Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey guys,

I have a small starter force of imperial guard and i just picked up a basilisk. This will be my first attempt to paint a tank, so i need some general tips. Also, what colors should i do it in? i was figuring white and green like the rest of my army but im not sure how to do them (Patterns?).







P.S. i know I'm not the greatest painter in the world, so good old fashioned painting tips would be appreciated as well

Thanks guys

how about OD green (olive drab) like a WWII US tank with the top painted white and fading to green on the sides? That would look pretty good with your infantry

do what i do for my artillery: green raised armor spots (sides of tracks that are raised, and top half of the hull) and everything else black/gunmetal/white your choice, it looks clean, its easy, and effective

I would just paint it like your army pattern so it would not look out of place.

Thanks guys, would you happen to have any pictures of any this stuff? or something similar?

Grey with a white or green stripe at the front.

heres how i paint my artillery...i know its a manticore not a basilisk, but i dont own a basilisk (yet, santa will be bringing me one )

Haha, good ole Santa Claus, he'll be bringing me a few Russes

Thank you for the pics, i think ill do something like that, it looks good and its simple

probably the sides/treds similar to yours jordanis, and then do a green strip down the middle of a white hull, not sure how im gonna do the gun yet or the blast shield though.

You could also give your tanks a white washed look. Here's a good tutorial

http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=3719

also: paint the treads before you mount them...it saves a LOT of time

To make it all a bit moreinteresting, what is the back story with the Basilisk? Are the infantry part of the battery as perimeter defence, or is the basilisk attached from an artillery regiment? Is the arty regiment from the same world, etc, etc, etc

For my own vehicles I took the camo scheme from my infantry and swapped it about a bit. This helps the whoe army tie together but allows you to fiddle about with the details. In your case it might mean painting the tanks green with white DPM and grey details. Alternatively a grey/black base with white DPM and green details might match the kind of winter/mountain scheme your infantry has.

With regard to comments on the infantry, I think its a great start. The only thing that is missing is a bit of depth. A wash and a bit of a highlight on the grey armour would work wonders, same with the faces. Also I'm seeing some pretty obvious mould lines. Its well worth picking up a set of files or an emery board to deal with them.

I feel a little embarrassed to ask but what do you mean by "DPM"?

Thanks for the tips on the infantry. I tried to take the mold lines off with a hobby knife but i started to ruin details and so i gave up in frustration. If you can believe it, those mold lines were much worse in the beginning. next time ill try a file

And when you say i should wash the models could i do that at the stage they are now? and is it just like a off shade of white so that the pants look a bit more realistic?

Thank you guys, you've been incredibly helpful.

about the mold lines: i use the red tube of testors glue mixed with water, apply it with a q-tip and then let it dry...since that glue technically "welds" plastic, it melts the surface, and when you water it down it just melts the thin mold lines and saves all your detail...obviously you do this before painting...

bleedge wrote:I feel a little embarrassed to ask but what do you mean by "DPM"?

Disruptive Pattern Material

I take a pocket knife and scrape the mold lines down.

Yeah, by DPM I meant the random colour splotches that make up the camo pattern.

I'm not quite sure what you could use for the white cloth. Maybe Gryphonne Sepia to give a bit of shading, however you could easily use badab black for the armour and then a quick drybrush of a lighter grey to define the edges. Run a couple of tests on a random model to make sure you like it before rolling it out over the whole force though

bleedge wrote:Hey guys,

I have a small starter force of imperial guard and i just picked up a basilisk. This will be my first attempt to paint a tank, so i need some general tips. Also, what colors should i do it in? i was figuring white and green like the rest of my army but im not sure how to do them (Patterns?).







P.S. i know I'm not the greatest painter in the world, so good old fashioned painting tips would be appreciated as well

Thanks guys

Ok, Paints...

The Best way to paint a Bailisk is to spray paint it on the sprue with Testors Military colors for the major coating, and then hand paint the details and use a template for the camo scheme. After they dry, you cut off the parts with your hobby clippers and X acto knife, and then hand paint the cut marks with the GW paints.

You have a choice, but I recommend that you prime the model Grey or white. If you try priming it black, your model is going to come out Grey when you try to spray paint white on it.

Depending on your shade of greens, you can find the same exact colors in your hobby shop. GW paints convert over to Testors quite easily, and somewhere, awhile back, someone has here on Dakka a great conversion cheart of paints of the major colors from Testors, GW, Privateer, and Vallaios, but I can't find it right now...

Your scheme isn't really going to be an issue, but if you don't do a little homework in taking your bottle down to the local hobby or model shop, your not going to get a very good quality match. ( Personal example, I took the GW color Catachan Green, Dark Angels green, and had to go down to at least three different shops to get the correct one. Apperently, betweeen the different versions of Dark Angel green, the textures, colors, and all around cover value of the paint spread have changed, and not for the better.) When you pick the spray paints, make sure you pick FLAT, as opposed to Gloss coat, which is for model cars and really makes military models look bad.

As for white, your better off going for an off white color, shich as ghostly pail, or off white, or adding in a little fortress grey to your skull white, or egven just getting a real light almost white grey color. For one, straight white is a bad color to just leave on a model, as in it is just like looking at a white piece of paper, and the details of the armor are lost. trying to paint the little things in like paint scrapes, dents, bullet holes, etc. and all other general details will get lost on a completely white canvas ( I/E your bailisk) metal colored paints do not look good on completly white. Testors had something like German Arctic, or something like that. ( Going off of memory, but long story short, take your white in, and try to find a color that is one tone darker, that way when you spray it on the model, it picks up on it, and you can see the details stand out a little better then an extreme color of Flat White.

After you figure out the correct color, pick up a couple of cans of your testors and clean the model up with soap and water, and let completly dry. You try to paint a model with wet or water still on it, and it will run, and leave nasty looking splotches on it, so make sure it is completely dry.
After shaking up the cans for a good few minutes, and making sure that the paint comes out evenly by testing it out on a piece of newspaper, or on the box lid, and in the even that it is still runny, shake it up a little more. You'll be able to hear the ball bearing rattle around inside the can and it won't stick when it is sufficiently shaken up.

Light even strokes, about a foot or so off of the model, and cover it until it is sufficiently colored. Light, because if you try to with one thick coat, you lose the model under a thick goo coat, instead of colors. when it drys, the thick will run, leaving goo lines dripping down the model.

After the sprues have been colored, you leave them alone, and let them dry for a couple of days or so. 2 or 3 should do it. Painting or handleing a half dry sprue will leave finger prints, mess up the paint, and generally not go well for the piece, especially when you are using an oil based spray paint, and painting the details with a brush with water based paint.
As for the details, however you want to go, you can paint them all black, and then paint on off colors, so to bring them out of the model. This goes especially for your metals, as I said before, when the metals do not stand off of white very well.

Ok, Flash and lines...

The tanks have two that you will have to worry about, both are easy, but you have to TAKE YOUR TIME.

Sprue attachments, You use your hobby cutters, and cut off the model bit at the attachment, and then take your X acto blade, and LIGHTLY run it along the flush of the model, slightly shaving off the sprue bit. You can use files, sure, but if you don't be careful, the file digs into the model even worse then a slipping X acto blade will into your hand. ( HINT HINT!!!)
Gentle and steady, and the shave the plastic. after that, you take your GW or whatever paint and paint over the seperation points.

Mould lines, or flash lines- Variation on a theme, but in the event you will be using some nice fine grane needle files, or fine grain sand paper, and after the fact, you can either cut into your models, or use the putty to add in your battle damage, or your war wounds. You can dig around in the model with the X acto knife, as well, but you have to make sure that you TAKE YOUR TIME. (Remember, once you cut it you don't get it back.)

After the models have been painted, you end up finishing off the details, you then go to assembling it. First thing first, you are not in a hurry, and Glue is not your friend.

I use zap a gap, or Testors, or even sometimes, a two ply epoxy, whatever type you use, you have to -
First, have all the parts that you want to put together all ready to go, and second, test fit them WITHOUT the glue.
Only after that, will you add in a little glue. A little glue goes a long way, so be easy with it. If you get any on your hands, get it off and leave the model along until your fingers are cleaned up.
If not, your paint job gets finger prints on it.

After the parts are joined, leave the model to dry for a day or three, depending on your glue. after the fact, you can get out the selant, and spray paint over the model with the light touches, and be sparing with it as well.

As for cloth, You have several options.
1. You can use a small square of thin leadsheet that they sell in model shops. You put it on, form it to your models, and spray paint it like everything else, or paintit, and then put it on the model.
2. Tissue paper can be used, but when you paint the elmers glue onto it, you are making in effect paper meche, and after it drys, you can then paint it. ( I don't recommend it unless you know what you are doing with this one.)
3. Verdun has several real life options such as cammo netting that look great without a lot of hassle
4. Cheese cloth, which is white, can be touched up and painted, or use a markerpen, and color it in.
5. Guaze from your first aid kit, in the event that you did not cut yourself with the X acto blade.

And finally, a good whitewashed look is to use 1 part paint to 2 parts water and water it down, leaving you with "whitewash" that you can spread on the tank for the offhanded amature paintjob look- after the main paint job with the spraypaints has been finished. At that point, do the details after the whitewash job, so that your black primer on them doesn't run in the whitewash.

Hope this helps, sorry it seems long winded.