Model Painter in France

Thomas, a Solar Echoes fan and gamer in France, recently purchased two of the 3D printed miniatures at Shapeways. He has painted both figures, and this week, I'll be asking him some questions about his experience. 

Q: You already have experience painting fantasy miniatures. In what way did the techniques you learned from that help, and did you have to change your technique at all when painting sci-fi miniatures? 

A: With fantasy miniature painting, you learn the basics : how to read the areas on your mini, adding shadows to your basecoat with washes, highlights and dry-brushing. The real difficulty for a fantasy painter tends to be the smooth surfaces you find on robots or sci-fi armors, because they ask for special techniques, like edge highlights or OSL (Object Source Lighting) that can be intimidating for a beginner. Since both the Archaeloid and the Erwani are mainly organic in their surface, I didn't have to change my technique, only the plain flat base gave me the opportunity to use masking tape to paint straight floor tiles.