Skull White mix.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Hood_Stage8_BleachedWhite.jpg

Stage 9

Glaze the recesses with the Glaze Medium added to the mix from Stage 4.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Hood_Stage9_DevlanMudAsurmanblue.jpg


Powerbands

Stage 1

Basecoat of Shining Gold and Scorched Brown mix.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Powerbands_Stage1_ShiningScorched.jpg

Stage 2

Wash with Devlan Mud.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Powerbands_Stage2_DevlanMud.jpg

Stage 3

Highlight with Shining Gold leaving the Shining Gold and Scorched mix showing in the recesses.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Powerbands_Stage3_ShininigGold.jpg

Stage 4

Highlight this with Burnished Gold.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Powerbands_Stage4_BurnishedGold.jpg

Stage 5

Highlight the Burnished Gold by adding in a little Mithril Silver.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Powerbands_Stage5_BurnishedGoldMith.jpg

Stage 6

Add a little contrast to the gold by painting a little Devlan Mud and Leviation Purple into the recesses to make the gold ‘Pop’ that little bit more.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Powerbands_Stage6_DevlanMudLevathan.jpg

Sword

Stage 1

Basecoat of Boltgun Metal and Scaly Green mix.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Sword_Stage1_BoltgunScaly.jpg

Stage 2

Blend up to Boltgun Metal, leaving the green tinted metal showing where the dark areas of metal would be.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Sword_Stage2_Boltgun.jpg

Stage 3

Highlight this more with Chainmail, further accentuating the reflections on the metal.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Sword_Stage3_Chainmail.jpg

Stage 4

Glaze the green areas of the metal with a mix of Badab Black and Thrakka Green, further accentuating the contrast in the reflections in the metal.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Sword_Stage4_BadabThrakka.jpg

Stage 5

Line highlight with Mithril Silver, giving definition to the shape of the blades.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a367/Durham_red/Death%20Master%20Snitch/Sword_Stage5_MithrilSilver.jpg

Well I hope that was of some use to anyone who has taken the time to read it.

Any questions or comments are welcome and I will try to answer them as soon as I can.

Also if anyone is interested, I have laid this out and I have it saved as a PDF. If anyone wants it can you post your interest here and I'll up load it and I'll edit the first post with a link to download it.

[misterjustin]

Whew! What a read!

Thank you so much for posting this. It's an incredible look at how this model was done and how to apply some "basic" techniques to good effect. Much appreciated.

[Dooks Dizzo]

Absolutly amazing. I really do look foward to practicing some of this on my current army.

Can you clarify what you mean by Glaze Medium? Is it something you buy or somehting you make?

[Durham_red]

Glaze medium is something you can buy (various brands) that you add to your paints and water down and it thins the opacity of the paint but keeps the properties of the paint. If you get what I mean? It makes it more transparant so the blends between colours are smoother.

I use this stuff:

http://www.fredaldous.co.uk/shop_images/product_fullsize/030190244.jpg

It's cheap and you get lots of it (I'm still on my first tube)

[COG]

Thank you.
very nice tut
and i think im going to have to the clean up step of blacking things out never even thought of that.
i for one would love this in PDF.

[Schweet]

How much medium did you use, anyway?
I recently bought a big bottle of it, myself, so that I didnt have to use water to thin my paints, so this tutorial is GREAT!

[Brother Wolf]

I just wanted to add my thanks to the list. We have some serious talent here and it's an honour to have members of your calibre contributing to RN. I enjoyed this model during competition voting and and it was a genuine treat to walk through this 'behind the brush' tutorial. This has to be one of the most informative reads we've had and it's a real treat to see seemingly simple techniques strung together to create amazing results.

[Keebrev]

Thanks a lot, I too would love to have the PDF.

[Telliphas]

Basecoat of Scorched Brown with a little Dark Angels Green mixed in to take the redness out of the Scorched Brown when it’s highlighted. You sir are a saviour, Scorched brown is such a good colour for leather, but I've always had an issue with it's hightlights turning a little reddish.

Brilliant tutorial DR, I think I'm in love with that red cloak. The Stage 10 photo makes it really pop.

[Durham_red]

How much medium did you use, anyway?

It's hard to say how much medium to use as the Glaze medium I use is like a paste so is different to the other stuff you can buy. I'd suggest just experiment with what you have and see how it works for you.

[Durham_red]

Does anyone know of a good site where you can share PDF's? I've tried http://www.scribd.com/ but I'm having trouble up loading the file.

[Brother Wolf]

I'd be happy to host it on my own as I've done for contests & such, so long as you have proper credits for yourself in the PDF. Credit where credit is due, of course. PM me if you like.

[Jianaran]

First of all, awesome tutorial Durham. Always great to see this sort of thing, and I'm certainly planning to try some of these techniques.
One thing seems to be missing, though: How did you finish the knives off? The tutorial ends with the metallics done, but the finished model has the knives looking a lot greener. What you've done looks like a great way of doing magic weapons or powerswords etc, but it'd be great to hear how you did it.
Thanks again for an awesome tutorial, and a beautiful model.

[Bogmire]

DM, I must say this is very fine work! I can't believe how many layers you go through. The colour depth truely pays off but I don't think I have the patience for that. Excellent work!
I'd love this tute in a pdf too. Let us all know if you get it hosted somewhere.