Reldn Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Greetings all, I'm finally going to post up my first ever miniature painted: An Imperial Fist Tactical Marine. I'm kind of ashamed/scared/nervous to post this up here amongst all these awesome minis when mine looks so subpar. He's not fully done as I've still got some highlighting to do, shoulder insignia, and need to work on the base. Also, just to note, I'm only going for TT quality. Before the wash: http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc473/Reldn/019.jpg http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc473/Reldn/018.jpg After: http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc473/Reldn/047.jpg http://i1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc473/Reldn/045.jpg I basically just did a white undercoat (brushed on, not sprayed), basecoated with Vallejo Bald Moon Yellow, washed with Gryphonne Sepia. Does anyone else have a helluva time with watering down Vallejo paints? Some of them are really thin to begin with it seems and I have a terrible time maintaining consistent paint thickness. Anyhow, there is my first miniature ever painted. Maybe my last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boramar Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Painting yellow is not as easy as it seems. But keep painting, the more you paint the better you will get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Scipio Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Dont be shy. Everyone started with Minis that look like this. Imperial Fists yellow is not easy to do, so you started ,,tough". My advice would be to buy the cheapest 10-25 minis on eBay and paint them first and then start with your army. Try to water down your paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reldn Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 Try to water down your paint. That's just it. It is watered down. All of it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac the knife Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Well GW paints need watered down but some of the other companies only need a wet brush or are perfect out of the pot. Your mini looks better than my first painted one. It just takes practise getting a feel of how the paints going to act and brush discipline. Keep at it I see some great lookin minis from you in the next few months. Remember to save the picture of this guy so you can look back in 6 months and realize how far you've come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Ragnarok Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Don't get discouraged! As others have stated, most everyone's minis looked like yours when they start. In fact, mine looked worse. And you are starting with yellow. VERY hard to get right. The first thing to work on, as mentioned, is watering down the paints. watering to the consistency of milk is the most often thing I've heard. Also you'll need to practice with getting the right amount of paint on the brush. I typically swipe a paper towl very lightly to get off excess. If I take to much off, then i just apply another coat to the part that didnt get enough coverage. A lot of you own personal techniques will come with practice. Search and follow the tutorials and most importantly practice, practice, practice. Practice will help you find your own style/technique, improve your brush stroke, and with the repetitions help you paint a little faster. Just don't get discouraged and don't expect to paint like some of the pro's out there. I shoot for great table top quality as that is the best i can accomplish right now. Current Ability http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v365/hansmannstein/d41a27da.jpg Middle of Road ability http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v365/hansmannstein/Space%20Wolves/WGforSilverBack.jpg First mini :ph34r: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v365/hansmannstein/OOGLY.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psy-Crow Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 I think this a great first mini. You've chosen one of the toughest schemes to do. By the look of your photos I think its your base coat that worked against you. Your yellow layer looks very smooth ( tricky to do btw so kudos) and you've pulled off the wash without any pooling. But in the background I can see a primed mini and it looks like some of the white has obscured the detail. See if you can pick up some spray primer and you should be laughing. Ditto what Ragnorak said, and remember, if your not happy with something there is always simple green. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SincaiN Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Getting your technique down takes some time and like everyone's saying yellow is a hard color to start out with. I'd start your base yellow a little darker and then you can layer up the lighter/brighter yellow. don't worry your skills will improve. Here's a video from Awesome Paint job .. he does a tut on Imp Fists... maybe it'll help out with the colors and applying them :ph34r: Keep working at it, you'll get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 As others said, think about another primer :ph34r: Also try to keep the washes just in the recesses or corners, not on the whole model. This will give 'spots' on the model (3rd picture, above HIS right knee - left for us). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dublindawg Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 I give you kudo's for taking on yellow for your first mini. I fear and loathe painting in yellow avoiding it as much as possible. Hard thing to do when one of my armies is Space Wolves. You have the basics down, priming (as noted above use a spray primer to get a thinner coat) applying the first coat and washes. You also notably didn't attach the weapon until you have the torso completed. Most people would of glued it on and have a *itch of a time painting the details on the chest. Just practice, practice and more practice and you will have an awesome looking army to field in no time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 If you're set on a yellow paint scheme, know that it's one of the worst colors to paint as others have mentioned. You might want to invest in one of the 2 shades of yellow in the GW Foundation paint line as it makes an awesome base coat to build up a yellow color on top of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reldn Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 Thanks for the tips and advice and for not tearing me apart. I do think my main problem is that I really discourage myself and usually convince myself I can't do it before I even get started. And yeah, I'd read all the horror stories and tutorials about painting yellow...Sadly though, I just HAVE to be drawn to the hard-to-paint Chapters. :tu: As much as I love the Imperial Fists? They actually aren't the chapter that I'm drawn to the strongest....That chapter would be the Howling Griffons, of the loyalists THEY are the chapter I'm fondest of...and I know I'll never manage that scheme. Hrm....I have some of that Army Painter Daemonic Yellow spray primer now. Maybe I should try that and see what it does for me. Also, just in case anyone wondered why I've left the rims of the pauldrons yellow? It's because I'm doing Second Company Fists. You see Third and Fifth all the time so I went for a company you almost never see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemainus Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Thanks for the tips and advice and for not tearing me apart. I do think my main problem is that I really discourage myself and usually convince myself I can't do it before I even get started. And yeah, I'd read all the horror stories and tutorials about painting yellow...Sadly though, I just HAVE to be drawn to the hard-to-paint Chapters. :tu: As much as I love the Imperial Fists? They actually aren't the chapter that I'm drawn to the strongest....That chapter would be the Howling Griffons, of the loyalists THEY are the chapter I'm fondest of...and I know I'll never manage that scheme. Hrm....I have some of that Army Painter Daemonic Yellow spray primer now. Maybe I should try that and see what it does for me. Also, just in case anyone wondered why I've left the rims of the pauldrons yellow? It's because I'm doing Second Company Fists. You see Third and Fifth all the time so I went for a company you almost never see. If you want to do Howling Griffons - DO HOWLING GRIFFONS. You will always always always always enjoy painting more when you're painting what. you. want. to. paint. Quartering isn't very hard, either! Take a crack at it, I think you'll find that if the project you're embarking upon is the one you WANT to be embarking upon, the whole experience will be much easier and you won't find yourself falling into the "I can't / don't want / hate / will punch a baby to continue... to do this" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ephrael Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Try picking up a can of duplicolor sandable automotive primer at your local auto parts store and use a few very light passes to prime your minis. It costs much less than most "miniature" primers and is very smooth. It is the only primer I ever use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall_Brant Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 One thing about painting 40K is that you will always be learning something new. Hell I've been painting these lil sods for the past 8 or so years and I'm still learning. Just take your time, go slow, and eventually you will progress your painting skills to the point where you look back and think: "did I really paint that?" Trust me I said that same exact line when I did a flash back. Here's a pic of one of my first Iron Warriors: Some 4 years later. Now my first Legion of the Damned: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razblood Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 That is truly pretty good for a first ever! My first was a bloody monstrosity and so were the other 40 odd I did at that time lol. I would advise investing in the 'How to paint space marines' book that gw put out, it is actually quite helpful :) Keep it up and I look forward to seeing more of your work in the near future ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother-Chaplain Kage Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Thanks for the tips and advice and for not tearing me apart. I do think my main problem is that I really discourage myself and usually convince myself I can't do it before I even get started. There's constructive criticism and then there's destructive criticism - thankfully, I rarely see much of the latter on here. The hobby side of the game is a beast all unto itself and a lot of gamers I've known have hated it because they're not good at it, so kudos for diving in and being brave enough to post your first painting attempt. The best advice I can give you is just to keep going and get more experience. By all means, read painting articles, watch videos on youtube and ask people for criticism or advice on the boards, but putting brush to paint on a regular basis is the best thing you can do right now. In time you will learn how to thin the paint just right for whatever you need - basecoat, wash, highlight, etc, and settle into a comfort zone, but don't get complacent. Always try new things and keep pushing to do better on the next figure, and it won't take long to see improvement. Several people have already posted pics of their first minis and where they are now, and it's definitely a nice feeling to look back and see how far you've come. I still have several of my first 40k figures from 10+ years ago and while it makes me cringe to look at them, I'm glad I have the reminder of where I started. I also want to second that comment for Duplicolor primer. It's incredibly fine and smooth and is sooooo much cheaper than the spray paints put out by the gaming companies. I used to get mine at Wal-Mart, but they stopped carrying it in my area, so I go to an auto supply store for it now. I would also suggest giving the paints from Privateer Press, called P3, a shot. IMHO, they're great for beginners because they have very strong pigments that are more forgiving with their coverage, and can also be thinned down quite a bit and still retain their color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freakiq Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Looks great for a first attempt, especially since you didn't even use primer and decided on such a hard paint scheme. To make a model interesting you need a contrast between light and dark and right now your model is mostly just light. To further define the model for example you could paint Devlan Mud directly into the crevices of the model such as where the shoulderpad meets the trim. You seem to have brush control and paint thinning down so you are already far ahead of most beginners. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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