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Hi all again,

I'm new to warhammer, and I recently attempted to paint my few tau guys. The plan was to paint them in an awesome arctic colour scheme, but the result was far from pretty. They were, in all honesty, terrible. I am not a perfectionist who must have my guys painted to a 'eavy metal standard, I just want to take pride in my guys. Any advice/suggestions/links?
Thanks.
P.S. the nearest GW is 4 hours from where I live, so I can't exactly pop in there and ask them.

If you're really new to the hobby, practice and watch lots of painting tutorials from people like Girl Painting, BuyPainted, OrcPainterNerd, Ichiban Studio and Awesome Paint Job. This will give you a broad base of knowledge to work from, show you specifics of what to do to thin, blend colours, how to apply washes and so on. I'm subscribed to all of them (and more). If you're into, or going to get into airbrushing then awesome paint job and Wargamers Consortium have a lot of good videos. Also while browsing these guys and gals, go through related videos and try some searches, you'll get lots of good videos. The painting tutorials forum on Dakka is really good too. If you have specific queries try the search, then if you can't find anything feel free to hit us up for advice.

To echo Yonan: Look, read, and watch. There's absolutely no substitute for experience, but establishing some groundwork is a major boon - not only will it help you avoid some of the pitfalls common to new painters (thin your paints, keep your brushes clean, etc.), it will also get you more accustomed to the core concepts and terminology painters use, which will help you better communicate issues and capitalize on advice received, as you and your painting progress.

That said, you will need to practice. You can spend five minutes reading about some techniques and be well on your way to proficiency (washing, drybrushing, etc.), but things like brush control and a feel for paint consistency only come with time (granted, some need more than others ).

If you're able, posting pictures of your work also helps a great deal. There are lots of experienced painters on Dakka that can spot specific issues from a photo without even needing a prompt, but it's a lot harder to guess if your paint is too thick from a description (okay, bad example - if you have to ask, it probably is!).

In short: Read more, watch more, paint more. When you get stumped or stagnate, open it up to the community.

Thanks heaps! I will watch those vids when I get the time, then repaint my guys, and post pics of what happens.

Well you could check out my tutorial for necrons

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDb5Nao3w2o

Make sure your watering your paints down enough. They look thin enough - but they are not!
An advantage I find with layering up thin layers is they are pretty forgiving in regards to mistakes