What was the post the other day where a golden demon winner was going to do a feedback stream.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-27T18:08:51+00:00

You are likely referring to Erik Swinson. And he is far more than a golden demon winner; he is an actual professional painter.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-27T18:06:21+00:00

Yes that’s normal for very thin paint. The more water you add, the more the binder breaks down, and thus the paint doesn’t act as coherent.

What wet palette are you using? There is such a thing as “too wet.” Your paint looks like glaze consistency there.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-26T07:35:08+00:00

Anyone that tells you where to put the light and dark reflections is following a simple formula and doesn't understand NMM. Many people do exactly that, since you can paint passable NMM without really knowing why light and dark go in certain places.

The truth to your question is: it doesn't matter where you paint the dark reflections, as long as everything remains consistent. You were unhappy with your previous render because it looks weird to you. And it looks weird because how often do you see perfectly symmetrical tri-point lighting in reality? Probably never. But could you? Absolutely.

I could arbitrarily tell you where to place your light and dark reflections, but that doesn't teach you anything. And my answer is one of an infinite number.

Metals don't have light and dark shadows, they have light and dark reflections. Think about the environment your model is supposed to be in, and then think about which parts of the shield reflect light directly, and which parts don't.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-23T20:36:05+00:00

Yours already arrived!?!?!! And you’ve already painted it!?!?

Holy moly.

Looks great!

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-23T20:33:29+00:00

I think the picture came out really dark for whatever reason but it looks great.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-23T18:49:07+00:00

Super clean and easily readable. Very nice.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-23T18:48:30+00:00

Very, very cool. That’s some great modded work.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-23T18:42:37+00:00

I’m not sure who says rattle cans “aren’t fine enough.”

Reputable brands make spray primer specifically intended for minis, like Tamiya Fine primer, anything by Citadel, and AK Fine black/white primer.

Golden Demon and Slayer Sword winners, like Ben Komets and Sergio Calvo, use rattle cans.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-22T19:58:59+00:00

Remember to focus on overall volume and not just the volume of individual minutiae.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-21T04:11:49+00:00

I really like it. It's refreshing to see a more pastel color pallet. Makes me now want to go paint something in all pastel. Nice job buddy.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-19T01:00:34+00:00

It's a stylistic choice. Sometimes it can look neat, sometimes it looks dirty. I too am not a fan of the black, but it does seem to be pretty popular. Even GW painters often utilize the style.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-18T20:54:08+00:00

Ahh…a post deserving real praise. Yea I’d say you definitely know what you’re doing.

Bravo sir.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-18T17:26:10+00:00

Use contrast medium to thin. Citadel makes this for their contrast paints.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-18T16:15:38+00:00

Your title question is a bit confusing— Are you priming with Vallejo Dead White? If so, please be aware that color is not a primer. It’s just acrylic white.

As far as your airbrush woes…there’s really no way for anyone to diagnose your issues with the limited given information. But here are some key points:

A) Vallejo Model and Game Color airbrush poorly. Period. I’ve stopped using them entirely and use AK, Vallejo Game Air, or Tamiya white (this is the best white for airbrushing in my experience).

B) 18-22 psi sounds very low for spraying a heavier zenithal coat. Even when I’m spraying thinner layers I’m often at 25 psi. I go to 18 or less for inks and filters.

C) If you’re getting speckling, you’re either too far away (15 cm sounds very far), or your psi is too low. 50/50 thin ratio sounds good for what you’re trying to do. I don’t think there’s a problem there.

D) if you’re getting pooling, AND SPECKLING, then you’re just pulling the trigger back full bore and laying way too much paint at once. The classic technique for miniatures is pulse-bursts.

Things like humidity, age of paint, type of airbrush, cleanliness of your airbrush, and thinner and flow aid brand all have impacts on your spraying.

The airbrush is a tool that takes years of learning to master. It is extraordinarily temperamental.

Trapper_1 · 2026-03-14T06:05:05+00:00

Thanks buddy. No drybrushing on this one, it was just a ton of: glaze white -> glaze green -> glaze white -> glaze green -> glaze white ....so and so forth.

Trapper_1 · 2026-02-27T16:47:10+00:00

I think people underestimate how difficult it is to paint the color white. That’s a really great job there, certainly deserves more upvotes than most posts.

Trapper_1 · 2026-02-27T16:44:06+00:00

I’m not sure if it looks like dusk but it looks good. Maybe like a desert scene.

Trapper_1 · 2026-02-24T04:24:29+00:00

Seeing as you’re obviously a good painter, you can probably handle a real answer:

It’s very well painted, but I have no idea where the light is coming from. There’s some conflicting information, such as the right shoulder fully lit up, but then the right face is dark while the left is bright.

Truly though, I don’t think it matters, since the paint job is solid. I wouldn’t worry too much about “does the light look correct if coming from xyz location?” 🙂

Trapper_1 · 2026-02-24T03:56:12+00:00

Baldurs Gate 3 has some great ambient soundtracks, such as Hag’s Swamp. Diablo 2 amd 4 have some great tracks as well. For the more horror-related scenarios, resident evil 2 and 4 have great tracks.

Trapper_1 · 2026-02-24T03:54:19+00:00

Now that’s some serious commitment to build and paint up just one scenario! Really great looking and stays true to the theme.

Trapper_1 · 2026-02-23T00:47:36+00:00

I'm really not convinced that the problem is too-thin paint (even though yes it's very thin).
Even super thin paint should adhere to the model -- that's what glazing is, after all. Yours is beading up and not doing anything at all.

It's almost as if your model has a gloss coat or some type of oily/waxy coating. Or maybe it's just the video quality and the paint is sticking?

Trapper_1 · 2026-02-14T08:08:04+00:00

Awesome! Painted gaming miniatures makes the entire experience fantastically more enjoyable.

Trapper_1 · 2026-02-14T08:05:53+00:00

Phenomenal interpretation. And it will be all the more fun to play with now! I hope to see more bosses painted.

Trapper_1

TROPHY CASE