That depends.

If you're asking whether I used too much bad paint on the model, then yes. It wasn't one of my brightest moments.

If you're asking whether you used too much primer on your model, then dunno, I haven't ever used it before. Seems a bit thick in some places though.

If you're asking whether you've placed too many rocks on the marine's base, then no. I lurv me sum rokks.

Actually it was about the foot and a half "bayonet" I glued on the model.

Never be afraid to make mistakes while painting. If the job goes too bad you can always strip the model and start again. Trial and error is the best way to learn how o paint.

Foil, what did you do to those shoulderpads?

Still haven't cleaned them properly.

Boy oh boy, I do suck at this.




However, I can't help but feel kind of proud. Should I go see a doctor or something?

Did you water down your paints?

Heh. Well, you see, this was a bit of a learn-as-you-go model for me, so it varied quite a bit.

For the basecoat, I almost didn't water the paint down. This was my first mistake, as it became pretty chunky and uneven.

For the yellow, I watered it down a bit more, but it didn't help too much, since I was already painting over a very rough surface.

The white and black (tip: when buying black paint, make sure it's actually black and not dark green) areas were overwatered, making the paint blot around unpleasantly. I also made the mistake of painting the black lines after the yellow coat, so they ended up all jagged and messy.

I think I started to get the hang of it on the metallic parts, at least to me they look much cleaner than the rest of the model. Oh, and a bit of the red stuff too. You can't really see it but there's a scar on the other side of the head I'm actually really proud of.

Then I noticed how awful it looked, and drybrushed blood all over the thing to draw attention away from my terrible painting skills. Kind of surprisingly, it did work, since the model actually looks good if you're looking at it casually. With sunglasses on.


However, I am trying to learn from my mistakes. For the next model, I've left the arms and backpack as sub-assemblies, dilluted the basecoat paint much more (as well as spending about two hours total coating it) and painted the dark recesses before going on to the lighter layers. Here's what I've got so far:





...And hopefully it'll end up as something better. I'm still Mr. Noobie Mcnooberson here, so any and all tips are appreciated.

One of my swordsmen and a horse. I think I was 12 at the time. I think it would be a fun hobby if it weren't so expensive.

Areku, I think your problem is no primer. Paint doesn't stick too good unless you use primer.

As a rule of thumb I try to go with 2/3 paint and 1/3 watter. I also really recommend that you go ahead and get a white primer. A spray can will be a bit expensive, 15-20 bucks, but you'll be able to get some 50+ models done with it. Not only will it make the undercoat smooth and sticky it'll also help a lot when you paint over it.

As I said before yellow is very transparent and you can see pretty much whatever is under the first layer. If you use a black primer, or in your case go with the plastic gray, you'll need some 4-5 well applied coats. As you must understand by now getting one really good coat is hard enough, so getting 5 or more will be pretty damned difficult.


If you've got Games workshop paints I have a list that a colleague of mine made, it might help a bit as it did for me.

1º step: Primer

With darker colors black will save a lot of time when shading the models, but in your case white is better suited.


2º step: Golden yellow.

This step will be painstaking, but the neater you get the better the overall model will come out.


3º step (for sergeants or masked models)

Make a triad of Dwarf flesh, the apply an ogryn flesh wash, then proceed to add some Elf flesh high-lights where the light would bounce off the model.


4º step: Chaos black

Cover every single bit that should be black, usually it'll be the exhausts, the sections behind the knees, the gun and the space between the jaw and neck. Be careful when painting with black, because it'll be a bit hard to cover up mistakes without making more mistakes.


5º step: Boltgun metal

Bring some color to the exhausts, gun, portions of the helmet that cover the hears and the tubing bits of the backpack. Use as much caution as you did with the black.

6º step: Black Trim

Paint the trim on the shoulder-pads. This will take a while and require a steady hand, but it's a rather crucial part, since it's one of the first things people look at. It is very important that you do this before the wash, since mistakes will be a lot easier to clean up without a trace than after the wash.


7º step: Badab Black wash.

This will make your model look dirty as it should be. You're painting people that kill things for a living, so they will have considerable amounts of ♥♥♥♥ and blood stuck to them. Don't overdo the wash though, and do not let it pool on visible areas. Those areas will become black and rather ugly.


8º step: Details

You'll need some red for the eyes, some white for the the very end of the communications apparatus that lays on the marines face.


Hope this helps. And remember, mistakes can be fixed and models can be stripped, so go mad when painting.

-edit-

One more thing. I always try to paint the miniature separate from the base, because my bases are usually composed of kitty litter painted black and then dry-brushed white. The dry-brushing is really easy to do, but requires some free movement of the brush, so you accidents tend to happen.

I have carefully read your advice and pondered heavily on the matter. It's all being rather useful, really, so you have my gratitude.



You guys think this is good enough a yellow layer? And yes, I know I messed up the left leg joint, I'll retouch it later on.

That is one solid yellow you got there. Is the paint still drying or did you glosscoat it?

Uh no, it was already dry for a couple of hours when I took that picture. Maybe the paint I'm using is just really glossy?

Might also just be the camera though, it looks a bit more opaque IRL.



EDIT: Also, finished:



Bad lightning, it is a bit more striking in person. Will come back with better pics later on.

So, whaddya say?

A few mistakes here and there, but it's looking a lot better than the first one. A little wash wouldn't hurt, but I leave that up to you.

Oh milliput, why are you so sticky? Should I keep it up, or would I be better suited with some green stuff?

I agree with you about the wash, but the closest to that I can get is painting heavily dilluted black over the whole thing, and, believe me on this one, it doesn't look good at all (actually, "terrible" would be the right word).


Picture time!


Purity seal scribbles are fun to make.



Who loves backpacks? I love backpacks.


Oh, and about the milliput thing, well, I'm pretty sure greenstuff would work better, but the price is quite a lot higher, so I guess it depends on your budget.

Really it looks good! But it would look much better with a splash of wash to help with the shading.

Aslo I'll most probably get back to this thread in less then a month and show off mah (Diaz) Daemonettes and Daemon Prins(ess)! Slaanesh here I come!