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Haven't touched 40k for about 5 years, even then it was barely an effort. Anywho, making a Space Marine - Blood Angels army with a random chapter I am yet to name. Working on these 1 by 1, did try batch painting but it left me amazingly bored. Will have to grow into it. ^^

Opening this blog a bit late in the day but got 4 photos of development so far. One thing I've noticed is that the marines are fairly, blotchy, it's not smooth, I believe I sprayed them too much or applied an unnecessary undercoat. Either way, I won't do it again.
Know it's not much but eh.

Image 1 - Undercoated
Image 2 - Put down some basic colours and had a go at the chest emblem/skulls on the base. (One on the left is the one I'm doing now, one on the right was ignored past this point)
Image 3 - Neatened everything up, particularly the emblem on the chest. Quite happy with that bit.
Image 4 - Added the brighter grey, added a few more details then realised how much the blotchy thing is annoying me.


http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/1893/squad1leaderundercoat.png
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/2881/squad1basecoat.png
http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/1426/squad1leaderdetail1i.png


Anywho, further updates will be in posts. And I'll take ANY advice I can get!

I see what you mean about the grey, just keep working on it

You need to water down your paint significantly, beginners often leave it thick because the first coat does not always cover evenly, but the secret is to put on very thin layers and build up, that way you will have a nice, smooth finish.

Once you get the hang of that, start worrying about the detailing and highlighting etc, but a rough first coat will always show through no matter how good the rest of the job is.

Good luck!

Also, what kind of paints are you using. If those are enamels you should consider switching. Those look a little too glossy to be GW. But i may just be seeing reflection.

Co-newbie here, so I can only make a suggestion based on what seems to be working for me: a wet palette. Mine is 7 and 1/2 by 9 inches, purchased from an art store for just under ten bucks, and it's hands down the best painting tool I've found so far. It allows me to thin my paints a bit at a time without worrying that they'll get too watered down. If I do add too much water, the sponge quickly soaks it up, and I never have to worry about my paints drying out, either. It makes custom mixing shades and highlights a breeze, too, because you can mix a large batch, use part of it, and then cover it until you're ready to use it on the next model.

Yeah I haven't been watering my paints down, I'll be sure to do that in the future then and hopefully that means my remaining 4 Space Marines will be okay. I'm using GW paints brush_slip.

Does anyone happen to have any advice on how to add depth to the grey particularly? Not sure how to go about it.

Have you thought about using the Army Painter sprays... they do the base coat and include a colour, all in one spray...

They do a grey which is similar to the one your using, and would give a nice even coat, and speed up your painting greatly !

Just remember to spray in small bursts and not too far from the model, and you'll get great results !

Maelstrom games stocks them, as well as quite a few independant stores, depending on where you are..

Well, I just painted one of the models with heavily watered paint and it was far better, no lumpy bits. But I'll have a look at getting a spray too, I wouldn't have to do a black undercoat if using one would I?