Shiny and glossy miniature, HELP, Please

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ideox
(Forum newbie)
Posts: 2
Joined: 21 Apr 2015, o 20:25

Shiny and glossy miniature, HELP, Please

Post by ideox »

HELLO everyone, i've lurked this amazing forum for some time, reading tips and techniques, and so today i've decided to try to do some layering. i'm using GW colors and lahmian medium to dilute the paint in to a glaze.
my process is this one:
Black undercoat
a dark skin color for base ( Bugman's Glow)
then a lighter color all over ( Cadian )
after that i make a wash/glaze with bugman and paint it in the recesses
then i start layering for the highlight, greating a glaze of Kislev Flash, i do 3 layers or so, then i add some white or pallid wych flesh, and so on, until a reach the desired color.

the results are not bed, ( i think) since is my first try, but i don't understand why the skin is all shiny and glossy.
i link a picture so it's easy to understand what i mean!

Thanks for the help, i really don't know what to do, and i don't like this effect at all:8 i was so happy about the layering results :( lol

PS: the model is of a friend of mine, so the fur and other details were made by him.
i painted only the skin.

http://imgur.com/a/J9lCP
uranor
(Forum newbie)
Posts: 1
Joined: 10 Jul 2015, o 23:06

Re: Shiny and glossy miniature, HELP, Please

Post by uranor »

Ideox, there could be several reasons for the shiny finish you are seeing on your miniature; a little theory first. SHINY finish means that the surface is behaving like a mirror: it reflects light with the same angle as it hits the surface: e.g. like a 'V'. So, you see a "bright spot" that corresponds to the light source. MATTE means that the light is scattered in all directions by an irregular surface: no bright spots, diffuse light.

What may be giving your miniature a shiny finish in order of likelihood:
1) You are diluting the paint too much; I know, everybody says "thin!" but we must achieve a balance. This may be made worse by the glazing medium (Lahmian Medium). I have used it too, and it is supposed to be matte finish, but perhaps, if you used too much, it may become glossy. Also, I think Lahmian Medium is not supposed to be diluted with water (must verify this, not sure). The degree of thinning you can afford also depends on the quality of the pigment (high quality paint suffer this less) and to an even higher degree by the quality of your primer. If you start with a shiny surface (e.g. GW plastic) and do not apply a proper matte primer, than it is hard to get rid of the shininess (surface is very flat and acts as a mirror; unless paint provides enough surface irregularity, the shininess stays!). If you simply primed the mini with black or white paint, this may be a primary cause of shininess. GW primer should work well, also Vallejo Primer works for me.
2) Your paint is separating in the pot: mix it thoroughly (shake it); if you are painting with more medium than pigment, that *could* result in a glossy finish.
3) You have a bad pot of paint.. sometimes happens; try another one (if available).

You can troubleshoot the issue with some other test miniature or even just an unused bit of sprue by trying using less water, or less medium, or shaking well or all of the above to pinpoint your issue. I have seen this problem before, mainly due to (1): when the paint is very diluted the micro pigment flakes settles more slowly and tend to form more flat surfaces which result in a glossy appearance. A matte paint should produce an irregular finish that scatters light and is, well, matte.

You can fix your miniature pretty easily by applying a transparent matte finish: e.g. Testors Dull Cote, or GW one (expensive). There are others too, depending on where you live.

Hope it helps! I am still learning too.
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