Ye Olde Inn

So, I'm not entirely sure what I'm getting myself into (not does my wife...) but after umming and agging about this for a few years, I've finally bought some paints and I've even primed some of Thantos' doors. I've decided to try and do / practice on these before even thinking about letting myself near any mini's.

So far I have;
Vallejo starter Toray brushes from a guy at work however I fully expect that if I get into this, I'll need more brushes
Primers - Skull White and Chaos Black
Bases - Ceramite White, Waaagh! Flesh, Mournfang Brown, Mechanicus Standard Grey and Abaddon Black
Layers - Skrag Brown, Eshin Grey and Brass Scorpion
Shades - Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil

I've started with GW paints mainly because the closest stores to me that stock acrylic paints, only stock GW. For the moment I have only grabbed paints to do the doors. I have primed two open and closed doors in white and black, primarily so that I can see if / what difference the primer does for these paints. As for paint scheme, I don't know how this will go but I'm thinking;

• Doors - Mournfang Brown with Skrag Brown over it in parts and Agrax Earthshade err... shade, black hinges and studs
• Stone frame - Mechanicus Standard Grey with Eshin Grey over parts (might need to be darker?) with a thinned Nuln Oil shade
• Iron rings - Brass Scorpion and a shade
• Floor - I haven't thought about them yet, would probably need more colours. This is an interesting thread

The black and white base paints are for blending and I thought some Waaagh! Flesh might do okay for a touch of slime?


I primed the white doors first and then discovered that attaching the doors in the middle of the stick meant I could easily spray from any angle. Not a perfect print in one or two areas but I'm okay with these.

Also, I pulled these from the rubbish and was wondering what items could be useful?


I was thinking that the wine screwtops could be used for sticking minis to while I paint them? I'm not sure the mustard squeeze bottle is of particular use, but was wondering if the class jar could jave some holes punched in to hold brushes? I think the former red stock container is a handy size for something?

Thoughts?

Anyway, I don't really know what to expect (other than I won't be a Demon winner off the bat) but I'm happy to give this a go.

Keep on doing as you think it's right for now.
Trial and error is the way to go.
I, for one, am eager to see results and follow any thread of any member who paints and "blogs" at this here inn.

Painting is something that you will be constantly learning about as you discover new techniques, forget old ones and re-discover them and find out what works for you. There is no right or wrong, its all about having fun, so as long as you keep that in mind you will be okay.
Here might be a few little tips to help.
1: get an old ceramic tile, take a small amount of paint from the pot and put it on the tile. You can mix the consistency (Whole milk, I have said this before on here somewhere!) of the paint on it and even mix colours for highlights ect. easy to clean too, hot water!
2: Keep washing up liquid handy, if the paint won't take to the mini it might be because of the surface tension, a dip of the tip of the brush in the washing up liquid solves this straight off...not too much or you will get bubbles.
3: Use brushes that you are comfortable with rather than the ones people reckon can do the job, experiment, I don't think I really ever use a fine detail brush for anything!
I was going to make a thread about painting and a gallery of my minis, just never got around to it. I hope this helps, If you want to know anything else or have questions just message me and I will help the best I can.
4: any acrylic paint works, it doesn't have to be made just for models. The pound shop or hobby craft or even the local art shop will have paints and inks that work just as good and are less expensive, just remember you may need to water them down a little (whole milk, positive reinforcement)

As for your collection of bits, I have a cheeky techniques that speeds up painting models on mass. I have a jar of a burgundy colour ink that I mixed up, with a dab of washing up liquid and water. Once I have my models under coated (usually brown as its neutral and is a mid tone, so I can get nice bright colours or very dark shadows) I place the models in the jar, give it a gentle swirl then take the models out and leave to dry, That's most of the work done right there!
The mustard pot might be good for keeping PVA glue in for basing.
The red pot looks like a water pot to me.
I don't put my minis on anything when painting, just hold the base, put they would be good for small mixing caps or for washing up liquid!
just put up a load of pics of my minis in the gallery.

I've had a bit of a crack. Here are two open doors which have had the base coats applied. I clearly have some touch up's to do, the reverse sides are worse - I'm clearly going to find details hard going (although I'm sure patience will pay off). Cameras + daylight really highlight your faults but it's better to know they're there and deal with them than not;


They are darker than they in the photo as I was using some white card to bounce some light into the shadows and bumped the exposure on the computer.

So, musings;
• visually, there's stuff all difference due to the colour of the undercoat but I didn't water the base paints down at all so I guess that's expected. I think I'll prime in white as the detail is easier to see
• I tried grey first on one and then brass first on the other and I'm not sure which was the better way to go, Either way ended up with some re-work and they still need some attention. Mt eyesight isn't good up close so I'll be looking for a magnifying glass and lamp next. I'm also part way through getting new reading glasses so hopefully they'll help
• the brushes were fine but I can see myself getting more and I'll have to do a little reading on brush care so that they'll last. Mind you, I expect that they are a slow burn consumable. How anal should I get about paint up the bristles? I've only tried soapy water and had been told that Simply Green is good for brush care
• next I'll hit them with some straight Nuln Oil simply so I can see what effect it has on the base colour and brass
• the next doors I do I'll lighten up a bit and I'll also try layering to give some depth and I'll have a crack at the closed doors

They are really good so far, very neat and tidy, which is good.
At this point I would mix a dark brown and green ink together then water it down and paint it over the stone, this will get in all the recesses and give it a shadowy/dank look. Then using the same grey, take a stiff bristle brush or and old half dead brush and dry brush the stone work again to bring the colour back.
Detail can be achieved by stroking the side edge of the on part to get highlights.

I am long sighted so up close I cant see very well, I have a soldering magnifier glass I got from amazon, with little arms to hold things and a light under the glass. I don't use it all that much but it has come in handy time to time, and it wasn't all the expensive either.

Cheers, guys.

I think I'll be priming with a brush on large pieces which aren't overly detailed. I have sprayed two thirds of two sets of original pieces and there's not much left. It might be beginners heavy finger but I expect the cans don't go far anywhere. At the price we pay here, I'm sure I'll be looking for an alternative

Redav wrote:Cheers, guys.

I think I'll be priming with a brush on large pieces which aren't overly detailed. I have sprayed two thirds of two sets of original pieces and there's not much left. It might be beginners heavy finger but I expect the cans don't go far anywhere. At the price we pay here, I'm sure I'll be looking for an alternative

I prime with mainly two methods.
For very detailed minis I use black primer and then white primer in a 45° angle around that.
For less detailed minis I use Vallejo Polyurethane primer (60ml) in grey. I brush that on, thinned down with water ever so slightly. That saves a lot of stuff.

When I am feeling lazy, or the weather is a bit meh, I will undercoat with an ink rather than a spray. It is thinner so wont steal detail, you can make the shadows as dark as you want from the beginning if you are painting dark to light.
The only draw back is drying time, as depending on how heavy you go with the ink and the paint work is a bit more fragile, so it could rub off easier so will need a protective layer on top.
....you will need to add some WL to the ink... I like that is starting to become my catch phrase

Hello Redav

It's great to see your painting, I too have ordered from Thantos and I believe that sometime in January I will be receiving my furniture I like the fact you have tried with both white and black primers. I too am new to painting and all I have primed with so far is black. What differences have you noticed if any so far? I like the color choice you have used from the picture it looks really good! Please post more pictures as you continue your painting

Cheers. Priming with white was ever so slightly lighter. But I wasn't using any thinned paints. I should post pics of the doors with a wash. I have since painted some more furniture and went with the black primer.

HQ stuff has been on hold for a while though. We bought a house and moved two months ago so most of my time's been spent in the yard and house catching up on 20 years of maintenance and gardening that was never done by the previous owners... I have three weeks off over Christmas so maybe I'll get some more done then? Mind you, I might be painting something house sized