My first mini ever!

[Witzkatz]

Well, hello!

I am new to painting minis. In fact, I have never painted a mini before...but now, after looking at all the great pictures and reading many articles here at CMON, I finally decided that I would try to paint some minis of my own!

I really admire the craftsmanship shown in many of the pics here and of course I won\'t reach even a modest level of quality at my first attempt, but I will try it nevertheless.

But - for I don\'t have the money to buy minis and colours and learn only by trial and error - I thought I would humbly ask you, if you could help me in not screwing up too much. I read quite a bunch of tutorials and articles, as I said, but im trying to make as few errors as possible, therefore the request of your assistance. - Well! Less talk, I guess. What do I have?

I just bought a Space Marine Combat Squad box, the one with five regular marines in it, nothing fancy. I guessed a classic mini would be a good start before I get to painting something bigger (and more expensive).
Apart from that, I have three brushes, which I think are quite fine quality, six colours (Chaos Black, Skull White, Ultramarine Blue, Graveyard Earth, Boltgun Metal and Blood Red) and one of these enormous Chaos Black primer spray cans. And a whole box full of Revell colours and plastic glue from my young days of building and painting 1:72 airplanes...

...so, where do I start?

I think I got it right that a good first step is washing the mini parts with dish soap and a toothbrush. Then I planned to get rid of mold lines and stuff. I did not buy a special knife, so I\'m cogitating a bit what to use as an alternative...any recommendations?

I guess I will have more questions after this, but maybe \'tis better to do this step by step?

I\'m looking forward to your answers and thanks to the guys who read all this text! :innocent:

P.S.: I think I would like to paint these guys as Ultramarines, as I read that blue is one of the friendlier colours to paint. Argh, just noticing that buying some kind of golden or yellow paint would\'ve been smart when painting Ultras...

 

[Talion]

Welcome aboard

Removing mould lines instead of using a knife buy a nice set of needle files. A set with at least 4 types in it.

Next undercoating, again start with painting it on rather than spraying, you can also get used to diluting your paints as this will come in useful later.

Marines would be a good place to start, again you can get use to using smooth painting with the diluting as the mini needs to have a smooth finish. Remember when painting dilute your paint to the consistancy of Milk.

Have fun

cheers

 

[Witzkatz]

Thanks for the quick answer!
I will try and use needle files to remove the mould lines.

I fear I am a bit confused about your next point; I read that paint usually has a problem to stay on the mini if it is not primed. I understand that primer and paint are principally the same, but...so...I should use painted-on chaos black as undercoating/priming thingy?

And now I have a question about diluting...the theory is clear, but what should I use to dose paint and water right? I think a pipette would be nice, but I don\'t have one...

Thanks in advance,
Witzkatz

 

[cleen X]

I use one of thoose needles without a sharp tip. It\'s a toy I think, really nice and it\'s easy to estimate the amount of water that goes into the paint. So you can get pretty much the same amount each time.

Hope that helps

 

[Ritual]

Originally posted by Witzkatz
Thanks for the quick answer!
I will try and use needle files to remove the mould lines.

I fear I am a bit confused about your next point; I read that paint usually has a problem to stay on the mini if it is not primed. I understand that primer and paint are principally the same, but...so...I should use painted-on chaos black as undercoating/priming thingy?

And now I have a question about diluting...the theory is clear, but what should I use to dose paint and water right? I think a pipette would be nice, but I don\'t have one...

Thanks in advance,
Witzkatz

I would go with spray primer. I think Talion was thinking of brush-on primer. This is not the same as a regular paint. But spray primer is easy to use. Just don\'t put on too much at once. Better to do several short bursts than one too heavy. Also move the can across the mini so that the mini is hit by an even flow of paint. Don\'t start spraying while pointing the can directly at the mini.

About your other question... How to measure water while thinning... I usually just put a blob of paint on my pallette and then dip a tooth pick in water and stir it around in the paint. Repeat this untill you\'re happy with the consistency. It\'s not rocket science... the EXACT ratio between water and paint is not important, as long as you\'re happy with the consistency. To begin with, of course, it might be difficult to know for sure what is the best consistency. You will not get a clear answer to that question, though, as it differs from painter to painter. So, the best thing is to try for yourself what you like best. It\'s not like you\'ll instantly ruin the mini if you touch it with paint that is not of ideal consistency.

A general tip that I think is useful: don\'t overload the brush with paint. It\'s better to use paint economically and apply several layers than to dab on too much paint in one go.

 

[Witzkatz]

Thanks for the answers!

I think I will try out the toy needle variant when I can find one and meanwhile I may try the toothbrush method from Ritual.

But for now I am just finished with washing and drying the model part frames ^^ I hope there will be more progress tomorrow. However, I think I have another question: I though I\'d keep all the parts in the plastic frames for priming/undercoating, because that way I don\'t have to put all the parts on sticks or something like that to spray them. But leaving them in the frame makes the removal of mould lines difficult and, of course, there will be the spots where I will break out (right word?) the models out of the frame later, where there will be no primer...

So, first trying to get as many mould lines away while the parts are in the frame? Or getting all parts out, removing the lines and then the primer? Or: Leaving everything as it is, priming it and after that removing mould lines when I need the parts?

Well, I realize that these questions are a bit pedantic, but I have a fear of ruining the minis, I think.

Thanks in advance,
Witzkatz

 

[nick232]

i usually thin my paint so that when it is being mixed with the water, i don\'t feel a drag on the brush through the paint.

 

[Joek]

Originally posted by Witzkatz

Well, I realize that these questions are a bit pedantic, but I have a fear of ruining the minis, I think.

I really wouldn\'t get too het up about messing up! Hell, the amount of models I\'ve either chucked away or re-stripped is huge. Alas, there\'s not instant success with this hobby I\'m afraid (well, I\'m sure some lucky so-and-so can do everything brilliantly after a couple of attempts, but I\'m not one of them ).

For my perspective, I have no problem with messing up a figure if I learn something from it - more often than not I manage to finish a figure, but even if I don\'t I can honestly say I\'ve gained something from the experience. So, all I\'d say is go for it without the \'fear\' and see what happens! Good luck!

 

[mickc22]

welcome aboard

I\'d advise putting the SM together, removing mould lines and then spray them at this stage
obviously you have some modelling experience with the 1:72 aircraft, so draw on that, you\'re still assembling and painting a model.
Don\'t let the fact that it\'s a SM put you off

What\'s your local GW store? They should have painting lessons laid on at some point in the week if you really get stuck, showing you how to thin the paints is 100 times easier than telling
if your Revells are enamel, remember they wont mix with the GW Acrylics

 

[Witzkatz]

Thanks for the further answers!

I will try to proceed more confident with my minis.

But now I have a little problem: Today I started to cut out the parts for the first Space Marine, legs and torso parts at first. I removed the mould lines from all parts and am quite happy with that, but when I put the torso parts together there is a little gap that bothers me:

When I apply manual pressure, of course, the gap gets a little bit smaller but it is still there.

Should I proceed in trying to carefully remove plastic until the parts fit together nicely or is there the possibility of hiding little gaps with paint later?

Thanks in advance,
Witzkatz

P.S.: My local GW store is Gandalf in Lübeck, Germany. I\'ll ask them on Saturday if there are painting classes or something like that.

 

[nick232]

use a little sausage of milliput or greenstuff, and use a sculpting tool, or knife to scape away excess

 

[Witzkatz]

Thanks, I\'ll put that on my list of things to buy tomorrow at the shop!

 

[Talion]

Are you using plastic glue to glue the pieces together?

If not I suggest you get some, it melts the plastic together. Slap some in between the gap and push together and hold until it doesn\'t seperate. Then file it down to smooth the join.

If there is still a gap then use some green-stuff to plug it.

Cheers

 

[Witzkatz]

Aye, I plan to use plastic glue, hoping that my old revell tube will still work.

Is this stuff okay for minis?
I glued every model airplane I built seven or eight years ago with this kind of glue. The plastic looks quite the same, so I guess it should work?

Witzkatz

 

[Witzkatz]

Sooo, today I finally got something done and primed every part of the first marine.
After that I mixed about 66% Ultramarine Blue with 33% Chaos Black and used that as a basecoat...is that the right term? In some parts there are three layers of that stuff, because I may went over the top with the diluting and the paint was quite washy.

I am now thinking about how to proceed further...finish the blue armor parts or go into some details? I am tempted to go and try blending on the armor, although I\'m not sure I\'ll get great results...maybe 75% Ultramarine Blue and 25% Chaos Black as the next layer?

Thanks in advance,
Witzkatz

 

[Talion]

At the moment for an ultramarine it\'s quite dark, I\'d give it a lighter coat.

when diluting your paint if you paint it on the mini and you don\'t have control over where it goes then you\'ve diluted to much.

Use your lighter mix and apply to armour just leaving the deepest recesses the original colour.

A note for the future: i tend not to darken my colours with black as it gives a dirty appearence, try and buy a darker shade of your intended colour and mix your lighter shade with that.

cheers

 

[Witzkatz]

Alright, I\'ll try and mix a lighter blue tomorrow.

I though that mixing Chaos Black to blue wouldn\'t be the best choice, but I hesitate to buy even more stuff at the moment. Expensive stuff, those colours are...

 

[JesterzUSMC]

A darker blue, dark green or purple are all good for shadowing with Ultramarines\' bright blue.

 

[Witzkatz]

Tiny update...I wasnt happy with that gap in the right side of the torso and first-used some fresh-bought milliput microgram-wise to close it.


Feth, after looking at this closeup picture it looks rather messy...well, I\'ll see what the next layer of paint does with it.

Regarding darke mixing colours: I guess some Regal Blue would be nice, but the shop hadn\'t any yesterday so I think I will try to go on with chaos black for a while. When I get the chance, I may pick up some Regal Blue.

 

[Mourner]

first of all, your doing great for a first mini, i guess you\'ve spend too much time here allready

so, here\'s the obligatory advice:

-Mould lines.
a cheap way to remove mould lines is to use sandpaper, you can even glue it to something to make a cheap and simple file

-Assembly.
A like to assemble my mini\'s as much as possible before any painting, i just make sure i don\'t glue on anything that would prevent me from reaching anything i can see in the future.
Furthermore, i use only superglue, but, as stated above, plastic glue can help you get rid of gaps.
a gap can also be filled with a greenstuff-like product, just take a tiny sausage and smooth it into and over the gap.
Green stuff can also be used to add or change features on a model (but i bet you knew that)

-Priming.
My favourite way of priming a display model is to coat it with a few short bursts from a spray can, leave that to dry for a while (till it feels and looks dry) and then take watered down chaos black, and a rough brush, i prefer a large drybrush, and give the entire mini another coat of Chaos Black, just so the entire mini is coated (including any hard to reach spots) with the black you\'ll use later on.

-Painting.
the painting you did so far looks great, pretty smooth transitions.
best tip (In My Opinion) keep pushing yourself, keep trying new things.

-Waterpaint
There is no set amount of water you should add to your paint, i always use the same (old, otherwise useless) brush to try and get a standardised ratio, I use all sorts of ratios, depending on what i\'m trying to achieve, you\'ll just have to try for yourself.

other than that, have fun and keep painting

oh, and keep visiting this forum....