What is your painting "hot-take"?

[jaxom]

Here's mine: Dark Angels look terrible with edge-highlighting.

[Lathe Biosas]

Which Dark Angels? The Green, the Black or the Creamy Off-White?

 

 

☆☆☆

 

As for painting. Grey Knights should be Grey... not shiny silver.

 

Or if you are feeling cheeky, paint them in their original color scheme:

Edited September 4 by Lathe Biosas

[Cpt_Reaper]

Edge highlighting looks terrible in general on hard surfaces.

 

"But I need to simulate light hitting the model!"

 

Ignore what 'Eavy Metal tells you.

[jaxom]

2 hours ago, Lathe Biosas said:

Which Dark Angels? The Green, the Black or the Creamy Off-White?

Yes.

 

Harlequins, when painted right, should hurt everyone’s eyes.

[Lathe Biosas]

My soul hurts a little when I see this Dreadnought. 

[Brother Tyler]

5 hours ago, Lathe Biosas said:

As for painting. Grey Knights should be Grey... not shiny silver.

 

Or if you are feeling cheeky, paint them in their original color scheme:

 

That's not their original color scheme, though. That was from the 3rd edition Index Astartes article, and that was the only time they were depicted in the dark scheme, even in other images of them during that edition. Their original color scheme(s):

 

(click it to see it larger)

[Valkyrion]

The definition of 'Pro Painted' on ebay is different to the actual definition of Pro Painted 90% of the time. 

 

 

[SvenIronhand]

Barrel drilling is a psyop.

[NovemberIX]

Glue is for weaklings, Blu-tack holds all.

[Adeptekon]

Mine: Painting white is not hard.

[Karhedron]

Yellow paint is rubbish because paint manufacturers secretly hate the Imperial Fists. Somewhere a formula exists for perfect, bright yellow paint that covers in a single coat but manufacturers will not release it as they want to see us suffer.

[WBRBloom]

Miniature painter's Instagram accounts replays content that was made months ago, especially when it comes to reels and short videos. It's simply old content that is shot, edited and promoted at different points in time, to make us think that they paint tons of miniatures.

[Terminatorinhell]

Not really a hot take but here are a few

 

1) using AI in any part of the hobby, even to test paint schemes. It actively makes the world worse and you a worse hobbyist 

 

2) YouTube videos with click bait titles are trash 

You didn't "fix" something by painting it differently. 

 

 

[Lathe Biosas]

On 9/4/2026 at 10:56 PM, Brother Tyler said:

 

That's not their original color scheme, though. That was from the 3rd edition Index Astartes article, and that was the only time they were depicted in the dark scheme, even in other images of them during that edition. Their original color scheme(s):

 

(click it to see it larger)

 

Good to know. I had no idea that Grey Knights were around for that long.

 

I didn't really get into the hobby until 3rd, so most of my 40k knowledge starts there.

 

Wonder why they went black for 3rd?

[Magos Takatus]

3 hours ago, Lathe Biosas said:

 

Good to know. I had no idea that Grey Knights were around for that long.

 

I didn't really get into the hobby until 3rd, so most of my 40k knowledge starts there.

 

Wonder why they went black for 3rd?

It's not a phase, mum! 

 

As for my hot take? I guess can't make it too tepid...

 

Those people that leave a comment under every Youtube painting tutorial using an airbrush that complain that they shouldn't use an airbrush because not everybody has one? They are actively holding back progression of the human race.  Not everyone has a pot of Mephiston Red, that doesn't mean you should stop using it. 

[sitnam]

5 hours ago, Magos Takatus said:

Those people that leave a comment under every Youtube painting tutorial using an airbrush that complain that they shouldn't use an airbrush because not everybody has one?

I'm not leaving comments, but airbrush vids do get frustrating as a non-Airbrusher. It's mostly for bigger models were it's hard to find good tutorials on painting.

 

My hot take is that GW paint potsaren't as bad as some make them out to be. They have disadvantages, but I think if your not using a wet pallete then it easier to open a pot and get a bit onto a dry pallete then try and squeeze a dropper for just a tiny amount

[Terminatorinhell]

Considering I had a few dropper bottles explode on me when they clogged or even with a little blockage, yeah paint pots aren't that bad... 

 

I'm not sure what the idea paint storage is tbh. 

[Xenith]

My hot take:

 

'Done' is better than 'perfect', and don't strip a model until you've painted all your other models. 

[Magos Takatus]

6 hours ago, sitnam said:

I'm not leaving comments, but airbrush vids do get frustrating as a non-Airbrusher. It's mostly for bigger models were it's hard to find good tutorials on painting.

 

My hot take is that GW paint potsaren't as bad as some make them out to be. They have disadvantages, but I think if your not using a wet pallete then it easier to open a pot and get a bit onto a dry pallete then try and squeeze a dropper for just a tiny amount

That's fair. It wouldn't be a hot take if there wasn't some resistance to it. 

 

I have just found from my experience the number of tutorials that require an airbrush are minuscule compared to the number that don't so I do find the complaint unnecessary. I know not everyone have the luxury of enough space to have an airbrush setup, I myself struggled for many years but I could argue not all hobbyists have the luxury of having use of both of their arms, so should all painting tutorials be made with the assumption that hobbyists have to hold their brush in their mouth? 

 

Of course I'm joking, but you get the idea. 

 

As for your hot take, I agree to a point. People act as if dropper bottles are objectively better when they are often annoying in their own way. I am tired of the rigmarole of scraping paint out of the lids of my pots while trying not to accidentally make ever more mess doing so. Getting clogs in dropper bottles annoys me no end too so I'm looking for the holy grail of paint storage. I used to love the heaxagonal tall pots that were around in 2nd edition and the pots the Forge World paints came in but both sets suffered from lids that would eventually go brittle and crumble over time.

Edited September 8 by Magos Takatus

[WBRBloom]

4 hours ago, Xenith said:

My hot take:

 

'Done' is better than 'perfect', and don't strip a model until you've painted all your other models. 

 

Quoted for truth 

[Adeptekon]

2 hours ago, Magos Takatus said:

That's fair. It wouldn't be a hot take if there wasn't some resistance to it. 

 

I have just found from my experience the number of tutorials that require an airbrush are minuscule compared to the number that don't so I do find the complaint unnecessary. I know not everyone have the luxury of enough space to have an airbrush setup, I myself struggled for many years but I could argue not all hobbyists have the luxury of having use of both of their arms, so should all painting tutorials be made with the assumption that hobbyists have to hold their brush in their mouth? 

 

Of course I'm joking, but you get the idea. 

 

As for your hot take, I agree to a point. People act as if dropper bottles are objectively better when they are often annoying in their own way. I am tired of the rigmarole of scraping paint out of the lids of my pots while trying not to accidentally make ever more mess doing so. Getting clogs in dropper bottles annoys me no end too so I'm looking for the holy grail of paint storage. I used to love the heaxagonal tall pots that were around in 2nd edition and the pots the Forge World paints came in but both sets suffered from lids that would eventually go brittle and crumble over time.

It's the same with every advance in tech (see AI hot take above by one of ours good friends). I can remember when the Internet "artists" were moaning about Digital painting. "It's cheating!" they cried. "Now every one can paint like us the real artists!", "You're not learning the traditional techniques! You're no artist!" 

 

Blah Blah Blah Blah... 

[Evil Eye]

"Slapchop" annoys me immeasurably. The fundamental principle- underpainting and staining with translucent paint- is a good one, has a lot of versatility and is something I use myself quite a bit. The "poorly done zenithal prime with messily applied Contrast over the top" trend pushed by YouTubers as the greatest painting technique since the invention of the paintbrush is just lazy and I do not care one jot for the people pretending they're geniuses for doing it. It doesn't even look especially good half the time and the name is stupid!

 

Dialling the take up from "spicy" to "thermonuclear", I have developed severe grimdark fatigue, specifically regarding painting. Note that when I say "grimdark" I'm not talking about using limited/muted palettes, or drawing inspiration from John Blanche (may he rest in peace) or whatever, I'm talking about a very specific brand of painting that falls into a similar category as slapchop; that is, lazy/sloppy work passed off as "the next big thing" by clickbaity YouTube videos. You know the sort of thing; slapping so much texture paste and enamel washes onto a model that the whole thing ends up looking more like something that was reclaimed from a septic tank than anything else. Again, it's the glorification of putting absolutely zero effort into a model and claiming you're a GENIUS who just UNLOCKED the NEXT BIG THING because you dunked your model in Streaking Grime. And again it just doesn't look particularly good, and also utterly fails to capture the appeal of Blanche and Blanche-adjacent stuff. And some of the "techniques" are just absolutely laughable. [COUGH] Grimdark Compendium suggesting you cover your models in superglue[COUGH]

 

Somewhat related but I wish people would learn to use oils (and enamels) with a bit more finesse than just drenching their model in them and wiping the excess off. Personally I find sparing applications, like pinwashes, filters and dot-blending for colour modulation provide much better results, and they aren't even especially difficult either; you still have the incredibly forgiving nature of oils on your side after all.

 

Lastly, whilst I really like Catgut Painting's Tyranids (and Catgut Painting himself, who's a really cool dude) I do wish people would stop copying his coconut crab scheme 1:1. The dude made loads of really nifty tutorials on how to use similar techniques to get very different results (inspired by a variety of real life critters like scorpions, mantis shrimp and even a nautilus!) but I only see the coconut crab scheme getting traction. Ironic too given it's by far the most time-consuming!

[Adeptekon]

49 minutes ago, Evil Eye said:

"Slapchop" annoys me immeasurably. The fundamental principle- underpainting and staining with translucent paint- is a good one, has a lot of versatility and is something I use myself quite a bit. The "poorly done zenithal prime with messily applied Contrast over the top" trend pushed by YouTubers as the greatest painting technique since the invention of the paintbrush is just lazy and I do not care one jot for the people pretending they're geniuses for doing it. It doesn't even look especially good half the time and the name is stupid!

 

Dialling the take up from "spicy" to "thermonuclear", I have developed severe grimdark fatigue, specifically regarding painting. Note that when I say "grimdark" I'm not talking about using limited/muted palettes, or drawing inspiration from John Blanche (may he rest in peace) or whatever, I'm talking about a very specific brand of painting that falls into a similar category as slapchop; that is, lazy/sloppy work passed off as "the next big thing" by clickbaity YouTube videos. You know the sort of thing; slapping so much texture paste and enamel washes onto a model that the whole thing ends up looking more like something that was reclaimed from a septic tank than anything else. Again, it's the glorification of putting absolutely zero effort into a model and claiming you're a GENIUS who just UNLOCKED the NEXT BIG THING because you dunked your model in Streaking Grime. And again it just doesn't look particularly good, and also utterly fails to capture the appeal of Blanche and Blanche-adjacent stuff. And some of the "techniques" are just absolutely laughable. [COUGH] Grimdark Compendium suggesting you cover your models in superglue[COUGH]

 

Somewhat related but I wish people would learn to use oils (and enamels) with a bit more finesse than just drenching their model in them and wiping the excess off. Personally I find sparing applications, like pinwashes, filters and dot-blending for colour modulation provide much better results, and they aren't even especially difficult either; you still have the incredibly forgiving nature of oils on your side after all.

 

Lastly, whilst I really like Catgut Painting's Tyranids (and Catgut Painting himself, who's a really cool dude) I do wish people would stop copying his coconut crab scheme 1:1. The dude made loads of really nifty tutorials on how to use similar techniques to get very different results (inspired by a variety of real life critters like scorpions, mantis shrimp and even a nautilus!) but I only see the coconut crab scheme getting traction. Ironic too given it's by far the most time-consuming!

I'm not sure I follow all the distain for these techniques. I agree with you about personality ego's and passing things off as "pro" when they're really just shortcuts. That said I have to ask. Did you know Bob Ross never painted any of those little leaves on his happy little trees?

[jaxom]

1 hour ago, Adeptekon said:

when they're really just shortcuts.

My issue with the slapchop thing isn't the shortcut, it's presenting a very old technique (undershading) as something new. Contrast paints made undershading easier, but didn't make undershading possible.

 

Hot take: dry-brushing and/or stippling looks better than airbrush work when used for an airbrush technique.

[bloodhound23]

2 hours ago, Evil Eye said:

"Slapchop" annoys me immeasurably. The fundamental principle- underpainting and staining with translucent paint- is a good one, has a lot of versatility and is something I use myself quite a bit. The "poorly done zenithal prime with messily applied Contrast over the top" trend pushed by YouTubers as the greatest painting technique since the invention of the paintbrush is just lazy and I do not care one jot for the people pretending they're geniuses for doing it. It doesn't even look especially good half the time and the name is stupid!

 

Dialling the take up from "spicy" to "thermonuclear", I have developed severe grimdark fatigue, specifically regarding painting. Note that when I say "grimdark" I'm not talking about using limited/muted palettes, or drawing inspiration from John Blanche (may he rest in peace) or whatever, I'm talking about a very specific brand of painting that falls into a similar category as slapchop; that is, lazy/sloppy work passed off as "the next big thing" by clickbaity YouTube videos. You know the sort of thing; slapping so much texture paste and enamel washes onto a model that the whole thing ends up looking more like something that was reclaimed from a septic tank than anything else. Again, it's the glorification of putting absolutely zero effort into a model and claiming you're a GENIUS who just UNLOCKED the NEXT BIG THING because you dunked your model in Streaking Grime. And again it just doesn't look particularly good, and also utterly fails to capture the appeal of Blanche and Blanche-adjacent stuff. And some of the "techniques" are just absolutely laughable. [COUGH] Grimdark Compendium suggesting you cover your models in superglue[COUGH]

 

 

Yeah people are doing wildly lazy and thoughtless stuff and it gets insane numbers on social media. It almost feels like the gag is to do even less than last time while seeing if it can get higher view counts. A little videography seems to go along way in the perception of "professionalism," and I agree that I see stuff where it's like 5 contrast paints over Wraithbone and people are freaking out about the result. It looks like someone put watered paint on top of an off white basecoat. You can do good work with contrast paints, but that doesn't seem to be the content that does well. Maybe they have horde armies—I don't know—but I wouldn't want to put some of these washed out looking models on the table, and I'm kind of shocked that people have the gall to make tutorial vidoes for them.