Just Started, Advice welcome

[Faulkner]

Just started painting my first minitures (long term fan of GW but only starting to play now), just posting a few pics to see if anyone would have any advice where I could improve :D

Decided to go with the Salamanders 2nd company

 

http://s1177.photobucket.com/albums/x348/Faulkner3/?action=view&current=IMG_0616.jpg

 

http://s1177.photobucket.com/albums/x348/Faulkner3/?action=view&current=IMG_0616.jpg#!oZZ1QQcurrentZZhttp://s1177.photobucket.com/albums/x348/Faulkner3/?action=view&current=IMG_0617.jpg

 

Also a few questions, do you guys prefer to assemble or paint first? and is it a good dea to spray paint the models on the sprue?

Cheers ;)

 

Incase the links dont work

http://s1177.photobucket.com/albums/x348/F...nt=IMG_0616.jpg

http://s1177.photobucket.com/albums/x348/F...nt=IMG_0617.jpg

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

I never paint on the sprue, because I'm fanatical about removing every trace of mold lines.

 

I usually have at least one sub-assembly while painting, but it depends on the model. There have been some figures that I painted in 4 or 5 separate pieces and then put together afterward. Find what's comfortable for you.

 

Also... can't see any pictures to offer you specific tips or advice.

[IronKobra]

Not bad at all. Pretty tidy, as in the colours for the most part are in the lines as it were :P

 

Few little things, a wash or 2 in the deepest cracks in the armour and over the the purity seal parchments would add a fair bit more depth to a model and make it pop. Washes are the easy answer for this, in time you will be able to start from a darker colour and simply not paint over these deep areas with your mid tones and give it a a reall sharp contrast.

 

About painting/assembly. It depends on how critical about your painting you are. I am a perfectionist and as such only partially assemble models before painting. If an arm/backpack is going to make it hard to reach another area I leave it off. I have a friend who always makes jokes about it but he paints for gaming, I paint for painting. But there are times when models with wide open stances can be put together and painted without much hassle. Usually on plastic models I'll assemble the body, legs and head and leave arms and backpacks off.

 

Sraying on a sprue...I think It's a BAD idea! when you clip the model off you have to go back over any missed areas with a brush and just takes more time than is necessary if you just clip them off and spray them once. Also I had instances back in the day when i tried on some bikes and I ended up scraping some of the primer off also.

 

But your first models are very promising! I was no where near that tidy on my eary attempts

[demio]

Really good start mate nice clean flat colours which is half the battle IMO.

 

From what i can see i agree with IronKobra some wash would do wonders and maybe some highlights.

 

As the saying goes the devils in the details and its the same with models you have the basics its the details now that will make your models even better.

 

Keep it up, great start mate :lol:

[Cain Tiberius Kondrad]

You have a really solid start here bud. You have good colour coverage and very tidy lines.

 

I can see you have started highlighting the black. But I'm not sure about the green (it maybe just due to the photos). I'd recomend using something llike scorpion green for a highlight on the sharp edges of the green.

I'd say you also need to use washes.. Washes can improve any paintjob.

You could combine both of these by Highlighting the green using Bleeched Bone on the sharp edges again, followed by a wash or two of Thraka Green wash over aall the Green armour pieces (including the bone highlights).

 

As for pre-assembly and painting on the sprew.

 

Painting on the sprew is waste of time because after cliping and triming, you will just have to do it again.

I have to agree with IronKobra and Brother Chaplain Kage as far as pre assembly. I always clip the pieces and fully remove any and all mould lines. I'd definatly recomend assemble the legs, torso and head. I also add the shoulder pads to the arms. But I leave the arms and back pack separate to the rest. However I would recomend putting the models together completely using a stickytac to make sure you pose will work. There is nothing worse than finding your intended pose wont fit/work after you have fully painted it.

 

My only real critism is, drill the barrels.

 

Other than that, awesome job mate ;) Looking forward to more :lol:

 

CTK

[Faulkner]

Thanks for the advice, il try adding washes and highlights on the green tomorrow ;)

 

Been planning ahead for my sergeant too, would a black helmet be alright for a sgt? Ive seen posts talking about gold helmets but im afraid it might overpower the model...

[GooseDaMoose]

Solid advice here, the only thing I'd add would be: MOLD LINES!

 

Scrape-em off, they ruin the models! Okay, not quite so dramatic but they certainly pull down the final result ;)

[Cain Tiberius Kondrad]

The black helm for the sergeant sounds cool. To be honest I don't know what colour Salamader Sergeant helms are, lol. But thats the beauty of it. Artistic liecense means you can do them what ever colour you see fit :tu:

 

CTK