Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi I have finally got round to painting up my dark vengeance marines and i was wondering if my whole army was painted to my current standard would it be "tabletop quality"?
Basically would you be happy to play against a new player if his army was this well (poorly?) painted.

I'd be more than happy playing against an army of that standard. Just paint the eyes and flock the base and its perfect!

And paint the Aquila I would If I had come that far It would then look complete to me... not embellished but complete

Tabletop is a very relevant term and the meaning defers a lot from person to person. It all comes down to what is the best you can paint and how much effort you must put to achieve that effect. Needless to say it is always much preferred to play against an army that has the "tabletop" standard for its owner than black or grey minis. I think you are on the right track here especially if you follow the advice of the previous posters.

Space marines are generally all one colour block anyway - as per above I'd flock the base, that's pretty easy, and paint in the eyes in a different colour because that does make a real difference, but I'd certainly have no objection to playing against models that look like the above.

How do i go about 'flocking' a base, is that just painting or what?
also what is the 'Aquila'? a Google search told me its an icon i thought that was what i painted on the shoulder pad.

Has anyone come across a a real life paint Nazi. Its real nice to play with nice painted miniatures and a nice board but i have never seen anyone being turned down for a game because of the paint scheme or lack there off. But then I remember it is GW and tournament organisers who are the true Paint Nazis... But fair enough the more I think about it the more I think I may have been lucky in my matchups because I have seen some armies that make me sick to my core... not always just the quality but sometimes real outlandish stuff that is influenced by things which isn't 40k or even military... imagine what the antichrist is to Jesus.. that but to common sense and respect for the hobby the fluff and the general well-being of their fellow man.

Sorry I got distracted but basically I would be more than happy to play you how it looks now.

SirStokie wrote:
How do i go about 'flocking' a base, is that just painting or what?
also what is the 'Aquila'? a Google search told me its an icon i thought that was what i painted on the shoulder pad.

The Aquila is the chest detail.

You have 3 different colors, which is one standard people apply.
You put effort in, which is another.

I’d be glad to play against an army like that. Even a little bit of paint, applied with some thought and care, is better then bare grey or primer black armies.

But like some of the posters above, there are a few things that could be suggested to improve your painting.

Thin your paints
Pick out a few more details (eyes, chest detail)
A wash would be a good way to add some depth to the mini.
A few spots where the paint job could be a little neater.

What you have works, but like all of us, has room for improvement.

And the suggested improvements are something that you can do incrementally. For the most parts, they're add-ons to what you have painted now that can greatly improve the overall look with just a little bit of time here and there. First paint the eyes. Next time you have a few minutes to paint, paint the aguila (chest eagle). Next time add some highlights to the green, etc...

Also, think about what incremental steps will yield the most effect for the least effort. 4 that can think of are:

Overbrush grey on the Aquila followed by a light layer of white
Drill the gunbarrel
Apply a layer of fine sand on the base with some white glue and wash with agrax earth shade
Apply a thin key line of a lighter green to the top of each shoulder pad, eye ridge, and the band on top of the helmet

I would personally also paint the cables, joints and the helmet grill with silver and a wash of nuln oil.

'Flocking' a base is just adding some material to it like sand or fake grass. Basically just do something with the base so that it is not bare; I like to use a mix of sand and small slate with a wash but there are plenty of basing tutorials about. If you just painted the base it could look a bit featureless but if you painted it with the GW technical paint which makes a cracked earth effect (I forget the name) that would be good.

While I agree with everyone here that you did a good job and no one would be justified to refuse playing with you. I wanted to add to the "what is tabletop quality" idea. My view of Table Top Quality is

1. Three main colors: you have two major ones and then the color of the gun. Looks good, but maybe pick a third color (it could be a metallic color) and go over the raised edges of the shoulder pads and that wing emblem on the chest.

2. Based miniatures: some people already suggested using sand. But your local train store or hobby store will sell various things. You can buy little green pieces of plastic called static grass which apply easily on top of white glue, or fine sand which can be applied in the same way. You can even get a white grainy powder that looks like snow. My only advice here: if you want sand, go outside and grab some dirt in a container, add water, drain off brown water, repeat until the water isn't murky. You now have coarse sand and some nice rocks.

3. No primer left on the model: You've done that and cared about how you did it too. This is probably why everyone is saying they would appreciate your army.

Lastly, the obligatory thin your paints, paint the eyes, do edge highlights to make the model really pop. Of course, I like painting a lot more than any other part of this hobby so I'm a bit biased about painting minis. Then again it takes me two weeks to get a guardsman.

I'd play against those.