Technique Toolbox: Basecoating 101
March 25, 2014 by elromanozo
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nice m8 keep up the goooooooooood work 🙂
Thanks, looking forward to the rest of the videos.
If that was anything to go by the rest of the series is going to be invaluable to the painters out there.
Great video, very relaxed.
Aye I love the relaxed atmosphere that Romain creates. After 20 mins I’m more realxed than a snail on Diazepam.
lol…
That was great. As someone new to the hobby, following these vids is going to help me to develop the correct habits right from the start. Thanks for such a professional, well-paced and informative 20 minutes. You’ve mad my evening!!
Thanks guys ! I’m elated ! 🙂
Paint & Relax! It makes me want to take my time when I paint my models.
Thanks for the tips Romain! ^_^
If you were to ever find yourself basecoating over a black primer, would you thin down the paint as much/at all?
That’ll be for a future tutorial… 😉
I’d use a very concentrated paint, and more coats, and perhaps I would dilute slightly less. In any case, i would probably never use such a light colour over black (unless I somehow manage to paint some grey over it first).
Black priming is rare and mostly overrated unless you do certain effects. At least for display.
I love and appreciate what you are doing Romain, But will you be doing any speed painting tips or videos? Lets say someone has 100 guardsmen or Tyranids and the like. Minimal effort with best outcome kind of tips?
Thank you for your interest ! 🙂
I have done speed painting tips in the past (spray cans are your friends), and this series has some techniques that are indeed quicker than most (you’ll see). But “speed painting” isn’t a technique per se, it’s just concentrating on what you can do quickly.
Wait for the tips on the ‘Eavy Metal way to paint, the Foundry system, dry brushing, airbrushing, and pre-shading. I think these are the most likely to interest you.
Thanks for the personal reply, I simply cannot wait for more!
Hi Romain! Good to have you back! About the reds/yellows you mentioned: I have had my share of grief with the snotty “blood” red and the likes… which brands have, in your opinion, the most concentrated red/yellow?
Fernando
Thanks ! 🙂
For red primary colours :
P3 Khador red base
Citadel Mephiston Red (slightly off, but still very bright)
For primary yellow :
P3 Cygnar yellow
Citadel Averland sunset (againk slightly less bright, a bit ochre, but quite fine)
I don’t think other colours have that problem… if you go for darker reds and ochres, you’re fine.
very promising start to the series
looking forward to strengthening my foundations..
Another great Romain video! I can’t wait to learn more from the master!
Again I’d like your feedback Romain on undercoat colour choice. Tend to use black for painting troops or en-mass projects, and white for display pieces. Would you suggest switching to white all the time so you can thin down the basecoat paint more? If it’s as thin as the suggested consistency you have at the start of the video on a black undercoat I find it’s almost impossible to work with as the number of coats you need is huge.
Well, it quite depends on the way you’re painting… Basecoating bright colours over black is simply impractical, as you risk drowning all your details if you use too pure a paint or too many coats. You will see in this series a tip for doing stuff appropriate to a black basecoat. I generally abandon a black basecoat when I chain-paint troops : I tend to prime in the main colours my men are going to be. I have shown this before years ago on necrons and space marines (they deserved no less), it’s on Beasts of War. Either that, or… Read more »
Well I already figured out I was basecoating all wrong. 😉
As Bob Ross said, “there are no mistakes, just happy little accidents”… I wouldn’t go that far, but at least you know better now ! 🙂
Would also like to know what brand of white primer/undercoat you recommend. Brilliant start to the new painting tutorials.
Thanks ! I like the Army painter, Modelmates and Citadel for the white.
A warning on Army Painter. Paints that have a matt finish do not go well with it. I recently tried to paint an elf from Black Scorpion. I started spray priming it and a few other minis with Citadel white but ran out when I had only done half the elf. I had a can of AP white primer to hand and finished it off with that. When I began painting it, with Scale 75 paints, the paint went on the Citadel perfectly but didn’t take to the AP at all.
Army painter’s white is indeed much thicker. The Citadel white is less covering, but still the most porous and lovely to work on. Modelmates is somewhere in between.
Still, I’ve known painters who love AP white (I can use it myself with little or no issues, even though I prefer Citadel).
With non-matt paints, which the majority of brands are, it’s not a big problem. I do still notice that the paint doesn’t bond quite as well to AP as it does to MM or Citadel, but the paint will still take. My preference is definitely for Citadel of the three. It costs a little more though I have the convenience of having four local GW stores I can go to and buy it rather than having to mail order the other two brands.
I haven’t painted in a while. It’s now 00.15 in the morning and after watching this I have the urge to paint. Cheers @elromanozo
This is going to be a great series. It doesn’t matter what your doing or how good you think you are. It’s always good to go back to the basics. Invariably all problems stem from there.
I like to use Vallejo Inks or Secret Weapon Washes over a white or grey undercoat – this would be a similar approach to what you’ve done here, yes?
There’s another tip about washes and glazes later on… you’ll see. Similar, but not quite. Still, gbravo for spotting technical similarities ! 🙂
Romain may have saved a life today … this was one of those days at the office 0we all sometimes have, when we honestly don’t know whether we’ll make it through without committing a felony. 🙂 At lunch I took the laptop outside and watched this video. Romain’s demeanor was so mellow, his work so patient yet focused, just applying each layer of paint on and watching it dry … it was a borderline “Zen” experience and got me ready to face the rest of my day. You probably saved someone’s life today, Romain, or at least my job! Many… Read more »
That’s one of the best compliments anyone has paid me ! Thanks ! 🙂
It’s one thing to know the theory of how to basecoat, it is entirely another thing to see the theory put into practise! I loved how you went step by step explaining each step as you went, this is a great help to beginners as well as seasoned painters who might have forgotten the basics.
Great video series. Looking forward to the rest, can’t wait to put your tutorials into practise. Hopefully soon BOW will have it set up to be able to download the videos, this is one series I would definitely like to have!
Thanks ! It means I accomplished what I set out to do…
Hi, I like this a lot, I have no idea how to do base coats, until now and a lot of the comments are helpful too. Though I have a few questions, sorry if this isn’t the place for any of these questions 1. Are most of the paint you use Acrylic water based? I know very little about paints I usually just buy GW paints. If they are can you not use any Acrylic water based paints, Like one you would get in place like the work/W H Smiths? or is there going to be a tutorial about how… Read more »
Hi ! Thank you, I love your questions, and this is totally the place for them. 1) I only use water-based acrylics. All the usual brands are water-based acrylics (Citadel, P3, Vallejo, and so on). These are all miscible, as well as the artist’s acrylics in tubes. Be careful however not to mix it with watercolours or gouache, or alcohol-based paints (some of the Tamiya range, and the Vallejo Liquid Gold line). I don’t like working with oils or enamels, as this is a completely different animal altogether… And much slower. 2) I’ve done an article about brushes, selecting them… Read more »
Thanks Roman, I made the mistake a few years ago with have citadel paints and then some enamel paint (a bright blue, deep blue and maroon colour) not knowing then different proceeding to paint up some Eldar squads with citadel paints then the enamel on top and ruining my brushes and my Eldar army, a sad day. Paint brushes when i walk into a art shop or something like Smiths confuse me. Though when i get paint set from GW you get their standard brush. About 6 months ago I spent £45 on the new GW paint brush, I felt… Read more »
Naive is spelled perfectly. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, we’ve all ben there ! I’m glad you’re starting to think about what you’re doing properly ! 🙂 You were indeed robbed at GW. Brushes in stores are usually covered in a water-soluble transparent gum that keep the bristles in a neat point. You need to wash it off before testing the brush properly. Brushes for miniatures are ok to use on canvas (or more likely watercolour paper), although I’d choose bigger ones. The miniature ones are very very small indeed. Look for my article about brushes with the BoW… Read more »
I thought that base coating just involved slapping the paint on where you want it and sorting out all the good looking effects later! 20 minute video for that?
Okay, okay… how wrong was I?
Just ordered a wet palette – can’t wait to do the job properly!
Save your money and watch Romain’s video on how to make your own 🙂
Yup, save your money. A plate, a sponge and some baking paper is all you need.
For brushes I love Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes, or Raphael Sable. Yes they are a considerable investment, but you get such a fine point I find you really only need size 1, 0 and 00 for most jobs. Coupled with a good brush cleaner (I use The Masters brush cleaner) they will last for years.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
What a totally relaxing start to a new painting series. I have avoided painting for some time now…and you nailed the reason in the recent Weekender abouthaving to set up a place to paint then take it down after I finish.
This video was a great insight to where I am making inept basecoating mistakes.
Funny you mentioned Bob Ross in an earlier comment. Having been a big fan of Bob Ross, I find I enjoy your tutorials for very much the same reasons.
Looking forward to the next one.
Another cracker, waiting with breath bated for the rest.