As always, I'm impressed with your painting skills. Well done!
In addition, I love the color scheme you've chosen. It's got great variety and is distinctly yours.

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I hate Black Hat SEO!
Smite the iron, shape the pewter, sculpt the putty.
My DeviantArt Page

ok, here is my first ever attempt to NMM, ya its pretty bad


I only did the upper portion of the armor, as you can see, this was my process, and I know I have a lot of work to do.

1.Basecoat Codex Grey
2.Shade down with 70:30 Chaos Black:Codex Grey
3. Lessen the shade with 50:50 Chaos Black: Codex Grey
4. then I picked out where the light is supposed to reflect with a 50:50 mix of Codex Grey and Fortress Grey
5. As i was going along I cleaned up the spots where I put paint where it wasn't supposed to be.
6. Highlight reflection area with Fortress Grey
7. Hightlight reflection area with 50:50 Fortress Grey: Skull White
8. Highlight reflection area with pure skull white

And of course I diluted my paints to a milky consistency.

SO what can I do to step up the level of it?

Experts I await your orders!

feanorthenoldor

That's not bad! First attempt is never going to be perfect but it still look good

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"War does not determine who is right, only who is left."
- Bertrand Russel

Not bad guy act normal it is fantastic :O Very, very nice.

Some tips for the future:
- Try to keep the light source at one point. nmm is better for display then tabletop because it looks at best if you paint it with one point where the light comes from and sometime this looks odd on the table with many lightsources.
- Try to have a really sharp highlight that gives reflection.
- Don't aim at perfection just have fun with painting, if you had fun painting it it always looks better to your eyes.

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"There are only 4 things you need in life: Lasagna, beer, a girlfriend and of course a gondor army."

ok guys i have finally rapped my head around the NMM idea after reading about a million and one articles on it.lol

THe two different models I'm showing you guys have only the left(when your looking at it) scales done, none of the other parts have been worked on(besides the basecoat)

this first guy has a more darker and not a subtle transition from dark to white.

I think it is kind of unrealistic since the light (I want mine coming from 70 degrees above) should have some light touching every part of the scales of armor.

this next guy has a better transition but not as much of a dark shade.

I think that this guy is much more realistic, and I kind of like him better.

anyway, plz comment guys on what you think, with your comments I am able to make tough decisions.

thanks

feanorthenoldor

That second one is excellent! The others are done well, but the last one is best.

However, always willing to give constructive criticism (no matter how hard to find), I would say that the parts nearest to the cloaks need to be as dark as on the one above, but only a tiny thin line of it. Also, getting to the "ends" of the "leaves" of armour, you could make it go slightly darker than it is and then add the current layer at the very edge (super-extreme edge-highlighting) - althought this second sentence is unnecessary, the first one will make it pop really well.

You need way more contrast between the lights and darks (in the last one). You should look up a guide on how to do it. NMM is bloody tough.

Good job so far though.

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My old WIP thread - http://www.one-ring.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16246&start=0

what I was thinking when I did that was that the light from above would be hitting every part, the deepest not as much, so it wouldn't be very dark. There is not a lot of curve to bring it darker. That's what I was thinking.

thanks

hey all, I have been working on the chainmail on my figure. For some reason whenever I look at it with daylight behind me it doesn't seem as good as when I just have the mini under a regular lamp. I don't understand why it does this, does anybody know, and if so any solutions??

thanks

This is not uncommon. Often a mini can look different in daylight. As most of the time when your playing it will be under lights how it looks under lamps is most important. I suggest daylight bulbs. You can find them all over the place online.

The paint jobs your doig thus far are really great. You have a good concept of light when painting NMM and if this is your first time trying it then you are well on your way to mastering the technique. I very quickly photoshopped you latest image to give you a example of light to dark. Keep in mind I am terrible at photoshop so this is a real rough example.

When doing NMM you want those smooth transitions which you have but you also want very high and stark contrast. Going from very dark to pure white. I used a bluish purple for the shades but any color you like will work. Use a 1 part paint to 5 parts water ratio and carefully paintthe shades into the recessed areas. It may take a few coats but you will get the desired effect. Once done then take pure white and highlight edges and any areas that will be the apex of your light.

Here is an exampl of a confrontation mini I did for a customer.

There are gradiences of color but also very stark contrasts. I also did a small tutorial on my layering technique I used for the blue. This can work with any color you choose.
http://hirstarts.yuku.com/topic/3627/Hi ... hed?page=9

I hope this helps. Please keep painting because like I said if this is your first run at NMM then you are light years ahead of the learning curve!
Great job so far!!

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Never go to the Elves for advice. For they will say both no and yes.

ok guys here is my latest update, I've been MIA for a while because I have been building a new painting area!
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=6648&p=233252#p233252

anyway past these past couple of days I've been working on this



what do you guys think? I think I am getting better..

Oh, the white is a lot brighter in real life than the pic, I hate it when my camera does that..sry

thanks

In my opinion it looks much better than before! I've tried to paint an entire army NMM before. It takes a lot of patience, and can be frustrating and boring painting so much armour at once. So great job! Can't wait to see more pics.

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Started a new blog!
www.heroichighlights.blogspot.ca

do you guys think it looks pretty realistic for the curving shape or should I make the reflection look more like an "I."

thanks

I think a curved reflection looks more realistic...

I have a suggestion though... if your unsure where to highlight the reflected surfaces, maybe use another mini and completely paint it silver and shine a light on it to work out how the light would be reflected. If you don't want to waste a Galadhrim warrior to use as a test subject just paint another mini your not going to use and see how the light effects it.

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Dave / Aurielia (game name)
Blog http://pippins-window.blogspot.com/
WoTR: Lothlorien Army. From the UK leeds; PM me for a game

here's a small update with my NMM


comments plz.

feanorthenoldor

anyone?

Good but i don't like the expression on his face...

I don't know to much of NMM srry maybe u should continue the painting - i am not experienced enough to tell u if it's good in this stage

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goblin: "people associate me with boogers because i am green"

@hilbert- i'm going to take that as a joke, lol

That looks amazing! You did a really good job on it The blending is nice and smooth and much better than your first attempts. Now all you need to do is paint the rest of it.

-Pow

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My WIP thread: http://one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=18247