Tabletop Warhammer?

Soldato
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Yep fudged a terminator tonight. Instead of prime the miniature metallic I painted it on and then I put two coats of black templar which completely nullified the metallic.
 

rjk

rjk

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If you want my opinion you just need to decide, commit, and finish some “bad” looking models. Don’t strip them, don’t change your mind and start again, just paint them, base them, then paint more. Let your early models be “badly painted”.

The first five might not look great, the next five will look better, and so on and so on until there’s like 25 of them - and then guess what, they’ll look sick, for two reasons - the later ones will be much better than the early ones, but the main thing is there’ll be 25 of them, same army, same scheme, same bases. They’ll look great.

I painted a massive chunk of a Necron army a little while ago and they look absolutely sick imo.

I didn’t spend much time on them, and they don’t hold up all that well when you eyeball them up close, but there’s like 60 models, all painted the same way on nice bases and they look so great PURELY for that reason.

Finishing models and finishing units does so much for your confidence and your ability and can’t be underestimated. Just getting reps in and having a sense of achievement. I am an absolute nightmare for not finishing projects but I’m getting a lot better.

Also I know I’m blathering on but minis always look bad for a significant portion of the actual painting process, just push through it. Trust the process.

This is the best advice on this thread.
Don't worry about the model outcome at all. I did my necron army and can honestly say I didnt care about the standard, just how it looks all together. I've put effort into my characters but the full 3000+ points took around 100 hours. I've spent well over double that time on 1900pts of black Templars.

The models are expensive. You don't need to do them super quickly either. There's.nothijg wrong with taking a long time.
It's quicker to add a kit to your basket than it is to paint it to any standard so you may as well do it justice.
If I spent £35 on a PC game I'd want 10 hours+ out of it so a model kit presents great value when you spend as much time as you need on it.
 
Sgarrista
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This is the best advice on this thread.
Don't worry about the model outcome at all. I did my necron army and can honestly say I didnt care about the standard, just how it looks all together. I've put effort into my characters but the full 3000+ points took around 100 hours. I've spent well over double that time on 1900pts of black Templars.

The models are expensive. You don't need to do them super quickly either. There's.nothijg wrong with taking a long time.
It's quicker to add a kit to your basket than it is to paint it to any standard so you may as well do it justice.
If I spent £35 on a PC game I'd want 10 hours+ out of it so a model kit presents great value when you spend as much time as you need on it.


I kind of look at it the other way. My painting standard since restarting has imho come on leaps and bounds, the comments on my void dragon in shop when playing are always really positive.

But part of that is, can go to town painting and trying things, safe in the knowledge if I fudge it up can drop it into the tub of IPA and start again the next day.

Then, the parts I did well or liked, can repeat the technique and get the muscle memory in. This is why im starting on szarekhs staff, have worked out how to do the "stick" part that he holds nicely, so tomorrow will repeat the techniques used and hopefully end up with an even better result!

And yea, we are talking the really basic stick part, but to get it a lovely royal looking blue involves drybrushing, shade, contrast, more drybrushing, layer 1, and layer 2 with color mixing and blending. Overkill for a stick, but handy to practise techniques.
 
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Soldato
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Took me 45 space wolves to get to a point I was happy with a hybrid airbrush Eavy metal style. I just don’t particularly want to edge highlight everything going forward. Especially on the Spacewolves colour hard to notice the edge highlights most of the time you really have to push the edge highlights.

They always tell you to keep older models to see where you come though. Just since the primal hounds 3rd part bits came out I got bits to make the Villa Fenryka look even more awsome and want to try cutting parts off and removing details etc and didn’t want to try that on fresh new plastic. That’s ***** dear hah

Only bit I’ve never been happy with is my basing

First space wolves


Last one in my old scheme

 
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Soldato
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Always like the colour scheme of them (just not the lore/furry side lol)
Maybe I could paint a unit those colours, I'm not having a unified army scheme, too boring seeing loads of stuff all the same colour, especially marines.
 
Soldato
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30K wolves lore is all over the place but 40K is brilliant.

Logan Grimair is a giga chad. Grand Master Joros from the Grey knights ****** around and found out!!

Salamanders and Imperial fists have awsome schemes and look fantastic on the table top. If I was to do a 30k loyal legion it would be the fists.

Kinda hoping when they get around to doing the Spacewolves codex we get a new Logan, dreadnaughts kit and thunder wolf cavalry. They are are most unique units and also the most dated ones. Other units is easy enough to kit bash and I still think the Wulfen still look great!!
 
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Associate
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Allyexpress came good hah new hobby tools. Ordered the wrong size sanding pads tho!! Should have got the 5mm one and ordered 10mm!! The nippers are super sharp!! Wonder how long they will last.

Will be using my normal nippers to clip the part off the sprue then go in for the close cut with Dspaie nippers then sand if required.

Think the nippers where 17quid they are 43 on Amazon!




@Noxia there’s nothing stoping you trying glazing out on models already painted. You don’t even need to have the triad. Just darken down the main colour then thin paint and hit the areas you think shadow would fall.

You can do the same for the highlights and if you think you gone to far you can glaze with the main colour to smooth out the transitions.

It’s best to over thin and need more coats than have the paint too thick.The triad systems are just painter friendly to help you get paints that’s the same colour hue. I wouldn’t have a chance picking the same hue being colour blind. (If you don’t want to mix paint)

The terminology is more intimidating than the actual techniques.

Nice wee video explaining layers and glazing. Only really difference between layers and glazing is the thickness of the paint.
I just ordered one of those sanding pens this morning along with the 5mm sanding pad pack.

Hopefully it will speed up my build process quite a bit ;)

Cheers all
 
Soldato
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30K wolves lore is all over the place but 40K is brilliant.

Logan Grimair is a giga chad. Grand Master Joros from the Grey knights ****** around and found out!!

Salamanders and Imperial fists have awsome schemes and look fantastic on the table top. If I was to do a 30k loyal legion it would be the fists.

Kinda hoping when they get around to doing the Spacewolves codex we get a new Logan, dreadnaughts kit and thunder wolf cavalry. They are are most unique units and also the most dated ones. Other units is easy enough to kit bash and I still think the Wulfen still look great!!

Yeah I withdraw that comment as I just realised I haven't really touched on Space Wolf lore at all. Perhaps I should have just said not a huuuge fan of the aesthetic when the furs/pelts are involved but love the colour scheme.
My chaos terms have got some annoying furry bits on them.

@roman59 Never heard of a sanding pen before! Just purchased a sanding sponge sheet (1000 grit) but the pens seem useful. Though upon googling it seems you can get 'sanding bands' for a Dremel but not sure how practical that is.

PS: I tried to add a darker bit on this marine legs, I got the shadow colour, added a lot of water so it was pretty much see through and did 3 or 4 passes. Can't tell if that's a good result or not lol. Notwithstanding the fact I have no artistic aptitude.
Also tried on knees but the highlight colour seemed to lose a lot of pigment when I mixed with water and it ended up as you see, which suggests actually it carried a lot, but I was seeing random really bright bits that made me think I was just spreading water about.
Will watch those videos later, also going to get some plastic spoons to practice on for various things.

 
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Yeah I withdraw that comment as I just realised I haven't really touched on Space Wolf lore at all. Perhaps I should have just said not a huuuge fan of the aesthetic when the first/pelts are involved but love the colour scheme.
My chaos terms have got some annoying furry bits on them.

@roman59 Never heard of a sanding pen before! Just purchased a sanding sponge sheet (1000 grit) but the pens seem useful. Though upon googling it seems you can get 'sanding bands' for a Dremel but not sure how practical that is.

PS: I tried to add a darker bit on this marine legs, I got the shadow colour, added a lot of water so it was pretty much see through and did 3 or 4 passes. Can't tell if that's a good result or not lol. Notwithstanding the fact I have no artistic aptitude.
Also tried on knees but the highlight colour seemed to lose a lot of pigment when I mixed with water and it ended up as you see, which suggests actually it carried a lot, but I was seeing random really bright bits that made me think I was just spreading water about.
Will watch those videos later, also going to get some plastic spoons to practice on for various things.

Those sanding pens do look really handy, nice a compact to hold too.

I have got a Parkside Mini Tool (Lidls brand of Dremel) and its too big and awkward to work with the minis.

The green space marine that I painted a few posts back I used Karandras Green & Warp Lightning, both contrast paints straight out of the bottle as per Warhipsters video.

What I have found though is the smoother the primer the better really helps when those base coats go down onto the mini, I have just reprimed 10 Stormcast Eternals this afternoon as Retributor Armour just would not give a nice gold base layer on top of the white AK Interactive filler primer I had been using.

Which type of green paint have you been thinning down with water ? As I tend to use Lahmian Medium to thin my paints down a bit, and I use contrast medium with the contrast paints as water is not good with them at all. Another alternative is a product called Flow Aid from Liquitex which can be found on Amazon or any good art store.

Good to see you on Discord last night too ;)
 
Soldato
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Those sanding pens do look really handy, nice a compact to hold too.

I have got a Parkside Mini Tool (Lidls brand of Dremel) and its too big and awkward to work with the minis.

The green space marine that I painted a few posts back I used Karandras Green & Warp Lightning, both contrast paints straight out of the bottle as per Warhipsters video.

What I have found though is the smoother the primer the better really helps when those base coats go down onto the mini, I have just reprimed 10 Stormcast Eternals this afternoon as Retributor Armour just would not give a nice gold base layer on top of the white AK Interactive filler primer I had been using.

Which type of green paint have you been thinning down with water ? As I tend to use Lahmian Medium to thin my paints down a bit, and I use contrast medium with the contrast paints as water is not good with them at all. Another alternative is a product called Flow Aid from Liquitex which can be found on Amazon or any good art store.

Good to see you on Discord last night too ;)

I'll see how I get on with the sponge but the main thing that annoys me is I think I've scraped off a mould line and yet I can still see it when I paint so clearly I'm not doing it properly.

I only have normal acrylic paints and contrast (I have contrast medium too), the one I was practicing with was TTC Wyvern Green which matches to Citadel Caliban Green. I think lamian medium is one of those things I bought thinking I'd need it but I wasn't sure why. There's a few of those purchases about lol.
 
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Soldato
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@Noxia Sphere shapes like the knees need a circular highlight. Which you have done with the correct placement. What you want to do now is glaze the edges of the highlight with a darker mix to smooth out the transitions from your mid tone to highlight.

It’s important to let layers and glazing dry before you add a second or 3rd coat. Aim to cover part of the highlight and the midtone with next few passes.

I can see plenty is shadow in the crouch area and inside of the thighs not sure if that’s where you placed the shadows or just naturally painted it that way. Bit of edge highlighting by brush or even dry brushing and that would be pretty decent without even trying the layering highlights on the knees.

Layering and glazing isn’t very army friendly.

I just repeat what others have said practice and repeating steps helps you improve. I had about 15 stormcasts under my belt before I tried my first attempt on a marine.
 
Soldato
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@roman59 just check my invoice from Allyexpress to make sure on the prices. Nippers were 19 with shipping and tax and the sanding pen was 21 all in. Ordered on the 16th of December.

The quality of the two items is extremely impressive.

I think I seen the sanding pen on Ninjon channel. What can I say. I’m a sucker for product placement hah will certainly help me with removing Aquilas etc. think he warn people to use it on its lowest speed with the highest grain pads!
 
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Soldato
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@Bigpig Thank you, I will be going back to him another night but for tonight..:

You know those book where you got to decide what happens next..

This is an Infiltrator or the other one, grey seer and IF contrast. once I fill in the rubber bits, and gun tbh it would be fine for tabletop. However, what would you do to the yellow to make it more interesting? I am very wary of shades/washes because I am not accurate enough to pin wash the recess and I don't think my yellow acrylics would match to cover it (I don't think you can use contrast to cover up darker colours)
I don't want to do it but I wonder how my yellow would apply over that contrast, would defeat the point somewhat lol.

Tools not available: A yellow wash like Cassandora. I do have a yellow glaze but dunno what difference that will make.
PS: I hate the texture where my primer goes a bit like static (grey/white dots) the contrast looks weird over it up close, but from a distance it looks ok.

I do like experimenting somewhat but a faff starting again. I am wondering if I used a red/pink contrast in shadow areas and then reapply the yellow if that would work. I didn't pink/white zenithil these ones because I found the pink primer too strong and it made the yellow go really orange.

Edit: tested the volupus pink idea, it's too dark for the IF to go back over. Gonna try a light pink glaze consistency instead.

 
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Soldato
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Finally managed to finish up the Gretchin and get them stuck to the base for my first Smasha Gun!

While definitely nowhere even close to some of the painting prowess on display in this thread, I think it's my best painting job so far and I really like!

Please criticise away, there's a few things I can see after photo-ing that I don't like/would do differently next time, but would love some tips and trick which could make it better :D

16nC71Y.jpg

pLYIf41.jpg

mZ02ooH.jpg

IAlzW01.jpg
 

Bar

Bar

Soldato
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Finally managed to finish up the Gretchin and get them stuck to the base for my first Smasha Gun!

While definitely nowhere even close to some of the painting prowess on display in this thread, I think it's my best painting job so far and I really like!

Please criticise away, there's a few things I can see after photo-ing that I don't like/would do differently next time, but would love some tips and trick which could make it better :D

16nC71Y.jpg

pLYIf41.jpg

mZ02ooH.jpg

IAlzW01.jpg
Think youve done an excellent job with the painting - couple of mis strokes but you only see them when zoomed in so I wouldnt worry about them. The only comment I had is that the paint looks too "clean" for Orks - think the model would pop more with some weathering (rust streaks, dirt in the tyres, oil stains etc) most of these can be done with washes but you can also get weathering kits which come with powder for a more pronounced look.
 
Soldato
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Think youve done an excellent job with the painting - couple of mis strokes but you only see them when zoomed in so I wouldnt worry about them. The only comment I had is that the paint looks too "clean" for Orks - think the model would pop more with some weathering (rust streaks, dirt in the tyres, oil stains etc) most of these can be done with washes but you can also get weathering kits which come with powder for a more pronounced look.

Thanks for the critique!

Deffo a few mis-strokes, trying to get my army done by the end of the month though, and as you can and from the primed models behind it, i've got a way to go :cry:

Do know what you mean re the weathering! I've got in a bad habit of going overboard with weathering on my last few models and ending up not liking it, so wanted to try something a bit cleaner this time, especially as i'll probably doing some variety of space marine army next :)
 

Bar

Bar

Soldato
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Thanks for the critique!

Deffo a few mis-strokes, trying to get my army done by the end of the month though, and as you can and from the primed models behind it, i've got a way to go :cry:

Do know what you mean re the weathering! I've got in a bad habit of going overboard with weathering on my last few models and ending up not liking it, so wanted to try something a bit cleaner this time, especially as i'll probably doing some variety of space marine army next :)
So things like sand on the tires tinted brown to represent mud could work, would need to be light to match the base you have.

Small amount of something like Agrax Earthshade (or similar) can create streaks around the bolt heads or around the cracks. You could also use nuln oil to create some oil streaks where there are pneumatics or joints on the gun. Always a difficult one once you have finished but perhaps something to consider on a future model, as you say its a hard balance and youve just got to go with what works for you.
 
Soldato
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So things like sand on the tires tinted brown to represent mud could work, would need to be light to match the base you have.

Small amount of something like Agrax Earthshade (or similar) can create streaks around the bolt heads or around the cracks. You could also use nuln oil to create some oil streaks where there are pneumatics or joints on the gun. Always a difficult one once you have finished but perhaps something to consider on a future model, as you say its a hard balance and youve just got to go with what works for you.

I’ve got another Smasha Gun so going to try and copy this one but will try a bit more weathering on that one, thanks for the tips!
 
Soldato
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WIP on my despoiler, got this and two war dogs from Armigers on the go at the moment.

Forgot how much fun Knights are to paint, love getting the oils out and doing a bunch of dot filtering.

I couldn't be bothered to get the airbrush out so I've been stippling these instead and pretty happy with how they're coming out.



 
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