Friday Quick Tip: Wet Palette Improvement

From the Yup, Still Friday Department...

Many moons ago, I shared the cheap wet palette that Mathieu Fontaine used in his classes.  I have been using this wet palette since we hosted Mathieu for a Masterclass in Austin (mostly because I had plenty of plates left over).  Some of the comments asked about the long-term cost effectiveness of this palette because some of the elements are disposable.  It turns out that the plastic plates are quite durable, but I am often replacing the paper towel base as the paper stiffens and reduces its ability to hold water.  I'm always on the lookout to make it better, while still keeping it cheap.

On the Table: Grey Knights

It has been a while since I've posted; I've returned from the great dessert of burn-out.  While WarGamesCon and Masterclass back-to-back were excellent, after those two big events I needed a little break.  I've barely lifted a brush since August, but here is the project I've started.  It isn't so much a project as practice for my blending.

Friday Quick Tip: Using the Wet Palette

When I posted the wet palette Friday Quick Tip, the number one follow up comment/email was, "Great! Now what?"

As part of the Masterclass, here's a little quick tip direct from Mathiue Fontaine on how to make use of the wet palette and get your model started off with a nice, even base coat.

Some of the key tips: don't thin all of your paint at once, don't get paint up into the ferrule (metal part) and use the side of the brush for base coating.

More from Mathieu and his painting Masterclasses at his site: http://www.akaranseth.com.

Are you using a wet palette? Any good tips for wet palette beginners out there?

Masterclass Austin: Wow!

Masterclass Austin has come and gone and it was as awesome as I expected.  In case you missed my previous post on the class, multiple Golden Daemon-winner Mathieu Fontaine came down to Austin (we bribed him with BBQ) to give us Texas folks a little schooling on the finer points of miniature painting.

In Depth: Chaplain Salvatore Details

Since I posted originally, I've retrieved this guy from scoring at the FLGS contest.  Here are a few more detail pics, along with some notes and thoughts on the process and some of the choices.

Reinforcements: Marines Exemplar Chaplain Salvatore

Finally got this guy finished, along with the twenty other guys (just the HQ is painted nicely) for the local game contest.  I did a lot of work practicing the techniques I learned at Adepticon, especially from the Advanced Painting class by Mathieu Fontaine.

The backpack is magnetized; currently he's got a normal pack for the competition, but the jump pack is ready when needed.

If you've got a question feel free to leave it here in the comments section!  C&C is as always very welcome! 

Field Report: More Blending

I never get enough blending articles.  Here Jens at Brusthralls goes through the technique.  I used to be completely intimidated by blending.  My first attempts were terrible, but not that I've tried it several time and tried several different techniques I've come across a technique that works for me, and actually works.  Not that I get good results each time, but at least I've got my starting point for more practice.  And lots more practice is needed to get results like the above.

If you've got a tutorial or a tip you've posted or seen recently, we want to know about it.  Send 'em to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com

Field Report: Ork Skin Tutorial

Androsch at Tower of Heroes shares a fantastic Ork Skin tutorial.  And as a bonus, we get excellent shots of his wet palette while painting.

Hey, that looks like my wet palette, so maybe I'm doing something right?  (It might be a miracle.)

If you've got a tutorial or a tip you've posted or seen recently, we want to know about it.  Send 'em to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com

How To: Simple Wet Palette

I've run across several wet palette how-to's and I wanted to share what I've been using lately.  This version comes straight from Matheiu Fontaine's Adepticon class and it is cheap, simple and effective and works just as well in a hotel conference room in Chicago as it does in the dry air of my little room down here in Texas.

Here's what you need:

• a plastic plate: not paper obviously, since that will soak up water and paint.  I haven't tried the foam plates, but they looked to porous.  You can get 20 for about $3 at Target or Walmart.
• paper towels: three select-a-size paper towels was just about the right size for my plate
• parchment paper: cut to fit just slightly smaller than the paper towels.  Find it in the baking section of your local store near the wax paper and aluminum foil.  One roll will last forever.

The construction is very simple: tear off some paper towels and fold them in half.  Thoroughly drench them with water.

You can see there's plenty of water.  The towels are fully saturated and there are even a new drops running around the plate.

Next: throw down your parchment paper.

Yup, it will curl up like that, because one side of the paper gets wet first and expands.  Either let it sit for a few minutes or flip it over to soak the other side.  You usually just need to spend a minute or two to get it flat and soaked into the water.  If your paper has a strong curl to it from being on a roll, use that to your advantage and place the sheet so that it curls down.  You'll still get curling, but it might be a little quicker to set.

Eventually you'll look like this.  Squeeze the air pockets out the sides of the parchment.  As you can see the parchment is just slightly smaller than the paper towel base.

I recommend, if you can, to always use the same size of paper towels.  The most involved part of this palette is cutting the parchment paper, so I cut out a bunch of rectangles sized to fit my folded paper towels.  When I fill up and get paint all over my parchment, I just grab a new sheet from the stack.

Don't worry about getting too much water in the plate.  You want the towels to be soaked, and a little extra water running around the plate can be handy.  I grab some of the "plate water" for a little extra thinning when I need it.  

I also use the exposed edges of the paper towel to wick away paint if I load up my brush too much, but keep a dry paper towel handy for drying your brush and keeping it from loading up too much thinned paint.

That's about it.  When the towel dries out, just add some more water.  If it gets a little funky from use, chuck it and get a new set of paper towels or even replace the plate.

Links!  We want em!  Send your links for great articles around the web to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com!

Field Report: Airbrushed Flames

Now I've seen flame paint jobs on cars using an airbrush, but it takes a special sort of painting maniac to attempt such flames on something the size of a Space Marine.  But how else will you get easy flames for your Legion of the Damned?  Striker at Aero-Powa takes you step-by-step. (Google translation)

Hat tip to M. Fontaine for the link, as discussed in his airbrushing class at Adepticon.

Got an article you've found recently you'd like to share? Send a link along to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and get it recognized!

Field Report: Blending

Massive Voodoo put up this little number a while back and I thought it a good idea to highlight it. Blending ideas are never out of style.

Got an article you've found recently you'd like to share? Send a link along to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and get it recognized!