High Elves and Zenithal airbrushing

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DeadDreamsWhispering
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Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2023 11:52 pm

High Elves and Zenithal airbrushing

#1 Post by DeadDreamsWhispering »

Hi all,

I haven't played WFB since I played 6th edition Dark Elves as a youngin. With TOW just around the corner I've decided I want to pick it up again and want to build a High Elf army. Obviously I'm not expecting to obtain the best results painting wise with my limited skills in this area but I'm still trying to do as much research to get the best results I can. I've concluded that I want to use airbrushing for priming which leads to me to my question: Has anyone tried Zenithal airbrushing with their High Elves? I'm wondering if it would give me the best of both worlds in terms of being able to get the shading that comes with black primer but with white/grey/silver over top that would suit HE models well?

Has anyone done this?
SpellArcher
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Re: High Elves and Zenithal airbrushing

#2 Post by SpellArcher »

DeadDreamsWhispering wrote: Mon Aug 14, 2023 7:50 am Hi all
Welcome sir.

:)
DeadDreamsWhispering wrote: Mon Aug 14, 2023 7:50 am I haven't played WFB since I played 6th edition Dark Elves as a youngin.
Kudos, that was not the easiest edition in which to play Dark Elves.
DeadDreamsWhispering wrote: Mon Aug 14, 2023 7:50 am Has anyone tried Zenithal airbrushing with their High Elves?
Unfortunately I know nothing about this but hopefully one of the guys can chip in. Here's to your glorious HIgh Elf host!
Aerendar Valandil
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Re: High Elves and Zenithal airbrushing

#3 Post by Aerendar Valandil »

Welcome!
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TyrrenAzureblade
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Re: High Elves and Zenithal airbrushing

#4 Post by TyrrenAzureblade »

Zenithal priming with any of the new paint sets that act like Citadel Contrast paints or Army Painter Speed paints would make for the fastest method to get your armies painted and on the table. I would search YouTube for Zenithal priming tutorials, and Contrast paint tutorials.
DeadDreamsWhispering
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Re: High Elves and Zenithal airbrushing

#5 Post by DeadDreamsWhispering »

I'm thinking I may just use Grey Seer Spray to prime at least while I get back into the hobby, just need to keep somethings simple and then I can branch out later. Thanks for the welcome and help everyone! Really excited for TOW, even just having the models will be great regardless of how the game itself turns out.
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Prince of Spires
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Re: High Elves and Zenithal airbrushing

#6 Post by Prince of Spires »

I've dabbled around with this a bit. And it does work. Also, I think it would be about as much work as priming grey, with better results.

My process is to prime in a clear primer using my airbrush. This alone has probably saved me enough money in spray paint primer to pay for the airbrush. Reason I use clear primer is that is the primer I found. But it works great and gives me a neutral surface to work with, meaning It's good for any kind of painting. I then simply use a black paint for the darker side of the model and white for the lighter parts of the model. And from there I can either paint the rest by hand, give it a layer of whatever is the dominant color on the model, or paint more of it using the airbrush (depending a lot on the model).
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DeadDreamsWhispering
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Re: High Elves and Zenithal airbrushing

#7 Post by DeadDreamsWhispering »

Prince of Spires wrote: Fri Aug 18, 2023 2:25 pm I've dabbled around with this a bit. And it does work. Also, I think it would be about as much work as priming grey, with better results.

My process is to prime in a clear primer using my airbrush. This alone has probably saved me enough money in spray paint primer to pay for the airbrush. Reason I use clear primer is that is the primer I found. But it works great and gives me a neutral surface to work with, meaning It's good for any kind of painting. I then simply use a black paint for the darker side of the model and white for the lighter parts of the model. And from there I can either paint the rest by hand, give it a layer of whatever is the dominant color on the model, or paint more of it using the airbrush (depending a lot on the model).
I'll have to wait and see how my money is looking around the time of TOW's release. I may still do it.
MasterOfNone
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Re: High Elves and Zenithal airbrushing

#8 Post by MasterOfNone »

I do use an airbrush for painting my miniatures, although I cannot claim to be an expert.
I like a lot the techniques shown by a guy called Marco Frisoni on Youtube, his channel is Not Just Mecha.
Often black priming followed by zenithal highlighting with a very bright and fine white does an excellent job at revealing all the details and the tonal contrast one could apply to the miniature.
Sometimes using semitransparent colours like contrast paints or inks can work, but I have not tried.
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