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Do you just do a quick paint job lets say with 3 colors only not caring really too much how it looks, with the only goal being your army will be allowed to play in most places?, or do you employ a sort of quick/time efficient technique so that it looks "sort of reasonably good" but the goal being that you are being as time efficient as possible with a army you know is only "alright looking". Or do you simply try paint each mini as best as you can with out spending crazy amounts of time with the goal being a really good looking mini that has taken time and effort to paint?. And finally do you take as much time as is needed until you get a top of the line high end professional ( up there with the best ) looking miniature?

'All of the above', depending on what I'm painting...

Lol i was going to say i can see where this poll is heading so just delete thread lol. But im not sure yet. Guess i could be more specific but hopefully people just refer to minis they game with or display

Minimum amount of effort to get something that is tabletop passable. I don't have the patience for time-intensive techniques, so I'm always on the lookout for ways to cut corners.

I'll go with #3.

The caveat though is that I really only do it for one-off pieces - unless I'm depressed/stressed/otherwise really upset about something, then I'll go on a painting spree.
The better things are going, the less I paint, except for the random one-offs. So it can take me a very long time to produce an actual armies worth of models.

#3 as well.
It takes me about 1-2 hours to paint a single guardsman. From eyes and skin, through armor and camo pattern, to shading and weathering.

#4 usually goes for very specific, unique models. Stuff like the Macharius tank or Avenger Fighter.

Entirely depends on the context.

Personally, I don't do #1 for armies, but I may do it for generic D&D monsters like a dozen Goblins.

#2 for the bulk of an army - Plaguebearers, Ork Boyz, Gaunts, basic Marines etc.

#3 for centrepiece models - characters, monsters, vehicles, and elite units.

#4 for models intended specifically for display. Though I'm not a great painter, so this is still probably only equivalent to #3 for a lot of painters out there.

Also, I notice you didn't include an option for #0 - "I don't consider it necessary to paint my models at all."

Number one basically means wip for me. Sometimes I'll do that if we want to do a friendly tourney and everything should at least have some paint. In that case I'll stop finishing what I'm currently working on and try to get some paint on everything I want to field, even if it's just the base colors. It's not pretty, but a bit better than grey.
Number 3 is what I'm after. I don't have the time or talent to attend painting competitions, but I'll do my best to have some nice painted models.

Usually somewhere between 2 and 3.

For my orks I'm doing spray yellow, drybrush bone, tint skin green, pick out weapons / major gear upgrades in metallics.

I guess that falls under 3 colour? I am going to go back and do extra work later once all the models are done to this very basic standars. Ie on the bits left yellow with drybrushed highlights add some tints for reds and browns or relaxing black. I also plan to pop everything off its base and get the bases done quickly too.

Between 2 and 3 for me. I at least get to decent tabletop standard with some basic highlighting/shading and detail work but I will try to go a little further where possible. Depends on the army too. Necrons, for example, don't actually have a huge amount of detailing to pick out and my colour scheme is striking but simple so I tend not to go too overboard with them. Armies with a little more bling that are more elite tend to get more effort put into them.

I'd also say there's some overlap between 2 and 3 in the poll as far as time-efficient techniques go. Just because a technique doesn't take long or a colour scheme has been designed to be quick to paint, doesn't mean it's inferior to a more time-consuming technique. One of the key things I always try to do with a new army is come up with a colour scheme that is effective but not too annoying to paint. If I'm going to have to paint somewhere between 50-150 models I don't want to be spending hours upon hours just doing basecoats because I chose a colour with terrible coverage, for example.

Whatever amount of effort I put in tends to yield the same tragic result. But when I've finished a complete squad and they're all on the table together, and you kind of squint so as to obscure your view, I'm actually quite proud of them.

I’m between 2 and 3. I am active in my pursuit of efficient techniques that yield good results, but I am careful to be “clean” with my painting, ensuring gubbins are painted and at least given a wash to help define them.

I accidentally voted 4, so if a mod can - 1 that would be great lol.

Usually do as good a job as I reasonably can without going overboard, especially in the case of basic troops. However, for big models that are centerpieces of my work, like with Primarchs, I go all out and spend a TON of time on them.

I use the Three Foot Rule for all my miniatures. They look good but don't take an insane amount of time to finish.

I'm at a 3 or 4, leaning more towards 4 because I just really enjoy the painting aspect and am constantly trying to improve somewhere which leads to tons of time being spent on stuff.

I think I'm in agreement of most on this. I strive for a 2 on my troops, a 3 for my captains and vehicles and a 4 for center piece (primarch).

I usually try to get the whole army done to a 1. Then go back and try to step the models up from there (picking out details, more highlights, faces...). I usually sub-assemble and then paint. So I get the pieces to a 1, put them together and then go from there.

Now I'm such a terrible painter I probably spend the time that most would for a 3 to get my models to look like a 1 but taking the time to keep them "clean" and using as many basic techniques as I can gives me something I'm not embarrassed to put on the table (although some people at my FLGS have golden daemon level work and I'm always in awe).

My big problem is I like experimenting with different techniques/color combos so most of my armies don't look exactly alike. Oh that and eyes, I've given up on those after trying to make Celestine not look cross-eyed for the 30th time...

I guess I'm #2, because I really enjoy the result of having a well-painted model, but the process of getting there is more of a means to an end than something I enjoy.

So for me, painting is all about experimenting with different techniques to get the best result with the least effort. Then, I scale my work according how much time I want to invest in each model, largely depending on how many more I have to do.

These Guardsmen, for example, are basically just basecoat/highlight/wash so that I could knock them out quickly, while this Skitarius involved an extra intermediate highlight step and weaker wash since I don't have nearly as many to paint.

One thing that I think is worth pointing out is that the choices in the poll are very subject to interpretation. My idea of #2 is 1-1.5 hours per model, while someone who needs to paint a 2K army in a month might spend 30 mins on a model and call it #3.

OP- are you just curious about others, or are you trying to figure out how much effort to put into your own work?

Well, I voted for #3. I usually paint till i'm satisfied with the result. Some times i'll put more effort for characters, with Highlights.

Depends what I'm painting. For my characters and conversions, I'll usually put a lot of effort into painting them:



For everything else, I try for very easy/simple paint schemes.

 infinite_array wrote:
I use the Three Foot Rule for all my miniatures. They look good but don't take an insane amount of time to finish.

Three Foot Rule?

Pretty obvious that way more people do #1 then any of the other results. At least, that's what I see.

I am Captain Drybrush.

I do the least amount of work possible that still ends up with an acceptable tabletop standard.



Vot tak.

 Excommunicatus wrote:
I am Captain Drybrush.

I do the least amount of work possible that still ends up with an acceptable tabletop standard.

Spoiler:

Vot tak.

So what did you vote?

Each time I go to paint something, I try to do at least one of the following:

-Try a new technique

-Paint the current model better than the last

I voted #3.

 Stormatious wrote:


So what did you vote?

Option no.2, bearing in mind that "reasonably good" is entirely subjective.

I shoot for 3, painting is how I relax just about every night after work, so I actually enjoy spending 8 hours, making 3 Marines look as best as I can make them. Even with that type of time spent, I've painted 1500 points of Dark Angels and 1500 points of Death Guard in 4 months

It depends on the model.

I spend a lot more time making tanks and some elite infantry than I do regular infantry, and try to do them to a higher standard of quality, because I care more about them/

Always aiming for 4, trying to push personal skills while not fretting over too much when results tend towards 3.

It´s a toss up between option 3 and 4 as I don´t know what you mean with "spending crazy amount of time". I have spent approx. one hour to paint a mini but sometimes the mini in question is painted by me with a dry brush technique which takes less time to pull off. Here are just two examples:

Technique (Accentuate):
Space Marine with Black Power Armour

Chaos Black Primer
Codex Grey (accentuate Power Armour, Boltgun & Chapter Insignia)
Boltgun Metal (parts of Power Armour & Boltgun)
Chainmail (parts which have been painted with Boltgun Metal)
Snakebite Leather (Imperial Eagle)
Bubonic Brown (Imperial Eagle)
Bleached Bone (Imperial Eagle)
Skull White (Eye Lenses)
Blood Red (Eye Lenses)
Blazing Orange (Eye Lenses)
Regal Blue (squad designation is colour coded on right pauldron)
Enchanted Blue (squad designation is colour coded on right pauldron)
Fortress Grey (Chapter Insignia on left pauldron)
Chaos Black ((Chapter Insignia on left pauldron)
Matte Varnish (all metal parts)



Technique (Dry brush):
Skeleton with Spear and Shield

Chaos Black Primer
Snakebite Leather (Bones)
Bubonic Brown (Bones)
Bleached Bone (Bones)
Scorched Brown (Wooden Shaft of Spear & Shield)
Brown Ink (Wooden Shaft of Spear & Shield)
Tin Bitz (Spear Tip & Shield Rim)
Boltgun Metal (Spear Tip & Shield Rim)
Skull White (Army Theme Colour on Shield)
Regal Blue (Army Theme Colour on Shield)
Dark Angel Green Ink (Army Theme Colour on Shield)
Matte Varnish (all metal parts)


Needless to say I won´t start any new faction with a painting technique that uses the accentuated technique because it takes a very long time to pull off. My SM in black power armour have been finished ten years ago and I am glad that I don´t have to paint any of these dudes again.