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This is my first time painting miniatures. I'm using Sorastrio's guide on painting these stormtroopers. Link Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZUsfAtyEM0&t=305s.

Using GW Paints white scar, nulin oil, mechanicus grey. I figured this would be a good figure to learn with since its a board game piece so low stakes if I mess up. I can't really tell if I'm messing up. The whites look uneven in spots and there seems to be a lot of brush marks. In some spots the paint looks too thin and I can see the oil coming through under the white. Tried thinning down a lot but then the white paint pools up in the recesses when i try to paint. If i take the excess liquid off before painting there is little to no paint left and after a couple strokes its gone and I can still see the wash through the paint.

Also i'm not sure if I'm leaving too much shade. The oil adds a lot of definition to the figure but it also makes him look a little dirty which is not what i'm going for.

Here is a link to the pictures if you would like to see. http://imgur.com/a/Vm5Rp

any suggestions or links to videos? please give me your thoughts any help would be appreciated.

I've done a few of these Stormtroopers in the last few months and have found it much easier to get a solid white basecoat down first and then carefully block in all the detailing.

White Scar is a layer paint and can't really get decent coverage so would suggest swapping to something like Ceramite White or even just white primer/spray. Try to apply the shade only into the recessed areas in fine lines which will make it much easier to tidy up the white areas.

Here is a w.i.p of some of my troopers as an example:

Why would you ever paint white by hand for rank and file troops who are 99% white? Light colours are a nightmare to paint by hand

Use a white spray paint, then a very heavy black wash/thinned black paint for the joints/weapons, then an optional gloss varnish spray, then a light black wash all over to get the detailing picked out on the armour.

A final matt varnish spray then seals eveything.

If you have to paint by hand (for example in a model where white is not the primary colour), paint over a light grey primer/base layer, and use multiple thin layers - the paint should have the same thickness as milk, and only add a small amount at a time or you will get pooling. You can then still use washes to add additional shading or pick out edges/detailing, as well as add different colour tones.

Yeah, you chose the worst/most difficult painting thing...first.

 SilverMK2 wrote:
Why would you ever paint white by hand for rank and file troops who are 99% white? Light colours are a nightmare to paint by hand

Use a white spray paint, then a very heavy black wash/thinned black paint for the joints/weapons, then an optional gloss varnish spray, then a light black wash all over to get the detailing picked out on the armour.

A final matt varnish spray then seals eveything.

If you have to paint by hand (for example in a model where white is not the primary colour), paint over a light grey primer/base layer, and use multiple thin layers - the paint should have the same thickness as milk, and only add a small amount at a time or you will get pooling. You can then still use washes to add additional shading or pick out edges/detailing, as well as add different colour tones.

I thought about that but this is my first time painting and i'm just doing it the way the guy said to do it. white primer-wash whole figure in black wash-then highlight with white.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Elbows wrote:
Yeah, you chose the worst/most difficult painting thing...first.

lol yeah it's starting to feel that way


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 El-Torrminator wrote:
I've done a few of these Stormtroopers in the last few months and have found it much easier to get a solid white basecoat down first and then carefully block in all the detailing.

White Scar is a layer paint and can't really get decent coverage so would suggest swapping to something like Ceramite White or even just white primer/spray. Try to apply the shade only into the recessed areas in fine lines which will make it much easier to tidy up the white areas.

Here is a w.i.p of some of my troopers as an example:

Spoiler:

Dude your troopers are exactly what I would want out of mine. How did you do your's? spray or paint on the white? I'll definitely pick up that white, that makes my frustrations with white scar make a lot more sense. I was a little worried about trying to be exact with applying the shades but now that i've painted a few it seems more doable. i'll give that a shot as well. What did you do about the visor line and goggles? did you just go straight black or grey and shade down?

I disagree with spraying white then using a black wash.

Stormies are supposed to be crisp, clean, and shiny. Sandtroopers are dusty because of the environment, and anytime you see Imperial Troops looking less than parade ready is because of immediate environmental conditions; they polish it up as soon as they can.

A simple black wash over white undercoat can leave a grimy look.

Here is my suggestion. Undercoat with a medium gray or a very light blue, then use black on all the joints, vents, lenses or other applicable areas, touch up with white and hit all the big areas with white leaving the gray in the recesses and as the shade color underneath the armor's ridges and low points.

Then finish off the armor with a couple of coats of gloss, leaving the exposed areas of the body-glove flat black.

brettdavis1991 wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:

 El-Torrminator wrote:
I've done a few of these Stormtroopers in the last few months and have found it much easier to get a solid white basecoat down first and then carefully block in all the detailing.

White Scar is a layer paint and can't really get decent coverage so would suggest swapping to something like Ceramite White or even just white primer/spray. Try to apply the shade only into the recessed areas in fine lines which will make it much easier to tidy up the white areas.

Here is a w.i.p of some of my troopers as an example:

Spoiler:

Dude your troopers are exactly what I would want out of mine. How did you do your's? spray or paint on the white? I'll definitely pick up that white, that makes my frustrations with white scar make a lot more sense. I was a little worried about trying to be exact with applying the shades but now that i've painted a few it seems more doable. i'll give that a shot as well. What did you do about the visor line and goggles? did you just go straight black or grey and shade down?

Either would work though spray will be quicker. Areas which ended up black were washed first to easily add definition and then painted.

I'd also agree with the above suggestion for using a light grey as a base for the white. I tend to use Celestra Grey for this.

xraytango wrote:
A simple black wash over white undercoat can leave a grimy look.

That's why you gloss varnish them first, so the wash only hits the recesses

Definitely stick with the Sorastro tutorials, they are some of the best tutorials you can find anywhere on the internet.

The Stormtroopers one is a strange place for him to have started, as painting white can be very tricky, and as you can see from this thread everyone has their own method, and thinks that everyone else's way of doing it is wrong.

I personally followed the same guide when I painted my stormies, and they turned out pretty well. I think yours will be salvageable, you just need a couple more coats of the white. It sounds as if you are possibly thinning your paint a bit too much, or not using enough coats. If you're losing control of the paint, then it might be too thin. The idea of switching to Ceremite White (still thin it) is a really good one. It's a thicker paint, so gives a more opaque finish. The only other thing you need is to practice! Getting paint thickness right and learning brush control is something that only comes with time.

Keep going, don't get discouraged! You can always strip them and have another go if you feel you need to.

 feltmonkey wrote:
Definitely stick with the Sorastro tutorials, they are some of the best tutorials you can find anywhere on the internet.

The Stormtroopers one is a strange place for him to have started, as painting white can be very tricky, and as you can see from this thread everyone has their own method, and thinks that everyone else's way of doing it is wrong.

I personally followed the same guide when I painted my stormies, and they turned out pretty well. I think yours will be salvageable, you just need a couple more coats of the white. It sounds as if you are possibly thinning your paint a bit too much, or not using enough coats. If you're losing control of the paint, then it might be too thin. The idea of switching to Ceremite White (still thin it) is a really good one. It's a thicker paint, so gives a more opaque finish. The only other thing you need is to practice! Getting paint thickness right and learning brush control is something that only comes with time.

Keep going, don't get discouraged! You can always strip them and have another go if you feel you need to.

Yeah I think theres something to that method for the troopers but the thicker white might be better. I'm also thinking of switching to valejo because I've messed around with their paints and I felt like I was getting less brushstrokes. I've also had a problem deciding which areas I should totally go over with white. The black wash brings out all the details in the armor but if you paint around them to preserve the details the stormtrooper comes out looking too dark and dirty.

Vallejo paints are fantastic, so using them isn't a bad idea at all. I really like Citadel paints, but they can be inconsistent. I'm not hugely keen on their whites. There's nothing wrong with using a combination of different brands of paint.

I know what you mean about deciding which areas to go over. It was a while age that I painted mine, but I think the best idea is to leave as thin a line of the shade as you possibly can. What you can then do is wait for it to dry and add further coats, perhaps over a smaller area, leaving a slightly larger gap to the shaded part. As acrylic paints dry slightly transparent, you'll still see some shade through the first coat, then less through the areas with two coats, then less again through the areas with three coats, and so on, which creates a gradient of shade. That's the theory, at least! When using multiple coats, make sure the previous coat is completely dry before adding another one, otherwise you can end up lifting paint off the model.

As I say though, the Stormtroopers are probably the hardest thing to paint in the whole imperial assault box. If I were you, I'd put the frustrating things aside for the moment and have a go at painting the probe droids, again following the tutorial. They are pretty easy to paint, Sorastro has a good method for them, and I think you'll be pleased with how they come out. You can always come back to the stormies when you're feeling a bit more confident.