Large model army possibilities?

[INKS]

15 minutes ago, Doghouse said:

I've found these work quite well, the added advantage of a small light on things likes these make it easier too and they come with multiple strength lenses. Lots of different brands but all do the same job.

 

 

My eyesight getting poorer with age has been a real motivation killer for me. As I'm not really a gamer these days I've considered third party counts as stl models that I can print at a larger scale.

 

thanks, I have added this to the list on what to look for.

[ZeroWolf]

1 hour ago, INKS said:

how did you find painting the large guys verse some of the regular sized or smaller guys?

how were they to build?

Painting wise, pretty fun. I used contrast paints over a wraithbone base, followed by dry brushing so they were nice and quick. I did the nid half of the Leviathan box back in 2023 for Call to Arms.

 

Building, I've only built the newer stuff (got a hive tryant to build and magnetise so I can have all options open). I had good experiences with them, nothing too fiddly (in contrast, one of the Necron special characters was a utter nightmare).

[INKS]

7 minutes ago, ZeroWolf said:

Painting wise, pretty fun. I used contrast paints over a wraithbone base, followed by dry brushing so they were nice and quick. I did the nid half of the Leviathan box back in 2023 for Call to Arms.

 

Building, I've only built the newer stuff (got a hive tryant to build and magnetise so I can have all options open). I had good experiences with them, nothing too fiddly (in contrast, one of the Necron special characters was a utter nightmare).

thanks for the insight!

[Craig]

Maybe instead of larger models you could think about different ways to paint the smaller ones. Using 2 colours that really contrast well against eachother and basing with one and dry brushing with the other can look really good with minimal effort. You don't have to worry about the details as the dry brush will pull them out for you.

I remember I did some gsc neophytes as a pallete cleanser project a while back after watching Angels of Death on WH+. I just primed them black and dry brushed with a light grey, tinted the skin with druchi violet and called them done.

[TheArtilleryman]

On 1/23/2025 at 11:34 PM, INKS said:

So what armies can actually be fielded with minimal or no regular sized models. Knights come to mind. Or Chaos Knights but I am not sure if you can run all tanks, or all vehicles from other factions? what are the options?

T’au - Commander is a fairly large model and then you could have an army full of battlesuits. Ghostkeels, Broadsides, Riptides, Stormsurge - also Hammerhead Gunships. They actually look surprisingly good drybrushed instead of edge highlighted. 

 

Imperial Guard - Tank Commander as warlord, then all tanks. Washes, drybrushing, mud. Lots of mud. 

 

Tyranids - Hive tyrant leading a buttload of monsters. Again, shading and drybrushing is great because it brings out all the carapace detail.

 

Go with lots of drybrushing, contrast paints and shades to reduce the amount of detail painting you have to do. If you go for a grimy, dirty paint style you can cover the worst of any errors with battle damage, rust and mud.

Edited January 25 by TheArtilleryman

[INKS]

7 hours ago, Craig said:

Maybe instead of larger models you could think about different ways to paint the smaller ones. Using 2 colours that really contrast well against eachother and basing with one and dry brushing with the other can look really good with minimal effort. You don't have to worry about the details as the dry brush will pull them out for you.

I remember I did some gsc neophytes as a pallete cleanser project a while back after watching Angels of Death on WH+. I just primed them black and dry brushed with a light grey, tinted the skin with druchi violet and called them done.

A little more detail to explain or try to. I was trying to paint solar watch custodes but I can't see the details to paint gold. so they end up looking like a mess. and while my eyes literally can't tell when I go to take a picture of them to share they look horrible. And it just made me feel really bad. I could just paint them all gold, wash them, dry brush and be done. But I just won't be happy with that. It's difficult mentally on some levels to know you used to have a skill of X or level skill of X and now because you can't properly see the details any longer it just doesn't look as good, and the techniques you are used to using just don't work well any longer. So one some levels I need to relearn some things for sure and adjust, and accept that my paint just won't look as good as it used to. But all of that is very frustrating. Sadly I am not a man who has all the monies for hobby and so each purchase is carefully considered before I make it.

 

I do not get to play that often, in fact zero games of 10th and only 2 games of 9th. Since that is the case, it's far more important what the army looks like sitting on the shelf. And while it's true, I can't really see the details anyway, knowing that they are badly painted just bothers me. Having invested very recently in hundreds of dollars in paint and accessories. (I moved last year and lost everything) I want to put them to use.

 

 

 

5 hours ago, TheArtilleryman said:

T’au - Commander is a fairly large model and then you could have an army full of battlesuits. Ghostkeels, Broadsides, Riptides, Stormsurge - also Hammerhead Gunships. They actually look surprisingly good drybrushed instead of edge highlighted. 

 

Imperial Guard - Tank Commander as warlord, then all tanks. Washes, drybrushing, mud. Lots of mud. 

 

Tyranids - Hive tyrant leading a buttload of monsters. Again, shading and drybrushing is great because it brings out all the carapace detail.

 

Go with lots of drybrushing, contrast paints and shades to reduce the amount of detail painting you have to do. If you go for a grimy, dirty paint style you can cover the worst of any errors with battle damage, rust and mud.

I am looking into the tank detachment and crusher stampede now. I think my method of stippling for texture would works well on both of these. washing the models and then painting the center of the panels in warmer gradients I think will help.

[ZeroWolf]

Sounds like a winning plan