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Hey guys, some of you may have seen my introduction thread and have heard I'll be doing a Steel Confessors space marine army which I have finally got around to doing
Warning! I am a noob so I wont be posting amazing pics like you guys are used to seeing here, but that is a reason for this thread as i'm hoping to get some tips to make my minis better and make me a better painter.
Also alot of these minis will not be 100% complete as I don't have anything to base with or paint minor accessories with, so bear with me 'till i do please.

So here (hopefully) are some pictures of what i have and what I painted.
P.S. i don't think the quality of the pics are that good hopefully you can see them.

Thank you for taking your time to look at a noobs thread, If you got any tips that would be appreciated.

It get said a lot around here, but thin your paints. It will help you get a smoother coat, and avoid that lumpy, brush stroke filled effect. What I do is keep a separate glass of clean water (not the stuff I use to clean my brushes) and add a drop to my “palette” (and old blister pack shell) with a drinking straw. I use this clean water to dampen my brush before loading it with paint. I’m sure better painters then I have better techniques, but it works for me.

Even if you aren’t planning on basing, take some black paint and clean up the slop on the base that’s left over from painting the mini. It makes them look like they belong on the table, rather then the paintbench.

What are you goals for this army/blog? Do you have a list in mind to build for? Assembling a battle company, chapter, or task force? What’s on your to-do list?

I really like painting , but maybe if I have an army that I am able to play with I'll consider playing the tabletop game, I'm not sure on the rules though as I have not read them or any codexes .What list would you suggest for someone who has never played a tabletop game before?

I realized after painting the shoulder pads that I had forgot to water the paint down but I still have 9 marines to correct that mistake I'll definitely run over the base with black, just because I don't have anything to base my minis with doesn't mean they should look sloppy . i plan on hopefully getting another marine done today so hopefully you can give your opinion on that, thanks for the tips man

Cheers

Hey guys , I just finished painting another space marine, hopefully it's better than my last one I do feel it is better considering I actually watered down the bone this time. Tell me what you think, criticism and any tips are appreciated .
Cheers

Hey Sub, great that you got your blog set up.
The second Marine looks a lot better, thinning down the paint definetly worked.
There are many tutorials out there on how to take great pictures of your miniatures, but to start off use a tripod to put your camera on or place it on a flat surface so the pictures aren't blurred.
Looking forward to seeing your progress

One point seems like your shoulderpads are somewhat low, and on painting metal colors, undercoat black and drybrush the metal color, or slight brushes for a nicer finish.

 TheYellowSubmarine wrote:
I really like painting , but maybe if I have an army that I am able to play with I'll consider playing the tabletop game, I'm not sure on the rules though as I have not read them or any codexes .What list would you suggest for someone who has never played a tabletop game before?

Cheers

The minumum you need to play is a Headquarter pick and two Troops. You can go to GW’s website and see what’s where, but you are going to want some cool looking character and a bunch of tactical marines. Marines are a wonderfully flexible army. You can use almost anything in a variety of combinations, just as long as you make sure you have the right tool for every job (Anti tank guns, things for killing hordes of troops, etc) You will also need your codex. I’d recommend heading down to your FLGS and chatting with the guys there. See if you can thumb through someone’s book, to get some ideas of what leaps out to you. Instead of asking for a list, find out what you like and build around that.

If you are entering the hobby from the painting side, I’d just grab what looks cool to you and slap some paint on it. The one thing to worry about is weapon options. Some look cooler then others, but don’t fill a vital role once you start playing games. Magnetizing options is something that is worth it in the long run. For power armored troops, it’s often more trouble then it takes to do though. You are better off just picking up more bodies and making spare troops to swap in and out of squads. Magnetizing is more critical on the more expensive vehicle kits.

Thanks for the comments guys

FlamestormA: Hey man , good to see you here , I'll definitely work on the picture quality like you said, hopefully they come out better next time.

Jehan-reznor: I'll make sure I fix the shoulder pads on my next marine, and i'll try painting metal the way you said on one of my marines ,
Thanks

Nevelon: Thanks for the tips I don't think I'll paint a HQ just yet as I want to improve my painting, and I will certainly look at magnetizing once I get stuck into vehicles but for troops I'll probably just swap out the marines when need be. I would like to get a Devastator squad next as I'm leaning more to the damage dealing side of things opposed to mobility.

Thanks again
Cheers

Hey guys, back again with another finished space marine hopefully it looks good and the pictures turn out better, criticism welcome of course.

Cheers

Hey again, hope you guys enjoyed your Saturday
I was able to get 2 marines done to make a combat squad. I made my special weapons marine with a melta gun as you can see , just because of the look of the gun as I haven't read any of the rules yet, hopefully I can get on that soon. Here are some pics.

Cheers

7/10 Space Marines done, really it's unfortunate as I'm really enjoying painting them and I only have 3 more before I have nothing to do to .
Anyway I got another 2 marines done today as you can tell. Seeing as I am pretty much done with this Tactical squad I would like to know what you guys think of my painting so far for someone just starting out, what can I improve and so on as I would like to improve my painting through this blog as well as make an army that I'll play at a later date, So please leave your thoughts as it will help me improve my painting skills.

Cheers

The thing that stands out at the moment is the details. Eye, purity seal, etc. They need some love.

I noticed some bumps on the shoulderpads, from where they were attached to the sprue. A few minor mould lines as well. Be sure to clean your models before painting. It is a boring, thankless chore, but needs to be done.

Your edges are getting better.

Currently I am unable to paint details as I don't have the paints to paint them, I'll try to get them soon though so they're not left black, and with the bumps I will try to keep them clean and shave them down as best as they can, I was worried that I'd ruin it as I don't have a hobby file or anything that's precise enough.

Thanks, I feel like I have improved but there are things that I could still do better with.

Thanks for the suggestions .
Cheers

Getting better at painting is a process that requires time and patience. Don't worry about how good or bad you are at the moment. As long as you have the dedication and put enough time into it, you will definetly improve. Everyone started at a low level and everyone is still improving from miniature to miniature.

I gotta say your painting is improving with every post. Can't wait to see more. You have picked an awesome chapter but a very difficult one to paint for your first. Keep it up though. I am starting a similar chapter called the iron fists. I'm still trying out different ways of painting them at the mo but ill post a pic of what I have so far. I realise I havnt thinned my paints well too.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Don't know why the quality is so bad. Looks a lot better on my phone. Haha. Its in my gallery in better quality anyway if you wanna check it out.

 TheYellowSubmarine wrote:
Currently I am unable to paint details as I don't have the paints to paint them, I'll try to get them soon though so they're not left black, and with the bumps I will try to keep them clean and shave them down as best as they can, I was worried that I'd ruin it as I don't have a hobby file or anything that's precise enough.

Thanks, I feel like I have improved but there are things that I could still do better with.

Thanks for the suggestions .
Cheers

Almost all cleanup work can be done with a hobby knife and a steady hand. Files do help though. As a rule, GW hobby tools are overpriced compared to everything else. If you buy online or your local hardware store you can probably find what you need for half the price.

Paints are a bit trickier though. When I was starting out, with a crazy tight budget and only 8 paints to work with, I mixed my own from what I had. It worked for one-off D&D minis, which is what I was doing at the time. Every shade of brown or flesh tone was slightly different. This didn’t matter because I wasn’t building an army that needed to look uniform. For 40k you want a bit more consistency.

FlamestormA: Yeah, I just hope I get as good as some of the other painters on here Thanks for the comment.

theheartcollectors: Thanks man, I really appreciate it I really like the look of your Iron Fists, especially the color scheme. I would definitely like to see more.

Nevelon: I'll look for some hobby tools to clean up my work as the file I have is probably too big for what I need, and I'll keep an eye out for cheap ones like you said I don't believe I have the paints I need to mix and make the right colour but even then I'd prefer to get the already made paint. Thanks for the tips

So I only have my sergeant left which I am a bit worried about as he's probably the one I want to stand out the most, anyone got any tips to make the sergeant look better than a usual marine?
Anyway here is a normal marine and a marine with a missile launcher. I don't know about the red on the missile launcher but I reckon it looks alright after adding green to it, tell me what you think.

Cheers

Back in the day, guns were trimmed in red for a lot of armies. So while you might not be doing it concisely, it’s a nice retro-trowback for those of use who’ve been here a while.

I don’t know anything about the background for your chapter. Are there clues there that point you in any direction? For example, in the Crimson Fists, veterans paint their other gauntlet red. One thing I do to seperate them out in my army is the chest eagles. Normal marines get grey/silver, sarges (and HQs) get gold. Painting the helmet a different color is another, more traditional, method. Red is the official codex color. I personally don’t follow this practice. Helmet stripes are an older way of denoting rank. Back in the RT days all marines had a stripe running down the middle of the helmet. Sarges had their stripe flanked by one on each side of a secondary color.

The last option is to just add enough extra bits on him to make him stand out.

Looking at the missile launcher more, I think the red looks better than I first thought.

The Steel Confessors don't have any detail in terms of how they denote ranking, but I'll check if the Iron Hands do as they are their father chapter, I guess I'll just add a bunch of extra bits in the meantime.

Cheers

Hello
I have finished my sergeant and therefore mostly finished my 1st ever tactical squad Overall I think I did okay, I still need to do eyes for the space marines and the flesh for the sergeant but I don't have the paints to do those at the moment, but i'll get to those soon enough.
I've added some extra bits to some of the marines and painted the purity seals so they all don't look so generic. Please leave your thoughts and criticism.

Cheers

Another Steel Confessors player! I'm not alone!

I never decided on any special markings for my sergeants. The usual colors and stripings didn't seem to mesh with the metallic silver and bone colors, so I just relied on the gear they had and tried to give them some extra blingy bitz to distinguish them. I suppose a red helmet might work, especially if you use it on other things like the missile launcher.

I would suggest trying a light black wash on the silver armor, especially around the recesses. It'll help to give the model a lot more definition. Just make sure to re-highlight the broad surface areas with your silver.

As for the gaming side of things, I can give some dirty, powergamey advice based on my experience. Meltaguns and missile launchers are both good options for tactical squads, so no need to worry about that. The most important thing is to decide what role each tac squad will fill and pick weapons to suit that. As for adding other units, there are a lot of good options available. Stalkers are fairly solid even when you're not facing fliers/skimmers and storm talons with skyhammer missiles aren't bad either. But what I cannot recommend enough is the thunderfire cannon. They're excellent units, great anti-horde, fluffy for Steel Confessors, and they're right at home in a gun line army. All of that aside, however, Nevelon is right. Figure out which units/models appeal to you, build an army based around them that can fulfill the various roles you need, and just have fun with it.

Looking forward to watching your progress!

Thanks Rayth
I've seen your Steel Confessors before( they look awesome by the way ) and have tried to base my ones off of them, but obviously mine don't look half as good as you probably have had a lot of experience and this is my 1st time model painting. I'll try doing light washes on future space marines as the last time I put wash on the whole marine I had to repaint it due to it being to dark .

It's a good thing you mentioned the Thunderfire Cannon being really good as I really like the look of it, but was questioning its effectiveness in-game.Next I think I will be getting a Devastator squad, Scout squad and Commander, but it may take awhile as i'm running on a tight budget. I'll definitely use you're advice in gaming and painting as it's very helpful to somone like me. who is just starting out.

Thanks a ton

Cheers

G'Day again
So I haven't posted in awhile as I haven't had anything going on recently with my Space Marines, but recently I was able to grab a bargain on Ebay and get an Assault Squad and Devastator Squad, so thats cool. I hope to have some pictures of painted marines up soon.

But while that happens I have some questions about what can be taken by the marines, they may be questions everyone should know the answer for but I'll ask anyway.
For the Assault marines, do they have to take either a plasma pistol or bolt pistol? I was thinking of taking a grav pistol and giving it to one of the marines, and how good is the shield for the sergeant, or is it better giving him a pistol( I am not sure what the real name is called)

What are some good load outs that the Devastator marine could take? I was thinking 2 heavy bolters, 1 plasma, 1 lascannon

These are all the questions for know, hopefully I can get some feedback.

Cheers

A lot of these mechanics questions can be answered with the codex. If you plan on playing, you’ll need one. Not fun to paint though, sorry. But one of the rules here is “Dakka is not a substitute for your codex” so some of my answers are going to be vague.

IMHO the best option for assault marines is the one not included in the box: the flamer. When I deploy mine, I typically field them as:

1 marine with a flamer
3 marines with bolt pistols and chainswords
1 sarge with a bolt pistol and power sword.

Some of that is due to WYSWYG and legacy rules. I could add another flamer to the squad, and probably should/will. I have some plasma pistols, but they are massively overpriced army-wide (same with the new grav pistols) so don’t see the table anymore. The shield option for the sarge is there, but not the best. You pay a handful of points for a very small invulnerable save. If you like the way it looks, go for it though, it’s not terrible, just not very point efficient.

What to give the dev squad is entirely up to what the rest of your army looks like. Do you need more anti horde fire? Anti-tank? The one rule of thumb is that you want all the guns to work on the same target, so mixing heavy bolters and lascannons is not a good idea. Eventually you are going to want to grab some spare marine bodies and build them all, just so you can have options to swap into tactical squads and vary your list.

I don’t have a stock load for my devs like I do for assault marines. I generally use them in an anti infantry role, with the full 10 man squad. This way the bolters of the extra bodies protecting the heavies can contribute. Last time I fielded them it was 2xHB, 2xPC. I suspect you are going to need them for anti armor though, so would probably run 2xLC, 2xML.

A few notes on minis: Don’t buy the 3 marine boxes (I see one pictured) save you pennies until you can get a full tac squad. You’ll get all the bits and extras you need. The other thing to keep in mind is to take note of what marine bits are holding you back from making more. The dev box has 6 sets of legs (5 normal, 1 kneeling) The assault marine box has extra torsos. Poof! You just got yourself a new soldier!

Thanks for the reply Nevelon
I'll be looking into the getting a Codex soon then if it's better than asking on the forum, hopefully I can get a deal on ebay as I probably don't have enough for full price.
I think I'll run with bolt pistols with my Assault squad and sergeant as it sounds like the shield isn't worth it.
For devastators I am looking for weapons that can crack open armor, Is a multi-melta any good? and it's a good thing you told me I could make an extra marine, as I would like to have as much options as possible
Also those 3 pack marines where just used to see how I was going to paint my marines, I dont plan n getting anymore of them. Hopefully I can get some paint on my minis soon.

Cheers

Multi-Meltas are great, just not in dev squads. The problem with them there is the range. They want to be pressed up against the side of a tank, the devs want to hide in a corner. I field one in a tactical squad most games.

I don’t know if you’ve stuck your nose into the 40k army list section, but you might want to lurk there and look at what other people are doing. It’s a mixed bad of styles and level of competitiveness, but should give some perspective on the game side of the hobby.

G'day again
So I got one Assault marine done finally I took the photos with a better camera so hopefully the pictures look better. I also added paint to the eyes on all my marines, they look okay I guess, I hope I get better at doing them as I continue to paint. Anyway criticism is welcome and I hope to get more done soon.

Cheers

Your painting looks to be improving. Much cleaner on this guy.

The mold lines really stick out, particularly in that last picture. Assault marines, particularly the jump packs with their wonderfully placed seam, are notorious for bad lines; so it’s not just you. But it is something to keep an eye on and try to fix.

I agree, your painting is definitely improving. Don't worry about the eyes, they will look better with every model you paint.
Keep it up!

Thank you for the kind comments Nevelon and FlamestormA
Those mold lines are pesky and I'll try and fix them up on future marines.

I do hope I get better at the eyes as I feel they're my biggest problem atm.
I'll get more photos up when I finish the rest of the squad, and then I've got the Devastators to work on

Cheers