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Author Topic: How to Paint an Army Quickly for Those Who Hate Painting  (Read 3127 times)

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Offline Cavalier

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How to Paint an Army Quickly for Those Who Hate Painting
« on: September 1, 2017, 01:48:22 PM »
CAVALIER'S GUIDE TO QUICKLY PAINTING AN ARMY

Hey guys. So often I've seen people struggle to paint an entire army. Many hate the process of painting. I don't blame them! But at the same time they really want a fully painted army. Often times they try to paint their army but try to take each model, or each unit to a level thats beyond their commitment level. Well I've got an easy approach, that looks good and is FAST!

So its quite easy.

STEP 1: Assemble the models. Give a simple flock of play sand and a little cork on the base.





STEP 2: Simply prime + base coat your model.
Then put a strong wash on the model. Then pick out the major details like guns. Basecoat and wash those. The following example is only 2 colors. Khorne Red washed with Nuln Oil. Retributor Gold washed with Reikland Fleshwash.







STEP 3: Clean up the excess wash by neatly repainting your base coats for the major colors. Pick out some of the fine details like gems, or skin. Simply paint a single color on them. Dry brush a single highlight of DawnStone Grey over the black sandy base of the model and you are done.






Applied Across a Squad:







Additional Notes and Advice:

This process took me only 4 hours and I'm a VERY slow painter. Painting your models in this way will increase the neatness of your brush work and firm up all the basic skills necessary to become a good painter. Going beyond this paint level is NOT necessary to having a nice looking army. This standard alone will make for a solid looking army which is bound to increase your enjoyment of 40k and that of your opponent.

My only additional advice is to use GW Spray Primer + Spray Basecoat whenever possible. I would recommend that to anyone looking to start a new army or someone looking to tackle an unpainted army.

Please feel free to ask any questions and good luck to everyone who checks out this article!


 
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Offline Looshkin

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Re: How to Paint an Army Quickly for Those Who Hate Painting
« Reply #1 on: September 1, 2017, 02:15:31 PM »
Excellent article Cav.

I agree wholeheartedly with the premise. People often become disheartened when painting 1 miniature to the best of their ability takes days. It's often a shift in mentality, but producing a basic finish looks amazing over a whole army, and the minis can be revisited at a later date in order to take them up a notch. White Dwarf actually did a very good article about this very thing a few issues ago. I'll see if I can dig it out.

If I can be so bold as to add my own tips:*

Pick a colour for your army that matches a GW Spray. This will save more time than you can possibly imagine.

Try to batch paint...units of 5 is perfect. 10 just about works. Any more than that and you won't paint fast enough to see results and will become disheartened.

Stick to 3 base colours as a maximum.

Don't go crazy on the detail. That can come later. 50 nicely painted models looks way better on the tabletop than 48 grey plastic guys and 2 Golden Daemon level models.

And those tips (contrived as they may be) spell outwit will happen if you don't follow Cav's sage words of advice. You'll end up with PTSD!





*"Hang on Loosh", I hear you cry, "You take an age to paint". Well, that's true. But I have also been known to paint 30 Skaven Clan Rats, 2 Skaven Characters, 11 Ork Boyz, 6 Nobz, 1 Warboss and 2 starer armies for Deadzone in 1 month. About 74 models in total. So it can be done if you just follow Cav's expert guidance!
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Offline flatworldsedge

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Re: How to Paint an Army Quickly for Those Who Hate Painting
« Reply #2 on: September 3, 2017, 05:58:11 PM »
Really enjoy this - incredible the results you can get with just the simple stuff done well.  Appreciate the thoughts.

My challenge is my OCD cleaning up of models pre-paint.  It's certainly the case my models don't get as much time as I'd like, but still ~4-5 hours a week, sometimes more.

Just about to glue 10 Guardians and an Autarch after three months (little bit of work on Kabalite conversion and some Wraithguard too in that time - little bit).  I end up practically re-carving some sections of minis to get rid of mould lines.  Wish I could speed that up, but it feels like time invested there makes paint tips like those above all the more effective. 

Simple paint on a well prepped model is so much more effective than pro paint on a poorly prepped model.

Offline Cavalier

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Re: How to Paint an Army Quickly for Those Who Hate Painting
« Reply #3 on: September 4, 2017, 07:32:27 AM »
@Looshkin- Yes! Totally agree with you my friend. Especially about the GW primer/basecoat combo... it broke my heart when they discontinued Khorne Red... forcing me to turn back to the treacherous airbrush! Also batch painting 5 models at a time is exactly what I would recommend. I paint every day for my commissions and I dont ever go beyond 5 models at a time. It really helps keep that feel of progress when you can put a combat squad or an MSU unit on the shelf and have it game ready. Fantastic advice Loosh couldn't agree more.

@FlatworldsEdge- I totally agree with you. I HATE modelling... why I did an entirely kitbashed army I have no idea. But it is another part of the challenge to be sure. Particularly on some of the Eldar models (Dire Avengers I'm looking at you with that mold line going straight down the middle of your helmet and faceplate).

Anyway glad you enjoyed the article! Also I'm looking forward to seeing some of your painted guys I love your modelling. Thanks bud

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Offline Saim-Dann

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Re: How to Paint an Army Quickly for Those Who Hate Painting
« Reply #4 on: September 4, 2017, 07:49:13 AM »
G'day Cavalier!
Brilliant post, mate. Well written with easy to follow steps. Just the thing for motivation. Have changed my Eldar colors, (again), to suit my lazy painting. The Guardians are all black now. The Aspect Warriors are black also except their helmet which matches the color of their shrine.

Spray/detail/highlight/repeat. Now THAT"S my kind of painting session... Pointy ears forever!! 

Offline flatworldsedge

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Re: How to Paint an Army Quickly for Those Who Hate Painting
« Reply #5 on: September 4, 2017, 08:24:30 AM »
(Dire Avengers I'm looking at you with that mold line going straight down the middle of your helmet and faceplate).

Yes!  I'm using one of their head's at the moment.  The main issue is the point where the line cross from helmet to face.  Normally I re-cut edges like that when a line overlaps them, or you end up with too smooth a division between the two... but taking the blade directly to the poor chap's face is high stakes!  Cold One models had a mould line that ran over all the spines.  That was similarly fun. 

The other nightmare is a poorly planned sprue connection - when they uses two connections both in the middle of a two part shoulder pad.  That's always fun too!

Promise I will share pics once I start painting.  Nearly there.  Picking up some liquid green stuff later for the post-gluing.  One tip I like that might be worth adding above (if not priming with the base colour) is priming in grey, then spraying white from above.  Do find it helps give some natural highlight for very little effort.  Perfect for a quick paint of a group of models.  IMHO, etc.

Offline Aurics Pride

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Re: How to Paint an Army Quickly for Those Who Hate Painting
« Reply #6 on: September 5, 2017, 07:57:09 AM »
Love the tips Cav!
I have to admit I am very much on the "enjoy painting" side of the fence but there are so many guys locally who really dislike painting and don't realise that with the right preparation and a good bit of fore-thought it can be surprisingly easy to get an effective looking army.
Personally for me a fully painted army makes a battle so much more enjoyable!
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Offline Cavalier

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Re: How to Paint an Army Quickly for Those Who Hate Painting
« Reply #7 on: September 6, 2017, 08:13:19 AM »
@FlatworldsEdge- Great points! Yes I hear you on the whole sprue placement thing. Sometimes when I see that stuff I want to scream. Thats a neat tip on the priming... never heard of that before. I'll have to try it... any grey primer's you recommend?

@Auric's Pride- Thanks bud. Couldn't agree more... the planning is HUGE. Especially before you start the army. Choosing a color thats easy to work with (i.e spray primer for your basecoat) is a big part in getting it done. Also like I said... you dont need 3 stage highlights on every model to have a good looking army. Hell you dont need highlights at all! Just getting the basic colors on neatly makes for a super solid army. Also totally agree with you... 2 fully painted armies clashing is how 40k is meant to be played. Thanks bud!
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Offline Looshkin

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Re: How to Paint an Army Quickly for Those Who Hate Painting
« Reply #8 on: September 6, 2017, 01:54:18 PM »
... you dont need 3 stage highlights on every model to have a good looking army. Hell you dont need highlights at all! Just getting the basic colors on neatly makes for a super solid army. Also totally agree with you... 2 fully painted armies clashing is how 40k is meant to be played. Thanks bud!

Absolutely. These days, with the Citadel colour system where it is, you can absolutely get away with base colours plus a wash with a suitable shade colour. Anything else is just tarting up what will already be a solid paint job.

I also can't agree more with you and AP about having fully painted armies. It does wonders dragging you into the setting and making a game atmospheric. I remember a game between me and my bro...let's just say that our spouses tolerate our hobbies (mine actively supports it, but can't get her head around the actual game element of the hobby) and make fun of us for being big geeks; well we finally played a game with them in the house and when they saw 2 fully painted 2000pt armies fighting over a fully painted board festooned with painted scenery, well they actually were massively impressed. If it can impress the unconverted, imagine the buzz that you can generate in guys that love the setting and love the game, but aren't sold on the modelling/painting aspect of the hobby.
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Offline magenb

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Re: How to Paint an Army Quickly for Those Who Hate Painting
« Reply #9 on: September 6, 2017, 11:43:52 PM »
Anything else is just tarting up
rolf!

Even a 3 colour basic job still looks good on a table.

 


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