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Hey so ive recently had chance to start up the hobby side of 40k but ive encountered a problem. no matter how hard i try i can never seem to get to a god standard of painting. Even at my lgs i swear i have the worst painting skills and have done since i started back in 5th. What do you guy think? Here are some of my favourite works, any feedback at all is most certainly welcome.



Edit: image didnt work, attaching photos

Well the photos are rather small.. But from this angle I don't see anything super wrong with it.
Maybe you're a bit harsh on yourself?

Those are the tiniest pictures ever, but what I could tell they look fine.

How long do you spend on each model? I find for my csm it takes about 3 hours to get a good job on a basic marine.

While the pics are small, they do give a good example of what people are going to see on the table when playing a game. And for that, they look fine. I like to consider the “arm’s length” rule for mini quality. When you thing something looks bad, hold it at out and take another look. Many of the flaws you are obsessing about are unnoticeable. For those of us who paint to play, that’s fine. Don’t be to harsh on yourself.

And if you want to improve, this is the place for it. Get some close ups and ask for criticism. Everyone can get better, and there is no shame in not painting at a golden demon level.

I’ve been painting for over two decades, and can still only manage a mediocre table-top quality. But I have fun, and keep plugging away.

sorry about the sizes, never posted pics before.

I normally take between 1-2 hours depending on the model, the scouts take only an hour whereas the raven and chaplain took nearly 3.

tried to get a better pic

You know what I have found is that us, as painters, are our own worst critics. And sometimes OUR vision of the model is visualized, but it still will look good. Hey I had my ups and downs with that thinking too. No man, your models look fine buddy.

Zooming in the pics you seem to have the basics down. Brush control, colour selection and general neatness are all fine. These look like minis that you should be perfectly happy to throw down on the table and have a me with.

And remember, anything painted is better than bare plastic/primer!

Looks allright to me mate. The thing to do is not try and magically be great overnight. Work on certain areas.. Shading with inks, highlights etc, and just work on them techniques. Then once you master them, try some blends, feathering, then move on to weathering effects. Small chunks at a time. It all takes practice. Just take your time and keep at it

Thanks guys, really helps I think I'm actually tearing up a little XD

You're your own worst critic. It doesn't matter if you're not the best painter in all the hobby. You just need to be able to sit back and say.

"Mission Accomplished." and be okay with that. You'll always be able to look at something you worked on and see things you wanna change or edit in some way. The best thing to do is to tell yourself "No." and move on to the next project.

Special bases are always a nice touch, too!

They look really good to me, if you wanted criticism I would try to define the black more on the chaplain.

I was going to make up some snowy rock and rubble bases for em

Remember man, we're ALWAYS our own worst critics.

You've got clear contrast between colors at a distance of 36 inches. This is the most important factor. Your lines are not overly sloppy, and you can clearly identify different pieces of gear on the models by sight. As my old sparring buddy would say "You've got no bad habits and plenty of good ones."

What I would recommend is working with thinner paint. Use a tiny bit of water in regular GW acrylic, mix on the brush. Two thin layers will give you better coverage and preserve more detail than one thick layer. Remember that when layering you want to start with the darkest color, and use progressively lighter shades. Add washes in between, but make sure your final stage is always a highlight or glaze.

When you are trying to pinpoint detail, say for example adding a really bright color like white or yellow to a Space Marine helmet to make the eyes pop, hold your mini firmly in your off hand while using your good hand to move in slowly as your eye stays focused on the spot you want to hit...like a noob seeking missile bent on awesomeness. Here is the best part...always EXHALE deeply before putting your detail brush to the mini. Better yet, do a cycle of breaths (inhale 3 secs, hold 3 secs, exhale 3 secs, hold 3 sec, repeat x2) like the old sniper hand steadying trick that works on the hardwired response of the sympathetic (or parasympathetic? I can never remember...) nervous system every half hour or so while painting. I couldn't detail anything til I figured out how to calm my eternally caffeine jittered hands.

So yeah...thinner layers, a bit more wash, and on the detailing its just practice practice practice.

Thanks guys

If you want to feel REALLY bad about it, take some high-res images of your minis.

I guarantee you will wonder what is wrong with your eyes after that.

kb_lock wrote:
If you want to feel REALLY bad about it, take some high-res images of your minis.

I guarantee you will wonder what is wrong with your eyes after that.

Pft, do it with a jewelers lens.

Your stuff looks good and you should be proud of it. You put the time and effort in, and created something of value. After that its all good man.

Also I would remind you of the 3 foot rule. As in most people will see your models on the table from about 3 feet away.

Nothing wrong that I can see. I am never proud of my minis either. I think it's because I look at white dwarf for comparison.

 M138 wrote:
Nothing wrong that I can see. I am never proud of my minis either. I think it's because I look at white dwarf for comparison.

Doesn't even need to be white dwarf. A lot of the painting showcases here on dakka put my work to shame haha.

To the OP: Definitely not bad man, you're being too harsh on yourself. Nowhere anywhere close to the worst I've seen haha.

The pic quality isn't that great, but here are my observations of a few simple things that would make a huge improvement.

-as others have said, your painting is clean. That's the most important step to master. Everything builds on that.

-On the Chaplain, the ridges between the armor at the shoulder, elbow and wrist, as well as the vents on the jump pack, just beg to have some grey or metallic brushed onto just the very top edge. You'll be amazed at how much depth and "pop" it gives those areas.

-Work on edge highlighting. If you've been painting since 5th, you've got bits galore. Practice on them until you're comfortable enough to do it on your model. Again, simple, but it adds a lot of "pop".

-Washes. The pics aren't great, TBH, so it appears in some areas you've used them? I can't tell, but you should be using them to add depth. Together with edge highlighting, they give a lot of three dimensionality.

You say you're the worst at your LGS. Have you asked any of the guys whose painting you like, for advice? You should if you haven't. If you see a technique you want to learn, ask them to show you how to do it. That's how we did it pre-internet, lol.

Most importantly, you have to push yourself to learn new techniques, and not get frustrated by the learning curve. Overall, they're a respectable table top standard that you should be proud of. Putting a fully painted army on the table is always to be commended. It seems to be pretty rare these days.

Ultra Grey wrote:
The pic quality isn't that great, but here are my observations of a few simple things that would make a huge improvement.

-as others have said, your painting is clean. That's the most important step to master. Everything builds on that.

-On the Chaplain, the ridges between the armor at the shoulder, elbow and wrist, as well as the vents on the jump pack, just beg to have some grey or metallic brushed onto just the very top edge. You'll be amazed at how much depth and "pop" it gives those areas.

-Work on edge highlighting. If you've been painting since 5th, you've got bits galore. Practice on them until you're comfortable enough to do it on your model. Again, simple, but it adds a lot of "pop".

-Washes. The pics aren't great, TBH, so it appears in some areas you've used them? I can't tell, but you should be using them to add depth. Together with edge highlighting, they give a lot of three dimensionality.


You say you're the worst at your LGS. Have you asked any of the guys whose painting you like, for advice? You should if you haven't. If you see a technique you want to learn, ask them to show you how to do it. That's how we did it pre-internet, lol.

Most importantly, you have to push yourself to learn new techniques, and not get frustrated by the learning curve. Overall, they're a respectable table top standard that you should be proud of. Putting a fully painted army on the table is always to be commended. It seems to be pretty rare these days.

Thanks. I do use washes on the scout I used seraphim sepia. Again thanks guys

I've always found that people are never as bad as they think they are. Except me, i'm terrible .