New Guy from Oz

[Ford Fairlane]

Hi guys,


Im a 40 year old bloke whos going through a mid life crisis and decided that I want to get into painting minis...
Why? Have always wanted to do it but found that I didn't have the patience to sit in one spot carefully painting such a small item. Have been a roleplayer for a long time but preferred others to do the painting for me..
Now im older and bolder so willing to have a go.


To stay away from the standard noob questions, i'll see if i can change it up..



1. Not interested in painting armies but love ot try single figures. A good place to start would be a Gandalf type of wizard? Im thinking robed mage so its only a couple of colours


2. what about starting with 54mm or even bigger to learn techniques ?


3. I have a few blood bowl figs out of the box that ill need to strip back. Would they be a good place to start being plastic


4. I know there are a billion ways to skin a cat (prime, base, wash drybrush) or layering etc. How did you start with your first models (steps)




Thanks in advance for all opinions and im hoping i made some sense!

 

[ten ball]

Welcome to the madhouse

A few starting tips - pick a mini you love and want to get looking good. You will get feed up on a mini that does not interest you.
Larger scales can have advantages and disadvantages, personally I would start with 28mm.
Make sure the mini is clean and clear of mold lines / flash etc.
Paint the mini like its getting dressed ie. first - skin, inner cloths, out cloths, weapons etc.
Get a nice smooth base coat before trying to shade / highlight and make sure each coat is dry before the next.

Have fun and post some picts on a WIP

 

[gohkm]

Hello, mate, welcome to CMON! And, just because, you should register at the OzPainters Facebook group, too . Where are you located in Oz? There's plenty of us. If you're in Sydney, come down to Hall of Heroes in Campbelltown, and you can pick up painting tips from some of the best painters in Sydney, like Mark Soley.

To answer your questions:

1. Pick something you want to paint, that is relatively simple, i.e. something which is simple on detail. This will let you get to grip with basics without losing your sanity. For instance, compare the GW Gandalf to the Rackham Melidor the Celestial.

2. Some techniques don't translate very well to different scales. Suggest you pick one and master basics first - proper preparation, priming, smooth basecoating, highlights, and shadows.

3. Go ahead and strip off your Bloodbowl stuff - they'll be a convenient starting point. Go to Bunnings and pick up some Simple Green Concentrate. Soak overnight, then a scrub with a toothbrush.

4. I started my first mini very badly. Didn't bother filing off mouldlines, didn't do any sort of prep. Zapped it with some primer, glopped on the paint, sprayed gloss varnish and called it a day. And when I say glopped on the paint, I really do mean glopped on the paint.

 

[Digganob]

Welcome to the madhouse

A few starting tips - pick a mini you love and want to get looking good. You will get feed up on a mini that does not interest you.
Larger scales can have advantages and disadvantages, personally I would start with 28mm.
Make sure the mini is clean and clear of mold lines / flash etc.
Paint the mini like its getting dressed ie. first - skin, inner cloths, out cloths, weapons etc.
Get a nice smooth base coat before trying to shade / highlight and make sure each coat is dry before the next.

Have fun and post some picts on a WIP

This guy really knows what he is talking about. I mean no disrespect to gohkm but ten has helped me out tremendously with all manners of question and yes even noob questions too. Don't be afraid to ask we are all learning here. Welcome to CMON. Oh and my first figures I painted were with oil paints...ah good times...good long wait times.

 

[MAXXxxx]

1. if you like the figure, then yes by all means. Also if Gandalf, I highly recommend the knight models (they have a 35 and a 70mm version, so you can choose)

2. to learn techniques, not really, but if you have a 'mini' size you like, then it's probably better to learn/use that

3. could be, but for painting-stripping-repainting-restripping... nothing beats metal. it's simply that much less sensitive to chemicals

4. well I read through a lot of tutorials, then started with preparation, undercoating (with brush as I didn't have a spray and I couldn't wait until it arrived), painting (layering, as from tutorials I hated even the idea of drybrushing). At the time I thought it turned out super (in reality it was about or below TTQ).
Nowdays you have the added extra of video tutorials and a much larger community(CMON, WAMP, local ones) to help in beginning painting.

1. Pick something you want to paint, that is relatively simple, i.e. something which is simple on detail. This will let you get to grip with basics without losing your sanity. For instance, compare the GW Gandalf to the Rackham Melidor the Celestial.

actually with washes and all a detailed mini can help in the beginning to achive a better looking result, then one with not that many details.
I suffer from exactly this atm , I took an 1/6 naked anime figure to paint. How hard could it be?
All I need is painting skin, so about 1 base color and a few shades, and absolutely no detail to worry about.
about 10 hours later: still in the process of assembly, as the seams between parts must not be visible. So now I'm priming, sanding, filling, repriming... etc. It starts to look about ok now (still not 100%, but I think I'll stop here and start painting)



Digganob: ??? at the gokhm vs 10ball. They are not rivals or such afaik and I think both helped.


Edit: just checked the last priming, looks good now, now I can take out the Airbrush finally.

 

[ten ball]

afaik? - I had to look that up lol

No gohkm and I are certainly not rivals. I think Digganob just worded his post a bit enthusiastically because were mates

 

[Dragonsreach]

To stay away from the standard noob questions, i'll see if i can change it up..

1. Not interested in painting armies but love ot try single figures. A good place to start would be a Gandalf type of wizard? Im thinking robed mage so its only a couple of colours.
I'm going to say No.
Best try something with a bit of skin 'cos once you get the handle on that, job's a good un and the rest falls into place. Doesn't have to be a ChainMail Bikini.

2. what about starting with 54mm or even bigger to learn techniques?
Pluses and minuses. First off how good are your eyes? Can you see all the detail on a 28mm model without assistance? Then go for them. It boils down to what you feel comfortable looking at, at close range for a protracted period.
Painting larger figures requires smoother graduations, so they will teach you good habits about smoothness BUT dropping down to 28mm afterwards requires a differing view on contrast/shadow strength for best visual effect.

3. I have a few blood bowl figs out of the box that ill need to strip back. Would they be a good place to start being plastic.
As has been suggested metal is better to start out with as it's more forgiving about being stripped. Drop a couple of dollars on a few eBay specials to start with rather than lash out on a high quality piece. Work up to a good piece once you feel confident enough.

4. I know there are a billion ways to skin a cat (prime, base, wash drybrush) or layering etc. How did you start with your first models (steps)
Car primer, grey spray paint and picked up the brush..........made a right arse of it as well!
Second attempt was much better.


Thanks in advance for all opinions and im hoping i made some sense!

Best bit of advice I can give you, start a WIP thread, you'll get lots of suggestions. (Some of them might have to do with painting as well!)
Remember the only person you have to please in the end, is YOU.

 

[Bailey03]

Plenty of good advice already.

For just starting odds are you won't want to pick up the most expensive figure first... but, as others have said, pick something you like. No need to find the cheapest thing to paint, a good quality miniature will give you easier to paint than a crappy one. If you're looking for interesting role-playing type figures, take a look at Enigma miniatures. You can find them in the CMON shop. They've got a lot of 28mm figures and also some 54mm ones. I'm working on one of their 54mm figures at the moment.

I like to work in a variety of scales. When I started to get more serious I painted 28mm figures, 54mm, 120mm, and busts. I really like the slightly larger scales so I tend to do more 54mm figures and up. If you're just starting out experiment and see what you like the best.

To begin I'd focus on your brush control. Get the paint where you want it, nice smooth complete coverage of the mini, and clean lines between colors. Once you're comfortable with that then you can start adding in the shading and highlighting.

 

[Digganob]

Digganob: ??? at the gokhm vs 10ball. They are not rivals or such afaik and I think both helped.

Wait. You mean I have been waiting for these two arch enemies to fight to the death via paintbrushes for nothing? Blast! Hehe seriously though I know they are not rivals and didn't mean to come off that way. They both gave great advice. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Wait. You mean I have been waiting for these two arch enemies to fight to the death via paintbrushes for nothing?

Damn and I wanted the soundtrack of Duelling Banjos for that as well.

@Ford Fairlane; it's a long held 'tradition' that threads in the General Discussion are open for hijacking......and I'm one of the worst offenders!!!

 

[gohkm]

Okay, I went offline for barely a day and suddenly I'm embroiled in a death-by-paintbrush match?!

I'm afraid I'm not quite skilled enough with a paintbrush to duel with 10ball, but I will happily duel over (a) Krispy Kremes, (b) churros with either chocolate or caramel sauce, or (c) copious amounts of BBQ-ed meat, preferably a la Brazilian charrusco.

Alright, Mr. 10ball, what say you ?

 

[Ford Fairlane]

thanks for the replies everyone! ! I will certainly post a wip thread. and all good. hijacks are entertaining!

 

[ten ball]

Okay, I went offline for barely a day and suddenly I'm embroiled in a death-by-paintbrush match?!

I'm afraid I'm not quite skilled enough with a paintbrush to duel with 10ball, but I will happily duel over (a) Krispy Kremes, (b) churros with either chocolate or caramel sauce, or (c) copious amounts of BBQ-ed meat, preferably a la Brazilian charrusco.

Alright, Mr. 10ball, what say you ?

I'm sporting an epic tummy bug at the moment so I think youve won hands down mate. :messed:

 

[Ford Fairlane]

got excited and headed down to my local games workshop today (im in yass btw which is 2 and a bit hours from Campbelltown) and damn the figs were expensive! I couldn't find anything under $28! need to look for something a bit more affordable me thinks!

 

[gohkm]

@ Ford: Mate, check out Reaper (reaperminiatures.com, I think). They have some nice, cheap figs that are great for practicing on. Once you find something you like, e-Bay it for an Australian supplier.

@ 10ball: I'll wait till your tummy bug is over, mate . Oh, wait, you're not in Oz, are you?

 

[Ford Fairlane]

@ Ford: Mate, check out Reaper (reaperminiatures.com, I think). They have some nice, cheap figs that are great for practicing on. Once you find something you like, e-Bay it for an Australian supplier.

@ 10ball: I'll wait till your tummy bug is over, mate . Oh, wait, you're not in Oz, are you?

bones or metal for a noob?

 

[MAXXxxx]

your choice, but I'd go with metals as they look better and not that much more expensive (sharper details helps, and is more easy to strip if you want).

also if you like the style I'd recommend DarkSword minis. They are a bit more expensive than reaper, but for the detal / quality of the minis I say they're worth every penny.

 

[gohkm]

I have no experience with Bones, so I cannot say.

Metal has always worked a treat as a test bed for me.

 

[Sand Rat]

Welcome to the jungle.