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Hello everyone, I've quite recently got into warhammer 40k and have begun painting a crimson fists army based on a few paint schemes that I really liked. I've mostly finished a little under 1000 points now without basing and I'm really just in need of some suggestions on how I can improve. First of all I cant seem to achieve the main colour I want, and the edge highlights i'm doing really don't seem to match up (I cant decide whether this is because i'm just not a good painter or the colours are off). I'm trying to mimic this scheme:

http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?195317-Crimson-Fists-Pic-heavy-56K-beware! and http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?167127-Dokternik-re-paints-his-Crimson-Fists-!!!/page3

calling for necron abyss/regal blue (both apparently = kantor) and ultramarines/fenris wolf grey for highlights. Because Necron Abyss doesn't exist anymore I am using kantor blue instead (and doing a heavy black and purple wash to darken the colours). Altdorf guard blue is my substitute for ultramarines blue. I will post what I've managed to achieve. Were any layering techniques used in the above posts, or was it all edge highlighting alone? Again any general tips on how I can improve would be greatly appreciated as well.

(Will post some pics tomorrow when I can get some better lighting)


One more question, between step 3 and 4 was drybrush highlighting used? http://www.irondogstudios.com/images/crimsonfists/mek_crimsonfists.html

First off, Welcome to Dakka.

The armies your trying to emulate are beautiful. Don't get discouraged if your stuff doesn't come out nearly as good. Those folks have been painting for years and years.

Here is a great tutorial on edge highlighting that should help you out a bunch.

http://fromthewarp.blogspot.com/2011/08/basics-line-highlighting-made-simple.html

As to dry brushing I don't see any, but there is a tun of layering, shading and highlighting back up going on.

Hope that helps. Good luck and post some pics so people can get a better gauge on where you are in your painting so we can help better.

Thank you very much for the welcome. Here's where I am at so far, don't mind the dust I need to give them a good air-spray. Thanks a lot for the article, some added tips on how to get straighter highlights would be much appreciated. I'd also like to try my hand at layering but the author of the first link I sent apparently doesn't do it?

As a beginner I would say you are way ahead of the curve. Things that i would recommend you work on would be a bit of a steadier hand when applying your highlights (wrists together or fingers touching methods works really well). Also some of your highlights are way too thick, for example around the knee pads, but again you're ahead and with time and practice you'll be great.

Also, big things to help you improve.

1. Remove the mold lines!
2. Drill out the gun barrels.

Drilling holes as we speak . And thanks, is there any example of how to hold the miniature I could find? Might i have better luck using vallejo regal blue and then ultramarines blue instead of having to slap on so many washes to darken the blue? Perhaps a better contrast for highlights as well, it seems no paint range has a substitute for necron abyss.

Yes, I agree. Nothing blows a good paint job faster than mold lines and not drilling out the barrels.

Ok, so I also agree, they're great for a beginner. Really. The edge highlights are a bit too harsh. I'd try either drybrushing them or trying the two-brush blending method. Drybrushing works well on edge highlighting (cause you can really get just the edges) and anything else would look better with blending. Sorry, it's hard to explain.

You're doing great and every miniature you paint will get a bit better with practice. Don't shoot for Masterclass "Pro-painter". Well, DO, but remember it takes years of practice to get that good, so every time you improve, take that as a win. I've been painting for 25+ years and I'm still learning new techniques from those better than me.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Van-Zan wrote:
Drilling holes as we speak . And thanks, is there any example of how to hold the miniature I could find? Might i have better luck using vallejo regal blue and then ultramarines blue instead of having to slap on so many washes to darken the blue? Perhaps a better contrast for highlights as well, it seems no paint range has a substitute for necron abyss.

Ok, here's a good tip: I use some Elmer's on the bottom of the base and glue it to a wine cork to help me hold it. I have a friend who made 6" wooden dowels on a square stand to do the same thing. It reeeeallly really helps. Nothing sucks worse than having a 90% painted model and accidentally dropping it while painting details. Omg, I had an Imperial Assassin I was putting the finishing details on (back in the late 80's when I was a beginner) and dropped it head-first into a pot of black ink. It was a beautiful job, but I couldn't re-create what I'd done after I'd stripped and re-painted it. *Sob!*

Thanks for the advice! I'll see if I cant build something to hold a model with. Also I have tried drybrushing on vehicles and I was very happy with the results, however i'm worried that it would make the models look chalky? On a side note would you guys recommend ultramarines blue or space wolves grey/regal blue to highlight regal blue?

I also highly recommend a painting handle, but there's nothing to build, really - an empty or rarely used paint or pill bottle gives you plenty to grip and is much more stable than a wine cork, allowing you to set the model down without worry (or the need for a rack of some sort). Use a blob of poster tack to hold it in place (if it's based - a cork, drilled dowel, or pin vice works better for holding unbased parts/models by their assembly pins) and you won't have to worry about removing dried glue later. It's useful stuff to have around, anyway - it's almost infinitely reusable and also works as a temporary adhesive for mocking up poses, as well as a quick, rough mask for spraying.

As for drybrushing, there's a decent chance the models would end up looking a bit chalky. For these guys, I think edgelining is the way to go. More generally, though, there are ways to get smoother results from drybrushing. The real key is patience. It takes lots of passes with a very dry brush to build up a smooth gradient. Also, the smaller each jump in color is, the smoother the result will look. Drybrushing can give nearly airbrush-smooth gradients, but it's a downright painstaking process, involving dozens of passes with multiple colors. At that point, it's likely not saving you time and you're better off using a different technique. One comparatively quick way to clean up coarse drybrushing, though, is to over-highlight a basecoat slightly lighter than you're intended result, then apply a wash or glaze to help smooth the colors while bringing them down to the final darkness (same method applies to overly stark layering). This method can sometimes provide a nice middleground in trying to balance time/effort and resultant quality.

For a beginner you are way ahead of where I was when I started dude, so it bodes well.

The only advice I can give is to just keep practicing your edging, as that will get tighter as you gain experience. And try with a more gradual colour when going for your first highlight, it will help achieve a softer look. Another thing is to start with a lighter base colour and then apply a wash to bring it down, you will get a guide then where to highlight, whilst achieving that gradient effect that the most people look for.

Again though dude, practice and patience will get you there, they are looking good!

As the others have said, for a beginner your ahead of the game which is great, you look like your pulling off a nice smooth finish too.

Ways to improve, i would say mould lines and barrels. Ron over at From the warp as linked above has great tutorials, i have learnt tons from reading his blogs.
If you feel like going for a touch of realism, you might think about battle damage too. But thats a matter of taste http://www.fromthewarp.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/why-you-apply-battle-damage-to-certain.html

Awesome, thanks a lot for all the tips! I made a holding device out of blue tac and an empty mixing bottle. Also my eyes cant tell did this guy do any layering? Or just edge highlights? http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?167127-Dokternik-re-paints-his-Crimson-Fists-!!!/page3

 Van-Zan wrote:
Awesome, thanks a lot for all the tips! I made a holding device out of blue tac and an empty mixing bottle. Also my eyes cant tell did this guy do any layering? Or just edge highlights? http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?167127-Dokternik-re-paints-his-Crimson-Fists-!!!/page3

Looks like fairly heavy on the washes and then edge highlights, possibly two stage, possibly just his lighting. He does nice clean edge highlights though.

Does anyone know the vallejo equivalent of the old necron abyss? Dark Blue and Night Blue seem like their pretty close but I don't have a pot of necron to test

Should be the Heavy Blue from the Extra Opaque line.

For gun barrels (Tau), I have the GW pinning drill but that's only one size. Anyone have any advice on getting multiple sizes for different guns?

If you don't want multiple bits just gotta take an xacto to the hole and widen it as necessary. The hole doesnt need to be that deep, after it's painted it will look fine.

Get the Dremel drill bit set from Lowes/Home Depot. It has 6 bits ranging in size from 1/32-1/8" in 1/64" increments. They're nice and stubby as well.

The dremel set is nice, if you have a harbor freight tools nearby or wantto order online, they sell a package of like 30+ bit in varying sizes going down to like 1/64th or something and it's like $4