[Shady ed]

So I've been in the hobby since 2004 but haven't made much progress at all with painting. I received an airbrush and compressor for my birthday :biggrin: so I am hoping that plus this project log will help motivate me to get through the backlog so I can purchase some more models!

I am by no means an expert painter and have never used an airbrush before so would like some tips as I go, I am not aiming for perfection at the moment. I would be happy with tabletop quality with characters and sergeants etc slightly better.

I have space marines, orks, tyranids and chaos and my wife has dark angels that I mostly paint for her.

I'll make a full list and organise it here when I dig it all out and tick off the ones I consider to be done.

Space Marines

The space marine chapter is my own DIY chapter that I have written a little fluff on. Might post it up in the relevant section when I have something worth showing. My plan is to do the entire 4th company with support elements from 1st and 10th.
(after digging them all out from their hiding places I think I just might have enough captains.... But then again I'm almost halfway to having a full compliment of captains.)

HQ

Captain
Captain
Captain
Captain
Command Squad
Command Squad
Librarian
Chaplain

Elite

Terminator Squad
Ven Dreadnought

Troops

Tac Squad
Tac Squad
Tac Squad
Tac Squad
Scout Squad

Fast Attack

Bike
Bike
Attack Bike
Assault Squad

Heavy Support

Dev Squad
Dreadnought
Land Raider
Land Raider

Transports

Drop Pod
Drop Pod
Rhino

Orks

I have no plan with these guys. I just had them laying around for years from AoBR so I decided to start painting them up.

Tyranids

Again I have no plan with these guys I just bought a unit of hormagaunts because I love the model.

Troops

Hormagaunts

Chaos

These are the guys from DV and I will probably do them up as a company from my DIY chapter that got lost and came back decades/centuries later renegade. Although after thinking about it that is probably a little overdone so I might not.

Wifes Dark Angels

As far as I know she has no plan apart from pink/purple is pretty. They are all models from DV.

On top of all this I really want to get some Imperial Guard or whatever we are calling them now as I just want tanks... Lots and lots of tanks. But I am determined to wait until I have ticked off a lot of models on my list before I buy anymore.

 

[Shady ed]

My 1st Rhino. Still needs markings and a little finishing here and there. It started life all red as I was originally going to do blood angels but decided against it.

Tac Squad 1 still needs squad markings etc.

Tac Squad 2 is the same as one but need flock too.

Dread still needs a fair bit of work.

1st half of Assault squad 1 needs squad marking etc.

I painted up 1 termy and 1 scout to see how they would look in the same scheme plus started on my company champion.

The DV libby for my wifes army (they are pink/purple but don't worry they aren't those dreaded female space marines)

And the one chaos marine I have started on.

 

[neferhet]

Hey man. Neat work on those minis.
Beside the awkward blue/red pairing i think that you just need to use some washes to add deepness to the models. as they stand, they seems unfinished, imo. The base alone is never enough :good:

 

[SwedeMarine]

They look good apart from what nef mentioned about the need for washes. The color pairing while awkward definitely makes your army unique and it stands out on the table. if youre afraid of messing with washes you may want to try (and i cant believe im about to suggest this) "dipping " your models. it would add alot of detail and make it stand out even more. But if it was me id be using washes personally.

I also want to point out that im looking at these pics and much of the detail is either washed out or blurry. Any chance for better pics?

 

[neferhet]

dipping is easy, dipping is fast, but not stronger.
Once you have gone trough the way of dipping, there is no coming back!

 

[Shady ed]

Hey man. Neat work on those minis.
Beside the awkward blue/red pairing i think that you just need to use some washes to add deepness to the models. as they stand, they seems unfinished, imo. The base alone is never enough :good:

What makes the blue/red awkward? that's my favourite rugby team!

And only a couple of the tac marines have had a wash, I do plan on giving them all a coat or 3. The rhino and Dread still need a fair bit of work. I just found I couldn't stay focused on one project for too long as they all seemed to be dragging on. Hopefully the airbrush will help speed things up a little and allow me to finish something.

And I do need to get better photos of them up too. I remember seeing a tutorial on that on here somewhere.... Or maybe it was a dream?...

If you have any tips on particular washes for certain parts/colours I would love to hear them.


Edit : took me so long to write that that two more comments appeared.

They look good apart from what nef mentioned about the need for washes. The color pairing while awkward definitely makes your army unique and it stands out on the table. if youre afraid of messing with washes you may want to try (and i cant believe im about to suggest this) "dipping " your models. it would add alot of detail and make it stand out even more. But if it was me id be using washes personally.

I also want to point out that im looking at these pics and much of the detail is either washed out or blurry. Any chance for better pics?

Yes as I said better pics are definitely required I just have no idea how to achieve that. I am certain I read a tutorial a year or 3 ago and if someone could link that I would appreciate it.

Also what is this "dipping" you speak of?

Edit 2 : I would also like to add that all of these were painted at least 18 months ago or longer and some need touch ups.

 

[neferhet]

well, red and blue... without entering in specific color theory and fashion suggestions, a "shiny" blue and red should never be used togheter since they "conflict" with each other. Moreover they are primary colours and primary colours give us steady contrast when paired. not always this is a good thing. Usually you'll want to mix a "neutral"colour in between or to shade away some of the red/blue shiny-est part. A wash could help you greatly.
To put it short it's just a brain input shortcut, they are conflictuous colours, hence the reason i said "awkward". For example, a darker tone of red wouldn't have been so awkward

 

[Shady ed]

well, red and blue... without entering in specific color theory and fashion suggestions, a "shiny" blue and red should never be used togheter since they "conflict" with each other. Moreover they are primary colours and primary colours give us steady contrast when paired. not always this is a good thing. Usually you'll want to mix a "neutral"colour in between or to shade away some of the red/blue shiny-est part. A wash could help you greatly.
To put it short it's just a brain input shortcut, they are conflictuous colours, hence the reason i said "awkward". For example, a darker tone of red wouldn't have been so awkward

What wash/washes would you recommend I use?

 

[neferhet]

depends on the look you want to give them. You could just take the blue and red wash, darken it a bit with purple / sepia (please try it out before applying to models!) or just put the washes natural to keep the same look with just an added shade.
Otherwise you could go for agrax earthshade and darken them sensibly, toning down the colour. They will become more "rugged" and battleworn, not bright at all.
It depends on you. maybe take 3-4 models you despise and try various solutions on them