[Galahad]

I've heard the above phrase before, usually in reference to things like drybrushing fur and doing ink washes.

Here's the deal. I've made some cool minis, but I'm not the most experienced painter. I'd like them to look good, but adanced techniques are a bit above me.

So does anyone have any "It's really easy bit it looks super ipressive' type tips that a beginner can use to make his minis look good?

 

[FrozenOrb]

That's a little vague, outwith the absolute basics you get in the GW how to paint miniatures book you'll need to be a bit more specific.

What miniatures is it your painting and in what colour scheme etc?

That being said you can get a nice bone effect with a brown wash over Bleached Bone.

 

[Galahad]

Sorry about that. I'm not used to the hapless noob role ;-)

I figured I'd start painting my blood angels, at least my assault squad, a half dozen or so tacticals and some tanks and speeders, leave the characters and dreadnoughts to my brother if he ever gets the time, but if he never does, I'd like to be able to do them justice.

I was planning on giving them a sprayed on basecoat, but excet for primers and the odd can of ultramarines blue with an inch of dust on it, I can;t find citadel colour spray paints anywhere, even the US online store. And I;ve yet to find an off the shelf spray paint that matches the minis I already have

 

[The Son of Horus]

It's better to paint from just the primer up instead of priming and then spray undercoating. Spray undercoats tend to be a bit thick. With Blood Angels, you can get a very vibrant red by undercoating it white and wash the entire thing with red ink. You'll end up with a pinkish color on the armor, but the red will be in the deepest recesses. Then you just have to layer Blood Red over, taking care not to let it flow into the recesses that you've already gotten shaded. Check out my "How to paint White Armour" tutorial... it's the same concept, but you're using red instead of white.

 

[Galahad]

Is it better to ink in a matching shade, or a complementing shade? In other words, is it best to ink a red mini with red or magenta like you suggest, or would black make it look sharper?

Should I bother with highlights on grunts, or will a bright color like red pretty much highlight itself on the tabletop?

 

[FrozenOrb]

Is it better to ink in a matching shade, or a complementing shade? In other words, is it best to ink a red mini with red or magenta like you suggest, or would black make it look sharper?

I'd try brown ink, black ink is too severe.

 

[Galahad]

I think I'll try all three. I;ve got enough static bolterboys between leftovers from macraggee and the 2nd ed box that I can butcher a few and not be an issue.

 

[The Son of Horus]

I personally find that a matching ink works the best, but experimentation is definitely good, if only to hone your own painting skills. See what you think looks the best, and use that.

 

[blkdymnd]

I use a color ink that matches (red ink to red paint), but I use 3 drops of ink to one drop of vallejo smoke or you could use a chestnut ink as well. It darkens and dirties the color slightly so that it's a shade or two darker in the recesses for you and then I go over that with the same color again. I did that with my Altansar Eldar a few threads down. Warlock Purple, Red/Smoke ink wash, Warlock Purple again building up to a very solid natural highlight at the edges

 

[Galahad]

How about paint chips/dirt weathering? Is there a quick and easy trick to it, or is that one of those things you have to actually know what you;re ding to pull off?

 

[jigplums]

jezlad could prob give you some good tips, he painted his BA for the gt and they look good and i think they were fairly easy for him to do.

 

[pathwinder14]

Forget the ink. It is waaay to time consuming and needs a lot of practice to get right.

I'd suggest basecoating the models flat black. Then drybrush from a dark red through successively lighter shades till you get the desired color. Use this as the basis of the army's color scheme.

Most of my armies are basecoat black. I always spray the darkest color and drybrush up through lighter shades till I get the color I want. Painting from light to dark does two things. One, all my models will have the same color. Two, all my shading will be done for me.

Then all you have to do is apply your alternate color and pick out the details.

For Blood Angels I would go with a nice red (drybrushed up from black) and then use bone or black as a secondary color for trim around shoulder pads and other odd details.

 

[Galahad]

Oldschool color scheme (red with black trim and yellow eagles) for me. It's an intriguing technique you suggest, and somethign I plan to experiment with.

Of course, I have one porblem...Most of my marines are already painted, some time ago, so I'll have to try and match them or repaint the old ones.

 

[pathwinder14]

Strip the old ones using Purple POwer or Simple Green.

 

[Galahad]

I think I'll do what I can to match them first before I strip them all down. My brother painted them and did a good job too. I;d hate to wipe it all off and do them over half as good.

 

[pathwinder14]

That is deffinitely understandable. I don't blame you. I'm just a painting freak.

 

[Anphicar]

Weathering can be doen in a variety of ways.

Small knicks with a modeling knife, small hoels with pin vices, weathering powder, painted with vallejo "smoke" brings out texture, so it looks more weathered, and of course you can paint rust and oxidation.

 

[Skcuzzlebumm]

I did a load of BA's last year for a kid (his dad wanted to pay me since the kid was autistic and got upset about not been able to get his models to look good).

I started with a Black Spray undercoat (GW CB is fine). I made sure that they whole model was black, never get lazy and not touch up it'll come after you later (tank brush 3:2 CB:Water and off you go).

Then i used a can of Tamier Brown Acrylic spray (most model shops will stock it - looks a bit like scorched brown). Give it a couple of light coats with this, go easy and layer up so not to blot out detail. Also aim at them from a slight don angle so that the black shadow is maintained.

Next tank brush and scabred. Paint all the armour.

Then slightly watered down brown ink, go over all the recesses, cracks and joints.

Then tank brush, Red gore.

repeat with ink.

Then carefully highlight the rasied ends and areas of the armour with 1:1 red gore:blood red. This isn't edge highlighting, just getting the block coulour done in prep for the edge.

Finally finish with 3:1 blood red:red gore for a nice edge highlight.

The end result is a nice deep and rich red, with shading and edge highlights that arn't organge.

After that paint all the metal areas black. Then paint boltgun. Wash with black ink. Then repaint with a lighter coat of boltgun on the rasied areas as per the 1st highlight with the red..

re-touch the black. highlight the odd top most raised edge with 2:1 codex grey:CB.

fill the eyes in with goblin green and wash with a little dark green ink.

And your done.

Sounds a lot but with everything if you start off with a big batch of say 8/10 then once your on to the highlight do 3/4 a time (less numbers stop you getting bored highlighting) you'll get into a pattern and finish them in no time.

Obvoiusly valajio and other make similar paints so just use their EQ (i have a mega paint set so still use GW).

With ink you can also use watered down paint plus a little matt varnish (GW IS the best for the matt varnish in a pot - not to harsh on the brushes). Mix the paint unitil it goes like ink then mix in a little varnish. This holds the colour together and prevents pooling and patching on the model.

Hope this helps.