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Hello all, I am a recent immigrant to this forum since I found other forums overly critical of my efforts to paint and model a 40k army. I guess the first images I will post are from a few months back, at the end of January 09 to be exact. I purchased my first tactical squad and with an AoBR set on the way, began to put them together and paint them. This was my first ever attempt at mini-painting. Also, I was dabbling in using a plaster / pva mixture to form a solid texture to apply to foam-core buildings and rubble piles. Turned out good, I think. Anyway, here are the first pictures of the first tactical squad before I learned of washes.

After I got those done, I started in on some decals and washes, and I started figuring out that not all paints were created equal. My crappy "Applebarrel" paints were sucking immensely, so I started picking up some GW paints, just in time for the new AoBR set to arrive! I knew that I wanted red with gold highlights, but I was going for a dirtier, grungier look. I wanted the models to look like wartorn veterans, not some ninnies with spit and polished armor, so I used the Badab wash liberally to achieve that end. I thought I would like plasma pistols, so I did my first conversion (simple cut and paste really) to the AoBR sergeant to give him one. I then started experimenting with Merchite red foundation paint from GW, and found I liked it very much. I had less than 3 weeks to put together a painted force for a competition, so I started cranking. (First pics are of the wash results, and my new foamcore buildings)

Nice work on the marines - sufficiently grungy! I do like the scenery you've knocked up ... what mix of plaster to PVA did you find works best?

I got a rhino and hammered it out that night, I couldn't wait! I finished it with a merchrite and gold scheme, as I envisioned.

Then I started putting together the AoBR set. I made some minor modifications to the Dreadnought so it would pass as Venerable if I needed it to be.

I spent a good deal of time on the company captain, trying out some techniques I hadn't dabbled in before, like freehanding the border of his mantle. I was pleased with the way I managed the color scheme as well.

EDIT: Forgot pictures! Doh!

I also worked hard on a terminator squad. I was pretty pleased with the results.

I bought a squad of devastators to bolster my forces, choosing to construct the plasma cannons and lascannons to give me some armor-popping power (as I reckoned I would be matching up with other SM players). I tried doing different eye colors for the first time with these. I used green, which created a good contrast I think. (Sorry no PlasCannon pics)

With the dev squad done, all I had time for before the tournament was one of the two remaining tactical squads. After they were table-top ready (3 ft rule- if they look good at 3 feet away then their table top ready!) I based the whole force with quick-and dirty city bases (texture pva base, successive layers of gray that get lighter). Luckily, the tournament was local and Battlepoints only. Unluckily, I got stomped. Here is pictures of the tactical squad, and my first 1500 pt army I took to the competition.

My recent projects:
MODELS
10 Assault marines (all base-coated, only sergeant painted)
Mephiston (done)
Chaplain (assembled, base coated)
Commander Dante (assembled, base coated)
8 Death Company squad (assembled)
2 Heavy Bolter marines (assembled)
Multi-melta marine (assembled)
Scout squad (assembled, base-coated)
Finishing the 3rd tactical squad (assembled, base-coated)
Apothecary (assembled)
Company Champion (assembled)
Command squad veterans (assembled)
Ordo Malleus Inquisitor (assembled, mostly painted)
2 Familiar Servo-Skulls (converted/assembled)
Inquisitor Lord w/ Terminator Armor (components in transit)

TERRAIN-
Cityfight buildings (done, need pictures)
Sandbag fortifications/barricades (done, need pictures)
Cloth base (needs spraypainted)
Craters (supplies purchased)


So... comments welcome. I just ask you keep them constructive and positive. I am new at this, so a little leniency on my sub-par skills would be appreciated. I know I suck, so I don't need somebody to tell me. I am making this blog so I can sit back, a year from now, and look at this blog and go "man I really DID suck."

good job, there pretty good, only thing i can say is the rhino needs a few moar coats of blood red, but everything else is pretty good, keep peactisin and ull be a pro in no time!

And NEVER EVER EVER compose a sentence as butt-rotten as the one posted just above me. Please.

Your Marines look pretty good, especially if you're just starting out with painting. You're painting is good. Unfortunately, your photo-taking skills need some work.

A couple of tips:
1) Clean off your mold lines. (seen most prominantly on the plasmapistol)
2) Paint the rim of your bases in a solid color. The heavy drybrush you have going on now is pretty ugly and it really detracts from the model, for me.

Could you get some pics with your terrain as the subject?



Ghidorah

um how did you paint you marines above? you know the red & gold ones?

few thin coats of your colour scheme will result in a much smoother appearance. Good work on the gold and i like the green eyes, it does create good contrast

its a great start. and in time when you learn more of what you like, you can always go back a touch up the older models.

also, what is this model ? never seen it before

Mephiston!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
how could you not have seen him?!

i realy should start to proof read my posts....

i suck at it.... i have actualy surprised myself with how bad that was/is. im gona leave it in for people to decipher....

bad spelling FTW!

EDIT: yes more typos and bad spellin!

Mephiston looks great, just pick out his eyes with a tiny brush and you'll be amazed how much different he will look. I can't wait to see your terrain pics, I have been trying to get some inspiration for my own stuff. For the rest of the guys one suggestion, when you are washing the armour try not leave puddles of the wash in the middle of the plates, or maybe a drybrush of your base color over it to smooth things out. Great work for your first minis though, keep it up!

This freaks me out, you have the same colours as I do. Although mine are a bit more refined/clean, you're off to a good start - might want to pick up some armour at some point for those termies to ride in

Thanks for the replies, everybody! Yes, most of my pictures were WIP shots, and I rarely have time to set up a photo lab the way it should be (i.e. dual light source, backing, angled card for reflecting backlighting, etc.), but I will try to get some better shots in the future.

@Ghidorah: Yes, today I will be setting up my cityfight terrain I have spent the free time of the last week putting together. I will include how I did it, but I don't have any WIP shots to give you. I do, however, have some terrain that passes for urban ruins. It may not look professional quality, but I made them very cheaply and I am happy with them. Also, I recently bought a model file set, so I will finally be able to tackle those mold lines! Lastly, I did consider painting the rims of the bases in solid colors, mainly to differentiate squads once I start painting uniformly. Since I only have 3 tactical squads, should I just use black, grey, light grey as the colors, or should I use different means to differentiate the squads?

@deadly chicken: I usually start with a black basecoat (generic crap paint worked fine for this), and add merchite red to the armor. I then go over the trim and gold parts very carefully. Next I used a mixture of white and tan to do the skulls and stuff. That was followed by a drybrushing over the weapons / metal bits with a vallejo paint called Gunmetal (just like the boltgun metallic). If there was any flesh, I painted it with some vallejo paints. After all that was done, I apply a coat of badab black wash over the whole model. It creates a nice dirty, grungy look if I leave the wash over the armor plates.

@karamaiko: Yes, definitely on my to-do-list. I want land-raiders! And some razorbacks would be nice for flexibility. And Preds and Vindis for fun.


Ok, today should be a fruitful day. I plan on taking pictures of some of my recent projects, such as my recent terrain exploits and the Inquisitor I painted up (albeit poorly; I wasn't happy with the result. I'll explain that later). I also plan on getting my death company stripped and base coated. This will be my first time stripping paint from models, so we'll see how it goes. I might not strip them, if they appear to have been painted with enamels. I bought them from ebay, so I have no idea what they were painted with.

ooooooo pretty nice looking Mephiston. are you gonna add Dante or any other specials?

check out the stripping models article in the P&M section

FoxPhoenix135 wrote:should I just use black, grey, light grey as the colors, or should I use different means to differentiate the squads?

Well, I usually paint the rims in a dark color so as to not draw the eye away from the model. Depending on the basing style your're using, identify the basic colors and use the darkest shade. For example, my Eldar are based in a cityfight style. Rubble-y. So, I will paint the rim Codex Grey (or it's equivalent). If I'm doing a grassy base, I will use a darker green. Not as dark as D.A. Green, though. For desert schemes, I use an orangey brown, like Leprous Brown (do they still make that?). If the base is wilderness, grass, stones, and dirt, I will paint the base Scorched Brown.

I would also advise against painting rims different colors to differentiate squads. Just personal taste, really, but don't like the look of it at all. I think it takes away from the unifying look of an army. I also abhorr painting things like numbers, names, or color swatches on bases to ID squads. If you REALLY need to differentiate squads on a permanent basis, all you need to do is paint a number on a knee or shoulder pad. GW's supplied decal sheets are perfect for this.

Personally, all my Defender Guardians (anywhere from 2-5 squads) are similar enough that any one of them could be in any squad at any given time. Due to the squad size ranging from 10-20, I change up numbers from time to time. Sometimes I add or subtract a few to manipulate my points while building an army. It behooves me to piant them so they are interchangeable. On the tabletop, it's easy enough to seperate one squad from the next. Especially so with Marines, as you only have 10-man squads and, in your case, only three of them.


Ghidorah

I just wanted to comment and say that I think your stuff is great. I can tell you are putting a lot of effort into it and trying your hardest. Don't let criticism get to you, if you are happy with your army in the end that is what matters.

Thank you for the kind words, all.

@Snikrot's Grot: I have a commander Dante model, but I haven't gotten around to painting it. A big problem I am having is that the Power Axe he wields is really hard to get glued on. I used 2 part epoxy glue, which is the strongest glue I have, and it didn't work. The axe shaft came off again, so I need to find a better adhesive before I can think about painting it.

@Ghidorah: Yeah, I'll paint the bases dark grey then. I am not really worried about differentiating them on the table as much as off the table, in my storage case! I guess it really doesn't matter, because space marines are pretty interchangeable. Thanks for the help!

@GMMStudios: Thanks! I appreciate the compliments.


OK, now for the main event!

I spent the majority of the day painting my Chaplain (which will be a well used model in my Blood Angel Codex army to keep all those Death Company Marines in line!) and I got some nice pictures of it! I really applied every trick I knew for this one: Highlighting, washing, drybrushing, and I even painted the eyes! Ok... ok it may not be the best but I am happy with how the overall scheme laid out. I like the Bling Chaplain!

For the other pictures: I have my Astartes Shrine / Bell tower, made from wedding cake pillars, cork sheets, hot glue, pva glue, and craft sticks along with various plastic bits (such as the marine statue and the ruined bell). I have yet to make a ladder to it, but I already made a rough staircase with 1" wide steps that lead up to it. Unfortunately, that staircase is really ugly so I didn't photograph it.

Also included are pictures of my foamcore buildings, made from foamcore (duh), masking tape, plaster, pva glue, and potting soil I pinched from the wife's plant! They represent totally burnt buildings fairly well. They look totally slagged.

I also got a few snaps of a regular cork-made building corner. I like this piece because it was the first time I used the craft sticks as a wood floor, and I liked the idea so much I made the Belltower pictured above. I have a lot of pieces similar to this, albeit without the but I didn't have time to separately photograph them all. They are simple structures made from cork, pva glue, and hot glue. The PVA glue is merely to harden the cork sheets. The main adhesive is the hot glue, which works wonders at piecing together the cork. Don't do it while the kids are around, however, because the hot glue can cause burns! Duh, right?

Well anyway, questions and comments welcome as always.

EDIT: for captions

Wow! Are you sure you're just starting this up ? Because you show the beginnings of a really good painter, and terrain maker. I particularly like the marine holding his fist up in stop-hand-signal-sort-of-way (at least that's how I interpreted it) and the piece of terrain with the columns.

There's nothing I can say that hasn't been said already, but I will say keep up the good work! You're doing fantastic for just starting.

Yes, I just started at the end of January, it's true. That's not to mention the HOURS upon HOURS of reading on the subject of miniature painting before they got here ! I didn't really know what I was doing at first, and I barely understood some of the concepts that I had read about such as washes and drybrushing, but as I went along I found out what worked for me. I am still daunted a little bit by thinking about repainting all those tactical marines that I did, because I have found I am much better rewarded by sitting and finishing one model at a time. I hate assembly line painting, because I get bored and then I get sloppy, but if I painted one model at a time I think my neck would give out from the strain! I can't sit at my table painting for more than a couple hours before I get to hurting a little. I guess I should start doing all those neck exercises they tried to teach us in the Service back in the day... and I thought I would never use them!

Anyhoo, I am working on another Assault Marine sergeant (I have two squads of 5, thinking that I was going to buy a third box but never did. I keep trying to land some Jump Pack bits off ebay but I don't want to spend as much as the boxed set cost just for the packs!), this one with a power sword and no helmet. I like the look of special or important characters without their helmets, because it somehow makes them look more daring. "Hah! Helmets are for wimps..."

I might have him done before I go to work tomorrow, but we'll see. If I do, I'll post pics. Also, I need to get pics of the Inquisitor in power armor I did a lousy job of painting. Maybe I will try to touch up the paintjob on that one first, and I'll post pics of that if I do.

i like the statue idea however you should cut it off its base and restick it. it looks a tad weird.

Would anybody be interested in a tutorial of how I did my cork buildings, or have you all seen that kind of terrain already?

@deadly chicken: I thought about that.... but I like building really, really, REALLY durable terrain pieces, and taking the model off the base would have resulted in less for the hot-glue to adhere to, and the model was already glued to the base with plastic cement (the kind that literally welds the two plastics together) so removing it would have been needlessly difficult. (That was the worst run-on sentence I have used in years!) The reason for the durable pieces is that I have little mini-me's running around. It isn't so much because my kids damage them, but more along the lines that when I have to try to find a place for everything (out of sight and out of mind so the wife doesn't get PO'd) they tend to get dumped in a container of some sort and they could break easily if they are too fragile (my current storage container for terrain pieces consists of large soda-crates, the kind that 20 oz bottles get shipped in).

then maybe change the base so its not so obvious its a GW model on a GW base. but apart from my knit picking thats some great scenery.