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.

Redacted

they look pretty damn good to me although the lighting & camera aren't helping you (there is a guide on the Warhammer Community website: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/03/06/the-model-photo-how-to-photograph-models-for-display/)
Not sure about ork clan colours so can't advise on that.
Not sure about your 3rd question either - can you word it differently? Some people find buying the Codex the first step but there are a number of different Space Marine ones which can make it confusing. I go by which look cool to me. Then research the Chapter to see if their background also sounds cool.
Hope this helps & welcome!

If I were you I would cruise through the section where people post their "painting and modelling" armies in progress. You may see things there that you go "I want THAT as my army!" (well, maybe not that paint scheme, but often those threads include a little homegrown backstory as well. It gives you not just an idea what the stuff looks like but also an idea how an army put toegether looks and how the various themes are worked out by people.

Then pick one you like. A major hint, though, is that horde armies are pricey and time consuming. A 700 point knight can be built and painted in a weekend, no problem. 700 points of imperial gaurdsmen might take more cash and time to put on the table.

Right now you have 3 mutually completely exclusionary factions. Space marines are very flexible to ally with many imperials. Orks can only ally with orks, and eldar only with eldar. So maybe paint a few of each that you have and start looking at the armies people have made in the list section, too. Look for local players who maybe can (when this virus ends) lend you a hand in playing or picking out small starter type armies.

I personally like elysians, scions, cadians and the occasional imperial soups.

Also, you are a WAY better painter than I will ever be. nice. Your orcs look fairly well groomed and matched, for orcs, so I would maybe think they were from a relatively organized and elite orc faction, rather than the wilder / primitive tribal types or ones who feel like pirates. Dunno if that helps -- but its like even if they don't quite go in for the exact same uniform, they at least got the idea of everyone being noticably similar to each other in the same group? Also, its a fairly impressive looking gun, not some cheap bolter ripoff, its got even a well painted missle!

Absolutely beautiful Orkz! Orkz are kind of flexible, and red yellow and black is a really versatile scheme, so you could practially pick a Clan and just go with it.

As for focusing - only you can decide that, really. Just pick the one you think is coolest, maybe root around on online wikis/through old codexes (you can grab them really cheaply on ebay) if you're not very familiar with the story, and just go with what you like best!

I'm not sure about point 4. I think there's usually enough of a local crowd at GW stores that you can meet up with other adults and game, but tbh I don't think there's any official partner-finding system. There is a player finder here on Dakka, however, so maybe give that a try sometime?

Can't stress enough how much I think you've done a great job with those Orkz, they're really amazing, I've been dreaming of an Ork army in a very similar scheme for years! Looking forward to seeing more of your work!

Thanks for the warm welcome guys and great information, much appreciated. Yes I love the background stories and role play elements people are adding to their figures, definitely something I'll do eventually!

Just to clarify my question about GW I basically dont have any IRL friends who are in to the hobby so I was hoping they did some kind of beginner gaming events or something. I'm sure I can get info online though. I watched a few battle reports quite excited to actually play a game.

I think what I'll do is I'll paint a couple figures from each and see what I like painting most and then go for that. I started an eldar few hours ago, again copying the box art. These guys are quite difficult to paint you have to be razor sharp, but it's a fraction of the time my orks took. I messed the highlights tones up a little doesnt quite match the box but I'm not using the gw tones just mixing from what few paints I have.

For the eldar I'm thinking of free handing some stuff on his knee pad. Maybe I'll turn this in to a WIP as you said.

Thanks for the feedback on the minis rly appreciate it!

Edit: I will 100% be finishing that ork squad and posting here in future! I plan on getting a war boss and some mega armour guys too. I'm kind of a person that will probably get well too involved and collect 3 armies at once hehe. (And that's just 40k )

First off, great looking Nobz (ah, the things you get to say in this hobby!)

Secondly, in terms of what army to choose, you need to think about what you enjoy most about the hobby. For example, I love kit bashing and converting, which is why Orks are one of my favourite armies, because I get to make all sorts of crazy stuff.

After a while I needed a change of pace, so I started a Tau army, because I love the clean lines and sci-fi look, plus I found their lore interesting.

If you’re starting out it’s worth mentioning that as well as the main 40k game there is Kill Team; it’s a very different style of play, but it can give you a feel for the different factions and as a squad based game it’s a much lower barrier to entry.

welcome. awesome first effort. you have the same background as me when I came into the hobby (fine art) which should stand you in good stead. you have a good base here. keep practicing on smooth layering of paint, until it becomes muscle memory. From there you can start to look at things like increasing your contrast through highlighting and experimenting with tones and saturation, aswell as working on weathering. I don't really have any pointers for you other than to just dive into the hobby. consume all the youtube media you can, get on instagram and check out the amazing painters. there are tons. you can see the things theyre doing and hopefully take inspiration there, (hint, nagrakali_love_songs is an alright painter )

As for which army, I cant help there, as I dont play, but SM gives you the most conversion and kitbash options with the sheer number of kits, aswell as the amazing forge world kits you can get, as do orks to a lesser degree. I dont have much experience painting eldar but they give you a lovely canvas for trying super smooth paint jobs and working on jewels and such.

If your primary focus is the modelling and painting, collect the faction you like the look of / like painting.

That's some great work so far.

They look great! Keep it up

Welcome - to DakkaDakka and back to the hobby! Those Orks look pretty good already - well done. I'd put a drop of black paint on the end of right one's shoota barrel. (I prefer to drill them myself, but I'm picky like that...)

Thanks for the reply. Yea I'll definitely do this, I was waiting for somebody to mention the barrels I was going to drill them at a later stage. The problem is more with the highlight around the black circle, I just got some "silver" paint so I can do itl. I need to do one in orange as well around this new guys' because his gun is red, and just add constrast to the gun a bit more. Glad you like them. I've got a new WIP thread so i'll put my work in that from now on. Thx all

Great job btw...as for the Orks, remember there are 6 major clans: Goff (most warlike) Bad Moons (richest) Evil Sunz (addicted to speed thus vehicle based) Snake Bites (most primitive, shuns technology) Blood-Axes (closet Imperial Guard/Astra Militarium, shunned by other tribes!) Death Skulls (battlefield looters/grave robbers, most superstitious and use blue war paint for luck) There can be other Ork clans, I assume and have seen folks paint up whatever they like...it's kind of like Space Marines. There are several famous chapters, but there's a LOT of leeway in terms of making your own unique look for the models if you choose to do so. The only limits are your imagination really....to sound cliche. As for which army you should focus on, from experience, it's best to focus on just one and get more of those miniatures (more Space Marines, Orks or Eldar) As for events, I'm here in the U.S. and can't speak of what goes on overseas, sorry.