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Hello, I'm totally new to Warhammer and this is my first Guardsman I've ever painted up.


Note that he is definitely not 100% done. Just showing you what I have so far. I was going for a Starship troopers sort of theme.


Critiques/advice is welcome.

Not bad at all for a first attempt...

I'm finding it quite hard to give you any advice, because of the grey/black colour scheme, I think you have done it well
With practice, I think you will have a really nice looking army

I didn't thin my paints out at all, and I know this is advised against. However, I don't think it looks bad for not thinning them out...

I think he looks nice, especially the face. Good grooves going on in there, dark circles under the eyes, and I can even see his teeth! I hope you plan on doing something with the base, as black boots against a black base doesn't do the figure justice.

He's very well painted for a first ever miniature. Better than my first Guardsman for sure!

Guitardian wrote:I think he looks nice, especially the face. Good grooves going on in there, dark circles under the eyes, and I can even see his teeth! I hope you plan on doing something with the base, as black boots against a black base doesn't do the figure justice.

Yeah, I plan on using some sort of "industrial" theme for the bases. No experience with basing yet, so I'll have to experiment. Thanks.

Pretty good for a first time. I still can't paint faces that well.

Lokirfellheart wrote:Pretty good for a first time. I still can't paint faces that well.

Yeah, I saved the face for last because I knew it would be the most challenging part. I just used a base of snakebite leather, then bronzed flesh, then washed it with Gryphonne sepia, highlighted with Elf flesh and dry brushed very little skull white over it all.



Anyone know a simpler, faster way of painting faces?

well for your first guardsmen Id say it turned out well chap. Great work, just continue defining your paint style, but your work looks very nice. Your skills are already where some players are with a yr of painting experience!

I'm impressed with the facework which is really easy to mess up. Well done. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the support, everyone.


Should I thin out my paints?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Added some "chipping" to the chain sword and applied a decal on his shoulder:

I personally don't thin out my paints, unless it is an old pot and is getting somewhat "chunky." But keep in mind that moderation is key. Apply too much and you get nasty brush strokes and you end up covering details. Too little and..... well then you take forever to paint up a mini. Just be sure to find that balance.

As for painting faces, this is easy mode. Ready?
1: Dheneb Stone
2: Ogryn Flesh wash

Yep, that's it. You can then do a light Devlan Mud or Gryphonne Sepia wash to dirty the face up a bit, but that's really the easiest method I've found for flesh.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks!



I feel confident enough to start the rest of my platoon now.

Good luck! I think you are off to a good start. Don't feel bad about not thinning your paint; I usually don't either! You also might have to modify your technique depending on how many guardsmen you need to paint. I usually use a basecoat/wash method myself, for both the skin and fatigues. I found this has saved a lot of time.

Ruckdog wrote:Good luck! I think you are off to a good start. Don't feel bad about not thinning your paint; I usually don't either! You also might have to modify your technique depending on how many guardsmen you need to paint. I usually use a basecoat/wash method myself, for both the skin and fatigues. I found this has saved a lot of time.

Thanks.


Yeah I just sprayed all of them black. Did an assembly line of painting their uniforms Grey and whatnot. They're going relatively fast.

take that stupid yellow stripe off the chainsword, and you have a nice, neat, clean urban/space ship theme. I like it.

I know it would be a different effect, but would you consider adding in some urban-style camo, or do you want it just straight grey uniforms?

Very well done for a first timer some constructive critiqe the face looks a little stark but it's still better than I can paint after many years in and out of the hobby, the colour scheme is cool might get boring to paint after a while but stick with it!

Ailaros wrote:take that stupid yellow stripe off the chainsword, and you have a nice, neat, clean urban/space ship theme. I like it.

I know it would be a different effect, but would you consider adding in some urban-style camo, or do you want it just straight grey uniforms?

I put it there to maybe add some color, but sitting here looking at it, it does seem a bit out of place.



I'm actually not a huge fan of camo.

I disagree - add more yellow stripes! On its own it looks lonely. Add some more, and youve got Hazard Stripes.

To get more definition on your black (which looks a little flat), you might try for a dark grey, and then a black wash (maybe one or two coats). Then you can add the metal scratches.

In any case, good start - I also think that a simple camo scheme could really make it *pop*

there are ways to cheat on faces, but if you want a great looking face you have to do the work. if you're churning out tabletop, see the above method.

I was just about to suggest that you put more color on either the chainsword or laspistol or both before I saw the most recent picture with the yellow stripe.

Looks good. The black and grey bring to me the crew on the Imperial Star Destroyers from Star Wars. I like it.

My only suggestions at this point is to complete his base and add a lighter grey highlight on the cloth.

Good work!

Looks damn good - and not just for a first effort.

Definately tabletop quality at the moment. Oh, and yellow stripes FTW!

I think for your first guardsman, it looks fantastic.

One point I could make is on the chainsword striping. I think you could add some more stripes for a more visualy striking effect.

The way I do it (jut posting this here to maybe help you out), is I would paint the entire sword casing yellow. Then I would buy a very fine tipped black marker (I think a company calles Sakura makes pens that are very fine tipped - can find them at some bigger craft stores) and draw the lines on the sword. This will give you an outline, so you can go back with black paint and fill in every other stripe.