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Hello, I'm 'New' to Warhammer, well when I was 14 I'd had rather a large box of Space Marines bought for me, of which non survived. Needless to say buying a kid that kind of 'toy' was a pretty daft idea. Many years later I've decided to pick it up and see what I can do, I'm not really a 'creative' person, I hope painting miniatures will help somewhat. So I bought up a set of Badly painted Space marines, stripped them down and bought some recommended paints/brushes I found around the forum. Below you'll find my first attempt at painting a full model, before it I spent a couple hours toying with some ideas and practicing my brush control. I'd very much like your feedback on both my process and the final result.

I've not really messed around with dry-brushing or using washes, no doubt I will but for now I kind of like this style, sorry for the pictures not really doing the work justice, camera phone. I did not want to spam this thread with images so I've uploaded them all to an album, thanks for looking.

Album: http://imgur.com/a/4cjcY

You seem to have a good brush control. Clear sharp edges and no overspilling. A very solid base and much cleaner that what I started with.

Personally I'd apply a wash next to sharpen the shadows and recesses. Just try it on one model and see how you like it.
Additionally I'd add edge highlighting to give it a more solid look.

 btldoomhammer wrote:
You seem to have a good brush control. Clear sharp edges and no overspilling. A very solid base and much cleaner that what I started with.

Personally I'd apply a wash next to sharpen the shadows and recesses. Just try it on one model and see how you like it.
Additionally I'd add edge highlighting to give it a more solid look.

Thanks for your input, I'll most definitely give a wash a try, edge highlighting is something I've found to be quite challenging, but you don't learn without practice right.

great start, kinda remind me of cylons :-)

bopins wrote:
great start, kinda remind me of cylons :-)

Was not my first thought....but now you mention it, love the scheme even more.

The silver is very clean & even & the red bright & again even.
Great start.
I think a full squad will look really good, even without shading & highlights. Keep up the good work!

 bubber wrote:
The silver is very clean & even & the red bright & again even.
Great start.
I think a full squad will look really good, even without shading & highlights. Keep up the good work!

Thanks man, your words are appreciated.

That's what I'm here for!
Tip re edge highlighting (if you want to give it another try):
1. Use a fine brush in really good condition.
2. Thin your paint to the consistency of milk.
3. Load a small amount of paint then run the SIDE of the brush along the edge.
Don't worry if the paint looks a bit thin once dry - this enables you to do another layer or 2 painting a smaller length of line each time, building up the brightness of the highlight.

Another tip:
Use water-soluble colour pencils!
Again just run along the edge.
You can smudge the edges with your finger to blend it in or to wipe off mistakes.
You will have to varnish it between each colour though - otherwise you'll end up rubbing off the previous work.

 bubber wrote:
That's what I'm here for!
Tip re edge highlighting (if you want to give it another try):
1. Use a fine brush in really good condition.
2. Thin your paint to the consistency of milk.
3. Load a small amount of paint then run the SIDE of the brush along the edge.
Don't worry if the paint looks a bit thin once dry - this enables you to do another layer or 2 painting a smaller length of line each time, building up the brightness of the highlight.

Another tip:
Use water-soluble colour pencils!
Again just run along the edge.
You can smudge the edges with your finger to blend it in or to wipe off mistakes.
You will have to varnish it between each colour though - otherwise you'll end up rubbing off the previous work.

I'll give that a try on my second attempt tomorrow, thanks for the advice.

A lot better than my first attempts :-)

jhe90 wrote:
A lot better than my first attempts :-)

Thanks, I like your current work though, very well done sir.

Inerrant wrote:

jhe90 wrote:
A lot better than my first attempts :-)

Thanks, I like your current work though, very well done sir.

Thanks, if you mean the jungle sniper yes, though good few hours for that one :-)

I think a wash over the silver will really make a huge difference (plus its super easy. Perfect for spamming out large armies quickly) I use nuln oil on my metals and agrax earthshade (+red ink but thats totally optional) on my reds

Johnson & The Juice Crew wrote:
I think a wash over the silver will really make a huge difference (plus its super easy. Perfect for spamming out large armies quickly) I use nuln oil on my metals and agrax earthshade (+red ink but thats totally optional) on my reds

Thanks, I'll order some nuln oil wash tomorrow, Any advice when applying it?

In my experience, don't be afraid to be kind of liberal with the wash. If it gets flooded, you can just use the brush to spread it over the rest of the model. Make sure it's mixed well of course, and I would use a cheaper, flat brush. You won't believe the difference wash will make on a simply, but cleanly painted model like yours.

If I can make a suggestion, and this is totally my view so if you're happy with how the marines look by all means, keep doing what you're doing sir.

I find marines to suffer from a 'too busy' feel when you start mixing multiple color segments on their armor. I.E. having the legs painted one color, with the kneepads painted another color, etc. In my view, marines look best with a unified color scheme on their armor with a (somewhat) limited color palate for detail/accent colors.

As has been said, your marine looks excellent and WAY better than my first marine mode. Very good brush control and paint coverage overall. You should be proud of it.

If you're still looking to try a few things out, may I make the following color suggestions:

Legs: Silver (Keep one kneepad red, say the right one, if you'd like as having that be where their squad designation number or what-not go wouldn't be unheard of)
Chest/arms: Silver (including the fingers, you can use a good thin black wash to help define the fingers some) and maybe consider using the red on the chest Aquila?
Shoulderpads: Stick with the Red you're using, it really pops nicely with the armor. Shoulderpad rims you can leave black, or paint silver, though I would consider painting them silver to really get the red-on-silver to stand out.
Backpack: Looking pretty good there.
Helmet; full silver, or fully red, the silver with red top section looks off to me, if that makes sense? Try it out with a completely red helmet, I think it'll look really cool with the silver armor.
Bolter: More Metallics! I like how you've done it, for sure, red bolter casings for the win! but using a Leadbelcher color and more metallic colors on the lower and rear portion of the bolter would look more uniform I think.

The above suggestions are simply my opinion, if you like your scheme and want to keep using it as you have it, by all means, continue forward as you have.

I look forward to seeing more of your stuff, and welcome to the hobby man!

Take it easy.

-Red__Thirst-

 Red__Thirst wrote:
If I can make a suggestion, and this is totally my view so if you're happy with how the marines look by all means, keep doing what you're doing sir.

I find marines to suffer from a 'too busy' feel when you start mixing multiple color segments on their armor. I.E. having the legs painted one color, with the kneepads painted another color, etc. In my view, marines look best with a unified color scheme on their armor with a (somewhat) limited color palate for detail/accent colors.

As has been said, your marine looks excellent and WAY better than my first marine mode. Very good brush control and paint coverage overall. You should be proud of it.

If you're still looking to try a few things out, may I make the following color suggestions:

Legs: Silver (Keep one kneepad red, say the right one, if you'd like as having that be where their squad designation number or what-not go wouldn't be unheard of)
Chest/arms: Silver (including the fingers, you can use a good thin black wash to help define the fingers some) and maybe consider using the red on the chest Aquila?
Shoulderpads: Stick with the Red you're using, it really pops nicely with the armor. Shoulderpad rims you can leave black, or paint silver, though I would consider painting them silver to really get the red-on-silver to stand out.
Backpack: Looking pretty good there.
Helmet; full silver, or fully red, the silver with red top section looks off to me, if that makes sense? Try it out with a completely red helmet, I think it'll look really cool with the silver armor.
Bolter: More Metallics! I like how you've done it, for sure, red bolter casings for the win! but using a Leadbelcher color and more metallic colors on the lower and rear portion of the bolter would look more uniform I think.

The above suggestions are simply my opinion, if you like your scheme and want to keep using it as you have it, by all means, continue forward as you have.

I look forward to seeing more of your stuff, and welcome to the hobby man!

Take it easy.

-Red__Thirst-

Really awesome post my friend, I've had similar feedback from a friend in regards to keeping a unified scheme, he painted up a prototype quickly through dry brushing with a red helmet and I was not sold on it, I guess it'll require some experimentation, they'll all be stripped down again eventually anyhow. As for the shoulder trim, I'll do my next in silver but I've got a pretty limited set of paints thus far, have to order in some more metallic colors for the bolter. Thanks for the really good advice and I'll be sure to post my work as it progresses.

Sure thing man! I understand working with limited paint colors. When I started up my first army (Blood Angels) I had five pots of paint. Red, Black, Boltgun Metal, Green, and Grey, and those first minis I painted looked so bad. So. Bad.

Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing your progress!

Take it easy for now.

-Red__Thirst-

Inerrant wrote:



Thanks, I'll order some nuln oil wash tomorrow, Any advice when applying it?

I just lather it on but I know how much i like. Just keep applying thin-ish layers (use a normal brush, theres no need for a special "wash brush imo) until you like the depth. If your feeling really brave you can then do a light drybrush in your original silver colour over the top which will give the edges a subtle highlight. I will take a pic of some tank tracks I did in this way

EDIT:

Tank tracks done with ironbreaker basecoat - heavy nuln wash - drybrush ironbreaker (i also did a cheaky highlight on the center bits but you get the idea)

Johnson & The Juice Crew wrote:

Inerrant wrote:



Thanks, I'll order some nuln oil wash tomorrow, Any advice when applying it?

I just lather it on but I know how much i like. Just keep applying thin-ish layers (use a normal brush, theres no need for a special "wash brush imo) until you like the depth. If your feeling really brave you can then do a light drybrush in your original silver colour over the top which will give the edges a subtle highlight. I will take a pic of some tank tracks I did in this way

EDIT:

Tank tracks done with ironbreaker basecoat - heavy nuln wash - drybrush ironbreaker (i also did a cheaky highlight on the center bits but you get the idea)

Thanks for the advice, I'll be trying this soon.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Second miniature complete, not sure how I feel about it, its an older metal tactical marine and thus the model has far less detail, kind of looks bare side by side with the first.

Small Gallery Here: http://imgur.com/a/JE65T

What do you guys think? I was just experimenting with different schemes as suggested above.

I definitely prefer your first scheme. The red helmet makes it look...too red? I vote for your first model

I wonder if you can make a wash by heavily watering down a black?

Johnson & The Juice Crew wrote:
I definitely prefer your first scheme. The red helmet makes it look...too red? I vote for your first model

I wonder if you can make a wash by heavily watering down a black?

Got some wash on the way, and you know what, I think i prefere the first too, maybe without the red highlighting on the head. I'm working on a third at the moment, that will be the decider.

Inerrant wrote:

Johnson & The Juice Crew wrote:
I definitely prefer your first scheme. The red helmet makes it look...too red? I vote for your first model

I wonder if you can make a wash by heavily watering down a black?

Got some wash on the way, and you know what, I think i prefere the first too, maybe without the red highlighting on the head. I'm working on a third at the moment, that will be the decider.

The first squad is always a practice squad After you finish them you can line them all up and look from one end to the other and physically see your painting skills improve over 10 models