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ok this is my imperial gaurd army the 501st varden rifles!

ok first off my valk

side(with teeth0

squad marking(paints abit streaky as i moved the door >.<

other side (better teeth this time )

door

cockpit(glue ran- sorry)


and that is my valkyrie!
next up some troops!(btw sorry about the faces)
group shot

flamer(with respirator-the green things a visor)

and the sarge


ok now some sentinals(rogue trader sentinals!)
group shot

the squad leader(note the dead dark eldar)

runnin across the battlefeild

and this ones suffering from recoil after loosing off a couple of shots from its multilaser!


and thats it for now sorry again about the faces(im not that good a doing faces in helmets ill work on it for my next squad)
C&C welcome-first try at imperials so be kind next up a leman russ eradicator!

I really would work on thinning out your paints as it seems to be very thickly applied in some areas. As well some of your photos seem blurry to me, have you tried a tripod? I would also try to work on your brush control as that will result in better painting results. All in all keep working on your skills you'll get better. Where did you get RT sentinels though?

ebay is youre freind- i think i saw some up there not to long ago

like ghost said kinda splotchy thin the paint a little bit, and keep practicing- no one starts out amazing.


but you have a very good start keep up the good work.

about the splotchy paint if you mean beside the door it slid back and made it go streaky

not many comments is ther?

ok just orderd my GD tickets and am going in store coach so ill probably paint up the cadian at ease model and will have it posted (hopefuly) this week!

No I mean in general your paints on your models is really thick and the colors bleed together across the lines. AKA you have the carapace color running over onto the clothing.

aaah must have missed them when i did the lighter gray (i use it as an undercoat on the clothes-makes it slightly darker)

ok big update just finished my leman russ eradicator!
ok front shot(the nova cannon is off a hellhound)

back(with scorched exhausts)

side(tank number

angle


ok and i also got a limited ed cadian for taking the store bus to gamesday.i did this one in a MUCH higher standard then my other troops because i wanted it to look good as its a special model.
ok front (with eye detail)

back with eagles picked out in grey

angle


hope you like them c&c as usual!

zero intrest?

Depends on if you're looking for C&C's or just O&A's.

As mentioned above, you should thin out your paints and get a good base of block painting down before you delve into detailing. A good base-coat and clean block painting will go a long way, and make it easier for you to wash/highlight/detail your models.

I must be missing something. Your tanks look really good, but the IG look like you painted them with the same brush you used on your tanks. Im sorry, Im not one for bashing people, but your IG look really bad. It looks to me like you tried to paint them in about 5 mins... total, not individually.
Im going to say, slow WAY down and try and think about what your painting before blasting paint on them

that happens alot when i paint ill do a unit realy quickly than late on ill go back and paint them again but better.

I'm thinking the same as Le Grognard on this one. Do you want constructive criticism?

yes and abit of advice about how to fix what i did wrong.
and how much water should i use in my paint to make it less thick?

You have a good scheme going - I find that Guard look best in Earthen colors or Neutral shades, as in this case.

Unfortunately, you're applying too thick - as has been noted. Try drybrushing a thin basecoat of the color you want for that area first, then letting it dry. After that, just be conservatve in your application. Use multiple thinner coats when painting, rather than one or two big, thick coats as it seems you're doing. Alternatively, you could just drybrush all your layers in varing thicknesses, from a thin wetcoat (slight paint on the brush) to a drycoat (where you wipe the paint almost completely off the brush first). If you want all the details accentuated with small, dark lines, drybrushing multiple light coats is the way to go.

To demonstrate, I used this effect on the chestplate for my Colonel to accentuate the plating.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/32279-.html?m=2

As you can see, drybrushing multiple thin coats of a color to create one solid coat will pick out a lot of details and looks better on darker models (In my own, very humble opinion) than traditional highlights.

Another thing is your eyes. You're starting out on the right idea. But again you're using too much paint and it's coming out too thick. Reduce your paint consumption and you'll instantly notice improvements. I'd also reccommend grabbing a Small Fine Detail brush, or the stock Citadel Fine Detail. Get -just- enough paint on the very, very tip of the brush and -very- gently, tap it against the eyes. You should use enough that you just get a white layer over the eye, rather than a big white "blob". If you mess up, don't touch it up right away. Wait until you add the pupil.

Once the white dries (shouldn't take too long for such a small amount), pick your location on the eye before dibbing into the black. Get your Fine Detail again. Very, very carefully, -just- press the very tip into some black. You should have just enough that you can barely see it. You'll need to be quick, as it will dry fast, but not to worry if you have to try again. Even more lightly than with the white, dab the black as close to the centre (or location you want the eyes to be looking) as you can get. You should be applying the black in multiple, smaller dabs rather than one large one.

Once the black dries, use your Fine Detail to clean up around the eyes if need be. As you improve, you'll need to do less and less cleanup. What you should be left with, assuming you take your time and patiently apply what can be a difficult detail to learn, you'll end up with some fine-looking eyes on the models, which you'll find adds a tonne of character. Don't worry if it takes you a while to get the whole process under your belt. No one ever learned anything right away. It took me 2 or 3 sets of eyes (with 2 or 3 attempts per pair), to get it right, but now it's like riding a bike. Once you learn it, you'll never lose it.

And eyes lead to other areas and ideas for details and paint schemes as well. I have a Tau Fire Warrior that I painted using a 5 color desert camo in a pea-pattern camo scheme that I'll try and dig up. I credit the quality of the final product to the fact that I've been painting eyes for as long as I have. So yea, just slow down, use thinner layers of paint, and don't rush through. Speed doesn't equal quality, so don't be afraid to take your time


*Note* If you're finding your bad "Speedpainting" habit to be a problem, then go the multi-layer drybrushing route. This is faster than stadard painting, will go on nice and thin, and will still make your models look good. You'll need to do more touch-ups with the drybrushing route, but it will still be fast, and will still give you an adequate to impressive paintjob, depending, again, on how long you spend on it.*

thanks metalifan thats the kind of thing ive been looking for. when i do my next squad ill try to use all of the advice ive got so far!

How's she coming? Hope to see some new shots with the new techniques suggested.

trying to convince mum to let me buy another gaurd squad after spending alot of money on my gd tickets and russ...hopefully i can get a new squad and fine detail brush on tuesday! and now ive finished my battlewagon i can spend more time on my gaurd

Ah, you're a youngun eh? Just do what we all did in our youth days - Mow a couple lawns for a few dollars (Or pounds, in your case). Wash a few cars, etc... The Empruh needs your money!

im helping do plants for a saturday job

On your infantry and walkers, it look slike you put paint on bare minis. Did you prime them before painting. If you did prime them, did you prime them thoroughly? Could you still see metal through the primer?

I don't know if they are unprimed or if you need to shake your primer up more before using, but it certainly looks as if there's some sort of issue going on there.

You're off to a good enough start. You will certainly improve as the years go by. Just keep plugging away. Keep asking questions and keep trying things out.

Oh. I almost forgot...



BASE YOUR FRIKKIN' MODELS!



Ghidorah

they are all based now with grey scatter. and i dont prime them because i find it a bit harder to find all the deatail on the model when i do and the grey on the carapace would go darker and without the flash its almost black.

*facepalm*
Always, ALWAYS prime your models. Use spray primer to avoid clogging up details. It makes it a lot easier to apply paint evenly so you don't just layer it on a dozen times.

Apart from that, I have to say that your painting skills need a real improvement if you hope to show off at Games Day. The eyes are blobby and unrealistic, the paints are too thick, and you can't see detail very well.

Use washes to your advantage, pretty much the reason why GW created them.
it looks like all you have done with the tank is dry brush it grey and with the models you have put your base colours in without any thought of doing anymore steps in highlighting.

for your grey a method i would use would be:

undercoat black
put 2+ thin coats of codex grey (until you have a nice even coverage)
badab black wash
highlight of codex grey (leave the recess)
extreme highlight of fortress grey

with your 'special free' model you got, there is some show of highlighting on the cloth but not much - at least you got the idea.
don't bother with the eyes unless for (both of the) two reason: 1. You have an extremely steady hand 2. Experience

your skin tone looks alright but can be accomplished better with a simple wash of ogryn flesh or gryphonnia sephia (?) which gives a lot of depth into the model.

Yeh man, watering down those paints and using a primer is a must!

I suggest black as my preffered primer, then i paint the grey and all the other colours on after. And take a little bit more time while painting. Don't worry you will get there, we were all noobs at one stage =)

ok ill try to get some primer etc.
do you think this looks a bit better?

Looks a LOT better. You're using less paint on them, which, as you can see, is giving a much smoother and far more even coat.

Onto the priming issue... Like the boxes clearly state on the back, ALWAYS use primer on platics and pewters. Don't worry about not seeing details. Remember, you're painting your basic colors first. Details are a "right-before-touch-ups" thing. You do them second to last to avoid messing them up by painting over them. The basic colors will reveal them, so no need to worry. And make sure your primer corresponds with your side of the colour/shade spectrum. IE: Dark colors = Black primer, Light colours = White primer.

A cheaper alternative to GW primer, though it doesn't hold the paint -quite- as well (Though it's hard to notice the difference) is just flat unglossed (in your case, black) spraypaint. Make sure there's no gloss in the spraypaint, as this will make it harder for the GW paints to adhere.

But yea, as GW paints are water based, you MUST have primer. They'll hold better, and won't flake and chip off with time, they'll go on smoother, you'll need a LOT less, which I assume is why your paints look too thick. The paint is likely fine, your lack of primer just means you use way too much, and you'll get a nice deep bodied color over the black that'll really bring everything out once painted.

When priming, just keep in mind that the further away you hold the can, the smoother and thinner your primer finish will be. Which is what you want. You don't need a ton of primer on your models. You should have just enough that it covers the plastic surfaces, without getting runny and smothering anything. I usually spray from a foot to a foot and a half away. This puts a nice thin coat on the minis, but also causes a fair deal of lost spray, so never prime one mini at a time if you can help it. Always prime multiple minis to catch all your lost spray. That way you're not wasting primer by spraying your workbench trying to get one little mini primed up.

Also pewter WILL require more primer than the plastic minis. When priming pewter, make sure you can't see any of the metal shining through the primer. A tiny patch here or there is okay, but big spots are a no-no. I would suggest stripping the paint from your sentinels by leaving them in a jar of nail polish remover for a day or two, then washing them off before priming and repainting them.

With plastics, you can allow for some larger patches of grey, just make sure you paint over them with a matching basecolor before painting your army colours on them. Generally with plastics if you get a few speckled areas where the primer didn't totally cover the surface, the paint will still hold. Respray these areas if you notice them before you start painting, but don't worry if you miss wee a little patch here or there.

Dakka has a lot of painting tutorials for beginners, so why don't you spend some time reading the basics before going any further and spending more money?

with your 'special free' model you got, there is some show of highlighting on the cloth but not much - at least you got the idea.
don't bother with the eyes unless for (both of the) two reason: 1. You have an extremely steady hand 2. Experience

And how is he supposed to improve his skills pertaining to painting eyes if he doesn't try? If he doesn't keep trying, he won't get better at them. That's how skillbuilding works. To that end, keep shooting for the eyes bud. They might not be much to look at now, but you've got (or will be getting) a fine detail soon, which you can use for all the small areas, eyes included. You'll notice improvements as long as you keep working on them. As I said in my previous post regarding the eyes, just use as little paint as possible when doing them to avoid getting big blobs, and don't be afraid to do touchups after.

ok i managed to get the fine detail brush in time to do the sarge but im still geting used to the much smaller brush(hence the eyes are still abit bloby and im in glasgow on tues day so hopefully primer then!
and on the sentinals i had used some no gloss spray paint on them because i heard i should always prime metal models but none left now so ill try to get some primer soon.