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I'm a 40k gamer who recent picked up a box of FOW minis, Airborne company I think it's called. This is my first foray into 15mm and I was curious how to paint and base the minis compared to the 28mm heroics I'm used to.

Any suggestions for a noob? I'm terrible at details on the 40k minis and can only imagine them to be tougher on the smaller scale.

Details are a bit harder - a steady hand and a good brush are important for them.

Decals are essential to bring out quality.

Weathering makes a massive difference to tanks and is easy (just drybrush/stipple a couple of shades of brown on the lower areas generally).

Basing needs shorter static grass than 28mm uses. 2-3mm grass is a good size to look appropriate. Silfor clumps are also extremely effective at this scale. Lichen does not work generally though.

You can get away with painting on:
base colour, wash, highlight with original base colour and then highlight colour for an extremely effective look with minimal effort or complexity. Drybrushing is a very effective technique at this scale as well.

Practice makes perfect, and you'll find after painting some 15mm stuff that your 28mm skill is significantly improved as a result.

And to reiterate, get a good brush (winsor and newton series 7 size 0 and size 1 are my most important brushes for painting FoW stuff).

Thank you. I was worried about them ending up looking like blobs of green and tan. The tiny details are my downfall. But it makes sense that it would only improve my 40k painting over time also.

Check out my painting blog in my signature to see how I did in my first flames of war painting attempt from 28mm to 15mm if you didnt already.

be sure to spackle the bases and THEN glue down your infantry...trying to smear spackle around the guys as they are already glued onto the base is a pain in the A$#

I run late war germans, 2. SS Panzer and 21. Panzerkompanie...uniforms are basically primed black, painted grey, highlighted lighter grey, detaisl picked out (brown straps and gear, black boots and weapons, etc) and then a liberal application of devlan mud, then drybrushed a very light grey, and sealed with testors dullcote.

works great, and if i can get some picks up here i will post them.

That actually was my next question. Is there a hobby equivalent of spackle or do I just head down to good old Wal-mart and pick up what they have and use that?

Maxstreel wrote:That actually was my next question. Is there a hobby equivalent of spackle or do I just head down to good old Wal-mart and pick up what they have and use that?

Some people use Vallejo pumice(its on the page under stone effects, scroll a bit down). I think white or grey will do. Of course you can use walmart stuff also.

Spackle first, place minis in spackle, add sand/turf to spackle, prime. and paint as you would with 40k mini...

I Play fallschrimjager/ US paratroopers... detail to uniforms are a big deal with some players...

Since US airborne Uniforms changes after North Africa in color, then later after D-Day they started adding Green patches over the elbow and knee...( there just squares)
You will be surprised how much detail are on the 15mm models, so just take your time , and use a vert thin bristle brush, or lots of dry brushing...

I find FOW is suprisingly easy to paint, far easier then 28mm anyway.

There is a suprising amount of detail on the infantry minatures so if you want to you can go nuts. But a simple yet neat scheme is just as effective.

I also find FOW a bit easier to paint than 28mm. That said, the main thing is that if you are used to painting 28mm, you have to modify your technique slightly to adjust to 15mm. It's really not as big a deal as it seems. I recommend just going for it. If you're experienced painting in 28mm, you shouldn't have any major problems.

Personally, I recommend painting the miniatures before you base them, because it's easier to move them around and maneuver your brush than it is if you are trying to paint a stand with 3-5 minis that are all glued together. I base my minis on a temporary base (I use coins for this, some people use popsicle sticks or something similar,) with something like blue tac, paint them, then glue them to their final base. Some people do base their minis, and then paint them, however. It's really just personal preference.

Instead of spackle, I use Testors putty/filler, but spackle certainly works just as well. Then I cover the base in sand or flock, paint it, then add rocks and bushes and all that fun stuff.

You can see some of the final results in the Afrika Korps section of my gallery.

on the same topic what sort of paints do use's use? Wanting to paint up some British infantry just not sure of what colours ill need could some one please guide me can use either game colour or GW paints.

chers Andy

I feel that 15mm are easier to paint than 25/28mms. There's far less fiddly little detail crap to deal with and most normal people can't make out the fine details until they have the model close enough to their face to pick their nose with it.

acullen626 wrote:on the same topic what sort of paints do use's use? Wanting to paint up some British infantry just not sure of what colours ill need could some one please guide me can use either game colour or GW paints.

chers Andy

For late war, graveyard earth for brown and camo green for green and webbing. For desert war, kommando khaki. They are not that close to the actual colours though. You'd do better to splash out and buy green grey, english uniform and/or khaki from the vallejo model colour range.

lets see, id say easy for 2 reasons. one is that AV has all the colours for every flames of war army, and are easy to use.(they even name them by army to some extent.) and 2 because they are a smaler mini and really paint up fast and easy.
Just like Sword breaker suggests as well.

I may be in the minority here but:

I glue the 15mm figures to wooden craft sticks/popsicle sticks, 5-6 per stick trying to keep similar poses together. I use regular white glue.

I then spray prime then paint them on the sticks, assembly line fashion. I also spray a protective clar coat on. Once painted I use a hobby knife to pop them off and then figure out the basing. Glue them to the appropriate base and use a spackle type substance to terrain the bases. I have a couple small painting spatulas that make getting the spackle around where I need it pretty easy. I usually add some cheap brown craft paint to the spackle first to get it a base color.

Once the spackle is dry I wash the base, then dry brush and add grass/flock as needed. Once all done the completed bases with figures get a protective dull coat.

Jake

CptJake: can you post any pictures of the minis you've painted?

I don't have any of my WW2 photographed and it is packed up right now for an upcoming move. However, my gallery has some 15mm moderns and Sci Fi:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-4402-4048_15mm%20Scifi.html

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-4402-1826_15mm%20Moderns.html

and my photobucket site has a lot more:

http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg134/CptJake_Minis/15mm%20Irregular/

http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg134/CptJake_Minis/15mmSciFi/

http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg134/CptJake_Minis/15mm%20Moderns/

http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/gg134/CptJake_Minis/?start=20

Jake

Here are a couple more 15mm armies I painted:

http://www.fanaticus.org/DBA/armiesofthefanatici/JakeRose/SubRomanBrits/

http://www.fanaticus.org/DBA/armiesofthefanatici/JakeRose/Haradrim/

Jake

You all have said something about spackling? your bases what is spackle? How much is it? Sorry I am new to fow too, does anyone have know color suggestions for painting mid war Grenadiers/stug gs with GW paints?

I recently tried my first Airborne FoW troop and plogged the reults here. Hopefully you can learn a little from my mistakes

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/356868.page

Much like allot of the others I found 15mm allot easier than 28mm, simply put they are even smaller there for once they are down on the table then you really don't see much of the detail.

Re GW and vallejo colours try the coversion chart here, this helps allot if you only have GW.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Paint_Range_Compatibility_Chart

Edit - Damm you iheartblasttemplate - Threadmancy and you dragged me allong for the ride! :(

iheartlargeblasttemplates wrote:You all have said something about spackling? your bases what is spackle? How much is it? Sorry I am new to fow too, does anyone have know color suggestions for painting mid war Grenadiers/stug gs with GW paints?

I might as well jump into the threadmancy as well...

Spackle is basically patching putty, used primarily for drywall repair. It's dirt cheap, a couple of dollars at most for more than you'll need for an entire army. I did my spackle a little different than most people suggest and I'm happy with the results. If you'd like to see what I tried you can check out the P & M tutorial I put up http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/354317.page

I mention in one of my posts above that I add paint to the spackle too.

Jake

I used tile adhesive/grout in much the same way.

Slighty coarser that filler (putty/spackle) and dries harder. Also good if you wand snow on the ground as it is ice white.

So some form of polyfilla then?

I made a start on my first FoW models today, I kinda took the easy route and made a start on one of my two Honey Stuarts. For North Africa the colour scheme is wonderfully simple (dark sand and gunmetal with a few details in other colours).

Not sure I feel brave enough to start on the infantry just yet.

Yes, spackle is the US term for polyfilla. I personally use pumice paste which you can read about in either of the logs in my sig.

Ok, I need some clarification on something.

I've seen several people mention that they spackle/putty/pumice that base completely and then push the models into the stuff, rather than glue the models and spackle around them. Am I safe in assuming that the models stay put just as if you had glued them?

Nick Ellingworth wrote:So some form of polyfilla then?

I made a start on my first FoW models today, I kinda took the easy route and made a start on one of my two Honey Stuarts. For North Africa the colour scheme is wonderfully simple (dark sand and gunmetal with a few details in other colours).

Not sure I feel brave enough to start on the infantry just yet.

Wilkinsons "Home Brand" filler. Mix it up with a little PVA to prevent cracking, and a decent sized tub will base a division or more. Helps to put some water in the pot if you are leaving it for a while, then just stir it up when you need it.

@BrotherItchy - I get the impression that some do that, I personally stick the models to the base and then apply the grout/spackle/filler.

I do it like this for 2 reasons:

1) I grind down the molded bases as much as possible (so there isn't 1/8" of "soil" on top of the base) so there is less for the grout/spackle/filler to grip on to and this could see the model break free if you don't cover them enough.

2) The models also give the grout/spackle/filler some thing to grip onto rather than just the base.

As someone who just painted their first FOW army and then subsequently won Best Painted at Adepticon, 15mm is lights years easier to paint than 28mm.

A few key points:

-Block painting infantry can be both very easy but VERY tedious. If you are easily frustrated by painting the same thing over and over and over again, an all-infantry force may not be for you.

-If you want a less tedious force to paint, try to use some combined arms (some vehicles, some infantry, some arty, etc.)

-At this scale, drybrushing is your friend! It's the easiest way to achieve quick shading and highlighting. Just be sure to use good quality paint, so you don't get grainy textures...

-Vehicles should have at least a little weathering. Even fresh-out-of-the-factory vehicles will quickly accumulate dirt, grease/oil stains, even minor rust in combat.

-Paint everything in brighter colors then what is "realistic", then do a general black or dark brown wash over the entire mini when complete. This tones down the colors, adds depth, and looks more accurate in 15mm.

-Little details help your force to stand out. For instance, both my HQ squads are easily noticeable because there are medics in them, all I did was paint their helmets white and add a red cross!

-Imaginative objectives can really add personality to your force.

Hope that helps!

ancientsociety, post some pictures in your dakka gallery you tease