🖌️ My First Miniature Painting Adventure: Darth Nihilus! 🖤

Heya awesome C27 community! 👋

I’m so excited to finally share something new with you—my very first painted mini! After years of sculpting and printing, I’ve always felt a bit daunted by painting. Strange, right? I can sculpt and print with confidence, but painting? That’s a whole different beast! 🎨😅

But after tons of research, getting the right tools, brushes, and equipment, I finally decided to take the leap into the world of miniature painting. And what better way to start than with a badass Sith Lord—Darth Nihilus! 🖤

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The Process:

I kicked things off by priming with two trusty spray cans: Citadel Chaos Black and White Scar. I went for a zenithal prime (which sounds so fancy haha)—but I think I might’ve been a little too heavy-handed with the white, especially for the robes. 😬 Oh well, live and learn!

Next up, I dove into contrast paints:

• Black Templar for the robes

• Apothecary White for the mask

• Flesh Tearers Red for the lightsaber

• Gore-Grunta Fur for the mask details

However, I quickly realized that the blacks weren’t as black as I’d hoped—they came out more dark grey, and the overall contrast on the mini was feeling a bit…meh. So, I reached out to the amazing folks in our Discord server for advice (big thanks to Charles Xavier and Otto Pilot for their insights!). You all rock! 🤘

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The Fixes:

With their help, I went back to work:

• I dry brushed Thunderhawk Blue over the Black Templar, then lightly dry brushed with Dawnstone to bring out the highlights and added some more Black Templar to tone down the light areas.

• I layered some Abaddon Black in the deeper folds of the robes

• For the edges, I dry brushed Dawnstone again, followed by painting more highlights to get that pop of definition!

For the belt, I lightly dry brushed Stormhost Silver to make it stand out a bit more, and I added the same to the lightsaber hilt. The lightsaber itself got a coat of Mephiston Red, with a bit of Wild Rider Red for edge highlights and a bloom effect by dry brushing the surrounding area.

The mask was hands down the toughest part—it’s SO tiny! I used a 000 Kolinsky sable brush to get the details just right, overlaying Corax White with a bit of White Scar on the highlights. The red strips above the eyes? Mephiston Red again!

To wrap things up, I added a bit of Nuln Oil for some depth on the robes, belt, and lightsaber hilt to give them that final shadowy touch.

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Photo Time!

After I setup a quick 3 light setup (north west rim light , two side key lights - south west and south east) and placed the mini holder on my chair and took some nice photos! :D

How’s It Looking?

Honestly, I’m pretty happy with how it’s turned out so far, especially for my first try! I can see there's stuff I can definitely improve on though. From being intentional on where my light source out be, the cleanliness of my edges (god, that was so hard), and overall direction of the mini too! It’s been an exciting (and nerve-wracking) journey, and I’m pumped to keep improving and learning. I’d love to get your feedback—what do you think? Any tips for the next stage? Any process I'm not doing right or missing? I’m always eager to hear your thoughts!

I've also realised I can do better with getting details in the sculpts a lot better. Especially for the scale we're currently in. Starting this painting journey has gotten me thinking more on how to improve our minis to get them painted easier. It's got me lots to think about!

Thanks so much for all the support, and I can’t wait to hear what you think! 🎨🖌️

Cheers,
Gen