Painting Ultramarines - Beginner

[Vivster]

Hey guys, I recently got into Warhammer 40K about a month back due to my friend. I am enjoying to the most now. The first set I got was the Command Squad and I decided to paint them how it was like on the box (So I carried this on until I learnt I could have painted it different colours - yeah i am a newb!). Now I have a tactical squad and 4 out of 10 of them are painted. I also bought a chaplain with a jump set, cause he looked cool. So, basically the point is that I love painting and I want to get better at this. Here are some of my models so far (the command squad are worse than my tactical or chaplain - mainly because i painted them first). It would be good if you guys could help me with some positive feedback and negative would also be acceptable, but don't be too harsh. Please :rolleyes:

 

Is their any paints I should get because Right Now I use:

Imperial Primer - Which I undercoat the model with.

Macragge Blue - base layer

aldorf blue - layer

guillman blue - glaze

some dry paint that a gw staff suggested to be, but it only seems to make my models look worse. It started with 'e' or something.

 

Mephiston Red

Ushabti Bone

A terrible watery scar white - not that great - once applied becomes chalky - any other recommendation?

Nuln Oil

Dragenhorf Nightshade or something like that

Sorry about names - remembering them of the top of my head. :(

Abaddon Black

Balthasar Gold and Auric Armour Gold - quite pleased with these two.

Averland Sunset.

Balor Brown.

Moot Green and Waagh- Green

A fineliner

A fine detail brush and starter brush - GW

 

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Here are some models of mine

 

http://i.imgur.com/1f5WH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QqtFO.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/P2CMS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RqDIV.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Uk8pO.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/TQgrd.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/8l9K7.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/rhwVN.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/fW6Lw.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SPwvq.jpg

 

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Also what would you recommend for basing and drybrushing in general - because i am new to these things - sorry for so many questions. I was thinking of using these bases when I get round to getting either my assault squad or terminators (close or normal) (which one would you recommend).

http://www.wargamesworkshop.com/ProductLis...7&GrpID=490

 

Again Thanks a lot. :)

[J!MM!L!C!OUS]

Hi There,

 

As for paints, these are quite handy for newbies http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/...atId=cat820002a but your marines look like a good first attempt. Certainly look better than my first attempt - I remember mixing bright pink for skin tones lol...

 

One piece of advice I can give you is to shave off your mould lines, and if you can, drill out the weapon muzzles.

 

Jimmi

[Nym468]

Here is a cheap but effective way to drill out the barrels of your weapons. I just picked one at random off amazon to link.

 

Pin Vise

 

Drilling out the barrels will go along way. The only things I would suggest purchasing are a good set of brushes. From something large that will give you a clean edge and large coverage (comes in handy for larger projects down the road) to the smallest brush you can find for detail work like eyes, face grills, shoulder trim, and power cables.

 

Try thinning your paint some, a couple of the marines show paint collecting in the recessed areas. Just put a little paint and a little water (not a lot), it won't effect the color but will allow the details on the marines to show through. A lot of my first marines suffered from some globby paint.

 

As a nice finishing touch try some of the washes, it will collect in the recessed areas of the model giving the color a lot of depth. The difference will be like night and day. You could try covering the whole model but I've had the best results from applying the wash to only those areas I want to highlight.

 

A thought for the future, maybe the far far future (depending on how deep you are planning to go) and available funds would be an airbrush. I purchased one about eight months ago and the results are incredible.

 

You've made a good start and welcome to the Ultramarines club, and the B&C. Hope to see more of your painting and practice makes perfect.

[Grotsmasha]

First off, welcome to the hobby and the B&C.

 

Secondly, as already suggested, your three biggest opportunities are:

 

Mold Lines - easily taken care off (pre paint, post assembly) by running the flat of a hobby knife along them. You want to scrape rather than cut them off, this prevents accidentally cutting of detail.

 

Thinning Paints - Typically (I use a palette) I use 60-40 paint-water ratio, mixed on the palette as I go, some people add water to the pot the first time they open it. 3 thin coats, though a little more time consuming, will yield a much smoother finish.

 

Brush Control - Time and practice, practice, practice. Your mini's are better than my first by far.

 

Concerning your decals, simply slicing a small 'V' (about 2/3rds down) out of the middle will let them fold around the pad without that crinkle forming.

 

All in all a great start and keep them coming !!!

 

Cheers,

Jono