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Hi,

I thought i'd make this thread to get ideas on how others go about painting a whole army. Like what work flow is followed etc. Like one madel at a time unit by unit etc.

Also how to stay motivated as i'm finding it can be a bit hard to stay motivated. I enjoy painting but painting lots of similar things can get a bit repetitive imo.

I am finding it hard to find a way to approach my army, I have a 2000 point SW army that so far I have painted 3 models.according to my current scheme. most the models have paint on but i'm not happy with the quality of them so I going to redo them. It takes me abouty 20 hours to a paint one model to the standard that I want the entire army to be. I spend I little longer on the special models.

I don't want to rush the army but I think I need to find a better workflow beacause it doesn't feel like much progress in being made.

I paint one model at a time at the moment with others at hand in case I find myself waiting for coats to dry. This doesn't happen often as the paint is drying as I put it on.

I'm wondering at the minute if I should break things down more and paint the whole army with just base colours then slowly improve the models over the years.

But yes sorry i'm rambling.

Any advice on how things should be apprached or how you do it will be a big help and of much interest.


Cheers.

I'm pretty sure, the reason you are having difficulty is your speed of painting. In my club I am regarded as a slow painter, I paint at ~3 hours per special space marine and ~1.5hours per rank and file space marine.

Most people seem to work at around 30min per rank and file model.

I normally find I do troop squads in batch and vehicles and elite units individually. Over the course of several months. I always make sure the models are assembled and primed and have enough painting to tell them apart (e.g. elite space marines might get white helmets until I paint the model fully) so I can play with them if need be. Then, when time allows I paint them up. My favourite way to paint is a whole day of it in one go. Say, I'll paint 9 marines (not the sergeant he's special) in batch and about 7-9 hours included basing, highlights and washes. Normally that takes it out of me, so I have a few days off after that . When I know I've only got a few hours I try and do a character or an elite or something like that.

I have the same motivation issue Coyotebreaks so your not alone by any stretch.

I paint very slowly, but my new way of coming at an army has really helped me to more enjoy the painting process. I do it like this:

base an entire unit and then paint them to finished one-by-one. I find that basing as a unit isn't too bad because basing doesn't take long, but I paint to finished one model at a time because I need that sense of accomplishment to keep me going. Playing games also keeps me motivated because I want a whole army finished and on the table, and getting compliments on my finished models is nice too.

Another way to avoid boredom is to stretch your legs and try new techniques. Dakka is full of useful tutorials and there is never a shortage of things to try. Also, if a certain model type is boring you then put it away immediately before you get burn-out. Move on to whatever you want to paint at the moment.

For instance I currently have a vehicle with the turret fully painted and the body not even basecoated just because I felt like painting the turret one day. I have a couple heavy weapon guys basecoated with random OSL attempts done on them for practice. I have my Librarian's force sword painted up really nice with lightening effects, but the rest of the model is it's matte plastic grey.

Just do whatever you feel and the instant something gets tedious put it down; only paint when you feel like it. That's the best way I've found to get through large projects, but its by no means the fastest.

lunarman wrote:I'm pretty sure, the reason you are having difficulty is your speed of painting. In my club I am regarded as a slow painter, I paint at ~3 hours per special space marine and ~1.5hours per rank and file space marine.

Most people seem to work at around 30min per rank and file model.

I normally find I do troop squads in batch and vehicles and elite units individually. Over the course of several months. I always make sure the models are assembled and primed and have enough painting to tell them apart (e.g. elite space marines might get white helmets until I paint the model fully) so I can play with them if need be. Then, when time allows I paint them up. My favourite way to paint is a whole day of it in one go. Say, I'll paint 9 marines (not the sergeant he's special) in batch and about 7-9 hours included basing, highlights and washes. Normally that takes it out of me, so I have a few days off after that . When I know I've only got a few hours I try and do a character or an elite or something like that.

Crikey, thats how long it takes me to do the blending on one shoulder pad. lol

I agree, my slow speed is not helping, but I can't get my mini's looking right in 2 hours. Like I say though I accept its going to take a while, I just need to find an appraoch that will not burn me out before its finished.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

-Cypher- wrote:I have the same motivation issue Coyotebreaks so your not alone by any stretch.

I paint very slowly, but my new way of coming at an army has really helped me to more enjoy the painting process. I do it like this:

base an entire unit and then paint them to finished one-by-one. I find that basing as a unit isn't too bad because basing doesn't take long, but I paint to finished one model at a time because I need that sense of accomplishment to keep me going. Playing games also keeps me motivated because I want a whole army finished and on the table, and getting compliments on my finished models is nice too.

Another way to avoid boredom is to stretch your legs and try new techniques. Dakka is full of useful tutorials and there is never a shortage of things to try. Also, if a certain model type is boring you then put it away immediately before you get burn-out. Move on to whatever you want to paint at the moment.

For instance I currently have a vehicle with the turret fully painted and the body not even basecoated just because I felt like painting the turret one day. I have a couple heavy weapon guys basecoated with random OSL attempts done on them for practice. I have my Librarian's force sword painted up really nice with lightening effects, but the rest of the model is it's matte plastic grey.

Just do whatever you feel and the instant something gets tedious put it down; only paint when you feel like it. That's the best way I've found to get through large projects, but its by no means the fastest.

some interesting points, I like the idea of picking something else up. I just worry that I will keep on finding other things to paint. I do feel good sense of accomplishement when i finish one of marines but its just hard after all that work to pick up another blank one if you get me.

What keeps me motivated is going in too your FLGS or browsing the gallery's and looking at the model your painting there. Just to think, hey mine looks better than that and people are giving it 7's lets finish mine and hope for an 8

My favourite thing is going on too the gallery and looking at the Painting rating 2 Models. Ouch they're bad.

I do all things of a similar nature together (so all tactical marines for example) that way when one's done they are all done - I don't go through the 'now repeat 30 more times' phase. What it means is that I work like a Windows loading bar I jump from 0 to 14% to 46% to 77% to 98% to done as opposed to a lot of people who go from 0 to 1 to 2 to 3% done... all in all it's probably quicker to batch paint too as you're not swapping between paints and stuff as much.

I would agree batch painting is good but I would say that get's boring also. That and often I don't have all the models there. I prefer 1% 2%... style because you then put them too one side and see the army massing, that and batch painting takes ages if doing loads of blending and the like, and if you batch paint they look manifactured.

Anyways I have more preference and you yours

I do it the way I do simply because I used to batch paint and only made it through about 20 of my 50 models before I experienced SEVERE burnout. They way I do it now, yeah I may only finish 5 models in 2 months, but I enjoy sitting down to paint. That's what counts for me.

Batch painting can feel really fast (even if it isn't) if you do really small parts of each model in quick succession. E.g, rather than painting all the blue on each model, paint the feet blue on all models, then the hands blue on all models, then the shoulders on all of them. It feels faster because you're constantly changing model and pose.

I usually paint in batches of 5 models or 3 vehicles. When I'm done with a batch I start another but I always choose a different type of model to paint. Painting 15 batches of 5 ork boyz gets old fast.

I do not always just paint maybe 1 out of 3 hobby sessions I spend painting. There's always things to convert, models to put together, terrain to build, or molds to cast. That really helps me with the burn out if I painted every week it would end up in the closet after 3 months.

I found that painting units, and painting the same color across all of them helps.

So, if I were building marines I would do one tactical squad at a time. Then I would paint all of the ribbing/joints at once, then I might paint all shoulder pads at once, then say, all eyes and other bits in that color....

My Orks I paint a unit at a time. If its a Charactor then that takes a little longer.

However my SW Rune Priest took around 7 hours in total over 2 weeks as I tend to paint whilst playing on the PC so do a little bit here and there during loading screens lol

When i have large objects i give myself daily quotas. I try to finish at least one vehicle or 5 infantry per day. Also getting a hold on a spray paint that is your armies base coat helps a ton

I'm a batch painter too. Maybe about 30 min max per rank and file. then again I'm not a great painter. There are a couple things I've learned to help speed my painting. First of all badab black is gods gift modeling. Its a great way to add character a model very quickly. Also I find dry brushing is much speedier at times than other types of painting. Also Dipping works really well for some army's (orks, nids, my old tallarn IG) That being said there is something else I do that really helps. When I was younger I'd get models put them all together and paint them slowly and get discouraged with the amount I had left now I don't do that. Instead I open one box of models at a time put them together and finish the entire unit before I open that second box. This way I get a real sense of accomplishment without the dread of having to paint another 200 models lying in front of me. I also get the joy of completling the whole process every time instead of getting bored performing the same task for what seems like ever.

thanks for all the input so far everyone. i like the suggestions about how to keep batch painting interesting. Especially little bits at a time, shall give that a go.

I don't think i can 100% batch paint but some elements a could. I think i might find some areas that I can batch paint. then work one model at a time for blending and details.
Hmmmm interesting stuff though.

cheers

I just did a AoBR set painting in maybe 4 hours total, 20 boys, 2 w/ big shootas, 5 nobz, a warbosses with pk's and shoots, and 3 deff koptas

basically i read on techniques to paint fast. i lined everything out and hit them all base coated at the same time took about 30 min and just left em outside to dry went inside and played WoW, thn a few hours later i spent an hour painting in all the green, next day another hour doing all the gunmetal grey, next day was an hour arring brown to pants and some accents on equipment like bronze and some colors on bands and such. basically the idea was use one color at a time and just get them done in that one color then walk away for the day till finishing day. I think they came out great for tabletop models

Pack all your stuff away for moving and your enthuisiasm suddenly returns . Joking aside, I like to get a model I really can't wait to paint and use it as ransom to get a unit done. Until I finish my Seekers I can't paint my Keeper of Secrets, for example.

Currently I am trying batch painting on about 10+ firewarriors, and I am having burnout issues. I think part of it is my skill and my total frustration with my brushes and paints. I think maybe tackling a smaller number of models would help me, and learning better painting techniques. It is also really hard to concentrate on my Tau when I also have SM models sitting around. Especially that freshly assembled Dreadnought!

Last time I told myself I had burnout it was really just being intimidated by a huge unpainted army coupled with laziness.

I used to take a long while on each model--about 10 hours for basic infantry.

I realized my approach was all wrong and that there are methods of adding speed that don't detract from the look of the model and also make producing fully painted, good looking squads easier.

It's better to go simple. Simple is good. Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.

I was painting fully assembled models on bases. Problems with this that add time to the process: is you have to waste time painting under arms and in corners that are harder to reach due to the base, or guns, or whatever being in the way. Also, the model doesn't get prime on all parts.

So I started priming on sprue. I take a squad at a time, in your case, say, 5 long fangs. I start with the body, assemble torso and legs and nothing else and paint the whole thing in a slightly watered down base colour (in my case, this is scab red). If it looks good, I go on with a quick wash over the whole thing, then maybe a separate wash for joints and such. If it doesn't I do another loose and fast base coat and the model is ready for washing. Repeat this with head and arms and shoulderpads.

Total elapsed time: Maybe four hours, tops, and you've got the whole squad well basecoated and ready for secondary colors and trim.

Then I do secondary color. In this case, boltgun. Same process as was mentioned above: I start at boots, do them all, move up to kneepads, whatever. I try to be careful not to slather or be sloppy on this part so I don't have to go back and correct edges, but I also don't get anxious if I do. Lay wash down, or blackline boots if I want to, move on.

Total elapsed time: 10 hours or so.

Go over each part with a fine tooth comb and fix anything that's not 'in the lines'. Paint eyes. Highlight boltgun with mithril. Add tertiary color to trim. Maybe highlight sharp edges on base colour. Once all the painting details are worked out, fully assemble and base the model.

Total elapsed time: 20-30 hours, if you go into it with a plan and a systematic approach. Make it a matter of attitude. If you don't want to paint, change your attitude so that you do.

Yes, one thing I think a few people posting could benefit from is to have every model you're not currently working on out of sight except for one reference model. This is what I try to do (though I still have a couple test figures and such lying in plain-sight). It keeps my mind on what I'm doing and kind of tricks me into thinking these models are it which ups the sense of accomplishment and wards off feeling of "oh my gosh, when this is done I have 40 more."

Bite sized chunks.


Assemble your whole army, and then put it through a slap-chop until it is an easily manageable consistency.

Do squads at a time for painting. Also, playing against very well-painted armies is a great way of getting guilt-tripped into painting. That's what happened to me.

Another thing that just occurred to me: have something you're interested in going in the background. For me its a podcast, or a show from the History or Military channel (something you can listen to, and don't really have to watch). This makes painting much less of a droll.

Seriously, I even notice a difference in my attitude and how fast I 'wear out' between the times that I have a podcast on, and the times that I don't.

I do most of my painting (about 65%) on the sprue. After that I build, base, and do some of the finer shading, washing, and details. By painting each model to a basic standard first, I can get entire squads of marines to the half way point in 20-30 min. After that, models that deserve more time and detail can get it, while the average troops can get an appropriate amount of time. By painting on the sprue, things get done faster which leads to less painting fatigue.

-Jim

Batches work miracle for me
I just use some blu tack and stick a unit on to a piece of card and paint each step once at a time well its atleast how I did my last army
4 vehicles I do them in batches too but like literally only 2 vehicles that are small like rhinos and only 1 lr at a time

I do it assembly line style, doing all the infantry or all the vehicles that I can do together. Its a bit mind numbing, but I find its rather effective.

i find that as long as you rid the models of all flash, dry brushing helps get the basecoating done within a short time, depending on numbers. also, a simple colour scheme can be better for the cannon fodder, and a little more detail helps for the characters and vehicles.
my own army of 860 cadians only took about 2 weeks to get to gaming standard, and another month to finish them to a higher quality. it just takes time and a steady hand. and a lot of tea.

just find a colour scheme you are happy with and batch paint ten or fifteen at a time, you'll soon run out of things to paint.

I also paint very slow, it's a bit of a problem so I tried starting a blog (which I should really update

I have tried one at a time and I tend to spend a fair amount of time waiting for paint to dry. Five in a batch and I start finding the work load overwhelming so I put of even starting. My new plan is to base coat 3 at once and then go though them one at a time highlighting and adding details, for me I think its going to be the magic number, allowing me to do a little every night.

It sound like you might be having a problem with your paint drying on your palette before you have had a chance to do anything with it. I had the same problem and found that a home made wet palette helped massively.

I blew through 2 Vendettas, 2 Russes, 4 Chimeras, 3 Hydras, and 11 infantry in about a month. I have 40 more infantry to paint and I'm finished. All this in painting only for a couple hours every night. This includes some modeling shortcuts that I can't discuss.

I wanted a new army, and I wanted a new army that I could quickly put into character through speedpainting techniques. Some armies lend themselves to speed painting. My choices were...

Nids: dip
Mechdar: dip and airbrush
Mech IG: heavy weathering and drybrushing

I ended up going with Mech IG. Aside from the vendettas, the only brushwork on the tanks is on the vision blocks and the freehand on the unit insignias. The rest is weathering powder, black lava (fake mud), drybrushing, sponge chipping, and splatter painting with a toothbrush. Part of what motivated me to get through it was experimenting with weathering techniques that were completely new to me.


On a tabletop, it totally fits the IG theme, it was VERY quick to paint (I could do about 3 tanks in 2 x 2 hour sessions) and looks good IMO.



If you want to paint an army fast, have a plan before you start painting. For example, If I had decided on the eldar army, I would have done block colors and dip on the infantry and pure airbrush on the tanks aside from details. If I had decided on nids, I'd have blocked off the entire army and dipped it. You get better results with dip usually than highlighting IMO. More gradual color transitions.

i have hit a similar problem when it came to starting re-painting my tau army.
the tactic i trying and seem to be getting along well with is paint by squads and aim for something you are happy to have on the table to start with and to break them up with a different model every so often.
so for example i would paint a squad of 12 firewarriors and after doing a round of them i would move onto doing a layer on a devilfish or some gun drones.
and it also helps that if you have something in the background, I've been working my way through NCIS while painting