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I am in the market for a new army project to start building and my painting skills aren't that good, I want to stay away from a very hard army to paint because I don't want to make it look terrible. So as the title states, what is the hardest Warhammer 40k army to paint?

Totally IG. You have so many stinking models that you would have to paint...

Then again, that could go for orks and nids as well.

That's hard to say.... I'd bargain that eldar are the most difficult to paint, due to the large number of bright colors that you have to use (and buy ). They take a while to get perfect, and for new players, keeping a consistent scheme is tough.

tau can be difficult as well.... And IG can be tough if you do them well. Every army has it's pros and cons when it comes to painting though, so make those kind of decisions yourself

deathwing
enjoy painting that bone armor

I'd have to agree with IG. But really, any horde army like Guard, Orks or Tyranids would have to be a pain. I'd have to say Tyranids and Guard because of the genaral uniformity and sheer boredom that insues as a result. Orks could be any color, and you don't have to be the best vehicle painter with them either.

i find orks easy compared to the onther races i have panted, but as for the hardest i don't know!

I am leaning towards either dark eldar or the eldar right now, I don't want to invest the insane amount of money it would take to build the IG army even though I really like that army.

I'd also say IG. It's not JUST that you have to paint so dang many of them, but there's also just so much detail work. With tyranid, you can spray prime one color, throw down a second color over parts of the model, dip, and then you're done. Meanwhile, with a guard army, you're constantly going back and painting eyes and belt buckles and switches on lasguns, etc.

The only one I'd think that would come close would be eldar. Large, flat surfaces and curves can be hard to paint, which means that eldar vehicles really show mediocre paint skills (I know, just look at my old vypers...), and suffer even more from flat, boring paint schemes. It's like, eldar are designed in such a way to show of great painting skills, which makes it just that much more painfully obvious when you don't have them.

The Bringer wrote:Totally IG. You have so many stinking models that you would have to paint...

Then again, that could go for orks and nids as well.

I agree with any of these.

Nids, easily. Trying to get them to look organic. The carapaces REALLY annoy me

I would say if your willing to put the time in to the painting it would be storm trooper inquisition armies, same ig but more details especially when it comes to the inquisitorial retinues

Devastator wrote:deathwing
enjoy painting that bone armor

If you follow the GW painting guide, its not too bad... ( I did it on a tactical Marine though....)

Hardest army to paint?
The first one.
And maybe Harlequin themed Eldar

Anything's easy to paint badly, but hard to paint well.

I find IG pretty easy, although fiddly, but marines harder as the larger surfaces don't look so good with just dipping and drybrushing (which works much better on organic models) and is my painting style. I need something that works quickly as I find painting boring and a real chore.

IG infantry are one of the hardest things i've had to paint SO MANY OF THEM, although it looks impressive when your done and if you invest in replacing there heads with gas-masks etc then you cut down a sizeable portion of the painting work yet again!

Tanks though are different; I find them very easy and enjoyable to paint as they work quite well with any colour scheme (at least Chimera chassis vehicles do) - Patched, striped, checkered you name it will look good - although the latter is often a pain to do. Yes there are far more vehicles for IG than you would for most other armies but they still look dam impressive.

"Hard" really comes down to what you are used to and your ability as a painter.

The flat surfaces of marines might be hard for some, the small proportions of eldar might be hard for others.

I honestly suggest that if you like the models buy them irrespective of your painting skill, you will only be better for it because you will try all the harder to make them look good.

Sometimes hard things and challenges are good for you

Witch Hunters and Deathwing

Winter wrote:"Hard" really comes down to what you are used to and your ability as a painter.

This. There are some models that are covered in so much textural detail that you could spend weeks picking out each feature, or you could spend an hour doing a basecoat and a few rounds of drybrushing. Marines are a mix of large plates and hard edges, so you can wash, hardline the edges, and call it a day or you can slave over each plate, carefully blending in seamless light and shadow.

My orks should take more time than my marines, based on the number of colors used and the variety of surfaces, but I find myself spending just as much time on a marine as a boy, since I end up going back and forth, trying to get it to look right. I've painted more boys and my technique has grown out of that, so I find them easier than "simple" marines to paint, even though there are more steps to the process.

There's always the option to remove the paint, and redo the whole thing. It's sometimes about challenging yourself with things you're not too confident with. But as you go, you get better!
Not that i've got a hell lot of experience with painting in particular.

However, i don't get why most people suggest IG... I've heard alot of people having trouble getting their camo-patterns right.
- Not to mention painting their vehicles... Most people nearly cry about getting those things right.

On the other hand, i've hardly ever touched anything but 'nidz myself (YET!), but i'd give SM my vote, when it comes to easy painting.
- Big surfaces, and what not...

its not what you paint, its how you paint.

The army makes no dif. Unless, as mentioned, its a large army like IG.

I think the op is better off getting a book or vid on how to paint. Or join a group of painters and ask questions.

Deciding on how hard an army is to paint kind of depends on the painter them-self. I mean, even though everyone says IG are a hard army to paint, for me they're the easiest. Sure there are a ton of details to pick out but on the other hand you do pretty much the same thing again and again. Eventually your bound to get into a rhythm and be able to paint them quickly, and paint them well. On the flipside of this, someone who excels at painting a regimented color scheme might struggle painting an army where almost everything is different. This is exactly what happened to me After painting 200+ guardsmen, I started an ork army, and all of a sudden my painting rate has dropped dramatically, simply because I use different colors on different parts of the boyz. The general gist of this is pick whatever army you want, and choose how much detail to put in. A model is only as hard as you make it

Chaos is a pain. So man damn details. You get burned out REALLY easy.

It really depends on your preferences. Typically, armies with lots of smooth surfaces are more difficult to paint(tau, eldar, dark eldar.)

I have been collecting models for over 15 years and have tried many different armies and models and to get them looking right I would have to say Eldar were the trickiest for me. Certain aspect warriors worked fine like striking scorpions I loved painting them, but my Guardians just never really worked out for me.

I also find horde armies are not particularly difficult to paint but can burn you out pretty quickly If you are not in the mood which is why I like to work on several projects at a time so when I am sick to death of clanrats I can paint some plague marines or a random character for a change of pace.

Eldar, hands down. If you're doing a basic paint scheme they ain't bad, but it seems Eldar players/modellers have really raised the bar on what you can do w/ them. Its almost like if you aren't painting portraits/landscapes or other freehand designs on their vehicles, you're doing it wrong.

Eldar also have about 10 gems on each and every model. Though it is excellent practice and you're sure to be good at them by the time you're done.

It all comes down to your skill at painting and how far you want to go with details. Every army has it's painfull mini's to paint it just comes down to the way you paint i guess i find IG painfull to do only due to the vast quantities but agian they look awsome when put on the table en mass. Tanks are easy to paint provided you have an air brush but details can be time consuming tho

I'd say dark eldar. The new models are really detailed, and if you painted them really well you definitely would have a time doing it. elbow grease...

Well I have to agree with the IG one, but I also just started a Bretonnian army in fantasy and my god at painting every knight a different color scheme and the horses....this army gives me chills when I think about it.

I would have to say either Eldar or Tyranids... Those Harlequins can be a real pain in the ass, and the Nid carapaces can get pretty tough.