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I have a rather large ork army that I am looking to start painting. But I am a little confused with all of GW paints what with bases, layers, shades and dry. What order do I put these in? what are shades and dry used for? and is it easier to paint them once assembled or should I of tried painting them before I assembled? Thanks for your advice in advance

Hi & welcome!
BASE = basecoat & is the first layer you put on the model after it has been primed.
LAYER = the next coat to start to bring up the highlights on a model
SHADES = is a wash that settles in the recesses & creates shaddow
DRY = paint specifically formaulated for drybrushing - this is where you put a bit of paint on the brush & wipe off most of the excess on a paper towel. You then draw it across the ridges & bumps on the model & a highlight is formed. It looks very crude when done over smooth surfaces or skin but great for furs, chainmail & the like.

The general order is (IMO) -
BASE, LAYER, SHADE, DRY.
As a beginer, I recommend that you just use BASE & SHADE until you get used to things - you can go back later to add highlights using LAYER or DRY.

Generally I always put my minis together before painting.
I also base my models using sand before I prime them too.
Many people base their models at the end.
The choice is yours - what ever you find easest & gets the best results.
Remember practice makes perfect.

Also check out White Dwarf magazine - this usually has a step-by-step painting guide for each months releases.
This months has loads of examples.

TEXT WALL!

First off: THIN YOUR PAINTS! Someone had to do it. Unthinned paints are the BANE of every painter, because this happens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3p_VuPIS2c All you need is a little bit of tap water, and even better you can make a wet palette to thin them nicely and keep them wet for a long time. Plenty of videos are on youtube on how to do this. Secondly: Clean your models up. If the model is metal or resin, put them in a tub of WARM (not hot) soapy water for an hour or two, and then scrub them with an old toothbrush under some running warm water or a dry hand towel. Metal and resin models are coated in a release agent to help them come out their moulds. All models are on sprues (except metal models), and usually have flash/mould lines on them. They appear as small ridges lining the sides of a torso, or across and arm/weapon. They need to be removed, or else they'll stand out on the model. Flash is usually on resin models, but isn't a major problem. It flakes away at the lightest touch, but leaves some left on the model that needs to be cleaned. Thirdly: PRIME THEM! If you don't prime your models, then paint won't adhere to them properly. Primers allow paint a surface to attach to, and allows a painted model to last longer without being varnished.

Base paints go onto the model after they've been primed. ALWAYS prime your models, and it's either personal preference or the complexity of the model that matters of wether or not they should be painted unassembled or not. It's usually better to paint infantry models whole, and larger things separate, but with the major pieces assembled. E.G. You paint an ork boy fully assembled, but on a Kan you leave the arms off, and maybe the legs so you can get all the surfaces. On infantry models it's usually because of a simple reason: "If you can't see it, don't paint it." It'll be time, effort, and paint wasted on the model that nobody will ever see. Layer paints are used for highlights on models, like pointing out the musculature on an arm. They show where the details are, and extreme highlights are used to show where the light hits a model. Highlights are recommended to make all models look good, since a miniature that's only been basecoated and shaded looks dull and boring. Shades/washes are paints that naturally flow into the recesses of a model, bringing out the details. They are meant to be applied to a model after the basecoat or after the first-stage highlight. On basecoats, this will bring out some of the detail of a model, but not enough without highlights. On a highlighted model, the shade will blend the highlight to the basecoat, but make it darker. Citadel's line of "dries" is meant to be used as a way of easily drybrushing a colour on, and achieve quick highlight through drybrushing. Drybrushing is taking a bit of paint on a battered brush, wiping most of it off (not all) and then quickly brushing it onto the section of a model. It makes metals very "patchy" if you're using it on a large, flat surface, but brings out the surfaces. Don't waste your money buying these though: you can drybrush with any paint, just use an old brush instead of your good ones.

This is something personal, but should really be done by a lot of newbies: BASE YOUR MODEL. This is applying glue to the model's base and putting sand or modeling flock on it. Use regular PVA glue (white glue, like elmer's), get some sand from a beach or Home Depot (since you're in 'MURRIKA there's bound to be one near you [use some fresh kitty litter if you have it, works good too]) and dip the base in it. Tap the base to get rid of excess, and you're done! You can do this after the model's been painted, or before it's even on the base. If you go with the second option, make sure you have some GS (epoxy putty) around to put on your model's feet, slap superglue on it, and press onto the base. This makes the model appear as if it's standing on the ground and not in it.

There are plenty of painters on youtube, like WarbossTae, GirlPainting, awesomepaintjob, buypainted, and others. Blue Table Painting is a painting studio that will paint your models (and in fact, make your whole army if you're that lazy) for a fee, and Miniwargaming has cheap painting and modeling CD's and battle reports and sales. Check them out! There are many aspects to the world of hobbying, like other games, more materials, and the best part: good fellow players. Not just of the game, but of the hobby. Don't let prices get you down, because the economy sucks anyway.

Here is a step by step for the way I paint my Ork Boyz. Instead of the Paynes Grey, you could use Nuln Oil.

http://www.kan.org/michael/mkp/ork_boyz.php

Also it's definitely worth mentioning, if you haven't bought your paints yet... There are other companies out there that sell paint, which are often cheaper/better than GW paints. Vallejo is one of the most popular, but there is also Reaper, Coat D'Arms, and P3.

I personally never buy washes (shades) because they are just diluted paint. It's much cheaper to buy the undiluted colours and some acrylic medium, just dilute a little yourself on a pallet as needed.

That is what I do for my Paynes Grey ... it's Liquitex soft body acrylic diluted with water,

 Ifurita wrote:
That is what I do for my Paynes Grey ... it's Liquitex soft body acrylic diluted with water,

I do the same, but a lot of painters also add matte medium. I've had poor results with it, I get almost like a chalky residue. Not to drag this OT, but am I really missing anything by just using ink, water, and flow enhancer?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
To the OP:

If you are brand new, you'll want to start by placing base colors. I always called this "blocking," and it's important as a new painter to build brush control. You're basically just staying within the lines and putting color on every surface.

After that, try a shade/wash. You can buy them, you can make them, but they add definition and depth to a model with very little effort. The growing use of washes explains why a "tabletop" quality model today is roughly as good as a "tournament" quality model from 15 years ago.

Highlights are, in many ways, the trickiest part to learn. there are tons of techniques, but easiest is dry brushing, explained above. Only use on texture. For flat surfaces, you can also try edge highligtts, where you paint a brighter color along the edges.

Finally, when shading or highlighting, don't just add black/white to your base coat. You want deeper and brighter colors, not simply darker/lighter.

 Smacks wrote:

I personally never buy washes (shades) because they are just diluted paint. It's much cheaper to buy the undiluted colours and some acrylic medium, just dilute a little yourself on a pallet as needed.

For the most part, I agree with this statement. However, it is handy to have commonly used colors (Nuln Oil) handy.