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I mentioned one of the things I used to do in another post, and started to wonder who else made similar weird mistakes when they started vs how they do things now. I'm hoping for more than just "I didn't thin my paints", I want to know things that people would look at you funny if you told them.

For example, when I first started modeling, I didn't have any idea how to do it and so I didn't think of buying any special tools for working on models. I used an old, junk pair of diagonal cutters, that would pinch the models so badly it'd often damage small pieces. The worst part is, I used the same cutters for kitbashing stuff which typically just destroyed what I was working on. It was at least a year and dozens of models later before I finally realized they sell flush cutters specifically for models.

For a similar length of time, I didn't know that models were typically easier to work on with craft knives. I use an xacto now, and files, and with a saw for thick cuts when kitbashing, but in my early days I just used a pen knife. I did sharpen it regularly to make things a little easier, but used it for all of my cutting and trimming and even for (attempting) to saw through big pieces that I'd inevitably mangle.

Probably the most heinous is that I didn't know about using greenstuff for filling gaps when you kitbash, so I'd chop up pieces of sprue, jam them into the hole, then just soak the whole area in plastruct plastic cement and keep jamming more pieces of sprue in until the hole was filled with a goopy mess of melted plastic.

I used to paint on the sprue and then chop pieces out using a stanley knife, so when the models were all done, they were mould line ridden, with lumps of unpainted flash from where I'd chopped (or twisted) pieces out.

I never shook my paint either, much to my horror when that glossy purple foundation paint turned into a matte lilac half way through painting my Tyranids.

Aside from the obvious issues like not thinning paint cuz I think a lot of people do that at first...

When I glued down basing stuff I just tossed some pva glue on the base and dipped them in the sands or rocks I wanted to use. Made them all sorts of unstable when I glued models to them later... so my dudes were constantly breaking.

Not my gaff but I used to work for GW and we had new hobbyists in all the time. So a guy came in one day for a paint lesson. We used to prime models for the customer. So he brought in some marines. They looked odd.

First I noticed the bases were glued upside down. But that wasn't the worst of it. they all has some sort of flock stuff on the knees and shoulder pads. I asked him what it was and he said he'd used super glue for the first time...AND IT WAS SKIN THAT HE'D RIPPED OFF HIS FINGERS!!!!!

Painting a metal figure without priming...this was a Ral Partha figure.

CB

 SlaveToDorkness wrote:
Not my gaff but I used to work for GW and we had new hobbyists in all the time. So a guy came in one day for a paint lesson. We used to prime models for the customer. So he brought in some marines. They looked odd.

First I noticed the bases were glued upside down. But that wasn't the worst of it. they all has some sort of flock stuff on the knees and shoulder pads. I asked him what it was and he said he'd used super glue for the first time...AND IT WAS SKIN THAT HE'D RIPPED OFF HIS FINGERS!!!!!

Straight to Chaos Marines they go!

I painted eyebrows on my first models. Giant, carpet sample eyebrows.

The main one I remember was undercoating models white, as all models were undercoated white, it was just the done thing. My Marines had black armour... Such a wonderfully counterproductive exercise as I didn't question it.

To tie into that. I did my first major kitbash of the LOTD commander from the WD army list (the one made from the Chaplain). After the manager at my local GW has helped me put it together I get to painting it. Now, learning I in fact don't need to undercoat him white I get out a trusty pot of Chaos Black and start slathering it on. Manager comes running over and grabs the mini off me and puts it under the tap out back. He said he'd tell Jes Goodwin on me for what I was doing to one of his sculpts!

Putting whatever weapons on said SMs as well. Remember the old weapon sprue? You know- the one that had loads of pistols and HTH weapons on it that was also for Necromunda. I went and put some laspistols from it on my Assault Marines. My error was only pointed out to me by a GW staffer when he said "That's a laspistol. It's S3. If the SM throws it at someone it's S4".

Putting the sticker banners all around the banner pole (so the pole itself was in between the two halves of the sticker), instead of; you know- hanging like a banner.

It’s not a huge mistake, but I painted literally all of the metal on my first boyz this garish gold. Every last bit.

I undercoated my first minis in white on advice but I just used whatever the citadel version of corax white was in the 90s. It wasn’t any better all lumpy and no idea about thinning paints so if I used it straight out the pot it was thin and transparent and if I mixed it it was thick and filled in all the details.

And then I put it straight onto the metal mini and it didn’t stick properly becuase it’s not a primer, urrrrrgh kids who start the hobby these days don’t know how lucky they are to have the internet show them what to do

For a while I used an actual razor blade for doing conversions as I thought it gave very fine cuts. It also could give very fine cuts to your hands.

Also, as a teenager, you shouldn't let people see razor blades all over your desk...

 SlaveToDorkness wrote:
Not my gaff but I used to work for GW and we had new hobbyists in all the time. So a guy came in one day for a paint lesson. We used to prime models for the customer. So he brought in some marines. They looked odd.

First I noticed the bases were glued upside down. But that wasn't the worst of it. they all has some sort of flock stuff on the knees and shoulder pads. I asked him what it was and he said he'd used super glue for the first time...AND IT WAS SKIN THAT HE'D RIPPED OFF HIS FINGERS!!!!!

Okay this one is actually horrible, I hate that.

I painted everything in parts and without paintinghandles. Every single part. It took way too much time since everything had to dry before I could touch it again.