My first army

[Krieg]

I bought and lost a Black Templar battleforce some years ago and have just now found it and set to work - my first experience with minatures ever! I thought I might post some pics and talk about my progress just in case anyone else absolutely brand new stumbles through and is interested and to hopefully get some help and support from much more experienced hobbyists! If I've made any mistakes or you have suggestions please don't hesitate.

 

To start I've gathered the following materials

- Exacto Knife set with file

- GW plastic glue

- Sprue clippers

- Assorted Paints & a black spray primer

- Winsor & Newston Sceptre Gold II Sable/Synthetic brushes (sizes 00, 2)

 

I opened up the BT box and after gently washing each sprue with soap and water I set to work assembling some models. I've tried my best to make sure to get the models as clean as possible by cleaning up the flashing/mold lines with my exacto knife as I go. The pictures actually help quite a bit because I can see some areas that I still need to work on (like the front of the bolt pistols). Here are some of my models fresh from the assembly line:

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/6236/img8489.jpg

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/3604/img8490.jpg

 

I also primed one model (and thankfully only one) to see how the painting might go. As you can see from the picture, I overdid it on the primer - too much spray and too close to the model - and the chest details are obscured. I went ahead and attempted some armor highlighting which was admittedly pretty difficult. I can tell that controlling the brush is going to take some time to learn and I'm going to look for a nice bright lamp for my workspace tomorrow. Here is my overprimed Marine that is destined for a jar full of Simple Green to strip that paint off!

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/4194/img8476.jpg

 

I'll be priming up another model tonight to see if I can get it just right.

 

The Good

-Project started!

-Unpainted models look OK

 

The Bad

-My cat made off with a set of SM legs glued to a base... can't find them anywhere.

-Overprimed on my first try

 

Uncertain

-Brushes: I'm not sure how good the brushes I've got are or if they are the appropriate size. I was going to just buy the GW brush set by they were all out.

-Instructions: The battleforce instructions were missing when I found the box. Not a problem for the Marines but would be helpful for assembling the Rhino!

[cathar the great]

Don't buy the GW brushes. You can usually get cheaper and better ones at some art or hobby store.

 

If you're not that good with spray-priming, you could also hand-prime with watered down chaos black. It's neither time- nor cost-effective and most people think it's bad and ruins the model. But I still do it when priming single units such as HQ units and has the positive side of being easier to remove if you overdid it.

 

Your minis look good, you can't go wrong with the Black Templar Upgrade Sprue, whatever you do. Though there are still a couple of mold lines (like on the champion's left shoulder pad)

[Peredyne]

Comments:

 

The Good: Always good to start a project, just make sure you finish. ^_^

 

The bad: Kill the cat, and yeah, definitely over primed, but you learned from it. As long as you learn from the mistakes and don't repeat them, you are good to go.

 

Uncertain: Windsor-Newton are superb brushes, better than the GW by far. Take care of them and they will last a long time. The instructions: Call GW, im sure they can email you a PDf of the rhino assembly instructions.

 

And pick up a pin vice and a set of drill bits to drill out those barrels.

[paulson games]

When you spray move the can further away than what you did before, also when you spray don't do it in one posistion sweep the can back and forth across the model/s so that it goes completely past it, before changing directions. You never want the spary can to be stopping on the model iteself as that will cause excess paint to build up. All you wnat is a thin consistant coat, it'll usually take a 2-4 passes to get enough on.

 

Do one side at a time, I usually do the front first, let it sit and dry completely then do the back. If you try and do both sides at once it'll build up the paint too quickly.

 

Also I've found that having a hairdryer on hand can help if you get too much paint on the model you can kick on the hair dryer on the air only setting (no heat) which will help push the extra paint out of the cracks.

 

If you find that your paint is coming out gritty and feel rough on the model it can be from a couple causes, not shaking the can enough before hand, being too far away from the model, or it being too cold (if you're painting below 65-70 degrees)

 

I hold my can at about 8-10 inches, depending on the brand as every one has a slightly diferant spray size and volume. Before you do more models test out the distance on some scrap plastic sprues or paper etc to get a feel for the paint, it's better to waste a $3 can of paint while learning than to waste $30 worth of models :unsure:

 

Also you'll need a lot of newspaper around where you're spraying as the paint overspray will tend to get everywhere.

 

 

For brushes I use privateer press P3 brand brushes they are much better the GW ones. There also plenty of good brushes at hobby lobby or michels craft stores.

 

 

Last but not least, if you have a pet make sure they models are well away from their reach while drying, pet fur will stick in the paint like crazy. I've had mor ethan one primed model come out looking horrible because I had floating dog hair end up stuck to it. They may also want to lick the paint for some odd reason, which certainly isn't healthy for them or good for the model.

[Krieg]

I visited the local Michaels craft store today and I was very disappointed with their selection of brushes. The Brush display was a complete disaster - not a single brush was in it's marked bin and 90% of the tips were already bent or broken. The two I picked up were the only two that had any sable at all that weren't a total write-off. I did however get a line on a more upscale art specialty store that I can check out after I've had a little practice. I'm more interested to get input on the brush size - is 00 small enough for fine detail? Or is 000 more popular?

 

I primed up another model and it looks MUCH better this time around and all the details are sharp. I am just putting the finishing touches on my Rhino (I emailed GW customer service and they sent the PDF) and I will post some pictures of both tomorrow with a few more questions.

 

After covering my kitchen table with a garbage bag, I set up an empty cardboard box to use as my priming 'back stop'. It seems to work pretty well but I need to get some bluetac or something to hold the models to a stand while I spray them - for now I'm stuck with a plastic bag over my arm holding the model with a pair of pliers!

 

My girlfriend and I pamper our cats big time (lucky buggers) and they get brushed at least 2 or 3 times a week which keeps the excess fuzz to a minimum. We got one of those little vacuuming robots which can't hold a candle to a regular vacuum but at least takes care of the cat hair! I learned my lesson with the SM legs, and everything is being kept well out of reach - especially the models with wet glue or paint.

[StormDragon]

I visited the local Michaels craft store today and I was very disappointed with their selection of brushes. The Brush display was a complete disaster - not a single brush was in it's marked bin and 90% of the tips were already bent or broken. The two I picked up were the only two that had any sable at all that weren't a total write-off. I did however get a line on a more upscale art specialty store that I can check out after I've had a little practice. I'm more interested to get input on the brush size - is 00 small enough for fine detail? Or is 000 more popular?

The brush that I use most is my W&N Series7 size 0, I find that that brush gets used for 95% of the painting I do. I've also got a Series7 000 which I only really use for eyes. I think the 00 should be fine enough as long as it's a good quality brush. If you are going to be doing any dry brushing buy yourself a cheap brush since dry brushing isn't the most brush friendly of activities. :P

[Brother DjoulZ]

If I may, I'd like to raise the famous issue of "assemble first , then paint VS paint first, then assemble". I'm of the second opinion :

I glue nothing apart from front and back torso, then I paint everything everywhere, and then I glue them all with super glue. It allows me to choose the stance of each model. The only thing I do with the models assembled are the base, (only add sand) and the spray of varnish.

I paint 5 sets of legs, 5 torsos, 5 left arms, 5 right arms, 5 weapons, 5 heads, ten shoulder pads and finish with 5 backpacks.

I find this to be much fatser than painting one model at a time, and I have access to all the parts of a piece. I think I waste less time painting parts that won't be seen once assembled than tidying up the mess I'd do trying to paint while avoiding an arm that could be on my way if the model was fully, or partly, assembled.

However, other people prefer this :

Multi-part marines for me starts off as spraying all the sprues black (yes, I'm one of those people)

Then I glue the legs to the base, too much trouble with them later, and proceed to build the torso and whatnot (maybe glue the head, depends) leave arms, gun and backpack off.

Here's where blu-tack comes in smile.gif

I used to glue->spray->paint, but this is much less stressful.

Here's one of several topics dealing with this question : http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...=assemble+paint

[birdie]

The battleforce instructions were missing when I found the box. Not a problem for the Marines but would be helpful for assembling the Rhino!

If you don't get any joy from GW I've got a few copies of the Rhino assembly instructions, I'd be happy to send you them. PM me your details if you want it.

 

There's assembly instructions on their website here http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/...027&start=2 but to be honest they're not that detailed.

 

Oops............just noticed that in another post you say GW sent you a pdf, ah well at least you got one.

[Krieg]

Thanks for all the support!

 

As for the paint before assembly option - I'm definitely going to try it soon at least with the bolter marines. I have one already fully assembled now and I can tell that painting behind the bolter is going to be a chore.

 

My second attempt at priming went over much better I think!

 

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/9489/img8515.jpg

 

I am a little disappointed with the ugly bits on the shoulder pads - I had thought that I'd taken care of all the bits of sprue and cleaned up the areas sufficiently. I am going to get a diamond file today and will have to be more vigilant in the future. In any case, after a few quick passes with the spray primer and a coat of thinned chaos black later, I think he's ready for painting.

 

 

I also put together my Rhino, which turned out to be a lot easier than my mind was making it just looking at the sprues. I had a heart attack moment when the large roof piece (with the two holes for the turrets/hatches) didn't want to fit properly and left some big gaps but eventually it snapped down into place.

 

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/2461/img8500.jpg

 

As you can see I got a little heavy handed with glue on the scroll on the front panel (and some other places) and it has seeped out from undernearth and looks fairly nasty. Other than to use less glue next time, does anyone have suggestions for how to deal with it now? I was hoping that it would be hidden when I primed the Rhino up for painting...

 

Oddly enough the brush felt a lot better in my hand today and I messed around with the overprimed marine a bit. I'm going to take it slow on the painting for now - I will probably prime up a few more marines today or the Rhino and try my hand again at highlighting the newly primed marine if I have the time!

[paulson games]

The primed marine looks good, nice solid base coat. Now get used to repeating that dozen of times ;)

 

The little burr marks on the sholder pads come pff pretty easy you can file them or just carefully trim it with the knife, don't worry about repriming the whole model just give the area a touch of paint from a brush instead. Priming makes the little details like that stick out, if you missed any mold lines they'll stand out was well, so just go ahead and file or scrape them off then retouch the bare plastic areas by hand, then you're ready to paint.

 

For the rhino you can probably scrape the glue away, use the point of the exacto knife and run it horizontally across the surface you'll want to have the edge of the blade almost flat with the tank hull. If you go in with just the point will it leave deep scratch marks that you'll have to fill in with greenstuff. Go slow use a very light amount or pressure and keep the rest of the blade edge almost against the tank and it'll scrape up smoothly up a little at a time.

 

In the pic it's not bad at all and may not show after you prime it, especially if you are keeping the rhino black.

[HVNSNTSOLDIER]

And another brother joines the crusades! Welcome!

 

Good start, but as said before, you might want to touch up the mould lines and highlights a bit. Love the new black templars acessory sprues, so many wonderful and usefull parts! Don't have the money now for them, resorted to scratchbuilding and GS'ing details on my AOBR marines. Looking good buddy, keep on trukkin'!

[MillardFlemming]

As A fellow templar painter, this is extremely important. :)

 

When you go to paint the white shoulder pads, over a black background, follow this or they will turn out looking terrible.

 

1) cover with a solid coat of a medium gray and let dry, being sure to keep the color smooth

2) now, use watered down white paint to <very gradually> build up the color over the gray. if you do it right, after 5-8 thin coats, you will get a lovely smooth white, from which you can pick out the emblems. if you paint straight white onto a black undercoat, it will look real splotchy and nasty, and is very discouraging.

 

Also, It's great to see a new modeler who takes advice, and in my opinion, does models the right way the first time :) so many people just look at the eavy metal stuff in the codex, say "i can't do that", and settle for sprue bits, major flash, and unpainted or solid black minis, which can really ruin the flavor of a game. I'm sure after you paint a few models, you'll be able to produce some fine miniatures.

 

Have Fun!

 

EDIT:

for the Rhino glue, it will look better when you prime it, cover it with a purity seal if it really bothers you. You also may want to stick a few of the flat templar icons on that Rhino, they look great and take ~5 seconds.

[im terrible at painting]

cool yeh curiosity (or a mad owner after his warhammer back) killed the cat after all, be care full with purity seals their hell, if only my rhino had turned out that good. (dont ask). try spraying them white (im not mad... yet) and for the shoulder pads, then work up the black.

[Krieg]

Excellent news! Was over at my parents house this afternoon doing some cleanup work and while I was cleaning out the furnace room came across some old playmobil sets still unopened in their original boxes. I can only assume they were gifts that were never given and my Mom gave them to me for my 'fee'. I've already managed to sell them (Kijiji is wonderful!) and now I've got another $100 in my pocket to fuel my new hobby.

 

The shopping list!

- pin vise

- diamond file

- Simple Green (strippng solution)

- blue-tac

- A high quality 0 size brush

 

After all that maybe a box of scouts to fill out my crusader squad.

 

I am working on highlighting the primed Marine at the moment. It is pretty tough I won't lie but I will post some pictures of my progress later on today.

[Grimfoe]

Uncertain: Windsor-Newton are superb brushes, better than the GW by far. Take care of them and they will last a long time. The instructions: Call GW, im sure they can email you a PDf of the rhino assembly instructions.

 

And pick up a pin vice and a set of drill bits to drill out those barrels.

 

Diddo on the brushes and the drill. Windsor Newton Series 7 brushes are the way to go. (probably size "00") They cost 3 times as much as a GW brush ($17 vs. about 5) where I live, but they'll last 10 times as long easy. They don't lose bristles and get bent, etc. Be sure to ask the shop how to care for them, however. They're not to be left in the water and should not be overloaded with paint. If you lightly wet them and "snap" them downward, they form an exact point. Excellent for quick detail work.

 

I like to keep some "cheap" brushes around for grunt work and protect 2-3 nice brushes.

 

Also: Don't sweat the lumps in the paint or the lack of smoothness too much. Some of that will vanish when you clear coat the minis. I have children so I use a very heavy clear coat: Krylon, Matte Finish spray coat. I wouldn't use it on showcase minis, but it work fine on Table Top quality minis. Mine are a fairly nice Table Top and I think they look okay with it.

 

 

Good luck.

[Krieg]

I'm curious about how everyone consistently mixes their paints - The guy at GW told me to just dunk the brush in one pot, clean it, then dunk it in another and mix them together. I at least know to mix them with the non-brush end of the brush but this method seems a little hit and miss for me.

 

Is there a more precise way? I've mixed Chaos Black and Codex Grey a few times shooting for a 1:1 mix (with a drop of water) but have ended up with a few slightly different shades without realizing it until I've put it on something.

[Shadey]

I mix on a pallete and make my best guess at consistancy, sounds bad but it works in practice once your used to it I guess. I will mix up a batch of paint if its a coat I expect to use a lot of though in a spare container.

 

keep in mind highlighting black is actually quite tricky. It requires a lot more contrast than seems intuitive.

 

For now I would suggest you stick to edge highlighting and beleive it or not you actually want a fairly light grey for that rather than the dark one you have used. Get a little bit of elf grey or the like on the brush and run it sideways over the edge, using the side of the brush. If you have done it right you can get a very controlled and fine edge highlight with a little practice.

 

If you make the line too thick you can use black ink (dont think they make it anymore but a black wash works as good) to glaze over thick part leaving only the edge free. Using this technique you can do some decent layering that approaches blending in quality.

[Krieg]

Groan... the camera is a pretty harsh teacher and as you can see, my highlighting looks atrocious up close. On the plus side though, at arms length the effect actually looks pretty good! I think in the end they'll be OK for the table and I'd rather keep trying than to just give up and forget the highlighting all together. I hit the shoulder pads with a coat of codex grey before I start layering on the watered down skull white. I also started dry-brushing the chest eagle but I think I still had a bit too much paint on the brush AND I need to get a soft flat brush because the grey paint went into the cracks a bit.

 

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/8213/img8544.jpg

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/3992/img8545l.jpg

 

I've decided to get the rest of my marines built so I can start assembly line painting them for more consistent practice and so I don't have to keep switching and mixing paints!

[nurglephill]

wow, yes that takes me back.

sadly that is what those little highlight marks look like when your new to painting. we have all been there my friend.

it is simply practice that helps you get better.

thin the paint a little so it flows from the brush easier, and use the brush you like the most (rather than the smallest you can find).

 

i would also suggest practice on some sprues or spare parts. try painting thin straight lines up and down the spues, then around them (i find the round bits good for that) this should help you get better much faster.

 

good luck :huh:

 

phill

[kalle]

for your first mini thats quite good , i dont paint so much better then that and ive been painting templars for allmost a year now xD

anyways keep up the good work !

[Krieg]

Thanks for the support!

 

I found a store that carried the W&N Series 7 Kolinksy brushes (on sale!) so I picked up a 0 and 00. I also got a bottle of Simple Green to dunk my overprimed marine and 10 piece needle file set to clean up those mold lines and sprue leftovers. No luck in finding a pin vise as of yet though... I may have to order one of those. Is it a big hassle to drill out gun barrels after the models have been painted? I'm hoping to finish assembling all my marines tonight and prime them and start painting the whole squad at once either tomorrow or saturday. More pics soon!

[Brother DjoulZ]

Is it a big hassle to drill out gun barrels after the models have been painted?

 

No it's not too bad. But after drilling you'll need to put some black paint on the inner wall of your barrel, whereas when you drill first, primer in enough to hide the grey plastic.

Have fun !

[Shortsonfire79]

Man..you're starting out with all the right techniques. I applaud you. Most people just open the box, cut it off, and start painting. No flash removal, nathin... Your first spray was a flop =-D. but your second one is wwaaayyyy better than any of mine, and I've been doing this for a couple of years. I'm truely jealous.

 

Diamond files are nice, I have a set of 12, they're very handy, and leave very pleasing results.

For your next pictures, maybe you could get them on a desk or table, and take a closer picture, so its easier to see the details =-D

[MillardFlemming]

Remember, you can always clean up the highlights with more black. Just thin the lines of gray, and they'll look fine.

[Krieg]

I primed up my first batch of 10 marines this morning as well as the bottom of the rhino (so I can hold it from the bottom and prime the other 3 sides later) - I managed to do a good job and all the details are looking sharp. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to start painting them and in the meantime I picked up a new model and have started assembling it. The files are SO much easier to work with for getting rid of those annoying mold lines... I wish I had bought them first thing! I'll post some pics of the new model later tonight or tomorrow! I have 4 guys bathing in simple green (they've been there about 16 hours) and I'm going to let em sit again for another night. I need to find an old toothbrush to scrub em down when they're done their bath. I really hope that the simple green works on those pesky primer layers.