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Folks have asked me in the past how do I paint yellow...well, hopefully with this tutorial I will be able to explain some of the
techniques that I use to assist anyone who is interested in painting up yellow. I will be using a reseen Warhammer IIC as the subject.
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Step 1 -
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Step 1 - First thing to consider when painting yellow is the primer color. Some might not think this is important, but having a good foundation is
the key in getting good coverage with yellow. After assembling and basing the mini, I sprayed it with white primer. Doesn't matter if you use Krylon, GW, etc. Just as long
as you get a smooth, even coverage with the white primer. This does a couple of things; first it gives a base that allows the paint to adhere much better than just bare metal;
and secondly, painting yellow over white allows the yellow to stay yellow and not become "green tinted" as is the case when yellow is painted over black. If you have no choice but
to paint over black primer, make sure that you first apply a basecoat of a yellowish brown (i.e. GW Snakebite Leather) before painting on the yellow.
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Step 2 -
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Step 2 - In the next stage of painting, we need a good, solid basecoat. I choose to use IWM Yellow for the basecoat. I've found that IWM Yellow offers some of the best
coverage with yellow compared to other brands. It appears to contain a large amount of pigment in the mixture that allows total coverage over white with only one or two coats. I used two coats
of yellow for the basecoat with the Warhammer IIC. You want to get paint into those cracks and crevices the first time, give it a little time to dry out, then touch up all the panels and raised
surfaces that haven’t been properly covered by the first pass. Generally with CBT minis, I will put on two basecoats of the primary color. It provides a good, solid foundation that helps resist
handling wear and the odd unintentional airdrop. After this is done, you should have a solid one-colour basecoat with no streaks or translucent patches. This is important, as the basecoat will
be the predominant paint showing on the final piece.
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Step 3 -
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Step 3 - In the next stage an ink wash is used to develop shadows and depth on the mini. So for the details not to be lost, we need to exaggerate the shadows that they would cast.
For this, ink is used in a generous wash mixture with Future and water. Ink is great because it doesn’t contain opaque pigments, and allows waterfast colours underneath it to ‘come through’ while
minimising loss of detail. If your ink use obscures detail, you are applying it without enough dilution. The choice of inks is up to personal taste. I personally like to go for a much darker tone that
the basic colour of the model, so for my yellow basecoat I used GW Brown ink. As for making an ink wash with black, you would end up with a greenish tint to the yellow (see Step 1), so I don't recommend it.
The mix in this case is about 40% ink, 40% water, and 20% Future. You will find that wash mixes vary and not set in stone, so experiment with the ratios until you find the proper coverage that your are looking for.
When you are laying on the ink, don’t be shy. You want this stuff in the hard-to-reach bits that need a bit of definition. Continue to apply the ink in layers until you are satisfied. If you use too much ink,
you can blot the excess off the brush, then use the brush to sop up the extra wash.
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Step 4 -
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Step 4 - After a few hours’ drying time (most of the time I let the ink dry overnight) it is time now to start drybrushing. This is done to start the highlighting process. You will
want to use the basecoat color as your first drybrushing layer. Starting with a totally dry brush, dab up a little paint over the tip of the brush. Place the brush between a few folds of paper towel and gently
but firmly squeeze the paint out of the brush. Once this is done, drag the tip of the brush along the paper a few times to separate out the bristles and ensure that there are no damp spots left in the tip.
The brush is ready when it really looks dry and no colour comes off when you are doing the paper wiping; you want the brush to be as dry as possible.
Starting with an area of relatively high detail, brush the tip of the brush across the detail, concentrating on using only the tip of the brush. You should start to see the detail developing matt highlights as you do this.
Once a solid, basic highlight has appeared you can move on, refreshing the brush as required. Remember that the purpose of this stage is not to completely cover the inked basecoat, but to contrast with it and
provide a basic guide as to where the detail will be when the highlighting is done. Make sure that the entire model is thoroughly highlighted, so that the raised areas can be seen distinctly. You also want to
cover the inevitable blotches and rings that occur on large, flat surfaces, which have been inked. One last piece of advice, make sure that the amount of highlighting is even all over. Too much highlighting in
spots will cause your paintjob to look patchy and strange, and too little highlighting in spots will not show off the details.
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Step 5 -
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Step 5 - Okay, so now your mini is basecoated, inked and has a basic, natural-looking highlight. Now it’s time to develop the highlighting further, by doing a slightly brighter drybrush
within the same shade. A second highlight is applied over the first in exactly the same way as in Step 4. For this stage I have chosen GW Sunburst Yellow as it is lighter in shade than the previous highlight
coat, but still in that yellow range I was looking for. If you do not have any additional yellow colors than the basecoat color, then mix 2-3 drops of white with the basecoat color for this stage. This is applied
to a lesser extent, concentrating a bit more on the detail and flat or raised areas. After this is complete you should be able to recognise distinct areas of detail.
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Step 6 -
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Step 6 - By now you should have a model with good depth of highlighting and no ink blotches. All that remains is the detailing. The problem is that this stage will probably take as long as all
that has gone before it…The first stage is a final, super-light drybrush on the most raised areas. With this final drybrush these objects can really ‘pop’, visually speaking. My choice of colour for the final drybrush
is GW Bleached Bone. The pale beige of this colour really helps the final level of fine detail without going too far outside the yellow spectrum of the base colour. As with the previous step, if you don't have access to
a "Bone" color, add another drop or two of yellow to the mixture that you used in Step 5.
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Step 7 -
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Step 7 - The next step in detailing is painting black on all joints, gun barrels, missile ports, etc. This is used to serve as the basecoat for the detailing work done to these areas. Metallics look
much better and more vibrant when painted over black. Plus, this also serves as to a means to break-up the continual yellow color on the mini and give the mini some structure.
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Step 8 -
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Step 8 - Take a dark silver color and apply it to all the joints and gun barrel areas that you want to look metallic. I used GW Boltgun Metal on this mini, but this can be substituted with any steel color.
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Step 9 -
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Step 9 - This step is the only time that I will ever use a black ink wash mixture on a yellow mini. Take a black ink wash mixture of 40%ink, 40% water, and 20% Future and use a small brush to carefully apply
the wash to only the areas that you painted in Step 8. If you do accidently get the wash on any yellow parts, make sure that you blot it dry with a piece of paper or with a brush before the wash drys and leaves a ring.
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Step 10 -
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Step 10 - Almost finished here - paint up the cockpit and pick out details on missiles, lights, etc.
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Step 11 -
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Step 11 - You can call it the day after the base is finished, decals are applied, and hit the mini with a couple of coats of dullcoat spray.
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