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.

As the title says, this is my first painted miniature I'd thrown some paint at a few 40k pieces when I was too young to appreciate the beauty of war-games miniatures but this is my first true attempt. My Fiancée was kind enough to purchase The Island Of Blood for me along with some modelling/painting supplies. I'm quite happy with how this Swordmaster turned out! Took me a few hours but I feel that I've learnt much from the process. The sword is a little too basic so I hope to improve that. I have some Army Painter tufts on order; once they arrive, I'll paint the base and add them as a little realism. I'd hoped the gems would 'pop' a little more too so I need to work on that.

Hope you like it guys Expect to see more of a newbies first army soon!

Sam.

Nice, neat and clean paintjob. Very good start for a beginner.

Better than my first model Good job

Thanks both! really appreciate it. I have a terrible tremor (type 1 diabetic) so keeping it neat was... arduous Extremely rewarding to to finally finish one properly though.

You are clearly off to a great start!

Thanks, Jake I hope so. Considering that took hours.. painting the rest of the Elves in the Island of Blood is a daunting task!

Try taking a few similarly posed figures and setting up an assembly line. You'll get quicker with practice and end up with a great looking set of figures.

I'll give that a go. Is there any way to combat quick citadel paint drying times? I have a retarder on order, that'll hopefully help but until then, how do you guys handle it?

 Fire Bellied wrote:
I'll give that a go. Is there any way to combat quick citadel paint drying times? I have a retarder on order, that'll hopefully help but until then, how do you guys handle it?

Great work! Nice and clean. Thinning down your paints with a acrylic medium helps with the drying times a bit, or you could always use a retarder medium. I use Golden brand for both. GW make a medium but it's way too expensive for the amount you get. Vallejo make decent retarder medium as well.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/golden-airbrush-mediums/

http://www.dickblick.com/products/golden-acrylic-retarder/

Edit: I suppose I should note what they actually do.

The acrylic medium thins the paint down whilst suspending the pigment rather than watering it down. It's an absolute for me when using GW paints. Some people say the paint should be the consistency of skim milk but I find that to be too thin. Just find a mix you're happy with.

The retarder medium will actually slow the dry time which works well when doing a gradient style paint job.

Thanks for the input bud, really appreciate it. I've been watering my paints down pretty heavily but do find I'm struggling to get much pigment on the miniature! That'll come with practice I suppose.

It sounds like both those products would be of great assistance! I often find that when I'm trying to do a little wet blending, I try to 'move' the pigment, only to find that it's left a ring in the shape of the initial brush stroke - very frustrating!

Very clean and neat painting.
Noticed much edge highlighting, some 3 shade colours in any given area.
A great deal of work that looks very good.
Start looking into washes and the "shader" form of washes and you would get to "disgustingly" good.
You obviously put a lot of thought and research into painting before doing this first painted miniature.

A fantastic first (serious/recent) foray into painting miniatures. Bravo! Even with an unsteady hand, it's obvious that you did your homework, understood what to do, and had the patience to ensure clean results. The whole IoB set may well look daunting, but you may not find it so for long - when you take pains to make every model look good, right out of the gate, experience tends to result in increased speed more than improved results (you've already achieved what otherwise requires lots of practice), at least until you really start pushing yourself and exploring techniques.

On battling paint drying, adding some retarder is certainly an option. My recommendation, though, would be to whip up a DIY wet palette. It's dirt cheap and very simple - you may even have all of the components on hand. You'll need parchment paper (grease-proof baking paper, not freezer paper or waxed paper) for the palette surface, some clean sponge (anything open-cell, from a fresh kitchen sponge to blister pack padding) or layers of paper towel for the reservoir, and a waterproof container to keep it all in (shallow is a must, re-sealable is best - a plate will work for one session, while a tupperware will work for several). With water in the reservoir, osmosis will largely counteract evaporation, keeping the paint on the palette's surface at whatever consistency you've mixed it. Making a wet palette was, without a doubt, the biggest breakthrough in my early painting - what I thought was an inability to achieve proper thinning consistently was actually just the result of my plastic palette leaving me a very narrow window, even if I got it right.