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If I recall correctly, How to Paint Citadel Minis suggests cupping your hands in a certain way so they're braced together, and any unsteadiness is mitigated by the fact that they both move roughly the same because of it, and can be further mitigated by bracing your hands against a table, though the leaning over involved in that hurts your back after a while.

^
I do this the whole time as I paint. Painting is all in the wrist, so stabilizing your hands as much as possible is the best way to help improve your paint job.
Also a magnifier lamp is a great deal of help, and really helps out by preventing eye strain.

LOL I'm pretty bad at painting so with my nids I primed them black and painted their carapaces 3 different shades of brown/bone and gave them red eyes and figure its good enough haha

If somebody tabled an unpainted army I wouldnt rip on them cause maybe they just havent had the time.... so who cares?

Take it from someone who when he paints it looks like a 5 year old got at it with a crayon.

1) Prime Black
2) Paint 4 basic coats (Flesh, Armor/Clothes/whatever, brown for boots/bags, and bolt gun for weapons)
3) Glue sand / rock to the base
4) Dip it in quick shade (I use strong) http://usshop.thearmypainter.com/products.php?ProductGroupId=1
5) Spray with Dullcoat. http://www.testors.com/product/136064/1260/_/Dullcote_Lacquer_-_3_oz._Spray_Can


Wham, bam, thank you mam.

I have ex-druggie friends (rehabbed tho) who are currently playing CSMs, and painting em up. One of them is a perfectionist to boot, and really gets upset when she can't paint her minis perfectly.

Best thing - Painting surface should be a table, or desk. Preferably with a disposable surface on top. I now use laminated plastic sheets over my homemade paint station.

Have a daylight light or be next to a window so you get a good source of light. Don't be in a basement or in a cupboard or so on.

Have your painting table uncluttered and tidied. Makes it so much easier.

Blu-tac models on a cork. Then blu-tac cork to table. Paint using that, you can get to any crevice with it.

Don't get upset, or angry with yourself at results, the Heavy metal team didn't learn their trade in a day or a year. Most modelists take probably 18 to 24 months to learn their optimal painting techniques.

Im ok at painting i just dount have the time lol

lucasbuffalo wrote:I've tried my hand again (thanks for the encouragement and tips) and with free hand painting, I'm actually noticing improvements. My detail work is still garbage (shaky hand mcshakerson) but, with some calm breathing, etc. even that is improving. Pics when I get home again and can access my camera.

Well if you get a lot of caffeine in your system that can cause you to have shaky hands when painting. Try not to drink a bunch of Mt. Dew before you start painting.

Also do you know why Michael J. Fox makes the best milkshakes?






It is because he uses the best ingredients.

lucasbuffalo wrote:I've tried my hand again (thanks for the encouragement and tips) and with free hand painting, I'm actually noticing improvements. My detail work is still garbage (shaky hand mcshakerson) but, with some calm breathing, etc. even that is improving. Pics when I get home again and can access my camera.

After reading through this thread it's good to hear that you've seen some improvement

Painting 40k is like playing guitar, NO ONE IS GOOD AT FIRST. If they say they are its a liers, some people learn faster or get better on there own faster than some people. Me im no GD winner probly never will be but im happy with everything i have painted and im proud stuck with it for so many years, about 12 or 13 years now the same length i have been playing guitar and im no jimmi H but i can jam and im happy with it, its all about enjoying yourself. If folks diss you cuz your army is either badly painted, grey or just primed there just annoying so i wouldnt let them bother you.

and in the words of the late great JH

"Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you'll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded."
Think that about says what painting 40k is like, only guitarist style lol.

Khisanth Magus wrote:

mugginns wrote:I don't really have a huge problem with playing against gray armies, but perhaps if you don't want to paint the models or figure out a way to have them painted, Warhams isn't the hobby for you.

I'm seriously glad you aren't at my gaming store, because if you said I shouldn't play a game like 40k because I can't find the time and motivation to paint my "little plastic soldiers" as others have called them, I would probably be tempted to punch you in the face.

No threats of violence, please. It's not acceptable behaviour in this site.

The only reason I have any objection to unpainted armies is due to a game I played where I saw unpainted BT and unpainted BA assaulting each other, grey marines fighting grey marines suddenly makes deserting which models are in base to base and that which are not that bit more awkward.

But overall it's not really an issue, sure I prefer to see painted armies of course but I know how much I find painting a chore, so whatever.

After reading through this thread, I can only offer one piece of advice.

GW minis are common, they are not collector's items.

If you conquer your fear and apply a little patience, you can paint up a standard tabletop army.

And guess what?

The more you paint, the more you should improve.

If you get sick of an army, you can always on-sell it as *PRO-PAINTED* on FleaBay

Then, you can buy whatever is in the latest PA codex...

...and begin again... each time improving.

You could just simply use army painter primer and dip them. It'd be better than flat black, or white.

My first models looked like they had been painted by a deranged orangutan with a mashed crayon wedged between it's butt-cheeks, they were terrible.

So, I can sympathise with the OP, but I always feel kind of odd putting an unpainted army down on the table even though my ability isn't anything above average (not sure whether this is a hangover from the days when you had to have things painted in store?) Of course I will play against an unpainted army, and seem to more often than not, but I have to say the experience is a little better for me if both are armies are painted, if we have chosen a mission carefully and spent some time over the terrain. For a game that relies so heavily on imagination, it's a no brainer for me why some people might complain about it.

Sure, I'll leave you alone because your army isn't painted.

Just don't show up to a tournament or scheduled-months-in-advance photogenic game at the shop(which is intended to be used as a promotional platform to raise interest in wargames) where in both cases a "Your army must be fully painted to play" rule is in effect and complain that you're not allowed into the game.

gloomygrim wrote:Painting 40k is like playing guitar, NO ONE IS GOOD AT FIRST. If they say they are its a liers, some people learn faster or get better on there own faster than some people. Me im no GD winner probly never will be but im happy with everything i have painted and im proud

I know some people that are very talented painters. I'm certainly not one of them - not artistic at all. But there are plenty of ways to paint to tabletop standard that are more about technique than artistic ability. Keep trying different things and you'll find something that clicks for you. For me it was the Forge World modelling book - that transformed my painting after 20-odd years of knocking out pretty poor stuff.

Have a look at these - they aren't amazing but if I can knock these out (and it only takes a couple of hours to paint a vehicle or a squad) then anyone can do it.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

lucasbuffalo wrote:

Gornall wrote:
Seriously though... not painting is a conscious decision... no one has a genetic predisposition for painting skill. If you don't want to paint because you are busy or would rather play games than paint, that's fine (and not lazy). However... saying "I want to paint but I'm no good so I'm not going to try" IS lazy.

I disagree. I have been working on my SW for over 7 months. It's really bad.
Just because you have the ability to paint nicely doesn't mean other people are capable of it.
I cannot physically do it. My hands shake a lot when I concentrate hard and I ruin my models more than I paint them.
I keep working at it, hoping that I can improve, but I haven't yet.
I'm not lazy, I'm not making excuses.
There's no reason to be rude.

However good or bad the mini's turn out you've worked hard it at. You are definitely not the sort of person that Gornall is talking about.

gloomygrim wrote:
Painting 40k is like playing guitar, NO ONE IS GOOD AT FIRST. If they say they are its a lie

Now, I don't believe I'm good, but I'm certainly better than I have any right to be, considering that I'm a terrible artist and hadn't picked up a paint brush since I was a kid (and I wasn't good with one then) prior to starting on my first wych squad. I started with no knowledge of what I was doing aside from that gleaned from briefly skimming through the beginning of How to Paint Citadel Minis.

Hey OP,

there are two ways i look at this, based on the two friends i have with unpainted armies.

Friend 1. Has a massive army, mostly unpainted. He is taking his time learning to paint as he goes. He is improving, and he is making an effort, and as such no one has an issue with playing him. Everytime i play him, a bit more of his army is painted. It is cool to watch his army grow.

Friend 2. Has a massive army, mostly unpainted. He never does anything with them, despite having no job and essentially 24/7 free time. Most of his miniatures are unassembled, and not even glued to their bases. The miniatures he has had painted were attempts by other people to show him how to paint, he just refuses to continue the effort. He doesnt play at LGS's anymore because the twelve year olds poke fun at him for not having backpacks glued on. He claims he has no money for paints, but regularly buys more stuff from forgeworld, which he then trys to play with, unpainted and unassembled. Essentially, he has placed the minimal effort into the hobby that allows him to play the game.

Basically when this guy puts his army on the battlefield, its like he is taking a dump on your terrain. It is quite insulting to be in the same hobby as this guy, and for this reason i think more people should at the very least attempt to paint their armies. Now you sound more like the first guy, a total bro. But believe me when i tell you, that the automatic assumption, when you place your army down, is that you are guy number 2.

I personally enjoy the converting and gaming aspect of the hobby more than the painting part, so almost all of my armies (bar two, literally) are unpainted (and most of that is unprimed). However, while I dislike painting (I tend to get into it too much, resulting in a hurt neck, or the colors I use dont patch up with a previous set I painted) I really cant make any excuses not to paint, since I'm an art student (painting being one of the key classes in the program).

I personally enjoy the converting and gaming aspect of the hobby more than the painting part, so almost all of my armies (bar two, literally) are unpainted (and most of that is unprimed). However, while I dislike painting (I tend to get into it too much, resulting in a hurt neck, or the colors I use dont patch up with a previous set I painted) I really cant make any excuses not to paint, since I'm an art student (painting being one of the key classes in the program).

I agree with this except i`m very artisticly blunt. Most of my army is shoddily painted models and grey units, but even though the store manager urges me to paint them i tend not to. I like the modeling aspect more. (considering more than half of my army is elites that are complete BA`s)

Cryage wrote:LOL I'm pretty bad at painting so with my nids I primed them black and painted their carapaces 3 different shades of brown/bone and gave them red eyes and figure its good enough haha

If somebody tabled an unpainted army I wouldnt rip on them cause maybe they just havent had the time.... so who cares?

Tyranid skin is so easy to paint with the new washes. Pick a colour you want. Prime white. Wash the skin areas until they are as dark as you want them to be. The wash does all the table quality shading for you. The carapaces are pretty easy to paint since they're flat surfaces.