Cool tutorial, definitely would use it while paint my own Barlog. Quick question for understanding - as you apply speed paints from Army Painter you didn't mention any citadel contrasts as alternative, although with usual paints you always gave links army painter - citadel. Did you do in on purpose, because from your opinion speed paints and contrast are completally different to each either, or some other reason?
Thank you very much and also thank you for the question!! I was deliberating this, and I had two reasons why I chose not to add a citadel Equivalent in the end, firstly I have never had the pleasure of using Citadel contrast paints and I can only go by the information that I have seen on youtube about them. Whilst with the normal citadel range - i have used nearly all of them in the past so im happy to add that extra bit of information about the closest matching colour - as the paint is applied in the same way. Secondly, the Army Painter Speed Paints have the added advantage of reactivating, and is one of the key elements i try to show when necessary on videos - and from what i have seen citadel paints do not. So if someone who was totally new came to my video and i had a citadel equivalent up but they didn't function the same - and they could not follow my steps - i would feel like i have let them down as they would not be able to get the same results (without doing extra steps) Overall it was a tricky one, and im still tempted to add in the equivalent Citadel paints (even if it is for colour purposes only) and then i can just talk on the videos if i do a step in a particular way that only the Army Painter paints would achieve. Sorry for the long reply, but i tried to answer your important question as best as i could. But what do you think (and others if they read this) Should i put the Citadel closest colour equivalent in for the Army Painter Speed paints? Will it help and be of use? As i would like to e as helpful as possible :):) P.S if GW are reading this - then feel free to send me the paints and I will be happy to use them on the channel also :P
@@SwordsandBrushes Thanks for your answer! Ye, also because of the reactivating effect (which about I only have heard from videos, till now I didnt use speed paints\ contrasts at all, but wondering about to start) i asked original question. So if I understood you right, then in your tutorials you also lean on reactivating, that allow you to achieve results, that you show, right? ) Asking it, because this reactivating effect scares me a little bit, that it would cross through all my possible highlights on top of speed paints... or it just the case if I use completally another color in compare to original..
I do indeed, I use the Speed paints in a number of ways and the reactivation is just one of the methods i use to my advantage. During the videos i try to describe as best as i can how and why i'm doing something to achieve the intended result. I wouldn't let it scare you, the two best bits of advice i can give you are; 1) Just have a play and experiment with them and see what you can come up with. You may find some great uses for how you would like to paint miniatures with them. 2) Try painting first on a test model or better yet some broken models (could buy some off ebay on the cheap) and use them to experiment with - as these models wont matter - you can experiment to your hearts content :):) Ive highlighted miniatures with no problem at all, if you check out my How to paint a Warrior of the dead then there is a good example of what i have done there. But also my 'New to speedpaints' video is a good starting point too :):)
Thats amazing to hear, thank you so much! I hope that when you get around to it you will thoroughly enjoy painting it and get it looking awesome!! Ive got another one of these pretties to do soon for someone - but its the old metal one :)
This, and all of your tutorials, make me feel like I have a chance to make my stuff live up to the legacy it has in my mind. These movies are an important memory for me, having been the last few movies I saw in the theaters with my dad before leaving for the military.
I can't say it often enough, for me this is, by far, the best middleearth painting channel (Fast, easy to adapt and to add it to your own techniques and ofc awesome looking) ! Period! Keep on rocking!
WHOOP thanks ever so much for the generous words! Glad that you like the videos :) Im just having fun and trying to bring that energy into the videos as i love creating them, i've not even started on the scenery side of things yet so that should be super fun to do! Please do share with friends or tell people at your local gaming club too if they would find any of this useful also - the more the merrier! :):)
Glad to hear that this video could be of service! :) I've got the old metal one to paint up next month for someone which will be a little treat for me. When are you starting yours off?
I absolutely love this tutorial and hope to paint the Balrog this year even though I’m not currently painting any Moria. You have the knack of making me want to paint whatever you do in your tutorials. Keep up the great work😮
Thanks ever os much Julian, glad you liked it :) I really need to get a Balrog for myself, i've done two now for others and it's such a nice model! Well I think you may be safe for a bit as i have a couple Rohan ones planned soon and i think you have done a fair amount already haven't you? :)
Glad that you found it helpful :) Yes it's one of those miniatures that seem to be a big task at first, but once you get going it's so enjoyable to do. Hopefully I will be able to do a video for a Mûmakil one day! :):)
Brilliant. This video filled me with inspiration to paint my Balrog. After I have finished the cursed city of course. Love your style, using multiple methods to create a wonderful result. I'm so glad I came across your channel today. Keep up the awesome work!
Thanks very much Hailey! Hows that Cursed City ox coming along? Any favourite miniatures that stand out for you in that set? Yes i tend to not paint in just one way - keeps life interesting and also makes me enjoy the process even more, which hopefully that comes across in the videos - as I really love painting miniatures!! Good luck on your Balrog when you get around to doing it, and i hope that you enjoy the process too! :):)
@@SwordsandBrushes the whole box is amazing. It's such value for money. I've painted painted ulfen watch and now working on thr zombies. Decided to get the bulk done first to enjoy thr special characters a bit more. I look forward to watching more of your videos. I'll use a similar technique for my Balrog. I love the lotr strategy game so I was over the moon to find your channel. Have a great day painting. 😀
One tip for the white into the cracks I use is to use vallejo airbrush white primer on a small tipped brush, load it up and just “dip” it onto the cracks and it spreads to fill them!
Thank you very much! It's so much fun putting these together, i have so much planned/requests from people - so it will keep me going for quite a while - i've not even done any scenery, terrain or games yet for the channel! haha
Was just looking for tips on painting a Balrog! The model I’m working on is a 10mm version. I used a white oil paint to create a wash and then clean off with some spirits afterwards to prep the cracks for the yellow and fire effects. Great vid!
Thank you very much for the kind words and watching :) I would LOVE to do a Mumak one day. It’s on my hobby bucket list to get one, I think I would eventually like to get about 10 altogether :)
@@SwordsandBrushes Nothing too exciting, I'm still making may way through the Ravenloft minis 😳 and have a small zombie dragon to experiment on before doing a larger red dragon(not from Ravenloft).
Also, I want you to have more subscribers. So, against what I usually do I have shared some of your videos on fb. This content needs to be appreciated by more people.
oh bless you and thank you so so much, i very much appreciate it! I try to show ideas and give people inspiration to get their plastic toy soldiers painted, so they will be proud of what they can achieve. The more the merrier :):)
Great tutorial!! One day hopefully I will follow it! As for the question of the day. The biggest model I have painted in my collection is the mordor troll from the starter set. Waiting on your take before I paint the fell beast! Although this tutorial did give me ideas for the wings!
Thank you very much! and also glad to hear! I Hope that you will enjoy painting it up as much as i did for this one! I think the Fellbeast will be a few videos down the road yet, I have a Witch King (new mounted one) to do and a couple Fellowship ones in the pipeline coming up - i may fit a sneaky video between them too :):) But very much looking forward to getting the Fellbeast done!
@@SwordsandBrushes thank you, your painting style is quite unique! Your painting guides are really refreshing when compared to previous iterations from others. Keep up with the superb work, we will keep on watching!!
I try to mix it up a bit, rather than just paint the same way for each miniature, i sometimes find an appropriate method which could work better and/or just experimenting and seeing what works. Recording it and showing it to the world on youtube is a bonus and i really do enjoy the process :)
@@SwordsandBrushes I'm fighting the Sleep Balrog at work right now... and he's close to winning this struggle. I'd rather be at home painting Moria minis. Guess I'll have to settle with rewatching this video.
Really enjoyed this video ,going to follow some of your ideas but using Pro-Acryl paints ( their white is to die for) from Monument Hobbies. BTW How do you find Speedpaints compare to Citadel Contrast ( if you have both) ? Is there any major difference? Thanks again for an awesome tutorial 😊
Thank you very much, and also thank you for watching too :):) oo i will check them out - i cant remember the last time i painted pure white was haha I would not be the best person to ask about Citadel contrast im afraid, i have only ever used 1 of the paints a couple years back (some sort of greeny blue) as i wanted to create some Alpha legion and needed to tint the metallic basecoat. From what i remember it worked well enough. This is my honest opinion after watching other videos about Citadel contrast and Army painter Speed paints - the majority work a similar way (in terms of the coloured finish) but from what i have seen, the added flow to the Army painter ones gives better shaded areas - so thats a tick from me :) Second was the cost - they are hugely different in price, for me if i can get the same thing/or as close to as possible - but it's less expensive then i will do so - just to save money and spend it elsewhere (more than likely more models haha) But the absolute game changer for me is the reactivation that you can do with Army Painter Speed Paints, it allows me to do so much more and its added a new level to how i paint (even after all these years of army painting for my own hobby) So it probably does sound like im a bit biased, but i know what i like and if it works for me then i shall use it :) What do you think, from what you have seen so far from the two different ranges?
You have such amazing videos! I'm tossing up between this and treebeard, but I'm not too experienced. Do you think either was a lot harder than the other? I just felt like giving a larger model a go!
Oh thank you so much for the kind words! :) oo that is a good call!! Both of them have some cool mehtods in which you can paint them. For me i found doing Treebeard more fun - as there are some nice little elements that you can paint on there like aded moss and the snail. Both are good kits though! Maybe roll a dice to chose your fate! haha :):)
I've used Valejo Retarder medium when painting flames only on small hand held torches, but it gives you plenty of time to wet blend the clours for fire. Great vids though I realy enjoy watching them.
That is a good idea! How long would you say you have before it dries out completely, and can you add more mid painting without it smearing? It would be useful to let others know in case they would like to go down that route :) - as it's nice to have options :):)
If you used White Oil paint it would do the same job as putty and just use mineral spirits and a qtips and it would take off the surface layer and leave the white in the cracks.
Absolutely! Great tip and thank you for sharing with everyone :) The only oils i have used are just for streaks and grimes for some 40K and Star Wars Legion - I should really use it more! :):)
Definitely! A good time saver, especially for yellow. For the Balrog though being nearly all black it was much quicker to pick out certain areas only and then go from there :)
@@SwordsandBrushes You wound up going back and painting all that black over again anyway, so you didn't really save any time that way. Eh, same result either way, I suppose. I generally prime black myself, unless bright colors are involved.
Incredible video! This tutorial is helping me a lot painting this miniature but i have a question. What did you do to make Zealot Yellow paint more Yellow than orange? Mine is painting more orange than yellow every time i paint and i need to repaint the scales again and again (PS: I shake a lot the zealot yellow speedpaint)
Thanks very much! I always love painting monsters :) Erm nothing really thats just the colour of my paint, i do a little shake as normal and then off i go painting. Perhaps there was something slightly off with the batch produced maybe. But mine is just a yellow colour :)
Great video, I just bought Barlog with Gandalf to try and create a diorama for my brother for Christmas. Do you think mixing some non speed citadel paints with the speed paint medium would work similarly to the actual speed paints? Also would adding a little bit of dish soap to the corax white or some pure white paint help it to go into the recesses?
oh amazing!! It's such a cool model and i really hope that you enjoy painting it! hmm i never thought about using dish soap, that would be interesting to see if it works - test it out on a random mini first and let me know how it goes! :) Mixing paints with the medium will work a tiny bit but not quite as effective, i experimented with that when i first got them, they do thin down but not quite the same result. But if you have the citadel contrast paints then that will work nice enough as a substitute for Army painters speed paint :)
@@SwordsandBrushes Thanks! I'll test it out on something safer before for sure :) I didn't want to risk messing the model up, so I went out and bought the speedpaints you used (and some more), thanks a lot!
About yellow on black coverage: I have not tested it yet but I just bought "cadmium yellow lemon" and "cadmium yellow medium" from Winsor & Newton. I believe miniature paint lines dont use these "cadmium" pigments because of some slight toxicity issues and they want to sell to kids but all artist acrylic ranges use them and they are the only yellow pigments to be described as opaque.
ahh thats an interesting one!! Please do let me know how it turns out, I would love to see!! If you pop on my website and email me - or find me through Insta/Facebook that would be awesome! :)
Hello, I have been following your guide and I can't seem to get my paintwork to look as bright and vibrant as yours! Yours looks almost translucent! Is it just the lighting or am I doing something wrong? I have followed all the steps! Many thanks and keep up the amazing tutorials!
Thank you kindly, glad you like the tutorials :) I'm happy to help where i can as it's nice to share the hobby with others. It could very well be a bit of lighting, for my setup i have a daylight lamp just above where i paint to help the camera recording as much as possible to make the are lit. I have setup a Discord channel where we share work and chat hobby if you want to swing by there! :):)
It's one of the cool things about using make up brushes. As they have a rounded end it makes it easier to control the tips of the bristles. So for the scales on the Balrog, i could pick out the upper sections with minimal contact of the cracks underneath :)
oo not sure there, i have not used the Citadel equivalent so i could give an exact match - but i dont thing you could go wrong with the brightest yellow going through to a dark red :)
Hello, I love your channel! I'm new to the world of miniatures, and I would like you to make a video about how to get started and what materials are needed. Thank you very much, and I hope you upload more content soon!
ah firstly welcome to the world of miniatures! :) What are you starting with? And thank you very much, i'm glad that you like the content over here. Yes i was thinking of doing a video of just that very topic - or at least a mini series breaking everything down. I will scribble some notes down and make a plan for it :):)
Ive not really looked at that before, maybe in the future - you never know! In the mean time there is a lot to cover for GW's Middle Earth range - and i have not even covered terrain making or any fantasy stuff yet! :)
Id say that it stands up pretty well nowadays - even if its a bit of an old model. Although i wouldn't say no to a fresh new plastic kit! - as long as they wouldn't make it cartoony looking like the new 40K Angron miniature! :):)
One quick question, can I use a varnish on the model without reactivating the speed paints? Don't want to mess up my finished model. Thx and kind regards
Yes, i would definietly say DO NOT use a brush on one - make sure you spray it on to get an effective layer and let it fully dry. The main one i use is some Vallejo matt varnish through an airbrush (as its more cost effective for me and i like the end result) But whatever you use i would suggest to try it on a test/throw away model first just so you can see the end result. Another good tip is to use a hairdryer on a medium setting (dont blast the paint all over the place) when you have painted your minis. I have found that this dries the Speedpaint quicker and it seems to form a nice finish that little bit quicker - i found this out on my Warrior of the Dead video - and i have done this ever since.
@@SwordsandBrushes Thx a lot for the quick answer, I have a Vallejo Matt varnish spray can. Gonna try this on a test model first ;) . Have you ever heard of the slapchop method? It's just dry brushing a black primed model with Grey and white and after this, just putting speed paints on the model. Never thought this would work so nicely. Ofc when you paint it the usual way(layering, highlighting, shading etc. ) it's more accurate and neat but holy moly are you fast with the slapchop method and it's a really nice outcome. Maybe you will try it on a test model as well :). Kind regards and keep on rocking.
No worries! I try to get back to comments when i can, as im nice like that :) Awesome well i hope that it works out well for you! oh yes ive done that before - i didn't know it was called 'slap chop' though haha i was going to try that next on some Morannon orcs as i have 36 of them, and i just want to get them done quickly. I did a similar method to start with on my Warrior of the dead video, but i used a make up brush first rather then a drybrush before adding the speed paints on top. If you haven't seen that one then its worth a browse :):)
I like your idea! I may try that on the next one i paint. I would like to have at least 4 in my collection one day - so a bit of variety in skin tones would be excellent! :):)
@@SwordsandBrushes great job Bro , someday i will make a video of my creations . balrog 3feet , smaug 5feet , Godzilla 4 feet , turtle Morla 4 feet size .... :)
Possibly, but i haven't got a White ink so I improvised like MacGyver haha But a good shout for anyone that does have inks in their collection, they could give it a go :) The putty was watered down into a paint like consistency, so it didn't fill the cracks up, just needed the flow :):)
Great Paintjob! The Model is great, but the tail is a bit off, isn't it ? I 3d printed balrog a few years ago and gifted it my brother for his wedding.
Thanks very much! The tail is just how it glued on the the rest of the body, i didn't do anything different with it. Ah sweet thats a cool gift idea! Was it to scale for the game, or did you print it out bigger for that extra wow factor? :)
@@SwordsandBrushes as it was only for display i left it a bit bigger. But now seeing this tutorial and as my skillset improved i am really thinking to redo it :D
Definitely worth a go and see if it will come out well that way, for me i think spraying black first would be q touch quicker with the majority being fairly dark. But spraying black and then airbrushing the white areas could certainly e an option also! :):)
Well, you had to pretty much touch up all the black areas anyway, so might still have saved you time. Also, thank you for the speedpaint guides! I'm more or less transitioning over to only speedpaints, and that warrior of the dead guide inspired me to go paint up Aragorn from the three hunters set. The elven cloak was the most difficult part, since there is no speedpaint in the particular hue (partly because that hue varies in the films), so a guide on cloaks with speedpaint would be much appreciated!
Oh yes the three hunters are nice miniatures, im sure you will enjoy doing Aragorn. I find it difcult to get accurate colours just by screengrabs of the films due to lighting, colour grading and whatever other manner of post effects they put on the final cuts for the movies. I tend to go to the WETA website and check out their sculpts for colours as they have to be inline with the movies - so that could be a good starting point :) I shall do more speedpaint guides on here for sure! :):)
Aragorn was a lot of fun. Absolution for the coat, dark wood for the leather jerkin, hardened leather for leather details to differentiate, and alternatingly camo and runic on the elven cloak with blending and rubbing off the edges for a white highlight. Then I did blue, brown, and yellow on the different stages of the face, and then crusader over that, came out surprisingly well
excellent and another model completed from the backlog :) Thank you for saying 'jerkin' i never knew what that piece of clothing was called, so i kept calling it a sleeveless coat haha
Tried that on a model once and it was more work doing it that way with how i paint, i had to add multiple layers of black to get the look intended and then had to go in with a smaller brush to pick out any small areas of white that was missed afterwards.
Not a problem, i like chatting hobby with people and i try to respond where i can, especially when someones take the time to comment in the first place, Awesome, did you enjoy painting it? It's such a nice kit! :):)
Sounds like i may have my first superfan in the making haha Well i very happy that you are part of this journey with me, there is still lots to paint, lots of hard work - but lots of fun still to be had! :):)
Cool tutorial, definitely would use it while paint my own Barlog.
Quick question for understanding - as you apply speed paints from Army Painter you didn't mention any citadel contrasts as alternative, although with usual paints you always gave links army painter - citadel.
Did you do in on purpose, because from your opinion speed paints and contrast are completally different to each either, or some other reason?
Thank you very much and also thank you for the question!!
I was deliberating this, and I had two reasons why I chose not to add a citadel Equivalent in the end, firstly I have never had the pleasure of using Citadel contrast paints and I can only go by the information that I have seen on youtube about them. Whilst with the normal citadel range - i have used nearly all of them in the past so im happy to add that extra bit of information about the closest matching colour - as the paint is applied in the same way.
Secondly, the Army Painter Speed Paints have the added advantage of reactivating, and is one of the key elements i try to show when necessary on videos - and from what i have seen citadel paints do not.
So if someone who was totally new came to my video and i had a citadel equivalent up but they didn't function the same - and they could not follow my steps - i would feel like i have let them down as they would not be able to get the same results (without doing extra steps)
Overall it was a tricky one, and im still tempted to add in the equivalent Citadel paints (even if it is for colour purposes only) and then i can just talk on the videos if i do a step in a particular way that only the Army Painter paints would achieve.
Sorry for the long reply, but i tried to answer your important question as best as i could.
But what do you think (and others if they read this)
Should i put the Citadel closest colour equivalent in for the Army Painter Speed paints? Will it help and be of use?
As i would like to e as helpful as possible :):)
P.S if GW are reading this - then feel free to send me the paints and I will be happy to use them on the channel also :P
@@SwordsandBrushes Thanks for your answer!
Ye, also because of the reactivating effect (which about I only have heard from videos, till now I didnt use speed paints\ contrasts at all, but wondering about to start) i asked original question.
So if I understood you right, then in your tutorials you also lean on reactivating, that allow you to achieve results, that you show, right? )
Asking it, because this reactivating effect scares me a little bit, that it would cross through all my possible highlights on top of speed paints... or it just the case if I use completally another color in compare to original..
I do indeed, I use the Speed paints in a number of ways and the reactivation is just one of the methods i use to my advantage. During the videos i try to describe as best as i can how and why i'm doing something to achieve the intended result.
I wouldn't let it scare you, the two best bits of advice i can give you are;
1) Just have a play and experiment with them and see what you can come up with. You may find some great uses for how you would like to paint miniatures with them.
2) Try painting first on a test model or better yet some broken models (could buy some off ebay on the cheap) and use them to experiment with - as these models wont matter - you can experiment to your hearts content :):)
Ive highlighted miniatures with no problem at all, if you check out my How to paint a Warrior of the dead then there is a good example of what i have done there.
But also my 'New to speedpaints' video is a good starting point too :):)
I'm speechless. This tutorial and its tricks actually make me feel comfortable trying to paint my own Balrog. And the wings tip is huge!
Thats amazing to hear, thank you so much! I hope that when you get around to it you will thoroughly enjoy painting it and get it looking awesome!!
Ive got another one of these pretties to do soon for someone - but its the old metal one :)
This, and all of your tutorials, make me feel like I have a chance to make my stuff live up to the legacy it has in my mind. These movies are an important memory for me, having been the last few movies I saw in the theaters with my dad before leaving for the military.
Yes !!!! Finally !!!! Artist who use Army Painter ( not only citadel,... )
Thanks! I predominantly used citadel back in the day until i discovered army painter, i just like them :)
I can't say it often enough, for me this is, by far, the best middleearth painting channel (Fast, easy to adapt and to add it to your own techniques and ofc awesome looking) ! Period! Keep on rocking!
WHOOP thanks ever so much for the generous words! Glad that you like the videos :) Im just having fun and trying to bring that energy into the videos as i love creating them, i've not even started on the scenery side of things yet so that should be super fun to do!
Please do share with friends or tell people at your local gaming club too if they would find any of this useful also - the more the merrier! :):)
Will be using this tutorial in upcoming weeks 👌🏻
This is great and so much faster than how I had planned on painting on my own Balrog. Thank you
Glad to hear that this video could be of service! :)
I've got the old metal one to paint up next month for someone which will be a little treat for me.
When are you starting yours off?
I absolutely love this tutorial and hope to paint the Balrog this year even though I’m not currently painting any Moria.
You have the knack of making me want to paint whatever you do in your tutorials.
Keep up the great work😮
Thanks ever os much Julian, glad you liked it :)
I really need to get a Balrog for myself, i've done two now for others and it's such a nice model!
Well I think you may be safe for a bit as i have a couple Rohan ones planned soon and i think you have done a fair amount already haven't you? :)
after watching this, I MUST PAINT HIM. I just downloaded a sculpt of him im going to print and paint. so awesome!
Excellent!! Well i hope that it goes superbly for you and you will have this walking ball of flame sitting proud on your shelf :):)
@@SwordsandBrushes funny you say that cause i have a drawer of grey... and im trying to make it less before i start balrog
It's the never ending hobby battle to slay the grey!
*** QUESTION OF THE DAY! ***
What's the BIGGEST miniature that you have painted for your collection?
This'll be the biggest modelling challenge I've ever attempted, thank you for your advice and guidance!
Excellent video for this really daunting miniature!
Glad that you found it helpful :) Yes it's one of those miniatures that seem to be a big task at first, but once you get going it's so enjoyable to do.
Hopefully I will be able to do a video for a Mûmakil one day! :):)
This looks great, dude. Another awesome tutorial vid.
Thanks very much! Always fun doing a monster!
I think this would also be useful for Khorne collectors too that want Daemon thats not just red :):)
Brilliant. This video filled me with inspiration to paint my Balrog. After I have finished the cursed city of course. Love your style, using multiple methods to create a wonderful result. I'm so glad I came across your channel today. Keep up the awesome work!
Thanks very much Hailey! Hows that Cursed City ox coming along? Any favourite miniatures that stand out for you in that set?
Yes i tend to not paint in just one way - keeps life interesting and also makes me enjoy the process even more, which hopefully that comes across in the videos - as I really love painting miniatures!!
Good luck on your Balrog when you get around to doing it, and i hope that you enjoy the process too! :):)
@@SwordsandBrushes the whole box is amazing. It's such value for money. I've painted painted ulfen watch and now working on thr zombies. Decided to get the bulk done first to enjoy thr special characters a bit more. I look forward to watching more of your videos. I'll use a similar technique for my Balrog. I love the lotr strategy game so I was over the moon to find your channel. Have a great day painting. 😀
Thank you very much for this tutorial, it looks awesome, I´m currently 3D printing a 27" Balrog and this will help me a lot!
THAT SOUNDS AMAZING!! You will have to show me a photo of it before and after painting as i would love to see that!! :):)
Very good and clear tutorial. Well done!
Thank you kindly! :):)
Outstanding!!
Thank you! It's one of my favourite monsters I've had the pleasure of painting for Middle Earth :)
Looks awesome
Thank you! It was one of those models where once i finished, I wanted to do another straight away! :)
Thanks, your video really helped me out with mine.
Thank you very much, it's a pleasure to help :)
One tip for the white into the cracks I use is to use vallejo airbrush white primer on a small tipped brush, load it up and just “dip” it onto the cracks and it spreads to fill them!
Sounds good! im liking the primers by Vallejo these days, i got a BIG bottle of Ghost grey - such a wonderful colour and smooth as cheese! :)
Awesome tutorial. Keep up the good work ✌️
Thank you very much! It's so much fun putting these together, i have so much planned/requests from people - so it will keep me going for quite a while - i've not even done any scenery, terrain or games yet for the channel! haha
Was just looking for tips on painting a Balrog! The model I’m working on is a 10mm version. I used a white oil paint to create a wash and then clean off with some spirits afterwards to prep the cracks for the yellow and fire effects. Great vid!
Awesome! thank you for sharing the idea of using the White oil paint idea, thats a great way of doing it also!
Glad that you liked the video too :):)
As always nice Video, keep it going ;)
Thank you muchly! I have already got the next few planned out :):)
Great fun painting.
oh nice! did you get a Balrog done for yourself? :)
@@SwordsandBrushes i haven't dare painting something that big yet..😁
Beautiful and Amazing!! You should record the painting guide for the Mumak too! That has to be epic!
Thank you very much for the kind words and watching :) I would LOVE to do a Mumak one day. It’s on my hobby bucket list to get one, I think I would eventually like to get about 10 altogether :)
The wings look really good, I'm definitely going to try that on my next dragon.
oo what Dragon have you/ will you be getting? :):)
@@SwordsandBrushes Nothing too exciting, I'm still making may way through the Ravenloft minis 😳 and have a small zombie dragon to experiment on before doing a larger red dragon(not from Ravenloft).
Also, I want you to have more subscribers. So, against what I usually do I have shared some of your videos on fb. This content needs to be appreciated by more people.
oh bless you and thank you so so much, i very much appreciate it! I try to show ideas and give people inspiration to get their plastic toy soldiers painted, so they will be proud of what they can achieve. The more the merrier :):)
Dziękujemy.
Dziękuję!
Thank you very much for the UA-cam super thanks, i appreciate it very much :):)
Great tutorial!! One day hopefully I will follow it!
As for the question of the day. The biggest model I have painted in my collection is the mordor troll from the starter set. Waiting on your take before I paint the fell beast! Although this tutorial did give me ideas for the wings!
Thank you very much! and also glad to hear! I Hope that you will enjoy painting it up as much as i did for this one!
I think the Fellbeast will be a few videos down the road yet, I have a Witch King (new mounted one) to do and a couple Fellowship ones in the pipeline coming up - i may fit a sneaky video between them too :):)
But very much looking forward to getting the Fellbeast done!
@@SwordsandBrushes thank you, your painting style is quite unique! Your painting guides are really refreshing when compared to previous iterations from others. Keep up with the superb work, we will keep on watching!!
I try to mix it up a bit, rather than just paint the same way for each miniature, i sometimes find an appropriate method which could work better and/or just experimenting and seeing what works. Recording it and showing it to the world on youtube is a bonus and i really do enjoy the process :)
This video was just OK... begrudgingly gave it a like. Just messing around brother! Nice work as always. Cheers from TX!
haha thanks!! It's ok, I gave it a like too as I laugh at myself :):)
@@SwordsandBrushes I'm fighting the Sleep Balrog at work right now... and he's close to winning this struggle. I'd rather be at home painting Moria minis. Guess I'll have to settle with rewatching this video.
Really enjoyed this video ,going to follow some of your ideas but using Pro-Acryl paints ( their white is to die for) from Monument Hobbies. BTW How do you find Speedpaints compare to Citadel Contrast ( if you have both) ? Is there any major difference? Thanks again for an awesome tutorial 😊
Thank you very much, and also thank you for watching too :):) oo i will check them out - i cant remember the last time i painted pure white was haha
I would not be the best person to ask about Citadel contrast im afraid, i have only ever used 1 of the paints a couple years back (some sort of greeny blue) as i wanted to create some Alpha legion and needed to tint the metallic basecoat.
From what i remember it worked well enough.
This is my honest opinion after watching other videos about Citadel contrast and Army painter Speed paints -
the majority work a similar way (in terms of the coloured finish) but from what i have seen, the added flow to the Army painter ones gives better shaded areas - so thats a tick from me :)
Second was the cost - they are hugely different in price, for me if i can get the same thing/or as close to as possible - but it's less expensive then i will do so - just to save money and spend it elsewhere (more than likely more models haha)
But the absolute game changer for me is the reactivation that you can do with Army Painter Speed Paints, it allows me to do so much more and its added a new level to how i paint (even after all these years of army painting for my own hobby)
So it probably does sound like im a bit biased, but i know what i like and if it works for me then i shall use it :)
What do you think, from what you have seen so far from the two different ranges?
You have such amazing videos! I'm tossing up between this and treebeard, but I'm not too experienced. Do you think either was a lot harder than the other? I just felt like giving a larger model a go!
Oh thank you so much for the kind words! :) oo that is a good call!! Both of them have some cool mehtods in which you can paint them. For me i found doing Treebeard more fun - as there are some nice little elements that you can paint on there like aded moss and the snail.
Both are good kits though! Maybe roll a dice to chose your fate! haha :):)
I've used Valejo Retarder medium when painting flames only on small hand held torches, but it gives you plenty of time to wet blend the clours for fire. Great vids though I realy enjoy watching them.
That is a good idea! How long would you say you have before it dries out completely, and can you add more mid painting without it smearing?
It would be useful to let others know in case they would like to go down that route :) - as it's nice to have options :):)
If you used White Oil paint it would do the same job as putty and just use mineral spirits and a qtips and it would take off the surface layer and leave the white in the cracks.
Absolutely! Great tip and thank you for sharing with everyone :)
The only oils i have used are just for streaks and grimes for some 40K and Star Wars Legion - I should really use it more! :):)
Best yellow that's easy... Hataka Violet Line
Thank you for sharing this with the rest of the community here :)
I will have to check that out too!
You look like the child of Jeremy Renner and Pedro Pascal
Thanks, i think! lol
Your biggest timesaver for getting bright, vibrant colors is to prime white.
Definitely! A good time saver, especially for yellow.
For the Balrog though being nearly all black it was much quicker to pick out certain areas only and then go from there :)
@@SwordsandBrushes You wound up going back and painting all that black over again anyway, so you didn't really save any time that way.
Eh, same result either way, I suppose. I generally prime black myself, unless bright colors are involved.
Incredible video! This tutorial is helping me a lot painting this miniature but i have a question. What did you do to make Zealot Yellow paint more Yellow than orange? Mine is painting more orange than yellow every time i paint and i need to repaint the scales again and again (PS: I shake a lot the zealot yellow speedpaint)
Thanks very much! I always love painting monsters :)
Erm nothing really thats just the colour of my paint, i do a little shake as normal and then off i go painting. Perhaps there was something slightly off with the batch produced maybe. But mine is just a yellow colour :)
The flames on the balrog is one of the most widely made mistakes in MESBG painting. Everyone copied GWs inverse gradient! Yours is right!
I never noticed the flames on the GW website until someone mentioned it a while back :) ah well haha
Great video, I just bought Barlog with Gandalf to try and create a diorama for my brother for Christmas. Do you think mixing some non speed citadel paints with the speed paint medium would work similarly to the actual speed paints? Also would adding a little bit of dish soap to the corax white or some pure white paint help it to go into the recesses?
oh amazing!! It's such a cool model and i really hope that you enjoy painting it!
hmm i never thought about using dish soap, that would be interesting to see if it works - test it out on a random mini first and let me know how it goes! :)
Mixing paints with the medium will work a tiny bit but not quite as effective, i experimented with that when i first got them, they do thin down but not quite the same result.
But if you have the citadel contrast paints then that will work nice enough as a substitute for Army painters speed paint :)
@@SwordsandBrushes Thanks! I'll test it out on something safer before for sure :)
I didn't want to risk messing the model up, so I went out and bought the speedpaints you used (and some more), thanks a lot!
Would an oil paint in white work for the underglow? Fills into the cracks but stays quite opaque. Varnish over it and good to go!
I believe it would do yes! It would make a nice bright undercoat to the yellow and orange tones :)
About yellow on black coverage:
I have not tested it yet but I just bought "cadmium yellow lemon" and "cadmium yellow medium" from Winsor & Newton.
I believe miniature paint lines dont use these "cadmium" pigments because of some slight toxicity issues and they want to sell to kids but all artist acrylic ranges use them and they are the only yellow pigments to be described as opaque.
ahh thats an interesting one!! Please do let me know how it turns out, I would love to see!!
If you pop on my website and email me - or find me through Insta/Facebook that would be awesome! :)
Hello, I have been following your guide and I can't seem to get my paintwork to look as bright and vibrant as yours! Yours looks almost translucent!
Is it just the lighting or am I doing something wrong? I have followed all the steps!
Many thanks and keep up the amazing tutorials!
Thank you kindly, glad you like the tutorials :)
I'm happy to help where i can as it's nice to share the hobby with others.
It could very well be a bit of lighting, for my setup i have a daylight lamp just above where i paint to help the camera recording as much as possible to make the are lit.
I have setup a Discord channel where we share work and chat hobby if you want to swing by there! :):)
most interesting part for me was only 10 seconds at 13:27. how did you overpaint it with black without covering the yellow/red fire?
It's one of the cool things about using make up brushes. As they have a rounded end it makes it easier to control the tips of the bristles. So for the scales on the Balrog, i could pick out the upper sections with minimal contact of the cracks underneath :)
What paints would you use when you paint with citadel colours
oo not sure there, i have not used the Citadel equivalent so i could give an exact match - but i dont thing you could go wrong with the brightest yellow going through to a dark red :)
👍👍👍
Hello, I love your channel! I'm new to the world of miniatures, and I would like you to make a video about how to get started and what materials are needed. Thank you very much, and I hope you upload more content soon!
ah firstly welcome to the world of miniatures! :) What are you starting with?
And thank you very much, i'm glad that you like the content over here.
Yes i was thinking of doing a video of just that very topic - or at least a mini series breaking everything down. I will scribble some notes down and make a plan for it :):)
@4:16 Wait, do the GW minis come with 3D printing lines now?!?
AH no the base is just a 3D printed one, i think from Etsy i believe :)
Yellow-Paints are always not very opaque. That was so in 1996, when I started painting and will be in 2056 the same :D
haha i will come back to you in 2056 and see if that will still be the case! :)
@@SwordsandBrushes :)
Do you want to make some tutorials for the LOTR-Journey through Middleearth - Game from Fantasyflight? It would fit in!!!
Ive not really looked at that before, maybe in the future - you never know! In the mean time there is a lot to cover for GW's Middle Earth range - and i have not even covered terrain making or any fantasy stuff yet! :)
Does the model still stand up or would it be better for a refresh?
Id say that it stands up pretty well nowadays - even if its a bit of an old model. Although i wouldn't say no to a fresh new plastic kit! - as long as they wouldn't make it cartoony looking like the new 40K Angron miniature! :):)
One quick question, can I use a varnish on the model without reactivating the speed paints? Don't want to mess up my finished model. Thx and kind regards
Yes, i would definietly say DO NOT use a brush on one - make sure you spray it on to get an effective layer and let it fully dry.
The main one i use is some Vallejo matt varnish through an airbrush (as its more cost effective for me and i like the end result) But whatever you use i would suggest to try it on a test/throw away model first just so you can see the end result.
Another good tip is to use a hairdryer on a medium setting (dont blast the paint all over the place) when you have painted your minis. I have found that this dries the Speedpaint quicker and it seems to form a nice finish that little bit quicker - i found this out on my Warrior of the Dead video - and i have done this ever since.
@@SwordsandBrushes Thx a lot for the quick answer, I have a Vallejo Matt varnish spray can. Gonna try this on a test model first ;) . Have you ever heard of the slapchop method? It's just dry brushing a black primed model with Grey and white and after this, just putting speed paints on the model. Never thought this would work so nicely. Ofc when you paint it the usual way(layering, highlighting, shading etc. ) it's more accurate and neat but holy moly are you fast with the slapchop method and it's a really nice outcome. Maybe you will try it on a test model as well :). Kind regards and keep on rocking.
No worries! I try to get back to comments when i can, as im nice like that :)
Awesome well i hope that it works out well for you!
oh yes ive done that before - i didn't know it was called 'slap chop' though haha i was going to try that next on some Morannon orcs as i have 36 of them, and i just want to get them done quickly.
I did a similar method to start with on my Warrior of the dead video, but i used a make up brush first rather then a drybrush before adding the speed paints on top.
If you haven't seen that one then its worth a browse :):)
was that monster in the movies? i cant remember! nice paint anyway
Indeed! :) He was the naughty demon That tried to stop the Fellowship in the mines of Moria - just follow the flame! :):)
@@SwordsandBrushes omg, i remember hahaha!!! little bit embarrassing
No yellow is perfect, but i really like "radiant yellow" from AK
ive never tried paint from the AK range! I have a few basing products but thats about it, may have to give that one a go - thank you! :)
Nice work , but for balrog skin is appropriate the dark Shadow brown color is much better 👍☺
I like your idea! I may try that on the next one i paint. I would like to have at least 4 in my collection one day - so a bit of variety in skin tones would be excellent! :):)
@@SwordsandBrushes great job Bro , someday i will make a video of my creations . balrog 3feet , smaug 5feet , Godzilla 4 feet , turtle Morla 4 feet size .... :)
that would be awesome to see! We need to see more monsters out there! :):)
Wouldn't white ink have worked just as well as the putty without filling up the cracks?
Possibly, but i haven't got a White ink so I improvised like MacGyver haha
But a good shout for anyone that does have inks in their collection, they could give it a go :)
The putty was watered down into a paint like consistency, so it didn't fill the cracks up, just needed the flow :):)
I'm sorry I'm confused why the base and flames placement looks different than mine?
No problem at all, that base was from Etsy, just to make it a bit different :)
@@SwordsandBrushes ok I was like wait they have 3 to 4 variations of this kit
Your yellow turns a sickly green color over black because your black primer isn't actually black. It's very, very dark blue. Blue and yellow = green.
What black magic is this you say? its a dark blue? If this is true then my mind is blown after all these years! haha :):)
Tell me where is gandalf for i much desire to paint with him
He's in the Fellowship playlist on the channel :)
Great Paintjob! The Model is great, but the tail is a bit off, isn't it ?
I 3d printed balrog a few years ago and gifted it my brother for his wedding.
Thanks very much! The tail is just how it glued on the the rest of the body, i didn't do anything different with it.
Ah sweet thats a cool gift idea! Was it to scale for the game, or did you print it out bigger for that extra wow factor? :)
@@SwordsandBrushes as it was only for display i left it a bit bigger. But now seeing this tutorial and as my skillset improved i am really thinking to redo it :D
I've got the metal one with gandalf in box, I'm scared.
oh nice!! Was that fro the recent made to order? Have you put it together yet? I'm sure one day i will get one to add to the collection!
@@SwordsandBrushes bought it from someone, some guy buys and sells old and used miniatures, he has great prices.
Wouldn't it be more handy to prime it white and drybrush black over that?
Definitely worth a go and see if it will come out well that way, for me i think spraying black first would be q touch quicker with the majority being fairly dark.
But spraying black and then airbrushing the white areas could certainly e an option also! :):)
Well, you had to pretty much touch up all the black areas anyway, so might still have saved you time.
Also, thank you for the speedpaint guides! I'm more or less transitioning over to only speedpaints, and that warrior of the dead guide inspired me to go paint up Aragorn from the three hunters set. The elven cloak was the most difficult part, since there is no speedpaint in the particular hue (partly because that hue varies in the films), so a guide on cloaks with speedpaint would be much appreciated!
Oh yes the three hunters are nice miniatures, im sure you will enjoy doing Aragorn.
I find it difcult to get accurate colours just by screengrabs of the films due to lighting, colour grading and whatever other manner of post effects they put on the final cuts for the movies.
I tend to go to the WETA website and check out their sculpts for colours as they have to be inline with the movies - so that could be a good starting point :)
I shall do more speedpaint guides on here for sure! :):)
Aragorn was a lot of fun. Absolution for the coat, dark wood for the leather jerkin, hardened leather for leather details to differentiate, and alternatingly camo and runic on the elven cloak with blending and rubbing off the edges for a white highlight. Then I did blue, brown, and yellow on the different stages of the face, and then crusader over that, came out surprisingly well
excellent and another model completed from the backlog :) Thank you for saying 'jerkin' i never knew what that piece of clothing was called, so i kept calling it a sleeveless coat haha
Or you just prime it white and save yourself a lot of trouble
I did that with my avatar of khaine and it worked
Tried that on a model once and it was more work doing it that way with how i paint, i had to add multiple layers of black to get the look intended and then had to go in with a smaller brush to pick out any small areas of white that was missed afterwards.
@@SwordsandBrushes really nice of you to respond. Like you have 5 thousand subscribers and I went for a brighter approach then you did.
Not a problem, i like chatting hobby with people and i try to respond where i can, especially when someones take the time to comment in the first place,
Awesome, did you enjoy painting it? It's such a nice kit! :):)
@@SwordsandBrushes very:)
This is a great walk through video. Thanks for sharing the process.
thank you very much! glad that you liked it :):) Now i have got to get back to painting the fellowship! :)
@@SwordsandBrushes I'll be with you every step. I like your style and I'm painting my models now also. Thanks for sharing how you do it!!
Sounds like i may have my first superfan in the making haha
Well i very happy that you are part of this journey with me, there is still lots to paint, lots of hard work - but lots of fun still to be had! :):)