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Well, I FINALLY worked up the courage to start painting (I've been playing with bare plastic models for years). Should I be discouraged if the results aren't exactly...good? I'm not expecting to win a GD right off of course, but I can't even paint in the lines half the time.

I've got a picture here of the poor SM that agreed to be my first "test subject". This guy brought back some memories. I got him in the 3rd edition starter kit (Told you I put off painting for a while). Right now I play Tau and have a color scheme planned involving dark red and gray. This is just a couple foundation colors painted over a black base coat, just trying to see how the colors looked next to each other. Hopefully i can add some more highlights as I get a little better.


Dang, it didn't look quite that bad in person.

I'm really struggling to get the thickness of paint right. Some places look bumpy because of too much paint on the brush, and in others you can still see the black undercoat because it got so thin. Are you supposed to mix on a palate or something? I was just dipping into the paint pot for this guy. It tended to form a blob on the brush, then that blob got rubbed off onto the first surface I painted. I actually found myself picking up paint from one place and moving it to another a couple of times.

P.S. I know it's lousy, this is literally the first time I've put paint on a model. Constructive criticism please.

Hey there, dementedwombat.

A few suggestions:

1. Never paint straight from the pot. People used to tell me not to, and I didn't listen. About two months ago I stopped and my painting noticeably improved.

2. Mix your paint with water if you don't have the real paint thinner stuff. You should have about twice as much paint as water in the mixture.

3. If the consistency of the paint doesn't seem right, keep adding paint or water as needed. If it won't stay on the surface, there's too much water, and if it gets covered in goo, you need more water.

Hope that helps!

By the looks of things you just need to concentrate on being much neater. Pick out the armor, don't just run your brush everywhere. Remember: slow and steady is a lot better than rushing the job. Painting minis isn't exactly a quick job, in my experience. Don't worry about highlighting and stuff for right now. Right now, you just need to get a feel for the model, the brush and the paint.

As for thinning paints, yes you are supposed to use a palette, I'm sure others could help you on this board as I don't actually thin mine. Reason being is that I never found that I needed to. The key I find is moderation. Only put a tad of paint on the tip of the brush and you should be fine, as long as you don't let it glob up everywhere. Also, don't dip into the pot. On the inside of the lid, there's a little mini-palette type thing. That is there for a purpose; use that for putting paint on the brush as it offers much more control.

Also, question: which brush size are you using? It would definitely help to have a smaller size brush. On my marines, the largest brush I use is one of those surprisingly good new GW detail brushes.

Final thought: PRACTICE.

Yeah, I thought someone would say that. I'm actually using a standard brush. My problem is that I forget there's more to the brush than just a point floating in the air, so I'll do some (relatively) nice detail, then realize the brush was rubbing against some other part of the model. I hope I'll get some more spacial awareness with practice.

I wondered what that plastic thing on the paints was. I guess that makes a lot of sense now you mention it. I could see that being incredibly useful.

1. Paint the arms/bolter off the main body, for space marines. Makes it easier.
2. The blobbiness is fairly normal. Don't forget to shake up the pots super duper. I just dip into the pot, but when you get better, and make display pieces, it's better to water them down on a palette or something. If your paint is honestly, REALLY thick, drop a few drops of water and shake it up.
Also make sure you're using a good brush. Don't worry too much, you get better.

I wish i had photos of my first painting attempts they were really old space crusade marines that i used very glossy enamel paint on lol, in my opinion a good way to learn new techniques is to watch youtube tutorials, one i like is Beasts of war, just by watching youll pick up little things like brush sizes how to hold the brush, and how much paint to put on the tip of your brush, and i also find that the high quality close up shots even give you an idea on how to apply the paint to the mini in the correct way, dont worry if ya dont get it to look great to start with it comes with practice