Tips for a new painter

Baggins_451

Baggins_451

Baggins_451

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Joined
20 Jan 2003
Posts
413
Hi all, I’ve been thinking about trying war gaming for a while and took the plunge the other day buying some ultramarines, paint and brushes. Watched quite a few YouTube vids on painting techniques, put my models together, primed them and made up a wet palette.

Other than ‘get in there’ what are your top tips for a beginner?
 
You got a good light? You need a good light, you don't have to spend money on a specific painting light though.

Thin your paints, slightly. You can always do a second coat. You'll get used to getting the consistency right with practice.

As you are starting out try painting them one at a time rather than batch painting. That way your technique will improve faster as you learn.

Also don't forget worst case you can safely strip plastics and start over.
 
BUDFORCE said:
You got a good light? You need a good light, you don't have to spend money on a specific painting light though.

Thin your paints, slightly. You can always do a second coat. You'll get used to getting the consistency right with practice.

As you are starting out try painting them one at a time rather than batch painting. That way your technique will improve faster as you learn.

Also don't forget worst case you can safely strip plastics and start over.
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All this and just accept your first attempts won't be great, don't get disheartened then plough on and you will improve.

I started about a year ago (after about a 20 year hiatus and I sucked the first time round) and within a few month I could knock them out to a good standard. Nothing compared to what you see in the magazine's but I'm only aiming for a bit better than tabletop standard and I would like to think I'm thereabouts.
 
Re the light, depending on the fittings in your room/lamp you can get better bulbs cheaply so you can potentially update a lamp rather than replace it.
I was a tad annoyed to realise that an old fluorescent work lamp I threw out a while back because it hadn't been used for years (because the tubes in it were rubbish), could have been updated with a tenner's worth of daylight tubes :/

budforce's tips are all good, although you'll find your ability improves fairly quickly as you get used to what you're doing.

I'd suggest taking care of your brushes (get some cleaner), using two water pots, one for normal paints and one for metals, and try to avoid using an expensive brush for metals as the flakes/particles in the metal paints aren't great for brushes

Also, like your computer desk, you want your painting desk to be at a height that is comfortable to work at.
 
Don't make the mistake I did of jumping in after a 20 years break with overly tricky guides/techniques. I was definitely trying to run before being able to walk! This is the best resource I've seen for practising basic techniques that give good results and getting minis on the table https://www.youtube.com/user/docwholigan I'd also check out this guy's basic how to videos https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ94-fHMfAt1hH_gvkj5bWaxqtlXcPOpf and carry on with him when you're more happy with the bread and butter stuff. There's a 101 other great painting channels to check out too, but the How I Paint Things dude is imho the best place to start.

//edit and have fun! Painting minis is awesome. I enjoy it so much these days that it's replaced video gaming as my main hoby.
 
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Baggins_451 said:
Thanks everyone for the advice, very helpful.
I’ve done some painting every night this week, finding it very relaxing :)
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Yea it's good, I've been at it a couple of months since returning after 20 odd years.

I've slowed down a bit after completing my grey knight army, but the great thing is you can pick it up as and when. I've done 18 Termagants, and just made a start of my genestealers.

Also put back together and spend a while weighing down bases on metal hormagants. Those 2nd edition versions are an absolute nightmare, they are top heavy and don't stand up. I crushed down lead fishing wieghts and then hot glued it to the underside of the base.

And actually on one that didn't even do it, so I had to add more on top and I'll paint them up as rocks.
 
Another tip, not strictly painting related, but having something like a podcast or even audiobook on whilst you're painting can be helpful/relaxing :)
Just don't put on something that'll make you laugh, it's really annoying when halfway through a delicate bit of painting you hear something that makes you burst out laughing with the result your hands shake :/
On a related note humblebundle have a warhammer audio book bundle at the moment ;)

I've started listening to Judge Dredd and similar audiobooks via headphones when I paint, partly as I realised it was more interesting that listening to music whilst I was airbrushing (and my airbrush sessions often end up lasting an hour or more).
 
Windsor and Newton (series 7 I think), used to be very highly recommended, but a couple of the people I play with have been complaining about the quality of them over the last year or so, and I've heard rumours that GW who used to buy them by the crate for their painters have had issues with very high rates of bad brushes.

I'm not sure what the current best price/performance brushes are.
 
I use a variety of brushes but get the Windsor and Newton 'cotman" range. They are intended for watercolour but they work well with GW/Vajello paints.

They are not particularly expensive.

Basically the general consensus is it's not worth buying really expensive brushes, the Cotman range are like £3-£4 a go, the idea is just to replace them when they wear out.

Don't buy GW brushes they are pretty terrible these days, apart from their drybrush is good.

Also Vajello paints are mostly the win over GW paints, barring a few colours.
 
I have bought medium cost (Up to £7 - Games Workshop, Winsor and Newton, Rosmary & Co) and cheap brushes (£2 for 4 from hobby shop). I'm swaying towards the cheaper ones.

I also worked out that if your brushes have that crusty feel to them after they have been washed and dried, its because there is still paint stuck to the bristles. This ends up trashing the brush very quickly, so now at the end of the session I'll clean them in some acrylic brush cleaner. They end up nice and fresh the next time I go to use them.

Wet pallet is a must for me now. Also you don't need every colour under the sun, mix up existing colours. Especially for highlighting, not that I bother to highlight much.
 
Hmmm. I personally find it's worth having the colours.

Base coat, wash, 2x highlight/drybrush, per colour. It depends what you are painting, but I'm going through Tyranids at the moment, probably looking at 70+ model count, so it makes sense not having to mix up colours every time, plus I know it'll all be consistent.

There are eBay sellers that sell Vajello paints individually, so you can just get the ones you need. Also lookup the conversion charts, as most GW/Vajello have equivalents.

Nothing against GW paint, but I don't like the pots, and find it much easier to be able to get the individual Vajello ones.
 
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