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Hey everyone! A year ago I posted a thread in here with my first-ever fully painted and based mini, a cool Ultramarine from 3rd Company. Worked hard on him, and got some inspiring feedback on that model, so shortly after that I completed a second. In August, life got crazy (long story) and painting minis took a back seat to school, work, and some other stuff.

Last week I finally opened up my painting kit for the first time since, and now I have a third mini to show for my efforts. I wanted to share these models so you guys can see my progress and so that I can get some more valuable input/critique on my painting, because I feel myself improving each session, and I want to keep the momentum!

Some technical information:

+ For this model I used Macragge Blue as the basecoast, Calgar Blue as the first edge highlight and Fenrisian Grey as the second "superhighlight" on the sharpest edges and corners. This is also the first time I used two such edge highlights, as before I wasn't confident enough to go back over the Calgar Blue with Fenrisian Grey for fear of ruining it. Conquered that fear, and this model looks 10x better than the others IMO.

+ This is also the first time I used a wet palette, and I will never go back to a dry one. Makes painting quicker, makes mixing in water/medium to thin paints highly controllable, and you can use almost every bit of paint on the palette. Godsend.

+ I used no paint additives, just paint and water for this mini. I've decided to abandon complicated, overwrought thinning formulas because I just don't seem to find them to be worth the tediousness. The wet palette itself solved 99% of my drying issues, and I don't do much blending. I will use Liquitex Airbrush Medium to pre-thin thick paint in the pot to rejuvenate it, but water only for thinning on the palette from here on out.

+ Brushes are all Winsor & Newton Series 7: Used size 3 for the edge highlights (Calgar blue), and a size 1 for the superhighlights (Fenrisian Grey). I did the eyes with a size 0 and 00, because it's hard to reach.

+ Used MicroSet and MicroSol to apply the pauldron decals. This is 100% required if you're going to be using decals, they turn out perfectly every time and look painted-on.

So that's really all. Sorry for the poor lighting/photography, all I have is an iPhone camera and it's overcast here today. The last photo shows my previous two minis standing behind my latest guy. I'm proud of them all and I'm pinning two more this afternoon to start painting this weekend.

Thanks for your feedback & purge the Xenos
Chris

They look fantastic. How big of a force are you planning?

You're lying! Nobody's first miniature looks that spectacular!

Seriously though, that's fantastic work on those Ultramarines. You sir have great talent with a brush... and possibly an art degree

I use 'Ardcoat gloss to cover the area where the transfer is going, apply it with plenty of water, dry it to push out the air bubbles, then apply Lahmian Medium over the top to matte it down and seal it. Works a treat if you want to try it that way.

G.A

Elbows: I'm planning a 1200 point army. Three tac squads, Assault, Dev, Terminator, Command Squad. To be honest it may take forever at this rate, but I do enjoy painting and I like to do each model to the best of my ability. I am getting quicker though, but this model still took several evenings. I need to speed it up if I want to play the game, but I guess I can't rush it yet.

General: Thanks so much! I played with 'haphazardly' painted minis back when I was 12 years old with a friend so I guess *technically* these aren't my first... but they are the first ones I've done since I got back into Warhammer after a 15 year hiatus, and where I actually tried to get a satisfactory result. I study calligraphy casually so there may be some overlap there, but painting is really its own world and I'm a neophite so I'm taking my time. Took a lot of hours and mistakes to progress, but it's coming! I am finding out I need to not be afraid to screw up in order to move forward, like where I went for adding the second highlights to the model this time. Scary, but it paid off and now I know I can do it again.

ALSO: Yeah my decal method is: 'Ardcoat the area, MicroSet, apply decal, pat down flush, MicroSol until totally smooth, seal with Lahmian Medium. Love that stuff.

Could hardly look better for a tabletop mini. Crisp and clean paintjob. Congratulations. Maybe for future models you could put a bit more effort into the base (e.g. grass, structure, different sizes of sand).

 Nightpaw wrote:
Could hardly look better for a tabletop mini. Crisp and clean paintjob. Congratulations. Maybe for future models you could put a bit more effort into the base (e.g. grass, structure, different sizes of sand).

Thanks! Yeah I have never worked with static grass before, and I was thinking maybe a little of that in a light brown shade (desert theme) would look nice. I need to get some and practice with applying it but you're right, it would help.

 General Annoyance wrote:
You're lying! Nobody's first miniature looks that spectacular!

Seriously! 1st is best, second is bester, and third is bestest! It looks awesome!

Static grass is a bit tricky. GW and others have turfs and tufts ready to be glued onto the base. You should give them a try. E.G. https://www.games-workshop.com/en-CA/Middenland-Tufts

Yes GW's tufts are simple and easy to apply; I also recommend their Technical base paints Agrellan Earth and Martian Ironearth. I've tried both and they create great looking bases that you can easily add tufts to

I personally think the bases are great, with those few rocks added to break up the sand - you never want to go overkill on a base and take the attention away from the thing sitting on them

Excellent info about the grass, guys. My only concern with tufts is that I've already got the base finished. I figure that they would only look right if you glues them onto the bare plastic base before applying the sand, otherwise they would "sit" up ontop of the rocks and look added-on. I will probably pick up a box and see if it looks good, but I will probably just use it on a few other models in the squad for variety.

That said, would static grass be better for applying over the already finished bases? I think it would work its way into the rocks a bit better.

 legio_ultra wrote:


That said, would static grass be better for applying over the already finished bases? I think it would work its way into the rocks a bit better.

I think static would be a bad idea, as you can't control it well enough when you put the glue down. The tufts will look fine glued on top, since desert grasses barely have any roots that extend far down into the ground, and instead flourish on the surface. However you can always trim the bases of the tufts so they stick in between the grains more easily. I'd put them next to the rocks to blend them together, but not on top of them

Hope this helps

dumba360 wrote:

 General Annoyance wrote:
You're lying! Nobody's first miniature looks that spectacular!

Seriously! 1st is best, second is bester, and third is bestest! It looks awesome!

Thanks bud, much appreciated.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 General Annoyance wrote:

 legio_ultra wrote:


That said, would static grass be better for applying over the already finished bases? I think it would work its way into the rocks a bit better.

I think static would be a bad idea, as you can't control it well enough when you put the glue down. The tufts will look fine glued on top, since desert grasses barely have any roots that extend far down into the ground, and instead flourish on the surface. However you can always trim the bases of the tufts so they stick in between the grains more easily. I'd put them next to the rocks to blend them together, but not on top of them

Hope this helps

Yes, perfect. I'll grab a box of Middenland tufts and just play with them and see if they'll go on nicely. If not, I'll just use them on the next models I do in the squad, they don't all have to be *exactly* the same.

Already been said, but those are fantastic. An entire army of that quality will be something to see, great composition and the highlights are superb.

Keep us posted!!

Woah! Mate, that is sharp. Big fan of the final product. Great to see you've picked the brush up again and are back at it - and as always, nice to see more smurfs

Those look great. The edge highlighting with the Fenrisian grey really worked well.

Thanks all!


So, I was just browsing through the forum and I discovered something HORRIBLE - Well, maybe not that bad, but super annoying: Marines now come on 32mm bases as opposed to 25mm???


This blows and I don't understand the change - I guess this box of tac marines I got last year was an older one. But on the plus side, I can now use the above Middenland grass tufts suggestion and re-base these three guys to 32mm with fresh bases to make the grass and stones look as pro as possible. I guess it's for the best that I found out about this before I painted more!

GW y you do this

To be fair, 32mm bases look far better. Plus there's no potential for paint to rub off the feet of your models when you handle them.

Jump infantry in particular benefit from the new sizes greatly.

 legio_ultra wrote:
But on the plus side, I can now use the above Middenland grass tufts suggestion and re-base these three guys to 32mm with fresh bases to make the grass and stones look as pro as possible.

GW y you do this

Worry not friend, for there is no need to rebase your miniatures: http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=79_30_135&products_id=761

The only downside to these is that 32's actually have a tiny amount of elevation over normal 25's, but you'll never notice unless you put them next to eachother

So don't rip those minis off their bases, buy these!

And yes, I think 32's look so much better for Marines - no more overhanging legs!

G.A

^^ Cheers for the tip, will comply! What a great idea!

 legio_ultra wrote:
^^ Cheers for the tip, will comply! What a great idea!

No problem, I intend to get some myself for my Nobz and my plastic Librarian.

One thing you may run into though; you may find that there is a clear distinction between where the extension and the actual base meets, even after you put your sand over it. Just let the sand dry, smear some slightly watered down PVA glue over and into the crevice, and fill it with more of the sand - that should blend them together without showing any nasty glue, since PVA doesn't show up after it dries

Keep up the good work!

 General Annoyance wrote:

 legio_ultra wrote:
^^ Cheers for the tip, will comply! What a great idea!

No problem, I intend to get some myself for my Nobz and my plastic Librarian.

One thing you may run into though; you may find that there is a clear distinction between where the extension and the actual base meets, even after you put your sand over it. Just let the sand dry, smear some slightly watered down PVA glue over and into the crevice, and fill it with more of the sand - that should blend them together without showing any nasty glue, since PVA doesn't show up after it dries

Keep up the good work!

UPDATE!

So, I actually just went ahead and removed my three Marines from their bases. I simply used my hobby knife to ease in under the foot, careful not to scratch anything. It gently released from the base, no damage or anything whatsoever! What a relief. They look kind of cool standing on the table without the base, haha. I used plastic cement so I was expecting a struggle.

I've decided to re-base from scratch to 32mm. I REALLY appreciated your clever solution with the adapters, but when I went to buy them I did see that they don't really match perfectly to the 25mm base, would require a lot of touch up work with either putty or glue and my rocks would still be on the 25mm part, so all the interesting stuff would be going on in the centre and they wouldn't look totally uniform with the rest of the squad when they materialise. So, I bit the bullet and tore them off, and now I'm going to clean up the feet, touch up my two earlier marines so they're more in line with my most recent third one, and re-base all on 32mm.

I also decided I'm going to use static grass, and I'll practice on the now empty 25mm bases I removed. I really loved the tufts idea until I saw some reviews. The tuft's basing material is visible, which I don't like, and in the Codex art they're using static grass so I decided I'll try my hand at it. I enjoy a challenge and if it's a total failure I'll go with tufts, but I'd like to try doing it the old-fashioned way first. If its rubbish I'll let you know and you can have a go at me for being stubborn.

You've been massively helpful! I'll post up in the next day or so again when my lads are standing proud on their new bases. Cheers!

Good to know that they don't fit together perfectly as I plan to get some myself. Thanks for pointing that out!

Unless you put plastic glue on both parts you're gluing together, it can be pretty easy to rip off. Still you need quite a bit of force to do it, nothing that the model would be subjected to by accidental drops and whatnot.

While you're testing your static grass bases with your spare 25's, I'd recommend trying out one of the GW technical bases and see if you prefer it; I used Martian Ironearth for some White Scars I was painting, and it looks pretty damn cool. I will most certainly be basing my own Blood Ravens in the same way Also super simple for the lazy part of hobbying in all of us: splash it on the base, and just come back in 2 hours to put the models on them! You can also paint the base before you apply them in certain colours to produce effects like flowing lava or energy cascading beneath the model's feet, and even paint the stuff itself after it dries if you don't like beige or reddish brown.

Either way, I'm gonna stop jamming tips and ideas in your face now (I have my name for a reason!) and hope to see those new bases soon, and perhaps new models!

G.A

Don't rush the minis mate, these look fantastic

Out of this world! Keep it up!

I'm in the hobby for 1 year and even my best work is complete crap compared to your first 3 minis. Good job on your first attempts. Maybe I will grab some Winsor & Newton, or at least the one for edge highlits.

About the 32 mm bases.... it's a pain in the ass. Do not rush re basing models, althou SM looks cooler on larger bases.

Clean, crisp, superb highlighting - I am extremely jealous. I am a reluctant painter at best and my efforts after many years will not match these. Best of luck getting a whole army to this standard, it will look superb

Fantastic work. Very clean and professionally done. I'm very jealous that these are your first true attempt at painting. Keep up the great work. Can't wait to see more.

Very nice minis. What type of brushes did you use?

Really great stuff, looking excellent, especially when returning from a 15 year hiatus - keep up the good work!

I predict a golden demon in your future.