[Nightbringer416]

I have a hard time painting these miniatures well and i would really like to improve that as this the part of the hobby i like most. It's more the gratification of the finished product but on that note i have a couple questions about paints.

- whats the difference between foundation paint and regular paint?
- how many base coats do you usually go by before applying detail?
- is there some sort of technique to drybrushing " little paint and quickly brush over is what i do"?
- is there specific brands of primers and paints to go with?

seeing now that some people can take between 3-8 hrs to paint one mini I can tell I haven't spent enough time on mine. well thanks for all the tutorials post it's very imformative.:so_happy:

p.s. someone should post some cool rusty and dirty necron tutorial:wink:

 

[The Wraithlord]

Heh, get some Minwax Walnut woodstain, paint the Necrons you have Boltgun Metal, the eyes Scorpion Green. Don't put the green stick in the gun just yet. Once the paint it dry, attach the base of the model to a nail and dip the entire thing in the stains. Wait a few seconds, take it out and hold it upside down for a few seconds. After that spin the model to get rid of the excess stain and voila, instant rusty looking, shaded Necron done in minutes.

Check out this thread on Warseer for info on dipping: http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27857

As to your other questions:

- whats the difference between foundation paint and regular paint?

Foundation paint has more pigment in it than the regular paint, making it both thicker and easier to spread over a basecoat. Damn handy stuff to have, especially when painting colours like yellow or red over black as it requires one coat instead of several. Just be sure to thin the foundation paint with water a bit more than you would with regular paint.

how many base coats do you usually go by before applying detail?

Loaded question. It depends entirely on how you want to paint. I do one basecoat and start blending colours up from there. Two basecoats if the undercoat (black) is showing through the first one at all.

is there some sort of technique to drybrushing " little paint and quickly brush over is what i do"?

Take your time is the key. Using very little paint, I brush in a pattern that hits the model from all eight directions. Picture a chaos star and drybrush in the direction of the arrows. If you do it right, it will seem at first like nothing is happening and will only gradually, with successive layers, will you see the highlights being painted on. This will prevent the 'dirty' look that drybrushing tends to give.

is there specific brands of primers and paints to go with?

No at all. Go with what you are comfortable with. I use GW chaos black spray for undercoating and a mix of GW and Folk Arts paints for colour. Other use Tamiya paints or other brands. Use what you feel suits you best.

The key to painting a nice looking model is to take your time!. Some people can paint a model in a night while others, like myself, can take a week to paint one. Don't set a time limit on a model you are painting. Take as long as you need until it looks the way you want it to. That way you will be happy with the results.

 

[moc065]

One big thing that you can do to speed up painting times and get better results over time is to "Unit paint" and by this I mean actually paint the whole squad at one time. Since you asked about Necrons, I will detail this out on a typical Necron Warrior Squad of 10 guys, and since you asked I will tell you how to get a Rusty look to their Metal parts.

Prep Takes about 1 hour although it should be spread out over a few sessions.
1.. Assemble and "Wash" the figures (use soap and water to remove all your dirty fingerprints and then rinse them well and let dry). It is often a good idea to do all of your Base work at this time on too, as the Spray will help to seal any sands you use.

2.. Spray them with Chaos Black (hardware store spray works too; but make sure its "Flat" and non-textured) also remember that 2-3 very light coats is always better than on heavy coat of Primer. When this is done, inspect your figures and use a "Tank Brush" and Chaos black paints (thinned a lot) to tough up andy areas you still missed.

3.. Take 10 old paint pots and some Blue tac and afix the squad to a pot; now you can hold onto the pot, while you paint the figure (easier on the hands and prevent touching the figure so much).

Painting Metal areas All of thee steps get doen to all 10 figures before you go onto the next step.
4.. OK, get a "Standard Brush" and lay down a coat of Tin Bitz to all of your metal areas.

5.. Keep using the standard brush and splatter/splotch some Gun Bolt Metal to all of your metal areas.

6.. using starndard brush add the primary colour to any other parts of the figure (lets say Dark Angles Green in this case).

7.. Use a Tank-brush to do a "Wash" of DA Green over the entire figure (a wash is a mix of paint and water that is so thin that you can actually read print right through the Wash).

8.. Do another Wash using Blood Red over the entire figure.

9.. Dry brush all the metal areas with Gun Bolt Metal, and done worry about touching some of the green as it wil get fixed later. Also make sure that this is a fairly good dry-brush so that 30-50% of the metal is actually brushed onto.

10.. Do a selctive dry-brush over all of your metal areas using Silver, now make sure that this is a much softer dry-brush so that may 10% of any area gets brushed onto.

Moving on to Primary colouring
11.. Now, using your Standard brush go over about 80% of your "Green" areas with a lighter shade of "Green" (for this case I will say Scale Green).

12.. use a Detail Brush and go over about 40% of your "Green" areas with a lighter shade (lets say 50/50 Scale and Goblin Green).

13.. Use your final highligth shade of "Green" (Lets say Goblin Green) and your detail brush to edge all of your "Green" areas.

Finishing the figure but at this point it is playable for sure.
14.. add a third colour for any icons, eyes, etc.... usually done with the detail and fine detail brushes. (If need the steps on this, ask)

15.. Do some dry-brushing on the base with to give it a Tone.... (If you need the steps on this, ask)

I know that sounds like it would take forever; but if you sat down for an hour or two at a time and did a few sessions you will find that in about 10hours of work you get 10 guys done, and they are actually well above "Table Top" ready. This is the method I use for all squads and feel free to check out my Website (klucas.piczo.com) in the gallery - there are a few good tutorials of different units being done. I hope that helps you out but here is a picture of one of my Destroyers (I didn't do the "Rust Look" and I did add a Green Ink to the overall armour to give it the ceramic look but all the rest is as per tutorial).

 

[Nightbringer416]

wow loads of info. thanks for everything.:grin: thanks for detailed answer for all my questions also. I see moco that you have the sort of ceramic feel to the carapace on the "beetle" and shoulder pads which is awesome. my first batch of necron warriors i tried going for that look but all paint looked very flat and i think its because i didn't water them down like wraithlord was explaining to me. I also like the dip idea.

- here is some pics of my first try at painting minis. I tried the ceramic look first. I primed them white then painted the grey back in with another layer of skull white on their armored parts. sorry these are the only ones i have for now the're not very good.

i also just learned about rep points. so you guys get some for that.

-this is a close up shot

i'm currently working on a red and boltgun metal scheme, once i have a couple of them done i will post. I'm also going to paint a deceiver and i wanted to have all the info before starting him hence the purpose of the post. thanks again.

 

[morfangdakka]

http://us.games-workshop.com/games/40k/necrons/painting/rusty/default.htm

I don't know if you have seen this or not but it covers rusty necrons. Take your time is best advice I can give. Do some research on painting techniques and ask questions people usually will help if they can.

 

[Nightbringer416]

cool thanks for the link

 

[Pandawithissues...]

A few basic points that haven't been covered:

1) Don't be afraid to go and buy a smaller brush than GW make, their fine detail brush is the largest one i use.

2) When dipping the brush in the paint, dont go more than 2/3 of the way down the tip, as this can lead to clogging in the heel of the brush, which will accelerate its degradation rapidly.

3) Keep a water pot handy to wash the brush out regularly, this will extend its lifespan. I tend to wash the brush out a bit every 4-5 dips in paint. This water should be replaced regularly, and particularly every time you change colour.

4) Invest in some acrylic paint remover. After every painting session, use this to thoroughly clean the brushes you have used - You'll be surprised how much paint still remains, particularly with metallics.

 

[The Son of Horus]

GW's brushes aren't that good in the first place-- I'd go buy a different company's brushes. I'm not a fan of Privateer Press in general, but I really like their brushes-- they're synthetic sable, so they're inexpensive, but have the same quality as a sable hair brush. I've been using them a lot lately, and they hold their point remarkably well.

 

[Nightbringer416]

GW's brushes aren't that good in the first place-- I'd go buy a different company's brushes. I'm not a fan of Privateer Press in general, but I really like their brushes-- they're synthetic sable, so they're inexpensive, but have the same quality as a sable hair brush. I've been using them a lot lately, and they hold their point remarkably well.

cool i'll check it out i bought my brushes at michaels craft store i'm not sure what the brand is but their tips are pretty busted. i'll look for privateer press.

 

[morfangdakka]

cool i'll check it out i bought my brushes at michaels craft store i'm not sure what the brand is but their tips are pretty busted. i'll look for privateer press.

Which ones did you get at Michaels? If you bought them in a pack then they are proabably the cheapy ones. Go to the artist section and look at buying nidividual ones as there are usually higher quality and will give you better results. It took me a few years to figure that out.

 

[Bloodhound]

- whats the difference between foundation paint and regular paint?

Foundation paints were designed to use as a....... Foundation. It is pretty much for basecoating. It has a very high pigment count so you can apply the paint in a thin coat and get en even coverage. Even the yellow comes out well over black.

- how many base coats do you usually go by before applying detail?

That ranges from painter to painter. Personally I paint on one base, wash the mini (I have a tute for that if you want it) then rebase it as a first highlight leaving the wash in the cracks. Then I highlight more.

- is there some sort of technique to drybrushing " little paint and quickly brush over is what i do"?

That's pretty much it. Just get some paint on an old brush and wipe most of it off. Then just quickly brush it over the surface of the mini. The raised areas should get covered well.

- is there specific brands of primers and paints to go with?

Most spray paints will either melt your plastic or cover up the detail. Seriously, use GW ones. They are specially designed to undercoat the mini without damaging it in any way.