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Made in gb
Crazed Zealot




South East Coast, United Kingdom

Hello Dakka forums, new blood here

When I first got into the hobby as a kid, I was terrible at painting and when I look back at what I did to poor Captain Sicarius I shudder. I'm just now getting back into the hobby after nearly a decade (if not a decade!) long break, and so I am starting from scratch purchase wise. I had a really nice chat with a forum member on here for general advice, and what to look for, and I was hoping to also meet some new friends and get some advice on what to buy/not to buy to get started. I already know I need the models, glue, paint, and clippers - on top of gameplay stuff, but that's a separate story altogether!

I was hoping to get some advice for what paints to buy, what size brushes to get, and general technique advice for painting a squad of Battle Sisters in the colours of Our Martyred Lady (I think that's right, the one that's most prevalent in art depicting the Sisterhood.) Whenever I look at tutorials on Youtube, they all advise buying a million-and-one different paints, some of which are used for only one part of the miniature (which seems like a pretty large investment out the gate to highlight the edges of the strap of a Bolter) - which is fine, if that's what it takes! - but as I'm not sure if the hobby will be able to fit into my lifestyle as a full-time commitment right now, I was hoping to get some more streamlined recommendations. I'd like to highlight them and stuff, and make them look as good as I can - I've heard painting is really relaxing, and I definitely need some relaxation right about now!

Budget isn't a huge issue in the long run, but I'd rather start small and then build up to having a more complete collection if I can. So I guess in a nutshell:

What paints and brushes (sizes included would be great <3) would you recommend for a beginner painter wanting to paint their miniatures to a high-ish standard without breaking the bank?

I'm already spending £35 on the Sisters themselves + £40 on the rulebook + however much the new codex is on Saturday (£30?) + the glue which is £4.60~, and I'd prefer to not cross the £200 mark if I could at all help it, especially for just starting out. Though, granted, I spent as much if not more when I started DMing for DnD ... Hrm.

I would prefer to use Citadel paints, at least if they're as good as I hear, as I live really close to a GW store and it'd be more convenient to either jog to the store and buy them or deliver them to my flat if this bloomin' weather keeps up! I haven't a Scooby-Doo when it comes to brush sizes, what different techniques mean - or even really how to thin/mix paints - so any and all advice for a newbie would be appreciated.

Thank you all in advance, hope you're having a good day <3

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. 
   
Made in pl
Longtime Dakkanaut





Use Vallejo paints for general colors. Not only they are cheaper for more, they are just as good and they don't dry in a pot. Citadel does make good technical paints though and contrast, I guess. Also, with Vallejo, it's easy to dose/mix in 1-2 drops of white paint if you need a highlight color and don't want to buy slightly lighter paint just for some tiny details. Also, look up how to make wet palette, it's essential (and will thin the paints down slightly for you, adding a tiny bit of water still recommended though):




Brush? Try mid sized. On tiny, paint dries too fast and painting takes too long. Big ones will just frustrate you. You can do 95% of painting work with general mid size brush with a bit of practice. Just clean it well and don't get paint into the metal bit, it will ruin it.
   
Made in ca
Regular Dakkanaut





Oh Canada!

I can probably help you out on paints.

The absolute minimum painter's selection for mixing must include black, white, cyan/blue, yellow, and magenta/red. Those will get you a respectable amount of coverage - every shade of grey, orange and red/blue/yellow adjacent colours - some of the more desaturated green and purple tones. If you're wanting to include vivid greens, purples, cold blues in your models, those are worth buying, otherwise they're safe to skip. Skin tones are also a pain in the butt to mix in the tiny quantities needed for the average Sister, so grab whatever you need for that as well.

If you're going for the traditional colour scheme, a good solid dark red with opacity is a must have. Substitute whatever your secondary (cloth) colour is if not doing red. At least a couple metallics for weapons and such, silver and a mid-gold will do. If you're doing black armour, I'd suggest picking up a blue-or-teal-near-black. This will let you highlight black without ending up with chalky grey. Red-brown wash for the gold bits and any pale skinned Sisters. Black wash for silver bits.

So a minimum kit for painting Sisters would look something like:
White
Black
Primary Red (or magenta for better purples but worse orange mixes)
Primary Blue (or cyan for better greens but worse purple mixes)
Primary Yellow
Near-black-blue (if doing black armour)
Dark Red (or secondary colour of choice)
Silver
Gold
Red-Brown Wash
Black Wash
Skin Tone(s) of choice
Buff/Bone (skulls, parchment, trim)
Dark Brown (base rims, misc. pouches/straps etc.)
Light grey-blue wash or paint (for shading white hair and white cloth/accessories)

Citadel paint is good. It's not the best paint on the market (debatable if there's even a single paint range one could say objectively is the *best* of all) and it has its downsides; terrible container design and expensive per ml. On the plus side, you can follow official tutorials with the same colours, and its often the most accessible paint range, making it convenient. If you've got the budget for it, not a bad choice to start with. That said some of Citadel's individual paints are just not that great - I'd suggest getting a white and black from another brand. Their washes are excellent, if rather strong. Army Painter's washes are also excellent but more subtle.

P3 (Privateer Press Paint) has better consistent coverage across its colours, very creamy paints. Vallejo is considered the best by many, being cost effective and available at almost every hobby shop, and having arguably the biggest range of colours but can separate. Vallejo washes are not nearly as good as GW's or AP's. Army Painter's acrylics are the least expensive but I'd rank them worse in overall quality than any of the previously mentioned brands.

For brushes, hit up an art store if you can. You'll need at the minimum a small pack of synthetic brushes, rounds (that's the shape) in size ~1-4. At least a few because some tasks that need a brush also tend to ruin said brush, such as drybrushing, scooping/mixing paint, applying basing glue, etc. The point on the brush matters more than its actual size (for the brushes you'll do actual decent painting with). Optional, get a 0-000 (tiny!) brush for doing eyes, gem highlights, anything that needs just a teeny dab. Be aware that acrylic will dry on this brush in approximately one second so don't try to do most of your painting with it.

If you also want to try a natural hair brush, look for a kolinsky sable in size 2-3. Raphael 8404's are my favourite, but any sable is fine to learn with. They'll be in the watercolour paint section most likely. Get a cost-effective one, preferably <10$. You're probably going to ruin it in the process of learning how to use your brushes, and that's okay. The art store can also hook you up with brush soap. If that's out of budget, liquid hand soap will also do but isn't quite as effective at getting all the paint out of bristles. Dry paint down inside the ferrule is your enemy. Stomp it out like hearsay! To that end, do not submerge your 'good' painting brushes more than half way into paint. That's what your designated 'paint scooper/mixer' brush is for.

Citadel's (and most other hobby brand's) brushes are rebranded, more expensive versions of fine art brushes from 3rd party manufacturers. Go to the source and avoid the 'hobby tax'. You'll need some kind of primer. Brent just did a great video on primers, worth watching.

Wet palette.
Make/buy one. Use the wet palette, love the wet palette. Do not paint out of the pot.

YouTube will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about techniques. The big ones are layering, dry brushing, wet blending, feathering, washing, glazing and edge highlighting. I'm probably forgetting a few (airbrushing, but that's $$$ extra equipment). For Sisters you'll probably not get as much use out of dry brushing, and their armour tends to look a bit funky in layering. I'd suggest trying out feathering; it's a bit more forgiving than wet blending but can still get really pleasing blends.

This should get you started!


This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2021/06/05 00:30:11


 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




My main advice would be to watch the Warhammer TV on YouTube. They have a great amount of videos on painting Sisters of Battle, and should cover most of the basics with painting(and are only about 5 minutes each). For brushes, I’d recommend getting a pack of cheap brushes, as your in the UK try the Works or a place like that, they’re not the best brushes but they’re cheap and will last, when you’re more invested in the hobby you can spend money on better brushes, when you’re starting out an expensive brush isn’t going to impact the final result by much.

Citadel paints are fine and if they’re the most convenient to buy go for them. With paints I will say always buy what’s most convenient when starting out, nothing kills the mood for painting like waiting for the three days for a colour you missed to get delivered. All brands have strengths and weaknesses. Also I don’t get the hype of wet pallets when you’re starting out. They’re helpful but far from essential. Good luck!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/06/05 10:39:48


 
   
Made in nl
Trigger-Happy Baal Predator Pilot




netherlands

oke i will be the one that does things differend but ive got 2 fine detail brushes from gw and the rest of my brushes are cheap ones and ive got great results with those, and the dont have to live a long live if they are dirty or the bristels get bend trow them away and get some new ones
wet pallet isnt nessesary but it will keep your pallet wet so you can use your paint the next day.

full compagny of bloodangels, 5000 pnt of epic bloodangels
5000 pnt imperial guard
5000 pnt orks
2500 pnt grey knights
5000 pnt gsc
5000 pnts Chaos legionars
4000 pnt tyranids
4000 pnt Tau
 
   
Made in gb
Crazed Zealot




South East Coast, United Kingdom

Hello all! First of all, a massive thank you (<3) to everyone who's left replies, you've all been super helpful to a newbie like me. I'm making my purchases today, I think, as the weather is looking good and some plans got cancelled so there really isn't a better time to get elbow-deep in the hobby in my mind

However, I had a brain wave and need some last-minute advice - sorry!

I just realised that undercoating might be an issue with my flat - my landlord is fairly forgiving as I'm a quiet and polite tenant, but I think he'd struggle to look past spray-painted walls outside - as my shaky hands will all but guarantee I miss the mark a couple of times. If I were to put my minis into a cardboard box and spray into the box, would that work? Or does it need to be open air? If it needs to be open-air, I'm assuming I'd need to paint my undercoat on with a very thin layer - which would be fine, and honestly might be preferable as the weather in the UK is very changeable and I'd hate to be spray painting an undercoat when suddenly RAIN!

For reference, here's the box I was going to use:



(Sorry for the crappy picture. It has a lid and measures about 12" long and 4" wide. I figured I could lay models inside, lightly spray, then if need be close the lid up to let them dry.)

My list of Citadel paints - I know a lot of people have recommended Vallejo, but simply because I can buy the Citadel today and hit the ground running I'm going to purchase my first set from my local Warhammer store and then scurry back to my flat because I'm very "up" anxiety wise today - are as follows:

Undercoat - Mechanicus Standard Grey. I figured it'd give a nicer "base" to paint the black armor on without it being a uniform shade or being too tempting to just leave as the base layer, because I know I'm a bit of a corner cutter at heart

Paints from Citadel - Gal Vorbak Red (for the inside of the robes), Corvus Black (for the armor), Dryad Bark (for the leather sort of corset thing they wear), Mephiston Red (I'm hoping it'll make the outside of the robes really stand out), Leadbelcher (because my gun will be a lead belcher for the EMPEROR!), Ulthuan Grey (I think it's a good mix between teal and grey, and think it'll make my helmeted Sisters look cool :3), Mournfang Brown (leather straps that are a more warm leather), Retributor Armor (gold details)

NOTE - I'm going to have my first squad be helmeted because I'm too scared to paint faces as of right now (and it'll save me some money on not buying paints for flesh/hair). One day ... One day.

Shade (?) - Every video I watched, including the one that made me want to play Warhammer 40k again, sang the praises of Nuln Oil. In Nuln Oil we trust.

Do you guys think that'll be enough to get me a decent result starting out? As luck would have it, there's a Works ON THE WAY to my GW store so I'll stop in there for brushes and a mould line remover (never used one before but I've heard they're really important), and then I'll settle in with my playlist at my desk and get to building and painting!

Thank for your patience and for answering my questions, I'm so excited to get started! I'll make sure to share how I got on

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. 
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

If you are going to use rattle can spray primer, you should do it outdoors, or in a very well ventilated place. If you are spraying outdoors against the building, use a larger box then you think you will need to catch the overspray.

I undercoat white. It makes the blacks a little more irritating to get a clean coat, but helps with keeping the bright colors bright. Grey is probably fine, but for some things you might want a paint like Grey Seer to put down under brighter colors.

You should get a pot of Nuln Oil, and use it over your silvers. It’s very nice for a lot of things.

Similarly, getting a brown shade is useful. I’ve been using Guiliman Flesh from the contrast range as my go-to. Either over golds, or Zandri Dust for parchment. And it makes faces stupidly easy. The only hard part is the eyes.

GW hobby supplies are generally decent, but overpriced. For brushes/etc I’d look elsewhere, unless convenience is a priority.

Priming setups:
Spoiler:





Chaplain here is a good example of Guiliman Flesh
Spoiler:



The face is just guiliman flesh over Grey Seer
Robes/parchment is over Zendri Dust (robe edged a little after the wash with the dust again (I think, might have been a lighter color))
Gold is over an old paint (Shining Gold) but a brown wash adds the warmth and depth.
Black armor is Abadon Black edged with Dawnstone.
I like a layer of Blood for the Blood God over a base red (I use Khorne Red) for wax seals

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/06/05 13:00:17


   
Made in gb
Crazed Zealot




South East Coast, United Kingdom

 Nevelon wrote:
If you are going to use rattle can spray primer, you should do it outdoors, or in a very well ventilated place. If you are spraying outdoors against the building, use a larger box then you think you will need to catch the overspray.

I undercoat white. It makes the blacks a little more irritating to get a clean coat, but helps with keeping the bright colors bright. Grey is probably fine, but for some things you might want a paint like Grey Seer to put down under brighter colors.

You should get a pot of Nuln Oil, and use it over your silvers. It’s very nice for a lot of things.

Similarly, getting a brown shade is useful. I’ve been using Guiliman Flesh from the contrast range as my go-to. Either over golds, or Zandri Dust for parchment. And it makes faces stupidly easy. The only hard part is the eyes.

GW hobby supplies are generally decent, but overpriced. For brushes/etc I’d look elsewhere, unless convenience is a priority.

Priming setups:
Spoiler:





Chaplain here is a good example of Guiliman Flesh
Spoiler:



The face is just guiliman flesh over Grey Seer
Robes/parchment is over Zendri Dust (robe edged a little after the wash with the dust again (I think, might have been a lighter color))
Gold is over an old paint (Shining Gold) but a brown wash adds the warmth and depth.
Black armor is Abadon Black edged with Dawnstone.
I like a layer of Blood for the Blood God over a base red (I use Khorne Red) for wax seals


That Chaplain is gorgeous!! So the skin is
Undercoat > Base layer Grey Seer > Layer of Guiliman Flesh?

If I could get similar results to that, I might just assemble one Battle Sister with a face!

I've amended my shopping list to add Guiliman Flesh based on your recommendation, and I might grab some other colours from your list if it's as easy as you make it sound/look! Seriously, thank you so much for explaining which paints you used for which bit in a concise way - most the tutorials I see online are a bit complicated for me and jump in with a much more indepth look than I'm qualified to understand ;-;

I was also thinking of grabbing more paints, but stopped myself because the list I have takes my total to about £150 which is pretty much bang on my budget, woo-hoo!

I'll also try and grab a larger cardboard box - I think I have some large ones from my eBay days, either that or I can buy one from a post office - I'm probably being way overcautious, but I'd rather that than have to spend a bunch of money on cleaning/looking for a new place. My landlord is patient but doesn't suffer fools :/

I'm hoping the Works on the way to my GW store will stock a decent supply of brushes, as when I browsed online I definitely noticed the GW brushes are quite expensive - the "essential" collection is £35 which is the same as I'm spending on my minis, which feels a bit steep.

Do you think with Guiliman Flesh my list of paints would be enough to get a good result from my Sisters? Thank you for your in-depth reply friend

Sorry to everyone else for not replying - I have read and appreciated every single one of your replies, I just have a raging headache today so I've not been as active on here <3

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. 
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

 BHBrowne wrote:


That Chaplain is gorgeous!! So the skin is
Undercoat > Base layer Grey Seer > Layer of Guiliman Flesh?

If I could get similar results to that, I might just assemble one Battle Sister with a face!

I've amended my shopping list to add Guiliman Flesh based on your recommendation, and I might grab some other colours from your list if it's as easy as you make it sound/look! Seriously, thank you so much for explaining which paints you used for which bit in a concise way - most the tutorials I see online are a bit complicated for me and jump in with a much more indepth look than I'm qualified to understand ;-;

I was also thinking of grabbing more paints, but stopped myself because the list I have takes my total to about £150 which is pretty much bang on my budget, woo-hoo!

I'll also try and grab a larger cardboard box - I think I have some large ones from my eBay days, either that or I can buy one from a post office - I'm probably being way overcautious, but I'd rather that than have to spend a bunch of money on cleaning/looking for a new place. My landlord is patient but doesn't suffer fools :/

I'm hoping the Works on the way to my GW store will stock a decent supply of brushes, as when I browsed online I definitely noticed the GW brushes are quite expensive - the "essential" collection is £35 which is the same as I'm spending on my minis, which feels a bit steep.

Do you think with Guiliman Flesh my list of paints would be enough to get a good result from my Sisters? Thank you for your in-depth reply friend

Sorry to everyone else for not replying - I have read and appreciated every single one of your replies, I just have a raging headache today so I've not been as active on here <3


That’s pretty much it for the skin. Contrast paints are magic in little bottles for organics. There is a chance I might have hit the high points with a light bone color. I skip that step a lot, depends on how the contrast flows. I usually put a little dab of a thin red in the mouth. Lately that’s been another contrast paint, Blood Angels Red. Eye is white and whatever color I grab for the iris. I hate eyes, but they add a lot.

As an example of what the Guiliman Flesh wash does, here is an earlier WIP
Spoiler:




You can see how it really adds a LOT to the golds and browns.

While “2 thin coats” might be a meme these days, there is a lot of truth to it. This is after the first black coat over a white primer. Looks kinda grey and patchy. But the second coat smooths things out without getting gloppy or obscuring details.

I use a mix of new and old paints, so sometimes it’s hard to me to put names to colors. For most things you are going to want a base coat, and then a highlight color. With contrast paints, you can sometimes just fake it with one layer.

Black -> Grey
Deep Red -> Bright Red
Gunmetal -> Silver

One issue with listing paints is all the random details. For example, for my marines, if one has a purity seal, he needs 4 more pots then one without (dust base, flesh wash for parchment, red w/ BftBG for the wax). Sometimes you might think you have everything, then realize the superior has a flaming backpack, and need a yellow for the fire.

If you use washes/inks, a lot of time all you need for the highlight is to go back over the high points with the same basic color.

Here are some repentia:
Spoiler:


After some washes


Reds are BA red contrast paint. Leadbelcher, Zendri dust.
These gals got a pretty solid dunk in the Nuln Oil, as I wanted them to be grimy and dirty. Damn sinners. But I picked out the teeth of the chainswords with a brighter silver to help add interest in model and keep things from getting too monotone.


   
Made in ca
Regular Dakkanaut





Oh Canada!

Templarted wrote:
Also I don’t get the hype of wet pallets when you’re starting out. They’re helpful but far from essential. Good luck!

One of the biggest issues beginners have is not watering their paints enough. A dry palette exacerbates this problem due to evaporation, leading to thick, gloopy and difficult to work with paint, that the neophyte may not realize isn't how paint should behave since they have little experience. Which results in frustration and poor results.

~~~

Thumbs up on the paints - Good to get both a bright red and a dark wine red, simply because you'll be using those all the time. I'd go with a bright silver rather than Leadblecher because you can go silver -> nuln -> silver and get your basecoat, shade and highlight out of only two pots. Otherwise you'll have less contrast with leadbelcher, but there's nothing inherently wrong with that look either. Personal preference.

For your mould line remover you can use a dull hobby blade or the back side of a sharp one. No need for a second tool. A cheap set of clippers from the pound shop is a good pickup too. Citadel's are fine, but ridiculously expensive for what they do.

   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut





Brush wise I wouldn’t recommend starting with expensive kolinsky brushes.

A lot of very good painters use synthetic brushes for the bulk of their work.

Watch the hobby cheating videos on your tube, they are great. There is one where vince takes you through the brushes he uses.
   
Made in pl
Longtime Dakkanaut





Templarted wrote:
Also I don’t get the hype of wet pallets when you’re starting out. They’re helpful but far from essential.

Uh, what? Not only they are massive money savers (using the same batch of paint all week if you want, instead of 30 minutes), they make batch painting really easy instead of messy meddling with rewatering drying pool, and help you ensure consistency over whole day (or multiple days). Unless you work for GW and get free paint (plus points for wasting as much as possible on dry palette in their videos) there is literally ZERO reason to not use one at all times...
   
Made in us
Stealthy Grot Snipa





Atlanta, GA

I just realised that undercoating might be an issue with my flat - my landlord is fairly forgiving as I'm a quiet and polite tenant, but I think he'd struggle to look past spray-painted walls outside - as my shaky hands will all but guarantee I miss the mark a couple of times. If I were to put my minis into a cardboard box and spray into the box, would that work? Or does it need to be open air? If it needs to be open-air, I'm assuming I'd need to paint my undercoat on with a very thin layer - which would be fine, and honestly might be preferable as the weather in the UK is very changeable and I'd hate to be spray painting an undercoat when suddenly RAIN!


Do not spray prime indoors. It's bad news all around and not good for your health. I know you're in the UK, what you'll want to do is wait for a day with 75% humidity or less, with relatively little wind. If you're worried about hitting the outside walls with spray, do you have a parking lot or a small backyard handy? You can set up your minis in the box you posted a pic of - set it on another box so that you don't need to awkwardly hold it while you're priming. Once you're finished priming, you can take the minis back inside to dry.
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut





You will need 360 access to your mini to spray it properly. If your worried about wall get a large peice of cardboard and put that against the wall, something like that. Or hang an old bedsheet. You want to be able to spray in a few passes from a few different directions. So dont restrict your self.

Also if you are starting out with SOB are you doing a black and white paint scheme? These are 2 of the hardest colours to paint so watch some videos and you will learn that to get whites you don’t use white paint, except for the highlights.
   
Made in gb
Crazed Zealot




South East Coast, United Kingdom

 Mr. Grey wrote:
I just realised that undercoating might be an issue with my flat - my landlord is fairly forgiving as I'm a quiet and polite tenant, but I think he'd struggle to look past spray-painted walls outside - as my shaky hands will all but guarantee I miss the mark a couple of times. If I were to put my minis into a cardboard box and spray into the box, would that work? Or does it need to be open air? If it needs to be open-air, I'm assuming I'd need to paint my undercoat on with a very thin layer - which would be fine, and honestly might be preferable as the weather in the UK is very changeable and I'd hate to be spray painting an undercoat when suddenly RAIN!


Do not spray prime indoors. It's bad news all around and not good for your health. I know you're in the UK, what you'll want to do is wait for a day with 75% humidity or less, with relatively little wind. If you're worried about hitting the outside walls with spray, do you have a parking lot or a small backyard handy? You can set up your minis in the box you posted a pic of - set it on another box so that you don't need to awkwardly hold it while you're priming. Once you're finished priming, you can take the minis back inside to dry.


Hello! So sorry for the slow reply, had some family drama over the weekend and had to put hobby planning/buying on hold. Rest assured, I have NOT sprayed myself silly with spray.

I feel I didn't make my post clear - which is on me, I have a thing where I just assume everyone is privy to my thoughts and so I type without thinking, derp! Your concern is really appreciated, and I am genuinely grateful to you for taking the time to make sure I didn't do myself a mischief.

What I was angling towards was the idea of being able to paint on an undercoat, rather than spray - this has been assuaged by the fact I have several larger cardboard boxes being brought to me by a very confused friend. In terms of parking lots and backyards, I do in fact have a back area that I usually have my morning cigarette in, so I'll probably sneak out there, spray the goods inside my box, then scuttle inside like a scared hedgehog. Thank you for clarifying that I do NOT need to keep them outside while I wait for them to dry, I was really thinking about that and didn't know if it was a question that would get me an eye-roll or not. I'm very shy, sorry for faffing you about.

Hope you're having a good day, thank you for your clarification and sorry again for the confusion <3


Automatically Appended Next Post:
mrFickle wrote:
You will need 360 access to your mini to spray it properly. If your worried about wall get a large peice of cardboard and put that against the wall, something like that. Or hang an old bedsheet. You want to be able to spray in a few passes from a few different directions. So dont restrict your self.

Also if you are starting out with SOB are you doing a black and white paint scheme? These are 2 of the hardest colours to paint so watch some videos and you will learn that to get whites you don’t use white paint, except for the highlights.


First of all, I have to say it - I love your username!

I'm planning to dismantle a large cardboard box to use as a "shield" for the wall, then have my miniatures inside a large cardboard box so that I can spray them comfortably. Push come to shove, I can always nudge them by the bases to get the 360 degree access I was thinking I'd need.

I am going for the "Order of Our Martyred Lady" paint scheme (see below! I'm going to be assembling them helmeted and painting their helmets accordingly), and have chosen Ulthuan Grey for my whites. I was then planning to use a bit of Nuln Oil across the miniature to make my life a bit easier, but if you can recommend any highlights/shades for the whites please let me know. As a side note, if anyone can recommend a set of Citadel paints to do their white hair please let me know! And maybe some black hair, too, for if I ever get the wonderful Celestine ...

Hope you're having a good day!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/06/07 20:56:27


No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut





I don’t think nuln oil is your best bet as that’s black on black and black on white. Although nuln oil is a very dark brown. but it will make your white dirty I think.

You probably want to wash with a grey however maybe down worry about it if you are highlighting your grey with white.

The contrast paint, apothecary white, is brilliant for whites and is a white paint with a grey shade built into it. If you haven’t bought your paints yet consider apothecary white.

If you want to paint on you primer, I use primers by green stuff world. They do a Matt black primer that goes on well by brush.

You can’t prime with ordinary acrylic paints. You need a primer layer before you base, this is what people do with spray cans, but if you pick the right colour it can be your base aswell.

But if you use contrast paints you need to use a bright coloured primer or base layer, I.e white.

Does that make sense, there is a lot of info in there
   
Made in gb
Crazed Zealot




South East Coast, United Kingdom

mrFickle wrote:
I don’t think nuln oil is your best bet as that’s black on black and black on white. Although nuln oil is a very dark brown. but it will make your white dirty I think.

You probably want to wash with a grey however maybe down worry about it if you are highlighting your grey with white.

The contrast paint, apothecary white, is brilliant for whites and is a white paint with a grey shade built into it. If you haven’t bought your paints yet consider apothecary white.

If you want to paint on you primer, I use primers by green stuff world. They do a Matt black primer that goes on well by brush.

You can’t prime with ordinary acrylic paints. You need a primer layer before you base, this is what people do with spray cans, but if you pick the right colour it can be your base aswell.

But if you use contrast paints you need to use a bright coloured primer or base layer, I.e white.

Does that make sense, there is a lot of info in there


If I'm understanding you correctly;

Undercoat/Primer (Mechanicus Standard Grey) -> Ulthuan Grey -> Apothecary White = Good helmet?

Sorry, I'm a total noob at painting, so if I'm not understanding it's not you - it's me!

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. 
   
Made in ca
Regular Dakkanaut





Oh Canada!

White is usually some kind of slightly tinted grey - cool grey (blue) in the case of Sisters, rather than warm grey (brown). Apothecary White Contrast over a white basecoat is effective, as is using a very diluted blue-grey wash. Personally I prefer airbrush white paints which are usually a combo of white acrylic + white ink, as they're far smoother than the lumpy, grainy mess GW offers as "white". The same grey-blue that'll highlight up their armour makes a good base layer for Sisters white.

Poster tack your minis to a bit of thick cardboard and you'll be able to move them around without much trouble while spray painting. Some people use paint stir sticks or a ruler for the same purpose. Or go for brush-on primer, it's a viable option that skips the whole spray paint potential finickiness completely.

Black white and red are all challenging colours, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go for them. Plenty of tutorials out there on how to get nice results. Red benefits from a warm underpaint like a red-brown or maroon. White struggles to cover most strong colours, so light underpaint is needed. And black mostly suffers from "how the heck do I shade this!", to which the answer is you simply don't. Minimal highlights convey 'black' to the human eye, less is more.

White hair can use the same paints as white armour / insignia. Black, Ulthuan Grey + (non-GW) white is all you really need. Hair's actually easier than flat plates because the texture will do a lot of the work for you, guiding thinned down paint/wash into the recesses and/or enabling drybrushing highlights.
   
Made in gb
Crazed Zealot




South East Coast, United Kingdom

Fire_Forever wrote:
White is usually some kind of slightly tinted grey - cool grey (blue) in the case of Sisters, rather than warm grey (brown). Apothecary White Contrast over a white basecoat is effective, as is using a very diluted blue-grey wash. Personally I prefer airbrush white paints which are usually a combo of white acrylic + white ink, as they're far smoother than the lumpy, grainy mess GW offers as "white". The same grey-blue that'll highlight up their armour makes a good base layer for Sisters white.

Poster tack your minis to a bit of thick cardboard and you'll be able to move them around without much trouble while spray painting. Some people use paint stir sticks or a ruler for the same purpose. Or go for brush-on primer, it's a viable option that skips the whole spray paint potential finickiness completely.

Black white and red are all challenging colours, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go for them. Plenty of tutorials out there on how to get nice results. Red benefits from a warm underpaint like a red-brown or maroon. White struggles to cover most strong colours, so light underpaint is needed. And black mostly suffers from "how the heck do I shade this!", to which the answer is you simply don't. Minimal highlights convey 'black' to the human eye, less is more.

White hair can use the same paints as white armour / insignia. Black, Ulthuan Grey + (non-GW) white is all you really need. Hair's actually easier than flat plates because the texture will do a lot of the work for you, guiding thinned down paint/wash into the recesses and/or enabling drybrushing highlights.


Hiya

In my shopping list I have Mechanicus Standard Grey for an undercoat. If I'm reading your message right, I should do the following:

1. Undercoat
2. Base layer of black over the undercoat on white areas (I have Corvus Black)
3. A layer of Ulthuan Grey over the black
4. White from somewhere other than Citadel paints over the Ulthuan Grey

And that's for white armour and hair, yeah? Thank you in advance, and sorry if I'm misunderstanding

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. 
   
Made in ca
Regular Dakkanaut





Oh Canada!

Close, not quite!

1. Prime. Colour is not *super* important here but it will affect the final look of the model. Grey is neutral, generally good for almost any colour scheme. Since your models have red, black and white on them, grey is a good compromise. Grey brush-on or Mechanicus Standard Grey for step 1. *thumbs up*

2. Ulthuan Grey over the parts that want to be white. This would be the 'base coat' or base layer, which is serving as underpainting support for the white. Mechanicus is pretty dark, and any white is going to struggle to cover it smoothly, so we use lighter greys like Ulthuan to help out. You can go straight from Mechanicus to white, but it'll take many layers of white to get a non-streaky, opaque finish over a dark colour. So that's why the light grey helps.

3. White. Pretty simple, a couple of thin layers until it's opaque.

4. Shade the recesses of the now white area with a bit of watered Ulthuan Grey. Touch up the highest areas / transitions with a bit of white.

For hair, same thing, or 1&2, then:
3a. Drybrush on white.

The black is useful for tweaking your Ulthuan Grey darker, if you want more contrast or have deep shadows to represent. Between black, white, and the blue-grey, you can get a pretty nice range of options. But black is almost never used by itself as a layer under white on purpose, as it'll make it very hard to get a bright, clean look.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/06/07 21:53:30


 
   
Made in us
Lieutenant General





Florence, KY

Note that Corvus Black is not actually black, but a very dark grey.

'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents
cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable
defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'

- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty
Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
 
   
Made in gb
Crazed Zealot




South East Coast, United Kingdom

Fire_Forever wrote:
Close, not quite!

1. Prime. Colour is not *super* important here but it will affect the final look of the model. Grey is neutral, generally good for almost any colour scheme. Since your models have red, black and white on them, grey is a good compromise. Grey brush-on or Mechanicus Standard Grey for step 1. *thumbs up*

2. Ulthuan Grey over the parts that want to be white. This would be the 'base coat' or base layer, which is serving as underpainting support for the white. Mechanicus is pretty dark, and any white is going to struggle to cover it smoothly, so we use lighter greys like Ulthuan to help out. You can go straight from Mechanicus to white, but it'll take many layers of white to get a non-streaky, opaque finish over a dark colour. So that's why the light grey helps.

3. White. Pretty simple, a couple of thin layers until it's opaque.

4. Shade the recesses of the now white area with a bit of watered Ulthuan Grey. Touch up the highest areas / transitions with a bit of white.

For hair, same thing, or 1&2, then:
3a. Drybrush on white.

The black is useful for tweaking your Ulthuan Grey darker, if you want more contrast or have deep shadows to represent. Between black, white, and the blue-grey, you can get a pretty nice range of options. But black is almost never used by itself as a layer under white on purpose, as it'll make it very hard to get a bright, clean look.


Ohhh okay, perfect thank you!

Are there any particular whites you'd recommend? Like, a particular brand that'd stand out as a good one to go on a mini? Or just any cheap white acrylic?

Tbh I'm just really glad Ulthuan Grey wasn't a total waste haha, was worried I was gonna make a whoopsie!

EDIT: Would the white hair of the sisters be the same paints in the same way?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/06/07 22:03:31


No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. 
   
Made in ca
Regular Dakkanaut





Oh Canada!

My personal favourite is Createx Airbrush Opaque White, which I got on a whim out of the discount bin at the arts and crafts store a long, long time ago, but no idea if it's even sold anymore. Golden acrylics are also well regarded, and they make an airbrush range too. White tube acrylics (heavy body) are also good, but come with the caveat you'll need to add significant amounts of water and mix thoroughly to get miniature paint out of them. Even craft paint tends to be a better white than GW's, consistency wise. It's that bad, and the pot makes it 100x worse. I've heard of people getting new pots, still sealed, from GW that were already dried out. Arctic White from Vallejo Game Color and Morrow White from P3 are both fine, totally usable acrylics I've used.

Pretty much anything you want to paint white is going to be the same set of steps -> prime, underpaint with a light colour if primer wasn't white, then your layering / feathering / glazing (insert your preferred painting technique here) up to white. Maybe some wash thrown in for a heavily textured surface. There are many ways of achieving similar results, and very few rules when it comes to painting, so don't worry too much about getting things perfect the first time around. No matter how badly things go, there's always the option of fixing it.

Okay, maybe not if you run the models over with a truck ... but nothing you do with a brush and acrylic paints is irreversible.

   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut





 BHBrowne wrote:
mrFickle wrote:
I don’t think nuln oil is your best bet as that’s black on black and black on white. Although nuln oil is a very dark brown. but it will make your white dirty I think.

You probably want to wash with a grey however maybe down worry about it if you are highlighting your grey with white.

The contrast paint, apothecary white, is brilliant for whites and is a white paint with a grey shade built into it. If you haven’t bought your paints yet consider apothecary white.

If you want to paint on you primer, I use primers by green stuff world. They do a Matt black primer that goes on well by brush.

You can’t prime with ordinary acrylic paints. You need a primer layer before you base, this is what people do with spray cans, but if you pick the right colour it can be your base aswell.

But if you use contrast paints you need to use a bright coloured primer or base layer, I.e white.

Does that make sense, there is a lot of info in there


If I'm understanding you correctly;

Undercoat/Primer (Mechanicus Standard Grey) -> Ulthuan Grey -> Apothecary White = Good helmet?

Sorry, I'm a total noob at painting, so if I'm not understanding it's not you - it's me!


That won’t work I don’t think. You should watch some videos on whites and particularly contrast paints like apothecary white.

GW put out 2 different primers for use with contrast paints, grey seer and wraithbone, that are all fairly light colours. You don’t have to use these primers but you do need a light colour that will show through the contrast paint to make the highlight. Honestly it’s easier to understand if you watch a YouTube demo
   
Made in ca
Regular Dakkanaut





Oh Canada!

If you want to use contrast paints, the steps would be:
Non-White Primer -> Ulthuan Grey -> White
or
White Primer -> White
or
Grey Seer

And then Apothecary White Contrast on top of the base coat. It's a cool grey, so I wouldn't put it down over wraithbone which is cream. The dedicated Contrast paint primers are smoother which makes application a bit easier, but putting down a normal acrylic layer over primer accomplishes much the same thing. IMO the Contrast primers aren't worth the extra cost unless doing a whole army with contrast paints.
   
Made in fi
Locked in the Tower of Amareo





For me I tend to go for grey seer, apotechary white(contrast), ulthuan grey covering most leaving original colour only for darker shades and then pure white on highest points as edge highlighting.

Mix of grey seer/ulthuan grey and ulthuan grey/pure white on respective spots if I really want to go to the town.

2024 painted/bought: 109/109 
   
Made in it
Waaagh! Ork Warboss




Italy

 Irbis wrote:
Templarted wrote:
Also I don’t get the hype of wet pallets when you’re starting out. They’re helpful but far from essential.

Uh, what? Not only they are massive money savers (using the same batch of paint all week if you want, instead of 30 minutes), they make batch painting really easy instead of messy meddling with rewatering drying pool, and help you ensure consistency over whole day (or multiple days). Unless you work for GW and get free paint (plus points for wasting as much as possible on dry palette in their videos) there is literally ZERO reason to not use one at all times...


I agree, especially for those who are starting the hobby, who will likely waste a fair amount of paint before mastering the art of painting and who will definitely have to invest a significant amount of money into the hobby in the short period anyway.

Just avoid wet palettes for metal colours, and get ultra cheap chinese palettes for those, but other than that they really are massive money savers.

 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




 Irbis wrote:
Templarted wrote:
Also I don’t get the hype of wet pallets when you’re starting out. They’re helpful but far from essential.

Uh, what? Not only they are massive money savers (using the same batch of paint all week if you want, instead of 30 minutes), they make batch painting really easy instead of messy meddling with rewatering drying pool, and help you ensure consistency over whole day (or multiple days). Unless you work for GW and get free paint (plus points for wasting as much as possible on dry palette in their videos) there is literally ZERO reason to not use one at all times...


They are far from essential, what’s wrong with that statement? They are helpful but they aren’t needed at all. If you don’t know how to thin paints it’s counter intuitive, they just over complicate basics which a beginner won’t have a handle on. When they get a handle of how to thin paints and what consistencies they should be working with on the various paints then fair enough.
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut





I got a wet pallet recently and I actually don’t think they are good for noobs. With a dry pallet you just add some paint and a drop of water to thin it.

Yes a wet pallet has the same effect but in a different way and if you have too much water or not enough water on your sponge the results of applying paint vary in a frustrating way. Also how you spread your paint on the pallet affects how it goes onto the model.

With a dry pallet it’s easier to get your layers to the same consistency over and over again. IMO

I agree that switching to a wet pallet later on is a good idea especially for blending colours etc but most people I think end up using a bit of both
   
Made in ca
Regular Dakkanaut





Oh Canada!

Climate has a huge impact on the usefulness and variability of a wet palette. If you live somewhere damp or tropical, or your house is exceptionally humid, then a wet palette can lead to overhydrated paints easily and a dry palette isn't a huge hassle. If you live somewhere very dry or hot, then using a dry palette is an exercise in frustration. Not everyone is going to have the same experience, but I still think learning to use a wet palette is worth it regardless, if only for the ability to keep the same paint / paint mixes going for weeks or more.

Overly wet paint can be corrected by letting the sponge/paint dry out a bit more. Dry paint is not salvageable.


   
 
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