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Here is my first space marines that i painted i just recently got into it and i love the whole artistic side of it and also want to learn to how to play the game cuz it looks epic!! anyways here is 2 of my space marine vets. please tell me what guys think

here is the captain of the squad the face was really hard to do lol i need a mag and a better source of light but anyways from far it looks good to me lol also 2 other vets that are still in work

Very good for firsts! but you will here this AGAIN and AGAIN but Thin your paints. You will get it though, for a first model i think you have a natural initiative for painting Minis.

Much better than my firsts, and better than many that have played for years.

Your color usage is pretty good, the highlighting is still a little rough, but that will smooth out as you refine your technique with practice.

With the large pics its easy to see the lil 'flaws' in technique, but on a tabletop level those guys probly look alot better as distance smooths out the lines- if your whole army is done to that level it will look great when playing.

What do you use to thin down paint? just water since the paints are water base? or anything else? and they do look really weird from close lol thanks for the comments guys

Water works ok.

Ideally you can get some 'Acrylic Flow Release', in your area Michaels or Hobby Lobby are the easiest places to get it. Its usually by the brush section.

If you mix 1 part of the flow release, to 9 parts water, its pretty amazing how well it smooths out the paint. You just add a drop or two of that mix onto your paint palette with a couple drops of paint. With the dry summer months coming up it also help the paint from drying too fast.

If you look through LBurselys's Youtube tutorials Im pretty sure he has one for flow release mixing in there

Only thing i'll say is on the axe head try painting it silver or gold first, THEN having the blue power field slightly around the edges.

Otherwise wow, wish mine had looked as good as that when I started.

Oh and you can thin your paints down but follow this rule and you'll be fine.

Thin layer of foundation paint and thin layer of detail paint works better than piling on the detail paint.

That was my first mini i ever painted as well and i have repainted mine 3 times and customized him with green stuff. He looks good for you first paint job though.

Looks like you're off to a good start IMO.

Like everyone already said I think your next step should be learning to thin your paints, then maybe working on your coverage a bit - especially on the gun and shoulder pad where you can see a bit of white peeking through under the red. Going back and touching spots like those up will make a huge difference.

I'm pretty new too but all I do to thin my paints is mix it with a bit of clean tap water (not the stuff your rinsing your brush in) on a little plate or pallet. Very easy, free and I get compliments on how smooth they look.

Also, you'll see it said a lot but using a couple thin coats really is better than one thick one.

Good start

I think my models look a lot like that. Very good for firsts, but of course there's always room for improvement.

The axe is something I agree on; paint it gold or silver first.
Color scheme is nice too. I hope to see some new models you painted soon!

Those are awesome! Great job!

Definitely not bad for first models at all, keep it up.

Good work for firsts. You seem to have a good eye for what makes a good paint job, and practice will refine your technique.
Keep it up and people will be asking how you did things rather than just offering advice.

Wow, kinda reminds me of my first marines.... I don't really know how to explain this, but there are multiplue ways to paint your models, I happen to paint my models mostly by dry-brushing ( adds a better shading effect ), but what you should do is try to find a technique thats suits you best!

Oh and a little gaming tip for you!
The vetran with the dual chainswords = not a strategically smart idea. Space Marines are known for being able to shoot out a few bolter rounds, and then quickly go into the assualt phase and rip your face off (so to speak). With a marine having dual chainswords not only is it a bad idea because you have to make your own rules for that single marine (which is VERY time-consuming, trust me) but that leaves you vulnerable against someone who plays an army that excells in long-range attacks, such a Tau. For example, if that marine gets hit by a railgun (which has a range of 72", a strength level of 10, and an armor-peircing value of 1) he is completely and utterly Okay example number 2: if he is two turns away from assualting a Tau Fire-Warrior, and the Tau wounds him (by shooting him) he has to wait two turns before he can fight back!

Hope this was somewhat useful to you! You'll understand what I'm talking about when it comes to gaming later once you collect an army and want to start gaming with it.

Good job for your first ones. White is a hard color to do. And yeah. thin your paints. it may take an extra coat or two, but the results and look will be worth it.

Yep, I agree with everyone.

It is extremely good for a first go and I am sure you will go far.

When thinning paint I advise adding some acrylic polymer medium. It helps the paint dry and stick properly.

Thanks for all the comments guys and i think im gonna go to michaels soon to get the acrylic flow release. and play with it see how that works. prolly gonna remove the chainsaw from the vet and give him like a plasma or bolter. thanks for the advise too

Robed_Chaplain wrote:

Oh and a little gaming tip for you!
The vetran with the dual chainswords = not a strategically smart idea. Space Marines are known for being able to shoot out a few bolter rounds, and then quickly go into the assualt phase and rip your face off (so to speak). With a marine having dual chainswords not only is it a bad idea because you have to make your own rules for that single marine (which is VERY time-consuming, trust me) but that leaves you vulnerable against someone who plays an army that excells in long-range attacks, such a Tau. For example, if that marine gets hit by a railgun (which has a range of 72", a strength level of 10, and an armor-peircing value of 1) he is completely and utterly Okay example number 2: if he is two turns away from assualting a Tau Fire-Warrior, and the Tau wounds him (by shooting him) he has to wait two turns before he can fight back!

Um, thats not the case, and is rather confusing advice. You seem to be totally overlooking the 'Counts as' ruling these days. The railgun comparison is kind of silly- as is assualting Tau- since he's probly going to be inside a rhino. Help the guy with paint tips here, and keep the tactics tips in the tactics forum :p

More metallic highligting of the breastplate ribbing (the power cables).

Oh, and you'll find you get a great looking finish (glossy armour) if you Purity Seal it (varnish)

Mistress of minis wrote:

Robed_Chaplain wrote:

Oh and a little gaming tip for you!
The vetran with the dual chainswords = not a strategically smart idea. Space Marines are known for being able to shoot out a few bolter rounds, and then quickly go into the assualt phase and rip your face off (so to speak). With a marine having dual chainswords not only is it a bad idea because you have to make your own rules for that single marine (which is VERY time-consuming, trust me) but that leaves you vulnerable against someone who plays an army that excells in long-range attacks, such a Tau. For example, if that marine gets hit by a railgun (which has a range of 72", a strength level of 10, and an armor-peircing value of 1) he is completely and utterly Okay example number 2: if he is two turns away from assualting a Tau Fire-Warrior, and the Tau wounds him (by shooting him) he has to wait two turns before he can fight back!

Um, thats not the case, and is rather confusing advice. You seem to be totally overlooking the 'Counts as' ruling these days. The railgun comparison is kind of silly- as is assualting Tau- since he's probly going to be inside a rhino. Help the guy with paint tips here, and keep the tactics tips in the tactics forum :p

All I'm saying is that if you're gonna custom model a figure (dual chainswords) you should take into consideration how that'll help you when you game.

What you have on the board doesn't always have to necessarily represent the rules of the mini it's self. No doubt he will be with a squad.

I made a bunch of Ard Boyz from Black Orcs, and kept some of them wielding their double handed axes... and yet, the entire squad is labeled as having sluggas and choppas. Orks are a good example of minis that are for display only, there's no real reason why any other army can't be the same. So he has dual chain swords, maybe hang a bolter on a strap made of green stuff, or slap a sidearm in holster to his leg and say it's a bolt pistol.

Andy Frogman wrote:What you have on the board doesn't always have to necessarily represent the rules of the mini it's self. No doubt he will be with a squad.

I made a bunch of Ard Boyz from Black Orcs, and kept some of them wielding their double handed axes... and yet, the entire squad is labeled as having sluggas and choppas. Orks are a good example of minis that are for display only, there's no real reason why any other army can't be the same. So he has dual chain swords, maybe hang a bolter on a strap made of green stuff, or slap a sidearm in holster to his leg and say it's a bolt pistol.

Good point, I have a metal Chaplain model that has a powerfist and a Crozius Arcanum and a sidearm holster on his hip, which is the only way he can still have "bolt pistol" on the wargear section.

Update on the marines