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I just started painting the models I got with the Black Reach set, and I'm looking for some comments and criticism. Here are my first attempts:



The one on the far right was the very first one I painted and it's really rough, but the Ork, my second attempt, turned out really well.

Unfortunately, I'm not happy with how the Space Marines are turning out. I'm using white primer, Mordrian Blue basecoat, Asurman Blue wash, and Ultramarine Blue for the highlights. It's based on the Ultramarines, but it's my own custom chapter with a red and blue left pauldron.

For the pauldron, I don't have Mechrite Red, so I'm using Blood Red on a white base but it's not coming out right. I need a few coats to get good coverage, but then the paint's too thick.

My other problems are that I can't get the paint to go on evenly on large flat surfaces, and it looks really flat next to the Ork.

Any and all feedback is appreciated.

All your problems seem to come from paint's thickness.

There are several ways, from pre-diluting them in dropper paint pots to wet palletes.

What I do is good for a starter: just pick some paint from the pot and apply to a piece of plasticard. Then with the same brush fetch water from the cleaning pot and add it to the paint and mix it. Try on primed sprues the paint, and if you think it needs more water, then add it and mix again.

That'll make you require 2 or 3 layers where you may havw only used 1, but it'll look more even and won't obscure the details.

What is it that you're unhappy about with the Space Marines? Perhaps use a sharper highlight colour? It's hard to remedy the problem if we don't know what it is.

If the paint isn't going on evenly, odds are you aren't watering it down enough (or at all!). Get a cheap plastic artist's palette, put a blob of paint on with an old brush, and then add one or two drops of water. This lets you apply the paint much easier; it goes on a lot smoother. Don't water it down too much, to the extent that you can see the white shining through a lot underneath. You may need two coats.

for a first attempt this is really good.

the red problem:

use an extra layer of a light brown before applying the red,makes it much easier.
also gold looks much better on scorched brown. and if you wash the gold with badab black(to shade it and bring out details),followed by devlan mud, you get great results.

what you really should do:

paint the bases. there are a lot of different base color combinations on the gw homepage and it will make it look much better.

i always prime black,followed by scorched brown and then drybrush with bestial brown and dheneb stone afterwards.
^_^

That's a great start dude, really. Think the Ork is looking very nice; I love his jacket.

I would suggest some lighter green highlights on his extremities, like on the scar ridges, eyebrows, nose and ears.

Thanks for all the comments, guys. I'll try out some of the suggestions as I keep going with the Tac Squad.

Try a black primer. my white is rubbish

Great start IMO.
The only thing I don't like are the bases -
I would paint the rims either black or a colour similar to your gaming board (I always do black then use gloss varnish).
The basing gravel seems a bit chunky but as you have it go with it.
I would recommend 2 things -
1. cover the base with watered down PVA glue - this will help keep the gravel in place.
2. paint & drybrush it (once the PVA has dried!).

I wish my first (to 100th??) attempts were as good.

Your first attempts are better than some peoples work after 4-5 months of painting! Excellent work, there is nothing to be disappointed about here (except the lack of a finished base ). If your beginning level is this good, you should see a dramatic progression in your progress as you continue. I only have 2 pieces of advice for you. The first one is to remember to keep your paints thin. Eventually, when you stare at enough paint jobs, you are going to start to notice your older guys look like globular paint monsters and will want to go back and fix them. If you always dilute your paint with water, you will achieve a much better result. The second thing I would suggest is to begin experimenting with washes. This is a fantastic way to compliment the drybrushing technique you already have and will elevate the look of your models substantially. Keep painting and posting pics!

I'll try to get some pictures posted up later, but I've learned a few things after painting some more models:

- Diluting the paint is great. I didn't really get it at first, since I liked the coverage I was getting out of the pot, but after trying it out for a while, it allows for much better control.

- Washes are nice, but you can't just slap them on. On my earlier models, I just slathered the whole thing in a wash and I ended up with the flat areas really stained and barely any paint in the recesses. It will take some more practice, but I think I'm getting there.

- Drybrushing eludes me still. The paint either goes on too thick and might as well be a hard highlight, or the effect is too subtle to notice from more than 6" away. Still working on it.

- The paint dries really fast. I don't if it's the environment, but if I put a few drops on a palette, it's dry in less than 10 minutes. I'm still trying to figure out how to do a wet palette. So far, all my attempts just end up with the paint soaked into the tissue. Also, I have to clean my brush after a few minutes as well since the bristles will harden as the paint on them dries.

Also, I just finished painting on of my Terminators. As a Vetaran he has a white helmet, and painting/highlighting white is really, really HARD. Similar in difficulty is getting skin tone right on my models without helmets. I only have a set number of colours to use (all the ones listed on my first post here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/345110.page), so I've been mixing Scorched Brown and Bleached Bone to try and get a light tan color that works well.

Here's an update:

Brother Tobias - WIP


Brother Tobias - Front


Brother Tobias - Right Side


Brother Tobias - Left Side


I'm really happy with how the muzzle of the multi-melta turned out. It was a scorched earth drybrush over half the muzzle, with a chaos black drybrush on just the end of the muzzle. Also, the coolant tanks on the melta were done with boltgun metal and then an asurman blue wash. I like the effect, and I might use it for a power weapon next.

Great stuff! You barely have any issue with paint thickness btw. I espeicially like the finish on the space marine's bolter. Nice terrain btw.

Looking very, very good. You already have excellent brush control; do you have prior painting experience?

Owain wrote:Looking very, very good. You already have excellent brush control; do you have prior painting experience?

Nope. And my brush control has improved, but I read/heard a quote once that basically said it's not the control, it's how well you clean up. And I spent a lot of time on cleanup for the Dread because it was a really cool model.

It's a mixture, but it comes with practise.

Great contrast from the shots taken a month ago at the top of the page!