Painting & Modeling Forum Guidelines.
What Goes Where?
The Painting and Modeling section is broken up into three sections:
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Painting & Modeling
This section is for questions and general discussion of painting and modeling techniques, including asking for pictures from other people for certain types of models.
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Painting & Modeling Showcase
This section is for posting pictures of your finished models for critiques and praise
only. If it is an ongoing project, it
should not be posted here. If it is a request for pictures from others (whether they be finished models or not) then it
should not be posted here.
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Dakka P&M Blogs
This section is for posting ongoing projects. These can be anything from a single work-in-progress model, to chronicling the assembly of an army or building a gaming table.
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Painting and Modeling Tutorials
This section is for sharing your expertise by posting step-by-step walkthroughs of modeling techniques. Preferably should be accompanied by relevant pictures or video.
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The Gallery
Images you attach you your post are automatically added to the Dakka
Gallery. You can also manually set up your gallery pages, which allows you to add titles and tonker with your pics. Please note that sideways pictures, non-gaming related images or images deemed to be too poor quality will be removed from the gallery. If you are posting images of miniatures that are not your own, please be sure to credit them to the appropriate person.
If you have posted a thread here, and have just realised that you have put it in the wrong forum, just hit the mod alert button with a 'wrong forum' type description and we'll get it moved to the right board as soon as we see it.
Likewise, if you see a thread in the wrong place that isn't your own, do the same thing! It's not tattling, just getting things in the appropriate sections for better feedback!
Posting Feedback
- Oh no you di'nt?
Feedback is what the P&M board is all about. People want to share what they've been working on, and naturally welcome comments on that work.
It's important to remember when posting that the forum includes people of all ages and backgrounds. The miniature you're commenting on may have been painted by a crusty old veteran... or it may have been painted by a kid, someone painting for the first time, someone with a disability or just by someone who's a bit nervous about sharing their work.
So comments and criticism should be constructive and polite. Not just because being polite is Dakka's rule #1, but also because rude or overly negative comments don't encourage the poster to return.
So a comment to the effect of: “It's a good start, but the paint is a little rough in places. Maybe try...etc” is fine.
Just saying “That's rubbish. The paint is all rough and horrible.” is not.
- The Mists of Time
Please note that Dakka's rules about 'threadnomancy' (ie: resurrecting old threads) do still apply in the modelling section. We like to let older threads rest quietly, so that newer posts can get some attention.
So, please check the date on the thread before posting a response, particularly if you're looking at a thread you have found through the search function. People are often caught out by the search's habit of listing older threads at the top of the search results.
If you have a question about a miniature in old thread that you have found, you're better off
PM-ing the original author, as they may have forgotten all about the thread and are less likely to respond there.
Of course, this doesn't apply to authors of Blog threads. If you have a blog that you haven't updated in a while, it's perfectly acceptable for you to resurrect it if you have new progress to post.
Posting your work.
- Is that an arm...?
If you're looking for feedback on your work, clear pictures are essential. If you're not sure about how to get good photos of your miniatures, have a look through the Articles section for a tutorial.
If your camera's just not up to the challenge and your pictures turn out a little blurry or indistinct, getting someone else to have a look at them before posting can be a good idea. Often, because you're familiar with your models and know what they're supposed to look like, the pictures will look fine to you. Other posters without that knowledge of what they're looking at are just seeing a featureless blur, which can be frustrating for the original poster.
- A picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe more, with inflation.
It's perfectly normal to be excited about that fantastic model you just built or painted, and to want to talk about it even if you don't have pictures of it yet.
Others, however, aren't going to be as excited by a description of a model. As such, posts saying “I just finished this awesome model, and it looks like...” generally don't go down well on the forums.
If you can't get pictures until tomorrow, it's probably better to wait until then to post. People then have something that they can comment on beyond “Er... sounds good. Post pics.”
- Err... Anybody?... Hello?
Don't be discouraged if you don't get swamped by responses to your post. It doesn't necessarily mean people are ignoring you, or don't like your model. Some posters simply don't post unless they have something constructive to say, or only comment on particular types of models that they like.
Forums can also move a little slowly sometimes. It may take a day or two to get any responses.
- How do I...?
Posting questions is great, and one of the common uses of the P&M board. There are some common questions that tend to get asked a lot, though. While asking these isn't wrong, they can sometimes be ignored or get a cranky response if they've already been asked recently.
So it's a good idea to do a search of the forum before asking, to see if anyone else has already asked. The Dakka Articles section and the Painting & Modeling Tutorials forum also have a lot of information on a whole range of modeling topics that might save you from having to ask.