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My main army are necrons, and in stark contrast to having only a handful of resilient troops, I decided to build up a 'nid swarm army. Problem is, I don't really have the time needed to paint 100+ figures. So I looked for ways to speed up the painting process while still getting a good end result. I finished my first test termagaunt yesterday and would like to hear your comments and thoughts before I finalize on what I've got here. I like the green/bone scheme a lot, I'm not too sure about the base though; I've got a cityfight table in the works and want my 'nids to have fitting bases, but can't decide on wether I should go for grey or black base rims.

Black IMO, i think that would look pretty sharp.

I agree with FPS that a black rim will look sharper. It allows for a clear differentiation between the completed base surface and its edge. Having them the same color looks sloppier and unfinished, IMO.

The exception to this is if you just intend to use the figures on one table at home, and are matching the bases to that table surface. In that case, having the edges and surface blend together is best, and adds to the illusion that the figure is standing on the table surface.

I decided to go with a lighter green instead of the dark one, and think it looks lots better now. Gonna do the bases with black rims as you guys suggested, but I didn't start working on them yet.

I like it, that army is gonna look real slick on the field.

Jup, I really like dipped nids, makes me jealous inside and all.

Greets
Schepp himself

Really good looking. Isn't there a technique to reduce the shine? Like a Matt varnish or something?

how do you dip nids?

Looks great! Of course, I'm doing the exact same scheme, dipped and all.

If you can find any old Camo Green spray on the web, it will speed your painting process up quite a bit. I've found none (got it from an FLGS), but you could try forums too.

And thank you for the demonstration of the right base color! I was going to go with a desert or jungle theme with a reddish rock, but the urban color contrasts much better.

It pained to be massive ends when I found out the Camo Green spray was only a temperary item, given I'd been base coating all of my `Nids with it. I am NOT base coating that many gaunts by hand, been unable to find another spray that decently matched the Camo Green, and has pretty much made me stop painting my `Nids.

Aduro wrote:It pained to be massive ends when I found out the Camo Green spray was only a temperary item, given I'd been base coating all of my `Nids with it. I am NOT base coating that many gaunts by hand, been unable to find another spray that decently matched the Camo Green, and has pretty much made me stop painting my `Nids.

Quit cryin' its called a tank brush.

There's nothing new under the sun

My Warriors, from about a year ago (and I thought my colour scheme was so original too ):




Viperion

I'm still amazed that you consider that a "quick" paint job. I've been painting on and off for years and consider myself an adept painter, but those look awsome! Though I've been painting all these years, it wasn't until recently I started messing around with special effects like cry brushing and highlighting. Granted, IG can be done in plain schemes and still look nice, I wish I knew how to do them betterer.

Here's a tutorial, Skinnattittar. It's faster than it looks, which was the appeal for me - I don't have the time to paint 100+ models, but really wanted a 'nid army, so I looked around for ways to speed up the painting process before buying a single model. I spend a lot more time on my necrons.

By the way, the warriors look great, Viperion!

Thanks, I'm really happy with the way the Chitin worked out, but the bodies are kind of blah as they're only one colour + wash (I didn't dip mine but I did use lots of brown ink + liquid wax and a big brush so it's more or less the same effect

Viperion

I was thinking of something applying more towards IG, but it's still impressive.

To knock out the resultant shine that polyurethane dips or washes yeild, the best product by far is a spray known as Testors Dullcote. Just shop for it online, I got my tin from ebay and have been very pleased with the results. Most dippers swear by the stuff, I'm just using it to protect my army without altering the look (although I'm highly tempted to quick paint some nids by washing them with satin polyurethane).

My nids were reversed. Dark angels green carapace and bleached bone skin.I wish they made bleached bone spray again.

The closest ive found to bleached bone is oxford white spray

Also what do you think of dipping a red and white eldar grav tank any advice would be appreciated

Trag-Oul wrote:Also what do you think of dipping a red and white eldar grav tank any advice would be appreciated

The way dip runs means it will come out in big splotches on large, smooth surfaces like eldar vehicles. The colours themselves are okay for dipping, but I don't think the result would look like you'd want it to look.

Also, progress report!

Oooh, I like the four-winged tyrant. Nice touch!

And it looks like you're not overdoing the dip, either. Good work.

On a side note, even with mass-production 'Nids, applying some heat and bending the tails does wonders to make them look more individual. That straight-tail thing really bugs me (ahem).

Nice stuff I take it your gonna try and get it up to endless swarm potential?

Trag-Oul wrote:Also what do you think of dipping a red and white eldar grav tank any advice would be appreciated

You'll end up with a darker red and tan instead of red and white.

I'm working on a Tau force and did a test dip on the bases. I found that it was faster for me to brush on the stain than to dip and shake. The brush also gave me much more control of where the stain sat so it should help with the problems associated with dipping vehicles.

Flagg07 wrote:

Trag-Oul wrote:Also what do you think of dipping a red and white eldar grav tank any advice would be appreciated

You'll end up with a darker red and tan instead of red and white.

I'm working on a Tau force and did a test dip on the bases. I found that it was faster for me to brush on the stain than to dip and shake. The brush also gave me much more control of where the stain sat so it should help with the problems associated with dipping vehicles.

That sounds pretty good for my foot soldiers the red and tan is great and im going for a really dark red

Thankyou again

Mooore please. Your making some great progress. It takes me over two weeks to finish 7 Shoota boys...

strafed wrote:It takes me over two weeks to finish 7 Shoota boys.

Unless you are going for a significantly high quality, I'd suggest the dip method. You could do 5 times that number, including assembly in less than a week. Not to mention the fact that they'll have a nice protective coating as well.

As for the Nids, I really like them.
Can you describe your method for shaking the dip off?
I'd also be interested in what type of solution you used. Minwax?
How long did it take for your minis to dry? Mine are taking days to finish. Any ideas for getting the minwax to dry faster?
Did you hit them with anything to dull them down? I'll be trying Testor's dull coat spray.

Samrock: great idea about the tails! Too bad I'm already in the middle of painting the last gaunts (for now at least), but I'll keep it in mind for when I expand the army to 1.500 points!

Flagg07 wrote:

strafed wrote:It takes me over two weeks to finish 7 Shoota boys.

As for the Nids, I really like them.
Can you describe your method for shaking the dip off?
I'd also be interested in what type of solution you used. Minwax?
How long did it take for your minis to dry? Mine are taking days to finish. Any ideas for getting the minwax to dry faster?
Did you hit them with anything to dull them down? I'll be trying Testor's dull coat spray.

I don't really dip the models, but apply the stuff with a large worn-out brush. Since I'm in germany and have no clue what to buy, and didn't want to try half a dozen different floor waxes until I found something I'd like, I settled on Quick Shade (Soft Tone) from The Army Painter. It's expensive at 20 Euros, but it looks like one can will be enough for my entire army. Also, the Soft Tone dip is very light and subtle for a dip, so I avoid the usual huge brown splotches associated with the technique. The stuff takes about a day to dry, and doesn't shine too much, so I don't do anything else to the minis afterwards.

Thanks for the info. The link may prove useful as well.