You have no idea how much restraint it took for me to not title this "Painting to Infinity and Beyond". However, after my last post brow-beating the overuse of the Spanish Inquisition jokes, I felt it best not to. I do try and not be hypocritical, after all.
I've been fairly enamored with Infinity as a game for quite some time now. My favorite GW game has always been Necromunda, and with the release of Infinity a couple years back, I got all giddy with excitement for a highly detailed skirmish game.
I recently was given the opportunity to paint one of the newer Tohaa figures, the Hatail Spec Ops, and jumped at the chance.
To be honest, I haven't taken the plunge to really invest in the game until very recently, for two main reasons: TIme, and frankly, Intimidation. The sheer detail I loved in the figs was a touch intimidating to me, and on a scale that I'm not quite used to. I've been painting 35mm GW figures for so long, 28mm figures is a hefty switch. the Hatail Spec Ops figure was a great entry into this smaller, more detailed world though.
Assembly was pretty straightforward. There was hardly any flash on the model to clean, which was my first fear. A model this detailed with a ton of flash would have been a pain. I also thought I would have to pin the model together, and was a little worried about that because of the scale, but the mold was very well thought out, with grooves and pegs. No pinning was required. While this might not be the case with all Infinity figures, it certainly was with this one, and I was happy for it. Some Loctite Ultra Gel, and a thin wire to clean excess glue away from the figure was all that was needed. I did put a pin into the foot so that I could mount him to an old Champagne cork for painting.
The first night of painting, after I primed of course, was very productive. The first thing I did was apply a thinned black wash to the whole model, so I could more easily pick out all the detail. After that, I applied a thin coat to the organic armor using a combination of Flayed One Flesh, and Secret Weapon Baby Poop Wash. I then gave it a thinned wash of black to give me some shadows to work with.
I then took THAT combination, and added some GW Biel-Tan Green to it to thin it out further, and glazed the hood and coat. See, I wanted the colors here to all tie into each other as much as possible, so I built off the same palette of colors as much as possible.
Finally, I worked with the GW/SW combo, and then just straight Flayed One Flesh to blend up armor, giving it definition, I also thinned out some P3 Khador Red Base with some Secret Weapon Parchment Wash, and laid down a nice base for the reds. Finally, I laid down two more thin layers to darken up the bodysuit.
So far, I'm loving working with this figure. The scale and detail is both challenging and refreshing. I thought the converter in me would have an issue with set poses that so often comes in this range, but I actually didn't care a bit. The sculpt was so nice and the subject matter so new, that I had a blast with it.
I'll detail out al the paints and methods I used with the figure once I'm all done.
- Tim
hi! i'm starting infinity too and like you i'm a bit intimidated by the fine detail of the models. I really like your results so i'm wondering if you could share some of your experience with me. For starters, i can't decide on how i should prime the miniatures. I've only painted gw stuff, this far, using gw paints, and even on those models sometimes i think i'm losing details, especially with the awful white spray primer. I live in a pretty humid city and i think this is my real problem with spray paints. Could you give me a tip? I'm actually thinking about brush on gesso primer.....
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I would endorse the P3 white primer, personally. VERY nice, even coverage, and truly a solid primer, in my opinion. Love the way it sprays, and all you need is a light coat.
DeleteI would suggest a primer that you can put through an airbrush. (http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/en_US/primers/family/22) This way you can control how think you want it, and you can even prime in different colors, speeding up the base coat process. All of this assumes you have an air brush.
DeleteI will second Josh's statement here. I actually own an airbrush, but used the P3 Primer because I still had it and didn't want it to go to waste.
Deletethank for your advices... i'll make a friend of mine "happily" rent me his airbrush :P
DeleteVery nice. Welcome to the path of ruin. There are so many nice minis to paint out there and I personally have just found to my regret, that the more varied subjects you paint the better you become and the more techniques you learn and improve on! I only wish I had done so sooner. I do miss power armour a little lately though...
ReplyDeleteDangit Zab. My wife reads this blog too, and that comment is just going to make her think I'm going to blow the budget on Infinity :P
DeleteI mean, I will, but still!
I'm actually starting out a Yu Jing force personally :) Hoping to maybe get in some play before Adepticon so I can possibly get some play in at Adepticon :)
:P If you want, I have bookmarked EVERY SINGLE mini co I have come across in the past year. Big or small XD There are tons of really awesome miniatures out there...and you can hide your purchases in your wife's older shoe boxes, you know, the ones shes keeps in the back of the closet and doesn't wear anymore but swears up and down she still needs. Yes, The Lady Inquisitor is in for quite shock some day...(insert evil, but worried laughter here). On a completely unrelated note does anyone have a couch I could crash on?
DeleteI've got a couch if you're willing to travel to St. Louis :P You're just courting disaster, my friend :P
DeleteVery cool work, Tim! Switching gears and painting non-GW models is always an eye-opening experience. I did some Mercs Minis a little while back and it was definitely a fun change of pace.
ReplyDeleteI dig the color scheme you're going with, looking forward to seeing more!
I'm actually very happy with the Infinity range, and definitely see it as a welcome change of pace, AND a welcome break in the monotony of GW that's about to become my focus for Adepticon.
DeleteGlad you like it so far, my friend :) I can't wait to finish it and try another!
Nice start Tim. So far I like the scheme. It's a really nice sculpt, heck like you said, Infinity is a game packed with amazing pieces. I look forward to seeing the finished product.
ReplyDeleteThank Dai :) I'm pretty eager to dig out another piece and start painting it too. Unfortunately, once i finish this one, I'll need to start prepping for Adepticon :P
DeleteHopefully, I'll be able to use Infinity figures as a break in the clouds for that :)
Hi Tim. Long time lurker first time poster here. I have just bought myself some infinity models too as a change of pace from gw and I have to say they are awesome (a bit daunted to paint them though) your model looks really good, nice and crisp lines/blending which suit infinty well. I am thinking of following your priming technique with the white then a wash. A great idea as I primarily prime in black even for the most colourful of minis. My current gw stuff uses very bright colours but I used black base as this is how I have traditionally painted all my life. Seeing how you have done yours has made me think about changing. My current project http://www.thedarkcity.net/t6097-harlequin-carnival-la-danse-macabre. Thanks for all the inspiration and advice you post up on here. Keep it up :)
ReplyDelete