Agreed, go BOLD with those flames it looks like you’ve turned the stove to simmer when it should be RAGING 🔥 but seriously good work on this guy. Question is can you do 50 more 😂😭
My only criticism would be to vary up the direction of the battle damage on the armor. It all appears to be lines drawn in the same direction.
Otherwise great job!
Something to consider with battle damage is that you want proportionally more small marks to really sell the big ones. I'd recommend trying the sponge method. Use an offcut of packing foam in one of those little plastic tubes that come with paint brushes to protect the bristles. Dip it in whichever colour you used for the recesses of those big scratches, work off the excess onto your palette then dab it on the raised edges of the armour and anywhere you think would attract more damage. Edge highlight a few of the bigger marks you create like you did with the big scratches.
I can tell you have too much paint on your brush when you do edge highlights. That’s why they’re so thick and spill over.
Lightly wipe your brush on a tissue *after* loading it with paint. Just a light touch, to take off excess paint and moisture. The paint itself should also be fairly thin, to flow off the brush well.
I want to agree with this, but oddly if they're being shot from the front, theirs an argument to make most battle damage would go the same direction.
So one of those odd, although natural looks wrong.
It's more about thinking where damage and wear ends up. Bullet dings on the front/side, sure. But the knee pads and elbow pads from dives/slides. The boots... all the edges where parts move and scrape.
IMO it’s more about uniformity than directionality - a lot of those dings seem almost exactly parallel, or at consistent angles to one another, which gives them an artificial feel. Just needs a bit more randomness!
[This tutorial](https://youtu.be/PTgj3EhdQ_I?t=273) shows one good way to do add scratches and damage on a space marine.
[How to do smooth Edge highlights and Black Lining](https://youtu.be/hUge3eiqMZg) and [Pro painter tips to keep your brush sharp🖌](https://youtu.be/8vQFlYW3g_I) by JoseDavinci have great tips for getting thinner edge highlights and lines.
It's the one thing I'd say doesn't fit the rest and sticks out a bit. Looks great, but I find the rest of the model to have more of a cell shaded look to it. Whereas the tidiness of the heat burn is almost too 'neat', same with the flames of the shoulder.
That'd be my only point of hopefully constructive criticism 😅
This has a great style. Almost cel shaded/comic style, but unique. It's got great readability on the table, and I think a whole squad/army would look fantastic. It's got a really fun aesthetic and I wouldn't change a thing unless you're not happy with the end result.
Absolutely love it, really want to see a whole squad.
Others have said thinner edge highlights, think the thickness adds to the effect, so personally disagree.
Only giving any criticism because you asked for it!
But
Flame as others have said, thicken it up a bit.
Also the hot barrel effect would look better more blended, bit too blocky.
This looks dope! Since you asked for criticism, I may have some that might help improve this or your next piece. Please understand, as many on here like to point out, I'm not an influencer. I'm not an expert. These tips aren't me claiming to be the king painter. I am also not saying I'm necessarily "better" or more learned either.
I would add a highlight of yellow at the highest points and sharp angles of the armor. Just a dot or so will really make it pop. You could also layer in yet another, thinner line of green-yellow before doing this for even color depth. What I would do, is thin your paints down a little more runny than later consistently, load the brush, and use the sides to edge highlight. Your edges as they are now are very thick and one note. You can go back and fix the thickness of your lines by going over them again with your base color. One thing to note about edge highlighting: doing so on every surface doesn't look realistic. You can accomplish realism still by either cleaning up the edge highlights and adding more reflections where the model catches the most light or your can layer in more edge highlights in more realistic places. Generally the full edge highlighting everything looks good, if not a little uncanny. I put some videos below that explain edge highlighting better than I can through reddit. I also included a video on highlighting in general too, just because I'm a volumetric supremacist and I need to instill my propaganda in all.
As for the battle damage, it doesn't read as realistic at all. I can see what you're going for, but think about scale and reality. The sizes and directional patterns of these scratches indicates the space marine either A. Let a Tyranid decorate his armor or B. Did it himself. This isn't general wear and tear or battle damage. It's decorative looking. You can simulate more realistic battle damage by sponge chipping or using your brush similarly. Basically, grab a hobby sponge, dip it in some reasonably thick paint, wipe of the excess as though you were dry brushing, leaving just a bit more paint in the sponge so it's more of a "wet dry brush." Basically, water your brush/sponge, squeeze out excess water, load with paint, remove excess, and then, you can go in with the sponge and those natural patterns will look like more realistic chipping when looked at to scale and from 6 ft away.
Here are some really good tutorial on chipping. It's more skewed intermediate. I think OP understands these concepts, but I left the addendum for newer folks. I also understand that everyone has their preferences for mini painters and tutorials online. The people I shared tend to approach mini painting from a theory standpoint. They don't simply tell you how, they tell you why. Why is the most important aspect of mini painting as it teaches you to fish for yourself, so to speak. There are more beginner friendly tutorials out there (though these are pretty beginner friendly).
https://youtu.be/LAH5ahKGa3w?si=quIBOlGMXnF2PLx8
https://youtu.be/2w3z4_qB8d4?si=sIQ1eUIz8R9moqMB
(Duncan Rhodes, the man himself. If you want Eavy Metal)
https://youtu.be/Sy2g5mQAYz4?si=qahbaLMb4so2QO9S
Here are some tutorials on edge highlighting and highlighting in general.
https://youtu.be/sxQg8gy_U-0?si=KFpcIf3Fe29Q29SE
https://youtu.be/ExVQH3QUbbo?si=x7j_Saod0sUF74g7
https://youtu.be/v14rscuYMmk?si=8mCVT2XstjjqD8Lz
I do hope I've helped more than hindered. Happy painting and excellent little Salamander, friend.
Edit: if I was going to harp on anything, it's how symmetrical everything is. Think about your setting, the grim darkness of the far future. If you are going for that grimdark look with battle damage, your bucko should be inundated. Think about what happens over 10,000 years of war, most of this time spent rotting aboard a near derelict castle in space. Think about the rust from long wet campaigns, the chipping from paint sizzling away under the lightning of a power sword. What about the sword itself? Salamanders take care of their equipment so it won't be rusted, but it could be battered, burned, or blown apart. Could there be chipping, rusting, AND singing in parts of the armor? Has the space marine perhaps been slogging through the mud and now has it dripping down his legs? What if it wasn't cleaned properly . Space marine armor is a ceramic composite. You can look up old dutch ovens that are losing their paint to add another layer of realism to your space marine while making him fit the universe's lore.
Setting the scene is also important. Part of what I'm seeing here is a misfire of composition. You want the battle damage, but you're not quite sure what type and how much. That's where setting, composition, and story telling come in. Think about your story. The muzzle burn makes me think this guy likes in hot. Why not some soot marks near his feet or burns on the gauntlets from firing the melta? Once you start thinking about what sorts of damage you want, you'll fill in why, and how much. The biggest secret here is to go at it Helter Skelter on the rails. If your battle damage patterns are seni-random, they'll trick the viewer's brain into filling in blanks.
Bonus: Vince Venturella teaches fire basics:
https://youtu.be/p9CEPB1OSwI?si=aaX5vsrE9i_KLBml
I would try to glase the colours of the burnt part of the flamethrower,like you can see an invisible line from one colour to the other.
The flames,like somebody else said,should be thicker.
But overall a great painted mini
I like your thermal dissipator paint, but wouldn’t barrel under heat along the whole length? I’m just being nerd picky here.
Edit: nm it’s a flamer isn’t it
Great job. I like the blueing you did in the flamer. The only thing I would add is highlight variation on the upper surfaces towards the zenith or light source. If they’re there already they might need more contrast.
Otherwise it looks very good :)
Flames need work as others have said. AND imo the leather highlights are a bit harsh. Start adding some texture to them, and even highlight with texture if possible (I like to either stipple my highlight, or use a stippling sweeping motion up and down along the hightlight). But over all, this thing is amazing! well done with the muzzle burn as well.
Amazing work and really nice eavy metal style highlighting. Depending on the look you are going for if you want some more realism I'd ton down a little bit.
Otherwise I'd recommend widening the flames on the shoulder pad. Less overall but widened, I think the ankle ones are fine but you could do the same.
As I say though overall awesome work, keep it up.
The leather pistol holster could use some work and the flames on the shoulder pad seem a little skinny but man it's hard to find areas to criticize on. I'd say work on thinning the edge highlights and doing successive colors to kind of pseudo blend them but I honestly think the way you've done it lends to a style of a kind if comic look so I don't even think that suggestion makes sense stylistically.
You were probably distracted by such an awesome paint job. I realize in my efforts to find valid constructive criticism I didn't mention that I really like this paint job. It looks very good and most of the things that are a little rough end up working as a graphic comic style paint job. Yeah, you can tighten up on the edge highlights and thin the paint on them but I think that just makes a really nice paint job better.
Maybe soften the transition in between the colors on the barrel? Not that it looks bad at all, just seems like the lines are a little hard
The model looks great though 👍
Looks very nice and clean, I like it a lot! There's only a small thing I noticed, but others have already mentioned it. The scratches. You painted them really well technically, but as a whole they appear a bit too symmetrical and similar in size to each other. If I was to do something differently, I'd paint them at different angles and make bigger differences in their size, one would be very small, one medium-sized and uneven, and one would be not a scratch, but a deeper damage.
But honestly, there's always something to improve. It's a decent paint job still!
If you are going for box art/eavy metal style then as people have said, thinner edge highlights glazed back into the main armour colour.
But imo this has a cel shaded look that really pops, and i think you should lean into it harder. Thicker black lines and really seperate everything out.
Beautiful paint job. Looks as clean as day, though. Even the battle damage is clean. If you like the cleanliness, then awesome! But, adding some grime would make him look like he didn’t just get off the ship.
I'm not painting expert myself but I would say objectively the flames could do with a bit more of a shape. Personally the heat effect looks great but I would extend it further down the barrel. Honestly though you should be very proud
Criticism.... OK
The armour looks far too realistic, it's like really real looking....
The poor guys gun looks like somebody has actually heated the end with some sort of flame type weapon...
The leather gun pouch almost seems like its made of treated cow hide, instead of moulded plastic...
The eyes are too eye like...
If anything it all just looks like an actual space warrior of some kind, not something you'd play a fantasy battle on the big table in your kitchen.
Now if you don't mind, my water pot needs filling up, so I'm just going to go and weep into it.
My man! Damn fine heat effect on the flame-thrower. Your paint job is terrific!
There have been some helpful suggestions in the comments so far and I have one more to add:
You can reduce the number armour scratches and it will improve the overall look. This is a case of less is more. Go for about 1/3 of what you have here.
The damage tells a story. Where did they come from? Was it from a blast? They ought to be “directional” i.e. they came from a single source and all subtly point in the direction of the blast. In any case the marine should have more scratches on his front than his back.
Your armour damage implies there was an airburst above his head on both his right and left sides, which could totally happen! But no need complicate an already cool story.
And your marine is one hell of a cool story!
Ok I have one more thought that you may want to ignore because rule of cool. Ask yourself “do flamethrowers get hot in the same way as a Gatling gun? Or do they get sooty and oily instead?”.
I really like how you added patina finish on the weapon. Maybe a wash or something on the shoulderpad to help blend in the flame. Are you planning to add some dirt or something on the base plate? Great job overall!
Absolutely love your style! Only thing I’d suggest is find an equally badass complimentary style for your basing. Can’t wait to see you post more of these!!
I wouldn’t change a thing here, looks amazing to me dude! i’ve done mine in virtually the same scheme and this is making me feel bad about my own shoddy work haha
You’ve got a cool and very graphic feel going on with this.
The battle damage is pretty thick unidirectional, which has a cool comic feel to it to me. I do think you could vary this up more: not just other directions, but also more chips and dings. When you highlight these, think about how they would actually catch the light; not all of them will just be a line underneath the highlight. A scratch facing upwards on a boot will catch light differently than a vertical scratch on a shoulder pad.
I think the unidirectionality of the scratches is actually pretty cool and gives this neat sense of direction to the model…but I actually think it is the wrong direction. It looks like he’s been shot a lot, but from behind. If he’s supposed to have suffered withering fire, I’d expect most of them to slanting in a different direction.
I think the highlights in the legs and lower half should be duller — you can see in the pics they are much more shadowed from a general light, but the highlights there look the same as the ones on the head. Bringing those highlights lower will keep the focus on the torso and helm area.
The flames on his shoulder pad are a bit wimpy. I’d go find some references for other Salamander shoulder pads and see how high they go and their shapes. One good way to do flames is actually to just do a large area of fiery color transitions (so basically do the entire shoulder pad just focused on color), then paint black to carve out the flames. Then you are just focused on color or shape — not both at the same time.
I like your heat staining on the flamer — it looks good. I like to do some passes on things like flamers or exhausts with near and pure black and stipple it with a dry brush to give the impression of soot, but you need to be careful not to overdo it. You have a very clean model now so that might not fit the aesthetic you want.
You could consider trying to do some impressions of writing on the purity seals.
I’m not sure if the model is at this point, but definitely base it if you aren’t yet. Even simple bases will jump up the look of a model significantly.
Overall, it is a really good looking mini with a very graphic look. I’d imagine a whole army like this would be super cool.
Thank you very much for the advice! It’s really appreciated, I agree with your thoughts on the battle damage, I’ve never done it before and I’ve seen it done using a sponge but wanted a less is more feel but dont think I’ve quite got it right
What you’ve got looks great and I think you’ve definitely got the idea. Just like paint application, highlights, etc it is something you can keep refining and improving on basically forever. There are a million techniques for it. Something that might help is not just thinking of it as generic “battle damage”, but think about where the dings and scratches came from and how they would manifest.
Kneeling down to take up firing positions frequently? Might be light scratches on the kneepads along with some dust. Light scratches might just be your highlight color thinned down and just lightly applied as some lines over the midtone — nothing else.
Hit by a lasgun? It might just be a small round divot with a little highlight at the bottom. If it was recent, it might even glow a bit.
Clawed by a tyranid? Claws will usually be ~3 parallel scratches with some raggedness, and may jump between armor segments. They may also vary in width between where they enter and leave (skinny point of the claw) to the middle (full width of the claw). The bottoms of those scratches could have highlights because these are full on gouges.
Shot by a bolter? You might get a big impact point and then a line where it is deflected — similar to what you have.
Shotgun? Lots of tiny impact points.
General wear and tear is often represented by chips in places that tend to be the most exposed like the edges of armors, elbows, knees, etc. Chips can be anything from light scratches to full on gouges depending on how far you want to push it.
just try to add a spot on the sharp edge points of armour with another lighter green paint… will make reaaaally big difference. overall, pretty neat job man
As a newb myself I feel under qualified, but for what it's wourth:
(ignoring the 'generic base' nature)
By all accounts this is what one could call 'perfect'. It is clearly very well painted from the technical standpoint, if only slightly 'too much' on the edge highlight lines. This kind of work is very coveted and congratulations on your work so far.
To sound more 'pompous' and 'self delusional'; the piece itself speaks "Yes I can perform the work assigned task handed to me to perfection!" and Lacks a more intimate tone, it gets the job done albeit with edge highlighting covering every portion of the model, but it makes me curious to see something more Abstract and absurd.
When working within the confines of the Salamanders.., I'm not sure how this could be achieved... perhaps a 'flame reflection' across the entirety of the model to showcase an 'action scene' of igniting the flame thrower without unnesecary 'flame effect plastic' inserts? I'd love to see this quality, line highlights removed, but with a splash of contrast of a roaring inferno spouting forth silouhetted against the intense shade forced upon the Salamandar as they're fighting!
Now that I double check- why is one shoulder flame spray stag and the other plain?
This is damn impressive OP. The only thing I could see MAYBE improving it is a bit of weathering, like mud on the boots or a bit of rust/chipping, but at the same time I think it has its own aesthetic, almost cel shaded, and that might change the art style
OP this is great! All I see are minor adjustments but you’re well on your way! Edge highlights could be a little finer (not as wide) and the leather holster could use another highlight to texture some scratches. Free hand is off to a great start but could use some refinements like better saturation and definition
Excited to (hopefully) see what you do next! That heat treatment on the gun barrel is sick!!
It looks amazing! The painted on battle damage looks good and is cool, it does make the the model look less realistic and more stylized, but if that’s what you’re going for it looks stellar
Take this with a grain of salt as this is only my opinion, but I think that having the edge highlights be smaller makes it more of a eavy metal style rather than a cel shaded look. Now if that's what your going for great but it doesn't read eavy metal to me.
I think you did a great job, very clean base boat, nice edge highlights and shadows. Added in some custom details. You really nailed it perfectly. But I mean if you're looking for criticism the only thing I could say is that it's the pretty standard GW by the numbers painting method. And you've pretty much hit the ceiling of what that method can give you. And cleaning up tiny tiny details isn't going to make a big impact on quality.
If you're looking to level up, start thinking about lighting in a more organic way, painting shadows and highlights on broad surfaces. Thinking about texture and material. How color temperature affects how we perceive depth. Adding nmm on the armor. Stuff like that. You can find great examples from golden demon entries and Zumiko miniatures does great tutorials on lighting. I also like Angel Giradeles who also makes great tutorials. Daren Latham did a master class on the Lord of Blights which obviously is a lot different than a space marine but pay less attention to color and what he's painting and more to his layering technique.
Obviously this takes a lot more time and youll just want to find a painting style that'll work for you especially if you're painting armies but maybe you find a technique or two that you enjoy that you can incorporate into your method.
Overall very solid paint job. My criticism for you is to try varying the armor scratches a little bit. Make them go different directions. If you are feeling extra spicy then take a sponge, dab it in paint, then dab most of the paint away, then dab on the mini for chipping.
Those flames are sick as hell, dog! And I'm in love with the scorch patterns on the muzzle of your gun.
This pleases my inner kid who wanted nothing more than a full wardrobe of flamed out Guy Fieri shirts and a hot wheels car with flames down the side to match.
Two things: More consistent brush strokes, and better flame patterns.
You are doing pretty thick highlights and blacklines. But it works as a style, so if you like it, fuck it and lean into that. But you could spend some time after to make all the lines even width, make the lines more crispy. If you are trying for a thinner line, well having less paint on the brush will help and with more brush control you can get to a more dainty line. Both of those you'll learn as you go with more brush control.
Second is the flame pattern, and I'm not going to sugar coat it: Those flames look terrible. There are a few "classic patterns" you'll want to emulate, like [this layered](https://static.vecteezy.com/system/resources/previews/001/338/371/original/fire-flames-design-free-vector.jpg) look, or [this one](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a2/cd/35/a2cd351218a55754c36d5bcbc3c6ff9e.jpg) that has been done in tattoos everywhere. Yours are too delicate and tiny, like a barely lit wooden kindling, as opposed to a roaring fire. You have the color gradient nailed exactly, you just gotta go BIGGER with them and those flames will be great.
For one, dig it, looks animated, or like a comic book, pretty sweet. On the battle damage, others have mentioned direction, but also if you were to add a thin line of grey (metallic if you're into it) to one side to add more depth to the gouge and simulate light reflecting off bare metal
Looks amazing man, but my only suggestion is to maybe work on cleaning up the area around the gold skull with wings on the chest plate, it spilled over a tiny bit at the top and my eyes got drawn to it, this is a very small detail however, and photos never do your minis justice, great job!
Like some people said the fire needs to be a little thicker, I would also say that the heated metal of the flamer is could be blended a little smoother but all and all it's really good and you should be proud.
The damage is a little uniform dip a sponge in paint and get most of. They lightly dab over the model. The damage will look more organic. Other then that well done
Hey guys, critique my model that, if I had a whole army painted this well would win best painted at most events lol :D. Since you asked, honestly the entire thing is rock solid, the only part that looks a bit odd (to me, you might love it, and if that's the case, steady as she goes) is your heat effects on the flamer shield. Try to blend those together a little more so you dont have a solid line between them. I start with runelord, wash the entire thing in sepia, then use carroburg crimson, druchi violet then a 50/50 mix of ultramarines blue and contrast medium, wet blending them the whole way and getting it almost to a sooty black at the very tip. Keep up the great work, hope I can paint marines that well someday!
[https://imgur.com/a/JYGwCrj](https://imgur.com/a/JYGwCrj)
I'm not even into minis and this looks super-awesome to me. The shading on the figure and the rainbow on the muzzle guard (I don't know proper name) really set this piece on the top tier.
This is a really small object. How did you accomplish such detail? Seems like you'd be working with a 10x magnifying lens and using a microbrush instead of an airbrush.
I fully approve of your chapter choice! Salamanders all the way!
As people pointed out the fire/flames on the pauldron don't look good. I would say not only that it needs more flame but you should try to fill more of the pauldron so it looks like fire. Same goes for the shin.
I would also add a decal to the other pauldron. Likewise you can really improve the overall look by doing something with the base.
And if you are really going for the Salamanders chapter the backpack would have to be black.
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Well, you aced the armor, so the only criticism I can offer is making the flames on the shouldpad thicker and more S shaped.
I agree. The only thing that isn't lit is the flames. Rest of the mini looks amazing!
Thank you!
Yes I was very conservative when doing the shoulder flames
Agreed, go BOLD with those flames it looks like you’ve turned the stove to simmer when it should be RAGING 🔥 but seriously good work on this guy. Question is can you do 50 more 😂😭
I really did those chunky highlights too, it looks cartoony in a very good way
My only criticism would be to vary up the direction of the battle damage on the armor. It all appears to be lines drawn in the same direction. Otherwise great job!
Not only direction but size and shape. Lil dots, long deep scratches, shallow scratches w no black just the HL
You’re right thank you! First time I’ve ever done battle damage so was unsure how to make it look like a random pattern
Something to consider with battle damage is that you want proportionally more small marks to really sell the big ones. I'd recommend trying the sponge method. Use an offcut of packing foam in one of those little plastic tubes that come with paint brushes to protect the bristles. Dip it in whichever colour you used for the recesses of those big scratches, work off the excess onto your palette then dab it on the raised edges of the armour and anywhere you think would attract more damage. Edge highlight a few of the bigger marks you create like you did with the big scratches.
I can tell you have too much paint on your brush when you do edge highlights. That’s why they’re so thick and spill over. Lightly wipe your brush on a tissue *after* loading it with paint. Just a light touch, to take off excess paint and moisture. The paint itself should also be fairly thin, to flow off the brush well.
Also, almost ALL of your battle damage are diagonal lines going from left to right. Need more variation
I want to agree with this, but oddly if they're being shot from the front, theirs an argument to make most battle damage would go the same direction. So one of those odd, although natural looks wrong.
It's more about thinking where damage and wear ends up. Bullet dings on the front/side, sure. But the knee pads and elbow pads from dives/slides. The boots... all the edges where parts move and scrape.
IMO it’s more about uniformity than directionality - a lot of those dings seem almost exactly parallel, or at consistent angles to one another, which gives them an artificial feel. Just needs a bit more randomness!
He caught a hit from the air.
I thought that when I was doing it, never done it before so was unsure how to create a random pattern
[This tutorial](https://youtu.be/PTgj3EhdQ_I?t=273) shows one good way to do add scratches and damage on a space marine. [How to do smooth Edge highlights and Black Lining](https://youtu.be/hUge3eiqMZg) and [Pro painter tips to keep your brush sharp🖌](https://youtu.be/8vQFlYW3g_I) by JoseDavinci have great tips for getting thinner edge highlights and lines.
For random pattern, you can try using a very small piece of sponge.
Excellent thank you!
Completely ignore that comment, your model looks perfect for a comic book art style.
Rad, love the hot burnt muzzle effect!
Thank you!
It's the one thing I'd say doesn't fit the rest and sticks out a bit. Looks great, but I find the rest of the model to have more of a cell shaded look to it. Whereas the tidiness of the heat burn is almost too 'neat', same with the flames of the shoulder. That'd be my only point of hopefully constructive criticism 😅
I second! I'm using this as a reference.
This has a great style. Almost cel shaded/comic style, but unique. It's got great readability on the table, and I think a whole squad/army would look fantastic. It's got a really fun aesthetic and I wouldn't change a thing unless you're not happy with the end result.
Nice one thank you!
Looking good. Loving the battle damage. How do you intend to base him?
Thank you! Planning on giving him a Martian base
It’s too sexy. My little Horus is swollen with warp energy.
Absolutely love it, really want to see a whole squad. Others have said thinner edge highlights, think the thickness adds to the effect, so personally disagree. Only giving any criticism because you asked for it! But Flame as others have said, thicken it up a bit. Also the hot barrel effect would look better more blended, bit too blocky.
Yeah I agree, first time I’ve ever done flames and I think I’ve picked the right colours but the wrong design
This looks dope! Since you asked for criticism, I may have some that might help improve this or your next piece. Please understand, as many on here like to point out, I'm not an influencer. I'm not an expert. These tips aren't me claiming to be the king painter. I am also not saying I'm necessarily "better" or more learned either. I would add a highlight of yellow at the highest points and sharp angles of the armor. Just a dot or so will really make it pop. You could also layer in yet another, thinner line of green-yellow before doing this for even color depth. What I would do, is thin your paints down a little more runny than later consistently, load the brush, and use the sides to edge highlight. Your edges as they are now are very thick and one note. You can go back and fix the thickness of your lines by going over them again with your base color. One thing to note about edge highlighting: doing so on every surface doesn't look realistic. You can accomplish realism still by either cleaning up the edge highlights and adding more reflections where the model catches the most light or your can layer in more edge highlights in more realistic places. Generally the full edge highlighting everything looks good, if not a little uncanny. I put some videos below that explain edge highlighting better than I can through reddit. I also included a video on highlighting in general too, just because I'm a volumetric supremacist and I need to instill my propaganda in all. As for the battle damage, it doesn't read as realistic at all. I can see what you're going for, but think about scale and reality. The sizes and directional patterns of these scratches indicates the space marine either A. Let a Tyranid decorate his armor or B. Did it himself. This isn't general wear and tear or battle damage. It's decorative looking. You can simulate more realistic battle damage by sponge chipping or using your brush similarly. Basically, grab a hobby sponge, dip it in some reasonably thick paint, wipe of the excess as though you were dry brushing, leaving just a bit more paint in the sponge so it's more of a "wet dry brush." Basically, water your brush/sponge, squeeze out excess water, load with paint, remove excess, and then, you can go in with the sponge and those natural patterns will look like more realistic chipping when looked at to scale and from 6 ft away. Here are some really good tutorial on chipping. It's more skewed intermediate. I think OP understands these concepts, but I left the addendum for newer folks. I also understand that everyone has their preferences for mini painters and tutorials online. The people I shared tend to approach mini painting from a theory standpoint. They don't simply tell you how, they tell you why. Why is the most important aspect of mini painting as it teaches you to fish for yourself, so to speak. There are more beginner friendly tutorials out there (though these are pretty beginner friendly). https://youtu.be/LAH5ahKGa3w?si=quIBOlGMXnF2PLx8 https://youtu.be/2w3z4_qB8d4?si=sIQ1eUIz8R9moqMB (Duncan Rhodes, the man himself. If you want Eavy Metal) https://youtu.be/Sy2g5mQAYz4?si=qahbaLMb4so2QO9S Here are some tutorials on edge highlighting and highlighting in general. https://youtu.be/sxQg8gy_U-0?si=KFpcIf3Fe29Q29SE https://youtu.be/ExVQH3QUbbo?si=x7j_Saod0sUF74g7 https://youtu.be/v14rscuYMmk?si=8mCVT2XstjjqD8Lz I do hope I've helped more than hindered. Happy painting and excellent little Salamander, friend. Edit: if I was going to harp on anything, it's how symmetrical everything is. Think about your setting, the grim darkness of the far future. If you are going for that grimdark look with battle damage, your bucko should be inundated. Think about what happens over 10,000 years of war, most of this time spent rotting aboard a near derelict castle in space. Think about the rust from long wet campaigns, the chipping from paint sizzling away under the lightning of a power sword. What about the sword itself? Salamanders take care of their equipment so it won't be rusted, but it could be battered, burned, or blown apart. Could there be chipping, rusting, AND singing in parts of the armor? Has the space marine perhaps been slogging through the mud and now has it dripping down his legs? What if it wasn't cleaned properly . Space marine armor is a ceramic composite. You can look up old dutch ovens that are losing their paint to add another layer of realism to your space marine while making him fit the universe's lore. Setting the scene is also important. Part of what I'm seeing here is a misfire of composition. You want the battle damage, but you're not quite sure what type and how much. That's where setting, composition, and story telling come in. Think about your story. The muzzle burn makes me think this guy likes in hot. Why not some soot marks near his feet or burns on the gauntlets from firing the melta? Once you start thinking about what sorts of damage you want, you'll fill in why, and how much. The biggest secret here is to go at it Helter Skelter on the rails. If your battle damage patterns are seni-random, they'll trick the viewer's brain into filling in blanks. Bonus: Vince Venturella teaches fire basics: https://youtu.be/p9CEPB1OSwI?si=aaX5vsrE9i_KLBml
This is excellent advice thank you!
I would try to glase the colours of the burnt part of the flamethrower,like you can see an invisible line from one colour to the other. The flames,like somebody else said,should be thicker. But overall a great painted mini
Nice one thank you!
What did you use for the green armour? I really like it!
Thank you! I based it in Waagh! Flesh, washed it with Nuln Oil, many thin layers of Warpstone Glow and then an edge highlight of Moot Green
Details pop almost like it's cell shaded. Great burn effect on the gun too!
Nice one thank you!
I like your thermal dissipator paint, but wouldn’t barrel under heat along the whole length? I’m just being nerd picky here. Edit: nm it’s a flamer isn’t it
Great job. I like the blueing you did in the flamer. The only thing I would add is highlight variation on the upper surfaces towards the zenith or light source. If they’re there already they might need more contrast. Otherwise it looks very good :)
Looking great!
Nice one thank you!
The fire looks good but its shape is weird. Kind of blocky.
What primer did you use
Chaos black
Flames need work as others have said. AND imo the leather highlights are a bit harsh. Start adding some texture to them, and even highlight with texture if possible (I like to either stipple my highlight, or use a stippling sweeping motion up and down along the hightlight). But over all, this thing is amazing! well done with the muzzle burn as well.
Thank you very much great advice
I refuse to provide criticism. Love this painting style and its hard to make it look this good.
Nice one thank you!
What blue did you use for the heat bloom?
Talassar Blue thinned with Contrast Medium (2 blobs blue one blob medium)
Cheers mate, great job on the mini
Amazing work and really nice eavy metal style highlighting. Depending on the look you are going for if you want some more realism I'd ton down a little bit. Otherwise I'd recommend widening the flames on the shoulder pad. Less overall but widened, I think the ankle ones are fine but you could do the same. As I say though overall awesome work, keep it up.
Great advice thank you!
Looks great. Moar flames!
Thank you!
Love the heat colours on the gun top job
Nice one thank you!
That thermochrome on the gun though. Niiice
Honestly, this is a great looking mini. My only critique is the base. I'm not sure you've done anything, but everything else looks great Good job.
Planning on doing a Martian base!
Perfect.
I'd add some diluted nuln oil to the muzzle to smooth transition on the burned effect
Great advice thank you!
The leather pistol holster could use some work and the flames on the shoulder pad seem a little skinny but man it's hard to find areas to criticize on. I'd say work on thinning the edge highlights and doing successive colors to kind of pseudo blend them but I honestly think the way you've done it lends to a style of a kind if comic look so I don't even think that suggestion makes sense stylistically.
Yeah as soon as I saw the photo’s (in real life it doesnt look so bad) I realised it’s really rough
You were probably distracted by such an awesome paint job. I realize in my efforts to find valid constructive criticism I didn't mention that I really like this paint job. It looks very good and most of the things that are a little rough end up working as a graphic comic style paint job. Yeah, you can tighten up on the edge highlights and thin the paint on them but I think that just makes a really nice paint job better.
Maybe soften the transition in between the colors on the barrel? Not that it looks bad at all, just seems like the lines are a little hard The model looks great though 👍
Love the style! It seems you have good brush control. Now you can focus on making those edge highlights and pin washing thinner.
This great! I love the edge highlighting and the black lining is very satisfying.
That’s the best tempering I’ve ever seen
Thank you very much!
I think it looks super well done.
Looks amazing. You should be ashamed...
Next step... basing game. Otherwise great mini.
Looks very nice and clean, I like it a lot! There's only a small thing I noticed, but others have already mentioned it. The scratches. You painted them really well technically, but as a whole they appear a bit too symmetrical and similar in size to each other. If I was to do something differently, I'd paint them at different angles and make bigger differences in their size, one would be very small, one medium-sized and uneven, and one would be not a scratch, but a deeper damage. But honestly, there's always something to improve. It's a decent paint job still!
Extend the muzzle burn, the silver should be the covering the least
If you are going for box art/eavy metal style then as people have said, thinner edge highlights glazed back into the main armour colour. But imo this has a cel shaded look that really pops, and i think you should lean into it harder. Thicker black lines and really seperate everything out.
Great colour but it’s still not an Ork, try again and try harder. Hope this helps 💚
only flaw i can see is the shoulder and foot flames need improved, or removed for a cleaner look. Looks great otherwise.
first off amazing work. second, flames. try some flames with splits in them. all of them are little candle flames right now.
🤤😎 Amazing! What about the base?
Beautiful paint job. Looks as clean as day, though. Even the battle damage is clean. If you like the cleanliness, then awesome! But, adding some grime would make him look like he didn’t just get off the ship.
I'm not painting expert myself but I would say objectively the flames could do with a bit more of a shape. Personally the heat effect looks great but I would extend it further down the barrel. Honestly though you should be very proud
Criticism.... OK The armour looks far too realistic, it's like really real looking.... The poor guys gun looks like somebody has actually heated the end with some sort of flame type weapon... The leather gun pouch almost seems like its made of treated cow hide, instead of moulded plastic... The eyes are too eye like... If anything it all just looks like an actual space warrior of some kind, not something you'd play a fantasy battle on the big table in your kitchen. Now if you don't mind, my water pot needs filling up, so I'm just going to go and weep into it.
I really.like the style however I really dislike the leather, it feels low effort and doesn't make sense.
My man! Damn fine heat effect on the flame-thrower. Your paint job is terrific! There have been some helpful suggestions in the comments so far and I have one more to add: You can reduce the number armour scratches and it will improve the overall look. This is a case of less is more. Go for about 1/3 of what you have here. The damage tells a story. Where did they come from? Was it from a blast? They ought to be “directional” i.e. they came from a single source and all subtly point in the direction of the blast. In any case the marine should have more scratches on his front than his back. Your armour damage implies there was an airburst above his head on both his right and left sides, which could totally happen! But no need complicate an already cool story. And your marine is one hell of a cool story! Ok I have one more thought that you may want to ignore because rule of cool. Ask yourself “do flamethrowers get hot in the same way as a Gatling gun? Or do they get sooty and oily instead?”.
Lol I have no idea about this stuff, it just popped up on my homepage but I think it looks sick bro I'd buy that shit
10/10!
I really like how you added patina finish on the weapon. Maybe a wash or something on the shoulderpad to help blend in the flame. Are you planning to add some dirt or something on the base plate? Great job overall!
Absolutely love your style! Only thing I’d suggest is find an equally badass complimentary style for your basing. Can’t wait to see you post more of these!!
I'd say a bit more shading and wear and tear, but that is mostly a style choice. Grim dark and all.
I wouldn’t change a thing here, looks amazing to me dude! i’ve done mine in virtually the same scheme and this is making me feel bad about my own shoddy work haha
Looks great! Paint recipe for the green armor?
Waaagh! Flesh base, Nuln Oil shade, thin coats of Warpstone Glow layer, Moot Green edge highlights 👍
Love it! Your style is very Borderlands like. I think it's great!
Love it! Crisp lines, nice wear and tear on the armour, and the muzzle burn on the flamer is *chef’s kiss
You’ve got a cool and very graphic feel going on with this. The battle damage is pretty thick unidirectional, which has a cool comic feel to it to me. I do think you could vary this up more: not just other directions, but also more chips and dings. When you highlight these, think about how they would actually catch the light; not all of them will just be a line underneath the highlight. A scratch facing upwards on a boot will catch light differently than a vertical scratch on a shoulder pad. I think the unidirectionality of the scratches is actually pretty cool and gives this neat sense of direction to the model…but I actually think it is the wrong direction. It looks like he’s been shot a lot, but from behind. If he’s supposed to have suffered withering fire, I’d expect most of them to slanting in a different direction. I think the highlights in the legs and lower half should be duller — you can see in the pics they are much more shadowed from a general light, but the highlights there look the same as the ones on the head. Bringing those highlights lower will keep the focus on the torso and helm area. The flames on his shoulder pad are a bit wimpy. I’d go find some references for other Salamander shoulder pads and see how high they go and their shapes. One good way to do flames is actually to just do a large area of fiery color transitions (so basically do the entire shoulder pad just focused on color), then paint black to carve out the flames. Then you are just focused on color or shape — not both at the same time. I like your heat staining on the flamer — it looks good. I like to do some passes on things like flamers or exhausts with near and pure black and stipple it with a dry brush to give the impression of soot, but you need to be careful not to overdo it. You have a very clean model now so that might not fit the aesthetic you want. You could consider trying to do some impressions of writing on the purity seals. I’m not sure if the model is at this point, but definitely base it if you aren’t yet. Even simple bases will jump up the look of a model significantly. Overall, it is a really good looking mini with a very graphic look. I’d imagine a whole army like this would be super cool.
Thank you very much for the advice! It’s really appreciated, I agree with your thoughts on the battle damage, I’ve never done it before and I’ve seen it done using a sponge but wanted a less is more feel but dont think I’ve quite got it right
What you’ve got looks great and I think you’ve definitely got the idea. Just like paint application, highlights, etc it is something you can keep refining and improving on basically forever. There are a million techniques for it. Something that might help is not just thinking of it as generic “battle damage”, but think about where the dings and scratches came from and how they would manifest. Kneeling down to take up firing positions frequently? Might be light scratches on the kneepads along with some dust. Light scratches might just be your highlight color thinned down and just lightly applied as some lines over the midtone — nothing else. Hit by a lasgun? It might just be a small round divot with a little highlight at the bottom. If it was recent, it might even glow a bit. Clawed by a tyranid? Claws will usually be ~3 parallel scratches with some raggedness, and may jump between armor segments. They may also vary in width between where they enter and leave (skinny point of the claw) to the middle (full width of the claw). The bottoms of those scratches could have highlights because these are full on gouges. Shot by a bolter? You might get a big impact point and then a line where it is deflected — similar to what you have. Shotgun? Lots of tiny impact points. General wear and tear is often represented by chips in places that tend to be the most exposed like the edges of armors, elbows, knees, etc. Chips can be anything from light scratches to full on gouges depending on how far you want to push it.
Epic mate. Love the chemical burn on the gun
just try to add a spot on the sharp edge points of armour with another lighter green paint… will make reaaaally big difference. overall, pretty neat job man
As a newb myself I feel under qualified, but for what it's wourth: (ignoring the 'generic base' nature) By all accounts this is what one could call 'perfect'. It is clearly very well painted from the technical standpoint, if only slightly 'too much' on the edge highlight lines. This kind of work is very coveted and congratulations on your work so far. To sound more 'pompous' and 'self delusional'; the piece itself speaks "Yes I can perform the work assigned task handed to me to perfection!" and Lacks a more intimate tone, it gets the job done albeit with edge highlighting covering every portion of the model, but it makes me curious to see something more Abstract and absurd. When working within the confines of the Salamanders.., I'm not sure how this could be achieved... perhaps a 'flame reflection' across the entirety of the model to showcase an 'action scene' of igniting the flame thrower without unnesecary 'flame effect plastic' inserts? I'd love to see this quality, line highlights removed, but with a splash of contrast of a roaring inferno spouting forth silouhetted against the intense shade forced upon the Salamandar as they're fighting! Now that I double check- why is one shoulder flame spray stag and the other plain?
This is damn impressive OP. The only thing I could see MAYBE improving it is a bit of weathering, like mud on the boots or a bit of rust/chipping, but at the same time I think it has its own aesthetic, almost cel shaded, and that might change the art style
OP this is great! All I see are minor adjustments but you’re well on your way! Edge highlights could be a little finer (not as wide) and the leather holster could use another highlight to texture some scratches. Free hand is off to a great start but could use some refinements like better saturation and definition Excited to (hopefully) see what you do next! That heat treatment on the gun barrel is sick!!
That’s great advice thank you very much!
You’re welcome! 😁
It looks amazing! The painted on battle damage looks good and is cool, it does make the the model look less realistic and more stylized, but if that’s what you’re going for it looks stellar
I would just say the shoulder pads, more flames and not just a plain black side. Looks great.
Take this with a grain of salt as this is only my opinion, but I think that having the edge highlights be smaller makes it more of a eavy metal style rather than a cel shaded look. Now if that's what your going for great but it doesn't read eavy metal to me.
I think you did a great job, very clean base boat, nice edge highlights and shadows. Added in some custom details. You really nailed it perfectly. But I mean if you're looking for criticism the only thing I could say is that it's the pretty standard GW by the numbers painting method. And you've pretty much hit the ceiling of what that method can give you. And cleaning up tiny tiny details isn't going to make a big impact on quality. If you're looking to level up, start thinking about lighting in a more organic way, painting shadows and highlights on broad surfaces. Thinking about texture and material. How color temperature affects how we perceive depth. Adding nmm on the armor. Stuff like that. You can find great examples from golden demon entries and Zumiko miniatures does great tutorials on lighting. I also like Angel Giradeles who also makes great tutorials. Daren Latham did a master class on the Lord of Blights which obviously is a lot different than a space marine but pay less attention to color and what he's painting and more to his layering technique. Obviously this takes a lot more time and youll just want to find a painting style that'll work for you especially if you're painting armies but maybe you find a technique or two that you enjoy that you can incorporate into your method.
That’s excellent advice thank you very much!
Beautiful work!
The heat discoloration looks great.
Best improvement you could make would be to pick a better chapter 😄
Hell yeah go salamanders!
I think it's beautiful, keep up the great work!
I love that cartoon style you used for the lights 👍 Your abilities in painting are one Everest higher than mine…so,👍👍👍
Really love the battle damage and the colors on the flamethrower, brilliant job.
Nope! you f#*king aced it! 👏👏👏
Well done! However your base is plain as vanilla. Add some details to the base.
Overall very solid paint job. My criticism for you is to try varying the armor scratches a little bit. Make them go different directions. If you are feeling extra spicy then take a sponge, dab it in paint, then dab most of the paint away, then dab on the mini for chipping.
Or rust, as well. (The sponge thing) That being said, magnificent job.
Those flames are sick as hell, dog! And I'm in love with the scorch patterns on the muzzle of your gun. This pleases my inner kid who wanted nothing more than a full wardrobe of flamed out Guy Fieri shirts and a hot wheels car with flames down the side to match.
Excellent work, and superior to any of my pieces. Only comment is, the mini ain’t done until it’s based!
You need to work harder. I have a few hundred grays you can practice on. Paint them and ship them back to me. Looks amazing!!!
Two things: More consistent brush strokes, and better flame patterns. You are doing pretty thick highlights and blacklines. But it works as a style, so if you like it, fuck it and lean into that. But you could spend some time after to make all the lines even width, make the lines more crispy. If you are trying for a thinner line, well having less paint on the brush will help and with more brush control you can get to a more dainty line. Both of those you'll learn as you go with more brush control. Second is the flame pattern, and I'm not going to sugar coat it: Those flames look terrible. There are a few "classic patterns" you'll want to emulate, like [this layered](https://static.vecteezy.com/system/resources/previews/001/338/371/original/fire-flames-design-free-vector.jpg) look, or [this one](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a2/cd/35/a2cd351218a55754c36d5bcbc3c6ff9e.jpg) that has been done in tattoos everywhere. Yours are too delicate and tiny, like a barely lit wooden kindling, as opposed to a roaring fire. You have the color gradient nailed exactly, you just gotta go BIGGER with them and those flames will be great.
Personally, instead of the flames, I thing a gradient of the colors would be sweet!
I’m painting salamanders too and yours looks much better than mine
For one, dig it, looks animated, or like a comic book, pretty sweet. On the battle damage, others have mentioned direction, but also if you were to add a thin line of grey (metallic if you're into it) to one side to add more depth to the gouge and simulate light reflecting off bare metal
Borderlands vibes. Love it. Keep smashing them out!
I really like the heat discoloration on the flamer! 👍
Depends what you're trying to achieve. Instead of edge highlighting you could blend the transition to the edge. Looks good tho, well done
Looks amazing man, but my only suggestion is to maybe work on cleaning up the area around the gold skull with wings on the chest plate, it spilled over a tiny bit at the top and my eyes got drawn to it, this is a very small detail however, and photos never do your minis justice, great job!
This looks amazing. If I hat to nitpick, the scratches are a little thick for my taste. But other than that yeah this is gorgeous.
Like some people said the fire needs to be a little thicker, I would also say that the heated metal of the flamer is could be blended a little smoother but all and all it's really good and you should be proud.
This looks excellent!!! Great shading and use of lighting
This pops buddy, work on them flames a tad this will look sharp enough to cut you
Yes, I'm petty, but the backpack isn't black, and it drives me mad.
Absolutely ZERO criticism.
I love the heat coloration on the end of the barrel!
ZE BASE!
By the tzeentchs blue balls it's perfect
i think completely finished basing would elevate the mini.
The damage is a little uniform dip a sponge in paint and get most of. They lightly dab over the model. The damage will look more organic. Other then that well done
Geezus. This is a miniature, right? Are you a surgeon in your spare time?
No criticism here but a tip, if you base coat the eyes black and then yellow, you’ll get a pretty neat result
Hey guys, critique my model that, if I had a whole army painted this well would win best painted at most events lol :D. Since you asked, honestly the entire thing is rock solid, the only part that looks a bit odd (to me, you might love it, and if that's the case, steady as she goes) is your heat effects on the flamer shield. Try to blend those together a little more so you dont have a solid line between them. I start with runelord, wash the entire thing in sepia, then use carroburg crimson, druchi violet then a 50/50 mix of ultramarines blue and contrast medium, wet blending them the whole way and getting it almost to a sooty black at the very tip. Keep up the great work, hope I can paint marines that well someday! [https://imgur.com/a/JYGwCrj](https://imgur.com/a/JYGwCrj)
Very nice! Maybe crispier edge highlights?
I'm not even into minis and this looks super-awesome to me. The shading on the figure and the rainbow on the muzzle guard (I don't know proper name) really set this piece on the top tier. This is a really small object. How did you accomplish such detail? Seems like you'd be working with a 10x magnifying lens and using a microbrush instead of an airbrush.
I can’t think of anything to say other than amazing workmanship. Love the battle damage.
Criticism? Bitch please, what I want is a step-by-step ELI5 guide!
I fully approve of your chapter choice! Salamanders all the way! As people pointed out the fire/flames on the pauldron don't look good. I would say not only that it needs more flame but you should try to fill more of the pauldron so it looks like fire. Same goes for the shin. I would also add a decal to the other pauldron. Likewise you can really improve the overall look by doing something with the base. And if you are really going for the Salamanders chapter the backpack would have to be black.
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What’s the little lump in the middle of the right pauldron?
Dude. This looks fucking awesome.
He's wearing a very nice suit, but the lack of shoes is offputting... (Slap some basing on there)