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First of all I'd just like to give you a little bit of background, basically I'm a complete novice when it comes to painting miniatures as well as art in general. I will be posting my progress from my first model and beyond, hopefully making noticeable progress in between. I only have a basic point and shoot camera but I will do my best to get passable photos.

First up, just a simple Dark Angels Marine, I didn't use any of the "special" bits on him, nor the better weapons as I didn't want to waste them seeing as he's my first model ever. I'm pretty happy with how I put him together, although the right arm doesn't look right to me, maybe it's my eyes but I'm pretty sure I should have put the shoulder pad on at a better angle. And don't ask how long it actually took me just to put the bloody thing together, it's too embarrassing! Any tips would be great, especially when it comes to mold lines and especially the little bits of plastic left over from the sprue, I got most of it off (I think) but it's not perfect.



I will be updating this blog for every stage of every model, I would have added photos of the model primed but God is mocking me and made it ran the second I finished putting the model together.

More to come in the future, any tips, tricks, advice no matter how small is welcome.

looking forwards to the blog...

My advice for dealing with the mould lines would be to run a knife 'backwards' over them, scraping the excess plastic off until it is flush with the armour. By slicing the lines off normally you stand a good chance of inadvertently taking chunks out of the model!

I think he looks good so far, can't wait to see some paint on him!

Some words of wisdom to start you off.

1) We all started somewhere.
2) Don't beat yourself up too much.
2a) You'll notice your mistakes far more often (and be far harsher on yourself) than anyone else.
2b) If you're good, you'll always feel this way. It shows you really care.
3) Don't be afraid to make mistakes. These things are expensive, sure, but if you're afraid of screwing things up, progress will be slower.
4) Don't expect progress to be noticeable on a figure-by-figure basis. However, in a year, you'll look back on this one and say "what the fisk was I doing?!"

Now, specific to your model, it's looking good! Not sure that's a valid weapons combination, but it looks cool!

Mold lines are a pain in the butt, no doubt. That's something that you can improve in time. Invest in a decent hobby knife. Doesn't have to be expensive, but I avoid the disposable hobby knives like the plague. Some files and sandpaper would probably help there, too, if you're a perfectionist. It depends on what kind of quality you're going for.

For the camera, don't get too close or the auto-focus may do odd things. Your photo there looks great to me.

I'm not sure how much you've read up on painting techniques or whatnot, so I'm not sure what other advice I could give. Are you going with a traditional Dark Angel color scheme or something custom?

A couple of tips. Removing mold lines and sanding down the spots where the sprue was attached really is a must. Not doing this will ruin an otherwise decent paint job. You should also invest in a pin vise and drill the barrels out on your Bolters. You'll be much happer with your army in the long run.

Thanks for all the kind words and advice.

As for your question Jim, I basically spent the last week reading and watching every tutorial possible, so I know a lot of stuff in theory, it's the in practice part I'm worried about! For my first paint job I will be following this tutorial, which I think is a fairly traditional color scheme: http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=52875

I did my best with the mold lines, I know I missed some bits but it's certainly better than before, overall I'm happy for a first attempt.

A little progress, I primed the little fella and had a well deserved pizza so I'm feeling pretty good right about now.



How does the coat look to you guys? I must say I was happy with it as it seemed thin enough and didn't clog up any detail. I was surprised how easy the priming was, literally 3 seconds on either side and it was done.

I like him. He's got a clean, simple look of an ascetic to him that really appeals to me. I hate seeing bling marines. I do agree about the mould lines and especially the bolter barrels. I used to not bother with that until I did a tac squad as a test, and now I can't stand seeing a non-laser weapon not drilled out. They just look so much better. Your primer coat looks really even also. What type of spray are you using?

daedalus wrote:I like him. He's got a clean, simple look of an ascetic to him that really appeals to me. I hate seeing bling marines. I do agree about the mould lines and especially the bolter barrels. I used to not bother with that until I did a tac squad as a test, and now I can't stand seeing a non-laser weapon not drilled out. They just look so much better. Your primer coat looks really even also. What type of spray are you using?

I think I got the worst of the mold lines off, hopefully I will improve my technique as time goes on. I will certainly buy a drill soon, but I've already pumped about £100 into this hobby in one go and I need time to refill my wallet. As for the primer, I'm using the Army Painter black spray primer. I actually got a defective can so I couldn't open the thing (yes, that's a real thing) so I had to cut off the lid. It was extremely easy to use, I just whacked my little bloke in the box he came in and sprayed left to right for about 3 seconds on both sides and he was done.

Oh and yeah, I won't be playing the game so "street legal" isn't a problem for me, it's all about looking cool. This guy got shafted as I gave him basic weapons and no "extras" but I love the pose. I'll leave my captain (or w/e he's called) till last and give him double chainswords.


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Just thought I'd add a photo of the unboxing:

So I just finished basecoating my first model and it went OK I'd say, parts of the legs need to be redone (how are you supposed to do that little bit of cloak without touching the legs) and I missed a few tiny bits here and there but that should all be fixable. I'm just wondering, how long do I need to wait before going in with more color?





As always, helpful advice and comments are welcome.

Looks great so far dude, glad to see you're taking it at your own pace (although it does help that you're not pressured to finish an army because of an upcoming game etc )
As to your problem with the cloak touching the leg, I find that letting my breath out and holding it (so no air is in your lungs) as you paint fiddly bits like that, and also take it slooow, better to do lots of little passes with the brush than one big one that can potentially ruin the paintjob.
Otherwise, you seem to have a good grasp of 'keeping within the lines', keep it up!

Good start MrH

How much are you thinning your paints? How thin is quite a hard formula to get right and it only comes with practice.

As a beginner, I'd recommend your next step (after some tidying up) is to get some washes on it. Did you get any inks?

Keep the photos coming

Hang

Hangfire wrote:Good start MrH

How much are you thinning your paints? How thin is quite a hard formula to get right and it only comes with practice.

As a beginner, I'd recommend your next step (after some tidying up) is to get some washes on it. Did you get any inks?

Keep the photos coming

Hang

I'm not thinning them too much, I basically put a couple of drops of paint on the palette then dip one of my cheapo brushes in the water and mix. And yeah, I have plenty of washes, I think I bought them all apart from the red and blue one, I heard skill in a bottle and jumped all over them

Good stuff, as long as you are thinning, that's the main thing. Although I'd be willing to bet a lot of money (£3 at least) that 6 months from now you'll be thinning a lot more.

Best slap some ink on then MrH and report back!

You're still doing the basecoats, so don't worry if you get an errant brushstroke. You can always use the other basecoat color to touch up that spot.

Another way to get into a spot you're talking about is to hold the model so that part of the cloak is level. Then take your paintbrush, and holding it almost parallel to the cloak (i/e only tilted from level slightly), start where you know you won't hit the leg, and slowly work the brush back and forth into the joint while pushing a bit against the cloak part.

This keeps the brush tight against the cloak and gives excellent control, so you won't hit other places.

Another trick that works well in recesses like this is as you painted the model black, don't go all the way to the join between the leg and the cloak. Leave a very shallow area of the black, like a shadow.

P.S. I'm assuming you're talking about the spot on the knee.

Amazing. You are making me want to post my Blood Falcons up which i would normaly NEVER do until i was sastified with them. . .

You are doing great things.

And that's me done for the day, the Sun has gone to sleep and my lamp isn't great so I can't really see any more. I found out my lamp can take 40w bulbs but it currently has a 28w bulb in it, doh!

I touched up all the green armor I had bodged earlier and I finished all the cloth, it has 2 highlights and a wash of Devlan Mud wash, which is amazing stuff, it really made a huge difference and made my guy look like he's seen a battle or two.



(Please excuse the darkness, as I said the Sun has gone down and my lamp needs a better bulb. You can see the cloth though and that's what I wanted to show you)

As always, comments and tips are more than welcome.

Things are looking great for a start, MrH. Like it's been said before, we all gotta start somewhere.

You're quite fortunate to be starting in the age of "Liquid Talent" (washes are awesome!) Cloth is looking great so far, might I suggest a hard highlight of Bleached Bone or a similar color on the edges to really make it pop?

Keep it up! Looking forward to seeing more.

jeramy404 wrote:Things are looking great for a start, MrH. Like it's been said before, we all gotta start somewhere.

You're quite fortunate to be starting in the age of "Liquid Talent" (washes are awesome!) Cloth is looking great so far, might I suggest a hard highlight of Bleached Bone or a similar color on the edges to really make it pop?

Keep it up! Looking forward to seeing more.

Sounds like a good idea, although I doubt I'll be painting miniatures tomorrow as I need to paint my house, LOL. Guess which one I'd prefer to do?

I'm gonna go with house So much more painting to be done that it must be fun!

Sandyman11 wrote:I'm gonna go with house So much more painting to be done that it must be fun!

BUZZ! Wrong answer. I'll be starting soon, my whole day wasted.

Looks like you've made a solid start! The washes are definitely a good idea but not something to rely on 100% I tend to use them on little pouches and random accessories that I can't be bothered to paint properly, though I have used them to paint whole areas, just a wash straight over white primer.

But anyway, welcome to the hobby!

I'm feeling a bit defeated and deflated right now, today didn't go as hoped and I'm not happy with my final result, I really don't like the light green I added, it would have looked better just dark green like the rest. The one thing I am happy with is the cloak, I added some bonewhite highlights and washed it with sepia.

Front:



Back:



There's a lot I notice in the photos that I don't when I'm painting, mainly due to my crappy bulb. The light green looks "sticky" and I think that's my lamp doing that, as it gets extremely hot. The model looked better before I started on it today so I'm feeling pretty down with myself. I know it's my first ever model but still, I really wanted it to look good.

If you were 100% happy with your first go I'd be surprised. The good thing is you know what you like and what you don't. My advice, for what it's worth. Start your next model and try to keep doing what you like and make the bad bits.better. you're on a steep steep learning curve my friend.

Probably good advice, ah well, it's been varnished and put to bed. Overall it's OK for a first go and I learnt a lot. I should have my basing stuff for my next model, so that's one improvement

Pretty good first model if you ask me,

I know that feeling you get when your not 100% sold on it but if I can offer any advice, keep going, learn from what people have to say. I'll post my first models so that you wont feel so bad

DA squad 1 (Red Eyes)


DA squad 2 (Yellow Eyes)


Have you been watering down your paints at all? I found that 2 coats of thin paint gave a much better look that 1 coat of this paint.

I have been thinning, but only very slightly, maybe I'll try to thin more on my next model.

Luckily a lot of the "flaws" or "mess ups" can't really be seen when you're just looking at the model, it's just when you look at a photo of it that takes up half your screen.

subscribed, and tbh your first model is looking really good so far

I should hopefully get the Orks I won from eBay this week. I have 10 Ork Boyz and an Ork Boss coming. I think I might swap to Orks full time, the Space Marines are just a bit too annoying to paint, plus the arms are so fiddly with the arm pads. Orks seem much easier to put together and paint, plus they look awesome and they're always super cheap on eBay.

You've got the same army's as me

Looking good for a first model but don't fool your self that Orks are easy (buckles, stitches) cooler maybe not easier. Marines with all their amour may be boring but they are a good model to learn shading and highlighting on.

Bangbangboom wrote:You've got the same army's as me

Looking good for a first model but don't fool your self that Orks are easy (buckles, stitches) cooler maybe not easier. Marines with all their amour may be boring but they are a good model to learn shading and highlighting on.

I dunno, there's some really great tutorials for Orks which I think I could pull off and I just love how they look, I wish I had gone for an Ork squad first TBH. Oh well, I can still use the remaining 4 Marines to practice on. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on some really old school basics Orks to start with, they have much less detail.

For example, these:

oooo what clan are you going to paint the orks? (deathskullz, speed freaks, ect...)