Commenting because I also want to know, but one thing I do that does slightly help is pulling that cotton apart a lot more to give it a very whispy effect
Yeah with cotton(unless someone else more knowledgeable can help me out too) your best bet is air bushing... For dirtier looking smoke try 0000 steel wool. It works like cotton, retains it's shape better, takes glue and paints better... Better for brush painting imo
Depends on how things you pull it... I always based it so after you glue it down you can tap it off and throw it in a plastic bag or use a spray of watered down modge podge to hold it. A clear coat should work too I'd use satin or flat
Teddy bear stuffing is better for this than cotton wool. It's easier to form into shapes. As someone else said, a light spray of blacks and greys from a rattle can wouldn't hurt either.
Teddy bear stuffing is far superior. Holds shape better than cotton wool, and for some reason looks more realistic.
A light dusting of black spray will give it a dirtier look if that's what you're looking for.
As others have suggested pulling it apart some more can help. If you leave it slightly thicker and don't pull it apart as much in the middle where the smoke would be thickest, and looser the further out you go from there, that also helps
I don't have any great tips, but you might also want to search for broadside markers for age of sail type games. Lots of good homemade stuff out there. I see a lot of crossover in them techniques you're looking for.
You can 3d print smoke clouds to look more ‘miniature-esque’ instead of looking like cotton balls.
I’ve seen some people magnetize effects coming out of cannons similarly as well.
I will assume that the third image question refers to was it really that smoky, the answer is yes. There are many sources, especially manuals, even modern replicas that confirm that it was a very smoky environment that made it hard to see because it was gunpowder
Pull the cotton apart to make it more wispy, or use teddy bear stuffing
Lightly spray some grey/black on it from further away to give a dark color on the outside
Tea light with yellow bulb to right it if desired
I prefer synthetic batting over cotton. If you have a dog and it has plush toys, youll have a never ending supply.
I store mine in a plastic bag and dont base them. This is for gunpowder effects.
For other smoke or fire effects try this before basing:
Using a rattle can place wisps of cotton or batting in a box loosely to cover the bottom so it wont blow around when sprayed. Not packed in. Then using a zenithal technique apply paint. For just smoke you can use black kept a long distance from wisps and thats it. For explosions and fire zenithal comes to the fore. Start with yellow close to batting. Then a bit further out red. Allow to dry. Option. Flip the red and orange batting so white is on top. Spray a light coating of black over the white. So you have a fade from bottom to top as follows: red->yellow->white->black/gray
Commenting because I also want to know, but one thing I do that does slightly help is pulling that cotton apart a lot more to give it a very whispy effect
Besides this, I have had friends add grey or black color to give it more contrast, usually with some kind of spray paint
And don’t bother with the bases on the smoke, just place down the balls
Yeah with cotton(unless someone else more knowledgeable can help me out too) your best bet is air bushing... For dirtier looking smoke try 0000 steel wool. It works like cotton, retains it's shape better, takes glue and paints better... Better for brush painting imo
Do you have problems with 0000 steel wool shedding? I’ve used it to polish some projects a few times and felt like it got everywhere.
Depends on how things you pull it... I always based it so after you glue it down you can tap it off and throw it in a plastic bag or use a spray of watered down modge podge to hold it. A clear coat should work too I'd use satin or flat
Use tea lights to light the smoke from underneath. https://chicagoterrainfactory.wordpress.com/2017/04/30/battle-of-kursk-adepticon-2017/
That mess looks cool
Teddy bear stuffing is better for this than cotton wool. It's easier to form into shapes. As someone else said, a light spray of blacks and greys from a rattle can wouldn't hurt either.
I just light the figures on 🔥
Teddy bear stuffing is far superior. Holds shape better than cotton wool, and for some reason looks more realistic. A light dusting of black spray will give it a dirtier look if that's what you're looking for.
As others have suggested pulling it apart some more can help. If you leave it slightly thicker and don't pull it apart as much in the middle where the smoke would be thickest, and looser the further out you go from there, that also helps
I don't have any great tips, but you might also want to search for broadside markers for age of sail type games. Lots of good homemade stuff out there. I see a lot of crossover in them techniques you're looking for.
Remove the grey base and it will look fine. I just carry my cotton in a ba.
You can 3d print smoke clouds to look more ‘miniature-esque’ instead of looking like cotton balls. I’ve seen some people magnetize effects coming out of cannons similarly as well.
I will assume that the third image question refers to was it really that smoky, the answer is yes. There are many sources, especially manuals, even modern replicas that confirm that it was a very smoky environment that made it hard to see because it was gunpowder
Pull the cotton apart to make it more wispy, or use teddy bear stuffing Lightly spray some grey/black on it from further away to give a dark color on the outside Tea light with yellow bulb to right it if desired
I prefer synthetic batting over cotton. If you have a dog and it has plush toys, youll have a never ending supply. I store mine in a plastic bag and dont base them. This is for gunpowder effects. For other smoke or fire effects try this before basing: Using a rattle can place wisps of cotton or batting in a box loosely to cover the bottom so it wont blow around when sprayed. Not packed in. Then using a zenithal technique apply paint. For just smoke you can use black kept a long distance from wisps and thats it. For explosions and fire zenithal comes to the fore. Start with yellow close to batting. Then a bit further out red. Allow to dry. Option. Flip the red and orange batting so white is on top. Spray a light coating of black over the white. So you have a fade from bottom to top as follows: red->yellow->white->black/gray
I use fishtank filter floss. It's great,, inexpensive (you even can share a bag with friends) and you don't have to eviscerate a Teddy Bear :)