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I am doing some of my very first painting and I am generally using the method of base coat>shade>layers>highlights, I am using Citadel paints, I don't need this stuff to look amazing, just tabletop quality.

My problem is that after I shade and do that first layer, the layer seems to have covered all of my shading and I lose all of the detail and go back to s flat looking model. Is this a technique I am doing incorrectly? Should I thin my layers or just avoid the areas I want to leave shaded? I guess I thought that the layers were thin enough to leave some shading intact.

I have tried searching and looking at videos but they seem to show the steps after each step is done but I can't tell what is being done during each step to maintain the look of the shade.

Thanks

You need more OSL ... just kidding (inside joke, related to the thread below).

A bit of a tangent, but here is an interesting thread on tabetop quality.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/503418.page

Maybe this will help. Step by Step for Boyz
http://www.kan.org/michael/mkp/ork_boyz.php

I think you are applying too much paint in your #2 step. You really only want to apply it to high areas. In my step by step, the tops of muscles, top of the head, ridges on the face, etc. You'll want to dip your brush in paint and then wipe off a good amount of it on the rim.

Here is another step by step (LOTR Orcs)
http://www.kan.org/michael/mkp/wotr_orcs.php

By the way, post some pics of your work and we can take a look and provide constructive feedback.

If you're following the Citadel how to paint guide on the site, then you're only supposed to put whatever comes after the shade as a highlight, not back over the entire model. E.G. if you're doing the face of an I.G. Sergeant then you'd put down your base, then your shade, then highlight the face, going over where light would hit and not everywhere.

 Deunstephe wrote:
If you're following the Citadel how to paint guide on the site, then you're only supposed to put whatever comes after the shade as a highlight, not back over the entire model. E.G. if you're doing the face of an I.G. Sergeant then you'd put down your base, then your shade, then highlight the face, going over where light would hit and not everywhere.

Hmm, I guess I am not doing this exactly then. I was going by the guide in the "How to Paint Citadel Models" book for the Dark Vengeance set, they show base, shade, layers, highlights. I don't see how it would look decent if I didn't do layers over the wash, when I put the wash over the base it doesn't dry evenly and it makes everything not recessed look...dirty I guess would be the best way to describe it. I try to spend a good amount of time pushing the wash off of the high spots and into the recessed areas. For reference this is on a Deathwing Terminator with the Ushabti Bone base and a Seraphim Sepia wash.

That is very odd. The wash should settle very naturally into the recessed areas.

tidalwake wrote:

 Deunstephe wrote:
If you're following the Citadel how to paint guide on the site, then you're only supposed to put whatever comes after the shade as a highlight, not back over the entire model. E.G. if you're doing the face of an I.G. Sergeant then you'd put down your base, then your shade, then highlight the face, going over where light would hit and not everywhere.

Hmm, I guess I am not doing this exactly then. I was going by the guide in the "How to Paint Citadel Models" book for the Dark Vengeance set, they show base, shade, layers, highlights. I don't see how it would look decent if I didn't do layers over the wash, when I put the wash over the base it doesn't dry evenly and it makes everything not recessed look...dirty I guess would be the best way to describe it. I try to spend a good amount of time pushing the wash off of the high spots and into the recessed areas. For reference this is on a Deathwing Terminator with the Ushabti Bone base and a Seraphim Sepia wash.

You pretty much answered your own problem. On the first layer paint everything but the recess to hide the blotchyness, then if it is several layers when you lay the next layer on leave some of the previous layer showing in all the low area. When you dry brush or highlight it should only hit the very highest points. That is, mind you , a simple break down of the process.

tidalwake wrote:

 Deunstephe wrote:
If you're following the Citadel how to paint guide on the site, then you're only supposed to put whatever comes after the shade as a highlight, not back over the entire model. E.G. if you're doing the face of an I.G. Sergeant then you'd put down your base, then your shade, then highlight the face, going over where light would hit and not everywhere.

Hmm, I guess I am not doing this exactly then. I was going by the guide in the "How to Paint Citadel Models" book for the Dark Vengeance set, they show base, shade, layers, highlights. I don't see how it would look decent if I didn't do layers over the wash, when I put the wash over the base it doesn't dry evenly and it makes everything not recessed look...dirty I guess would be the best way to describe it. I try to spend a good amount of time pushing the wash off of the high spots and into the recessed areas. For reference this is on a Deathwing Terminator with the Ushabti Bone base and a Seraphim Sepia wash.

\\
Have you shaken your pots thoroughly? Sometimes the paints separate and won't flow or dry properly, giving it either a crappy look or a terrible (or good) glossy finish that you don't want.