An inking feeling.....................

Since finishing team Tunic I have been looking at them with questioning eyes. Not only does my painting get worse the more attention you lavish upon it, my palette was rather limited. I mean their beards, belts, boots and hair are all the same brown. So looking back on my previous experience painting 40k models, I started looking into GW inks, some of which I have but was unsure what shape they would be in as they are old. Further research lead me to learn that in fact the recipe has changed and I would be unable to replenish my supply even if they did work. But I was really unsure of how well they would work on this small of a scale, so I went my usual reference points;

The FoG forums, great source of opinions and advice from fellow gamers who are always willing to help.

Dave Taylor Miniatures and MacPhee's Miniature Men, two amazing sites by leaders in the hobby, although their skills and talent are likely beyond my reach their sites both contain excellent tips and hours of inspiration.

My giant collection of White Dwarf back issues, they make the paint and employ some of the best painters in the world, always a good source.

My friendly neighbourhood gameshop, Strategies on Main st. I popped in to pick up the inks and picked owner/operator Darren's brain pretty good. He is one heck of a painter and actually turned out to be the best source. He explained the aspects of the new inks (now called washes) and how they work compared to the old ones I was used to. This was the best part of it, as in finding out that the washes don't run as far, contract as they dry and don't finish with a shiny tone, completely allayed my concerns. So I picked up some Devlan mud and some Ogryn flesh, and hurried home excitedly. Its alot easier to get good answers through direct conversation then by reading whether online or not.

The fact that the best advice I got on my quest came from direct interaction may actually be an example of the appeal of paper and dice games have always had over video games to me.

So after returning home, cooking and eating dinner I put my TV onto my new favourite discovery, channel 417 an all Reggae/dub/ska radio station that leans more to the old school.
Perfect.

The washes were a breeze and after a bit of testing I decided to use the Ogryn Flesh on the faces and limbs, as it sits now they are drying behind me but they look great !!!!
They look so great its like someone else painted them !!!
Someone with decent motor skills and a steady hand, haha !

The wash fell easily and evenly into the creases of the models (and Darren was right, takes more than you would think), and the final result could pass as a decent blending job, from a bit of distance, like say 15 or so metres. Now I am pondering dry brushing their beards with a lighter brown, or applying some of the Devlan Mud to one or more of the browns, but that might be over kill. The more you look at something the more you think it can be improved.

We all know what happened when I tried to take pics at night so I won't attempt that until tomorrow, and besides in the hour or so they have been drying there has been some noticeable contraction, so they might look even better in the morning.

Pics soon, Go Canucks Go.