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Hello,

As it says in the subject line i am a noob. I really love the hobby and reading the lore of it all. However I am not a big fan of painting the figures (mostly of time constraints and lack of skill).
If any of you feel the same way how do you get past this problem? Buying already painted figures (if so any suggestions)? Or by hiring someone to paint the figures for me, if so any recommendations (Please keep in mind I am from Vancouver, Canada).

Thanks in advance for all your input,

RR

It all depends on your budget and your capacity to learn.

If you really just want painted models to play with, you have two choices.

CHEAP - Paint them incredibly simply (2/3 colours, then dip them)
EXPENSIVE - Pay someone to paint them on commission for you

You can easily paint nicely done miniatures by buying a can of coloured spray primer, spraying them your main colour - getting a pot of silver paint for all the weapons, doing all them (rough is fine) - getting another colour for cloaks/cloth/whatever. Once they are done, it will be a blocky mess, but then you dip them in something like armypainter strongtone - it will give them huge depth, and make them look surprisingly good for the effort.

You could paint an entire army in a weekend like that, I'm certain.

The alternative is commissions, which will range from $5-$20 per miniature (it depends so much on your area, and what kind of detail you want). For an army of 100 dudes, that obviously adds up.

You can buy already painted armies DIRT CHEAP off ebay (or the forums here), because for some reason no-one likes pre-painted models.

Finally, you could learn to paint - it is incredibly rewarding (and frustrating). I don't have time for it either, but I don't play so I don't care. It is quite relaxing after a while, but you won't be able to force yourself to do it.


If you want to paint them yourself - THIS is the subforum for you.

If you want to buy some already painted cheap - Have a look at this one -> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/forums/show/11.page

If you want to get a commission painter to paint them for you - have a look through here and find a Canadian painter -> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/forums/show/73.page

I you do decide to get a commission painter, google their name - there are a surprisingly large amount of grubs that either do a terrible job or just steal models, and most of them are listed here in various forums.

What army do you run? I could give you some speed painting tips if you don't want to put down the money for a commission.

Thanks for your replies.
I am currently PM'ing several lots in this forum. Thanks for the Tips.

As for the Armies I run, I have Nids and Space Wolves. I would very much like to hear your speed painting tips.

I am looking to build on these armies and create new ones, I am undecided as to whether I am going to paint (which would be a first) or continue on with paying for commission painting.

For the Space Wolves you may be able to get away with drybrushing the grey over a coat of black primer. Try a test model out first. If you need to know how to drybrush look up a few tutorials on youtube. They are veery helpful.

For Tyranids it is a matter of block painting and washing. Paint the body a khaki/bone color, the carapace a red, the claws a black and the teeth an ivory color. Wash with Agrax Earthshade/Army painter strong tone and paint the eyes either red or yellow. It's not going to be -fast- but it would be -faster- than traditional layer painting.

Thanks for the tips, I will definitely go and watch some of these tutorial videos!

Welcome to the hobby. Glad to have another for the army.