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Hello Dakka Dakka!!

I've been lurking as a non-member for a few months now, trying to play catch up to the world of 7th edition 40K.

I'm an old time returning 40K player, and by old, I mean as in learned to play with 1st edition, hardback Rogue Trader kinda old. The last time I played 40K was, I believe, 3rd edition. Maybe 4th? I can't recall exactly. So I've got A LOT of relearning to do.

My first introduction to GW wasn't through 40K though, it was actually with Space Hulk. I think it was around 1990 when I first visited the local GW store, and the guys there suggested I start off with Space Hulk as a good introduction to the 40K world, as it explained much of the 40K universe but was far more simple to get into than table-top gaming and the models were cookie cutter and easy to learn how to paint. Needless to say, I really, really sucked at painting, but hey, I was only around 12 years old at the time. But, I was immediately hooked, and soon discovered that local GW store was more than just a shop, it was a muster ground. I practically lived in that store for 8 years or so. Made some best friends, dived into all the various GW games (Battle Fleet, Blood Bowl, Epic (!!), dabbled with fantasy warhammer, but that wasn't quite my bag), and eventually settled in on being a dedicated 40K player. I tried the various factions, bouncing between Eldar/Harlequins and Space Marines before finally deciding Space Marines were my army of choice. Not sure why, but I was drawn to White Scars (bear in mind, this is probably around '93 - '94, so there really wasn't anything for White Scars, models, rules or codex-wise). This was good and bad. The bad part... PAINTING WHITE. F ME. As an impatient teenager who wanted immediate results, painting white was definitely not the way to go. The good part though... the guys who worked there schooled, taught, berated, and every now and then, complimented me, on how to paint, especially white. A lot of it had to do with me refusing to prime my models white first. Even now, getting back into painting, I still only prime black. So I was always behind the ball trying to go from black to white, or any other light color. But, that's how I was able to make the jump from being a really bad painter, to some what decent, by learning from them about thin layers, highlighting, blending, etc... not thick goops just to get results.

Anyway, around last November, I got the urge to want to paint and play 40K again. So after a very long time away from the game, I started googling all the new 7th ed. 40K rules, and watching a lot of batreps on youtube, which have been an amazing help in learning all the new rules (which, to me, is pretty much everything except how to move 12 inches). After checking out the new factions, models, I couldn't resist my old comforts, and have gone back to the good 'ol Space Marines, and after researching the various tactics, army structures, all that good stuff, I decided on being a Raven Guard player.

So I've pretty much spent the last 4 months or so giving GW a lot of my money, plus a few Forge World orders to get those cool RG accessories, LOTS and LOTS of paints and brushes, and have been painting non-stop, steadfast building up my Raven Guard. It's been fun and frustrating getting back into painting again. Shaking off the cobwebs and trying to pick up where I left off. Thankfully, being much older now than I was when I last painted, I've become far more patient and that's paying off a lot when it comes to becoming a better painter. When I was a teenager and painting, it was all about getting them done as fast as possible. Now I have no problem spending a few days methodically shaving off mold lines before I even get started to paint the model.

When I get the chance, I'll post a pic of one of my recent models I just finished (converted that super awesome Blood Angels jump pack chaplain to Raven Guard), and would definitely be grateful for any comments, suggestions, criticisms when it comes to my painting, having been away from it for so long. I'd like to think I'm not too terrible at it, but I know I've got a lot of rust I need chip away at still. I did have a few things on display at the GW store way, way back, and somewhere out there there's an insignificant tiny picture of something I did that made it into a mid-90's era White Dwarf, but considering the last time I really painted was probably around 1998, I pretty much feel like I'm totally starting over again. I've had a lot of fun checking out the really awesome paint jobs people have posted on here. It's a great resource for inspiration and comparing what I could do better at.

Apologies for the super long first/intro post. Really looking forward to learning from everyone here and getting back into the 40K community. It's a world, game, and group of people that have been a part of my life (off and on) for almost 28 years, and it feels good coming back home... a dark, twisted, ultraviolent grimdark home

Hi,

Welcome to Dakka, I've been there with the white painting before

Hi, thanks for the welcome!

White can just be so frustrating. Especially if someone has any amount of perfectionism in their system, which I imagine is inherent in the majority population of miniature painters. White is just so totally unforgiving. The most minute brush stroke will show up on any portion of a flat surface, and then on top of all that, you gotta find that right mix of thinning. Too thick, and you can see the brush strokes and wind up spending ages trying to blend the edges away. Plus is just looks amateurish... rushed and impatient. Too thin and it pools to the edges like a wash and you almost get the same brush stroke like effect, just built up along the edges, and then you wind up spending ages again applying layer on top of layer but just come away with something slightly different but equally bad looking. Grrrr, damn you white.

One of the best techniques I've found is actually from a GW how to paint video specifically on how to go from a black base/prime to white. Their method was to apply thin layers of an Ulthuan Grey base over the black, followed by Nuln Oil, followed by a couple thin layers of Celestra Gray. What I liked most about this isn't only that these particular paints work great over black, but that it then allows you to use a pure white as a highlight. Back when I was learning how to paint white (not to say that I'm not still learning... always will be), I was taught to go from grey, straight to thin layers of white itself. I like the other approach much better. Grey is far more forgiving to correct mistakes and then makes the pure white highlights really pop.