Cyberpunk in Oils

This is a two-birds-one-stone project. I’ve been itching to paint a miniature entirely in oil paints for a while now. I have also been hoarding a load of cyberpunk miniatures, mostly from Human Interface, and having just played through the Cyberpunk 2077 video game, I’ve become very keen to get them on the painting table.

Can I paint fiddly little metal models as my first foray into oil painting? Hard. Mode. On.

No step-by-step or technique guides at this stage as I’m still slopping paint around like Bodger and/or Badger trying to learn my arse from my elbow.

Over the last 12 months I’ve started experimenting with oil washes and the like but I really want to do the whole job in oils. I’ve been watching some proper painters working with oils and have picked up loads of tips, and whilst I am miles away from their mastery it looks like a fun way to paint.

The pictures that follow are my first attempt. They came out better than I could have hoped, but what is exciting is that there is so much room to improve that this could be a fun ride!

Models are the Raid 44 police and Combat Buzz vehicle from Human Interface. Oil paints are a mixture of brands but I only have a handful of colours at the moment so the palette is limited. It also turns out that not all oil paints are made equal. Some are utter shite on miniatures!

Bases are Antenocities Workshop and the background for the pictures is the Big Book of Cyberpunk Battle Mats from Loke.

The burning question now, while I wait for better oil paints to arrive, is whether to make this my spring clean challenge? I had to move a pile of shame out of the way to exhume this particular pile of shame…

So many piles so little time!

[Update: No, this won’t be a spring clean challenge.  This feels more like a new project for me (even though the models have been mothballed for a while) so I’ll do something else which is more in the spirit of breathing new life into something old]

~ Mark Twain

So after attempt 1 there have been some learnings. Time for a spot of kaizen (continuous improvement) before the next attempt.

Getting the paint consistency right is key and oil paints seem to vary a lot even within the same ranges. So first thing I am doing is to take a leaf out of James Wappel’s book and pre-mix some oil paints into dropper bottles. This prevents the need to use a lot of thinner on the paintbrush, because thinner on the paint brush removes paint from the model rather than adding it. My first attempt was messy but the results are already evident – on the palette it could be mistaken for acrylic and it is lovely and smooth.

Time to mix up some more bottles of the main colours I need before the next wave of models!

The rest of the police bundle assembled (no small job – fiddly metal buggers!) and more oil paints prepped. This will be the second go at oil painting so I’ll semi document the process and see how we compare to last time.

…for now! Well they would be when the police are the only people on the streets!! Guess I’d better think about painting some citizens from the other side of the thin blue line after this…

Completed “police bundle” from Postindustrial Games’ Human Interface.

Time to credit the inspiration for this new diversion into oils and lay down some links for anyone who might fancy giving it a go!

In some ways it started way back in the late 90s. As a jobless teenager I had a lot of spare time on my hands. Much of that time was spent watching Bob Ross on the tele!

I picked up a few paints and canvas boards and had a brief foray into having a go myself. It didn’t last long, but the seeds were sown and oil paints gained a reverence in my mind. Today the smell of them takes me back to simpler times and Bob’s assortment of critters and happy accidents.

Like most people, when I started miniature painting, it was a case of following convention – acrylic paint – base, wash, highlight kind of stuff. Eventually I learned that oil paints made great washes and weathering materials and dabbled with those.
It was Marco Frisoni who opened my eyes to using oils more widely and he has a number of great tutorials on his YouTube channel. 

Marco has done a video on painting “entirely” in oils albeit that was still a little mixed media.

More good inspiration comes from our very own (and quite literally giant) Gerry of the Can fame who has done some great oil washing tutorials here on the site. Need to paint a horse? Gerr has you covered.

Most recently however, my main inspiration had been James Wappel.

As a former professional 2D artist and a multi Golden Demon award winner, Jim has done it all in painting, and recently he has converted to using oil paints on models start-to-finish most of the time.

You can watch him streaming several times a week on his Twitch Channel “Wappellious” and he also has a YouTube channel

His mastery of the medium, colours and technique are incredible, and well beyond my skill level, but I am learning a lot of tips I can bring into my own work. Long may the journey continue!

[Edit: Thanks to @Shingen who dropped me a line with some more useful resources:

Vince Venturella who uses oils as part of a mixed media process

Dmitry Fesechko who is a 2D artist who has a number of demonstrations for miniature painting

Always good to have more inspiration!]

Some trouble makers are on the way. First step is to do battle with some iffy manufacturing….

Some WIP pics:

Some more gallery pics.

Models are all Human Interface from Postindustrial Games

Set on Loke’s Big Book of Cyberpunk Battle Mats

Backdrops are art within The World of Cyberpunk 2077 official book