AAAHHHHHH

[Brother Octavianus]

and he looks like crap... i am pretty sure this is to be expected but i am still worried about ruining models... i will get around to posting a picture later

[AlteriusMotive]

why you!, just kidding. Congrats. What chapter did you pick?? prob UM. Hope you can get a pic up soon.

[Capt. Kenaz]

:ph34r: No Worries, just strip him if it's that bad and try again!!! If at first....But seriously, use less paint on your brush and more water mixed in with it...take the time to layer your colors and you'll see a BIG difference. It's like everything else, practice, practice, practice! Good luck!

[-Q-]

At first glance this thread seems like it's useless. But look deeper...

 

This is an important thing we face in the BnC... fear of making our models look like crap with paint. So it's a good thing to talk about. My advice... push on, don't repaint. Paint the next model even though you're not happy with the first. Don't be afraid to post pictures to share with the Brothers here and get some tips about doing better on the next one. ...and if they say it's good, don't let that get to your head and slow you down! Let it push you forward.

[Brother Octavianus]

i cannot find any articles on basic painting... all i have is the battle of macragge paint set and a goblin green so i dont have much can anyone put a complete walkthrough on how to paint basic marines that dont look like crap using the paints i have. in case you dont know the paint set comes with chaos black, boltgun metal, ultramarines blue, blood red, shining gold and beastial brown

 

also i chose the harolds of ultramar

[-Q-]

Put your paints in a pencil case or small carry case of some sort. Prime a couple of your Marines. Take that all down to your local GW and ask the Redshirt to show you how to get started painting them well with what you have. That's really going to be your best bet for the *very* first steps on learning to paint minis. Some stores have specific times where they hold painting classes or might ask you to come back during less busy hours, but every GW store I've ever been to has been happy to help out like this. Just remember to be polite and patient :ph34r:

[Brother Octavianus]

well i am afraid that i dont have a games workshop where i live only a store called dragons den where the clerk there most of the time is an arse who when i tried to buy the battle of macragge set told me to play a different game and when i got the paints kept me waiting for ten minutes bacause he was playing some card game

[-Q-]

Ouch. Very sad.

 

Look through the various stickies and FAQs here to see if anything helps. You don't really have much to work with in paints so it's mostly going to be painting solid colors. So work on getting smooth even color and general brush control.

[librarian_ezekiel]

ahh yeah some game store owners are like that but f :ph34r: ck 'em if they are a dick because u play a game THEY sell then that's lame 'cuz you are buying stuff from them

anyways yeah everyone starts somewhere, I remember my first model looked like a red mound of cr&p(first model was a khorne berserker) but now I came 2nd in january 05 conflict for my Tigurius?(the ultramarines librarian) for youngbloods and i'm entering again this year, it takes a bit of time to get good but i and hopefully the other fraters and mods(who i don't doubt) have faith in you

~EzEkiEl

p.s. to everyone please pardon my rant i am not at all trying to take the spotlight and if it seems like I am i will edit my post to be nicer and more helpful.

[AlteriusMotive]

man, if you got or scimmed thru how to paint space marines, the start of the book has a description of different approches to paint marines. If i were u id try the flat colors, lay down some thin coats of um blue all over the model. Then paint the parts that are to be metal or other colors with chaos black also the bendy bits inbetween the armour plates like the back of the knees. Paint the eyes blood red, reds are hard to get a good coat over black so do a few coats. Metals with bolt gun metal and golds with shining gold. I know it sound to simple to have a good effect but trust me, once its based itll look really good. A pro of doing this is when you become more adept in painting you'll be able to come backe and update them.

 

One thing to keep in mind is. Paint slowly. I know how it feels to dislike you models so be precise and patient. If you get a bit tired watch some tv have a drink then try again in a hour or so. Good luck with the hoby obviously my favourie aspect of the hobby. If you decide to try this and i hope you will try and get some pics up.

 

DAMN!!! I can crap on.........

[mario]

I can't add much but here are links to some tutorials. You should be able to find something there:

CMON artcles section: A lot of different articles

Minipainters.com: They have a big list with links to articles all over the net. Again this should be enough to keep you reading for some time.

 

Lik the others said: practice makes you get better. Reading these articles can help you but in the end you have to paint to get better.

[Archangelus]

Also remember to thin down your paints. A quick and reasonable way is also to spray paint the mini and then apply a thin wash for shading (wash = very thinned paint with just less than a drop of dishwashing liquid).

 

After that you can try to high-light. Paint very thin lines of a brighter hue of the base colour (light blue in your case) along the edges of the armour plates.

 

I hope this helped.

 

Have fun with your Heralds of Ultramar!

[Captain Hat]

I still have the first five minatures I ever painted. I keep them scattered about my gaming case and painting desk to remind me not to get cocky when I see other peoples' first armies.

 

I even have a couple of pictures of them online.

 

http://captain-hat.rooms.cwal.net/WH40K/newpics1/oldboys.JPG

 

Yeah. It's actually quite an achievement to make Templars look that bad. Especially the guy with BP & CCW, he looks more like a Plague Marine with repainted armour than a Space Marine.

 

Nearly six years later, however, I like to think I'm pretty good.

 

http://captain-hat.rooms.cwal.net/WH40K/newpics1/leto-II.JPG

http://captain-hat.rooms.cwal.net/WH40K/ne...rney/Gurney.JPG

 

So don't get too downhearted when your first attempts look rubbish: Everybody's first attempt looks rubbish. What's important is that you persevere, keep at it and you'll keep improving. Practice makes perfect and all that.

 

Now, as for your colours- you're painting UM blue marines, right? Note that I'm assuming you've removed all the mold lines and your modelling isn't the issue here. Just remember not to glue the Marine's boltgun on until after you've painted it and the Marine's chest and it'll all be fine.

 

Well, a lot of people will tell you to basecoat white. Don't. In my opinion, this is a bad move- you can get a very good UM Blue over black, and black is a more useful colour for the rest of the model as well, especially if you're going with red eyes.

 

So the first step is to spray your models black. Do this in a series of light coats as opposed to one heavy one, as you'll obscure less detail and end up with a smoother finish. Really, this is as much a matter of trial and error as anything else, but once you get the hang of it you should be able to get a decent basecoat over most of the model.

 

Next step is to finish the basecoat. Get a medium brush, and go over the model with watered down black paint, making sure to get all of the areas that the spraycoat didn't touch.

 

After that, go straight to UM Blue. Water it down, but not too much! It doesn't matter if the first layer doesn't cover the model effectively, but it should stay where you put it on the model. Making sure you don't get too much on your brush is also important here. Try not to paint in the joints or the eye sockets or any of the recesses you don't want coloured. Don't worry too much if you do get paint where you don't want it, you can sort that out later on. The first layer will be a little blotchy, and will look pretty rubbish- don't worry, this is normal for properly thinned paint, and will give you a much smoother finish at the end. The trick here is to keep layering it up until the blue completely covers the black. When you've finished, you should have a good, flat blue colour over all the parts of the model that need to be that colour, and all of the model detail should still be clearly visible. Since this is one of your first models, we won't bother with highlights for now. It might take three or four layers to get a good solid colour, but they aren't hard to do so it shouldn't take you too long.

 

The next step is to go back to the black. Carefully, using watered down black paint, go over the areas that you don't want to be blue (unless you want them to be white or yellow). Getting a solid colour isn't quite as important here, unless your "finish colour" is black. The most difficult area to get this right on is the eye sockets.

 

Next, using the same layering method, paint the boltgun's body whatever colour you want it to be (I'm guessing Blood Red, in which case a neat trick is to paint it Scab Red, wait for it to dry and then apply a slightly-thinner-than-usual layer of Blood Red, which leaves lowlights around the edges that make the paint look worn. You can rub a little of the Blood Red off the edges to help it along if you want). When you're done, paint the parts of the boltgun that aren't going to be that colour black again, being extra careful not to paint over any of your recent hard work.

 

After this, break out the Boltgun Metal and paint in the piping in the Marine's joints: Again, use watered down paint, but don't water it down so much this time. Just enough that it flows off the brush. Don't worry if you get all the detail filled in, we'll sort that out later. Paint everthing that's going to be silver metallic on the model with this colour- the boltgun detailing, any extra bionic bits ont he Marine, that sort of thing. Gold metallics we'll do later.

 

The next step is a black wash. What this entails is getting some black paint and watering it down quite a lot- then using it more or less indiscriminately over the metallic parts you've just painted. Leave the raised portions clear, so you can see the piping and detailing in the metal colour, but don't be too afraid of getting it on the blue armour. As long as you wipe it off the areas where it would look completely rubbish (which is fairly easily accomplished) you'll be fine.

 

Now, if you want the chest eagle done in gold, your first step is Shining Gold (I think that's the darker of the two). Paint the whole thing in this colour, then when it's dry, carefully drybrush it in Burnished Gold (drubrshing is fairly easy- you just get a bit of paint on your brush, wipe most of it off with a cloth or rag and then brush over the model fairly lightly so that the paint catches the edges). Don't worry about being too neat on the chest eagle, but be careful not to catch the rest of the model. When you've done that, water down some Chestnut Ink and give the chest eagle a light wash, and/or maybe a little go over with watered down Brown Ink. Brown Ink is darker, though, so it depends how dark you want it to look. When that's done, you have the option of giving it a light drybrush with Burnished Gold, giving it a heavy drybrush with Shining Gold followed by a light drybrush with Burnished Gold, or just leaving it as-is, depending on what you prefer.

 

If you want the Chest eagle done in silver, replace "Shining Gold" with "Boltgun Metal," the first drybrsh in Burnished Gold with a drybrush in Chainmail, the ink wash with a black wash and the second (optional) drybrush with Mithril Silver.

 

If you want the chest eagle done in yellow, then I... don't know if I can help you. I've never painted a chest eagle yellow before. At a guess Id say pick a bright orange for the basecoat and whichever yellow you prefer for the main colour with a heavy drybrush on it, with a Chaestnut ink wash if any.

 

If you want it done in white, basecoat is Space Wolves Grey, topcoat is Bone White and wash is Chaos Black.

 

Do the same for any winged detailling on the boltgun.

 

Next on the list is the shoulder pad rims. If you're doing them gold, use roughly the same procedure as for the chest eagle (except remember to be careful with the ink- consider not using it at all, in fact- and don't let it get too blotchy). If yellow, basecoat orange and topcoat yellow (though don't take my word for that, ask someone who's actually done a significant amount of yellow before), if white then UM blue makes a decent basecoat anyway but you may want to consider basecoating with SW Grey first anyway. Other colours are mostly just a matter of layering up.

 

Next up, skulls. Skulls and other bone-coloured detail are easy to get looking good and can really make a model stand out. First step is to basecoat Bestial Brown, making sure you don't get it in the skull's eyes or nostrils but getting it pretty much everywhere else. Use a black wash after putting the basecoat down if you do get it in the eyes, it's not massively critical that you get it right first time. Once that's dry, simply apply a heavy drybrush in Bleached Bone and youre pretty much done. Some people will advise you to do a further highlight in Skull White, but it really isn't necessary. A "heavy drybrush" in this case means leaving slightly more paint ont he brush than you would normally. You should end up with the skull's recesses in brown, fading up to bone at the ridges, for an excellent bone look without very much effort or skill necessary.

 

The most difficult part is the eye sockets. The simplest, most effective way of painting these is to do them red. First, get Scab Red and paint the whole socket with a detail brush. Next, when that's dry, paint Blood Red in as fine points as you can manage in the centre of the eye socket with a fine detail brush with a good tip- don't water the Blood Red down much, if at all, for this. You can expand the point a little from your starting point if you have exceptionally steady hands, but most of the time your initial dab should be large enough already.

 

At this stage, your model should be largely complete. You may spot areas that could benefit from an additional black wash (like, for example, between the Marine's fingers on the boltgun) or need additional work. If so, use your own best judgement.

 

Umm.. Yeah.

 

If anyone else has anything to add or say about this, please go ahead. I haven't even tried to write a painting tutorial before this, so I may well have made mistakes or left things unclear. I'd appreciate any comments or criticism (particularly on painting yellow. I've never yet had any commissions to paint that included a lot of yellow, and I play Black Templars mainly so I don't have much experience with it).

 

Umm, yeah.

[Monkey Garage]

We all have to start somewhere. You need to get some pics up so we can critique the model and give you pointers.

 

My best bit of advice is to read read read read read. Every and all tutorial, FAQ, you can get your hands on. They are all over the internet. CMON is a good place, google works just as well! Take what you read and apply it. Practice on pieces you will not use. Pieces of sprue will work as well to practice on.

 

It takes time, and patience. I've spent many a nights of my youth (still young, I started when I was 13, I'm now 23) painting until 1-2 am. In fact, I actually paint better when I'm sleep deprived and painting late, lol. Put a cup of coffee next to me, keep them coming, I'm good till 2am.

 

I'd write up some tutorials, as I'm sure a lot of people would, but I cannot write worth a damn. So, best advice, just read. Even if it has NOTHING to do with 40k models. Fantasy models, other wargames, model airplanes, model cars, model soldiers based on real life, faux painting, etc.

[Jokersminis]

"How to Paint Citadel Miniatures" is a fantastic resource for the beginning painter, Space Marine and otherwise.

 

Basic painting, highlighting, blending, even basing and model building. I strongly suggest picking that up.

 

Here

[Yamez]

To be honest, the best way to improve your painting is practice. Thats all I did, And I've improoved in leaps and bounds since I started.

 

 

Perhaps, evey now and then, buy a random miniature that you really like, or want to paint (it doesn't even have to be one that you'll ever use) And paint it to your best ability, using new technichues that you've picked up.

 

I find this works well, as you enjoy painting it and Its nothing repetative.

 

also, keep some models that yu have painted, and never re paint them, as these show you how much you've improved.

 

Hope that helps...

[Lord Ragnarok]

"How to Paint Citadel Miniatures" is a fantastic resource for the beginning painter, Space Marine and otherwise.

 

Basic painting, highlighting, blending, even basing and model building. I strongly suggest picking that up.

 

Here

 

 

Also the How to paint Space Marines is pretty good. I use both as well as noob level tutorials on the net.

[Brother Octavianus]

i finally worked up the courage to post them so here are my marines... i will fix the bottoms but they still look like crap

 

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/taytyn/Picture.jpg

[librarian_ezekiel]

Wow nice work man thats like 1000000x better than my first marine

u got the basics of blacklining down, eyes are a toughy so it'll take practice for that, the metal looks nice as well

Just read up on some simple techniques on the GW website or Coolminiornot.com like highlighting, drybrushing, shading and ink washes, but for first minis those beat the crap outta mine

nice work and keep at it!

~EzEkiEl

[grazer]

Brother Octavianus, nice job on your first marines! I agree that painting eyes is not as easy as it may seem, but it'll come to you with some practice. Keep up the great work and keep us updated on your progress.

[Maleficum]

First of all, let me just say that I really appreciate the nice people here at B&C, who writes long encouraging posts for us beginning-level painters! (Some of the models I've seen here in the painting/converting-forum can be discouraging :D) I found some helpful tips here, and I've been painting for over a year.

 

 

Just thought I'd add a few tips of my own, that the expert painters here might forget:

 

1. Try to have a good lightsource! Prefarably more than one source, sunlight is nice.

 

2. Paint in batches of 5-8 marines, and do one detail at a time. As you do that, you'll get better at that particular detail and you'll allways be able to 'touch up' the first models when you're finished.

 

3. Try not to correct mistakes at once, leave own phases of 'touching up the blue', 'touching up the metal', etc.

 

4. Be patient. It can be disheartening to see the models slowly get paint on them, but know that you will both get better and faster!

 

5. When you paint details like, for instance, shouldertrims; 'paint away from the model'. By that I mean that you should use brush-strokes away from the interiour of the shoulderpad. This avoids having to do lot's of touch-ups.

Maybe a native speaker should try to explain what I mean? Or someone more into 'painting lingo'? :blink:

 

6. When a squad/model(s) are finished, play a game or two! This helps you accept that it doesn't take a great paintjob for the models to look great on the battlefield! (Especially on painted scenery!) (Try not to use unpainted minis, as that will help your motivation)

 

 

edit: Eyes are damned difficult. I have found that a little paint on the tip of a 'fine detail brush' and just making a spot looks nice enough. I'd love to be able to paint eyes that seems like 'lenses', but frankly I can't use a brush on so small areas. The 'spot-technique' is easy to remedy if you ever learn to paint 'proper' helmet-lenses.

Warning: the spot-technique makes your marines look more sinister, in my opininion.

[Captain Hat]

As for eyes: First thing is to pick a darker shade of the colour you want and paint the whole eye socket. Next, put a spot in of a brighter version of that colour (for example, Scab Red with Blood Red spot). Step three is to use your fine detail brush with your armour colour and paint around the eye- this is a Hell of a lot easier than painting the eye itself, and gives you a very neat-looking eye with a simple neo-lens effect without requiring too much effort or a particularly steady hand.

 

And to Octavianus- Good job on the first marines, dude! You had it a lot more difficult than I did, painting in UM Blue rather than black, and I think you did a pretty good job!

[INKS]

I have been playing and painting for almost 8 years now, maybe longer can't even remember now. :P point is I still am not very good with eyes.

 

As for your models they look pretty good, all you need to do is tighten them up. Here is what I mean by that. Take your UM blue (water it down as you should with all paints) use the smallest brush you have and start to paint over the areas that have too much paint on them. For example the eyes.

 

By going over the outter rim of the eye you'll tighten it up so it doesn't look like a blob of paint as it does now. You've also got some gold and some black on the blue, go over it and erase it :D

 

Hope this makes sense.

[Psykochiken]

Brother Octavianus it looks fine it just needs to be touched up, take some blue and cover the gold on the sholder pads, and red on the face should come out fine

 

Ooops... i just copied InKaras by accident Umm..... what he said

[st.germaine]

Very nice job for your first minis. I've been painting for a long time but am not in the class of some of the painters here so I understand completely where you're coming from about working up the nerve to post your figures. You've got a very good start with these and the advice given should make them look even better.