Imperial Fists scout squad.

The basics.

A quick rundown of the basics of miniature painting.

#1 Primer coat.

Spray or brush on. A primer coat gives you a foundation to paint your base coat. You can paint on bare plastic or metal, and I've done it. A primer coat makes things much easier and nicer though.



#2. Base coast.

The basic colors. I often think of coloring books, all you have to do is color "inside the lines".



#3. Wash.

Using a darker color, (dark blue, black, dark grey, whatever fits the base coat colors.) that's been watered down. This gets into all the cracks and crevices and makes details stand out from the base coat. If you use the Foundation line from Games Workshop, it also tends to make the foundation paints darker and richer.



#4. Highlights and details.

Drybrushing is when you load a brush with paint, and then wipe off all but a little bit of the color. Overbrushing is when you wipe off some of the paint until it's tacky. Both are useful techniques. Use a dusting motion with a big brush for drybrushing. If you see paint on the miniature after the first stroke, it's too much. Drybrushing should take a few strokes to see a difference.
With overbrushing, you should drag the brush over the raised surfaces of the model. Leaving paint on the highest edges.



These Genestealers were done with Games Workshop's Foundation, Wash and Color lines of paints.

Thin your paints.

A common beginner question is "How thin?" The answer is "It depends."

I use GW paints almost exclusivley. (I use some craft acrylics for terrain projects.)
GW paint is nearly ready out of the pot. I usually put a drop or two of water in a new pot, and add a drop if it starts to get thick. I also tend to grab some water with my brush to thin paint as I'm applying it to the mini.
You can use a palette or even a piece of paper to mix the paint while you're working.
I use computer paper to protect my table and fiddle with the paint while it's on the brush.



There is no magical formula, because different paints, even different colors from the same company, have different consistencies.

So start thin and work your way back up if the paint isn't covering well. You can always paint over a thin layer, but you can't take paint off unless you strip the mini, which is a bitch.

Glue.

I use three different types of glue.

Testors liquid plastic cement.



Testors Cement.

I use the goopy kind. Some prefer the stuff that comes in a squarish black bottle, but I find the applicator gets gummed up way too easy.
This stuff melts plastic and thus is perfect for cementing plastic to plastc. Not good for any other job. Just plastic to plastic.

Zap-A-Gap Zap Gel.



Zap Gel.

This is what I use to bond metal to metal, and metal to plastic. It's superglue in gel form, and is easier to work with than the regular superglues. Other brands of superglue gel work just fine, but I like Zap.

Elmer's white glue.





Simple Elmer's Glue All. Can be thinned with water and mixed with paint for terrain work. I use this for gluing basing materials a lot. Also handy for papercraft and gluing plastic to styrofoam, and styrofoam to paper or styrofoam.

These three glues cover most everything I need to glue together.

Imperial Fists

What have I been doing lately? I bought a Space Marines battleforce and am painting them up as Imperial Fists. A few WIP shots.

Peter Cushing and his army.

Peter Cushing painting Napoleonic miniatures.

Space Hulk update

Terminator Librarian, C.A.T. and the chalice objective model.

Priming and finishing.

After assembling, it's very recomended to prime your miniature. Primer adheres to the plastic or metal much better than regular paint.
Priming black is good for dark miniatures and can save you time on shading and reaching hard to get to parts. White primer is much (Much!) better for light colors, like yellows and reds, but is less forgiving when getting the entire miniature covered. Grey is a nice middle ground, and I've used it before.
I use Army Painter spray primer, and they make colored primer so you can combine the base coat with the primer coat.





There is a sweet spot for every brand of paint. Usually a few inches from the model. Too close, and the primer pools and obscures details. Too far, and the paint goes on chalky and dusty. This takes practice and experimenting. Use short one second puffs of paint, to keep from spraying too much at once.

When you model is completely painted and based, it is a good idea to use a finishing coat. I have used lots, and really like Testor's Dullcote, and Krylon Matte finish. I'd rank the products out there like this-
1. Testor's Dullcote.
2. Krylon Matte Finish.
3. Everything else.
4. Games Workshop Purity Seal.

Frosting! The bane of every painter, to see your awesome model runied by a bad coat of finish.



The cause of frosting is most likely high humidity. I've found that Testor's Dullcote and Krylon Matte have a much higher tolerance for humidity, while Purity Seal does not. Wait to do any spraying, but especially finishing for when there is low humidity. No rainy or foggy weather.

If you do get a frosted appearance, don't panic just yet. (Or do panic, but don't actually do anything drastic!) The frosting is usually caused by the finishing coat getting microscopic imperfections in the surface, causing light to refract.
You can actually test this by putting a drop of water on the model.
If the frosting goes away, that means the water is filling in those imperfections.
The cure is to do another coat of finish. Try a new can, a better brand, and especially waiting for the humidity to go down. Put on a new finish coat and see if that doesn't help



Sometimes, even badly frosted models can be saved.

Painting with washes.

From the Warseer forums.

Painting with washes.

I want to try this technique! With the new Kill Team rules I may pick up a few different units and paint them up this way.

Space Hulk

The current progress on my Space Hulk models.





I've switched paints and techniques mid-project, and it shows on some of the models.

Paint then assemble, or assemble then paint?

Old question. I've done both, and my answer is partial assembly.

Some people prime and paint on the sprue. I can't stand the thought of doing it that way. I like to at least try to clean up the mould and flash lines before priming.
Assemble then paint: Most of the time a mini is going to be simple (Tau VX-15 Stealth Suits, for example.) Glue the backpack on, and then paint. Some models aren't so straightforward. Tau XV-8 Crisis Suits, for example. It's hard to get at the leg joints with arms and weapons in the way.



I assembled the main parts, head, arms, body, etc, and then stuck them on with poster tack before priming. After the primer dries, I can pull the parts apart and clean off the tack. This leaves some nice bare spots for gluing, and leaves the model ready to be painted partially assembled. Easy, peasy.



Then I can finish assembly and do the finishing touches.

Latest batch of Terminators for Space Hulk 3rd ed.

Latest batch of Genestealers for Space Hulk 3rd Edition.

First post.

Testing links and features and whatnot.

Good lord, that's a lot of code for a single image.