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Hey guys

I've been trying to paint my white armour on my guardsmen using a variety of techniques, but either I'm not doing something right or I need a new technique.

My current technique is to spray black, paint codex grey (medium grey), then astronomican grey (light grey foundation) then a couple of coats of 1:1 watered down skull white. It hasnt worked, and has left this sort of look. It makes the white look sort of...Its hard to describe, but it some places its too blocky and in others it looks too "creamy", is the only way to describe it.

Can I please have some insight as to what I'm doing wrong? thanks

Just paint skull white right over the black undercoat.

dont do above it will leave a poor coat with lots of black showing threw

your process is fine but you need to make sure that each coat before the white is completely smooth if you dont have a smooth coat before the white you WILL get a splotchy white

I've done as GalacticDefender has suggested and the part that they left out was that it takes two or three coats depending on how old the paint is for the Skull White to be solid.

I'm wondering why you are watering the paint down? This thins it out and might be causing the issue that you are describing, the photo only shows us that you have a problem with blue light saturation. Also the "too blocky" " too creamy" descriptions makes me think that the previous coat might not be totally dry when you apply the next one, or that the paint is too runny and is collecting on the edges of the model before it dries.

rofl the dreaded white

my suggestion is thin down your paints and apply them in layers.
here is a video by LBursley- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDxeZE6Ozds&feature=channel
check the part where he paints the white shoulder pads

good luck!

Up vote Ravenum 6:45 is where you'll want to rewind and play again and again until you get it.

Whenever people suggest thinning the paint, I like to remind they that it is a good idea to put some acrylic medium in there to ensure the thinned product will still skin and form a proper layer.

Like this.

http://www.pullingers.com/P~GALERIA_EXTENDER~Galeria+Acrylic+Extender

There are several makes.

I forgot to add i used a retarder/ slow dri and flow aid from liquitex.

I've never used a flow aid, a few questions.

How would I use it

Where would I buy it

What make should I use

Bear in mind that I live in the UK

You paint the shoulder pad white, then where the dark areas are you do a light coat of grey and it looks like a shadow for example mine.

You can achieve great whites with no flow aid, but it is never going to be quick or easy unless you are priming white, sorry!

Only way I know to get a smooth pearlescent white over black is to base the white areas in astronomicon as you have done, and to then blend it up to white from grey. If you are just putting white straight over the grey in watery layers, you will end up with a patchy effect, as you noticed. Layer 1 astro, layer 2 1:1 astro/skull white, layer 3 1:3 astro skull white, layer 4 pure skull white. Even after layer 4 you will need another layer or 2 of watery skull white to smooth it out.

If you are doing any entire army of these guys, I would recommend getting a white primer as over 50% of the model is white, and getting it to a good standard is going to take a huge amount of time.

ok, white primer sounds like the best idea. I'm thinking prime, wash with badab black, touch up white parts and do the cloth?

That can work aye, finding the right wash/water balance would be the trick. Using astro to shade the recesses and then just touching up the edges with white would also work.

Ifalna has it right.
Prime with white.

Definitely white primer would work better and make life easier but might I suggest a grey primer as well might offer a good starting point giving you a darker shade in the recesses from the start, army painter do some great coloured primers and cost roughly the same as GW ones often a bit cheaper.

This is quite a complex method, but it does give very effective results.

Undercoat with Tamiya Light Grey (i used Vallejo ghost grey), then add GW's White Undercoat vertically, to make a zenithal light effect. - zenithal light effect just means the light source is directly above the miniature in question, its an easy an effective technique.
Make two washes of Codex Grey to deepen the shadows, preserving to the maximum the whitest parts.
Highlight with codex grey and white, going to pure white on the angles and edges. Be careful to work with a transparent paint, to keep the yellowish/sandy tone under the grey.
Put a light glaze of Desert Yellow on the white parts... No need for it too be be perfectly covered or smooth, as it is just a colored filter.
Shadows are then done with codex grey.

The strongest shadows are then done with a 50/50 mixture of codex grey and black/bestial brown. The sandy color fitting well with the brownish shadows.

You can add battle damage and chips to this very easyily. If you want read more it's up here with some pics:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/60/306818.page

Zip Napalm wrote:Ifalna has it right.
Prime with white.

Ive always gone by the rule of matching the primer to the final shade. The lighter the shade, the lighter the primer...either white, gray, or black. Though I rarely use black primer, I keep to white and gray.