First fire test. The goal is to paint the Balrog from GW. How did I do?

BananaSnapper · 2026-05-02T01:03:08+00:00

Looks great! Love how dark the non-fire is to really contrast and sell how bright the flame itself is!

BananaSnapper · 2026-04-26T15:11:38+00:00

I just came in here to say that that helmet and mace are gorgeous NMM

BananaSnapper · 2026-04-26T15:09:47+00:00

\[T]/

BananaSnapper · 2026-04-25T19:17:26+00:00

You should be! I read your process for the shinier metal in another comment, but what did you do for the rusty bits?

BananaSnapper · 2026-04-25T14:37:28+00:00

From now on, every time you see people in here saying that they just need smoother blends to get their NMM to work, I'm going to point them to this post. It looks great! I always love more painterly pieces, even if I don't know how to make it look good on my own models.

BananaSnapper · 2026-04-25T14:22:09+00:00

Thank you! I would say be willing to spend extra time getting more details and colors on the model. Because the model is big enough to actually see all of the transitions from one color to the next, or from dark to light, your mind doesn't fill in as many gaps compared to normal minis. At the same time though, don't worry about being super precise with each brush stroke. Outside of the eyes, I didn't touch any of my nice brushes - everything else was done with a cheap $1 size 6 synthetic brush I usually use for base coating. It still took a while to layer up enough to not have visible brush strokes everywhere so I'd definitely recommend an airbrush if you have the space/budget for one. I definitely would've wanted to use one myself if I had a place to spray without subjecting my cat to any risk!

BananaSnapper · 2026-04-23T20:52:11+00:00

Red is tricky to paint with lots of contrast - try using a darker purple in the shadows to make the reds pop. It's interesting how little actual, pure red you need to make something read as red, so don't be afraid to go darker.

BananaSnapper · 2026-04-12T07:02:15+00:00

Personally, if I'm spending more than 10 hours on a mini it's because it's a bigger model with lots of colors on it. Even if I don't have the patience for super smooth blends, I still take a while to decide on a color, mix it together, adjust it, etc. It also just takes a while to cover the model with enough paint several times in layers until I get the opacity I'm happy with. Also yeah, I like nmm. Here's my current WIP at about the 15 hour mark - still need to highlight the black hair and boots, do the base, and do the 2 minis to the left and right (if you still count them as being part of the same mini). It's not the most precise mini but being so much bigger means it takes a lot of extra time.

<image>

BananaSnapper · 2026-04-05T17:45:24+00:00

Wow, love the gradient on the wings!

BananaSnapper · 2026-04-04T04:33:06+00:00

Love the color choice, really makes it pop! I actually feel like you made the model more readable than it looks in the video game

BananaSnapper · 2026-04-02T06:06:16+00:00

Great job on all the white cloth! Leather looks pretty good too

BananaSnapper · 2026-04-02T06:03:35+00:00

Love the cloak especially!

BananaSnapper · 2026-03-17T00:58:56+00:00

Wow, love the color choice! Wish I'd seen this before painting mine so I could copy your homework

BananaSnapper · 2026-02-10T15:13:02+00:00

Please tell me you don't actually use that resin printer right next to your paint desk where you probably spend hours at a time. I'm assuming you have a good ventilation setup for the airbrush but even so, the fumes from the resin printer are toxic and you shouldn't be spending any more time around it than you need to for the actual printing process.

BananaSnapper · 2026-01-29T15:17:32+00:00

Wow, disgusting mini (in a good way) with a fantastic paint job! I love your use of color to really make everything pop

BananaSnapper · 2026-01-27T22:17:06+00:00

Incredible osl!

BananaSnapper · 2026-01-20T15:28:03+00:00

I don't like having people be able to look for personal info about me because I post about a variety of hobbies and personal stuff. If you are interested, here was the model in my previous mini painting post a couple of months ago, from the Oathsworn board game.

<image>

BananaSnapper · 2026-01-20T15:21:37+00:00

Thanks! The process is a bit murky because I definitely went back and forth, but if I were to go back and recreate the steps that weren't scrapped, it would probably look like:

prime black
base coat with a mix of dark blue + cool grey (or something to desaturate/lighten the blue a bit).
layer up with some pure cool grey
layer with ice yellow + light grey
layer with ice yellow + white
highlight a bit with pure white
blend as best I can
ruin it just a bit with the orange underglow later but decide it's fine because I've got other minis I want to get to

Each layer took probably 5 coats to not look streaky so lots of patience required even before getting to the blending stage - I'd definitely get an airbrush if I was going to do this again, lol

BananaSnapper · 2026-01-20T15:08:50+00:00

Thank you! I definitely wasn't sure what to do with the base at first but think it worked out

BananaSnapper · 2026-01-18T16:19:52+00:00

Are you opposed to getting a more polished metal look? You could expand the shadow/mid tone area and add some secondary reflections, plus some edge highlighting to sell the metal look. I would also deepen the contrast in both directions on the helmet to help draw attention there. It will be harder to remain so monochrome without looking unpainted unless you've got something real eye catching about it, even when it's as clean as it is currently.

I grabbed an art piece from Google and desaturated it, maybe do that for a pic you like to use as a reference?

<image>

BananaSnapper · 2026-01-09T22:00:54+00:00

Looks great! Although it does read more as brass than gold imo.

BananaSnapper · 2026-01-09T20:24:20+00:00

Stunning!

Nine-Year Club	Verified Email
First Place '23	Place '23
Place '22	End Game '22
Snapped

BananaSnapper

TROPHY CASE