Sorastro's Painting

[Ocule 27]

On 12/8/2018 at 5:17 AM, Sorastro said:

Hi Ocule! 

Firstly - well done!  He doesn't look too bad at all (many people forget to paint the black band across the front of the helmet!).  There are so many ways to paint any figure, and the stormtroopers are no different.  For my preferred way of painting large numbers of the Legion stormtroopers you can see in my video that I chose not to shade the figure, but draw in the dark lining by hand to avoid having to spend time highlighting the white armour back up again.  You may of course prefer to do what I did with my IA stormtroopers and shade the whole mini to more easily define the recesses - you'll just then probably want to spend time highlighting the white armour which can be a bit of a pain.  Some people even like to dry brush their stormtroopers from black or grey all the way up to pure white (and then paint the dark details).   I think it's good to explore a range of options and go with what works for you! 

Thanks, i got a bit better with practice and took some of your advice when putting them together. I think if i shade any in the future ill do it in a light grey as opposed to the black shading i used here but I just finished my core set stormtroopers.  I know i will need some more ST squads but **** i dont want to look at another trooper for a while. It was much faster after just lining them instead of the wash. Still got my speeder bikes and vader before ill have them all done. Hard to see but i opted for a base coat of Vallejo Bleached Linen and highlighted with pure white. hard to see in the light and its still subtle on the minis themselves. Might opt for a bit darker of an off white next time. 

Edited December 13, 2018 by Ocule

[Sorastro 1,822]

10 hours ago, Ocule said:

Thanks, i got a bit better with practice and took some of your advice when putting them together. I think if i shade any in the future ill do it in a light grey as opposed to the black shading i used here but I just finished my core set stormtroopers.  I know i will need some more ST squads but **** i dont want to look at another trooper for a while. It was much faster after just lining them instead of the wash. Still got my speeder bikes and vader before ill have them all done. Hard to see but i opted for a base coat of Vallejo Bleached Linen and highlighted with pure white. hard to see in the light and its still subtle on the minis themselves. Might opt for a bit darker of an off white next time. 

Hey mate - they look fantastic!  Really well done

[xmarkusx 106]

Yo Sorastro, any hints what you are going to paint next?

[Sorastro 1,822]

23 hours ago, xmarkusx said:

Yo Sorastro, any hints what you are going to paint next?

Hi!  Yep - I'm covering the Priority Supplies as a PDF guide, and my next video will cover both Chewie and the Wookie Warriors

[BigBadAndy 640]

On 1/3/2019 at 6:56 AM, Sorastro said:

Hi!  Yep - I'm covering the Priority Supplies as a PDF guide, and my next video will cover both Chewie and the Wookie Warriors

I’m really looking forward to the Wookie video.  I started mine and I’m not happy with how they are going... 

[Sorastro 1,822]

Hi fellow painters! 

I'd like to share with you my next Legion PDF Painting Guide, this time for the Priority Supplies which you can grab here.  Enjoy! 

[Rebel dude 39]

is the army painter good paints?

 

[Lukez 89]

Are you still planning a PDF for the commandos?

[Sorastro 1,822]

On 1/10/2019 at 7:52 PM, Rebel dude said:

is the army painter good paints?

 

Hi!  They're pretty good value for sure.  I just find certain colours a bit tricky to get a nice coat with so I tend to favour Vallejo/Citadel (and more recently some ScaleColor)

20 hours ago, Lukez said:

Are you still planning a PDF for the commandos?

Hi Lukez!  Yes I am!

[aniron 218]

Will you be doing the 1.4FD (crew) or the IA Echo Base trooper?

I'd love to see your take on the Hoth rebels.

[flightmaster101 1,568]

@Sorastro

Out of curiosity, is the plan to do videos for heroes and pdfs for generic units?

[Thevshi 127]

Thanks for the priority supplies PDF Sorastro!

[Sorastro 1,822]

On 1/12/2019 at 1:39 PM, aniron said:

Will you be doing the 1.4FD (crew) or the IA Echo Base trooper?

I'd love to see your take on the Hoth rebels.

Hi Aniron!  I'm honestly a little swamped with work at the moment so I'm not sure when I'll get to them.  I'd like to cover everything but it's extremely hard to keep up!

14 hours ago, flightmaster101 said:

@Sorastro

Out of curiosity, is the plan to do videos for heroes and pdfs for generic units?

Hi mate!  Not especially, although it does often work out that way.  I just like to cover the more interesting or "hot" minis as videos, and the other stuff as PDFs (especially if they're minis I've covered in the IA series and I don't feel I have much new to add)

13 hours ago, Thevshi said:

Thanks for the priority supplies PDF Sorastro!

You're welcome Thevshi!

[aniron 218]

4 minutes ago, Sorastro said:

Hi Aniron!  I'm honestly a little swamped with work at the moment so I'm not sure when I'll get to them.  I'd like to cover everything but it's extremely hard to keep up!

 

Yeah, with specialists for both factions as well as the new commanders, units and vehicles upcoming I can see that your schedule would be quite packed.

[Zephyr444 16]

Hey Sorastro, i dont know if you're tired of hearing this, but but you are an inspiration to anyone getting into this hobby.  And you being 'official' with Lucasfilm is just the coolest ever.  

But i do have a question that i think some people here have as well.  Do you have any suggeations on brush care?  I always rinse my brushes in new water after each painting session, and i store them upright, off the bristles.  But on my more frequently used brushes, like my No. 0 detailing brush, the fine points keep getting undone and splayed out.  Thoughts?

And you keep being you my dude.  

[aniron 218]

40 minutes ago, Zephyr444 said:

Hey Sorastro, i dont know if you're tired of hearing this, but but you are an inspiration to anyone getting into this hobby.  And you being 'official' with Lucasfilm is just the coolest ever.  

But i do have a question that i think some people here have as well.  Do you have any suggeations on brush care?  I always rinse my brushes in new water after each painting session, and i store them upright, off the bristles.  But on my more frequently used brushes, like my No. 0 detailing brush, the fine points keep getting undone and splayed out.  Thoughts?

And you keep being you my dude.  

I'm not Sorastro, but I think what you need is a block of brush soap.

Should be about $5-10 at an art supply store, and last through your and several generations of your descendants' lifetimes worth of miniature painting brush care.

Brush on the soap with the wet brush after rinsing, work up a lather across one of the edges, wash with water. Once in a while, work the brush between your fingers with the soap in, rinse, put new soap in and let it dry like that. Wash it out before starting your next painting session.

 

If this doesn't help, you need better brushes.

Edited January 23, 2019 by aniron

[Sorastro 1,822]

On 1/23/2019 at 5:09 PM, Zephyr444 said:

Hey Sorastro, i dont know if you're tired of hearing this, but but you are an inspiration to anyone getting into this hobby.  And you being 'official' with Lucasfilm is just the coolest ever.  

But i do have a question that i think some people here have as well.  Do you have any suggeations on brush care?  I always rinse my brushes in new water after each painting session, and i store them upright, off the bristles.  But on my more frequently used brushes, like my No. 0 detailing brush, the fine points keep getting undone and splayed out.  Thoughts?

And you keep being you my dude.  

Hi Zephyr444!

Thank you so much for the kind words, and I'm sorry for the late reply!  January is a crazy month at our house due to our having so many family birthdays (and we tend to go a bit crazy with the cake-making as you'll see in the tweet below!)

Regarding brush care, I'm afraid I'm pretty lazy in how I treat mine, but I do think a good quality brush will generally last a lot longer than a cheap one.  As Aniron rightly mentions there are some good soap-like brush cleaners out there - I've heard really good things about Masters Brush Cleaner (https://goo.gl/BDnR2H) although I've yet to try it myself.

I have used a liquid brush cleaner called Zest-it (https://goo.gl/RiEZTS) though, and it's really good; after giving the brush a good clean in some water, a quick dip in some Zest-it and a whole load more pigments come away from the brush. 

Apart from trying a cleaner, it's also worth remembering to try not to let paint or shade reach the ferrule of the brush.  Although I do it all the time in the videos, I'm usually using an old brush, before switching to a newer one to actually paint with.

I hope this helps a little!

S.

 

 )

[Jabby 1,042]

On 2/4/2019 at 10:46 PM, Sorastro said:

Hi Zephyr444!

Thank you so much for the kind words, and I'm sorry for the late reply!  January is a crazy month at our house due to our having so many family birthdays (and we tend to go a bit crazy with the cake-making as you'll see in the tweet below!)

Regarding brush care, I'm afraid I'm pretty lazy in how I treat mine, but I do think a good quality brush will generally last a lot longer than a cheap one.  As Aniron rightly mentions there are some good soap-like brush cleaners out there - I've heard really good things about Masters Brush Cleaner (https://goo.gl/BDnR2H) although I've yet to try it myself.

I have used a liquid brush cleaner called Zest-it (https://goo.gl/RiEZTS) though, and it's really good; after giving the brush a good clean in some water, a quick dip in some Zest-it and a whole load more pigments come away from the brush. 

Apart from trying a cleaner, it's also worth remembering to try not to let paint or shade reach the ferrule of the brush.  Although I do it all the time in the videos, I'm usually using an old brush, before switching to a newer one to actually paint with.

I hope this helps a little!

S.

 

 )

So you paint and she bakes? Nice

[Recon00 70]

This is like my 17th or 18th mini ever painted, so I'm still very much a novice, and my first time at OSL...  Used your Vader vid for inspiration (thanks btw!), and I think I finally 'get' the glaze principle now having successfully done it with medium vs when I mixed water and thought about doing it.  Haven't finished the base and I'm going to try to tidy up some of the helmet lines not glazed.

 

[KommanderKeldoth 3,141]

9 minutes ago, Recon00 said:

This is like my 17th or 18th mini ever painted, so I'm still very much a novice, and my first time at OSL...  Used your Vader vid for inspiration (thanks btw!), and I think I finally 'get' the glaze principle now having successfully done it with medium vs when I mixed water and thought about doing it.  Haven't finished the base and I'm going to try to tidy up some of the helmet lines not glazed.

 

Whoah! That's outstanding

[sergio1977 6]

😲 subperb Kommanderkeld, very well done!!...difficult to say ...this miniatures is not form Sorastro's, I'm painting so many year's and I can't achieve this level...never mind....that's why....Sorastro's tutorials...work so good!!!

[Zrob314 833]

On 1/23/2019 at 10:09 AM, Zephyr444 said:

But i do have a question that i think some people here have as well.  Do you have any suggeations on brush care?  I always rinse my brushes in new water after each painting session, and i store them upright, off the bristles.  But on my more frequently used brushes, like my No. 0 detailing brush, the fine points keep getting undone and splayed out.  Thoughts?

So my understanding is that you should avoid storing your brushes bristles up.  They're wet and little bits of paint flow down into the ferrule and this can frag out your bristles in no time.  Best case is to put the little plastic cap back on and store them pointing downward....but you lost the caps, because we all lost the caps.  So in that case I store them flat with the bristles hanging over a ledge.  There are also coil holders you can get.  Ask an art supply store.  

As everyone else said, get some brush soap.  Youtube has plenty of videos on how to clean a brush.  

[Zrob314 833]

@Sorastro I have a question if you care to answer.  I'm having a heck of a time mounting my miniatures properly while painting.  I don't want to pin them for painting (drilled through too many legs) and I don't like to put them on the base until I've washed them and highlighted the feet.  I'm trying to find a good method of mounting them to a bottle cap or whatever until I'm ready to transfer them.  
DO you or anyone else have tips that don't involve pinning?

[aniron 218]

1 hour ago, Zrob314 said:

@Sorastro I have a question if you care to answer.  I'm having a heck of a time mounting my miniatures properly while painting.  I don't want to pin them for painting (drilled through too many legs) and I don't like to put them on the base until I've washed them and highlighted the feet.  I'm trying to find a good method of mounting them to a bottle cap or whatever until I'm ready to transfer them.  
DO you or anyone else have tips that don't involve pinning?

Superglue, then snapping them off comes to mind. Put them in the freezer a few minutes beforehand if you are worried about them not snapping off cleanly.

 

I simply use the bases, and judging by his videos Sorastro does to.

Edited February 20, 2019 by aniron

[Zrob314 833]

43 minutes ago, aniron said:

I simply use the bases, and judging by his videos Sorastro does to.

Just to be clear (for anyone else who weighs in) I'm not asking about what to put them on while painting, I have my own preferred platforms and reasons for not using the bases.  

This is about getting them stuck and stable and removing them without damage.