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Hello everyone! I am going to be starting up my Space Wolves army this friday (as well as many people, I am sure). I have never painted any models for anything so it is going to be a very new experience.
I already know my first models are not going to look the best but that is ok, I am new.
The questions I have are what citadel paints(or others if they are better) would you use to paint the models. I know it is a light blue color, and the yellow for the shoulders. They have a list on their website for $108 which is a pretty hefty price when
I don't even know the differences and what I need. Also, I need to know about paint brushes. What should I use for detailing and base coats?
Your questions are not easy to answer in any definitive way but I will give it a go anyways.
When it comes to paints it's very much a question of how you will be painting and what demands you have on the materials. Being new it's hard to know exactly what you want so perhaps it is a good idea to start of using Citadel and the suggested ways of painting as Games Workshop show in their tutorials. The amount of paints to start with is a bit hefty since you don't have anything to start with. There is pretty much two ways to go, pay up or simplify. I know that it's hard to simplify when you don't know exactly what the paints are for.
I suggest you check out this video and the other two in the series. They will give you a good understanding about the GW way of painting spacewolves and you will also get some suggestions on how to select brushes. Other paintingvideos on that channel may not be spacewolf specific but you can pick up many good techniques and tips here. The new how-to videos that GW makes are really good.
This will give you somewhere to start. When you have looked it over we are glad to give you some more response and answer all your questions
// Andreas
Dark Angels 4th Company (3,830pts) 950pts fully painted
Hey man and welcome to the hobby Hope your prepared
Paints wise you really are just gonna need a few to get yourself started.
Grab a can of black spray primer , you'll use this to undercoat your mini's.
For space wolves id start with GW colours for now and maybe get -
Russ grey - this is the main colour you will paint them over the undercoat.
Yellow - just look for the shade you like best and use for a shoulder pad any other bits you fancy
Red - again pick a shade you like and use maybe on the opposite shoulder and little details.
Brown - 1 or 2 shades of brown as SW's like a bit of fur
Gold - there are a few gold/bronze colours grab one for crests and details
Silver - again there are several just pick one for metal bits
And if you fancy i would recommend something like Agrax earthshade which is a wash to paint over your model upon completion to help add some shadow and depth.
As you progress you will find yourself using far more advanced techniques but by just undercoating , painting , washing and then maybe dry brushing you will get a pretty good looking game ready figure
Brushes are easy to find but worth spending a few pound on if you can afford it , maybe $5 or something (am in U.K so not 100% sure ).
Get a small fine detail brush , sometimes refered to as a size 1 or 2 and a slighlty larger brush , maybe a bit cheaper to use as a dedicated dry brush.
Hope some of this helps , and shows that you really need only a few paints to start and add more as you progress, sorry a bit vague on exact colours but most of the paints i use are pretty old and their names are no longer in use .
Have fun !
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/08/06 21:41:15
I appreciate all your answers. I was a little put off by the expense of the large Space Wolves paint collection, however it seems it may be worth it. All my friends and my girlfriend say
I should just go to a crafts store and get the paints there, but I know the paints from GW are going to be the exact colors I would need.
The video shows I would need an astounding amount of the paints to make that gunship look pretty spiffy, but there were alot of paints I didn't really think belonged.
Would you guys recommend I pick up the large collection to make sure I had everything I needed or just the basics like the bases and layers?
The space wolves paint set is actually one of the more reasonable ones, but has some you wont need, and does not give you any discount, so you can pick them up later. Don't get paints from a craft store, chances are they will be poor quality; despite the flak the GW paints get, they are still decent quality and fantastic for beginners. Make sure you thin your paints to prevent brush marks and loss of detail, and never get paint above the ferrule (the metal bit) or you will quickly ruin the brush. Otherwise, good luck
"We do no demographic research, we have no focus groups, we do not ask the market what it wants." - Tom Kirby, 2014
Acalystus wrote: All my friends and my girlfriend say
I should just go to a crafts store and get the paints there, but I know the paints from GW are going to be the exact colors I would need.
Unless your friends and girlfriend paint models as well using those paints and know their quality, STAY AWAY FROM CRAFT STORE PAINTS. If you're starting out, using craft store paints will make it a hell of a lot harder than it needs to be, and you won't be able to get help with them from the wargaming community as no one else really uses that kind of paint outside of large terrain pieces.
Also, don't buy all the colours they recommend, its a waste, as a lot of the colours can be very easily achieved with a tiny bit of mixing lighter and darker colours to your paints.
Buy the basics for now and go from there.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/08/07 02:15:19
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I figured out a few of the colors I think I might use based on the video tutorial posted previously. It came to about $56. That was for some of the paints he used for the ship itself that I felt would transfer well to the infantry as well
What colors would you use for the faces of the infantry units? I am not a fan of the space wolf faces but in case I need to use them it would help.
I agree that you should not get that whole set but I think everyone is forgetting something and that is that you are a new painter and you might love painting or you might hate it. Have you painted any minis before and liked it? A lot of people love painting but just to be safe my friend always suggests (and this is how he had me start out too) by buying the craft store paints. I know everyone says not to do it, but here's what I did along with some advice I wish I could have told myself:
0. Pick out a run of the mill mini, or even see if you can get a space marine from local gamer or local GW. Keep in mind, it's important that you think the mini is cool, so if you love those space wolves, by all means start with one of them.
1. Buy six or seven Folk Art paints, not apple barrel. Folk Art has a very wide range and the paints cost $1 at Walmart or Target. Again, apple barrel is half the cost, but half the quality of an already low quality product so don't bother with it.
2. Buy a small pack of brushes while you're there, they will be a few dollars for a couple and will be sold right above those paints. These brushes are going to be useful to you in the future too as they make decent brushes for applying glue or doing terrain.
3. You're still at that store? Great, go buy some Krylon black spray primer. The paint+primer stuff is what I used and it worked fine. When other people tell you to use different primers from black just don't listen for now. They have good reasons but you're just starting and the black primer will help you hide uh-ohs.
4. Prime the mini. He's all glued up, clean of flash, and you washed him with warm soapy water and optionally attached to his base. Now here's a neat trick: glue one or both of his feet to the non-brush end of one of your cheapo paint brushes, take it outside, and prime while holding the brush. You'll be able to cover the mini easily and quickly and avoid getting primer on you.
5. Go at it, get some aluminum foil and use it as a one-time palette. Mix the paint with water until it's "the consistency of skim milk" and apply in layers. Don't get a lot of paint on the brush. When I started I had no idea how to use a paint brush. I know it seems obvious but hey. You're not applying drops of paint and you're pushing around thick paint to cover. Think of the paint brush more as a fountain pen: you just need a little paint and when it touches the mini the paint will flow out. If the mini is hard to hold on to then glue (or use poster tack) his base or feet down to an empty can, piece of wood, wine cork, or anything else that you makes you think "oh I'd much rather hold on to that for the next hour."
Did you like it? I used my Folk Art paints and cheap brushes for about 20 Vostroyans (You might want to stop after 2 SWs) and I paid less than $10 to get started. After that I bought a few GW paints and I was really able to take advantage of the quality increase and I was able to appreciate a much better paint instead of thinking "wow 4 dollars for a little bit of colored water". Then I move on to better brushes, then to other paints. If you're unsure about painting then try this but if you love it already then grab about 8 or 10 gw paints and you should have enough for your first go.
Also, the most important step is to post pictures of the results so we can all tell you what a great job you did and how to make them even better!
I already like to paint, I just have never painted miniatures before. It is sure to be another situation entirely, but I will make the best of it. I appreciate your reply on this.
I definitely will be posting a few pictures of my first Grey Hunters as soon as I get them up and ready.
Good! Pictures are always welcome. Some who are new to the hobby or new to painting are a bit worried about showing their models but what they don't realize is that it's inspirational even for us who has been in the hobby a long time.
Since the craft store paints did come up I think I will have to address it somewhat. First of all, how much you have to spend is an important parameter. Only you can decide what you can spare. When I started out I really didn't have too much money but today I pretty much buy what I want since my economy is much better. Anyway, the craft store paints like Folk Art is meant to be applied in thicker layers and I find that the amount of pigment in them are not suited for miniatures and models, but again it's all up to you and the amount you have to spend.
If you are really on a tights budget you can look in to alternative paintbrands since they tend to be a bit cheaper but then you will have to find alternatives to the GW suggested colour choices and in some cases you might have to mix to get the exact right tones.
Here is a breakdown I made a while ago about the paints relative price. It goes <paintrange>, <price per ml in brittish pounds> (Using citadel as a baseline, how much more expensive is citadel than this brand)
Citadel, £0.18 (0%)
Army Painter, £0.10 (82.5%)
Coat D'Arms, £0.07 (173.8%)
Colors of Battle, £0.10 (87.7%)
Formula P3, £0.11 (62.6%)
Vallejo Game Color, £0.11 (59.1%)
// Andreas
Dark Angels 4th Company (3,830pts) 950pts fully painted
Have a look at Valejo equivalent paints...They are a bit cheaper, should be available from your local hobby store and are thin, heavily pigmented and come in dropper bottles so will last literally forever.
my 2 cents
I appreciate everyones comments here with this. I would rather spend the extra little bit on Citadel paints as while they are a bit more expensive for what you get, you are getting exactly what you need.
You do not need to mix and match colors to get that russ blue you are looking for. I can always name a paint and everyone will know what it is. I think that is why I will stick with the Citadel paints,
although I do appreciate the names of other types incase I need a little something and don't have the money for the more expensive stuff.
However, I am a bit lost of the flesh tone paints. There seem to be a few and I am looking for the better of them to use on the faces of my Space wolves army. I would rather just use the helmets, but I am not sure there are enough to fit them all in a box of ten.
I appreciate any input on this as well as all the input that has been gained.
Learning to do faces should be your top priority pal.. They give character. Otherwise your models will get pretty boring. Tbf faces arent too difficult. And flesh tones are easy to alter
Just pick out a flesh tone you like , a darker wash to go over it then a lighter flesh tone for your highlights. Space wolves are kinda like norsemen and come from a snowy cold planet , so maybe consider a pretty light/pale skintone. But hey just go with what you like and your paint collection will grow over time.
Here is my first guy. I did a few mess ups, but he doesn't look half bad for the first one. I am missing a few paints and I am not entirely sure what I should do with the helmet or bolter other then leave them black.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/08/10 04:55:18
Looks good for a first effort but Desubot is right. You need to thin your paints down and make sure you are not painting directly from the paint pot.
Get a cheap palette from an art store and put a blob of your paint in one of the wells. Add just a tiny amount of water to get your paint to a consistency near whole milk. That way you won't cover up the details on the next model.
the best advise I can give is to get a wash like nuln oil, after painting it the colours you want put it all over the model. It'll collect in the cracks and then when its dried paint the raised bits again with the original colours, its stupid simple and will make your models look 100x better
"That's how a Luna Wolf fights."
"If you can't keep up, go and join the Death Guard"
"It had often been said that Space Marines knew no fear, but when Angron charged, he ran"
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
A great starting point I'd recommend is the Army Painter starter set. It's got your basic rainbow of colors plus a brown wash (close to agrax earthshade) as well as a good detail brush, on ebay it's around $20-30.
That, plus a couple more pots of specific wolfy paint, and you're well off into the right direction, for fairly cheap as well, with very nice paint.
Dark Angels 4th Company (3,830pts) 950pts fully painted
Hope your prepared 
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