Best color for a new painter?

[General Strike]

I was hoping for some advice for a new painter. I've only painted about 5-6 miniatures, and recently picked up two full Primaris starter sets. I was hoping for advice on the easiest to paint color scheme? I like Red, Green, Purple, and Leadbelcher esque colors. I painted one custodes, but had a really hard time with it due to all the detail, so I put the 15 Custodes on hold until I can paint my Primaris and learn a bit. I've been told that Leadbelcher and it's family are easy to paint and wash.

 

I just don't want unpainted minis running around my flgs.

Edited June 19, 2017 by HCMistborn

[Tyberos the Red Wake]

Silver is the easiest, once you learn how to handle metallic paints. Stay away from red, it can be a tricky color, though not as bad as white or yellow. Easiest way to make sure your paintjob goes smoothly is to use a primer that's either the same color as the color you want, or is a similar one. Or at the very least, use grey. You want to avoid black if you can, and use white only if you can't get grey or another color.

 

For red, go with a red or brown primer. For purple, go with a purple or grey primer. For Leadbelcher, go with a silver or grey primer. That is the real trick to having an easy time with your main color. All the people doing red or white or yellow over black primer are the ones who will struggle hardest, which is why certain colors have reputations for difficulty.

[Halandaar]

I personally find metallic colour schemes in general very forgiving to paint, and very effective. Something silvery can be achieved with just a few coats and details caught with drybrushing.

 

Chaos Black Spray > Leadbelcher all over > Drybrush Runefang Steel > wash Nuln Oil > Drybrush Runefang Steel gives a really nice base to work from. 

 

(Skipping Chaos Black and going straight in with the Leadbelcher spray is an option too and I do use that for my Stormcast Eternals, but i feel like starting from Black gives better depth, although better painters than me will have better tips)

 

Honestly it's one of the reasons I chose the MInotaurs after my return to the hobby. There's a WHTV tutorial from Duncan on their main armour here which is a simple Base > Drybrush > Wash > Drybrush > Highlight process using just 4 colours. Really effective!

Edited June 19, 2017 by Halandaar

[Sviar]

If you are going for a Leadbelcher scheme, then I would suggest that you use a black primer. Then use thin coats of the leadbelcher paint to thte areas where it needs to be painted. After that I would suggest that you use the black shade Nuln Oil. After it is dry, go over the mini to highlight it with Leadbelcher, and lastly fine highligt with Runefang Steel. And Yes the Leadbelcher scheme is very forgiving to paint.

Hope it helps and good luck.

[General Strike]

I was thinking a leadbelcher scheme for the main, and dragon red or caliban green for the accent color(shoulder pads and knee marking maybe) and just doing a 70/30 mix of steelplate and auric armor for the chest eagle

It's good to know to highlight with runefang steel. Maybe I can get my local GW manager to help me learn. I have a can of caliban green spray primer, could I use that and still get good results for leadbelcher?

[Major_Gilbear]

Asking delicately here, but is painting to a fairly high standard something you want to spend time and effort learning, or are you more aiming for a neat tabletop/gaming standard of painting?

 

I ask as they do have different implications on how you go about learning painting, and I would be delighted to give you more specific advice and guidance to help you get the results you want.

 

They are not necessarily mutually-exclusive either, but there's not much point in getting frustrated with more time-consuming techniques if there's no real need to do so in order to reach your goal. Similarly, if you want to learn to paint to a fairly high level, you'd be as well to start learning and practising sooner, even though it will be slower going.

 

It would also help if you can post your efforts to date up here so that we can see if there's anything you may need more targeted advice on.

 

Finally, there's the question of colours. Despite the popular advice here, I would suggest that greens and blues are the most forgiving colours to paint. They cover well over a variety of different-coloured undercoats, can be shaded in lots of ways, can be highlighted in lots of ways, and look very good when placed against neutral colours and metals. It's well worth spending a bit of time deciding on a scheme (the B&C Space Marine Painter is very helpful here), and have it planned in advance - this saves you time and frustration later on, and it also gives you a more defined result to work towards.

[General Strike]

To be honest, at least for now, I'm focused on getting my stuff to a neat tabletop paintjob, since I want to learn how to play. I have social anxiety, and work overnights, so I have to double force myself to go play at the local GW since my FLGS closed, and I've had trouble getting myself to do so. It's not cause I don't love this hobby, I've been reading warhammer novels for 12 years of my life, but decided to start the hobby right before I joined B&C like a year ago. So, for me right now, I think quick and clean is the best, so I can sort of take away my excuse of "my armies are painted or assembled" and force myself to meet people and play the new exciting edition. I want to put in the time and hours to learn to paint and use greenstuff, but my priority is cementing myself in the hobby and store. Right now I have two hobby days a week, and only one of them is when my GW store is open. So I figured one day for painting and painting practice, and the other for spending it at the GW store. I will throw up the couple of models I've painted when I get home. I like Silver and Green, so either of those colors would be good to learn to paint. I know the basics, thin the paints, how to mix, and layering, but technique I lack right now.

 

I plan to make a WIP page here, because I know this community is great for tips and motivation.

Edited June 19, 2017 by HCMistborn

[Major_Gilbear]

That's all very useful information, and I appreciate your taking the time to elaborate, thank you. :)

 

I would like to give you a fully-detailed reply, but I am at work right now and things are rather busy here! Therefore, if it's okay, I'll write up a proper response for you when I get home this evening, and include some links that I think will help you.

 

In short though, I think that you can get a very striking scheme with silver and green, and using red and purple as spot-colours.

[General Strike]

I really appreciate any help and advice you can give.

 

I was leaning towards this

 http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/sm/bpe=BDBDBD&bpj=BDBDBD&bp=BDBDBD&bpc=BDBDBD&hdt=BDBDBD&hdm=BDBDBD&hdl=BDBDBD&ey=A30303&er=BDBDBD&pi=BDBDBD&nk=BDBDBD&ch=BDBDBD&eg=B8B57F&sk=B8B57F&abs=BDBDBD&bt=BDBDBD&cod=BDBDBD&ull=BDBDBD&lk=BDBDBD&lll=BDBDBD&lft=BDBDBD&url=BDBDBD&rk=BDBDBD&lrl=BDBDBD&rft=BDBDBD&slt=BDBDBD&sli=0D4A10&srt=BDBDBD&sri=0D4A10&ula=BDBDBD&lel=BDBDBD&lla=BDBDBD&lw=BDBDBD&lh=BDBDBD&ura=BDBDBD&rel=BDBDBD&rla=BDBDBD&rw=BDBDBD&rh=BDBDBD&bg=FFFFFF&rb=8F8B8B&gr=FFFFFF&wg=true&aq=true&mk8=true&comi=B3AC76&salamanderpad=B3AC76&mk6kn=true/spacemarine.jpg

 

Or this:

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/sm/bpe=225706&bpj=225706&bp=225706&bpc=225706&hdt=225706&hdm=225706&hdl=225706&ey=570612&er=225706&pi=225706&nk=225706&ch=225706&eg=BDB57E&sk=BDB57E&abs=225706&bt=225706&cod=225706&ull=225706&lk=225706&lll=225706&lft=225706&url=225706&rk=225706&lrl=225706&rft=225706&slt=B4B8B2&sli=B4B8B2&srt=B4B8B2&sri=B4B8B2&ula=225706&lel=225706&lla=225706&lw=225706&lh=225706&ura=225706&rel=225706&rla=225706&rw=225706&rh=225706&bg=FFFFFF&rb=A8A8A8&gr=FFFFFF&wg=true&aq=true&salamanderpad=BAB670&veti=BAB670&mk6kn=true/spacemarine.jpg

Edited June 19, 2017 by HCMistborn

[Major_Gilbear]

I think the lower one looks better personally, but I would avoid doing the shoulderpads in silver as it makes any decals applied over them hard to see (especially if they are pale-coloured).

What about if you did the full arms in silver, and have silver-trimmed black shoulder pads? The rest of the armour stays in green as you have it now. That'd be easy to paint, and is pretty forgiving of awkward details.

[General Strike]

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/sm/bpe=17590C&bpj=17590C&bp=17590C&bpc=17590C&hdt=17590C&hdm=17590C&hdl=17590C&ey=590C0C&er=17590C&pi=17590C&nk=17590C&ch=17590C&eg=ADAD5E&sk=ADAD5E&abs=17590C&bt=17590C&cod=17590C&ull=17590C&lk=17590C&lll=17590C&lft=17590C&url=17590C&rk=17590C&lrl=17590C&rft=17590C&slt=ADADAD&sli=000000&srt=ADADAD&sri=000000&ula=ADADAD&lel=ADADAD&lla=ADADAD&lw=ADADAD&lh=ADADAD&ura=ADADAD&rel=ADADAD&rla=ADADAD&rw=ADADAD&rh=ADADAD&bg=FFFFFF&rb=969595&gr=FFFFFF&wg=true&aq=true&mk8=true&mk6kn=true/spacemarine.jpg

 

Sort of like this? I dig it.

[Kinstryfe]

I like the scheme above. It's different enough from the usual schemes that it looks unique, which is great.

 

I'm going to partly echo what's been said, but the gist of it is that the thinner the pigment, the less forgiving a color will be, and typically blue and green are very thick with pigment, then purples, then oranges and reds, and yellows and whites are the thinnest. Metallics depend on the paints, and if you're using GW's their silver family is usually pretty forgiving. So going for green like you have with silver should give you good coverage for your colors, and make it easy to cover up any mistakes you make. Don't be afraid to play with the scheme a little too. I'm actually liking the green and silver combo in most of these pics, and if there are any other colors you like, you can always work them in as spot colors. Squad leaders get black arms or helms to match the shoulder pads. Command Squad have gold instead of silver, veterans display the company color on their helmet, Tactical Squad 3 was wiped out to a lone survivor, and the new unit under that sergeant paint their gauntlets bone to remember it. Weird stuff like that. Remember it's your army and have some fun with it :)