Does anyone else besides me agonize 'til their ready to be restrained over getting every single soldier or vehicle looking like it's ready to enter in a contest? Face it, nothing of mine shall ever grace the pages of White Dwarf. i don't own a digital camera and wouldn't know how to upload pictures on to this site if I did.Occasionally I read of someone saying that a particular piece looks good enough to field, anyway. Where is that line drawn? I have stuff that has gone unfinished for month because I can't decide what color some little nernie should be. I once read a post where someone mentioned parts of their pieces that never get painted at all. How do you live with that? I have two Exorcists, one that I received at Christmas and the other for my birthday (March) neither of which are finished. I can't decide what color to paint servitor skin plus i have created a Vostroyan Battle Sisters army (The Order of the Penitent Heart) and am going for a snow effect. And I mean the vehicles look like they are driving through a heavy snow fall (picture Patton's Third Army racing to Bastogne to relieve General MacAuliffe's 'Screaming Eagles') I am building up little snow drifts with green stuff and covering them with flocking. As well, I had originally painted the Sisters in the black & red scheme of 'Our Martyred Lady' and am now changing the colours: the armor is a mix of chainmail & tentacle pink and their robes are Warlock purple over blood red and so I have to reprime the armor (the robes were already blood red!)
I need intervention, I tell you. But most of all I could use some words of encouragement or some advice from others who drive themselves nuts trying to get every little nut and bolt and eyeball just perfect.
Thanks for listening. . .;?

I went through the same thing at first, and I think painting my necrons cured me somewhat of the "perfectionist" bug. As I am painting up my 1,000+ point crew, which consists of five destroyers, nine scarab bases, two lords and 28 warriors, I'm learning that the occasional painting "mistake" will not be easy to spot. Talk to IG players about whether each of their 50 or more guardsmen (in a typical army) are painted to perfection. I'm betting they won't be. How could you? You'd go nuts!

Further, if you know you're not entering Golden Demon, that alone should motivate you to chill out a bit when painting. Also, I don't know where you play, but there are three hobby stores within striking distance of my work and home, and at all of them, there are multiple armies on the table that aren't even painted at all, or barely primed, etc. Just getting enough paint on the models to make them recognizable as something other than a molded piece of metal or plastic will make them stand out in the crowd.

Lastly, as to the pile of unpainted stuff, I had to organize a TON of stuff recently, and managed to section it off into large groups, as part of a big upcoming project I have. When I'm done, it will be over 3,000 points, but I've learned to give in to the fact that it's gonna take a while, and I'll just have to be patient enough to wait.

Oh, and don't try to paint 40-45 models at once. That is a BIG mistake, one I will never repeat. :X

I'm trying to paint a Space Marine army and I haven't even finished the first tactical squad yet. It's taken me a couple of weeks with a few hours here and there yet I know that they won't be as well painted as I'd like them to be.

Plus I've still got 13 scouts, librarian + command sqad, 2 rhinos, 3 bikes, 10 tactical, 5 termies, 1 techmarine + servitors to paint. I haven't even got around to buying a heavy support choice yet! (ebay is my saviour though, all that's cost about 60 quid max)

Oh, and don't try to paint 40-45 models at once. That is a BIG mistake, one I will never repeat. :X

I've joined that club, believe me. A friend of mine with plenty of money to spend on pieces but with no experience with painting (and no obvious desire to try!) was kind enough to help me acquire my first pieces, paints, etc. along with his own, so that we could begin together. Before i knew it, I was trying to paint two 1500pt. armies (S.O.B.'s & C.M.'s)
Imagine trying to build and paint an Exorcist, a Demon Prime, an Inquisitor plus retinue, as well as a Battle Sisters army and Chaos Space Marines (plus bikes!)
But wait, there's more.
Rhinos, an Immolator, a second Exorcist. . .[Emperor, stop me before I paint againI];?[/I]
At any rate, so much remains unfinished and still stuff made it to the table to play.
Thanks for your support!

As long as you have nice clean paint on your figures I have found that dullcote really makes them look sharp. I have painted figures with only minimal shading (say an ink wash) and then once done I sprayed them with dullcote and they look great on the table.

I think the reason it works so well is it gets rid of all the shinyness of the paint - which can be a different level for each color. So the figure ends up looking better under light (no reflections).

As for knowing when a figure is done - that is really a personal decision. I paint more than I play and derive most of my pleasure from painting - so I probably go the extra step on my figures. However if your prime motivation is to get them to the table to play I say get a good solid base color down, maybe darkline the edges and shade the recesses with an ink wash (thinned with future floor wax will help keep it from pooling). Keep the figure as a whole fairly simple and find something on the figure to detail. For example things like purity seals, shoulder pad icons, lenses, etc.

Another thing that I find helps with the overall look is a nice looking base. I usually make my bases first and then mount the figure after they are painted. That way they don't look like they have sunk into the ground... :0

I am telling you though Dullcote is a miracle fix. 0:

Cheers,

-Mike

From my experience as a new Space Marine player and painter, it took me 3-4 weeks of constant 2-3 hour painting time every day after work to make playable units. The units were 2 6-man tactical squads, 1 commander, 1 chaplain, 1 Dreadnought and 5 Terminators (really old models). Most of the odd units I got from a friend who was selling his old metal models.

Now, conflicting interests between a good paint job and the need to play kept tugging at my mind. So I decided to prioritize what was needed first, and what can be done later. Check out the lists below. Be aware that this is for Space Marines so your parts may be different.

MUST DO:
1. Prime coat - I used chaos black, hand-painted (urgh!)
2. Ultramarine blue - Basic identifying color is a must.
3. Chest emblem - Gold color emblem to help identify units
4. Weapons - This is absolutely necessary for it will help everyone know which unit has which weapon.
5. Joints - Those hose like parts that look like they assist movement

DO LATER:
1. Grenades - I can stick these on later so I left these out
2. Power / Backpack - Those nifty things at their back can be glued on later, so I did not finish these yet
3. Shoulder pads - Same as above
4. Any other on model parts - Like pistol holster, purity seals etc
5. Additional details - Shadows, mud, dust effects etc

In general go for things that makes your army playable (possibly including those hard to reach spots) and glue them into their final shape. Why I choose to do a lot of the other parts later is that it gives a sense of achievement seeing them playable, and rewards the painter by allowing you to play with them. The do later category can be done when you have spare time, or inspiration to paint bit by bit.

If you have a HUGE group of models to paint (like my upcoming Megaforce), finish your models on squad by squad basis. Start with maybe your assault, then some Termies etc. As mentioned above, being able to play your new squads will help inspire you to paint further.

Hope that helps :happy:

I've become more and more of a perfectionist as my painting skills have improved. My first army was Iron Warriors, which are a breeze to paint and look fine if you screw up a little or miss some spots. My Word Bearers required a bit more love and care, but I've painted a lot of red in my day so it wasn't too bad (plus, I found that finishing off a red model with a magenta ink wash blends the highlights together and covers up most of your mistakes).

Now the Pyre is my legion of choice, and orange is a pain in the butt color to paint, because if you're messy it really shows. I guess I'll be painting this army for a good long while...

I've always been a perfectionist and, to be honest, I don't think it's a bad thing at all..

I don't have a very big budget.. Spending £20 every month or two to get a single squad or a tank which will take me a month or two (or perhaps more) to paint is not a problem for me. In fact, if I'm going to spend that much, I'd rather I made it look as good as I possibly can. I'll never be a great painter, but even I recognize that when I put several days worth of work into something it looks better than when I've sloshed the paint on in two hours.

Getting into golden daemon isn't that important.. However, you know when you've painted well, and that's the important thing. :)

I've been advised again and again to paint by the squad.. Not a chance. There's nothing worse than finishing a bit on one model and realizing you have to do the same thing 9 times before you can move on to something else. Painting one or two models at a time saves sanity, and means you spend as little time as possible in that horrible middling stage where it has paint on but looks awful..

I've always been a perfectionist and, to be honest, I don't think it's a bad thing at all..

I've been advised again and again to paint by the squad.. Not a chance. There's nothing worse than finishing a bit on one model and realizing you have to do the same thing 9 times before you can move on to something else. Painting one or two models at a time saves sanity, and means you spend as little time as possible in that horrible middling stage where it has paint on but looks awful..

Hallelujah!:D I mentioned in my first post painting a friend's C.M.'s. Painting blood red over black primer in short order makes you want to take up checkers. Someone advised undercoating with scab red then going to the blood but still. . .and then to have to do the same Emperor-be-damned thing over and over and over. . .suddenly psychtropics are the first item on your Christmas list.
Anyway, I am still painting (re-painting. . .new uniform colors) two troop choices, a squad of Celestians, a few H.S.'s (and thank goodness that the Repentias dress (or undress) as they do. . .which brings back the subject of Keira Knightley. . .okay, okay, forget it!

My orks and now my eldar are putting me in this very trap. I like nicely painted models, so I try my derndest to make them all look awesome.. the only problem.. it takes me FOREVER!

I know how you feel, my Marine army is only taking me- 8 hours per standard trooper, 9 for plasma, 8.5 for missle launchers and 9 for lascannons. That's without character too...

-J

My eldar have taken since the release of the codex until now to have around 1600pts finished, but throughout the whole experience I think I have worked out a bit of a system.

On average it has taken around 1.5hrs to paint a single aspect warrior. On average.

Around 20hours for the fire prism and 16 for the waveserpent. 15hrs for Autarchs and Farseers.

So all in all I suppose it hasn't taken me that much to do. Thats with full highlights and detailing and all that nonsense.

AMEN BROTHER!!! Well actualy I would probably sink into perfectionism but alas I just havent got no painting skills. In my case I could probably spend 3 hours or 15 hours on a model and I am prety sure it would make only a minimal diference. Heck I dont even do highlights, ink wash or any of that stuff seing as well I just dont know how to..... but if you got skills and all then go ahead make them look astonishing. What I do hate are those pompus ases who grab your miniatures and say....mmm... It could use some highlights and maybe some ink here.....also you kinda poorly painted the shoulder....also see it here you missed the line. arrrgh thats thge extent of my skills leave them be!!!