On Tackling large models
Tackling large projects.
Finishing Kragnos has been one of the largest if not the largest models I've ever painted. This model is huge, towering around 6" tall and adding another inch to that with the base he comes standing on to boot. The mace itself is larger than a Primaris Space Marine, and the shield is larger than an Oreo Cookie! Models such as these sometimes require different strategies and approaches to finishing them. Not just to complete it, but to make a centrepiece model come alive and be proud of the work put into it. Through the process, I had some rules and tactics I used to get me through this gauntlet of a miniature that I'm going to share with you. This is all in hopes you may learn and identify some potential problems down the road on large miniatures you encounter on your hobby journey.
Break up the project into milestones.
When I break up a model into milestones it typically falls into painting each element such as the head, weapon arms, skin, armour, base etc. Sometimes parts aren't so well defined as things merge into another, or in Kragnos's case, these elements are so large that I've had to divide them further. This again helps you digest the whole project and take it in piecemeal instead of trying to stuff the whole project down in one gulp! But something to tie this rule with is also allowing the start of each milestone a chance to fail. That's right, you need to permit yourself to fail in the painting. Not that I'm purposefully going to fuck up and wreck it, but rather it's a chance to experiment and figure out how to tackle this new section. Chances are, these large centrepiece models have unique elements that are different, larger, or more complex than the rest of the army range. Therefore when we approach each new element you need to expect some things to take a bit longer or have to be repainted. It happened to me when I finished the main body of the skin and moved into the first NMM steel plate below his abs. That was a complete disaster and was seriously ugly! But I took an objective look and permitted myself to fail there. Grabbed some black and erased my work to start it again. Before I started again, there was something I noticed that I needed to do before giving it a second try.
I had to reset my eyes.
I found out when I was painting all the flesh and horsehair parts, I was using the airbrush to sketch, and then using the brush for large strokes and lots of stippling. Covering such large areas of muscle, my eyes were used to focusing on this size of the subject, and when attempting the first NMM, my focus was a disaster. Everything felt too small and I needed a way to reset my eyes as well as my hand movements. So my solution was to pick up something small and completely different from what Kragnos is and spend a couple of hours painting. Here is where I painted the new Elder Warlock head that I shared on Instagram. This allowed me to relax and refocus my eyes on something small. I wasn't concerned with the results, it was just to paint freely and get my muscles in my hands back to very tiny movements. I also in the flow of things decided to pick up a new brush that I've failed painting with the first time, a triple 0 by Broken Toad. This brush is long and very very thin! Perfect to get those micro details and strokes I wanted to achieve. Very finicky to use, as the paint dries very quickly on the bristles, and your paint has to generally be even thinner to create smooth strokes. So to reset my eyes on a small subject, get my hands used to tighter movements, work the ins and out of a new brush, and all on the model that has no consequences to the main project. Painting bits is awesome in so many ways! So sometimes learning to identify these roadblocks, the solution can be to make a short diversion, reset yourself, and come right back with a fresh perspective.
Moving further along this project, I took how I felt after the elder's head and started to incorporate it into my general workflow. There were several days in which I was to start right on a detailed piece such as the face or straight into more nmm. If you come out of the gate cold, I found my hands weren't warmed up enough to get the fine brushwork I demand from myself. This is where I grab more bits and start doing some warmup strokes. Just like the idea when I go climbing, cycling, or running; good stretches and some warm-up climbs on easy grade routes, or quick jumps and kicks before you get the legs going. Painting is no different, you need to warm your hands and your eyes ready for the task at hand. With my painting warm-ups, it's something simple as a few various strokes on a spare shoulder pad or power sword. Nothing crazy, just making some lines in various widths, feather a line, brush on a glaze, and painting some various shapes just to get the brush going. Taking that 5-10 minutes to do that started each session a lot better, especially my mornings at 9 am when I start painting. It made my painting sessions a lot less prone to error at the beginning, and I felt more confident out of the gate doing these beforehand.
Thanks again for joining me on the Miniature Palette. A few things I've picked up from tackling large projects and a new warm-up routine that I've devised for myself that you may want to try out before your next painting session. Take care and happy painting!