Royal Guard and E-Web Engineers

So yesterday I finished the Royal Guard and the E-Web Engineers.

Of course I have added them to by album at https://imgur.com/a/udu5Y

I learned a lot doing these. Of course I am still copying Sorastro's guides, but learning from people who know what they are doing is the best way for a beginner to learn.

First, the E-Web Engineers were the hardest thing I have done with miniature painting so far. The painting itself wasn't complicated, but the shape of the minis made getting to the places to paint really hard. I had to learn that if I couldn't turn the mini and find a way of seeing a surface, there is no way that anyone is going to see if I have painted that spot right on the table. But there is a lot of paint in wrong spots because it was so hard to get the brush into the hard to reach places.

Second, when looking at the Royal Guard at the start I couldn't see any mould lines to speak of. As soon as I started painting they were very obvious, and now they are complete, you can see them very clearly if you look. I need to find a better way of spotting mould lines early, and then removing them.

Thirdly, I am starting to get better at paint consistency. Sometimes I still have them too thin, and sometimes not thin enough. Each has problems, and it does vary depending on what I am trying to do. There isn't a simple rule for how much you want to thin your paints, it really depends on what you are doing with them.

I also learned a lot about brushes, though it's hard to explain that. The brushes I want to have are expensive, and considering I am still getting paint up into the Ferrule (the metal part that holds the bristles) I don't want to buy too expensive brushes until I am better at avoiding that as it does kill the shape of a brush. This is reducing my accuracy and lowering the quality.

However, I am keeping to my motto "They only have to be table ready!"

Even with these lessons, and the mistakes I made on them, I am really happy with how these came out.

Next up is the Imperial Officers, which add a new level of difficulty. There may be a break in between to make some foam core trays for storing them all.