How does one go about making straight lines for the diamonds on the new harlequins

[Khain Mor]

[url]https://www.facebook.com/DarkMoonKabal/photos/a.1406388089576860.1073741850.1406358382913164/1406388106243525/?type=3&theater[/url]

I went for the damnboard pattern (perfect squares) Back when I painted this mini around 8 years ago, I looked into the whole pattern thing to see how GW had handled it. Basically they drew on the lines, which I found insane, unless you use a special model pencil/marker, I don't see how that could easily be achieved with a brush. I found this approach impossible, even if you had a marker, making straith lines would be pretty hard.

The way I did mine shown above: I worked in parallel lines, I did one line of black & white squares, all around the leg, then another, etc... till I was done, it took forever to do.

Now there's picture vs reality, you need to do the lines straith on the model, on the part, which on a picture will sometimes look odd, the only way to tell if all the lines are straith is to have a 360° view, which is only truly achieved by having the model in your own hands and look at it.

Ignore the patterns on the GW harlequins, the rest of the paintjob is fabulous, very high lvl, sorry to say, but most people don't paint anywhere near close to this level.
Doing the pattern is one thing, depending on the color, you need to to do highlights next, on that same tiny surface ><. Mine were in white & black, as you can expect, white takes several layers to appear clean and spotless.

As always when painting any minis: thin down your paints, when you do freehand this rule becomes crucial.

[Subs]

Get a small piece of paper, curve it round the contour of the model, paint along edge.

[Sinaura]

[URL="http://www.amazon.com/Sakura-30064-6-Piece-Micron-Assorted/dp/B00161NK54"]http://www.amazon.com/Sakura-30064-6-Piece-Micron-Assorted/dp/B00161NK54[/URL]

Those, I was told, help pull off the diamond pattern perfectly, but I haven't tried them for myself, yet.

I'll tell you one thing though, they work great for writing on SM seals and other parchments

[averykess]

An airbrush is a tool. Might as well say spray primer, wet palettes, and kolinsky brushes are cheating too.

[eosgreen]

[url]https://www.facebook.com/DarkMoonKabal/photos/a.1406388089576860.1073741850.1406358382913164/1406388106243525/?type=3&theater[/url]

I went for the damnboard pattern (perfect squares) Back when I painted this mini around 8 years ago, I looked into the whole pattern thing to see how GW had handled it. Basically they drew on the lines, which I found insane, unless you use a special model pencil/marker, I don't see how that could easily be achieved with a brush. I found this approach impossible, even if you had a marker, making straith lines would be pretty hard.

The way I did mine shown above: I worked in parallel lines, I did one line of black & white squares, all around the leg, then another, etc... till I was done, it took forever to do.

Now there's picture vs reality, you need to do the lines straith on the model, on the part, which on a picture will sometimes look odd, the only way to tell if all the lines are straith is to have a 360° view, which is only truly achieved by having the model in your own hands and look at it.

Ignore the patterns on the GW harlequins, the rest of the paintjob is fabulous, very high lvl, sorry to say, but most people don't paint anywhere near close to this level.
Doing the pattern is one thing, depending on the color, you need to to do highlights next, on that same tiny surface ><. Mine were in white & black, as you can expect, white takes several layers to appear clean and spotless.

As always when painting any minis: thin down your paints, when you do freehand this rule becomes crucial.

i kinda found what you wrote hard to follow but i understood the part that matters. gw uses a pencil/pen/thing to make the lines. if they did it i can do it. i just wanted to know if they used anything special to make it easier. also to the guy saying airbrush is a tool it isnt cheating. yeh i agree its a tool and it isnt "cheating" per say but have you ever tried to blend colors seamlessly with an airbrush vs a paintbrush? it takes me HOOOOOOOURS and hours with a paintbrush and its so much harder. the hardest part about an airbrush is mixing the paint.

painting is about time once you get to a certain level of control, and airbrushes take 1/8th the time and do it better... i call that cheating

[DWest]

painting is about time once you get to a certain level of control, and airbrushes take 1/8th the time and do it better... i call that cheating

Leaving aside that it isn't a competition, there are plenty of things on the typical model (and especially these harlies) to show off brush skills without deliberately making the work harder.\

More on topic, when applying a checkerboard pattern to something, I usually use a strip of low-tack masking tape as a guideline, just for laying the pencil lines, not for the actual painting as it can leave unsightly ridges.

[eosgreen]

Leaving aside that it isn't a competition, there are plenty of things on the typical model (and especially these harlies) to show off brush skills without deliberately making the work harder.\

More on topic, when applying a checkerboard pattern to something, I usually use a strip of low-tack masking tape as a guideline, just for laying the pencil lines, not for the actual painting as it can leave unsightly ridges.

for the record if i had not already put years into learning a brush, id be airbrushing in a second. i hate the time it takes and it is artificially "harder/longer".

have you tried scrapping the ridges? ive had times where for some reason one small area (only that i notice because we always notice our mistakes) on my models will somtimes have an uneven finish, ill just lightly scrape it and its fine. that sounds awful but it really works

i also wonderif the ridges would help keep my diamonds cleaner if i paint them on and then scrape them off

[DWest]

have you tried scrapping the ridges? ive had times where for some reason one small area (only that i notice because we always notice our mistakes) on my models will somtimes have an uneven finish, ill just lightly scrape it and its fine.

The one time I had a real bad time of ridging was doing a checkerboard on a Knight Titan's shoulderpad, and I ended up using a bit of fine steel wool to smooth it down. In the end the scuffing from the steel wool actually helped the model, giving it that "ancient and battered" look, but I don't think that would be a good look for Harlies.

[40kGamer]

I've actually used a few light coats of brush on Matte sealer to even out the surface when my freehand was too thick.

[eosgreen]

The one time I had a real bad time of ridging was doing a checkerboard on a Knight Titan's shoulderpad, and I ended up using a bit of fine steel wool to smooth it down. In the end the scuffing from the steel wool actually helped the model, giving it that "ancient and battered" look, but I don't think that would be a good look for Harlies.

i just mention it because i could show you a blend i did on a farseers wep that had a ridge somehow on the underside i didnt notice in the light and i scrapped it clean. its a white to blueish green power blade that basically mimics GW's plastic farseer style but just a bit better prob. i only mention the level because its not like its a flat coat. its a seemeless blend and scraping worked

so yeh what thin tape do you use? i even wonder if such a tape exists that would be small enough and prob a bit more hassle. ill try this pencil thing. what pencil do you think they use?