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Painting Terrain Pieces


Mr. White

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I tend to spray them, then apply washes and a simple highlight. I don't spend as much effort on them as I do for miniatures.

 

A tip for buildings, spray them with one colour of grey, then (from a distance) give them a light spray with a lighter grey (from above or one side) to give a slight highlight.

 

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34 minutes ago, KnightFire said:

I tend to spray them, then apply washes and a simple highlight. I don't spend as much effort on them as I do for miniatures.

 

A tip for buildings, spray them with one colour of grey, then (from a distance) give them a light spray with a lighter grey (from above or one side) to give a slight highlight.

 

This is how I paint scenery too. I used a black spray undercoat, a grey "zenithal" basecoat, black, green, and brown washes and then a final very light drybrush all over. Then, if needed, pick out a few details ("magic bits" or similar) to paint more carefully to make the whole piece "pop".

20151104_125904_zps1u7ewi1p.jpg.b258b279b3ce2521c26949a03a08bb6b.jpg

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Great advice on spraying a lighter shade. How far away is the can on this lighter shade?

I see the pic above has been affixed to a base. What is the base and do you guys recommend putting bases on all terrain pieces? Seems without bases it may be more prone to falling over...but will better match the mat/cloth/what have you.

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I always base terrain. It helps to ground it on the table. Also you can match it to armies. I tend to paint between 6-8 pieces of scenery for each army I do so I try and base them the same. As an example here is the latest piece I did. Based it to match a lava mat I have: 

IMG_0546.jpg.dcc174b738ee49a0d2022171306f8cec.jpg

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1 hour ago, Mr. White said:

Great advice on spraying a lighter shade. How far away is the can on this lighter shade?

 

Best advice is to start too far away and move closer until you get the effect you need. I tend to spray outside so the distance depends on the wind direction etc, but its probably somewhere around 2 ft.

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8 hours ago, WarbossKurgan said:

This is how I paint scenery too. I used a black spray undercoat, a grey "zenithal" basecoat, black, green, and brown washes and then a final very light drybrush all over. Then, if needed, pick out a few details ("magic bits" or similar) to paint more carefully to make the whole piece "pop".

20151104_125904_zps1u7ewi1p.jpg.b258b279b3ce2521c26949a03a08bb6b.jpg

How do you do a base like that?

What kind of material is it?

 

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Last night I tried that 'zenithal' technique for the first time. I'm not a fan of painting terrain, so hoped to find a quick technique. I read that this was fast...and boy was it. Total work time was a little less than an hour (add about 30mins for primer to dry). I had a prepainted Mage Knight tower piece that I wanted to paint up darker for my skirmish games in the Shadespire.

Prep - I wanted to keep the doors their wood color, so I put some of that blue painter's tape over the doors.

Step 1 - Zenithal prime (black, grey, white)

t1.jpg.94d7fb003f3c18c69b92562afc787751.jpg

Step 2 - wash 98% of it with Asurman Blue/Drakenhof Nightshade. The small orb on top I washed yellow. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it, but again, I wanted to finish this piece quickly, so I opted not to cut or fiddle with it. I simply washed it yellow...maybe it can be a palantir type thing...an objective piece in some scenarios.

t2.jpg.a27a34f020ecae63bec4fd9340da0dbc.jpg

Step 3 - I glued a few tufts of grass or flock near the bottom. I have two mats I play on...a dark cobblestone for Shadespire and the oop Citadel green field mat. I felt like adding some grass near the bottom of the tower would help ground it with the grass mat as little as it already seemed dark enough for the cobblestone mat...which also has a little grass printed on it.

At this point I'm calling it done. I could go in and do some highlights and paint in some details, but I feel by simply having it dark it gives the tower a bit of sinister air about it. Plus too many details and it can overcrowd the eye and wash out minis. Less details and it fades more into the background allowing the minis to pop, IMHO.

Anyway, yeah having this done in about an hour, and only opening two paint pots, I think I've found my new terrain painting technique.

t4.jpg.9b38f139259060c0ed1e7000e5e5c24c.jpg

t3.jpg.50ccf9499318c5cabdf5c2147d1fbef2.jpg

 

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On 2017-6-26 at 6:32 PM, Mr. White said:

I see the pic above has been affixed to a base. What is the base and do you guys recommend putting bases on all terrain pieces? Seems without bases it may be more prone to falling over...but will better match the mat/cloth/what have you.

 

On 2017-6-26 at 10:33 PM, Naflem said:

How do you do a base like that?

What kind of material is it?

 

On 2017-6-27 at 5:36 PM, Marc Wilson said:

Looks like 6mm MDF bevelled off with a craft knife then texture paint (i.e mix of paint/PVA/Sand)

MDF would work really well, but I have zero woodworking skills (or tools).

So I use the lighter (but obviously not as tough) 5mm foamcore card. I get matt black stuff from art shops (normally around A4 or A3 sizes) - I can cut it with a craft knife indoors!

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On 6/29/2017 at 8:28 AM, WarbossKurgan said:

 

MDF would work really well, but I have zero woodworking skills (or tools).

So I use the lighter (but obviously not as tough) 5mm foamcore card. I get matt black stuff from art shops (normally around A4 or A3 sizes) - I can cut it with a craft knife indoors!

Oh yeah, that sounds more up my ally.  I've got a magewrath throne I want to put a base on.  Thanks! 

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