[Kettino]

Ok, i got this Space marine black undercoated from my friend. (he was convincing me of playing warhammer 40k :P)

ps, this is a WIP. it may look finished. but does anyone know a way to make the eye's better and the flames cooler?

i did NOT use any official warhammer paint, my dad had some good "acryl" paint that works fine, just shines a bit.

and this was my first miniture that i ever painted, in fact it was my first thing ever seriously painted.

it took me about 4 hours. i know theres some things not coloured (just tiny things) and his pupils.. they suck :P i'm hoping to finish that up tonight.

my theme (as you can see in the title) Fiah (fire). so flames on the lower legs, and sholder-pads. the "wings" on his chest gun and boots are in chrome. i'm gonna dry-brush some plain gray on the gun.

good leg + sholder vieuw: click the picture voor enlargement :P


tobad it got out blurry, but it looks like he's charging to the battle or something:



another side pic (from the other side tough):


CC/rate please? 1/10 (5 = table top qualety)

[Pollo]

Honestly? If a 5 is tabletop quality, then I think perhaps only a 3.

Main areas you need to focus on:

1) Get hold of some GW paints - they will make life much easier. Shiny models are not a good thing.
2) Before you try anything complicated like flames and such, try getting the art of painting down first. Get hold of some test models ('borrow' them from your mates, just go scrounging, someone's always got something useless to practice with). Once you can control a brush well, can apply paint to specific areas and have techniques like inking and drybrishing mastered, then you should try freehand painting (which is the painting of flames, images etc without any guidelines). Your flames could be the best in the world, but without a decent paintjob your model will look poor.
3) Use the Interactive Space Marine Painter to come up with a colour scheme (you won't be able to add flames in here though ). The red and silver clash horribly, to be honest.
4) Don't worry about tiny details at first. The easiest way to paint the eyes is to paint them first, and simply touch the helmet up afterwards.
5) Get hold of some PVA glue and some flock/sand. Basing makes a major difference to the appearance of a model.

[pochtecatl]

I'm going to have to agree with polo on everything except the GW paints. I use "Delta Ceramcoat" and they are much cheaper and a lot more varied. Just make sure the paints you use aren't glossy. Gloss where it shouldn't be =bad.

But yes you should definitely work on the brush skills and paint control. Get all the basics down before you work on free-hand work. It's like a guitarist working on pinch-harmonics before learning any cords or where the notes are.

[Pollo]

Originally Posted by pochtecatl

I'm going to have to agree with polo on everything except the GW paints. I use "Delta Ceramcoat" and they are much cheaper and a lot more varied. Just make sure the paints you use aren't glossy. Gloss where it shouldn't be =bad.

But yes you should definitely work on the brush skills and paint control. Get all the basics down before you work on free-hand work. It's like a guitarist working on pinch-harmonics before learning any cords or where the notes are.

I understood that untill you said "pinch-harmonics" :P
I'll take back what I said about GW Paints - pochtecatl (Saurus/Skink?) is right in that there are other companies that produce paints that will work. The ones you used ("acryl") do not, however.

[faol]

A good start but as the others said work withthe basics first before trying the complex stuff also good paints and brushes well serve you well, and keep at it ;D

[faol]

As far as brushes I go to Michael's craft store they have a section with artist brushes and a section were they sell the delta and other craft paints thats were I get my brushes they dont cost much and if you care for them any good brush will last

[BloodiedFangs]

i personally try not to use craft paints, or lower quality miniature paints. i tend to stick with vallejo and GW paints (although i've heard good things about reaper and derivan paints). its not that you can't acheive good results, its just that it'll require more effort to get the same results

as for brushes...well, just make sure you're using decent ones. despite all their bad rap, GW brushes are fine. i've used 'em to great effect many times before. also, a decent red sable brush will take you far, and i've heard good things about golden taklon brushes (tho i've never managed to track 'em down). however, my favourite brushes are kolinsky sable. they hold paint extremely well, and they taper very nicely to a very fine point, to the point where a size 0 can be used for pretty much any level of detail

[faol]

I've heard the same thing about kolinsky sables also I would like to get one or a few to see how they are as they say you get what you pay for

The craft paint as they say you get what you pay for not on par with GW, reaper or, vallejo but at times they get the job done nicely I have a decent amount of them I use them for terrain or when I need to mix colors I find the trick is thinning out to the right consistency

I find they are good paint when you buget is tight plus the 2 basic colors black and white are a good plus

[Seto]

I've used Delta Creamcoat on gundams, they really need to be thined, otherwise it'll just be blobby. Good paints though.