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The title kinda says it all but, to rephrase. Have you ever put so much work into custom making a model from random (and even rare,) bits, sculpting one from greenstuff or cardstock, and adding lighting; that you are too scared to paint them? How do you overcome that? What if you are a first time painter with little experience so while you make great models, you are too timid to paint them and almost want other players to do it for you?

What do you recommend to overcome that feeling or vibe? How do you gain skills without trashing your first army? Do you just suck up tutorials and hope for the best, or do you guys have a secret for painting a model to a decent TT standard that is pleasing to the eye? I'm just curious as to how other converters deal with this.

I practice on dummy models for certain schemes... this is what I did for gold prior to attempting my Sanguinary Guard: http://atticwars40k.blogspot.com/2011/10/great-gold-rush-quest-for-best-gold.html?m=1

I've stripped and repainted those dummy models many times hah.

You're exactly where I was this time last year!
What I did was:
Practice and get your scheme down on a couple test pieces.
Realize that a meh paintjob on a beautifully converted model is better than no paintjob on a beautifully converted model.
Dive in.
Enjoy the ride.
Good luck and post pics!

Well I've got a whole Fortress monastery to make for a non-existant table, a contest piece I can't enter due to the fact the contest ends during my international trip (entered the LoER #12 contest, then realized "oh hurr durr, you won't make it since you entered late and the deadline is when you will be in Sweden," ,) and a 500 pt army of SoO consisting of high end models and FW and an old 2nd edition Rhino that I might make into a Predator using parts from Anvil Industry. It's all overwhelming, and I'm mostly a custom terrain guy, so yeah.

(Oh! Totally off topic but, if someone knows where I can find a guide to making the old school bubble turrets for predators, please link me!)

since this is my job, i don't have the luxury of being intimidated by painting one of my custom characters...
when i know a paintjob is going to be difficult, especially with the freehand work, i usually let it sit for a while, and think about how i'm going to tackle the work...
by the time i sit down to do the hard bits, i have already done it a few times in my head...

if the mood is right, it works out on the first try...
on a bad day, i screw it up completely, paint the basecoat back over my mistakes, and try again on a better day...
patience is a virtue, especially with fine details...

most painters say having a plan is the key, but honestly each new mini is an experiment, so i always feel like i'm just winging it...
that's probably one of the reasons i'm such a slow painter...
i'm always figuring things out as i go, and learning from my mistakes...

just dive in there, bud...
messing up is part of the process...

cheers
jah

I am honestly thinking about using this guys process, what do you guys think? This will be my first time painting as I said above so I'm nervous that I will ruin all my conversions.

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/212123-sons-of-orar-blog

I'm just getting back into miniatures after a 30 year hiatus.... I did ww2 minis when I was in grade school till jr high.

Anyway... The Dark Vengeance kit is where I'm starting. I find a really solid tutorial on YouTube with a paint scheme i like that shows all the steps and lists all paint colors and go from there.

My Dark Angels tac squad turned out pretty nice, though I had to throw my first attempts in simple green and start them over. My Crimson slaughter squad has gone much better....

I've learned so much from watching tutorials on YouTube on everything from prepping minis to wet palettes. The Miniature Painting 101 series by Wargamer Jay is a great place to start.

Nope, to me the painting helps complete the conversion at times.

Thanks for all the input guys. I'm going to give painting a go sometime soon when I get the guts up. (And cardstock terrain quits distracting me, ) will have paint on some figures by January I hope. I revived my old P+M blog. It's kinda newbish, and cruddy but, I put a lot of heart into it regardless. I hope to make it as good as some of the greats on this forum's P+M blog. I guess I will )post a link here, as I have a lot and I mean a LOT of conversions ahead of me to finish.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/568699.page#7320334

 jah-joshua wrote:
since this is my job, i don't have the luxury of being intimidated by painting one of my custom characters...
when i know a paintjob is going to be difficult, especially with the freehand work, i usually let it sit for a while, and think about how i'm going to tackle the work...
by the time i sit down to do the hard bits, i have already done it a few times in my head...

if the mood is right, it works out on the first try...
on a bad day, i screw it up completely, paint the basecoat back over my mistakes, and try again on a better day...
patience is a virtue, especially with fine details...

most painters say having a plan is the key, but honestly each new mini is an experiment, so i always feel like i'm just winging it...
that's probably one of the reasons i'm such a slow painter...
i'm always figuring things out as i go, and learning from my mistakes...

just dive in there, bud...
messing up is part of the process...

cheers
jah

This, this this and absolutely this, that is the reason my SW venerable dreadnaught is in the shelf with only the legs painted
I try to take one step at time and it seems to work, i dont like to rush my paintjob, i make that with my grey hunters and all of them look so generic and boring, thats why i focus all my skills on the singles and big models to make them look great and different from the rest.
And yes, every new model is a whole new experience from where you learn lots of new things, and finally i agree with jah, learn from your mistakes and practice with the word patience carved in your head

Yes. Though, sometimes you just gotta dive into it. When I worked on the Marshal for my Black Templars...I needed him to be the figure that looked like a leader. As I build him and had him all ready...I was like. "gak...here we go." And he turned out great in my eyes.

My tip- Just do it.

Okay well I'm going to try and get some paint on this guy after doing a test squad hopefully by the start of December... )



I am just waiting on his backpack. (One of these.)



I will post the results here and on my Dakka Blog.

I'm not *scared* to paint my models, but I much, much prefer building and customising my mini's to painting them.
Sometimes it seems the intrinsic art value, the detail in and of the material is lost under the paint, especially when you craft something out of metal or cast in resin.

I think of painting as the process of takeing a potentially awesome build, and turning it into a mediocre finished product. But I'm OK with that. I enjoy painting, and while I'm often disappointed with the results, I do try to get better. And it's an adequate table-top job.

But there is always some trepidation when I get ready to paint something I thought I did a very good job putting together. Especially if it's an expensive model, or one useing rare parts.

Booze. Plenty of it.

I can completely understand your fear,
I am in my own opinion a much better modeller than painter and I much prefer modelling.

I started up 40k again last year and made some sweet conversions, in fact most of my army is converted, but like people said, a beautifully modelled model is just not complete without a paint job. At first I was scared, scared id not do it justice or that it would look bad.

But in honesty I say just dive in. In the end I simply sucked it up and got on with it.
Was my first paint job as good as the modelling? probably not.
Was I proud of it and glad I had done it? Hell yes

Your painting will only improve and their is nothing more satisfying than fielding that converted army finishd and complete.

As others have said, never if I am already "familiar" with those paints/paint scheme (I do a lot of conversions).

Now, if I am doing some new effect - then yes, I have a bit of concern, and then I try to do some test pieces (again, some good advice already in this thread...).

best of luck sir, let us know how it turns out!!!

Is there anything in this range of paints that could even remotely try to give me a good gold?

No, not really.

Thats why most of us have dozens upon dozens of different paints. Theres always a new color you dont have yet.