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Kinda this, but I started when I was 9, collected a dozen armies and still haven't finished painting ONE 1250 point list and I'm 26 now!

My imperial Guard are almost done but they only take me maybe an hour a models, but my Imperial Fists take me three hours to paint a basic tactical marine.

 Ruberu wrote:

Spoiler:

 Sir Arun wrote:

 DorianGray wrote:
I've encountered a major problem is that painting models WELL takes really long time per model.

I've sank probably 6+ hours into just 1 Talos and 1 Haemonculus and while they are 90% finished they aren't like golden daemon quality or anything.

The problem is filing sprues, magnetising everything (with hand-drill, greenstuff) priming them, basecoat, painting, wash, then drybrushing every single bit of the model, then base them then matt coat them is a LOT of effort.

Sure I could paint them like gak like 75% of the players but I don't want my army to look like gak.

How do you guys paint entire 1500 pt armies in a few hours? What tricks do you have?

It's simple, really.

You get into 40k when you are 15 years old, collect a few armies, and have assembled, magnetized and finished painting everything by the time you are 25 years old.

THEN you start looking for gaming groups

Kinda this, but I started when I was 9, collected a dozen armies and still haven't finished painting ONE 1250 point list and I'm 26 now!

My imperial Guard are almost done but they only take me maybe an hour a models, but my Imperial Fists take me three hours to paint a basic tactical marine.

You and me both. Started when I was about 8, 23 now. I finished my first army (Dark Angels) when I was.. 15? That's when it was all painted up. Now I'm working on a heavily converted IG army using different models.. It's going to be a few years.

Just keep practicing, that is the best advice I think, you will become faster... Also a simple base, wash and drybrush with a couple small details picked out is quick and simple for a table top quality army...

I started a new SM army last month and I have only painted some scouts, a tac squad and a drop pod... You will some days get bursts of effort, make the most of them .

I have only recently gotten inspired (and mostly painted) enough to stop using Gray models myself.

Now I've made it a point to have something new painted every time I go to my gaming club. I only get to go every other weekend so it gives me enough time to get at least one unit, vehicle, or special character done.

My only problem is that I have 3 armies to go through!

I am currently at 2500+ painted CSM with practically a whole extra army of unplayed and unpainted units.

Well over 3000+ Orks, of which maybe 2 Ork Boyz are painted....

And about 1800+ worth of Dark Angels and Vanilla Marines, all unpainted.

 Talys wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
And if you actually want to paint something good... it just takes time. I'm currently working on a Blood Angels Terminator and I'm about 5 hours in and all I've painted is his armour, scrolls and purity seals

If I want a model to look really nice, I might spend 5+ hours on just the weapon, too. It's all just how good a model you want out of your paint job, right?

Brother Zael in my Space Hulk plog has taken me about 5 hours to get to that point. Well, I haven't really been timing, it's been 2 and a half nights worth of work.

I think the Space Wolf Termie might have been about 5 or so hours.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/652470.page

My Termagants take about 20 minutes each, including assembly but not including bases...

A lot of the 'time' you invest is simply a result of your own willpower.

For 'basic grunts', try forcing yourself to paint three colors (what some call 'Tabletop standard' or 'tabletop basic') - and move on. Don't nit-pick over every single grunt for 4 hours. Also, work on grunts in 'groups' - do all the flesh first on all ten, then all the armor on all then, then all the weapons on all ten, etc.

The 'time investment' should come on characters and other center-pieces to your army - tanks, monstrous critters, etc. Putting more time in on those makes sense, since these will usually be the most visually-attractive models on the table, and will usually draw more eyes (even your own) than 60 of the same models will. Those 'specials' will stand out -because- you don't have 60 of them running around, or because they are big, or on special bases, etc. Those guys - sink your teeth into and be as picky as you want.

Of course, if you're not satisfied with 3 colors on grunts, then it will likely take more time to bring them up to a higher standard. But its up to you to decide how much time you want or need to invest, to get them to a level you are happy with. Usually, higher quality = more time invested, and I've not seen any real magic-solution to change that.

-Mort

I find batch painting as described rarely bets you much time saving and does the most to kill my enthusiasm for it.

I just set up a wet pallete, get all my colors out and do one/two models at a time. Set them aside once you're done and watch your little painted force grow.

Keep the unpainted ones concealed and display the painted ones near you, it makes you feel proud and like you're making progress.

Also, put something on in the background d that you can mostly listen to but which will keep you entertained. I have recently found the show "face off" which is a special effects/movie monster makeup game show that's fun and only requires you to look up every once in a while. Plus you learn about painting and color schemes while you watch.

the_scotsman wrote:
I find batch painting as described rarely bets you much time saving and does the most to kill my enthusiasm for it.

I find it doesn't speed up my painting, it does reduce the time I'm waiting for things to dry though.

 Talys wrote:

 Desubot wrote:
What are you expecting a complete replacement of the brush or something that will warp speed your painting time?

I am looking for one of the airbrush relics used by the artificers of Ryza. You load the a descripto technica datacube into the front mechanicum chamber, all 40 paints into separate paint cups, point it at the miniaturized simulacrum, and just hold the trigger down for a short time. The machine spirit of the airbrush does the rest, and will even micro-stabilize in case your hand is shakey, and macro-align, in case you sneeze.

I have heard that there is a Master Artificer version where you can hold it further away and load multiple datacubes to complete a squad all at once! But to use it, you need to replace your left eye with an augmented one that is linked to the airbrush.

That really made me laugh... one can only hope!

1) Spray Color Primer
2) choose 1 or 2 accent colors and selectively paint details
3) wash and ink.
4) highlight selectively

or

1) Spray Color Primer
2) choose 1 or 2 accent colors and selectively paint details
3) Dip in pigmented varnish / Army Painter brand Quickshade http://usshop.thearmypainter.com/products.php?ProductGroupId=1

I love the army painter products. I've done a full 2000 point World Eaters army in a couple of weeks and my Dark Angels / Death Wing force was even quicker than that. My Imperial Knight took about 6 hours from start to finish.

 DorianGray wrote:
I would like to invest in an airbrush if it actually is worth it and speeds up painting significantly but it seems to do nothing with layering the raised details with you must do with a 0/3 brush and a steady hand.

I love my airbrush, and it speeds up my painting no end. On a very basic level, don't underestimate the ability to get the main base colour of your mini applied smoothly and quickly. Ask people how much time they spend getting a smooth base coat with a brush on a red/white/yellow mini

I also use my airbrush for zenithal highlighting/shading the main base colour of the mini. Something that again takes forever if you want to use glazes to get a similar effect with brushes.

Airbrushing takes the grunt work out of painting a mini, and allows you to spend more time on the details.

With airbrushing do you only need 1 coat?

Basecoating does really stink when you need to do it 3 times to get a good smooth colour. The waiting to dry takes forever on medium to large size miniatures. Then 2 more coats.

I could see this being useful.

DorianGray wrote:
With airbrushing do you only need 1 coat?

Basecoating does really stink when you need to do it 3 times to get a good smooth colour. The waiting to dry takes forever on medium to large size miniatures. Then 2 more coats.

I could see this being useful.

You need a few passes to get a solid colour with the airbrush. The advantage is that a pass with the airbrush only takes a few seconds, so you can do multiple passes quickly.

Airbrushing didn't really speed me up because even with a hairy brush I use a technique that only requires a white undercoat and then 1 quick coat with a large brush of my base colour. But it's not well suited to all colours.

DorianGray wrote:
With airbrushing do you only need 1 coat?

Basecoating does really stink when you need to do it 3 times to get a good smooth colour. The waiting to dry takes forever on medium to large size miniatures. Then 2 more coats.

I could see this being useful.

No such thing as 1 coat wonder

or at least its rare or primer. or black.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

DorianGray wrote:
With airbrushing do you only need 1 coat?

Basecoating does really stink when you need to do it 3 times to get a good smooth colour. The waiting to dry takes forever on medium to large size miniatures. Then 2 more coats.

I could see this being useful.

You need a few passes to get a solid colour with the airbrush. The advantage is that a pass with the airbrush only takes a few seconds, so you can do multiple passes quickly.

Airbrushing didn't really speed me up because even with a hairy brush I use a technique that only requires a white undercoat and then 1 quick coat with a large brush of my base colour. But it's not well suited to all colours.

What's the technique?

I've decided you almost have to treat painting like studying for an exam or work OR IT WILL NEVER GET DONE.

Write out what you need to do every hour by the hour like its a project then pull out an all-nighter.

it takes time to get any good. i've been painting for a couple of years now and i'm only just getting pleased with my results and i'm not really very good at all - that's not false modesty, you can check my blog out!

but int he end, you can have 'em good OR you can have 'em quick, but not both.