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Howdy, I have been playing Warhammer/40K for almost 25 years, I decided to paint and convert a Cadian 8th Army. Please enjoy, this will be a long project and I will update periodically. I have arthritis in my hands, so please bear with me, my painting is not going to get much better. I enjoy the sheer fun of collecting, and coments are welcome.

Here is my version of Creed and Kell.

Commissars at the ready. Currently I have about 250 plastics to assemble and paint for this project. I prefer metals, but with the economy the way it is, plastics are easier to order, and less costly to have shipped to me.

like it sorry bout your hands

Hello KF Jim, nice clean and crisp colours. As to your arthritis, I would be suggesting using the washes to put immediate depth to the models, then drybrushing over the areas to raise them back. Especially on the areas of solid green and brown, flack jackets and trousers.

These two methods should not be too trying on your condition I think.

Yeah for sure. You seem to be good at keeping between the lines, which is always the main concern.

Get a bunch of the citadel washes, and give each colour a good going over, you'll notice an immediate effect. The ever-popular Devlan Mud would look good these guys.

Also I wouldn't bother painting the eyes. I myself don't even bother to paint the eyes (mainly as I find it creepy), just get a good wash over the face and the eyelids become part of the detail.

The Vets with shotguns look cool, how'd you do those?

Keep up the good work pal. Looking forward to seeing more.

I know how hard it is to paint when you have problems with your hands. I suffer from a stomach condition that means that I don't absorb as much from food as most people do so my hands shake all over the show for a large portion of the day. I know one or two people who just give up painting because of their hands so i commend you for trying.

Tek has already mentioned it and I agree that washes will soon become your best friend. Easy to use with great results - it is a huge confidence booster early on.

And I don't bother painting eyes. From a distance you can't really see details of eyes so just leave them quite dark. Usually when people do eyes, even the most professional of painters, it looks wrong. It's very tough to get right.

Thanks for the comments, I will look into the washes.
@ TEK: the veterans with shotguns are from Forgeworld, and the veteran with comm's is the stormtrooper tank commander with shotgun, and ruck sack.

Since it will be a little while until I post some new work, here are a few of my favorites I've already done.

I love the bombed out Cath!

I always loved the Steel Legion Officer with the sword raised over his head with his other arm pointing, you've done a really good job and definitely done that model justice.

Even for arthritis, you paint above tabletop standard imo.

And don't think that you won't get better, because I think that you will. Even with your condition, I'm sure that slowly but surely you'll start to notice improvements.
I definitely agree with buying the washes. Those improve pretty much all models.

That's pretty good for someone with arthritis, but in reality it isn't your paintings accuracy that's holding back how good your models look (though if you can't do eyes really well, don't do them at all). What is holding you back is the lack of highlighting and shading - like everyone has said, washes are a great way to achieve this very quickly and easily. Edge highlighting would be very difficult with arthritis, I'd imagine, so yeah, washes!

I think the harder we "try" to steady our hand , the more it actually shakes due to stressing the muscles.

When i paint i put my wrist on something solid and move the 3 fingers that touches the brush .

To help relax i sometimes pretending to do brush strokes in air before actually applying the real paint on.
It also helps to do long exhales while doing the paint stroke.

i always paint my models' eyes...easy as it takes only 3 min...but it DOES look creepy...one night i woke up and some models were wandering around me room and talking to each other ....scary man...

nice looking minis. I get shakes in my right hand arm after an accident with a glass window resulting in tendon and nerve damage. its one thing that i guess you just have to find the way that works best for you. I tend to clamp the mini down and sometimes use both hands to steady the brush. I agree with the comments about trying to breath normally, not tense up your muscles as it makes you shakes multiply. Keep your WIP going. You're making more progress with the imps than i am so far!

Ace man. I know how hard it is to paint with Arthiritus .

the_emperors_renegade wrote:i always paint my models' eyes...easy as it takes only 3 min...but it DOES look creepy...one night i woke up and some models were wandering around me room and talking to each other ....scary man...

Next time you'll wake up, tied to your bed, with one aiming a bolt pistol at your face, the rest stealing your possesions.

Little lord Fauntleroy wrote:

the_emperors_renegade wrote:i always paint my models' eyes...easy as it takes only 3 min...but it DOES look creepy...one night i woke up and some models were wandering around me room and talking to each other ....scary man...

Next time you'll wake up, tied to your bed, with one aiming a bolt pistol at your face, the rest stealing your possesions.

And your underpants. Don't forget the underpants

Even with Arthritis, I have to say that the greens and browns came out very clear and definative. Rather than eyes, I would suggest just drybrushing darker shading under the lip of the helmet to give the illusion of shadow. Eyes are a very, very minute and touchy detail, and getting them perfect with arthritis could be very trying on one's patience. Tossing a wash on the minis will help with adding shadows too. I recommend Devlan Mud because... Well... It goes good on everything. Even Ice Cream. Mmmm.

Alternatively, you can just try to clean up the skin -around- the eye after painting it, rather than trying too hard on the initial application. I find this method to be quite preferable, as it makes eyes much less tedious

Nonetheless, superb work. Toss some highlights on the cloth to help bring it out some. I like the camo pattern on their Flak Armour too!

Sorry everyone, the eyes are staying, I do them Anime style, for my own amusement. I will post more pics soon.


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Thanks to everyone for your suggestions, it is great to have a hobby that is enjoyed around the world.

Time for an update, I decided to add some native scouts, hope you like them.

Here is an objective piece.

Here is a combat engineer, I always loved the little plastic mine sweeper army guys, so I had to build one of my own.

Here are a few more WIP.

dude your stuff is seriosuly awsome! the steel legion are amazing, the cadians have a cool cohesive colour scheme and as for your conversions snake stranski is simply godlike......howd you make him?

im watching this thread like i watch infiltraitors....

eg. religously


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oh and the combat engineer looks so great i could cry....please tell me how you made him XD

I wouldn't go as far as that guy, but that Snake Stranski conversion is cool. I think I'm going to get myself a Stranski model now and convert him to have legs.

Thanks for the kind words! The conversion was fairly simple, I got the Forgeworld model and added legs, and extra space marine accessories to it. As or right now I have about 5 squads finished will post soon.

Sorry, I have been called away on business, but I will update as soon as I get back home, until then enjoy this blast from the past.

Great models, great spirit.

I second MGS that loads of Washes are the way to go. Take a look at Les' wash recipe over on the P/M Tutorial Forum to take a look at what we mean.

Sometimes your paints also look like they could use a good stir - that would make the colours look a lot flatter and cleaner, and then, when combined with washes, would give you a fantastic effect.

Kudos.

sA

Of your not going to do the wash method than I recommend painting over black primer , this way the recess and area that should stay dark do too shadow will already be black .

@ Slann: Good idea, thanks.