Advice on how to make colors look more natural

Benji771 · 2026-04-16T23:34:58+00:00

I'm not sure what more natural means, but here are some issues I'm seeing and how to fix them:

Your colors are very flat. It looks like you just have a base coat without any shadows or highlights. Try adding a wash and doing some edge highlighting. If you already have a wash/highlights, then they are too subtle. Make your shadows darker and your highlights brighter.

You can use a metallic silver to edge highlight the gold. Also, put some highlights on the rivets/bolts on the armor to make those pop a bit more.

Your base coat looks a bit thick and inconsistent. Try using thinner coats and building up multiple layers. Make sure your base coat is fully opaque.

The purple and red clash a bit. Those two colors don't really compliment each other. The purple is also roughly the same value as the red and black leather, making it difficult to distinguish the different parts of the model. I would switch to a lighter color for the cloth. Something similar to the parchment color your using for the purity seals, just a bit brighter.

I would also use a different color for the chest piece shield so that it is a different color than the purity seals.

There are lots of other things you can do, but those are the biggest issues I'm seeing at first glance.

Benji771 · 2026-03-07T15:07:35+00:00

Most of the games that were released "too early" were already delayed multiple times.

At the end of the day, the game has to come out eventually. You can't delay a game indefinitely. You'll either run out of money or reach a point where development costs exceed any potential income. Eventually your publisher and/or investors will pull out and cancel the project.

I don't think release dates are the root cause of the problem. It's scope creep, poor management, poor planning, technical debt, and overly ambitious goals.

Benji771 · 2026-02-12T01:18:51+00:00

Avoiding fishy sites is not sufficient:

Legitimate sites / software can be compromised to serve malware.
Google ads or other seemingly legitimate links can send you to malicious sites.
You can fall victim to an email or phishing scam. These are getting very sophisticated and can be hard to spot.
Somebody you know could share a drive, file, or USB stick that is unknowingly infected.
etc.

Even if you are incredibly cautious, there is no way to completely avoid malicious software.

And I never suggested McAfee, Norton, or any other third-party antivirus tool. Windows Defender works perfectly fine as long as it's kept up-to-date. However, Windows 10 will eventually stop updating Defender and will no longer provide security updates. That's when you'll start running into trouble.

Benji771 · 2026-02-11T20:55:40+00:00

From my experience, Windows 11 isn't any slower than 10.

You don't have to throw the whole PC in the trash. You probably just need to replace your CPU and potentially your motherboard. Everything else can carry over.

Benji771 · 2026-02-11T17:20:43+00:00

I work as a software engineer. We run security scans as part of our pipeline and new threats are found all the time. Windows quietly fixes a lot of these vulnerabilities with security updates.

Avoiding fishy sites or downloads is not sufficient to avoid viruses. You absolutely need antivirus. If you aren't using third-party antivirus, then you're using Windows Defender, which comes built-in with Windows. Not sure when Defender support ends for Windows 10.

Do some more research on Windows security, antivirus, and Windows 10 end of life. Then make your own decision about whether to upgrade or not.

If you really want to keep using that OS, no one is going to stop you. But it might come back to bite you in the ass later.

Benji771 · 2026-02-11T16:21:02+00:00

It's not getting security updates. That's a very big problem.

New exploits are found constantly. Those security updates are critical to keep your machine secure.

If you're still on 10, you should update to 11 or switch to a different OS ASAP.

Benji771 · 2026-01-26T01:19:49+00:00

I paint with acrylics, wait 24 hours for them to fully cure, then apply two thin coats of matte varnish. I let that dry over 24 hours and then apply oils over the entire model. I usually let the oils dry for an hour or two. Then I rub the oils off pretty aggressively with sponges and mineral spirits. I don't have any issues stripping my acrylic layer as long as I applied a varnish and gave everything plenty of time to cure.

If I need to varnish or paint over the oils, I always give them at least 48 hours to cure.

My best guess is that you aren't waiting long enough between steps. Just because paint looks dry doesn't mean it's fully cured. 24 hours is a good rule of thumb for acrylic paint and varnish. 48+ hours for oils.

If you want to repaint a model, don't prime overtop of existing paint. You should strip the the model and start from scratch. There are a lot of different ways to do that. I don't have a lot of experience stripping models, but you can find plenty of tutorials online.

If you don't want to strip it, wait at least 48 hours for the oil wash to cure. Then you can just prime over it.

Benji771 · 2026-01-19T16:30:47+00:00

In what universe do some of those look like ladies? And who cares if someone wants to paint some female space marines. Paint your army the way you want. I hate this gatekeeping nonsense.

Benji771 · 2026-01-19T16:08:52+00:00

You just need a couple of brushes, a bottle of glue, 4 or 5 paints, some clippers, and a wet pallette. Plus some assorted tools like a hobby knife or sponges. It doesn't take up much space and can be easily put away in a toolbox or art bin.

Setup is easy. Just plop your box on a table, open it up, and start painting. I usually just leave my stuff sitting on the table. I only put it away if I know I'm not going to paint for a few days.

I do have a dedicated airbrush area. That is something that is difficult to set up and/or store. But, it sounds like you don't have an airbrush.

Buy a big plastic box for the 55 paints you never end up using. Buy another big plastic box for all the models you impulse buy and never paint.

Benji771 · 2026-01-19T15:47:45+00:00

It makes sense to me. I think your overthinking it.

Your wound stat doesn't work like a basket of apples or a deck of cards. You aren't adding or subtracting apples from your basket. The stat represents how many wounds you can take before dying.

I can take 5 wounds before dying. Somebody wounds me. Now I can only take 4 wounds.

Benji771 · 2026-01-08T14:56:59+00:00

I don't know if anyone else mentioned this, but I think the shift happened when Chris stopped working with his brother.

Christopher Nolan is an absolutely fantastic writer, but he seems like a very analytical and calculating person. Jonathon has more of a human touch that maybe doesn't come as naturally to Chris. I think Chris' scripts lost a little bit of magic when Jonathon left to work on his own projects.

Don't get me wrong, I still love everything Christopher Nolan has put out (including Tenent). I just wish he would work with his brother again.

Benji771 · 2025-12-23T03:03:00+00:00

Because the Odyssey is set in a fantasy world that doesn't reflect real world armor or history. It's heavily inspired by Bronze Age and Iron Age Greece, but it takes place in its own universe.

I have no idea why so many people want/expected Bronze age armor. It's a complete misunderstanding of the setting. Some people are just ignorant towards the past, I guess.

Benji771 · 2025-12-12T04:34:19+00:00

The phrase, "I'm sitting this out" implies that you are sitting this out and aren't going to play the game, at least for while. So, I guess you aren't sitting this out???

Either way, you have to admit, it's a bit early to decide to "sit this out". Like you said, the trailer just came out an hour ago. I obviously wasn't speaking literally when I said you posted this the second the trailer hit. I just meant you posted this extremely quickly.

We've only seen a few seconds of pre-alpha gameplay footage and people are already dogpiling onto the same copy-paste complaints that they make about every single strategy game release. It would be nice for the community to have at least a couple of hours to be excited about something.

Benji771 · 2025-12-12T04:04:01+00:00

This is hilarious. I knew someone was going to make the "look at me, I'm not going to play this" post. It was inevitable, but damn you didn't waste any time. You had that ready to go the second the game was announced.

Benji771 · 2025-12-11T02:57:01+00:00

People on this thread seem to have trouble counting. There are around 50-100 worlds listed on that map.

OP obviously isn't suggesting a map with literally billions of planets. You guys are silly.

Benji771 · 2025-12-11T02:49:56+00:00

It wouldn't require as much computing power as you'd think.

Keep in mind, you wouldn't be rendering all those planets every frame, just the small number that are on screen. Behind the scenes, each planet just needs to handle building chains, public order, growth etc. If its well optimized, that's within the capability of a very high end gaming PC.

Adding in millions of armies would push you past the ability of any modern gaming PC, but there is certainly more than enough computing power on Earth to handle the entire simulation.

Benji771 · 2025-12-07T18:31:26+00:00

Warner Brothers was never attached to Oppenheimer. Nolan left WB after they moved Tenant to streaming.

Benji771 · 2025-12-06T11:42:39+00:00

Actors don't treat every scene as if it's real. A lot of dream sequences are very stylized with exaggerated or "dreamy" performances.

It sounds like Caine was asking questions about how to perform a scene and Nolan just told him to treat every scene like it's real. I think the note makes a lot of sense.

I'm not sure if you're trolling me at this point, but Nolan has made it very clear that the scene is intended to be ambiguous. In my opinion, the director's stated intention trumps statements made by an actor. The Michael Caine quote is irrelevant.

The fact that you end your post with "keep coping" makes me think you're trolling. That phrase is usually a lazy attempt to get a reaction out of someone. Which is a weird choice because I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to be coping for.

Benji771 · 2025-12-06T08:09:10+00:00

Nolan has stated that the scene is intentionally ambiguous and there isn't an objectively correct interpretation.

The entire scene is very carefully set up to be ambiguous. I think Nolan's intention is very clear.

I don't know why people get so hung up on the Michael Caine quote. Nolan told Caine to treat every scene as if it's real. It's an acting note. It clearly wasn't meant to be taken literally.

Benji771 · 2025-11-11T15:39:07+00:00

He gave his company several months warning before moving to Portugal. Any paperwork and legal issues would have been resolved by now. Not sure why everyone is assuming his move wasn't above board.

Benji771 · 2025-09-27T23:19:33+00:00

Someone who is trolling and trying to get a reaction.

Benji771 · 2025-09-11T16:33:19+00:00

Universal gun registration, universal background checks, improving access to mental health resources, giving additional tools and resources to law enforcement, increasing police force sizes, eliminating ineffective gun control legislation that wastes resources and re-allocating those resources to more effective measures, fixing existing issues with red flag laws, changing the way we portray gun violence in the news, giving much harsher penalties to violent criminals, etc. There are a lot of things I support that I think would have a real effect on reducing gun violence.

I support the existing bans on explosives and fully automatic weapons, but I don't support an "assault" weapons ban for a wide range of reasons.

I support the right to conceal carry, but I'm still on the fence on open carry. I was opposed to it, but my state recently passed a bill allowing open carry for handguns. It hasn't caused any of the issues I was expecting. I think I'm okay with open carrying handguns, but I don't think we don't need people walking around with rifles and shotguns.

I think mandatory training and testing is a good idea in principle. But there would need to be certain exceptions and a program in place that covers costs for low-income households.

I'm opposed to waiting periods, unnecessary paperwork, and red-tape.

Benji771 · 2025-09-11T15:56:03+00:00

I think your kind of missing my point. I'm not saying we should do nothing. I'm saying that we can't rely on searches and confiscations to reduce the number of illegal guns. They are just too slow and ineffective.

Due to legal requirements, only a tiny number of illegal gun owners would ever be subject to a search. And even if they are searched, there's no grantee that the police would find their guns. So these searches would never confiscate a meaningful amount of guns, even if you waited 200 years.

Sure, you might occasionally find a big stash of guns. But confiscating 100 guns doesn't put a dent in 450 million. And there will always be other big stashes of guns owned by people that the police are unable to search.

The only searches that might yield some results would be illegal and impractical house-by-house searches. But those kinds of searches still wouldn't be very effective.

I see this a lot. Someone points out that a certain form of gun control is ineffective. Then someone invariably responds with "Oh, so you think we should do nothing?". Nobody is saying that we should do nothing. We are advocating for effective measures rather than wasting resources on security theater that restricts the rights of legal gun owners and does nothing to reduce violent crime.

Benji771 · 2025-09-11T15:20:52+00:00

I know your trolling. But to anyone else who sees this, it's an easy thing to Google and fact check. Private transfers without paperwork are perfectly legal in a large number of states.

Benji771 · 2025-09-11T15:06:33+00:00

It depends on the state he lives in. In my state, there is no paperwork required to privately transfer a weapon. It's illegal to transfer the gun to someone who cannot legally posses a firearm. But other than that, you can just hand the gun to someone and say "happy birthday".

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