Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

looking for help with speed painting some of my firewarriors and pathfinders as I have 60. Any tips or tricks you guys have would be appreciated as I am new to the hobby.

What is the dominant color of your forces? Get that as a spray and basicly most of your miniature is done. Then just add all the sept markings, fatiques and what other details you want to make.

Spray a base colour...paint some bits...dip. Done.

I've never tried it, but I figured a quick way to paint Tau would be to spray them the colour you want the armour to be, use oils to drybrush them, the goal being just to get a quick edge highlight (oils drybrush a bit smoother, especially over a sprayed basecoat), spray them with a gloss varnish then crack out the oil wash and just carefully pin wash them.

Then just paint the fatigues with a hairy brush using a nice strong colour (GW Base paints, Vallejo Game Opaques or Vallejo Model Color ranges) and then hit the fatigues with a regular acrylic wash. If you want the fatigues to simply be a darker version of the colour you used on the armour it's even easier, just throw a dark wash over the fatigues over the sprayed base colour and you're done.

 Elbows wrote:
Spray a base colour...paint some bits...dip. Done.

This except paint the dip on, dont actually dip. Its way too thick.

Another option which i have tried is mixing Pledge Floor cleaner with a wash. Search magic wash and paint this on the mini. Then matte spray, it works really well for quick detail pops. Ive been doing this with my nids and it has sped up my painting a lot.

Formula for the magic wash is 4 parts water 1 part pledge.

Take that mix and do 50:50 magic wash with regular wash/paint. Stir it good. Then paint it on your mini.

 Elbows wrote:
Spray a base colour...paint some bits...dip. Done.

I could be wrong, but Tau struck me as an army that wasn't well suited to dipping (similar to Space Marines). Armies that are suitable for dipping are models that have more organic and/or flowing textures rather than Tau-like armour plates where the dip is liable to pool in places you don't want.

Also I'd say apply the dip/wash with a brush rather than actually dipping it, but either way I don't think the end result will be great because I reckon you'll get that coffee-stained look on the armour plates.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Elbows wrote:
Spray a base colour...paint some bits...dip. Done.

I could be wrong, but Tau struck me as an army that wasn't well suited to dipping (similar to Space Marines). Armies that are suitable for dipping are models that have more organic and/or flowing textures rather than Tau-like armour plates where the dip is liable to pool in places you don't want.

Also I'd say apply the dip/wash with a brush rather than actually dipping it, but either way I don't think the end result will be great because I reckon you'll get that coffee-stained look on the armour plates.

It really depends. On the last EU Games Day, I saw a GW painter show a paint method for all SM Legions with a row of 5 or 6 minis showing the different stages. All stages were intentionally very bright, because they are taken down in the last step by applying shade all over the mini. If you do plan ahead and map out your final armour colour as spray + shade, it can work great.

Dont speed paint.
Learn how long it takes to do 5 and youll have 30 in no time.
Tau are great for this with their flats and toenails.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, 2nd skink. Tau for brush control 101, never dip tau.

 Stephanius wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Elbows wrote:
Spray a base colour...paint some bits...dip. Done.

I could be wrong, but Tau struck me as an army that wasn't well suited to dipping (similar to Space Marines). Armies that are suitable for dipping are models that have more organic and/or flowing textures rather than Tau-like armour plates where the dip is liable to pool in places you don't want.

Also I'd say apply the dip/wash with a brush rather than actually dipping it, but either way I don't think the end result will be great because I reckon you'll get that coffee-stained look on the armour plates.

It really depends. On the last EU Games Day, I saw a GW painter show a paint method for all SM Legions with a row of 5 or 6 minis showing the different stages. All stages were intentionally very bright, because they are taken down in the last step by applying shade all over the mini. If you do plan ahead and map out your final armour colour as spray + shade, it can work great.

A wash can work over a Marine, the good ones I've seen tend to be thinner washes that compliment other forms of highlighting/shading rather than a heavy wash that you rely on to get the bulk of shading. The latter is a difficult thing to pull off on a model like a Marine or a Tau without it just looking a mess.

I finished the 2k Tau army in this blog: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/740124.page#9612278 in around 30-35 hours

That weathering is extremely easy to do

1) Prime the model
2) Paint Basecoat colors
3) Wash with black wash - have a paper towel ready to wipe off the flat surfaces so the wash only goes in the crevices
4) Use a Sponge from a blister and pat down with some dark brown black paint to add the wear and tear
5) Add pigments or a rust/brown oil/different color wash to various areas
6) paint eyes/lenses/gems