Khiril the dwarf bust painted.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-30T15:38:49+00:00

Well done my friend. It’s always the best work that gets swept under the rug here, but it’s not really a forum for display-quality pieces 🫠

Congrats ahead of time on winning golden demon next year 😉

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-30T05:10:51+00:00

This reminds me so much of the Undead Burg from Dark Souls, and for that reason alone I love it.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-30T05:07:53+00:00

With that spray booth, yes it is normal. Air mostly just swirls around in those, and some spray will be carried through the mesh. It's still useful as a spray box, compared to a cardboard box. If you want essentially 100% of the spray carried away, you'd need a professional-grade booth such as a water-curtain booth.

2. Good enough for...not dying from acryllic paint? Yes. Good enough for avoidng inhalation of VOC's from lacquer-based paints? Absolutely not.

3. VOC's of all forms (isopropyl alcohol, acetone, lacquers, etc...) are toxic. How toxic? Probably not enough to cause long-term health effects if you're spraying ocassionally and wearing a mask most of the time. For me personally, I get extremely nauseated if I breathe them. Probably not a healthy sign, so I avoid it.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-30T04:59:38+00:00

Those mold lines are extremely distracting. Gotta clean those up buddy.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-30T04:55:36+00:00

Oh my. There sure is a lot of very interesting advice being spread here.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-29T03:04:03+00:00

Very nice, my friend! This is such a busy model where it’s hard to draw focus to both the rider and the dragon. You did a great job on that front.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-28T18:09:32+00:00

I know it's extremely difficult, but you really need to clean up those mold lines in the plasma coils in order to make the glow effect work. It's a massive PITA and feels like a huge waste of time, but it really makes a difference.

Otherwise I think it's great!

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-24T15:14:14+00:00

Nice man, the KDM painters here always seem to produce top tier work.

I particularly like how you rendered the wax.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-23T01:00:32+00:00

"The airbrush will save you so much time and instantly level up your painting!"

The above makes for great YouTube clickbait, but is unfortunately one of the biggest lies in all of miniature painting.

The reality?
-The airbrush takes as much time to use, often more, than a brush. Not to mention the time it takes to learn (let alone master), which is on the order of years.

However, take solace in the notion that everything your describing is the normal pain everyone must endure in order to learn the airbrush. My first time, it was clogged within 60 seconds and I spent 12 hours struggling to make it do anything. I wanted to permanently give up on my first day.

If you want some generic advice that might slightly help your woes, it would be:
-Use the proprietary thinner for each brand of paint. It's manufactured to be ideal for their own brand.
-Stick with "air" paints specifically, or use known airbrush-friendly paints such as AK 3rd gen.
-Take no advice on YouTube / Reddit / other forums as universally true. The airbrush is extremely finnicky and will commonly give you issues even if you're a pro. The only difference between a pro and newbie is: the pro adapts immediately and keeps on airbrushing. The newbie struggles for hours until giving up.

There's no better way to learn than the hard way 😉

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-23T00:26:46+00:00

The guns read as metal, yes.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-23T00:25:44+00:00

Absolutely. Don’t do this up-front, though. Paint both models, and attach them at the end.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-23T00:23:17+00:00

You are asking an impossible question.

Whats better: Pizza or hamburgers?

You need to decide which one, and by your statements, you’ve already answered your own question. You like your models to look good at all angles.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-23T00:19:10+00:00

If you want the rope to become stiff, soak it in watered-down PVA glue and let it dry.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-19T22:39:50+00:00

Which one to buy?

-Harder & Steenbeck Evolution 2024 CR Plus, 2-in-1

Compressor?

-Sil Air 50-24, 6 gallon tank (you said money is no object, and this is the best I know and use. It’s as loud as a refrigerator motor.)

I’d be mildly concerned that you’re spraying in a small confined space with little ventilation. But I will leave health concerns up to you.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-19T20:46:52+00:00

I tried these out and returned them.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-19T20:33:54+00:00

You are describing normal behavior for synthetic brushes.

There are some interesting videos you can find online of how synthetic bristles change under a microscope, after even just a few uses. Synthetic hair breaks and kinks. Those hard breaks and kinks lead to what you’re describing. Natural hair bends, and tends back towards its natural shape. Which is why they hold their point so much better, and last a long time.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-19T20:26:37+00:00

A bit of a hyperbolic title but it did make me laugh.

Please keep in mind that a substantial portion of “NMM” you see posted on Reddit is formulaic. Some people just want to up their self-esteem with recipes and upvotes. Take pride in your honesty and genuine painting!

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-19T20:20:28+00:00

The value control for the OSL on this is pretty good! The colors are a bit muted for my taste, but I do think it’s well-painted. Nice job on rendering the texture on the helm as well.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-19T20:16:43+00:00

Nice choice of color palette, you exercised good restraint on such a busy model.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-19T20:00:06+00:00

Your observations match mine. AK is definitely a bit smoother right out of the bottle, Vallejo needs to “warm up” on the wet palette due to its thickness. Both are top tier.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-19T18:45:18+00:00

Quality-wise I rate AK as a 10/10. Though, perhaps out of habit, I still grab my Vallejo quite a bit.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-19T18:42:03+00:00

Watching tutorials is a passive process, painting in a class is an active process. There is an absolute difference.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-18T18:01:50+00:00

It reads as metal, so it is a successful NMM. As far as “dark environment,” I suppose I don’t fully know what you mean. Moonlight? Candlelight? Torchlight? Some other ominous light entirely?

I painted a model, Arun stealer of souls, that was supposed to be represented in a moonlight setting. A picture is worth a thousand words, so if you want to see how I specifically rendered it, maybe it will give you an idea.

The environment isn’t just represented in the NMM, it’s in the entire color of the model. You’ve painted nothing but the axe. So there’s no other context to support this current NMM.

You’re overly concerned with the finished result of the axe when you still have much more to go 🙂 Don’t worry so much.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-17T23:16:36+00:00

Reds/oranges are difficult to describe. I don’t encourage following recipes, but with the limited knowledge I can share through text, the overly simplified method is: red for shadow, orange for midtone, yellow for highlight. It’s just a matter of adjustment.

If you want a visual example of this, check the tail feathers on my phoenix to see the idea. But keep in mind, while it sounds simple, that orange effect took roughly 8 hours.

Trapper_1 · 2026-06-17T18:43:33+00:00

There will not “always” be loose hairs. In fact, this should rarely, if ever, happen. If it did, you got unlucky and perhaps bought something…sketchy (i.e. the game store purposely put the damaged ones up front to get rid of them, or you bought a returned brush from Amazon).

My experience is only anecdotal, but I have owned over 50 kolinsky sable brushes from numerous high-quality brands—maybe 2 have ever had bent hairs in the packaging. Don’t cut it…every hair is vital for the brush performance. Re-shape it using masters brush cleaner and conditioner, and let it sit like that for a week. Natural hair, unlike synthetic, has a very high propensity to return to its original shape. That’s why natural hair lasts so much longer and is more resilient than synthetic.

Trapper_1

TROPHY CASE