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It looks terrifying when you see it as the whole job. Sure, 200ish figures is a massive amount to paint.

However, when you break it down into little parts, it doesn't seem so bad. Write up a new schedule on a piece of paper, and observe that 100 figures is only 10 figures done 10 times.

What I find helps a lot is to spend 45 minutes painting, then 15 minutes rewarding yourself by standing up, walking around and doing some simple exercise like jumping jacks. Drink some water, get some fresh air and sunshine, then go back to painting. Luckily, 45 minutes is just long enough to watch an episode of a tv show. I find renting or buying a series to watch in the background helps a ton to relieve the boring repetition.

The models look great. Your paint job on the Empire is so much cleaner and nicer than the Tau. They look awesome!

I designate strict time limits on when I paint, I treat it like the job I eventually hope it can be, meaning I work from 6am till 2pm on weekends on nights, and 6pm till 2am on weekend on days.

If you look at it that you are being paid for the work, even if its not a massive amount, you can find it easier to get into the "job"mindset and get it done. I would also recommend varying what you are painting from personal experience. The lizardmen I am still working on were crisscrossed with other smaller commissions to stop me basically going mad from paint blue nonstop!

It will never end...

Actually, the first batch is winging it's way towards the owner as we speak! I snapped some photo's really quick, so here they are. Not much else to say~it is late, bed is calling, and I am going to meet up with a friend at my FLGS tomorrow, and then go see a movie with said friend. Life is good.


2nd Warrior Priest

Captain of the Empire


Next up is the War Altar, 5 knights, and a Battle Wizard.

Cheers!

_Tim?

Nice work! You finished the squad!

*Comes in, and upon hearing only crickets, I say*
...Is my painting blog really boring?

Is it?

_Tim?

Ey it isn't! I don't think so at least, I enjoy your work.

I type slow. So hold your pants on.

Great stuff there, really wish I had the paitience, and a working airbrush so I could get my skaven painted.

Congrats on getting your first batch done. They look really good.

The fully done swordsmen unit is a nice reward, they look stunning as could be guessed from the earlier shots. The heroes look good.

What are you using as a base for the War Altar?

@All: Thanks so much, guys!

@Metsuri: I am not doing a base for the War Altar, as it was not requested. I would love to, but I cannot...

Oookay, here are pictures! I am trying to get this batch done by the end of the week, however, that will be hard as the Parents are breathing down my neck, as they are worried by how much time I spend painting, which makes no sense, as I only paint for 2-3 hours a day. They are thinking on making two days of the week "No Painting" days, which will be a complete pain in the rear, as I HAVE to get this commission done within the next 3 months(the customer is trying to get to Adepticon), and if they implemented that rule, I could lose 24 days worth of painting, which is equivalent to around 12 batchs of 5-10 Halberdiers...Gah.

Here is the War Altar. The Golden Griffin was almost to easy to paint, just a base coat of gold and a wash. Sadly, on the back of the wings, the wash decided to pool up really badly, so I will have to re-do that. I am supposed to paint the Arch Lector to fit in with the rest of the army, so that will be interesting.

4 of the 5 knights. I am ponder as to how I should go about highlighting the barding, as it is a very unusual shape...I am pretty proud of it, though, and I tried to make each knight look individual. Naturally, everything but the armor on the knights is WiP.

Aaand the dilemma of the batch, the greenstuffed wizard. The customer converted him from a mounted model. Sadly, the greenstuff work is pretty amateur (though I could do no better), and will make the rest of the model a complete pain to paint up. I am almost tempted just to say "no", but I am being paid, so...

Lastly, here is a very bad shot of the next 5 Orc Boyz I am painting up for my unit. Once they are done, I will have 40 more to go...


Comments? Questions? Slams? Post 'em up!

_Tim?

Edit: AAAARGH! The Dakka Gallery made my photos look all fuzzy, AGAIN.

I really like the knights!

Thanks, Rose!

Just a quick update. I went ahead and started the greenstuffed wizard, and he really isn't that bad. I also did a buncha work on the War Altar and the Arch Lector. I am VERY happy with the skin on the Arch Lector, GW's Dwarf Flesh is a blessing to mankind. I am thinking of freehanding some script on the inside of his collar, just to add some visual interest.


I did a lot more work on the Knights, but for the photo, I picked out my 3 favorites. It is very hard to make myself do just one highlight on the barding, as I would like to do blending and layering...still, they are looking good!


I also decided to work on one of the SW models I have lying around, so I could practice being neat and tidy, and also control my naturally shaky hands. He looks good ATM, plus I am happy with the skin and beard. Once again, Dwarf Flesh really helps!


Please bring the comments/critiscims in, because no matter how negative they might be, I can always use them!

_Tim?

P.S. Does anyone know why the Dakka Gallery makes my photos so fuzzy and blurry looking?

The SW face is really nice indeed!!

It's nice to see you managed to end that first Empire regiment...

Hold on!

How do you paint your skin? I've been looking for some good cuality skin reciept for humans, cause I really need to work on that, so a little advice would help me.

I think it is a dark flesh undercoat thinly with thinly layered Dwarf flesh over it.

@Rose_Mountainz: I base coat with Dwarf Flesh(DF), then apply a walnut colored wash to it. Then I just add another layer of DF, and begin highlighting! Easy as cake. Glad you like it!

Oh, and good news! I bagged a small WoC commission, and an even smaller SM commission(4 figures to be exact~it is part of a trade for 60 Night Gobbos, so expect to see those up sometime soon!)

I am also in the grips of a geeky dilemma: I have been looking at and comparing, side by side, my 1st 3 units I painted up for my Tau army, back in the spring, and I gotta say, if I ever go to a tournament, I am gonna have a heck of a time convincing people that I painted them, as they look so bad compared to my latest; messy, blobby, thick, and the Devilfish is just plain scary, as apparently I didn't clean my brush out thoroughly, and ther are areas where the white looks plan gray. Really cringeworthy stuff :(. SO, what should I DO with them (the being the first unit of FW's, the first unit of PF's, and the Devilfish)?!

_Tim?

Wow Classic swordsmen.

Haven't seen them in a while.

@Melkhiordarkblade: Yes, they are rather antiquated, their simplicity is refreshing! I once tried to start and Empire army, and the sheer amount of skulls, ribbons, daggers, and other bits of frippery where a real pain to paint, as I was always missing something!

_Tim?

Nothing exciting, just a quick update today. The War Altar and the Wizard are all 75 percent finished, so I decided I might as well take some photos. *Yawn*




_Tim?

I'm sorry Tim, I don't like those old Empire models much...

But I do like the jade griffin on the 1st one! The colour's nice!

As for the Tau dilemma, is the whole model bad in apprearance or is it just small areas, because at any rate you COULD strip and start over, but then again maybe you could just use a Q-tip and clean up those small areas by stripping jus the affected areas.

@Yggs: I trust you mean the models, and not the paintjobs? Glad you like the Jade effect, it turned out well.

@btemple0: Basically, it is the whole model that is the problem. And I cannot strip them, as I got the Infantry off of eBay, and that is what made them look blobby, since I could not get the paint out of the cracks. I got the Devilfish new, but due to the fact that I did not know how to paint whites that well at the time, is looks plain bad and messy. Bleh. I guess I just need to buy a replacement model, as I will NOT field the current one in a tourney. Having a nice smooth white primer will be great for whenever I get the new one, it will go 100 times faster.

Well, I am getting the current batch shipped off tomorrow, so it will be nice to have that out of the way! No pics until they are finished, so in the meantime, here is a little update for you guys (especially you, Yggs, as you play Skaven). I got my hands on the Skaven Warlord model from the IoB starter set, just because it is such a nice model, almost as good any of the new metal models! He is a blast to paint, and I am particularly happy with the armor, as even though I painted it white, it still looks dirty and very Skaven-esque. I knew I wanted the cloth to be gray, but at the same time, I also wanted the ruin he is standing on to be gray. So, to avoid monotony, I added brown to each layer of gray drybrush on the cloth, and blue to each layer of drybrush on the stone. I think it turned out well. I am also super happy with the blade on his spear/poleaxe.

Two of the pictures are not the best, but the one that looks more natural (1st one) shows what the color looks like the most effectively.




Comments?

_Tim?

i like them alot

SWEET Skaven! I have a ton of those lil' buggars to do but I have no idea what color I want to paint them. Bet he's gonna be awesome when done. Keep it up!

I really need to paint my warlord...


Well Do waht you ahve to do if you think other players will not recognise the work as your own.

That's a nice colour for a Skaven... Really original, and you managed to keep it dirty!!!

The chips on the halberd blade are nicely done as well!!!

Nothing much today, just the 1st coupla models for the WoC commission.




_Tim?

Nice blue!

REALLY like the flags on those tau. I always love the flags on minis. One of the best things about the cadian command squad box is that it has 2.

The WoC look nice, maybe I would suggest a light glaze on the drybrushed blue parts to remove that dusty look... Unless it's the way you want them!