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I was distracted today by a guy using weathering powders on some Grey Knights.

Usually they are painted to be shiny and fresh from the factory clean.

I was looking at my mud stained olive drab forces, and couldn't help but wonder why some people paint their armies in gloriously bright colors with high gloss varnishes, some in grimdarks with matte finishes, and some make their army look like they've been at the Battle of the Somme for 30 years.

How do you paint your forces... and why?

Most of my Ultras are parade ground clean. I’ll occasionally splash some blood around, or heat-stress flamers/meltas. But no serious weathering. Started with lack of skill/resources to do it, and the fear of wrecking the paint job by going over it. Maintained for consistency. Plus I like the look of them showing their colors proudly.

Same with my Eldar. Plus my whole army concept is “getting mud on your boots is for lesser races” Bikes and mechanized infantry.

My undead get a bit more, but still nothing crazy. Mostly just a dip in nuln oil at the end. But their models are intrinsically weathered.

I think it boils down to a few different sliding bars of narrative aesthetic. Am I painting something for realism or fantasy? Heavy metal or gothic grimdark?

40k is a great example of how much it's aesthetic can swing in either direction.

Bright and clean colours for me, I think it looks better on the table during play.

Takes me long enough to paint stuff as it is, without spending additional steps on chipping and wearing and so on...

The more elite the army, the more clean the paintjob for me. My Space Marines are pristine but my Guard are muddied up.

I really only take time to weather my vehicles.

Weathering looks better on Ork or Imperial vehicles... not so much on Eldar or Tau.

We had to keep or kit and vehicles clean even at week long training camps. so my army's are clean, only exeption is nurgle

I do not paint enough, or often enough and struggle with painting motivation too much to add more steps of weathering and dirtying up models to the process. Plus my main army is Ultramarines, I get the feeling they like to keep their gear clean and tidy at all times regardless of possible enemy action so I try and keep them pristine. I'm not against heat-blackened Melta barrels and Flamer nozzles though as that just seems right to me.

No weathering on mine.

Mostly I simply cannot be arsed. But I also prefer the idea of my Heresy Dark Angels looking after their kit between battles.

I think if you are playing Black Templars you should high gloss their armor - I imagine the Neophytes polishing armour for 16 hours a day.

Depends on the army my marines are neat my Nurgle and orks are heavily weathered.