HowToFoldSoup

I posted a couple of miniatures I painted on the http://www.coolminiornot.com site. 

You can view them here and here.  Apparently, they are just above tabletop quality, which must mean that the tabletop played model's I've seen are well below average with the rest of the world. But I digress...

I was asked by fellow poster and painter, Nessy, how he could get better Flesh tones on his Kroot.

• Good:
  • Complete freedom with color scheme.  Their back story is one of eugenically modified bloodlines, amplified by the fact that they absorb some genes from that which they consume (their enemies).
  • Highly Detailed Plastic Models.  When I used to paint, 14 years or so ago, if you had a plastic, it mean the model was crap.  Not these guys.  They're beautiful.
  • Additional bit's load allows for further customization of the models.  They come with a generic supply of stuff that you can hang off their belt, attach to their gun, etc. 
• Bad:
  • They are a son-of-a-bitch to put together.  It's a trade off really, exchanging detail for time, but still worth mentioning.

The good news is that Kroot really lend themselves to good flesh tones.  Lots of little grooves and bumps to highlight.  I'll go into how I get the flesh tones after a quick review of equipment, since I believe that is the only reason I am able to get decent skin tone.

1. A Dry Brushing Brush
   • No, not the same brush you use to apply the base coat.  I use a 1/8" Silver "Wee Mop", product ID 5319S.  This a brush specifically made for dry brushing.  It's small enough to fit in some tight spaces, and if cared for properly, will last quite a while.  Also, it's affordable compared to most brushes. Just over a dollar (US) at Mister Art.  This brush is very soft, which makes your dry-brushing look better.  Also, it's a natural hair brush, which let's it respond to the next item on the list magnificently.
2. Brush cleaner
   • I use "The Masters" Brush Cleaner and Preserver (also at MisterArt).  I haven't used any other brush cleaning products, so I wont speak for them.  "The Masters" cleaner works superbly.  Especially because Dry Brushing is so hard on a brush.  On top of getting all the paint out of my brushes, this also re-vitalizes the natural oils in any non-synthetic brush, which help it last longer and prevent it from drying out.  I use this on all my brushes.

My Skin Tone Dry-Brushing Process, Step-by-Step:

1. Base coat your mini with a relatively dark version of the color you want the skin to be.
   • In my case,  I went with GW's Shadow Grey as a base.  Looking at yours, it looks like a Darker grey as well.
   • I do the skin first, since dry brushing is sometimes hard to control the bleed over into other colors.
2. Choose the color you want to highlight to.
   • This will determine the color of the model more then the base in some cases.  In our cases in particular because we both use a dark neutral base, the highlight is the only color.
   • I chose GW's Space Wolves Grey, because it's really more of a blue-grey.  It looks like you chose GW's Hawk Turquoise.
3. Setup a base on your palette of the primary color. 
   • Not too much, because we'll be adding to this to create a graduated highlight.
4. Add a bit of the highlight color.
   • 5 parts base, 1 part highlight is generally what I add.
   • This might not make a change that you can notice in the darker color.   Doesn't matter.
5. Fill your dry brush with the mix, and then dry it out.
   • I use a paper towel to clean my brush.  Put the wet brush into the paper towel and fold it over onto the brush.  Pull it out of the paper towel slowly.  Then do it again (in a different spot on the paper towel!).
   • Roll the brush on the paper towel a few times to open the brush back up and get the paint still in the middle of the brush out.
6. Dry-Brush the miniature
   • Go over all the places that would be naturally be highlighted.
   • Make sure you move the brush in all directions over the area's you want to highlight.
7. Repeat 5 and 6 with the following mixes:
   • 5 parts Base, 1 part Highlight
   • 5 parts Base, 3 parts Highlight
   • 1 part Base, 1 part Highlight
   • 3 parts Base, 5 parts Highlight
   • 1 part Base, 5 parts Highlight
   • As you progress, you'll tighten up your targeted highlight area's.  (i.e.  First highlight you'll do the entire arm, second highlight just the shoulder and bicep, third highlight top half of the shoulder and bicep, fourth just the top of the bicep and shoulder, etc.).
8. After all the above highlights are completed, you can clean your dry-brush and put it away.
9. Some areas might look mottled.  In this case, I clean it up with a normal paint brush and the last highlight.
10. In some of the recessed area's, I wash lightly with a darkened base-coat. (In the case of my Kroot, the eyes and between the fingers and toes.
11. Finally, I take a pure highlight and fine-line around particularly high areas in the head, and some other areas as it looks necessary.

These aren't set in stone in any way, and if you want less highlights, use less.  If you want more, that's fine too.  I use a 7 step highlight for the Kroot Spines that creates an otherwise perfect blend from black to Khaki/White.  It might not translate in the photographs, but in person it looks great.

Nessy, I hope I answered your question.  If not, you can post a reply to this message, and I'll get it.