Sojenus posted:

Finished up a large mech today. Haven't done anything this size before, turned out painting was the easy part compared to assembly.

Booyah- posted:

wow that's awesome!

the scenery is amazing too, is that model train/town stuff?

Booyah- posted:

I hear you about the setup-teardown stuff, I don't have room for a semi-permanent paint station so I have to clean a bunch of stuff before either brushing or airbrushing, get things set up, and then usually put stuff away right after. It could be worse but it adds an activation energy that can cause stagnation.

Looking at your list I see a few models that you seem most excited about but afraid to paint because you'll mess them up. One of the best ways for me to get past a hiatus has been to pick one of those models and jump in. I try to forget about getting it wrong, stripping paint is easy so I can always repaint it later. Having a model you're excited to see painted helps with getting over the annoyance of setup and teardown.

edit: as far as paints, try to restrict purchases to exactly what you need for your current project. You can stick to proven and cheaper paints like Vallejo if GW stuff is too expensive (and dropper bottles are infinitely easier to airbrush anyway.)

GreenBuckanneer posted:

Why not just set yourself like a totally reasonable goal like start off doing one single Mini a week?

SiKboy posted:

If I'm struggling with motivation (when I want to want to paint, if you see what I mean. If I dont want to paint I just dont, but sometimes I want to but am just struggling to get started) then I go and pull an easy win out the pile 'o shame. What that looks like exactly will vary, but generally something thats never going to be a showcase piece but that you can make look decent to good with minimal effort. So stuff like ghosts (prime white, slap on nihalikth oxide or hexwraith flame, then drybrush white), robots/machines (metallics and a oil wash if you can be bothered, ink wash or nuln oil if you cant, quick gunmetal drybrush) or something that I'm going to be happy enough just using contrast paints and drybrushing. Zombies are good too, any mistakes can be covered up with gore.

So your AoS skeleton dudes for example, I'd imagine a lot of the rank and file will look pretty good with not a lot of effort (either Skeleton Horde contrast for the bones, or regular bone paint and a sepia wash if you dont have the contrast, paint whatever rags they are wearing, do the weapons and shields metallic then weather the absolute gently caress out of them which is always easy and fun, boom, jobs a good'un). So grab maybe 3-5 guys out the box, put aside a couple of hours of an evening and put some paint on them. Any mistakes because you're a little rusty, well they are the shambling dead, they dont need to look neat, plus they are 5 rank and file nobodies, no one ever looks at the 4th dude from the left in a unit that closely anyway.

I usually find that after the easy win I'm looking at what I've painted and going "Huh... That was really easy and relaxing and they actually turned out okay!" and it motivates me to paint more figures and more challenging figures. Sometimes even before I finish the easy win I end up grabbing something else out the pile kind of going "As I'm on a roll, might as well get some base colours down on this guy while I'm waiting for the wash to dry" or "Well, I put far too much of that colour on the palette and I cant put it back in the dropper bottle, might as well see who else could use some of that colour...". Almost everything in my pile is assembled and primed to make this as easy as possible to do.

I'd also agree with Booyah-, if you are back in the mood to paint, pick up one of those projects you have been saving and just do it. It'll look better with paint on it than it currently looks unassembled, unpainted, still in its box in a cupboard.

Cant help with the space issues, its one of the reasons why I dont have a proper airbrush myself and havent bought a 3d printer yet. Plus I look at all the stuff I have waiting to paint and have to admit to myself that a 3d printer is not necessary, I'm not short of stuff to paint to the point where I need to print more figures! My paints live in a 3 level wheeled kitchen storage thing I got from ikea, when I'm painting they get wheeled out to next to my desk (and a fold out tv table gets unfolded on the other side of me) and when I'm not they get wheeled away behind the couch. This is not a set-up that will easily integrate an airbrush and compressor, let alone a booth.

Eej posted:

Contrast paints aren't actually that limited in application. Sure you can use them on top of a zenithal as suggested but you can also use them on top of metallic paints to colour them like an ink. You can use them thickly as a pseudo oil wash.

The main thing is you're paying (a lot) for convenience. A 37mL tube of artist oil paint goes for about 30-50% more than a 18mL bottle of contrast and if you're using it for washes you will probably never use up that tube. But if you have contrast paints lying around just use them. Putting paint on plastic is more important for your hobbying progress than waffling about on how you should put that paint on.

Max Wilco posted:

I actually need to sit down and catalog what paints I have, and what I might need. I think a good majority of the paints I have are Vallejo (I think largely Game Color), but I keep thinking about seeking out more of the Model Color line.

With the GW, the two big draws 1.) not having to do color matching for armies (as well as Citadel having certain unique shades), and 2.) the Contrast paints. I have a few of the Contrast paints, but those jars are pricey, so I've not bought too many. I also don't like the idea of relying too heavily on Contrast, because it seems like it is kind of limited with what you can do with it, and you still need to know how to use regular paints to make up for the shortcomings Contrast has.

Plus, the Citadel jars for shades and Contrast are just an accident waiting to happen (I remember someone showed off a clay mold or something where they kept the jars inside so they wouldn't tip over).

When I bought mini stuff in the past, I went through Miniature Market, and their deal is (unless it's changed) that orders of $100 or more get free shipping, so what I would do is pick a box of minis, and then get it up to $100 by picking various paints. Problem is that Miniature Market didn't always have everything I was looking for. Last time I remember ordering stuff was during lockdown, and around that time, some stuff was hard-to-find. I remember wanting to get the Vallejo Metal Color, but they didn't have it in stock, so I bought it from Michigan Toy Solider. Now that lockdown's over, maybe stuff is a bit easier to find.

That might be a good strategy. I could break it down to doing certain a certain step each day, rather than trying to do as much as I can at once (Monday: base paint, Tuesday: shading, etc.)

Funnily enough, the AoS skeleton that are painted were done with Contrast Skeleton Horde, and they came out looking pretty good. The mistakes thing is why I considered going doing Death Guard, because if you mess up, then it doesn't matter because they're meant to look like a huge mess anyway. Don't have any oil washes, but I thought about looking into it.

The storage/space stuff is something I have to figure out. The problem with doing it out in the shed is that the only work area is a wood-working bench, which I think is designed for you to be standing as work, rather than sitting (you can't place you legs underneath, making it a bit uncomfortable to sit there.) One thing I've worried about is that while I've kept the airbrush inside, the primers, thinner, cleaner, etc. are all out in the shed, and while it's extremely unlikely anything inside the shed freezes, the cold makes me wonder if it's affected those materials.

The weather is also kind of a factor when it comes to things. One of the big reasons I got an airbrush is so I could prime models without having to wait for good weather to use rattlecans. Same thing goes for building models, too; it's more comfortable to sit at my desk and put stuff together, but I want to keep the window open to ventilate the room so the odor from the Tamiya plastic glue doesn't give me further brain damage. If it's very cold or raining, having the window open isn't viable.

At the moment, I have my minis and paints and stuff stored in a cardboard box, and a plastic containers littered around, so I should probably look into some more proper storage to make them easier to access.

In regard to picking something out to paint, I have to take a look and see what I have primed. Since it's Memorial Day weekend, maybe I can try and get the airbrush setup and knock a bunch of stuff out so that's it's...well, primed and ready to paint if needed. Of course, that's provided nothing else comes up, or if I get distracted with something else.

Sydney Bottocks posted:

Not strictly a painting question, but I'm thinking of doing up some 30k Imperial Fists. From what I can tell after a little googling, they don't use the squad markings that became prevalent after the Codex Astartes was published, but instead just have their legion's icon on both shoulder pads (with some markings to denote things like veteran status). Thought I'd check in here and see if my fellow goons would know.

GreenBuckanneer posted:

I have, probably a lot of paint right now.




plus 6 more pots I haven't had the time to transfer to dropper bottles

plus oils, plus hard body artist acrylics, plus a few inks. I did a few dollars into that Scale75 kickstarter on right now just because I figure I can get the basic colors from them, a company I don't have, and i'll have a slight increase in variety, not that I need it.

I figure, if you have anything similar to this, you have enough paints too, and don't really need more. It's just a matter of how much effort you want to put into it.

Generally, everything I read is that models need 3 colors on them. it could be three shades of grey on a colorful base, even. But, you don't need much. Mostly my collection is due to "i need this to make things easier" but, that's been because of ease of use.

I agree with sikboy, for minis no one is going to pay very close attention to, you can get some easy wins by putting more paint on models, even if it doesn't look great (to you) it may look great, to others.

The one thing I love about this community is even if you think something looks like dogshit, someone out there thinks, legitimate or not, that it's decent. Someone out there may think it looks better than what they can do, and regardless, that does feel good.

The more paint you put on models, the more practice you get. The more experience you get, and you'll know what works and what doesn't, and isn't that part of the struggle anyways? Not knowing what to do to make your work better? Having an idea but not knowing how to make your own hands do the thing you saw with your eyes? I struggle with that daily, but whenever I show my work to others, especially others who don't understand all the work that goes into it, they're always impressed. Just the fact of you trying is sometimes all you really need.

That's why I'm saying if you wanna get back into it, just do 1 model a week. Hell, 1 model a month. You probably don't need more paint, just pick 3 colors opposite each other on the color wheel and do as much as you can with those 3 colors

GreenBuckanneer posted:

I have, probably a lot of paint right now.

Max Wilco posted:

I'm sure this is pretty well known by know, but in trying to get back into mini stuff, I was disappointed to learn that Secret Weapon miniatures closed shop. They made some really good looking bases (some of which I bought).

Something I was also surprised to learn is that Spikey Bits sells 3D printed minatures. Has anyone here bought something from them before? It looks like they've got a sale that's due to end soon: https://spikeybits.com/store/BOGO-Miniatures-c68361415

SpaceViking posted:

AndyElusive posted:

Where'd you get your dropper bottles for contrast paints from and what size are they? I want them.

SiKboy posted:

Some more Malifaux, the outlaw Barrows Gang

GreenBuckanneer posted:

I like the lighting following the "air" in your shots above

ijyt posted:

I'm so upset by this, their bases were fantastic. I liked their game board concept too.

SiKboy posted:

Vaguely related, but; Speedpaints on wet palettes; Yay or Nay? I've watched probably a million videos on speedpaints in the last 6 months but I dont remember any mentioning specifically either way which probably means its fine but thought I'd check.

The Demilich posted:

I'd like to paint some Death Guard, but I'm struggling in picking a color scheme that's different from the normal green.

Blue seems to be a solid option for skin, but I'm undecided.

Does anyone have any great Death Guard alt color schemes?

IncredibleIgloo posted:

Duncan Rhodes specifically advises that contrast paints should go on a hard palette and not a wet palette. I would imagine that would hold true for AP speedpaint as well. Duncan advises that contrast paint, washes, and metallics all go on a dry palette. I imagine that there are probably some dissenting opinions out there, but that is at least one high level painter that advises against using them on a wet palette.

Edit to add: Duncan also advises that metallic paints get their own wash pot as well.

GreenBuckanneer posted:

Any suggestions? Not sure what next to do with him

SiKboy posted:

I'd probably change the hair colour, its currently the same blue (at least to my eye) as the undershirt of the armour. Maybe a real bright red? Even going black with it would at least give you that contrast.

Max Wilco posted:

Well, there's the Apostles of Contagion, who have rusted iron armor. I've seen a couple of Death Guard scheme (can't remember if they belong to a particular warband) that are done in a bone or beige color as the base.

EDIT:Here's the Lords of Decay, which the 40K Lexicanum identifies as grey with green and brown rot.


EDIT2: Screenshots I found of Death Guard Vectoriums from one of the books:

The Demilich posted:

I'd like to paint some Death Guard, but I'm struggling in picking a color scheme that's different from the normal green.

Blue seems to be a solid option for skin, but I'm undecided.

Does anyone have any great Death Guard alt color schemes?

GreenBuckanneer posted:

I kind of liked the blue hair, I was thinking blond initially?

I was trying to go with green/red/blue for the primary colors (split complementary)

These are test models, I (in retrospect, stupidly) did the whole model with a cover of AP Magic Blue speedpaint, instead of picking certain areas.

GreenBuckanneer posted:

Any suggestions? Not sure what next to do with him

The Demilich posted:

What's the largest Death Guard terminator model between 30k & 40k?