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Well, I haven't painted in like 5 years,
Did so for the first time last night
I was painting one of my Valhallans, the scheme I was trying out was a Snow Camo thing, so White Coat, with green and brown sploges...

However my model looks like a POS....really
I mean, yeah I haven't painted in 5 years, so I understand why I might be a bit rusty
But looking through some of my old models, I notice that the few I undercoated in white, look crap compared to the ones I undercoated in Black

I painted my undercoat, so chaos black and skull white in the old
Yesterday I used White Scar to undercoat (it's layer paint, so I put a number of coats on for the undercoat)
But still, imo it looks poor.....
It's not just that model (as I mentioned), the ones I painted when I was younger, which have a white undercoat still look crap

I'll post pictures later if people reallllyyyy want to see

I guess the main problem I have, is that you can generally still see the white through the model....so to say....

But erm, any advice I guess
Since my Vahallans are mainly going to be white, I doubt a black undercoat would be a good idea
Also any colour scheme advice, cause....my winter camo looks crap....really....

I'd advise investing in a primer, using a layer paint as a base coat wont work properly since the layers just arent designed to be used for that function.

Ideally you want to:

Prime white (or grey might work better to add depth), typically with a spray (I use autotek car sprays)
Basecoat in ceramite white
Layer in whitescar in areas that need it, after a wash for example
do anything else needed.

I think you'd really need to use a proper primer, either a brush-on or a spray. The primer isnt just a quick way to "undercoat", it actually prepares the model for paintin on additional layers, as the primered surface allows paint to stick to it better. Just layering on paint not suited to the task will leave your models liable to be chipped, and you can slather it on too thick and obscure details.

As for winter camo colour schemes, I would suggest you look up some real life examples on google and seek to emulate that. Painting camo is never really easy on a miniature scale, but looking at real world examples definitely helps.

I use spray on white primer for pretty much all my models (since I like to paint with paint washes as I am lazy, it is much easier to wash from light to dark).

If you want to keep them mostly white, use a very weak dark blue wash on the bits that are kept white just to give it a hint of shading.

With the splodges, I'd try an actual pattern, rather than splodges - a small green "C" (using a 000 sized brush), with a brown line to make it into the shape of a Euro sign (on an old keyboard so don't actually have that symbol ).

What you are going for is a winter/tundra version of this kind of camo

This means that the model actually looks like someone has painted them in camo, rather than just splodged paint on them, which is always a problem with camo schemes.

Primed models will also leave a smooth coat for later layers of paint. So your finished models (theoretically) should appear smoother.

Watering down paints and doing multiple thin layers, rather than one thick coat is always the best idea. More time consuming but models have a better finish.

Brushes, very important make sure they are looked after, but if your ones aren't up to scratch any more, I suggest buying new ones.

I recommend a grey primer for white models. Then painting thinned layers of white, leaving grey in the recesses. I don't like white primer as I feel it doesn't come out as smooth :/

Okay, so basically.....
Use white spray, or a white base coat?
Which paint is the white base coat (I was always under the impression white scar/skull white was)

So erm, coat of spray (white or gray).....once or twice over with a layer of white scar....
And then a wash?
I've never done washes before....that was a bit out of my range....
What am I doing, what am I using like paint (like particular paints....) what colour washs, and why to be honest?


I'll get to snow camo next post...xD

Primer is chemically different from basecoats. It prepares the surface for painting. Metal or resin needs primer, plastic not so much. Just spray paint will chip off eventually unless it's Krylon Fusion and you're using it on plastics.

Highelf04 wrote:
Okay, so basically.....
Use white spray, or a white base coat?
Which paint is the white base coat (I was always under the impression white scar/skull white was)

So erm, coat of spray (white or gray).....once or twice over with a layer of white scar....
And then a wash?
I've never done washes before....that was a bit out of my range....
What am I doing, what am I using like paint (like particular paints....) what colour washs, and why to be honest?


I'll get to snow camo next post...xD

I use plastikote white primer - you can get it from places like B&Q, Wilkos etc... Only need a single coat - just make sure you spray the whole model, though you don't have to spray it all in one go, feel free to spray one side of the model and move on to the next, then come back once you have sprayed everything you were going to spray and then spray the back/sides/etc.

Washes - you can use GW washes, though I have not used any of the new ones. I also have a couple of P3 washes, which are much richer in colour than any of GW's, but are grainier.

For painting, I water my paint until it is about as thick as milk. Having a white undercoat really helps the colours stand out and you can dull them down with washes if you need to.

I'm actually experimenting at the moment using a -green- primer.

I'm doing deathguard, so i just gave them a quick spray with green plastikote, primarily because it's a nightamre finding somewhere stocking black atm, but the dark green is doing a fine job.

 SilverMK2 wrote:

Highelf04 wrote:
Okay, so basically.....
Use white spray, or a white base coat?
Which paint is the white base coat (I was always under the impression white scar/skull white was)

So erm, coat of spray (white or gray).....once or twice over with a layer of white scar....
And then a wash?
I've never done washes before....that was a bit out of my range....
What am I doing, what am I using like paint (like particular paints....) what colour washs, and why to be honest?


I'll get to snow camo next post...xD

I use plastikote white primer - you can get it from places like B&Q, Wilkos etc... Only need a single coat - just make sure you spray the whole model, though you don't have to spray it all in one go, feel free to spray one side of the model and move on to the next, then come back once you have sprayed everything you were going to spray and then spray the back/sides/etc.

Washes - you can use GW washes, though I have not used any of the new ones. I also have a couple of P3 washes, which are much richer in colour than any of GW's, but are grainier.

For painting, I water my paint until it is about as thick as milk. Having a white undercoat really helps the colours stand out and you can dull them down with washes if you need to.

P3 washes? what are they like?

But really to my point, I'm not entirely sure, what do I do with washes? I mean....what are their purpose when painting models?

They're very liquid so naturally run into recesses providing a quick and easy way of shading a flat colour.

You use a wash over the top of your base coat - Nuln Oil should be good for your needs. You want to be quite heavy handed as it drys alot lighter than you would think and the more you put on the more divers the shading. See bellow for pic...

once dry it'll look like this...

So undercoat/base coat fist, so in the case of this model looked like this before wash...

to this... with almost no effort

See how the wash add a very nice gradual shade effect to the whole model for very little effort. This is when you then use your lighter grays/blue/off whites (which ever you prefer the look of, as all should work for a snow camo theme) with a very liberal dry brush (some time called an over brush) to to lighten the larger area's if needed, being careful not to undo the shading from the wash so keep to the center of the 'large' area's and work gently outwards.


Then use lighter colours again to pick up on the raised area's that are perfect for highlighting. This time using a much more subtle conservative dry brush, finishing with a very light blue or gray or even a pure white to pick up the very edged of a area's in the open light like in the case of a space marine the corners of the shoulder plates or leg plates.

I'd use this kind of brush for dry brushing...



Not the GW brush they sell as a dry brush but that's just me, I find this is slower but gives a better finish and is easier to use. I like the way this bush stops you from getting paint too deep into the model crevices where the dark tones from the wash are. Longer bristle brushes can easily get into the crevices and undo all that lovely shading.

Then you work on all your detailing like grenades, belts, clips, medals and alike. This is where you have to be careful and precise not to undo what you've been working on, so take your time and use little amounts of paint often rather than loading it up. As you lose control of the paint if you use too much.

Sometimes if you find that this looks a little too vibrant you can always give it another wash over with Nuln Oil or another one of the dark washes just to tone things down again, but at that point it's all about personal preferences. I like mine to be more on the smokey and dull side, rather than the overly vibrant bright side. It just looks more real and fits 40K style imo.

If you do this you might have to pick up very slightly again on the very light highlights. That's just how I paint other people will say very different things so it's a matter of finding a style that you like and enjoy doing.

Pictures from http://space-wolves-grey.blogspot.co.uk I would have used my own but at work so can't use any of my projects as an example.