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I want to start painting for competitive stuff at GW but i dont know how to start and i cant get in there for awhile. I just dont know what to do. do i paint up acouple models and showcase those? what are the requirements for most tourny's? anyone help me?

When you say "competitive stuff" what do you mean?

Painting contests? Gaming tournament?

Many tournaments will have a 3 colour minimum per model, so if you are playing space marines you basically need a base colour, a color for the trim, and maybe a different colour for the gun.

If you want to win any kind of painting prize in a tournament, you just need to paint and base everything to the best of your ability.

If you want to win a painting contest, you will tend to have to be paint very well. To win a speed painting contest, you will need to be able to paint well quickly, maybe learn some painting tricks that will buff how your model looks with the minimum of effort.

Practice will be your key tool. Practice and looking online for tips and tricks, tutorials and so on.

Can't really help you any more as I don't really know what you are asking.

Here is the painting guide lines for a tourney I did not attend (copy/pasted). My army is not fully painted (GASP!) and painting had a substantial part of the final scoring, so alas I saved my money and did not play.


Appearance Scoring …
... Painting, potential of 12 points
… Unpainted (0 points). Models that do NOT meet the three color minimum requirement. This applies if even one model does not meet the requirement.
… Minimum (+6 points) painting, at least three colors on ALL models.
… Details (+1 point) effort has been made to add details and paint all parts of the models as appropriate throughout the army (banners, unit markings, faces, eyes) and / or extra level of detail (battle damage, weathering, etc).
… Brush work (+2 points), depth and details are tabletop standard, throughout the army. Work is neat and clean
… Expert Brush work (+3 points), depth and details are HIGH tabletop standard, throughout the army. Multiple layers of color or blending is noticeable.
Basing, potential of 2 points
... No basing (0 points). This applies if even one model does not meet the requirement.
…Minimum (+1 point). Paint, flocking, and / or sand. Edges have been painted. Clean and neat.
… Extra Effort (+1point). Bits, rocks, layering, static grass, resin bases, and / or conversion bases throughout the entire army.
Conversions and modeling, potential of 5 points
…Models built properly (+1 point). Mold lines and flash cleared. All limbs and parts present.
… Simple Conversions (+1point) Simple, easy bit swaps of some models.
… Extensive Conversions (+1 point) Same as above but most of the army has been converted in this manner. Can also include a handful of models requiring basic sculpting but not found throughout the army.
… Notable Conversions (+2 points) Models with extensive scratch-building or sculpting present
Or the majority of the army has sculpting or some scratch-built bits present.
... Display, potential of 2 point
… No Display (0 points)
… Display Board (+1 point)
… Quality Display (+1 point) Appearance enhancing display, extra effort.
... Judges’ Choice, potential of 3 points
… Favorite of each Appearance Judge (+3 points)



This is just what they were looking at, it gives you an idea of what people are looking at. Your local store may have slightly different guidelines on scoring, however the main points will be similar such as attention to detail, proper modeling (flash removed etc.).

Your location is listed as Chicago - come out to Adepticon next month. You'll see 256 tournament painted armies on Friday and 440 on Saturday. Should give you a fair idea of what people bring to a tournament.

thats all helpful lol thanks guys

but if i want to compete, how many models should i paint and what base should i put them on? sorry i was really clear lol.

Erm... all of them? And base them all in whatever style you want

DefQonOrk wrote:thats all helpful lol thanks guys

but if i want to compete, how many models should i paint and what base should i put them on? sorry i was really clear lol.

You need to clarify what kind of competition you're talking about. Are you talking about a pure painting competition? Or are you talking about a gaming tournament which includes a prize for best-painted ARMY?

If it's a tournament, you need to paint your whole army as well as you can.

If it's a painting competition, the competion will have rules clearly stating what you need to paint and what kind of base is allowable. A painting competition may be for a single model, or a vehicle, or a squad of guys, or a diorama, or whatever the organizers decide.

Can you give us a link to a competition you're considering?

ohh ok well i dont have a comp in mind i thought they were all the same rules rofl thanks for clearing that up. ill have to look one up and go from there.

It is a good idea to paint your army to a 3 color minimum (@ least three colors/shades per model), or better if you are able. Doing so will pretty much enable your participation in almost any event.