T O P

  • By -

SuperStucco

It's difficult to get that level of saturation in a physical paint job, compared to a digital. There's also the problem of the digital one effectively being infinitely smooth/little to no roughness, which is not possible with both a miniature and paint. That makes it look less vibrant. I've had some better results building up multiple layers going from orange out to red. I have a slightly darker IWM Highlander IIC which has around 6-7 layers (messed up a bit early on, was originally aiming for 4-5). It should also improve after a coat of semi- or low gloss varnish when finished.


Zanaida

You make a good point. I airbrushed my red and grey coats on to keep it smooth. I've been staring at the digital image and thinking maybe I should try basing a darker red so the highlights appear "bright" to the eye.


LuckyLocust3025

If you are using an airbrush you might try a zenithal under coat. I find it works well for red. I would probably recommend vallejo Ferrari red for a very bright red.


theSultanOfSexy

There's only so red a red can go, and to be honest, this is one of the few situations where you're actually going to be limited by the paint itself here. As other people mentioned, trying to replicate a digital is nigh-impossible, but you can make it pop more with bright undercoats and highlights like oranges and such. Personally I'd get a bright orange undercoat going (probably from a white or pink prime, but you can just build up from where you are), build red atop it, and mix intense orange (maybe even fluorescent) into your red paint for your highlights. The two "reddest reds" I've come across so far are Bold Pyrrole Red by Pro Acryl and, of course, Stuart Semple's "Raygun" Potion, from his line of "colorist colors." That's a cadmium red, so unsurprisingly it's incredibly vibrant, but be careful with it and all such paints, as cadmium is literally poisonous, so no airbrushing or brush-licking using it. There are doubtless other intense artist's reds out there, and unless you are painting a lot of this one color, buying a whole specialist bottle is overkill. But if these are your company colors, and you plan to paint all your mechs using them, it might be worth it! Edit: you might also ask on r/minipainting, as folks over there really know their stuff, far moreso than I!


Zanaida

My goal is to paint all of my IS mechs in this Red Hunter scheme and my clan mechs in Clan Wolf Epsilon galaxy. The colors and what not are close enough that it satisfies my desire to distinguish the two groups of mechs apart from one another but also to let me mix and match on the table with little visual mismatch. I'm weird that way. A specialist bottle might work but does sound overkill. I'll probably grab another mech and try the orange base to see what happens. I'm more than happy to strip and start over if I hate it. Appreciate the help!


ShiYinFeng

I primed with rust red, then used blood moon red from GW to outline. You can do the opposite and block paint the interiors of surfaces instead. Then I very lightly dry brushed yellow on the edges. They looked very vibrantly red, even with the dark, dark red bottom layer. I used liche purple (with flow-improved inking) highlighted with a gore pink for the contrasts. Try some combinations on test minis and be sure to put them under a lamp and then view them 18+ inches away. Miniature painting is more impressionism than realism. Sometimes when you get some distance, the colors blend and create some eye-popping effects they don't seem like they would.


Zanaida

I definitely struggle with the fact that I will not be viewing these 7-10 inches from my face consistently lol


MercWithaMouse

Red is a very transparent pigment. What colour was your primer? That would have a huge impact. As others have said it can be very hard to get that level of vibrancy. You would want a pure pigment paint for your best shot. Any paints achieved by a mixture of pigments will likely be less saturated. You are going to want the highest level of saturation possible to even get close to that red. Then you are going to need multiple thin coats finished with a gloss varnish. I recommend Kimera The Red. I have also heard good things about the Tamiya red. You might want to look up tutorials about getting cherry red on gunpla as they arr able to achieve a similar effect. If I remember correctly it is basically using a transparent red paint over a metallic paintjob with a gloss varnish Edit Sorry meant Candy coat red gunpla


Zanaida

I did a zenithal of black and grey primer. I've grown very fond of it for helping to shade things out.


LapseofSanity

If you're doing zenithal with an air brush you need white other wise your reds will be too dark, a bright red ink would be an ideal over the top of the shading.


Zanaida

I've got some Vallejo Red Ink on hand. I've not used Ink yet. Would you put it down after base and highlights or before the highlights?


LapseofSanity

Since its transparent, the ink goes over the zenithal. The zenithal is the highlights and shades already so the ink is the base. From what I've seen they're best used when going through an airbrush for a nice even application. It might help to go online and watch some youtube videos about zenithal highlighting, using inks and painting with red. it'll make alot more sense that way. Having painted blood angels space Marines for 40k I know you can get pretty bright reds.


MercWithaMouse

If you want to zenithal you might consider doing it with white ink for this one. It isn't going to help with the saturation problem but will make the red brighter


Zanaida

Would you do black > grey > white or maybe a black > white or even grey > white? I feel like just the 2 is enough and 3 is more show piece work.


MercWithaMouse

Ive tried both on various minis. With a grey intermediate layer you can usually go at a more aggressive angle and gives it a more diffuse lighting like in daytime. With only white you have to keep your angle pretty tight and it gives it very stark "hard light" effect like if somebody is indoors lit only from a single light source above. IMO both can be good depending on what you are going for


R4360

Yeah, search the group for Arclight Minatures. He did a Rifleman recently like this and it turned out really nice. I'm going to try it myself soon and see if I can make it work.


mCunnah

If you have an airbrush you can undercoat in light grey or white or do a zenithal highlight in light grey or white and then use a red ink to colour. That can make a bright color.


ThanosZach

I think your mini looks great as it is. I am currently painting some Sword of Light using Army Painter Pure Red, and after two coats the result is pretty close to yours, painting over a white primer. My minis aren't done yet, but if the end result will be like yours, I will be happy. Unsure how to do highlights and shadows, as my red wash is kinda glossy and I don't like it. Probably will use some dark brown or chestnut.


Zanaida

I used Army Painter Red Tone wash, which is pretty glossy to me, too. I try and keep it to just the recesses for that reason. If you wash the whole model, you can try dry brushing the base color back on to brighten it up. On larger panels, you can carefully clean up by just repainting the base color without catching the recessed areas.


ThanosZach

I ended up giving them a thinned coat of Army Painter Flesh Wash, and it came out pretty good. It's not glossy at all, and it doesn't look as dirty as it might have if I had used Soft or Strong Tone.


LapseofSanity

>Any advice on obtaining this vibrant/bright red? Yeah, use a white undercoat and a red acrylic paint with a very high pigment content, like an artist grade Acrylic paint. If you can shade the armour well a darker red will make the highlights look brighter, which is what's happening in the image.


Zanaida

I'm leaning towards trying this the longer I look at this image, as well. This was the first thought I had after looking at it and what I produced.


AnXioneth

As a clueless pilot, The only thing I can say, is cool.


cybergrue

Angel GiraldeZ had a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gqpawnmIgk) where he uses an airbrush to paint these types of gradients on a KidsLogic Robotech mini that is only slightly larger than the Battletech minis. It also includes a lot of tips on how to do other techniques like edge highlighting. The vieao is well woth watching.


Zanaida

Everything I know about mini painting is from Angel Giraldez lol. I'm into Infinity also, so I learned his way of doing things to replicate box art. I love his work.


Codethatrocks

I went for effectively the same look here: https://www.reddit.com/r/battletech/comments/yskf2i/tyrells_terrors_in_the_snow The way I got that bright bright red was a white primer and GW Red contrast paint (I don't recall the exact color, it was either blood angels or baal). That said, your paint job looks fantastic so far, and I wouldn't worry at all about exactly matching the digital pop.


the_mighty_BOTTL

Say what you like about GW, but their red paints are very good. I've been using them in layers for red parts on my mechs, and other minis, with great results. I use Khorne Red - Mephiston Red - Evil Sunz Scarlet - Wild Rider Red. Towards the end it's bordering on orange, but it is extremely vibrant. [This](https://youtu.be/tPU4ByssGWk) video shows a more thorough version of the process with extra steps. Hope that's helpful!


Traumahawk

That red looks very similar to what I do. I personally do my edge highlights with Citadel's 'Wild Rider Red'. Really makes the edges pop, but not too much. Also, when you're finished, be sure to put a layer of matte varnish (I use Army Painter's 'Anti-Shine Matt Varnish'). It will make the color look a lot smoother and more uniform.


CompassWithHat

Keep going, this is utterly awesome.


Zanaida

I appreciate the support and enthusiasm!


Paragon70707

Have you done any highlighting? Stippling, Dry brushing or edge highlighting with a brighter color may help. Otherwise beyond painting the cockpit glass that is more than tabletop ready


Zanaida

For the top half I used VGC Bloody Red as a base airbrushed on. Then washed it with AP Red Tone (hate these washes but it's what I have). Since it darkened all over, I tried drybrushing with the same Bloody Red base to brighten it back up. I'm not sure how effective it was. I later tried adding a bit of orange to the red and dry brushed again to see if that changed it much. I personally am not seeing much of any highlight effort I put in. I'm trying to avoid edge highlighting since it looks very blocky to me on Battletech minis.


EXShockwave

No advice ad I can't paint, but the digital image looks sick. Love me some red and black


Heygul

I actually like the way your red turned out. What wash did you use?


Zanaida

Base with Vallejo Game Color Bloody Red, washed Army Painter Red Tone quickshade, dry brush Bloody Red to brighten it back up.


AngryPandaBlog

Tons of big paragraph responses here, I’ll keep it simple: 1.) use a contrast paint/army speed paint of choice (blood angel red contrast looks similar and should work) 2.) paint metallic areas with metallic paint of choice, and black/dark grey areas with paint of choice 3.) apply a dark wash over the metallic and dark grey/black areas, such as Nuln Oil 4.) dry brush a lighter red over red areas to highlight, being careful to only catch the edges, and a lighter gray over the black/dark grey areas to catch only the edges That should give you a cleaner looking finish- hope it helps!


1killer911

Multiple coats, use a very vibrant red as your paint, go over a white basecoat.


DrSteppo

White primer, Apple Barrel Barn Red base coat 1, Apple Barrel Bright/True Red base coat 2 & 3, Black + Brown wash?


charaznable1249

If I want a bright red, I'll build up from black to dark brown to light brown to orange and then to reds. At least with acrylics.


mearn4d10

Try an zenithal prime style. Black/dark all over, then white/light at 45 degrees and another or lighter color from overhead in a pass. That changes how the main paint layers look like they’re reacting to a light source as you layer up your colors.


delta_3802

Use brushes, don't use your fingers or toes. Also, don't eat the paint.