25/100 - Dr. Acula and his Tormented Spirits

Trying something new can be difficult.  It does not go always as planned.  I take comfort in the idea that before someone can get moderately good at something, they tend to suck at it for a while first.  I have been painting models for around twenty years now.  I am generally happy with my level of skill.  However I do feel that I have not evolved in my style or technique in the last few years. 

I recently picked up an air-brush.  There has been a steep learning curve.  The more I use it the better I get but the final results that I have achieved so far I feel are not as good as my old brush methods.  I am not giving up.  I have seen what an airbrush can do once I develop some skill with it.  I am really looking forward to the upcoming class at Lords of War, to say the least. 

But there in lies my dilemma.  What models do you learn on?  I am really enjoying painting some Batman models right now.  I have Supergirl and Rebirth Batgirl sitting on my shelf waiting to go.  I know that at my currently skill level my airbrush results will be sub-par.  I want to paint these model to the best of my ability.  But how do I develop a skill with out experimenting with it?  I could just find some throw-away models that I have no interest in using, but that tends to feel like a waste of time and paint.  I always want to put out my best work on my models, regardless of the project. 

My solution so far is to work on some miniatures for my legion of Death army.  Mainly models that I already have but don't usually use in my games.  I am learning on some Spirit Hosts and Ghouls.  I have a lot of both of these models so if I am not happy with the final result I can still make a full army out of just them.  I wont have to worry about them blending in with my other models if they don't turn out. 

I finished up my first airbrush unit this weekend, a unit of 3 Spirit Hosts.  I used the airbrush to paint the models a few shades of grey.  I then used GW's Waystone Green Technical paint to give them an ethereal look.  I did not thin out the green enough and the result was a too solid coat.  Next time I want to do 2 or 3 really thin layers of the green (as long as I am learning something I dont mind sub-par results lol).  Using a brush I added a little bit of Ulthuan Grey to soften up the green.  The highlighting was too solid so I tried drybrushing it.  I am really rusty at drybrushing, I have not done it in a long time. 

I figured out a few things and know how I want to tweek the next set of ghosts.  Hopefully I am on the upward part of the learning curve. 

I also finished up (by brush, no air) a new hero for my Legion of Death army, a Vampire Lord.  The model is the old vampire counts special character Konrad Von Carstien, but he is just such a nice model I had to use it. 

Next week I am going to jump back to my Hobbit project.  I am also working on a few more buildings for Batman game.  More to come. 

Kevin