Star Wars Imperial Assault Painting Guide Ep.23: Royal Guard Champion

[@Drag0nR1der]

You are the Bob Ross of miniature painting! Just wonderful, I could watch these all day!

[@Sorastro]

+Robert Price Thank you Robert :)

[@pbeccas]

My favourite miniature painting channel

[@Sorastro]

+pbeccas Thank you! :)

[@drkknght1138]

I was just lamenting the fact that I was out of Imperial Assault videos to watch and this one popped up. Thanks!

[@Sorastro]

Lol - no problem! Hope you like it :)

[@jasonr5248]

Another fine job Sorastro! I really like what you did with the champion's blades.

[@Sorastro]

+Jason Roark Thanks a lot Jason :)

[@tompaulussen7798]

Awesome paintjob as usual. You seem to keep pushing the limits (glazing the blades), and o boy look at that cloak. I'm looking forward to the weekly videos from now on! Big thumbs up.

[@Sorastro]

+Tom Paulussen Thanks a lot Tom! Much appreciated :)

[@peteb8688]

Another great video! I'm up to 87 painted miniatures for Imperial Assault now and have already painted my royal guard champion. Your work is tempting me to maybe buy another and have another go. A mini masterpiece as always.

[@Sorastro]

+Pete B Thank you Pete!

[@maxbrandt6]

Most excellent! I really like how you differentiated between the cloth and the hard armor areas, duly noted for future use. I don't play this game but I love seeing how each one of these figures is painted, I learn something new each time.

[@Sorastro]

Thanks a lot Max! I'm glad you liked it :)

[@Simebag]

Love the music on this one, really helps drive the mystique of this character. Great paint job, as always!

[@Sorastro]

+Simao Coutinho Thank you so much Simao! I'm glad you like the music :)

Who gives you a "finger down"?? I can't believe that this videos dislike to someone. They are a hard and well done work.

[@Sorastro]

+David García Quintana Thanks a lot David! I appreciate that :)

[@jeremydailey]

Spectacular as always man!

[@Sorastro]

+Jeremy W. Dailey (PineconeGrenade) Thank you so much Jeremy! I'm glad you like it :)

[@forsaken667]

I have been waiting for this particular video for some time now!! ;)

[@Sorastro]

+Ramon Kerolian Thank you for your patience Ramon! I hope you like it :)

[@forsaken667]

Of course! All your videos have been top notch with great creative ideas and this is no exception. Have been following your Imperial Assault tutorials since the very first video and am always excited when you release a new one as I am painting my minis side-by-side with your tutorials.

[@Sorastro]

Thanks again Ramon! Well you you can look forward to three imperial assault tutorials each month from now on instead of just one (who knows - one day I might actually catch up with Fantasy Flight's release schedule :) )

[@sam083]

This is a awesome paintjob! I love your vids

[@Sorastro]

+Stefan Burkhardt Thank you sir!

[@slawomirzdarowski]

Awesome job as always!! :) Can't wait for another one!

[@Sorastro]

+Slawek Zdarowski Thanks a lot Slawek! :)

[@alainmaillard2043]

Everytime I see your video, I am depressed. I want to have your skills :-) Really, really, really good job.

[@Sorastro]

+Alain Maillard Thank you Alain! I don't feel I'm an especially advanced painter and I'm sure you can get close to these results with a little care :)

[@TheTswiggs]

Alain Maillard I'm a total beginner and made some really nice minis just copying the tutorials. just takes a bit of patience

[@JanHoppmann]

I don't know where I went wrong. When I mixed The Fang 2:1 with Abaddon Black, it was almost pure black. I ended up with a 4:1 ratio, and it's a really, really dark grey with a blueish tint. It looks absolutely nothing like your video. I thinned it way down, but that didn't really help, especially after applying another layer. It doesn't look bad per se, but it doesn't look how I expected :D

[@sim2570]

Once again a very nice paint job! ;)

[@Sorastro]

Thank you Monte! I'm glad you're still enjoying the videos :)

[@JEGranberg]

Would you please do a demonstration on color mixing theory? Why add green instead of black to your color mixes?

[@Sorastro]

Hi! I'll see if I can include some color "theory" (I don't like the word) in a future video :)

[@halogu117]

Love it!

[@Sorastro]

+Jeff Phillips Thanks Jeff :)

[@VRListic]

awesome as usual....Finally a new video

[@Sorastro]

+Callesa Thank you! You might be pleased to know that I recently left my job to focus on video production so you won't have to wait long between videos from now on :)

[@michaeljdauben]

Another great painting video. I liked the idea of mixing in silver when highlighting the body armor. I definitely need to try that out. I was curious why you chose to use green to darken your red, rather that black or brown?

[@Sorastro]

+Michael D'Auben Thank you Michael - Good question! I quite like using green to darken my reds as it's a complimentary colour and gives a nice deep tone that also makes the brighter, redder parts seem more red by contrast :)

[@Xhawk33]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me your going to tackle some of The Others 7 Sins minis ?? With your talent and the amazing quality and theme of those mins, youd create masterpieces ! Id absolutely LOVE if youd do this :) :) :)

[@Sorastro]

HI! Yes I am going to do at least some of The Others minis (I'm just waiting for my copy to arrive) :)

[@Xhawk33]

AWESOME !!! My god, am I looking forward to that !

[@Sorastro]

:)

[@christiankloenne7365]

Awesome job Sorastro. I found your channel when I looked for inspiration for paining BP minis. Being a SW fan as well I soon got sucked into buying Imperial assault. I finished painting the core set and Twin suns plus expansions and will soon tackle the rest. Games Workshop should really consider putting you on the payroll. Your videos made me buy 75% of the whole citadel assortment, lol. I have not yet played a single round of IA, I want to first finish painting and am also waiting on the companion app, for the full experience. PS: The Royal Guard Champion is based on Carnor Jax from the "Crimson Empire" comic series. Visually and even the pose is a 100% copy, google it. Based on this, a tiny detail is different with your paintjob: the upper helmet sides are supposed to be purple/blue/gray and not red. PSS:I am really looking forward to you tackling "The Others" . I am still wondering how to paint the "Envy Avatar". PSSS: There is currently a kickstarter up called Mythic Battles: Pantheon from the makers of the Conan boardgame. Would love to see your take on those minis.

[@Sorastro]

Thank you DK Dent! Thanks also for the insight regarding the Royal Guard Champion. I'm still on the fence regarding Mythic Battles but you can certainly expect some The Others from me soon :)

[@christiankloenne7365]

Mythic Battles will have a seperate book with painting instructions by the artist which painted the minis for the Kickstarter. They look nice, but I like your painting style way better. There are simply too stark contrasts instead of subtle blending, especially in the muscles of the and skin. PS: I love your App, when will that interactive paint list be added? PSS: It would be fun to include polls in the App to vote for the next tutorial...

[@Sorastro]

Hi DK! I did end up backing MB in the end so I'm looking forward to seeing how nice the minis really are when I get it. I'm not sure what features are going to added when for the app (I'm not even sure when the Android version is coming!). Regarding polls - it's a nice idea but voting for tutorials already happens over on Patreon as a patron privilege :)

[@Titus_Vespasianus]

great videos...absolutely love them...actually got me to go out and buy Zombicide...so, now I ask...will you be doing more Zombicide videos??? Perhaps the Black Plague survivors???

[@Sorastro]

+Joseph Rhodes Thank you Joseph! Yes I'm producing more Zombicide videos! The necromancer video is currently in Patreon early access but going public tomorrow (Wednesday), and I'll soon begin chipping away at the heroes :)

[@milkboy73]

You do such an amazing job on your miniature and I hate to admit that I'm very jealous of your skill. Keep up the awesome videos and one quick question. How much water do you add to your paints because I'm always afraid I am going to add too much?

[@Sorastro]

+John Malloy Thank you John! The amount of water I add can vary but as a very rough guide I'd suggest typically between a third and up to a half of the mix should be water. For base colours we can go with a little more paint, and for layering we can go as thin as we like, depending on how many layers you're prepared to lay down to build up the highlights. It's always better to be too thin than too thick :)

[@milkboy73]

+Sorastro's Painting Thank you for the tip!

[@Sorastro]

+John Malloy No problem John! I'm also planning a complete beginner's guide to painting in which I will also cover the topic of thinning as I know it can take a bit of getting used to :)

[@Rhrdlichka]

I am hoping to become a patron supporter soon. I was curious how the behind the scene videos work. meaning is that a seperately website?

[@Sorastro]

+Rhrdlichka Thank you! For the behind-scenes videos I host them on KZbin but they are unlisted. That means I can still embed them within a post on the Patreon site for patrons to view but non-patrons cannot :)

[@Seio_sz]

It's incredible, amazing!!!! You're a crack 😉

[@MrJerkbones]

Amazing as always! One question. Why did you choose to not re-base the Royal Guard Champion?

[@Sorastro]

Thanks Lucas! No particular reason - I might yet actually re-base him if I find he gets much play time :)

[@filippobosi]

Great job! I noticed that you use metallics like other colours, instead of drybrushing over a base. do you thin them? I'm having some issues with GW metallics, as they don't cover up very much

[@Sorastro]

+Filippo Bosi Thank you Filippo! Yes I do usually thin my metallics. I find that mixing metallics with non-metallics makes them a bit easier to handle too :)

[@TreeBeardBookReviews]

Love your work but when is next descent painting video?

[@Sorastro]

Thank you Dan! I will be producing 1-2 Descent tutorials each month from September (hurrah!) :)

[@TreeBeardBookReviews]

+Sorastro's Painting Can't wait!

[@Sorastro]

Cheers Dan :)

[@mgtoworacle383]

Are you going to do general weiss or just refer to the at st video? thanks. I'm priming all my figures today.

[@Sorastro]

Hi! I'm going to cover Weiss in a "quick guide" pretty soon; the technique will be same as for the previous AT-ST video but I've altered some of the colors a bit (but I'm still using a grey primer) :)

[@mgtoworacle383]

+Sorastro's Painting thanks for the quick reply. Are you going to do all the figures eventually?

[@Sorastro]

+Mgtow Oracle No problem! Yes I plan to cover them all; you can read here so find out what's coming up next: sorastro.com/2016/08/31/coming-soon-for-september/ :)

[@KX5Kat]

Many thanks, may I ask, how do you go about matching your base colours to highlights o well? By eye? I rarely mix my base colours, since I'll never have a highlight to match. If I mix the base colour to the highlight, when it comes to highlighting, to get them to match, doesn't this ruin the composition of the highlight layer since it makes it less transparent? Finally, when doing your first highlight, do you paint over everything, save the crevices/darkest areas, or are you a bit more selective? It gets a bit tricky after I've shaded a generally flat area, trying to decide what to highlight for the first layer and what to leave shaded. Thanks again!

[@Sorastro]

Thank you! I'm pretty intuitive when I make color selections but there is also a bit of trial and error too (I test all my ideas out before filming of course!). You're right that using base colors as highlights isn't ideal because they're so opaque, but sometimes I'll do it if it gives me the color I'm after :)

[@rooter6]

Nice painting! Do you happen to dislike final effect and just want to start over again? Is it possible do that once miniature is painted? I heard about some car oil bath to remove paint. Is it safe for figures?

[@Sorastro]

Hi Mateusz! I haven't actually tried stripping a miniature before but I believe Dettol (here in the UK) works very well, and I've heard Simple Green is also good..

[@rooter6]

I see, thanks for your advices. I really appreciate that ;-)

[@maxbrandt6]

Purple Power is also very effective but you have to soak the mini for 16 to 20 hours, then lightly scrub with an old toothbrush under cold water until all paint and old primer is gone. This is good for both plastic, resin and metal figures. I used to use straight lacquer thinner for metal figures, but that is expensive and dangerous!

[@Infernalfist]

Just out of curiosity. What would be the difference between starting dark and highlighting lighter colors rather than painting lighter colors and using a darker wash with the red areas?

[@Sorastro]

Hi Sean! There won't be much difference in the finished look but I generally like to use a wash to help easily define the creases/recesses/textures :)

[@Infernalfist]

Oh, so to have more control over the highlights. That makes sense.

[@sergioc404]

Thank you very much for putting these tutorials together, they've inspired me to try painting mine. I wanted to ask, what do you use to mix colors? The video shows you using a brush, but I don't think you're dipping it into all containers. How do you measure the ratios? Thanks again.

[@Sorastro]

Hi Sergio! I just use an old brush to collect the paint from the pot and to mix them together, so I measure the ratios in "brushfulls" :)

[@sergioc404]

Thanks

[@Des-rh9zn]

Oh my god time to hunt this one down just for fun I can’t believe Carnor Jax got a minature

[@Sorastro]

:D

[@oliverizzard8751]

What color would evil suns scarlet be in Vallejo game colors?

[@Sorastro]

Hi Oliver! It's slightly less crimson but Bloody Red (VGC 72.010) is a pretty close match :)

[@therealrunesead]

Oh man, when's the next Black Plague video?

[@Sorastro]

It will be released on early access for patrons on Wednesday, then on general release a week later :)

[@therealrunesead]

+Sorastro's Painting Awesome!! I am starting the hobby soon by painting the BP set and your videos are top notch!

[@Sorastro]

Thank you so much! After the necromancer I'll be getting suck into the heroes.. can't wait! :)

[@roemersworkshop]

Holy crap that's Carnor Jax from Crimson Empire!

[@Rikalonius]

Mine is Kir Kanos :)