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Ok, so consider me new to this. I tried table top painting more than a decade ago, I sucked at it and threw away all my minis and only about 4 months ago got back into this. Now this time around I'm not doing WH40k, can't afford it this time and sucking as bad as I do would just be infuriating to spend that much money and have everything be ugly. I'm frustrated as hell though and I'm just about ready to give up again, for a final time this time. But painting is also relaxing in some cases for me and it's cheaper and I'm a bit less cynical about it than my other hobby which I'm trying to give up, Video gaming. If you're going to ask, as far as I'm concerned the video game industry is beyond corrupted by greed, I'm trying to get away from it because the F2P/DLC/Microtransactions- money money money mongering has finally broken me, DLC is one thing, but buying 'in game' money with real money? Buying 'loot chests' to get in game items that are locked away specifically to urge you to pay? I just can't deal, every time I buy a game it reminds me of how ethically twisted the entire industry has become, so I'm trying to distance. And as long as I'm not doing business with GW I can get that escapism! Primarily I'm a new DM for D&D 5e, the pre-painted minis are too expensive and quite ugly so I decided to pick up some paints and give it a final try. Thankfully those pre-paints are pretty hideous, so even as awful as I am, mine look a tad better, at least they have more colors and definition. So onto my questions and problems.

1- Steady Hands: I swear I don't have a disorder or a drug addiction or a caffeine (still a drug?) problem, in normal life I'm not really 'shaky', but I go to paint and god... it's just upsetting. Now, it's the same when I write. I can't draw a straight line or a curved one at that, to save my life. People chant 'practice' like it's a magic spell or something, but I've been writing for years and if anything it's gotten worse. I've tried different techniques I've heard about, anchoring my elbows, planting my fingers into the opposite hand for support etc. They've helped, but I still can't paint a belt or a rope worth a damn, there's just a wide smudge of paint where I go. yeah I got the belt, and about 2 (scale) inches above and below the belt as well. It's ugly as sin and as far as I'm concern unacceptable for table top play. Any advice OTHER than practice? It's stupid enough I've even tried to look up the pills sharp shooters take to slow their heart rate and reduce shake, but I can't find them anywhere. This is probably my biggest problem, when I watch tutorial videos for highlighting and such they're just like "Ok so now we want to do the edges here", I try to paint a line down a crease on a robe and paint is everywhere and ruins the entire damn thing. I try to paint a corner on a pouch and theres paint all over the figures thigh. It's ridiculous and its ruining the experience for me, so if you have anything to offer on this subject, it is probably the most important.

2- Priming. Now I don't have a question about if, or why. I've been having some problems with my paint layers as well as paint attaching to the models, so I figure priming is in order. I haven't had this problem with my Bonez minis until recently but whatever, ok. My issue is really this, which brand do I go with? Now I've read that it doesn't really matter, but I think this isn't true. I've read plenty of people positively review Rust-oleum "Painters Touch" Primer, it was a great price compared to model primer so I went for it. What happened next was a crime. The figure lost probably 50% of its details, even worse the primer is WORSE at taking paint than an un-primed model! The paint is showing strokes, the base coat is thinning and the primer is showing through. I tried multiple coats with the base coat but that just blots out the details worse! The figure I was trying to paint essentially has no left hand any longer, just a stump holding a sword. The paint tends to partially 'bead', it doesn't bead in terms of sucking back up into a droplet, but it doesn't lay flat either when I paint on the primer either, it 'domes' I suppose. Now, I can accept maybe I primed it wrong, I've never primed a model before in my life. However, I did what most people recommend, I read the back of the can and followed the instructions. I used very short, quick sprays and basically tried my hardest to use as little as possible while trying to get a even coat. So I'm at a loss here. Right now I'm looking at Tamiya Fine Grey Primer, it's way pricier than what I paid, but it is 'fine' so it should go on even thinner than a normal primer and everyone seems to swear by it as mind blowingly good. I might try the Rustoleum again, but I need some damn decent advice before I do. While Bonez are cheap, I still can't just start throwing them away, that first model is simply unsavable trash now, i don't even want to paint it and I can't afford to just keep trying over and over and over. So, any advice or recommendations? I can't go with GW primer, it's way out there price wise and Army painter is a little more affordable but no one seems to really like it except for their wide color options, but I read constant reviews of can failure and poor results. This Tamiya stuff is supposed to be great though and for about $10 a can on Amazon I can give it a shot. When I watch others paint the paint attaches to the model like it's a marker on paper, just instantly the model takes the color and it lays flat. My bonez models typically do that, but a few recent models have no. Also I've always had a problem with paint strokes, nothing every takes the paint evenly or flat, I thin my paints as instructed so I'm guessing I need primer to enhance the paint up take of my models... anyone got anything?

3- Brushes: Ok, so I got a cheap set of golden taklon from walmart, as well as a army painter dry brush and a GW 'insane' detail brush in an attempt to do eyes. Here's my issue, nothing releases paint. When I watch others paint it is like a marker or pen, where ever they touch with the tip instantly has color, no effort or technique, they don't even have to make a stroke just touch and bam color. Often I feel like I will have to resort to death threats to get my brushes to release paint like a hostage. Even the GW brush, which I would think would be at least a decent if not excellent quality bristle and brush. I dip it in the paint, get my figure angled and go to apply the color and... nothing. The tip hits the eye like a child walking into a sliding glass door. 'thud' and nothing. No paint release, no color application. I can even shove and most the time still nothing, the brush will bend and fold and the paint will still not release. For whatever reason only a brush stroke tends to get the paint to release, but for something like eyes or a belt buckle a brush stroke really isn't possible, there isn't enough space, besides I've seen plenty of people do it, they dip into the paint and dot the eyes and done. They go to paint some details and same thing, a quick brush stroke and bam the paint applies and done. Sometimes when I go to do finer detail work my first brush stroke is actually pretty decent, but often the paint doesn't come off, so I have to try a second or even 3rd time to get the paint off. So to be clear, when trying to 'dot' details the paint never comes off, when it comes to brush strokes it's got a 50/50 chance. Now when I'm not doing details, and there is more paint on the brush, it typically works fine. I've tried thinning my paints more and less, neither tends to fix the problem. About the time the paint is too thin and becomes more like a water, then it comes off super easy, but of course it runs everywhere, beads and spreads like crazy so it's useless. I go to paint a tiny space on a shoe and the moment the tip touches the toe the whole shoe is suddenly covered in color. This is very annoying and I'm assuming this has to do with the brushes I'm using. BUT, is it? I'm sure someone out there is pro enough to know what the hell is going on. As usual, any advice.

A couple side notes. I live in the desert on the west coast (California), so right now it is hellishly hot. Our days are triple digits and our nights are in the 90's. This means there are fans running constantly. I've considered that this heat and air flow could be causing rapid dry in my paints when using them, but other than adding a retarder I'm not sure what to do about that. But before dropping $10+ on a bottle of good retarder I was wondering if there's any other options or ideas. Again, possibly my brushes are just bad, but then how is it possible the GW and Army Painter brush are presenting the exact same problems? Confirmation is basically what I"m looking for before I spend the cash. I've got about $50 a month I can spend on this hobby, and probably of that if I don't see some real improvement after the next $100 I'm going to just give up. I've sunk some money into this painting, at least $200, and I just feel like I'm missing something obvious, like talent. I'm getting too old to pursue things I'll never be good at, I dropped this once figuring I'd never be any good and idk, I'm losing hope at this point and thinking maybe I was right. Now $200 may be nothing to some of you, but I'm on a very tight budget, so if you recommend something pricey, just keep in mind I've got $50 a month to try on this. I know these questions have been asked before, I went through the tutorial section and searched P&M up and down and found snippets and fragments of conversations about this stuff, but 'practice' isn't helpful, I do not improve with practice it has been true my entire life with everything, if anything I get WORSE with practice. For priming I actually found very little, other than "Black is awesome", but I like using brighter colors for my models and have tried white. Now if someone says "Well black primer is ALWAYS a finer texture than white" then I very well may try the black, or the grey, I'd probably try the grey instead of black, I've read Grey is a great middle ground between white and black (duh). Same thing for the brushes, I know I know, Series 7 Winsor & newton, everyone swears by them and recommends them but they are insanely expensive. I've been recommended Rosemary & Co. as well, a little better price wise. I've been looking at this other brand, eBoot, I think they're Amazon house brand though and while their reviews are good they aren't many. There is also Virtuoso, they have great reviews and tons of them, almost a thousand. Any recommendations? Will better brushes not save me? Well anyway, as I stated, any and all help is appreciated. I've tried my best to search this forum up and down, I've found bits and pieces but nothing has super helped me and of the priming tutorials I've found, NOTHING covered the primer being slick and taking paint worse than a un-primed (but thoroughly washed) model. It feels 'toothy' to the touch, but the issues I'm having are worse than the unprimed model. . . eesh...

One thing you don't mention is what paints are you using?

Steady hands - do you drink lots of caffeinated drinks? Try cutting down. Otherwise, practice really does help. How often do you paint? I struggle if I've not painted for a few weeks. My friend is a better painter than me, he paints for an hour or two most nights.

Priming - yeah, paint should stick better to primer than to bare plastic. Colour more or less comes down to personal preference and colour scheme. Black is better for darker colour schemes, or metallics; white is better for bold bright colours. Some rattle-can primers can mask details really badly unless you're really careful with quick light coats. I found Army Painter Dragon Red to be really bad for this. Also helps if you start and finish spraying with the can not pointing at the model.

Brushes - the golden taklon ones are junk. GW brushes are mediocre, but not worth what GW charge for them. W&N and Rosemary & Co are probably expensive in the US, generally what you're looking for are sable brushes that come to a nice point. Natural hair brushes will hold more paint and release it better than synthetics like taklon, with kolinsky sable being the best (and most expensive). Don't let the paint get up under the ferrule. Clean them well with something like Masters brush soap.

Painting in the desert doesn't help. It's probably why you're having trouble with primer, it's probably drying before it hits the model. Other than priming when it's cooler, or at night, I don't really know what to suggest. For painting generally, look into making yourself a wet palette.

http://www.fullborerminiatures.com/articles/wetpalette.html

Otherwise, post a few pics of your models, and people will be able to offer more specific suggestions...

Do you have a way to have someone who knows what they're doing watch you while you paint (hobby time at nearby flgs, friend who's painting style you like, etc)? Sounds like you have painting issues that may be tough to troubleshoot remotely.

Shaking hands comes whit age im afraid, i had rock steady hands untill i passed 25.......
Apart from that a good quality brush(and im not talking about high end quality that costs more then GW) and paints from army painter, vallejo or GW helps, but they are no substitude for personal experience.

We where all nubs when we began, but we started whit the basics and learnd new ways to paint either from self experimentation or from guides.
You can achive a decent looking model whit just basecoat and 1 layer of highlight plus a shade.

Hey! Welcome to Dakka! I also live on the edge of the same desert you mention, so in a sense we are neighbors! Nice to meet another person living on the surface of the sun...
Anyway, I also suffer somewhat from shaky hands at times. One trick I use is a rest for my wrist. Nothing fancy here, just one of those soft pads you place your wrists on for typing. I suspect anything would work, but here is specifics. I paint holding the model in my left hand and place my right wrist on the pad exactly where the little knob bone behind the hand is. It helps me, might help you. Painting uses muscles just like running or throwing. You have to build those muscles up, so time does matter.

I just noticed your brushes won't release paint. Are you wetting them before dipping them in the paint? Your brush must be wet or the paint will stick to it. Now, I am gross and wash a brush, then put it in my mouth to get a tip, then dip in paint. Just dipping the brush in your water, then wiping quick on a paper towel gets the same results, and the paint will flow better. You do not want a bead of water on the brush, you want it to have that dark color they get when wet, that is all. Do it often.

Some of your comments make me think your paint may be too watery. I know every expert painter says water down your paints, and they are right, for experienced people. Try it without. When you paint that fold in the cloak, get only a little, run down the fold, then take your base color and redo your edges maybe. Again, the wet brush may also be the cause of your issues.

As to primer, I do suffer in the heat as well. My biggest issue is it drying before it reaches the model and leaving a granular coat. My secret is to primer very early in the morning before I go to work. Even here it is in the 70's so works fine. Distance matters as well. Others have better tutorials but the short of it is try to keep the can less than 10" away but not closer than 6" when it is hot. I use Armoury primer ordered online for about 10$ and am generally happy with it, but of course I am not going for prize winning quality.
Also, painting wise, start simple. For example, pick a color scheme where you can primer, then basecoat all one color, then use a wash for the cracks etc, and finally highlight. This still gets a decent look, and will get you going to get painting strength and experience. Here is an example of this style.





I am not the greatest painter and never ever judge yourself on the guys in showcase forum, as they are masters who have spent years and effort getting to that point. Start simple and be happy there. If you go to this page of all my stuff, you can see some of my painting is pretty good, and others weak. I enjoy it all, and you can see how time and effort have improved my stuff. My gaming group contains two good painters who do a ton of converting, one guy who has less than a year in 40k and whose painting is really catching up to us, and 2 guys who love the game, its fluff, and playing, but are perfectly happy to leave their armies at a basecoat, one wash as shade, and some detail, and another couple of guys who play unpainted all the time because that isn't their interest. It all works! Do not be hard on your results, say, hey, I have a painted squad! and the next will be better. I cannot stress enough the satisfaction of placing down 500 or 1000 points of painted guys in your scheme and thinking "that is my army!". Practice on the ranks, then give your characters and stand out models a try.

http://edwardmystcreations.weebly.com/

In any case, keep posting, keep talking to Dakka, these people will help/support you at any level of play, painting, etc.
Maybe go into the paining and modeling forum (it's for newbies as well as old hands) and start a post with your color scheme and a pic of what you have managed. Might get some great ideas, even specific paints to highlight with, and such.

Thanks for the replies so quick folks!

-Crispy78: I use a mix of Reaper MSP and Citadel paints, when I get some money I'll be trying out Vallejo as well. Thanks for your tip about priming, starting the spray before and finishing after, I'll try that next time. I try hard to conserve my products replacement isn't as simple as "oh I'm out? I'll just head right out and pick it up". And for brushes I got ya, other than W&N I've been unable to find a Kolinsky Sable brush! I'll keep searching though. I'll try some straight paints, the Citadel stuff is pretty globby though. We shall see!

-Frozendwarf: Getting older sucks!

-Gulgog: No, the stores out here sometimes have a paint shop but it's a single store employee who does it for only an hour at a time, I'm super slow at this and the dates are random, sometimes they don't even know until the day before the painting session. Other than a college course I've been unable to find actual painting classes.

-Edwardmyst: yes I dab my brushes in clean purified water before each paint application, wipe them gently across a paper towel and then dip them in my paint and then apply. I also clean them in the same purified water. I've tried to find Armory primer on amazon but all i can find it black. I believe I'm going to try Tamiya Grey Fine primer, it is supposed to be one of the best out there.

Vallejo and Army painter work well, games workshop paints are good but pretty expensive, if you are on a tight budget better off sticking to Vallejo and Army painter. You don't need expensive brushes or paint to paint well. Watch some tutorials on youtube or something, try doing what they do, and keep trying until you think it looks good.

Hey vivid8, glad you got some answers. I've been there and been stumped too! Anyway, here is a link to where I buy my armory spray primer for what its worth (actually half the cost I remembered...). These guys also sell a ton of different paints etc. Shipping from New York, but they have been in business a LONG time and I have had really good luck with them. Not Amazon though, so if you're limited that way, no big deal.

http://www.thewarstore.com/armory-spray-paint.html

I found the warstore just last night edwardmyst, thanks though! I'm considering buying some stuff through them, but I'd have to buy at least $40 worth of stuff to make the $7 shipping worth the buy for me. I've found vallejo on amazon, but they're only in packs of colors, it looks like warstore does single bottle sales at a decent price too. So it might be my incentive to try them.

One thing that you should keep in mind - you can always try again. With a little work even the most botched model can be stripped down to bare plastic/resin/metal. With some work you can even reduce them to their component parts, although that's trickier.

So never be afraid to try something out, safe in the knowledge that you can likely fix it.

You could even buy a few old metal models (they're the easiest to strip) for cheap on E-bay to use as test models.

As with most things, it's simple practice that will get you where you wanna be.

1 - Steady hands: I don't think there is much you can do about this. I would recommend you avoid the problem rather than solve it (usually not the greatest advice). Colect models that don't have a ton of detail and have clear sharp edges. Then just paint them, drybrush them and wash them. The result will not be a masterpiece, but if you do it on a type of model I just described it will definitely be decent and not frustrating in the least.
2 - Priming: You should rely on your own experience. It all depends on what you want to spend on one and what imperfections you are willing to tolerate.
3 - Brushes: Again I think you should use your experience here. Cheap brushes sometimes work great, there are tons of companies to be discovered. That said I don't think your problems were caused by a bad brush. More likley you didn't thin your paint enough. The hotter the place you paint in, the less time the paint on your brush is viable. You have to work fast or thin your paint some more.

But after all the problems you just listed, is it even worth it? Why not get someone to do it for you (I'm not just saying this because I do commissions, I genuinely think your hobby isn't worth getting your hair grey).
Good luck in any case.

HOLY EMPEROR! Wall of text, im gonna skim off it but this is my advice to you.

1)steady hands, this is an easy one every noobie messes up but can be fixed. When painting put your elbows on the table, and put the two palms of your hand together at the base, or your wrists together then paint. If you hands shake, they will be shaking in the same rythem and you wont notice it.

2)Priming So if its plastic models, you just wanna hold the can about 12 inches back and you just wanna sprits around it. Just lightly tap the can and turn the model as needed, dont just pour it on. I really enjoy citadel, but army painter primer will work just as well. DONT use walmart brand gak. It fumes really bad and after you use it you need to let it sit for like an hour or 2.

3) brushes, ok so this is not to sounds like a dick but im trying to save you money, you probably arnt ready for good brushes yet, because you need to learn proper brush care, and why you are getting good brushes. You can buy the best brush in the world, but unless you know how to use it, and how not to use it, your going to either destroy it, or never get any use outta it. That said, the best brushes you can get are going to be the Winsor and Newton series 7 burshes, they are like 15 bucks a brush.

Other helpful tips, a wet pallet, seriously get one they are like 15 bucks make your life awesome.

Good paints, Go with reaper or Vallajo rather then GW, GW has some good ones like ubshati bone, and their golds, but go with better paints.

Seal your models when you are done.

watch paint guides.

the most important one i can give to people, GO TO THE STORE AND PAINT! Really, go out and paint around people, because its the best way to improve. You might run into a guy who is great a gems, another who knows how to paint green really well, then you learn from them and put it all into one. Seriously painting with people will make you a better painter faster then you ever could by your self.

Lastly, keep painting, paint for 30 min a day, but just paint something.

I live in Houston and we deal with humidity a lot. Makes priming a problem.

To solve it, I purchased some latex gloves and hold the mini in that. After years, I have a sense of how far it needs to be (between 8 and 12 inches) and I move the model closer to the can depending on weather conditions.

Straight lines: Try not to press so hard. The more I paint (and I'm no expert, not at all) the more I find it's a VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY light touch that does the job for fiddly parts.

I assume you're thinning your paint and using a palate.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I was able to get my hands on a new brush set, Virtuoso brand from Amazon. They are amazingly better than what I was using and have made the process a lot less painful for me. I also got a can of Gen. Pencil Co. Master's Brush Cleaner & Preserver that works wonderfully. For the time being I've just stopped trying to Prime, right now I'm only buying Bones and D&D Nolzur's models right now and they both take paint just fine without the primer. I'm still shaky but I use a magnifying light that's a re-purposed electronics soldering set, it has a steel bar that runs along the front that I've been resting my hands on and it helps a good deal. I've been using a wet palette now for awhile, it helps a good deal but the parchment paper is a bit of a pain, it tends to curl away from the palette and separate eventually and then just dry out. Not sure why, if I over saturate the bottom layer it seems to soak through too much and then water down my paints to the point where they go sheer and go on blotchy. I do thin my paints as well, I use a 10 to 1 mix of water and Liquidix Flow Aid, then use a 2 to 1 mix of paint to the thinning mix. I like the results thus far, I have a 60ml bottle of Vallejo Glaze Medium coming in the mail, I've read it's just about the most fantastic thing ever and a lot of people recommend it above GW Lahmian Medium. I've gotten some pretty nice results from these new brushes, and I'm following all the instructions on cleaning and maintenance of my brushes after each and every use to try to keep them in the best shape possible. It's really nice not having to jam my brushes into a model to get the paint to come off finally, just a light tiny touch and it almost perfectly dots the area. I've had some trouble with my Reaper MSP green, I'm probably going to try replacing it with a Vallejo green and see if that thins and applies better when I can afford it. Thanks for all the help all! I think at this point practice, for once, is all that remains. I finally don't feel like my tools are the thing holding me back from doing better.