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HELP!!! with 40k painting

Discussion in 'Painting and Converting' started by Otzi'mandias, Jun 4, 2017.

  1. Otzi'mandias
    Ripperdactil

    Otzi'mandias Well-Known Member

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    Firstly hi I'm back!
    Secondly help me!
    I bought a box of Tau pathfinders, painted the big recon drone reasonably well, and like a muppet decided that this meant I could paint tau. 20170604_213538.jpg
    I ordered the start collecting box.
    Screenshot_20170604-213609.jpg
    But now it turns out that I can't paint tau pathfinders or fire warriors at all. If anyone can help me I'd be very grateful.
     
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  2. Jorgik
    Carnasaur

    Jorgik Well-Known Member

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    Well I have never painted T´au, but a general rule of thumb is to practice first on a model. Also, if you´re going to paint them white, prime them white ;)
     
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  3. Otzi'mandias
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    Otzi'mandias Well-Known Member

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    That'll be where I went wrong then. But I have tried on a model and kinda gave up - it was taking so longand was much more difficult compared to all the other models I've painted. Is this what happens with every new paint style for an army or just a step up from wh to wh40k or what?

    Also nice to see you're still around @Jorgik:)
     
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  4. n810
    Slann

    n810 First Spawning

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    Looks like a lot of plain mat white,
    and some patches of dark grey and red...
    Shouldn't be terribly hard...


    ... your drone looks fine.
    What are you having trouble with ?
     
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  5. Padre
    Stegadon

    Padre Well-Known Member

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    It all depends on what you are trying to do. What color scheme are you going for? It's been a long time since I painted any Tau, somewhere around the time they were first released.

    As for painting white on a black basecoat. Buy a pot of whatever the lightest grey base paint GW makes and use that as your base, then layer white over the top.
     
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  6. Hojdar
    Cold One

    Hojdar Active Member

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    I actually painted a Tau force a long time ago with a similar paint scheme to the current GW one. I usually claim that they stole my paint scheme :joyful: I have a few tips for you which might help:

    • Use white basecoating. Painting light colours on a black basecoat is just a pain that makes your tail fall off.
    • For the "white" main colour, I didn't use actual white but more of a creamy one (Pallid wych flesh). This gives you the oppertunity to highlight with pure white given the minis more depth.
    • I used a a dark brown wash (Agrax Earthshade) to carefully put into the recesses of the armor, and then paint pallid wych flesh where i messed up. I tried painting a whole model with the wash but the result wasnt good.
    • Used red and bronze for detailing, but any colour which pops should do.

    Here's a couple of old pics of the guys
     

    Attached Files:

  7. Aginor
    Slann

    Aginor Fifth Spawning Staff Member

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    If I start 40k one day I'll play T'au as well. My main fear is that I will screw up those big even surfaces. How do you manage to get it that even without brush strokes? Airbrush?

    EDIT: Also I would go for the "Iphone" look&feel. Any idea how to make it look the white shiny like piano lacquer?
     
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  8. Hojdar
    Cold One

    Hojdar Active Member

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    I did not airbrush these since i didn't have one at that time. All i did was made sure the paint was watered down and smooth at all times. "two thin coats" as that GW painter says in his videos worked wonders here.
    Today i would probably go for the airbrush though. The effect would be very similar but alot faster. Painting all that surface with a brush took quite some time, so if you're going with a regular brush then make sure you buy a big one.

    I'm not quite sure what an "Iphone" look&feel is but if you want a shiny finish then maybe add a coat of Gloss varnish to the white armor? I've only used gloss varnish a few times for eyes and gems so maybe that would do the trick. Otherwise i guess we are moving into NMM-ish techniques which is somewhat above my skill level:artist:
     
  9. Crowsfoot
    Slann

    Crowsfoot Guardian of Paints Staff Member

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    Paint as normal then use a satin lacquer you want a gloss level of around 60%
     
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  10. Aginor
    Slann

    Aginor Fifth Spawning Staff Member

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    I think gloss varnish (at least the one I have) won't work because it is too glossy actually, it makes a surface look "wet".
    But the rest sounds good, I will try that on some test pieces.


    That sounds cool, I think I will try that.
     
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  11. Warden
    Slann

    Warden Tenth Spawning

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    Found this video that might help, showing how to paint Vior'la Fire Warriors (video by The Apathetic Fish)

     
  12. Crowsfoot
    Slann

    Crowsfoot Guardian of Paints Staff Member

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    I'm a subscriber to his channel, he has some good tutorials.
     
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  13. Seraphage
    Stegadon

    Seraphage Well-Known Member

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    Can't tell how much time it took you but I can definetely tell how AMAZING they are !
     
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  14. Seraphage
    Stegadon

    Seraphage Well-Known Member

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    Do you water them down or use some other substance ? While I have seen a huge improvement to my painting, I am now at the point where I either would like it a bit more watery and after I add some more water the paint just breaks down to a more washy style. Is there a trick for the inbetween or are you using some other paints than GW that watering them works a ltitle bit differently ?
     
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  15. Hojdar
    Cold One

    Hojdar Active Member

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    Why thank you :happy:

    There really isn't a special trick here, after painting alot of creamy white you sorta get the hang of the proportions of water and paint. As long as the paint doesn't clump up or get a texture of its own on top of the miniture it is good. Also when the basecoat is white, painting the model with a thin coat was no problem. It took two coats to get the proper result though. These days i only use GW shades and technical paints, for regular paints I've moved on to mainly Vallejo with a couple of P3 paints. I do have a medium aswell for thinning paints but I almost only use it for blendning paints for the airbrush.

    I can add that I got sick and tired of creamy white after a while and had several breaks from painting that army.
     
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  16. Otzi'mandias
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    Otzi'mandias Well-Known Member

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    Invaluable. I owe you
     
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  17. Otzi'mandias
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    Otzi'mandias Well-Known Member

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    Yeah but dare I say it's the same with the seraphon blue after a while?
     
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  18. Hojdar
    Cold One

    Hojdar Active Member

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    I wouldn't know since i haven't paintedany saurus blue :p

    It is the same for me with yellow and skins though, so yeah it's the same in the end.
     
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  19. Lord-Marcus
    Slann

    Lord-Marcus Sixth Spawning

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    @Otzi'mandias

    What brand of paint are you using? What color are you priming with and what brand of spray primer? Are you against having to pick up new paints? Do you paint on painting stands or glue your models to thier bases?

    Once I have answers to these questions I can help
     
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  20. Otzi'mandias
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    Otzi'mandias Well-Known Member

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    I'm going with Games Workshop paints and primer, and based my tau black :oops: which is probably part of the issue with painting them now.
    I glue the models to their bases. Its just easier to store them before and directly after painting
    New paints will be a bit of a pain to pick up but if I have to I will get more. I do already have a lot of them.
    Please do!
     
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