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Fictional wrote:

 Sasquatch wrote:

Fictional wrote:
A long time ago, I painted space marines using enamel paint.

Heretic!!!

In my defence, it was about 30 years ago, and I used to paint airfix kits previously, for which enamels paints were the norm at the time.

Also, whilst im confessing, these were the RT plastic marines, which I didnt exactly cut out of the sprues well. There are bits sticking out all over the models.

Whilst I have improved since starting to collect again, I do properly cut, scrape, file and clean the models, I have fallen into the "build more than i paint" trap.

yeah its a trap I fell into day one and still haven't managed to claw my way out of... "I'll finish painting this unit next week I just need to build that Leman Russ first.... Ooh kill team!"

I paint directly from the pot, and I hold my minis with my fingers while I’m painting. It’s sacrilege, I know. I don’t seal my models. Sometimes I don’t wash my resin models either. I haven’t had a problem yet, but I’ve only been into 40k/minis for about 5 years. Let’s see what the future brings

I mainly shoot thinned craft paint in my airbrush. Always seems to be easier and get better results than "proper" model paint.

I frequently cut towards myself with my hobby knife. So far I've only had one mishap, and that one was minor (nicked my thumb enough to draw a very small amount of blood).

I often play games with unpainted or at least unfinished models.

I keep large numbers of unpainted models surrounding my work area (not a good idea as it can be discouraging and distracting).

I use drybrushing for the same job as most good painters use edge highlighting (it's easier and faster, though messier).

I do all my painting with a hairy stick instead of an airbrush, even when an airbrush would do it much easier, faster and have a better finish. I'm just too cheap to buy an airbrush, really. The only exception is that I use spraycans for primer and sometimes for basecoats.

Snap and toss detail brushes that curl at the tip when they are most needed!

Left closed Citadel Shade bottle on its side overnight, most of it leak out, somehow!

Do not bother painting areas that wont be seen anyway!

Dry brush and Shade as much as i can get away with!

Use primer as primary color scheme for a project!

Forget to seal finished projects with clear coat of varnish.

I am sure there is more...





Automatically Appended Next Post:

 LordMcAllister wrote:
- I lick my brush to get it back in shape, except when using oil based paint

- I start painting way to many projects and tend to switch from one to another all the time

- I think too much about how to paint and what to do next, without actually painting

- sometimes I see some lint in the paint on the tip of my brush and am too lazy washing the brush and reapplying the paint... so I keep on painting and most the time I regret it, as I apply the lint to the miniature

- trying to apply a second layer without letting the first one completly dry (especially annoying with washes... most the time the damage can't be repaired)

- I tend to dip my paintbrush into my coffee mug before realizing it isn't water

I most likely commit more painting sins, but can't remember them at the moment.

Wow!
I can relate to every single point 100% Damn lint on brush tip, with enough paint you wont even see it

I make direct finger contact with my miniatures.

I don't edge highlight anything.

I wash almost all of my infantry brown because I can't be bothered to selectively recess shade.

I paint bright colors directly over black primer instead of working my way up in brown or gray.

i lick my paint brush .. with the paint still on it .. even the metallics .. *twitch* .. but i am pretty sure everything is okay ...

WARNING: Kids don't do this at home. I once krazy glued my hand to my 35 lb painting table top. I had to carry it around my apartment while trying to find my finger nail polish remover.
What's varnish? Ain't that something that's sprayed on a cereal flake.
Trying to use old paint cans as they fall apart from the 1990s.
Using sub assemblies for all my models.
Not just licking my paint brushes but accidentally drinking out of my paint water coffee cup.
Holding the model while painting even if some of the paint wears off.

I will wait for the inquisition to stop by so I may be purged of my wrong doing.

Fictional wrote:
A long time ago, I painted space marines using enamel paint.

I too have this shame, brother *bows head in penance*

I have many sins, too many to list. But then I am not a painter.

My latest and greatest sin though has to be using Sharpie markers, particularly the metallics. so much easier and quicker.

Main reason is all this NMM floating about, I tried it and exhausted myself completely in the trying, and an end result of a vote of crap from the Dakka community.

I also mix my paints like crazy, and don't keep any log of "recipes. And when I say mix paints I mean everything from house paint to artist mediums to Vallajo and GW and Golden Acrylics. I thin with Iso and have never owned a genuine thinner/mixing agent.

But I guess my biggest sin (there are many not listed) is using the same water for metallic and normal paints. Water pot can sometimes sit there for several sessions.

At heart I am an Ork, so don't really care just how terrible my sins are. Mildly embarrassed, but not repentant.

There was me thinking i was free from sin but reading this thread has reminded me thats not the case!!

LordMcAllister wrote:

- I think too much about how to paint and what to do next, without actually painting

I spend way more time watching videos/ tutorials of other people painting than i do actually painting minis. If i fixed that i'd be much more productive!

Camkierhi wrote:

I also mix my paints like crazy, and don't keep any log of "recipes.

I had to wean myself off making random colour mixes to get a colour i like and then completely forget what paints/ ratios i used! Now i try to use standard colours without too much mixing and i have a notebook if i am going to mix stuff up.

I bitch about my lack of freehand skills, but it occurs to me I've never sat down and practiced it. That's pretty dumb.

Oh, yeah, I think this is a thread I can contribute to...

Well, painting straight from a pot, unthinned.
I use crappy synthetic fiber "Masking fluid" brushes that are about 4 quid for a 4 set from Hobbycraft...
I don't change my water pot as often as I should, and I have been known to use the same water for metallics and colours.
I don't consider drybrushing and using washes to be a sin, but I do that too.
Um... I can be slapdash with mold lines, and I don't drill gun barrels...

My big one is that until recently I left everything un-based, unpainted black plastic. I only recently started basing - got inspired by how much of a difference the new Necromunda bases make. So I'm going to say that I'm doing penance for that one.

There's probably others too...

Oh, I may have a thing or two to add to this....

-I don't change my brushes out near often enough, especially with the abuse I put them through. I think my current staple brush has been in service for over a year, and should have been retired probably by January at the latest.
-I've gotten better here, but when weather has not been good for priming, varnishing, etc, I have just set up on my kitchen table to do it. In my defense, the area is moderately well ventilated. Then again, this practice is basically how I learned I am allergic to one of the chemicals used in spray varnish and primer...
-I have a larger collection of unpainted models than painted models - I haven't counted for awhile, but I think only about 50 or 60 of my models are painted. I suppose this wouldn't be bad if I A) didn't play Guard and B) haven't been collecting since 2015.
-To go the opposite route of some people, I ALWAYS paint the eyes on my minis, even when I know the result will be complete garbage ahead of time due to my poor hand-eye dexterity. The model just doesn't look finished to me until it is done. To save time in case I screw up too bad, this is always the first part of a model I paint after priming, and all results have basically been "passable".

My sins are well documented and many, oh man so, so many.

I've done things. Unspeakable things.
There are models that have three of my bodily fluids on them.
I've made brushes out of my chest hair, beard hair, and nethers.
I've dipped models in a blueberry mash.
I've used poisonous mushroom spores as a sepia wash.
I've had other people paint models for me and said thank you when I got compliments on my blending.
I've wet a brush with the tears of a ten year old, harvested off the play mat.

Emperor help me I've recast models so I could do the worst paint job ever because I thought it was funny to hide my recasting flaws.
I'm a bad person.

I mostly use cheap brush sets from wherever I can find them. I only own one GW brush, which I'm afraid of ruining and wasting my investment (which ironically means I hardly ever use it and waste my investment anyway).
I also do most of my painting with only one brush. It came with a paint-by-numbers set that I never did, but it was a good set with a decent quality brush and said brush has lasted over a year at this point.

Dry-brushing is fine as a technique, but I probably over-used it (done with the aforementioned cheap brushes). I am however now starting to use more edge highlighting since it's better suited to the Harlequins I'm painting.

Looking through these other responses, could someone explain to me what enamel paints are and what's so bad about using them?

 snykyninja wrote:
I mostly use cheap brush sets from wherever I can find them. I only own one GW brush, which I'm afraid of ruining and wasting my investment (which ironically means I hardly ever use it and waste my investment anyway).
I also do most of my painting with only one brush. It came with a paint-by-numbers set that I never did, but it was a good set with a decent quality brush and said brush has lasted over a year at this point.

Dry-brushing is fine as a technique, but I probably over-used it (done with the aforementioned cheap brushes). I am however now starting to use more edge highlighting since it's better suited to the Harlequins I'm painting.

Looking through these other responses, could someone explain to me what enamel paints are and what's so bad about using them?

Oil based paint. Meaning that if you mess up, you can't strip and redo it.

Arcanis161 wrote:

 snykyninja wrote:
I mostly use cheap brush sets from wherever I can find them. I only own one GW brush, which I'm afraid of ruining and wasting my investment (which ironically means I hardly ever use it and waste my investment anyway).
I also do most of my painting with only one brush. It came with a paint-by-numbers set that I never did, but it was a good set with a decent quality brush and said brush has lasted over a year at this point.

Dry-brushing is fine as a technique, but I probably over-used it (done with the aforementioned cheap brushes). I am however now starting to use more edge highlighting since it's better suited to the Harlequins I'm painting.

Looking through these other responses, could someone explain to me what enamel paints are and what's so bad about using them?

Oil based paint. Meaning that if you mess up, you can't strip and redo it.

Ah, I see. That is something that I haven't done; it's always been GW paints for me.

You can, and I have, stripped Enamel paint off of metal, resin and plastic models. It may not be quite as easy as acrylic to strip, but it's by no means permanent.

It does mean that a finished model is more hard-wearing than an equivalent acrylic-painted model. Enamel paints get tougher with age, acrylics get weaker. Arguably better for gaming models.

They do smell, however, and required things like white spirit / mineral spirits to clean up rather than water.

On that note, more sins:
I wash my brushes, including Rosemary&Co sable brushes in white spirit.

and, my jar of white spirit (used to clean my brushes) has never been changed, only topped up with new white spirit.
I occasionally scoop out the gunk from the bottom to free up space when it gets to about a third of the jar's volume.

and I use that jar of white spirit to thin my paints, every colour goes in there, including metallics, it looks yellowy in colour, but it gets used for all my paint thinning without a second thought.

 Doomthumbs wrote:
My sins are well documented and many, oh man so, so many.

I've done things. Unspeakable things.
There are models that have three of my bodily fluids on them.
I've made brushes out of my chest hair, beard hair, and nethers.
I've dipped models in a blueberry mash.
I've used poisonous mushroom spores as a sepia wash.
I've had other people paint models for me and said thank you when I got compliments on my blending.
I've wet a brush with the tears of a ten year old, harvested off the play mat.

Emperor help me I've recast models so I could do the worst paint job ever because I thought it was funny to hide my recasting flaws.
I'm a bad person.

I got accused of being you for using a wasp head on a terminator. Is your genestealer all brown now?

I also love the cheap brushes. I buy multi-brush packs. I paint on top of a square of newspaper covered in bits, where my actual painting area is about three square inches. The newspaper is fused to several napkins and a paper towel and old knife blades by layers of mixed paint. I rely on memory to repeat paint mixes, which is why my lobster marines are all slightly different colors. I never wash resin before I paint it. I've recast bits because a company said they would only sell them to me as part of a larger set. I've never read anything about how to use my airbrush correctly, so it suffers always.

I'm glad people are having so much fun with this thread. Apparently my list of sins is far longer than I first assumed.
I used to use Gesso as primer for my minis (I still maintain it's as good as anything else I've used).
After spending a month painting a single ork boy, I can't be bothered to spend much time on the base (although I'm getting better at this). A lot of my older minis weren't even based at all, so I guess I'm progressing?
I edge highlight because I've never been successful at drybrushing anything.
I try to reconstitute paint pots with water after they've mostly dried out rather than spend $4 for a new one.
I've never used any kind of medium; water FTW always.
I haven't ever sealed a model with anything, and now I'm terrified to do so because it might ruin them (I've read enough horror stories to feel that this sentiment is kinda justified).
I spend as much time painting parts of the mini that no one will ever see as I do everything else.

However, as Cam said, "At heart I am an Ork, so don't really care just how terrible my sins are. Mildly embarrassed, but not repentant. "

I only started painting because somebody showed me how easy drybrushing was one day, and suddenly I was like oh gak I can do this. I'm also just using water to thin. I tried using isopropyl one time for some reason, and added it directly to a pot. Now that one pot is forever curdled. Get some of Testors' dullcote. It's my favorite spray sealer so far, and the only one that hasn't betrayed me yet.

 Salabasama wrote:

I got accused of being you for using a wasp head on a terminator. Is your genestealer all brown now?

Lol by whom?
No, he's actually just as vibrant as the day he was painted. The basing fell off a bit, but all the colors stayed the same. The resin coat really sealed in the freshness.

May the gods smite me, I am a shameless heretic!

For proper minis:
Don’t thin, prime, or seal as often as I should.
Overuse of drybrushing and washes.
What is this edge highlighting thing you people speak of?
Dog hair and lint jumping in the paint, getting on the brush and ending on the mini.
Holding the mini itself.
One brush for everything!
Using really too large/small a brush.
Loads of cheap brushes for abuse and a couple sable for low-abuse methods.
Storing brushes bristles up.
Washing brushes in plain water, the same one for all colors and metallics, for multiple sessions.
Using said water as thinner at times.
Using Reaper brush-on clear coat as thinning medium when I actually bother thinning (almost) properly.
Lazy basing, literally MDF circles painted black currently.
Cutting towards myself with my x-acto, confetti thumb is occasionally the phrase used...
Too lazy to use any of the... 3? Airbrushes in the house.
I don’t drill barrels most of the time.
Project hop like crazy, with... at least 5 active big-ish projects if not on, lurking menacingly around my desk
Buying and building more than I paint.

And for terrain add the following:
Priming in less than wise conditions. (There were thunderstorms less than 4 hours before I primed last night and the roof was still dripping some)
Cheap craft paint, 50 to 70 cents for a 2 ounce bottle!
Not thinning paint when I REALLY should.
Oh god! The drybrushing! AAARRRGH!!!
Those poor brushes, they don’t deserve such cruelty! Even IF they are super cheap!
Just now while using a Gatorade bottle rather than a yogurt container means I’ve FINALLY tried drinking the paint water. (Hit the tip of my tounge and went “WHAT THE ZOG AM I DOING!?!?!?”)

 ZergSmasher wrote:
I frequently cut towards myself with my hobby knife. So far I've only had one mishap, and that one was minor (nicked my thumb enough to draw a very small amount of blood).

I often play games with unpainted or at least unfinished models.

I keep large numbers of unpainted models surrounding my work area (not a good idea as it can be discouraging and distracting).

I use drybrushing for the same job as most good painters use edge highlighting (it's easier and faster, though messier).

I do all my painting with a hairy stick instead of an airbrush, even when an airbrush would do it much easier, faster and have a better finish. I'm just too cheap to buy an airbrush, really. The only exception is that I use spraycans for primer and sometimes for basecoats.

Like"safety" box cutters, cutting away from yourself actually is more risky. The away cut muscle movement is less precise and uncontrollable. When you cut towards your body you use different muscles and you tend to support the cutting hand and object with the other.

Can't count the serious injuries, stitches, employees had when we switched to safety blades.

Noting unsafe about cutting towards your trunk as long as it isn't some spastic movement.

so many. I lick brushes, I'm probably not the safest with my hobby knife, etc.

I try to thin and I even try to use a wet palette, but by sin is ignorance. I've never been able to understand exactly how much to thin paints. What's too much or too little. Youtube and forums have told me that it should be a milky consistency, but for whatever reason, that never clicks with me. It doesn't seem to mean anything.

Like I said, I use a wet palette, but it's one I made myself and I'm not sure if it actually does anything. The paper stays moist but the paints still seem to dry out pretty fast.