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Just my two cents. I used to cast my own resin art toys a year or so ago and typically painted themm by hand but also used my cheapo airbrush I copped off of eBay. I'll tell you something, an airbrush adds an entirely new dimension to the piece your working on. Fading color, highlights, glowing effects. When I get a batch of Orks in I'll be sure to use my airbrush with em.

The higher the standard you want for your army the more time it will consume, there's no way around that.

Grey Templar's advice is a method that I use on a regular basis. This method won't get the whole army painted in a weekend, but it does something almost as good. This method gives you a sense of accomplishment. Painting the whole army at once gives you the feeling of not getting anywhere. Doing a 10 man squad a week can still feel like an uphill battle, but you can see progress and get the satisfaction of completing units as you go.

I would also suggest patience. You'll get there, you just have to keep at it.

Some of those golden demon models are 600+ hours, bud

My armies take *years* to complete. This is why I don't really care if rules are great or not; by the time I finish painting what I want to paint for my army, the rules have changed, hahahaha.

But the practical answer to your original question is one that all gamers in 40k must tackle. My recommendation is that you pick an army that you like, do NOT make it a MSU army, and paint it to a lower standard, suitable for play. Then go back and replace models with better-painted work (or strip them down and re-paint them, if money is an issue).

If you want a playable model that takes a reasonably short time to paint, I would suggest:

1. Clean the mold lines properly!
2. Prime with colored primer (or used colored spray)
3. Drybrush
4. Wash
5. Glue onto prepared bases.

To do your bases quickly:

1. Hit them with colored primer. Make sure you do the ring!!
2. Spread PVA glue across the top
3. Put two-tone sand (such as from woodland scenic) in a small bowl or Tupperware container, dunk.

You can have reasonable looking models pretty quickly, you meet the criteria for 3+ colors (let's not even get into that debate...) and best of all, you can go back and add colors and layer and detail every model as time permits. Drybrushing is also a great skill to learn, and what better way to master it than to drybrush 1500 points.

Now, that being said, on your SECOND army, if you want them to look great, drybrush is not the answer. It's just a great way to get into the game with GOOD looking models that don't take a billion hours to finish.

As you get a little better, try to wash with more than one color, or to wash only recesses. Those too are skills you will need as you proceed to better-model-madness!

Hah, there is nothing I can contribute to the thread, but I can sympathize with the op. I took me 2 weeks to assemble and half paint 3 marines It takes me hours to fix the arms.

I have been painting for years and years. I am still pretty slow, and still not great.

However, I have noticed myself getting a bit faster.
A few months ago, I had my army in my stand, and noticed the quality difference between my first few tac squads, and all the marines around them. I could literally line them up and see a progression of my skill improving. It was a great moral boost. I took two old tac squads and repainted/touched them up, and they look much better!

Even if it doesn't feel like you are getting faster/better, you will, and after a while of doing it, you'll notice. Tips to get faster/better is a few shortcuts such as colored primer, dry brushing, assembly line painting, and practice practice patience and practice.

 NecroPunk wrote:
Just my two cents. I used to cast my own resin art toys a year or so ago and typically painted themm by hand but also used my cheapo airbrush I copped off of eBay. I'll tell you something, an airbrush adds an entirely new dimension to the piece your working on. Fading color, highlights, glowing effects. When I get a batch of Orks in I'll be sure to use my airbrush with em.

It's also going to cost about a hundred dollars and then you still have a steep learning curve and arguably also need a large studio with good airation and/or should wear a mask when you work with it

Airbrushing/spray painting isn't as feasible for some. I'm not equipped to do it.

I've spent probably 15 hours so far trying to paint the last 10-man for a 1500pt army, and still need to paint the tank. My quality is tabletop at best. And they are at best half done.

(And that 1500pt army is now a 1407pt army thanks to a codex update, but that's another discussion...)

It takes some people longer to paint than others.

I've been into this hobby for two and a half years at this point. I have ten models fully done. That means all the painting with a gloss and then matte coat, and then based. I have six models almost done, and twenty more models with basecoats. In this time I learned a great deal about painting and decided that my twenty five previous models were not complete so I don't count them and I haven't brought myself to strip them yet. I don't play often but when I did it was usually with a new model and I decide to paint it ten different ways before I actually do paint it. For me a big problem is having a revolving interest in models. First I cared a lot about Vostroyans, then I liked the idea of IG troops like navy seals. Then I liked orks. Then I discovered the beautiful FW admech models. Then I was obsessed with eldar. Then I got into sculpting to make my own IG troops. Right now I'm all about blood angels (go figure).

The ten models that I call "done" took four to six hours each and they are basic guard troops. The ironic part of them being done is I said "Let me paint one model to the best of my abilities currently". It was a lot of fun. Then I tried it again using the same theme. My tenth model is a lot better looking than my first and they all use the same techniques. If you want an army painted to a high standard then you should paint that way. It will take a long time but if you do one or two or three models (not ten, not assembly line!) then you have them done and they look great, and you can play with them safely.

A warning about doing models in batches for gamers: if you decide to prime a bunch of models and then you play with them you're going to put oil on the primer and your paint won't adhere easily. The same goes for any layer. That's why I suggest one model at a time, or only several at a time.

Tydil wrote:

A warning about doing models in batches for gamers: if you decide to prime a bunch of models and then you play with them you're going to put oil on the primer and your paint won't adhere easily. The same goes for any layer. That's why I suggest one model at a time, or only several at a time.

Simple solution to that problem is don't play with unfinished models. I realize that is not realistic for some. for me it is one of the things that keeps me painting. i want to try out a new list or a new model but I need to get it painted first.

Question about the air-brush is that it doesn't help at all though with the fine detailing which is what takes the most time.

Sure it'll basecoat your model super-fast and maybe get some patchy colouring but then what?

I keep trying the assembly line technique. and what that means is that non of my models are finished, but they all have some paint on them. So i keep planning to go back and finish up models, and slowly, i manage to finish up models. But I end up fielding them without any model being 100% done.

But now I do have a handful of completely finished models. And I intend to keep plugging away at them.

For what its worth, I plan to take the entire weekend to paint one 40mm based model for WMH. I'm a decent painter, but I want to go all out on this miniature.

Decent painting takes time, and practice. It probably took me 200ish miniatures before I built up my skills.

You can always do the base colors and just do more and more detail also you go if you at least want to get paint on everything.

 DorianGray wrote:
Question about the air-brush is that it doesn't help at all though with the fine detailing which is what takes the most time.

Sure it'll basecoat your model super-fast and maybe get some patchy colouring but then what?

Patchy coloring da faq?

Unless you are littering giving zero gak about it, it should be the opposite of patchy.

If you are talking about the Fine details then yeah you are using a chain saw to sculpt marble. its not the right tool.

You CAN do it but its not going to look right unless you are some kinda savant.

 Desubot wrote:

 DorianGray wrote:
Question about the air-brush is that it doesn't help at all though with the fine detailing which is what takes the most time.

Sure it'll basecoat your model super-fast and maybe get some patchy colouring but then what?

Patchy coloring da faq?

Unless you are littering giving zero gak about it, it should be the opposite of patchy.

Airbrushes do take a bit of practice to be good at. Its not like you can just pick one up and do amazing things.

I would like to invest in an airbrush if it actually is worth it and speeds up painting significantly but it seems to do nothing with layering the raised details with you must do with a 0/3 brush and a steady hand.

 DorianGray wrote:
I would like to invest in an airbrush if it actually is worth it and speeds up painting significantly but it seems to do nothing with layering the raised details with you must do with a 0/3 brush and a steady hand.

Its not meant to do the job of a 0/3 brush

There are some that can do it but that doesn't mean its what its meant for.

The purpose (EDIT: Primary draw in the context of mini war gaming) of an airbrush is to paint and blend relatively large areas with one or more colors. as well it has some interesting painting techniques it can do.

What are you expecting a complete replacement of the brush or something that will warp speed your painting time?

I've only recently started doing anything resembling assembly line painting, and boy does it make a difference! My problem is time commitment. I start painting, then due to a short attention span or something I get distracted and start doing something else (like reading stuff on DakkaDakka, lol ). I also use the old tired excuse of "I just got off work and I'm too tired to paint." I wish I could get over that. At the same time, I don't want to paint when I'm really tired, it'll make me sloppy. So I feel the OP's pain for sure.

See my sig for stats on how much painting I've gotten done in a year and a half. And most of those aren't based, just a coat of paint on the bases (I need to go back and base them properly).

 ZergSmasher wrote:
I've only recently started doing anything resembling assembly line painting, and boy does it make a difference! My problem is time commitment. I start painting, then due to a short attention span or something I get distracted and start doing something else (like reading stuff on DakkaDakka, lol ). I also use the old tired excuse of "I just got off work and I'm too tired to paint." I wish I could get over that. At the same time, I don't want to paint when I'm really tired, it'll make me sloppy. So I feel the OP's pain for sure.

We have alot in common.

I've found that 5 model assembly lines work pretty good. Enough to reap the benefits of the aseembly line method, but no so much as to lose my attention span with the repitious boredom of larger chunks of models.

 DorianGray wrote:
I would like to invest in an airbrush if it actually is worth it and speeds up painting significantly but it seems to do nothing with layering the raised details with you must do with a 0/3 brush and a steady hand.

Detailing is all about how you want to handle it if I'm brutally honest. I often do commision work and on tabletop quality, not EVERY single detail has to be picked out. I'm just going to refer to my own work here to use as an example:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/633266.page

Quite a few of these have detailing that just plain isn't picked out in different colours. And it really isn't that needed either. Some of it just done in one simple coat of brass with the same wash that was used to shade the teal armor, same with the white metal parts on the infantry (hooks, chains etc). The detailing isn't excessive... and it speeds up the job considerably.... But overall, it doesn't matter when this force is fielded. And believe me when I say that the client was absolutely thrilled with the job he got, despite some details not being picked out.

 Desubot wrote:
What are you expecting a complete replacement of the brush or something that will warp speed your painting time?

I am looking for one of the airbrush relics used by the artificers of Ryza. You load the a descripto technica datacube into the front mechanicum chamber, all 40 paints into separate paint cups, point it at the miniaturized simulacrum, and just hold the trigger down for a short time. The machine spirit of the airbrush does the rest, and will even micro-stabilize in case your hand is shakey, and macro-align, in case you sneeze.

I have heard that there is a Master Artificer version where you can hold it further away and load multiple datacubes to complete a squad all at once! But to use it, you need to replace your left eye with an augmented one that is linked to the airbrush.

Plus the device may need to overwrite the first 5 years of your childhood memories for operating system and vector analysis algorithms. It will make you awesome at squirtgun fights as well.

For me, an all wash method is the absolute fastest painting method. It's fast, it's easy, and gets models out super fast.

Painting takes crap loads of time. Even if you rush, don't expect to get a model from the sprue to the gaming table in less than half an hour per model (and it varies heaps on a model by model basis, a more detailed model might be impractical to get done in less than an hour).

I think people can be a bit deceptive by making out that it takes less time than it does.

It can be worth timing how long it takes you to do things and seeing if you can do them faster. My basic tactic for speed painting is...

1. Choose models that have minimal parts (less time spent cleaning mould lines).

2. Prime white

3. Use a LARGE brush, I use a 1cm wide brush for most my base coats. Thin down the paint so it's half way between a "wash" and a "layer" and apply it with the large brush, it should settle in the crevices and you create a bit of depth while simultaneously painting quickly (as someone who owns an airbrush.... I actually find the large hairy brush more efficient when it comes to speed painting).

4. Pick out the details as best you can.

5. Hit it with a wash.

Using that method I can paint a lot of models in under 20 minutes (but once you include cleaning mould lines and basing, it's more like 30 minutes). BUT, there's many models that simply aren't suited to painting that way.

And if you actually want to paint something good... it just takes time. I'm currently working on a Blood Angels Terminator and I'm about 5 hours in and all I've painted is his armour, scrolls and purity seals

The quickest method would be to buy an airbrush, so you can base color your army very quickly. Paint on 2-3 more colors, apply washes, and you've got a quick and easy tabletop standard army.

Highlighting is what takes to longest, in my opinion.

 DorianGray wrote:
I've encountered a major problem is that painting models WELL takes really long time per model.

I've sank probably 6+ hours into just 1 Talos and 1 Haemonculus and while they are 90% finished they aren't like golden daemon quality or anything.

The problem is filing sprues, magnetising everything (with hand-drill, greenstuff) priming them, basecoat, painting, wash, then drybrushing every single bit of the model, then base them then matt coat them is a LOT of effort.

Sure I could paint them like gak like 75% of the players but I don't want my army to look like gak.

How do you guys paint entire 1500 pt armies in a few hours? What tricks do you have?

Split the difference, a table ready mini should look good a few feet, not inches. I do dark color ,light Color, dry brush, ink and done. It is not contest winning, but it is not ugly either...

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
And if you actually want to paint something good... it just takes time. I'm currently working on a Blood Angels Terminator and I'm about 5 hours in and all I've painted is his armour, scrolls and purity seals

If I want a model to look really nice, I might spend 5+ hours on just the weapon, too. It's all just how good a model you want out of your paint job, right?

I find that for me, the first model (or batch of models) of a certain type always take WAY longer, as I try and figure out exactly how I'm going to paint them, what colours to use, and what pieces are which. Once I get that first few done, I'm able to speed up dramatically, while still painting to a table top standard that I'm happy with. Recently, I spent a couple of weeks painting 100 Cultists for an apocalypse game. I did them in batches of 20, using the same colour scheme, with just a difference in the primary colour (to help tell squads apart, and for dedication to different gods) and it really went pretty fast. I now only have 100 more of the little buggers to paint

 GimbleMuggernaught wrote:
I find that for me, the first model (or batch of models) of a certain type always take WAY longer, as I try and figure out exactly how I'm going to paint them, what colours to use, and what pieces are which.

This is a really good point! I can take 15 hours on the first model and 5 hours each on the next ten. This is where I do most of my paint stripping, actually -- because what am I gonna do with a bunch of bits painted a different variant. Redoing color schemes is quite time consuming, and sometimes, I need to do 3-4 options before I pick one that I love enough to paint the next 10-20 models.

That's why we have all of our minis painted. Not everyone can afford it, though.