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I really don't like painting. I like playing the game, but I could care less about painting. That's not to say I don't appreciate a good paint scheme, and I usually will at least prime my armies, an lately I have had some commission work done, but the guys in my gaming group give me flak over it.

The guys in my group are hardcore painters, one of them just did something like 90 termagaunts in a week, and I think that might be part of my problem. They assembly line paint, doing a squad every few days, I can't paint like that. Maybe it is OCD but when I start a model I have to finish it an it takes me 3 frikin days to get it done. I feel good when he is done, and he looks decent, I have seen worse paint jobs, but three days for one basic Grey Knight is never gonna get it done

What do you guys think? Should I make more of an effort to get them done? I have a 2 year old an I find myself having to stop a lot when I paint to chase after her, an I am the kind of person that needs a solid hour to get into something, that's why I have given up PC gaming.

Right there with ya, man. I love playing and even the modeling aspect. However, if you stick it out and try to paint an army to tabletop standard (my best) you'll be surprised the pride you feel at games.

You could try and experiment with different painting styles. It sounds like you aren't trying to have the best painted army out there (and neither are your friends if they're cranking out 90 'gants in a week, hot damn... the mold lines alone would give me nightmares) so you can probably get a lot of mileage out of some simple basecoat, drybrush, and wash painting. Honestly just basecoating all the pieces in the right color, and then doing a brown or black wash and some drybrushing the whole thing with a light grey or off-white is pretty simple and looks surprisingly good once you get the knack for it. The flaws show up when you look at the individual models closely, but on the tabletop they're pretty nice.

Focus on painting the characters/leaders. If you do a good job on them that will be half the battle. I have a 12 year old son who isn't that much in to painting either. For him we got an appropriately coloured primer, so once things were primed it didn't look like grey plastic any more. Then do the sholder pads on one squad and gradually work up. You seem to have the reverse issue though!

I play orks - so I feel your pain with the volume of work. it does work batch painting though. Once you have that first model you are happy with you take a squad and do all of one colour for all the models in a squad. By the time that is done the first model is properly dry and you can go back to the next colour. You save time on the drying and switching between colours, and can probably do a squad in not that much longer than it took to do a single model.

Don't miss out on the time with your kid though.

Lansirill wrote:
You could try and experiment with different painting styles. It sounds like you aren't trying to have the best painted army out there (and neither are your friends if they're cranking out 90 'gants in a week, hot damn... the mold lines alone would give me nightmares) so you can probably get a lot of mileage out of some simple basecoat, drybrush, and wash painting. Honestly just basecoating all the pieces in the right color, and then doing a brown or black wash and some drybrushing the whole thing with a light grey or off-white is pretty simple and looks surprisingly good once you get the knack for it. The flaws show up when you look at the individual models closely, but on the tabletop they're pretty nice.

Yes this is the sort of thing I go for

leather is brown with brown wash
metal is silver with black wash (and possibly silver drybrush)
ork skin is green with green wash
cloth is yellow with brown wash
wood is light brown with brown wash
bone is white with brown wash with white drybrush
teeth are straight white

once you have that scheme you just have to pick up a model and base coat the skin, put it down and then pick up the next one. Once the squad is done pick the next colour and go through again.

Have you looked into dipping? With that you could get through the bulk of an army with a colored spray, a little bit of detail, and a can of quickshade. Alternately, hire a commission painter.

 Brother SRM wrote:
Have you looked into dipping? With that you could get through the bulk of an army with a colored spray, a little bit of detail, and a can of quickshade. Alternately, hire a commission painter.

thats what I have been doing but commission work is expensive.

Right there with ya! I love playing and modeling / converting my minis but painting is a major pain in the bum...painting was one of the main reasons to start with Necrons.

I dont mind painting, no good at it at the mo but I have enough to pratice on

I have seen the armypainter quickshade, is it any good?

One of my friends feels the same way you do. Here's what works for him- he basecoats and quick shades everything in his primary color (blue-gray power armor). Then everything gets drybrushed, and in a short period of time he's got a basic paint job. It doesn't take long, and it looks a lot better than bare plastic. As time permits, he batch paints details (say, picking all the bolters out in boltgun metal, coloring eyes,etc). Armypainter sprays and quick shade were perfect for him.

valace2 wrote:

 Brother SRM wrote:
Have you looked into dipping? With that you could get through the bulk of an army with a colored spray, a little bit of detail, and a can of quickshade. Alternately, hire a commission painter.

thats what I have been doing but commission work is expensive.

Not really.
You can get good work done at several painting services in third world countries for just a few dollars a figure. Several of the guys in my groups swear by a service in Sri Lanka that does a very nice job for about 3$ or so a figure. The down sidesare that it takes a few weeks to get the figures back and that you have to be VERY specic about how you want them painted as the artists who do the actua painting are not gamers and are prone to making odd mistakes if not given good directions or photos to work from.

Then you have the added bonus of being able to joke about your army being painted in a sweat shop by little kids chained to a table!

TR

I love painting. I do the assembly-line style of painting for basic dudes and then I'll sit down and paint a large model all at once.

So a squad of GKs, assembly line. they don't even have to be the same. I'll paint terminators alongside some normal PAGKs because the scheme is almost identicle.

Something big like a Dreadknight or vehicle will get painted by itself so the job is a little more detailed.


All depends on your style.

In your case, maybe loosen up a little. Try out assembly line painting. You can always stop and focus on the details. it helps to line the guys up and pick one color of paint and then paint everything using that color on the model, then go to the next guy and the next guy...

So I'll have 10 GKs to paint. They're all primed and ready to go.

First thing is a heavy wetbrush of boltgun metal over their armor. It usually takes about a minute per guy. I don't care if I go over the lines because thats what detailing is for.

Next I go around and paint all the purity seal ribbons with bleached bone.

Then I go around and paint all the purity seals scab red.

Then I take a fine detail brush and paint all the inlaid lettering with Brazen Brass.

The its mythril silver on the shoulder pad edges.

Now I take Shining Gold and highlight all the brass.

Then I paint the eye lenses Enchanted Blue.


Now I go around with the detail brush and pick up any spots I've messed up.

I'm with you. I find painting to be a real chore most of the time. Especially vehicles. I find that having a deadline helps. I got several squads painted up fairly quickly, and fairly well a few months back, because I needed them for a tournament.

I will echo the sentiment that playing with a nicely painted army really is nice, especially when you've done it yourself. That way when people comment on your models you can actually take credit for them.

I hate painting, but not since I don't enjoy it :(
I get shakes and my pawsies hurt why doing it due to disability,so it will take me months to finish stuff and it realy makes me down to see my models waiting in boxes waiting :(.

There is not a rush to be had with painting and people you play regularly will notice if you get 1 model done a week.

valace2 wrote:

 Brother SRM wrote:
Have you looked into dipping? With that you could get through the bulk of an army with a colored spray, a little bit of detail, and a can of quickshade. Alternately, hire a commission painter.

thats what I have been doing but commission work is expensive.

Have you considered trading work with one of the guys from your club? Say assemble models for them and they paint some figs for you in exchange.

Well I broke down an went an bought some paint an a new fitting for my airbrush. Gonna basecoat my Deathwing an go from there. Maybe try an do the assembly line thing. A friend suggested washing them after putting on the initial basecoat and then going over an doing the different colors. I don't have the greatest vision so picking out detail lines is hard sometimes, but I do like how detail pops with a wash so I will try that.

So, a couple of things. Firstly, yeah, you've got great painters in your group. Their standards are too high. Tell them to suck a lemon.

Secondly, GW has made it easier than ever to quickly put together an even decently-painted army. Go to the hardware store and get a can of krylon that matches the army color you're looking for. Prime your minis that. Go through with a brush and pick out the parts you want your secondary color. Use a GW wash. If you really want to, go back and pick our your details.

In any case, it is now possible to make an army in a day with nothing more than a can of colored spraypaint, and a couple of pots of wash. They won't look quite as nice as your pro-painter friends, but at least you won't show up with grey minis, which will probably help a lot.

Thirdly, you know some very fast painters, but the real secret to a huge, nicely painted army is time. I'm also a slow painter with a really complicated scheme. How did I get 180 guardsmen even through they took 6 hours apiece? Years of work. You don't have to have your army painted up tomorrow. Just keep plugging away at it.

I love painting my army, but I would be horrified if people started pressuring me to do assembly lines. I spend at least 3 hours on each individual troop model, and try to make them as detailed as I can. That's not to say I'm a fantastic painter, I think I'm decent, but not the greatest.
I do however, like to take my time and poor my heart into each model. If your friends are enjoying assembly lines, then that's great for them, but if you prefer to take your time then don't be discouraged. You're no less of a painter because of it (hell, you could even start giving them a hard time for not taking enough care on each model! They sound rather like they just want to get their army over and done with. )

Granted, I've still got ages to go on finishing my Tau army, but as some would say, it's about the journey and not the destination. Don't be discouraged by your friends, and just paint at your own pace. If your friends are giving you slack because you don't just throw paint on models and move on, then the jokes on them. I assure you that when your army is finally fully painted, you'll have far more satisfaction than any of them.

EDIT: 6 hours per Guardsmen? Wow! You have completely outdone me, sir. Keep up the phenomenal effort.

I hated painting, but I have slowly grown to like it. Once you get good it is nice being able to make a "good" looking model. My general troops are assembly lined with some beer and a TV show I have often seen but still makes me laugh. Just get 3 colors on there and call it a day, that is the general rule to go by.

Than again, the way I paint is exactly that. I build the model, prime it, paint 2 colors on the same day. That gets it "playable" and probably takes me an hour for a whole squad. From there, I than choose what I want to paint and slowly work on it. I put out extra time for HQs to ensure that they look good before anyone else. This technique makes it so that I never am embarrassed to play my newest stuff, but still END UP with a good mini.

I think you mean couldn't care less.

 Anfauglir wrote:
I think you mean couldn't care less.

People have been correcting Americans on that one for decades. You're not going to change established mannerisms just by pointing out that they don't make sense...


On topic - if you don't like painting, don't. It's your hobby, do what you want with it.

Having said that, you also need to accept that painting is a big part of the hobby for many players, and so if you don't do it, it may affect your game in certain venues, and may except you from others. The key to enjoying the hobby the way you want to enjoy it is simply to find a group of like-minded players.

I am quite the opposite I like building and painting its the game I generally dislike

The best advice I've seen about this is something I read in White Dwarf.

Be comfortable with what you can accomplish, and don't worry about what others can do.

If you spend your time worrying about your stuff not being as good as the guys you're gaming with, then you'll never get anything painted, because it feels like you're doing it for nothing. You also won't ever improve, because you aren't painting.

I got into this situation a few times. I have a friend who can knock out some fantastic models in no time, and my brother can do some downright gorgeous models. While I haven't had the pleasure of being told my stuff isn't good enough, I do get that feeling at times, and at those times I simply don't paint, which causes me to not only not improve, but regress from lack of practice.

Basically, paint to a level you are yourself happy with. If you find yourself not happy, look at guides to improve - still though, only improve to a level you're happy with.

Another point is the one Ailaros made - painting takes time. Sure, there are people that can knock out 90 gaunts at a good level in a week. Those people are not the standard. A decently painted army takes time, even years, to finish, and that's assuming you aren't adding to it while painting other things in the army. Just be patient, stick with it, and paint to a level you are happy with and if you're told to step it up, tell them to feth off.

Pick a black army, sayyyyyy pre-heresy Dark Angels. Spray the army black, drybrush grey, paint the guns in ironbelcher and the eyes in Moot Green. Wash with Waywatcher Green. Youre done

Oh man, I hear you. When I started I absolutely hated painting, so I did mostly assembly line stuff, averaged about an hour a model or so. That worked for the LotR stuff and my Greenwing, but it did get boring. Now with my Crimson Fists I'm trying to actually paint everything as well as I can without going too overboard, and it's currently taking about 9 to 12 hours a model. However they look great and I'm really happy with them, I don't however plan on playing with them anytime soon as I only usually get about one model a week done if that between school and vidya games.

I feel your pain. I love painting bigger things like ships, aircraft, vehicles etc. But painting miniatures, all the tiny detailing, it's just not for me and my clumsy hooves. I don't mind that much painting individual characters, but all that assembly line stuff is torture for me. I'd like to try out WHFB but there is no way I'd have patience for painting all those minis, and I don't want to play grey army so there.

valace2 wrote:
I really don't like painting. I like playing the game, but I could care less about painting. That's not to say I don't

What do you guys think? Should I make more of an effort to get them done? I have a 2 year old an I find myself having to stop a lot when I paint to chase after her, an I am the kind of person that needs a solid hour to get into something, that's why I have given up PC gaming.

play IW , nercon or something that can be speed painted . dont pick up models with tons of stuff on them , it makes painting take up more time and is frustrating when you bad at it . Ignore models with exposed skin .

 Ailaros wrote:
Thirdly, you know some very fast painters, but the real secret to a huge, nicely painted army is time. I'm also a slow painter with a really complicated scheme. How did I get 180 guardsmen even through they took 6 hours apiece? Years of work. You don't have to have your army painted up tomorrow. Just keep plugging away at it.

This. The important thing is that you're trying and making progress. A reasonable player will understand that painting takes time, so as long as you aren't showing up with the same half-built gray plastic every game and never trying to do anything about it you should be fine. If anyone complains, you should find better players to spend your time with.

valace2 wrote:
I really don't like painting. I like playing the game, but I could care less about painting.

I'm not that into painting either. I do it because I'm far too cheap to pay someone. It's not that big of a deal if you pay someone, in the end, you put time into making money and looking after a child, other people put time into painting.

Also it's "I couldn't care less."

Peregrine wrote:so as long as you aren't showing up with the same half-built gray plastic every game and never trying to do anything about it you should be fine.

Yeah. You know, I think I'd be happy if my opponent showed up with a half-painted army at all, no matter how slowly he was making progress. Nearly everybody I play against fields a grey army against me. Of that small wedge of people who have any paint at all, a good chunk of them are people who buy painted miniatures off of ebay, meaning their collection is a mishmash of other people's work.

If you have a "your army" with a "your fluff" and a "your paint scheme", that's already going to put you head and shoulders above most people I play against, at least, no matter how much of a work in progress those things are.

 insaniak wrote:

 Anfauglir wrote:
I think you mean couldn't care less.

People have been correcting Americans on that one for decades. You're not going to change established mannerisms just by pointing out that they don't make sense...

Really? It's only something I've noticed in recent years, but you're probably right. In either case, if nobody ever corrected it, nobody would ever learn.