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Author Topic: Painting My First 40k Army (warning: huge newb beyond this point)  (Read 1123 times)

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Offline Almaro

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So for my 20th birthday, I got about 200 dollars or so of Imperial Guard troops and such: about 30 guardsmen, a command squad, a sentinel, a few heavy weapons teams and a Leman Russ.

I've only done a sergeant, a regular Guardsman and a grenade launcher guardsman so far.



It's a blurry picture because I'm taking it with my crummy Samsung camera phone, but that's the basic color scheme. I'm going for the colors of the Spanish flag (red and yellow), so that's why they're red and yellow like that instead of actual army colors. Plus, I got the Citadel starter paint set so I haven't had a lot to work with right now.

I'll confess that I didn't use any real painting techniques here: I literally put paint on the plastic, so that's why it doesn't look that great. The guns are plated silver because I don't have Boltgun Metal (yet). But I will have it soon!

Fluff-wise, this regiment is called the 728th Mesnada (a mesnada was the term given to a Spanish king's army during Middle Ages Spain). The planet of Mesnada provides lots of raw materials for the Imperium's many manufactorums, and the regiments raised on the planet are drawn from mercenary troops that worked for the various moguls that rule the planet and harvest its resources. Individuals of rank will have their weapons plated silver thanks to the planet's considerable wealth, while veterans are also designated by the silver plating on their weapons. (It's also my excuse for going to paint before I had Boltgun Metal  8))

I got the idea for those kinds of designs while reading the IG Codex, as every planet has its own little quirks for the uniforms and gear of its regiments. I figured I'd do something beyond Cadian green and khaki camouflage, and I'm not a big fan of an army of Rambos (Catachans do look cool though).

Anyway, color scheme critiques are welcome (I can get better shots if needed, although with college exams, I haven't been able to do much), as well as basic painting techniques to make my Guardsmen look better. I realize that with a blurry camera, there's not much to work with, but any basic painting advice (for reference, I just learned about using black undercoats and I have no idea what primers are, lol) to make my guys look cooler would be invaluable.

NOTE: Yes, my Sergeant is leaning forwards very un-naturally. I didn't glue him on the base right, so I just attributed it to him posing as though he's ready to disembowel someone with his chainsword. From that angle, it looks neat, but from other angles he looks like he's doing the Michael Jackson lean.

Offline 2quiet

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Re: Painting My First 40k Army (warning: huge newb beyond this point)
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2010, 07:21:17 AM »
Commenting on painting technique is somewhat difficult without better quality pics, but there are some basics that you should follow. Probably the most important being generally to water down your paints to get smooth coverage and avoid a really thick or gluggy look. More than that, there are plenty of techniques you can learn, many of them not diffucult at all, just by looking around this board. Appart from that, it's just a matter of practice in order to get better at painting- nobody's first models were anywhere close to master class! And the same goes for putting the models together and everything else you do in the hobby.

As far as the colour scheme goes- I really like it! Very interesting and realistic (so much army fluff is over the top "we are the best legion ever" type stuff). Similarly, whilst it is different to the common camo-green, the colours you have used are also not over the top, which is good. Are you Spanish yourself, just out of curiousity?

Oh, finally, you don't have to use boltgun metal either. Sure, do so if you like it best, but other silvers can work, especially if you give them a light wash with a brown or bronze type colour.
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Offline The Black Dahlia Murder

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Re: Painting My First 40k Army (warning: huge newb beyond this point)
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2010, 05:54:51 PM »
I would like to see some front shots of your Guardsmen. Have you tried any highlighting of your models yet? That would make them look better. The silver plated weapons are not that crazy. The silver plated weapons for the veterans are pretty neat idea. Why give silver to some fresh face Guardsman that might lose it?

Primer is the 1st thing you put on before you paint your models. 99% of the time, primer comes in a spray can of different colors but the most used is black and white. Black primer will make your models darker while white makes it lighter. More info:

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2009/11/hobby-primer-101-whats-in-can-man.html

Offline Artcore

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Re: Painting My First 40k Army (warning: huge newb beyond this point)
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2010, 07:03:42 PM »
The brown and black GW washes are a very easy way to get some depth and shadows on your mini's. I use the black one on all my Boltgun Metal parts and in any sharp recesses (tanks!) for very clear shadows.

For the red parts you could do this: first a layer of dark red (crimson I think it is), then some brown wash and finally add a layer or 50/50 mixed crimson with blood red. That will give you a nice red like this Techmarine's helmet:


My tip: buy these 2 washes and some more colors that fit your nice color scheme. And please post some better pictures so we can help you more specifically.

 


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