Introduction

Here is a quick, step-by-step painting guide to the Silver Death Fish for DeepWars. This model is suspiciously similar to an ancient Xiphactinus fish, but has slightly different fins, with a few finlets near the tail, like a tuna. This model was primed in white and painted using the techniques very similar to the Dire Fish-Lizard from the AMG painting guide, Painting Scaly Beasts.

The key is to use washes and glazes to give it the basic colors, then lighten sections with thinned white paint and make edges pop with pure white. The majority of the colors were Liquitex Professional Acrylic Ink, while paint was Golden Fluid Acrylics and Americana white and black. All ink was mixed with Liquitex Matte Medium and water to give it more body to flow into the cracks. Otherwise, it tended to stain the scales instead of flow into them.

Step 1

The first step was to paint the upper sides, back with very thin washes, almost glazes, of Deep Turquoise ink and medium. The mixture was around 20% ink, 40% medium and 40% water. These are not exact numbers, but the mixture was light enough to apply color and flow into scales but left a lot of lightness. A key here was to set the model upside down while it dried, so the color did not flow down the entire body. When it was dry, the next color applied was Quinacriadone Magenta ink, painted in a very light glaze around the middle of the body and onto parts of the head and the fins. The mixture was more about the same density as before, but less was held on the brush, so it did not run everywhere. The model was held upside normally while applying this glaze also. Next, the head, belly and lower body was painted with a glaze of the original turquoise mixture. Finally, a wash of Pthalho Blue ink (same medium and water percentage as before) was applied on the top of the back. The model was inverted, and light brush strokes were used to push the glaze further down the back and blend it with the turquoise scales.

Step 2

The next step was basic shading, done with more glazes or Pthalho Blue ink on the back andTurquoise ink on the sides, going over the Magenta scales. This glaze was very thin, closer to 10% ink, 40% medium and 50% water, with the here to tie all of the colors together with blue. Also applied were glazes of black paint mixed with Pthalho blue ink onto the top of the back and in the mouth. It looks pretty messy now, but you can make out the basic idea of the light and shadow.

Step 3

When all of the color had dried, the next stage was adding basic highlights. This was done with slightly thinned white paint, maybe 60/40 paint and water, applied lightly onto areas that would reflect light. This mixture was used with very careful drybrushing in multiple layers on the scales to build up edge highlights. It is important to brush perpendicular to the scales and not scrub in all directions here as otherwise the scales just get a coating of white. The goal is to just do the edges of the scales lightly and build up layers. Also, a glaze of white was applied along the upper third of the body to increase lightness there, allowing it to flow into the cracks and all. This glaze is just paint and water and was “scrubbed” around a bit with the brush to blend it. This technique is also called “feathering” but is basically just quick brush strokes to reduce the sharp edge of the glaze.

Step 4

The final stage was done with edge highlights of more white paint, mixed with less water, around 80% paint, 20% water. This mixture was used for some edge drybrushing on the scales, and on the fins and teeth, with some additional black paint glazed in the mouth and around the base of the teeth. This mixture was uses with a fine brush to pick out scales using the tip of the brush to add highlights where the drybrush missed. Some pure white paint was used on scales that were lightened in the previous step. On the fins, the edges were highlighted with 80/20 white, but some fine line details were added with 50/50 white using a fine-tipped brush. To finish off the glazes, a light mixture of Raw Sienna ink and Primary Yellow paint (10% color, 40% medium, 50% water) was applied along the middle of the body, above the magenta section, and on the head and around the eye. The eye was painted with a mixture of yellow and white paint, with a black pupil and a tiny dot of pure white for a hotspot reflection.

Step 5

The base was done in steps similar to the body, with a wash of Burnt Sienna paint, medium and water (20/40/40), then when dry, two washes of Pthalho Blue ink (20/40/40) to build up color. The base had some small cracks in it that were filled with extra Matte Medium and allowed to dry, then painting over them. Sections of sponges were painted with Pure Burnt Sienna ink and the starfish was done with Dioxazene Purple ink + white paint. Some Sap Green ink was applied as a glaze to add more color to the rock.

Introduction

Here is one more step by step painting tutorial for the Sea Serpent for DeepWars, Blood Reef. This scaly creature is related to dragons so it has very heavy scales that work well with washes and glazes. Inks glazes and washes are done with Liquitex Pro inks and the Matte Medium is by Liquitex. Paints are Golden Fluid Acrylics. White and black are standard Americana brand craft paint by Deco Art.

Step 1

The first step was to paint the whole body in a light yellow shade over white primer, leaving only the mouth white. This was left to dry.

Step 2

Next, the body was given a wash of Pthalho Green ink, mixed with a touch of Sap Green ink, mixed with Matte Medium and water. The fins and mouth were washed with a Magenta ink, medium and water mix. The ratio of ink/medium/water was around 40/40/20. This was allowed to dry fully before the next step.

Step 3

Now comes the ugly step of shading down everything. The body, fins and mouth was washed with a mixture of Violet ink and a bit of black paint to darken it, and mixed with medium and water. The ratio was 20/30/50, so thin enough to go into all of the cracks but not so dark that it stained all of the green into oblivion. This was allowed to dry fully before moving onto highlighting.

Step 4

Finally, the step that makes everything pop out of the shadows again. The scales were lightly drybrushed with wet layers of a mixture of Cerulean Blue ink, Sap Green ink and white paint. This was like a drybrush with a glaze, with the mixture at around 20/80, paint+ink to water. The key was to try to be subtle and give a bit more softness to the shading on the scales. The idea is not to paint completely over the green scales though or even to add a bright blueish highlight. After the glaze-drybrush, edges were painted in thinned white paint using the tip of a brush. This seems a bit tedious but is quicker than you may think since only the portion of the scale facing the light needs to be highlighted. Some scales on the neck behind the head needed a bit more highlight in the center, so a very thin glaze of thinned white was applied with the tip of the brush.

Step 5

The mouth was given washes of black to shade it more, then highlighted with thinned white, then glazed with Magenta ink. The tongue was shaded with Dioxazene purple ink, then highlighted with Magenta ink + white. fins were highlighted on the edges with white, then had some tiny white dots added for additional texture. The eyes were done with yellow over white, shaded with Burnt Sienna ink, then given a black slit pupil and hotspot reflection of pure white.

Step 5

To finish things off, the body was shaded with glazed of Deep Violet ink + black paint + medium and water (20/40/40) ratio of color, medium and water. adding the color more to the bottom of the body. An additional glaze of Pthalho Blue ink was applied to deepen the shadows. When these glazes dried, some scale edge highlights needed to be re-applied.

The base was done with Raw Sienna ink first, then when dry, given a wash of Pthalho Blue ink + medium and water. Corals were glazed in Burnt Sienna ink and Violet ink. When all dry, it was drybrushed with a light golden sand paint.

Introduction

Kalath the Reaver is for the game ShadowSea – Conquest of the Underground World and was sculpted by me and cast in resin. This is a very large model, 150mm long for the dino and 50mm tall for the draconid rider, so it was done using washes and glazes, then with edge highlights and judicious drybrushing. Most of the work was done with Golden Fluid acrylic paint and Liquitex Professional Acrylic Inks.

Step 1

The first step for the mount (a bit like a Chasmosaurus) was to apply light basecoats over white primer. The white primer was chosen to make it easier to allow bright highlights to shine through the thin, transparent washes and glazes being applied. The skin was painted with a very light yellow-brown, a mixture of Yellow Ochre and white paint, then lightly drybrushed with a bit more white mixed in. The plate armor was painted with Bronze ink (Liquitex metallic ink) and the trim and head motifs with gold paint. The scale armor was done with a Bronze + Silver metallic mixture as the base. The horns and claws were painted with Titan Buff (Golden) a basic bone-like color. The straps were painted with a light coat of Raw Sienna ink. The whole first coat was meant to be light and tied together in color tone.

Step 2

The Next step was a major one, the application of washes to get the main color blocks and midtones. Here, the skin was glazed with thin layers of Sap Green ink, holding the model upside down to make sure the ink did not run down over the belly. More water was mixed in the glazes closer to the underbelly and pure ink was used close to the armor. On the head, more ink was applied on the horns and plates than the skin, which was glazed with a bit of Burnt Sienna ink. The gold trim on the armor was also washes with Bunt Sienna ink, mixed with Matte Medium to make it flow well. The plate armor was washed with Turquoise ink while the scale armor was washed with Turquoise ink, then a bit of Burnt Umber. The horns, straps and saddle were washed with Burnt Umber and the claws with Raw Umber. Finally, the tongue was washed with a bit of pink paint.

Step 3

Next, when that had all dried, the armor was highlighted with a light gold metallic, mixed with silver, with pure silver for the edges, then glazed again to shade it down with Burnt Umber, the a touch of Turquoise ink on the head motifs so them blended in a bit better with the armor plates. Those were highlighted with silver mixed with bronze, with pure silver on the edges, toned down with Burnt Umber ink. The scale armor was highlighted with silver and given a few more glazes Turquoise ink + Burnt Umber. The skin was painted with pure Sap Green ink on the brush, but not a wash, to make the mottled skin pattern near the armor, then mixed with thinned black paint right under the armor.

Step 4

The finishing touches on the mount were edge highlights and drybrushing. The straps were painted on the edges with Reaper Golden Highlight, a very light golden white paint that works well as a final highlight before pure white for hotspots. The straps were also painted with a bit of Golden Highlight mixed with Raw Umber ink to even out the color while the buckles were painted with silver + bronze. The claws and horns were highlighted with thinned Golden Highlight + white, then glazed down with Raw Umber ink. The two big horns were given light glazes to highlight them, then washed with Burnt Umber. The ends of the horns were glazed with Burnt Umber + black paint. The skin was drybrushed with Golden Highlight, with a bit of white paint used closer to the belly and on the elbows, where some Burnt Umber ink was also glazed. Finally, the eye was painted with Golden Yellow, with a glaze of red paint around the edges. The center of the eye was yellow-white, then a black pupil was added and a white hotspot.

Step 5

The base was simple, done in two main steps. The first was a coat of tan on the soil, with a bit of black+tan glazed on the Quetzal head and rocks. When dry, the sand was washed with Raw Umber and the rocks and head with Raw Umber + black paint. When dry, more glazes of different colors were applied, blues, greens, magenta and purple to give some interesting color. Finally, the whole thing was drybrushed with tan+white and some pure white on edges.

Step 6

The draconid rider does not have a lot of photos unfortunately, but it was done in a similar manner. The base coat of the skin was Indian Yellow paint, a deep golden yellow, applied thinned. The plate armor was done like the mount, with Bronze ink, while the trim as gold and the little dragon motifs in light blue. The wood part of the shield was painted with Titan Buff along with the straps. The axe haft was done with Burnt Umber paint while the head was Bronze Ink + Silver paint.

Step 7

The skin was washed with Crimson ink, then with a deep blood red paint + Turquoise ink on the back scales. The scales were then edge-highlighted with Golden Highlight. The underpart of the tail was drybrushed with Golden Highlight with a bit of Indian Yellow to lighten it up. The armor was highlighted exactly the same as the mount above. The claws and teeth were glazed with Raw Umber and highlighted with white + Golden Highlight. The dragon motif was painted with Turquoise ink + white paint, then shaded with glazed of Turquoise ink + black.

Here are the finished shots of the model put together.

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The figure was painted to the Conan the Barbarian movie soundtrack by Basil Poledouris, for a bit of extra inspiration.

Some more photos can be found in the AntiMatter Gallery.

The first three steps are shown here. The first step for the bronze is to paint a layer of brass mixed with zinc (Americana brand craft paint) to make a muted brass shade. The second step is to apply a wash of Burnt Sienna Ink mixed with matte medium. The third step was to create a wash of Turquoise ink + Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna to the bronze. The cockpit has the bronze as well as dirty steel. It is critical to paint the sub with the part separate as that allows the cockpit to be painted and the clear windows to be added at the end when the cockpit is inside.

The next step after the washes of Turquoise + Burnt Sienna was to drybrush with brass + silver. Then the whole thing was glazed with Turquoise and Burnt Sienna ink again, lightly and with no medium, and thinned with a bit of water. Some extra edge highlights were applied with silver and brass. The clear windows were then popped into the finished hull, a bit tricky now since there were layers of paint on all of the front structure.

The key is to fit the glass into the nose first, then snap the rest in with gradual pressure down and forward from the inside. There are four window sections that snap in this way on the front. The smaller windows are easier though some parts needed trimming on the sub window holes.

Here is the finished Argonaut with the pilot behind clear resin now. The base turned out quite nicely with washes and glazes of different colors.

This one was done in different stages. The base painting was done with blue skin and light tentacles. The mantle and top of the tentacles were given two washes of Marine Blue (Ultramarine) liquid acrylics (Dr. Phil Martins brand) mixed with matte medium and water. When the first was dry, the second was applied. The underside of the tentacles was done with a mix of Cerulean Blue ink (Liquitex) + white paint + Matte medium and water.

After removing from the base, as it was making it difficult to reach the bottom of the tentacles, I applied many light blue glazes (Cerulean Blue + Ultramarine Blue + White) for highlights and some dark (Ultramarine Blue) glazes for shadows.

The next stage was the big one. Dots of blue-green, green, yellow-green, white and various shades of orange and Burnt Umber were applied to the mantle and tentacles. Glazes of color were applied, yellow-green to the mantle and tips of tentacles and bright orange to the “face”, then more dots were applied over them and highlights were applied to some. The inspiration was photos of a Caribbean Reef Squid, which have very colorful skin with vibrant patterns in their chromatophores.

The eyes were done with yellow liquid acrylic mixed with white, black, and a bit of blue as the base. It was highlighted with more white and a touch of yellow. The black iris was painted, then more white highlights were applied around it to clean it up. Finally, the big highlight was added at the top with thinned white. The eyes were not painted as gems (bright bottom, dark top with hot-spot secular reflection) here as the light was meant to be diffused by the water. Maybe next time.

The base was done with washes of Burnt Sienna ink first, then washes of Pthalho blue and Marine Blue ink to darken the rocks. it was all drybrushed with Americana brand Buttermilk, then some glazes of greens, magentas and purples were added to the sponges and corals. The barnacles were drybrushed with some white to make them stand out.

Here is the final version.