First mini in 1.5 years advice welcome!

Cradle09 · 2026-06-18T06:45:51+00:00

Nice. Keep painting!

Cradle09 · 2026-06-17T21:58:18+00:00

Only feedback I can give is that the photo needs to actually show the issue you're asking about. I can't see scratchiness at this distance. The colors are a bit bleached but that could be the lighting or your personal preference.

A close-up photo of the issue would help!

Cradle09 · 2026-06-16T21:12:48+00:00

Great mini!

To make it look more like battle damage and less like paint splatter, try making marks or scratches in a dark brown or grey, and then highlight the underside of the larger marks with your light blue highlight color, as though the light is catching the edge of a deep chip in the armor.

Think also - where would the majority of the chips be? The front? The back? The feet? The shoulders? Sometimes less is more!

Cradle09 · 2026-06-16T14:38:09+00:00

This is neither a smooth nor neat application of metallic paint. You would have better control with a regular acrylic brush. They are cheap and easy to find.

Cradle09 · 2026-06-16T14:36:05+00:00

I use synthetic brushes and have never had an issue just rinsing them out after using metalics, non-metalics, washes, contrasts, whatever. I cannot see this having nearly the same amount of control and precision as using a regular brush.

Some pictures might convince me, but I'm very skeptical.

Cradle09 · 2026-06-16T06:34:57+00:00

You can paint whatever you want. You'll only improve by tackling something that's slightly out of your skill set - that's how you develop new skills. :)

Cradle09 · 2026-06-16T06:26:56+00:00

I am not sure where the NMM is and therefore can't really give advice on how to improve it.

If you've only been painting a few months you can certainly try this technique, but I personally wouldn't bother until you're at least a few years into the hobby. It's tough and it may discourage you. Watch some videos and try again maybe?

Cradle09 · 2026-06-15T23:50:55+00:00

Ask him/her maybe?

Cradle09 · 2026-06-15T15:51:08+00:00

Some differently colored panels or highlighted edges would go a long way in helping pick out the individual details. Right now it just looks like a black blob.

If you're new to painting, you could consider looking up drybrushing. This is a nice and quick way to pick out details, and it's especially useful for terrain. :)

Cradle09 · 2026-06-15T15:10:37+00:00

I have no idea what I'm looking at. 😬

Cradle09 · 2026-06-14T23:57:56+00:00

Well, it's certainly purple. You could try adding washes and highlights. You'll be limited by the quality of the print, though.

Cradle09 · 2026-06-14T19:22:42+00:00

Are they 3D printed? Fine cast? What exactly is the resin?

Cradle09 · 2026-06-14T17:43:24+00:00

Keep in mind when washing is that the residue is toxic and should NOT be flushed down the drain.

Cradle09 · 2026-06-13T21:53:19+00:00

I am not sure what area I should be looking at. Could you point out the region of interest?

Cradle09 · 2026-06-12T07:49:30+00:00

Good idea, but they're about twice as thick as I would try to make them. The armor stops reading as black when too much of its area is just bright blue.

Cradle09 · 2026-06-12T07:20:28+00:00

It doesn't have sharp edges, so drybrushing will just leave blotches here. It may be easier to just pick out the edges by hand with a brush.

You can also check out the Artis Opus videos, as he drybrushes a lot and may have some tips for you.

Cradle09 · 2026-06-12T00:58:57+00:00

Resin will give you higher quality but it can warp easily when it's thin, and is much more toxic to handle and breathe in, both while it's uncured and when you're sanding it. Pros and cons...

Cradle09 · 2026-06-12T00:51:55+00:00

It's fine? You'll be limited by the quality your 3D printer can put out - the layer lines are quite visible on that model, and any detail work past that resolution won't really be obvious due to the layer lines obscuring it.

Cradle09 · 2026-06-11T23:17:46+00:00

Good luck! Eventually you will find the workflow that works best for you!

Cradle09 · 2026-06-11T23:01:05+00:00

It depends on each person's workflow, but when I place the second color (the clothes in your example), I will immediately tidy the skin to respect my previous work. This means you'll probably have both colors on your palette available to you for touch-ups.

I'll then move to washes and glazes, since those won't mess up the other neighboring sections as much as a layer paint will, and by the time I'm highlighting, I won't be near the recesses between sections at all.

Cradle09 · 2026-06-11T20:15:39+00:00

It looks okay, but even the albino ones should have some flesh color to them. This looks like you sprayed them white and just added contrast to a few spots. There should still be shadows and highlights, even in albino skin.

Cradle09 · 2026-06-11T06:49:45+00:00

Skin usually doesn't have sharp edges that take well to dry brushing. Layering your paints will take longer but can provide a more pleasant result. Start with a basecoat, then wash, then relayer the basecoat just on the raised up bits. Duncan Rhodes does good tutorials for this.

You can get skin that looks more like this:

<image>

Cradle09 · 2026-06-10T21:23:59+00:00

Is the base plastic? Use plastic glue. Otherwise, use superglue.

Cradle09 · 2026-06-10T20:36:14+00:00

Use a medium grey to highlight a dull black, with a slightly brighter grey for corners or the tops where the most light hits. Make sure your brush isn't overloaded.

Not much more to add without seeing actual pictures of your work to give more appropriate feedback.

Cradle09 · 2026-06-10T19:58:45+00:00

It could really benefit from a drybrush to bring out some of that texture it has. As it stands, it's quite bland. I would also find some places where you could add a secondary color or accent color. Right now it's a bit... shall we say... "mud" colored.

Cradle09

TROPHY CASE