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So, I recently got into Warhammer 40k miniatures. I'm painting decently, but I'm afraid of the future when I get models that are more than just $10 space marine kits of 3.





Just look at this detail! How do people do it, genuinely? These miniatures are so small, and I use 10/0 size brushes, but I struggle somewhat with painting the rims on shoulderpads >~<

Another thing I'm worried about is special effects. Take a look at these.







How do people get those blood effects? Just red shade paint in a few layers? What of the fire? Just layers of orange and yellow dry paints? The silky smooth shine on those black templars? How do people do this stuff? It amazes me!

Sorry for the image-heavy post and the big images, I'm in kind of a rush at the moment.

Best thing to do is for you to show what models you have painted and go from there. There is no point people teaching you about osl (which I have no idea how to do) or other special effects you haven't grasped the basic is of using thin paints and brush control. If you post your work up here better painters than I can give you advice on where to go next but without knowing where you are at you may be trying to run before you can crawl.

 carlos13th wrote:
Best thing to do is for you to show what models you have painted and go from there. There is no point people teaching you about osl (which I have no idea how to do) or other special effects you haven't grasped the basic is of using thin paints and brush control. If you post your work up here better painters than I can give you advice on where to go next but without knowing where you are at you may be trying to run before you can crawl.

Yes, thank you. Tomorrow when possible I'll take pictures of my existing space marines.

If you're using Games Workshop paints, go watch their Youtube videos on their paints. Fairly educational.


The Buypainted guy does a lot of his work with an airbrush. He is good.

Custom and on-a-whim colorscheme:



My WorkInProgress Blood Angel:


And FYI, I have watched the Games Workshop paint videos. They are quite informative, but focus more on how each paint is supposed to be used, and not the kind of tips I'm looking for.

Also, if you are just starting painting models, don't look at the very best models and think "Now, how do I do that?". That way lies madness.

Just like people don't start playing professional sports, you don't start at the expert level. Your initial models will not be as good as your aspirational models. You will have to practice, get better, and learn new things.

Are you planning on playing the game, or just painting models?

If you plan on playing, I would focus initially on getting several units of basic troops (not necessarily troops choices) to a good tabletop standard. That means, they look good from arm's length on the board. Models painted to that standard might look quite crude when viewed in extreme close up, but a unit of them on the board looks pretty cool.

If you are collector/painter, then that's not particularly good advice, but you also have the leisure of painting fewer models, since you aren't trying to amass a painted army to use.

Da Butcha wrote:
Also, if you are just starting painting models, don't look at the very best models and think "Now, how do I do that?". That way lies madness.

Just like people don't start playing professional sports, you don't start at the expert level. Your initial models will not be as good as your aspirational models. You will have to practice, get better, and learn new things.

This, +1 da butcha I remember when I was always looking at models like these I always wanted to be that good but you have to start with the basics.

Sounds daft but your using a brush that's too small. I used to do the same but after watching tutorials online I switched to a size1 sable brush for most if my detail work the difference is unbelievable

Hey Daggy, did you apply any washes to your models? They look like they've only had the base colours applied.

For the Yellow and Black colour scheme, I have a few recommendations you can try.

To show the detail on black, I would use probably a cheap size 0 brush to drybrush grey on black. I usually overdo it and then, wash it with black wash (nuln oil if you are using Citadel). This is pretty fast for tabletop standard.

As for the yellow, I would start with a yellow brighter than what I would want as an end result. Then wash with a light brown wash, like Seraphim Sepia for instance. After that, you may wish to highlight just a few edges with the original yellow again.

For edging, you do not need a 10/0 brush. Usually, the side of a larger brush is used. You can google for edge highlighting or look for it on youtube to see the technique.

If you dont't mind trying this, perhaps you can do so and post the results?

Last thing would be colour contrast. Look up 'colour wheel' to get nice colour combinations which would make the detail stand out.

First tip: thin your paints. Your photos are low resolution but I can still see that the paints are too thick. Thick paint obscures details.

That reminds me, yellow and red are pretty tough colours to start with. White included. Usually to get the colours opague enough, multiple thin coats are preferable to one thick coat, which will obscure details as heartseranade has mentioned.

An alternative, if you are planning to do many models in yellow or red, it to get coloured primers. Either Tamiya or Armypainter. There are other brands as well, depending on what you have available near you.

Easy colours to start with, I find, are silver, black and generally darker colours.

Yellow is a hard colour to work with. Something like blue or green would probably be an easier first choice,

You need to think your paints your laŷing them on too think and it's obscuring the details. Instead of painting straight from the pot put the paint onto a pallete or wet pallete and add a bit of water in order to thin them. This may mean you have to do multiple layers for coverage but will get you a smoother coat.

Using the smallest brush available to you is not always the best option, a large brush holds more paint for longer and allows you smoother strokes. Just make sure your brush has a sharp point that way it can often do detail as well as larger areas. I try to use the largest brush I can for an available job and do most of my work with a size either 1 or 2 brush I can't remember the exact size but I think I could go up a size with minimal issues.

Washes are a great way to bring out the detail in a model. Brush them into the recesses in order to darken them and create shadow and contrast between the raised and recessed parts of the model.

In terms of brush control you are doing ok though the paint mostly looks like it's gone where you wanted it too with a few slips here and there. Almost everyone makes mistakes and puts paint where they don't want to sometimes so that's nothing to worry about.

People are right though you shouldn't compare your stuff to pro painters just yet, it's like starting boxing and wanting to move like Ali or punch as hard as Frazier in the first month, you need to get the fundementals down first.

Hmm, based on experience it took me 4 years to get to the skill level that I am right now, and even if I can say that I'm better than an average painter I still have a lot to learn and still not in league with great miniature painters out there like Angel Giraldez. Not to mention I already have a background in art, being a graduate of Fine Arts.

Painting like those you posted will take a lot of time, patience, and frustration. It will take a lot of failures to get it right. And you won't be able to do any of those you posted if you haven't learned the basics first. It's like wanting to play in the NBAs without learning how to dribble or shoot: it just won't happen.

So take it one step at a time. Master the basics, then do the advanced stuff when the basics become second nature, then go back to the basics again to make sure you're doing them right. Good luck, and don't put that brush down just because you failed 999 times.

Worth noting That while many experienced painters don't like the new GW painting system due to not being able to use certain advanced techniques and the like while following along it can be a great way to learn some basics if you are new to painting and get a new painter painting up to a decent tablets standard. Might be worth looking into

as a painter of just over 2 months I can tell you straight away. Dont even bother trying to compare your models to what you will see on here. Thats not to say you cant paint like that but you wont be able to yet.

First thing that made me heaps better was good brush control (i know the models are small but believe me you will get used to it) and thinned paints This improved me 10 fold. Trying not to go over edges and doing good clean lines is the first step on the road to doing fun stuff (like highlighting)

Once you have the basics then dont just dive in to try and learn all the techniques at once. Try to learn and semi perfect one technique at a time.

Also, with more detail comes alot more time. If you are planning on playing 40k then you might be better off finding a middle ground with regards to detail vs time. Having a big army is fun but not if each model takes 10 hours to paint.

Dont neglect basing. I have just done my first base (after spending hours reading and watching youtube for inspiration) and they totally change the look of a model and its really easy to do

Painting is 30 hours of hell followed by ten minutes of satisfaction follwed by 30 hours of hell followed by.....

Like everyone else said, master the basics and improve your steadiness of hand.
I would also suggest learning some colour theory, alot of great videos on youtube concerning harmony of colours and such.

I'm new to painting as well. I don't have much advice since I found the rest of these comments to be very helpful for me and it's hard to try to resist trying advanced techniques and getting frustrated because you don't know how. It's great that your eye is learning to detect these advanced techniques and that's a good first step. When I see higher end models that gives me a goal and something to strive for. What helps me is painting models that I like that are 28mm+. I bought some cheap 15mm goblins to practice on and they are so small that I really don't enjoy painting them.

I just got 3 real sets of miniatures for my birthday on the fifth, the kind you actually need to glue together. Would it be wiser to paint the pieces and then glue them?

 Daggy-Chan wrote:
I just got 3 real sets of miniatures for my birthday on the fifth, the kind you actually need to glue together. Would it be wiser to paint the pieces and then glue them?

It sort of depends on the kit, some assemble without blocking parts of itself, others don't. Most people partially assemble the model and then paint and add the last few pieces together.

Doing it this way means you don't miss any spots and it generally makes it easier to paint the whole model as you don't have to manoeuvre in weird ways. Best example of this is leaving the boltgun off of a space marine so that you can paint the chest plate details and both sides of the boltgun.

Winter wrote:

 Daggy-Chan wrote:
I just got 3 real sets of miniatures for my birthday on the fifth, the kind you actually need to glue together. Would it be wiser to paint the pieces and then glue them?

It sort of depends on the kit, some assemble without blocking parts of itself, others don't. Most people partially assemble the model and then paint and add the last few pieces together.

Doing it this way means you don't miss any spots and it generally makes it easier to paint the whole model as you don't have to manoeuvre in weird ways. Best example of this is leaving the boltgun off of a space marine so that you can paint the chest plate details and both sides of the boltgun.

Khorne Berserkers, Space Marine tactical squad, and Chaos Marine squad.

Chests are halved, legs are together, all that fun stuff. Not much detail to it other than that, I just think it'd be wiser to paint the pieces individually before assembling them so that I can get as much detail in , so that I don't need to maneuver in weird ways like you said, but I could be SO wrong.

Nothing very good there except those black templars

Three things will make a night and day difference when it comes to painting minis. Worlds of difference.

1. Wet Pallet. Google it, make one ASAP.
2. Airbrushing. If you're serious about painting and planning to stick around for awhile, don't hesitate to get something decent and start practicing right away. It's another thing like the wet pallet.
Once you have it figured out you will be like !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! why didn't I do it sooner?
3. Good brushes. Spend the extra on something good.

 Daggy-Chan wrote:

Winter wrote:

 Daggy-Chan wrote:
I just got 3 real sets of miniatures for my birthday on the fifth, the kind you actually need to glue together. Would it be wiser to paint the pieces and then glue them?

It sort of depends on the kit, some assemble without blocking parts of itself, others don't. Most people partially assemble the model and then paint and add the last few pieces together.

Doing it this way means you don't miss any spots and it generally makes it easier to paint the whole model as you don't have to manoeuvre in weird ways. Best example of this is leaving the boltgun off of a space marine so that you can paint the chest plate details and both sides of the boltgun.

Khorne Berserkers, Space Marine tactical squad, and Chaos Marine squad.

Chests are halved, legs are together, all that fun stuff. Not much detail to it other than that, I just think it'd be wiser to paint the pieces individually before assembling them so that I can get as much detail in , so that I don't need to maneuver in weird ways like you said, but I could be SO wrong.

Here's some advice. Glue the legs to the bases, glue together the torsos as you see fit, and then make the bolter/arm assembly seperately. Don't add the shoulder pads yet. Also, keep the backpacks separate. Essentially, pop out the bits you want on your marine, put them in a yogurt container lid, and dry fit them and see what gets covered up. If anything gets covered up, like the chest aquila, put those bits( the ones that obscure details) on later after you have painted the aquila. Look at my Instagram for some models painted by someone new to the hobby. http://instagram.com/sirsertile

 Malkaven wrote:
I bought some cheap 15mm goblins to practice on and they are so small that I really don't enjoy painting them.

This is very important. Not the scale but about painting what you enjoy. I enjoy painting but I don't enjoy painting certain models so I don't buy what I don't want to paint. There is stuff I have that I enjoy painting less than others so I paint it between stuff I enjoy more so it dosent become to much of a chore. Or at least thats what I aim to do.

I Have been painting for a while but have only started to see an improvement recently. Here are some tips that have really helped me (im not a pro by any extent of the imagination):

-Undercoating. A necessity, not optional.
-Thin your paints. I didnt realize how important this was for the longest time, its always better to have several thin layers than one thick layer. Always judge how thick the paint is out of the pot, some will need a lot of thinning, others wont.
-A palette. Wet or a tile, your choice.
-Washes. A black wash in dark, recessed areas improves the look of a model immeasurably.
-Avoid painting large areas of red, yellow or white. They are nightmares to work with.
-Shade and highlight. Start with a darker colour and work your way up in successive thin layers, with lighter shades on the areas the light "catches" more. I am only an absolute beginner at this but even at a simple level (3-4 layers) the amount of depth it adds to a model is staggering. Thin paints is also incredibly important for this to not look horrendously thick.

In the examples you have given most of the good paintjobs are achieved through many, many successive layers as well as masterful uses of wet blending in order to make the shading layers blend together far more smoothly. As mentioned an airbrush can save a huge amount of time when it comes to shading.
Dont even try OSL beyond a very small level (eyes, perhaps a plasma gun) it is notoriously difficult to get right.

In the end practice is what counts.

Top four tips I can recommend are.

1: paint your models in pieces before gluing
2: paint everything with primer and base colours then move onto highlights and tones after
3: thin your paints down and paint multiple layers
4: take your time!

Dont concern yourself with special effects just yet, those can wait a bit. Stuff like Object Source Lighting and proper blood effects are best saved for later. (Also, check out the GW Blood for the Blood God paint, works like a charm). I'd recomend spending a bit more time on touch ups, making sure none of the colors are where they dont belong. Also, for small sculpted in details (Only ones that stick out of the model, like shoulder rims and sheild details) use the edge of the brush, not the tip. Or at least, that's what I do. Washes are also a must-have, as they add alot of depth to the model

I support Blood for the Blood God paint. For an average painter like me, it really helped with the blood effects. I doubt I could do the same with red based paints.

Blood For the Blood God paint is best. I even use it to make my WoC's armor look more worn

I am now using a Size 1 brush and thinner paints and it works so much better! Thank you guys!

I'd love to see the results!