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Hi there, I'm having a hard time not getting my minis to look like I used a squirt gun on them for painting. I'm not sure if the white primer I used has any effect on this (I should've used black for non-BM Orks, I'm aware), but I'm fairly certain this all falls on me. Currently using AK paints and a Wet Palette I got from a local art store. Is this an issue with thinning? Getting the feeling I'm doing the opposite of the infamous "Thin your paints!" videos.
Any tips to improve this would be welcomed.

It could be the white spray, as they’re not all the same.

I only ever work from a grey or black undercoat, maybe Wraithbone. But for paler undercoats, you need the paint well mixed before spraying, and ideally use one formulated for models.

I'd say it's just not getting perfect coverage with one coat. Give it another...

Light green on white primer is a tough one, and always requires several coats of paint IME. Keep going

Thanks for the answers. Damn, it seems white primer was a really bad idea.

 Frozium wrote:
Thanks for the answers. Damn, it seems white primer was a really bad idea.

If the green doesn't cover well, it won't cover well over black either. You'd just see dark patches instead of pale patches.

It's just the relatively poor coverage of some acrylic colors (whites, yellows, light greens just to name a few). Laquers or enamels might have better coverage for such shades, not sure, but at least in acrylics, they are always a pain IME

If we are talking Orks specifically, I think using an orkshade / light green primer would be the least painful option, then just picking out the black/brown/metallic bits on top? IDK I'm thinking colorschemes in "primer as the most dominant base coat" points of view lately.. Saves so much time..

Basecoats aren't often a problem. You may be washing and highlighting over the top, and maybe drybrushing large areas too.
So a splotchy basecoat is annoying, but may not really matter. It depends what your next steps are.

Perhaps a tiny dap of dish soap mixed into paint will aid.

I found that the medium green I frequently use (Vallejo MC Medium Olive) covers really badly, but painting a first layer of slightly darker green (Vallejo MC Olive grey) helps the process as it tends to cover better and wont be as obvious underneath the light greens as white is. I always use light grey primer and have the same issue as you have with needing many coats off green. Just dilute enough so you don't loose details and be patient.
Good luck!

 tauist wrote:
It's just the relatively poor coverage of some acrylic colors (whites, yellows, light greens just to name a few). Laquers or enamels might have better coverage for such shades, not sure, but at least in acrylics, they are always a pain IME

If we are talking Orks specifically, I think using an orkshade / light green primer would be the least painful option, then just picking out the black/brown/metallic bits on top? IDK I'm thinking colorschemes in "primer as the most dominant base coat" points of view lately.. Saves so much time..

Yeah, perhaps I should use that for speedpainting.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Nilfisken wrote:
I found that the medium green I frequently use (Vallejo MC Medium Olive) covers really badly, but painting a first layer of slightly darker green (Vallejo MC Olive grey) helps the process as it tends to cover better and wont be as obvious underneath the light greens as white is. I always use light grey primer and have the same issue as you have with needing many coats off green. Just dilute enough so you don't loose details and be patient.
Good luck!

I'll try that with the next batch. Been using AK myself, and AFAIK nobody seems to have complained about their greens.

Try a slightly darker AK green at first if you have any?