Hi,

I would like to introduce myself on here before I start posting pictures of what I have painted! I started painting LOTR earlier this year after watching my boyfriend paint other models. I really enjoy it so far and would love to show you what I have done. I am currently painting a set of Galadhrim Warriors (14 completed 10 to go!) and wondered if anyone else thought that the moulding was poor quality compared to other models? There are just a few bits which I think are sloppy and hard to paint.

I will post pictures of my efforts (brand new at this so constructive critizism would be appriciated!) very shortly, just wanted to introduce myself! Also I find there are not as many girls doing this than I thought! I am going to games day in Birmingham in September and can't wait!

Another thing I would like help on is how to paint eyes and hair. So far I have dipped them and they just don't have any character and wondered if I could paint the eyes on afterwards. The dip has highlighted their face and hair but it is just too 'block' for me. Do you do it in layers or strand by strand?

Anyway, enough talk for now. Great to be on this forum, I look forward to speaking to as many of you as I can!

Kel xxx

Firstly, hello and welcome to the forum!

I myself haven't seen any of the latest Galadhrim models in person yet but I've heard a few people say they think the moulding is sloppier than the majority of minis. It would be great to see some pics of your painting and the members around here will be more than helpful in helping you to improve your skills, just post them up in the WIP section or your gallery when you're ready.

As for painting eyes and hair, these are the trickiest parts of a model for any painter, especially the eyes. The following article is probably the best guide for painting faces and eyes - kb.php?a=182. However it doesn't cover hair. For hair, the easiest way is to use the drybrushing technique across all of the hair and it will pick out the highest points of the hair and highlight them. When you start to get more advanced and are willing to take more time painting you can highlight the hair picking out each strand seperately, but it does take much more time and will require a steady hand (as will painting eyes). There are lots of painting articles in the Tomes of Wisdom, each covering different ways of painting hair though, so feel free to browse them all and find a technique that suits you.

Hope that's of some use to you, again, welcome!

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Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
Jake

Greetings, and welcome to the OR!

The lack of detail on plastics has to do with how they are made. You'll notice most of these less-defined areas fall along the mid-line of the mini where the two halves of the mold come together. You can sometimes make up with paint detail that is not molded onto the figure, but that is why some people prefer metal miniatures over the plastic.

For hair, I tend to paint strands of hair on, even if they are not modeled on the figure.

Don't be discouraged that there aren't as many females involved in the hobby...Women often make some of the best painters!

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Respectfully,
Jonathan

Do what is right, love mercy, and walk humbly

Battle Companies

What great responses!! Thank you guys, would really like to meet some female painters in Birmingham next month but we will see! What forum should I post my pictures? Hoping to get the bases finished at the weekend! Really eager to post them and show you as they are my first models...!

Kel xxx

You can start a WIP thread for all your LOTR minis over in the WIP forum here - viewforum.php?f=50

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Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
Jake

The best way I have found to paint eyes, is to "paint backwards". What I will do is not worry about getting white (or other color depending on the model) on the small eyeball area only. I will go ahead and paint the entire socket the color. Then I will add the pupil (it should not be a dot in the center of the eye, which gives the model a shocked look) to the top of the eye. Than I will go back and paint the skin back to the eye and give it a fine wash to shade the socket and define the eye.

as for the Galadhrim molds, I picked mine up shortly after they were released, and they look fine. Over time the mold may degrade and be cause for poor(er) quality and excessive flash. I have a few different boxes of The Last Alliance that I've picked up over the years, and the newer ones require more filing/scraping than the old ones. Same with any of the plastics.

Hair, I mostly paint black or brown hair (evil armies and all), but start with a shade color (scorched brown for example) and then highlight (Bestial Brown) using a drybrush technique. Then a wash of Devaln mud to smooth it out.

If you're not using a color that has a comparable wash (blonde for example, although Gryphonne Sepia can be used) a good way to blend the colors is to take a mid-tone paint and create a wash from that to apply to the hair. For example, if your progression for blonde was: Snakebite leather, Bubonic Brown, Bealched Bone, create a wash from the Bubonic Brown and apply it over the hair after the final bleached bone highlight.

To create a paint wash, use 1:1 paint:PVA glue mix and add water until the mix is watery. I typically use a 4:1 or more ratio of water to paint/glue for a paint wash.

I consider myself lucky if I can paint the mini's face with a flesh color once without getting it all over the rest of the model!!

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Current Projects: Minas Tirith force; 36 WoMT, Officer, Standardbearer, Boromir, and 6 KoMT