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Hey all,

I have recently discovered 40k and have begun painting a tyranid army and a chaos army. I have attached pictures of two of my termagants and some of my raptors and would love some constructive criticism. I am still fighting with thinning my citadel paints but I'll get there eventually. One issue I'm having is the wash creating blotches all over the models, any suggestions?

*edit*
I'm not sure why the termagants are sideways but when you click on the picture they load in the browser the "right way," sorry about that!

hey, welcome to dakka
those termagants look great I really like the colours you have gone with, the highlights on the model look great and I especially like the way you have done the arms and legs
if you find the washes are making blotches it means they are pooling in the wrong places, usually this can be avoided by putting them on less liberally and doing recess washes (where you only wash the deeper parts of the models) hope this helps.

Welcome to Dakka!

For a beginner they are quite good. You did well on the edges. Most beginners I know are a little bit sloppy on them. Next step would be some edge highlighting. Once you have done this, you know everything to create well painted models. The rest is practicing.

Concerning the blotches: They usually occur if you drown the model in washes. Normally on bigger, flat areas without much detail, like the tail of your Termagant. When there is no gap where the color can go to, it starts to form spots of different color/wash concentrations. Best way to avoid it is to use the washes directly on the details instead of painting the whole model with it. This might not always be possible cause washes can change the color quiet a bit resulting in weird looking contrasts between "unwashed" and "washed" areas. In those cases or in case you want to tune the color with your washes, you have to apply just a thin layer of the wash on the undetailed areas. So dry your brush a little bit with a tissue or something else after dipping it into the wash. If your brush is still to wet and to much color gets onto the model, here is a little trick: Use a dry brush and hold it into the wet area. It will absorb nearly everything as long as the brush is large enough to hold the color you applied.

Hope you understand what I wanted to say. Sometimes my English isn't as good as I want it to be

I'll try simplifying what the others have said; only apply the washes to the joints and where the plates meet the skin, like you're outlining the different parts of the creature.

It's tough to see the chaos marines, try a less busy background for your pics. I find construction paper can often do the job or even a tan or grey sheet. Experiment with different colors and it'll be easier provide advice. Even the stone or wood texture of your counter/table would work, clear off a space and only have the minis in the pic.

Good job man!

They look tricky to paint with all the plates and holes ect going on. I cant offer you any advice in regards to painting, as I myself have just finished my first few mini's. What I popped by to say is that you should base your models! I was in two minds before I did mine as to how much they would change the overall look, but after I did it made the whole mini look so much better I am no technical wizard with bases ect, but the technical/texture paints from GW are an awesome place to start, along with their synthetic tufts of grass. Other sites probably sell the products cheaper but its a good place to start. You dont have to be too carefull with the base, and it doesn't take long at all to do.

Hope this helps

Thank you all for the great advice and encouragement! After I finish the ones I had painted in a style similar to the termagants pictured I'm going to attempt applying the suggestions in this thread and will post pictures of the result. The models were actually ushabti bone before applying the wash to give them a green tint but after comparing warboss green to my termagants I believe warboss green will be a close match, and will allow recess washing.

Thanks again!