The Rookery

[knightkrawler]

Looks great. Wish I could paint like that.

You can. This is not to deride Rook or anyone else, but if I can paint a mini without feeling the urge to throw up afterwards, you can, too.

[Rook]

Looks great. Wish I could paint like that.

You can. This is not to deride Rook or anyone else, but if I can paint a mini without feeling the urge to throw up afterwards, you can, too.

No disrespect taken! I totally believe anyone can do what I can do, and often show people how to do it, and if I could take slightly better photographs of my models than an epileptic monkey in a hurricane, I would show you. Honestly though, if you can roughly paint in the colours where they should go and then give it a decent shade it really looks pretty solid! I help folks get their Warhammer and 40k armies done to at least that standard a lot, and many suddenly start to enjoy it, feeding off the feeling of success!

GW does a series of 'How To Paint' videos which are surprisingly decent. There are plenty of others out there that are simply incredible, but these really focus well on the basics and achieving a good standard. Plus the whole GW thing seems to be a common denominator, like 'em or leave 'em, so it tends to make it easier for folks to pick out the parts they need/want/suits their style, and then adapt.

Plus the narrator is British so for some reason the accent means a lot of people here take it more seriously.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7vMyAk6Lf0
This one is for laying basic colours. GW calls them 'base' paints, but essentially it's just filling in basic colours like a colouring book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUQsiv41Enw
This one is for shades. These sink into the recesses and dyes them, making it look like you painted all the details when really you just spread the shade over the area.

These are pretty basic, but really anyone can do these steps and achieve results that will look decent. You can go beyond these, of course, but for many they will find a certain satisfaction of at least getting to that step over bare plastic!

Good luck, and if there is anything I can help with, just ask!

[Pitbullsandaks]

Maybe after I'm finished with the tile in our bath and entry I will give it a crack. I was thinking about doing the minwax method.

[Pitbullsandaks]

You guys use enamels like "testors" paint?

[whitebeard]

You guys use enamels like "testors" paint?

While you can certainly use Testors enamel paint and do okay (make sure you use "flat" enamel!!). I have gathered from the conversations here that the majority of the people on this forum use GamesWorkshop paint. The GW paint is an acrylic, not an enamel, so it rubs off a bit after your 8 year old and his friends handle the minis. The other popular option in the US is the Reaper MSP (Master Series Paint) which some like better.

I use GW paint and started painting a little bit about 6 months ago. It had been 20 years since I painted anything and my first mini with the GW paints was better than anything I did back in the day with Testors. Then I started reading the comments from Ampersand's thread, KK, and many others… just keeping my brush wet (with water) allowed me to put down less paint and blend it right on the mini. I was really surprised by the results. Now I want to re-paint my minis from just a few months ago!

[Redav]

Subscribed! What a great restart to HQ. Great looking minis, well done.

[knightkrawler]

Do NOT use enamels! In fact, do not use anything other that acrylics made for miniature painting.
The most common paints to choose from are
- Citadel/Games Workshop, old and new ranges
- Vallejo Model Color/Game Color/Model Air/Game Air/Panzer Aces - yes, you can use Airbrush paints with a brush; they are just pre-thinned and you have to thin your paints down anyway.
- Reaper Master Series
- Formula P3
- Army Painter
- Coat d'Arms (which are old Citadel colors sold by the manufacturer themselves after losing their contract with GW)

All of these are combinable and mixable among each other. All have certain specifics suited for specific painting styles.
I personally use all of them and have my favorites among each of these lines.
All are in the same price range except GW - go figure - who are twice as expensive per ml than all the others.
Now, to reassess the first statement of this post, once you get the hang of things you'll want to try out watercolor or oil washes, for example, or even a whole mini in oil. I've seen it happen, and for the artistically felxible, it is a possibility.

For starting up painting I agree with Rook.
Watch these Warhammer TV painting tutorials. They are indeed very very good for a beginner and the result will look like slightly better than that of a beginner.
Take them with a grain of salt. You will not need 150 colors from the Citadel range. You basically need around 15 paints (I can give you a list if you want to) to start out and a color wheel and some understanding how mixing colors works.

[cornixt]

I've never had acrylic paint come off a regular styrene plastic model through handling. Metal yes, cheapo plastic (like army men) yes. I use Vallejo now that GW paints are both expensive and they don't do the colours I want any more. The Bloody Red separates too easily though, and doesn't come out right even after vigorous shaking, but the rest are fine.

Best undercoat I have found is the Americana brand Lamp Black I got from a hobby store for $1 for a huge tube. The rest of the Americana range is awful, but the black is amazing at applying on everything that usually doesn't like water-based acrylics.

[StratosVX]

You basically need around 15 paints (I can give you a list if you want to)

I'd like to know what colors you (and others) use most.

[Goblin-King]

Great work Rook - and keep throwing us those old travesties as well!