My rules of painting: 1, paint goes on minis. 1a, practice is always good, and a painted mini is better than grey plastic 1b, paint what you want, because ultimately you're the one you're keeping happy 2, don't compare your work to others, unless relating to 3 3, (optional) always try to improve. Processes, techniques, supplies, basing... There's always something you can learn. Certainly not something for beginners to worry about, but improvement is a part of any hobby in my opinion.
My suggestion has always been for new players is to play as a merc. Then the answers to the rest of the question is whatever you want. Only after a while if they want to into the weeds, they can then dig into the lore and then pick one of the factions, ect.
One thing I would point out is don't worry about your skill level at painting, and don't let the idea of painting be too daunting. Back in the 90s when I first obtained some miniatures I got to painting them and didn't quite know what to do. We didn't exactly have online guides just yet and if there were, we didn't have google to find them. The minis that I had were the original pewter ones from Ral Partha. Previously in the 80s I had painted model kits as a kid but knew the oil paints used there was probably not going to work well. Instead I had a cheap set of acrylic paints, about 12 simple colors. What I would do is paint an under coat and let it dry. Then I would dry brush the main color on by getting paint on the brush and making sure it wasn't thick at all and mostly dry and then dab at the mini. The result was a very weathered look. Like the machine had been in the field for a few weeks. Then for the detailing I would use a watered down dark color, usually black to let it kind of soak into the nooks and crannies to give it an outline and let the shadows be more pronounced. Then I did the real heresy. I used an oil paint, a silver color to color in some of the barrels and vents to give them the metallic look. Didn't finish there. I would also use a glossy black or blue oil paint for the cockpit glass. More veteran painters like to use a jeweling effect using a few colors and white or similar color for highlights. Being glossy oil, the light in the room naturally reflected giving it more of a dynamic look. I was worried if painting these in such a way would cause some of the paint to degrade over time. Well.. 25 years later, they still look decent. Most mechs I painted were in random forms. Like Shadow Cat with a desert rocky camo (yellow and brown, again very simple colors of a cheap set). A bushwhacker in a fiery red and yellow. And one in some artic camo (I think an Orion) using baby blue and white. When I finally did some unit colors, I did some in the Davion Brigade of Guards parade colors of red, white, and blue. However I didn't know what kind of blue they used, so I ended up using baby blue with a red and white thin (and I mean very thin) stripe (instead of entire panels). Again we didn't have CamoSpecs Online back then or if we did, I didn't know. But when I later saw the actual pattern, I kinda shrugged and thought my way was better then the canon one. Though what is kind of weird is I do see the red and white striping in a lot of paintings and even in MW5 if I'm not mistaken (I might be remembering wrong, hadn't played it in a bit). Maybe I was on to something nearly 3 decades ago? In either case, look around for a few tips, and do the stuff that seems easy. It will help build the confidence. And don't be afraid to skip a few more complex things. The idea is to get something painted and see how bad ass it is. You can do the minute stuff later if you feel you need to. And if you don't, no one should judge you. They're your minis. Most of us have minis that are decades old and unpainted anyway. The best advice everyone ignores is don't buy more before you paint the ones you have. So no one ought to be judging anyone just based on that.
To echo some of the others here, I’ve been looking for this kind of format of show on Battletech, your format of painting with audio podcast on lore and advice is so cool. Thank you and please make more
Here's my take: Battletech has easily the most forgiving context for painting. Got a smudge? Battle damage. Wrong colors? Just salvaged it. Not enough time or a repaint? We're a mercenary lance! We don't know what colors we want!
exactly, also has one of if not the chillest communities.. people will help new players, loan them minis to use, I mean i have seen on multiple occasions at different shops / venues older players just gifting minis to new players - like hey welcome to the gang here is some salvage to start off with ... not something you generally see in the grand scheme of ttwg ... one of many reasons why after four decades i still play and try to be active in the community... .
As a long time BattleTech player, while I love the canon regimental schemes, I do love the personalization options. And, the personalization of 'Mechs Isa great way to tell two 'mechs of the same type in the same regimental scheme from each orher.
Thanks for this I was starting to get very caught up in lance schemes lore etc I know the broad strokes but now I feel more confident to paint them as I like :)
I love this video format. Watching a great paint scheme come together along with a great bit of podcast material. Reminds me of the true crime and makeup youtube stuff my wife loves. Maybe you'll make millions too! Totally using orange to shade my next blue scheme. Looks great.
I think most people bring their attitude from whatever they played before coming to Battletech: Wargamers tend to take painting and unit composition much more seriously than roleplayers and board gamers. But the rules are clear: A counter needs to be identifiable and indicate a facing, that's it. I spent many, many years playing great games with cardboard standees, and when I did get some minis, I'd take 3 or 4 to a game and 20 or 30 record sheets because they were just fancier slips of paper. I think the best way to approach the topic is to think of unit compositions and paint schemes as roleplaying aspects. If you're going to be roleplaying out the war between Jaime Wolf and Takeshi Kurita for the next six months, then sure, picking something relevant can help build the mood. But if you're playing pick up games or random scenarios, then don't sweat it and do what makes you happy. Does it even make sense to have a specific unit when you're playing King of the Hill or a progressive battle royale?
One of my rules in painting is if something reminds me of a videogame it gets a themed paintjob. The last one that got that was the wraith which reminded me of metroid a bit so metroid prime samus orange and yellow with hotrod red and a nice green on the arms.
Going to paint probably all my battlemechs in variations of 80’s retro synthwave and cyberpunk inspired themes. Neon pink and orange and purple stripes on darker base colors.
Honestly having the freedom to paint what you want has really made me dive hard into painting Battletech. The first mech I painted, I wanted something ubiquitous so it seemed only right to do a tried and trusty Urbie in SLDF green. I went on to paint a Marauder in my custom merc companies colors. I'm currently working on a lower tier "garrison" lance with a camo scheme loosely inspired by the Cadian tank camo, which is the first time I've ever attempted camo anything. It's been a blast honestly. I'm used to painting D&D figures and while monsters are fun, heroes and NPCs can be stressful to try and get their faces to look good. Painting mechs feels like a vacation, honestly, and my through-out has increased by just how fun it is.
due to the smaller game size of battletech, i have gone through over the years and made 2 companies of mechs for each inner sphere great houses, 1 company of mechs for each periphery house, 1 company for each mercenary group of note, 1 star for each clan (with 2 stars for each of the 5 main invasion clans), and 3 companies of mechs and 2 companies of tanks for comstar this allows me to play as whoever, whenever, depending on how i feel or who i am playing against. it also gives me the ability to have the resources to host RPGs, campaigns, etc and have all needed resources at my finger tips. comparing this to how 40k is, where you will need 50 to 60 miniatures for a game, and then you will need other units and models painted the same way as your army list changes, you get more units and have more fun painting different schemes in a timely manner
To be honest, the merc set are the first 'minis' i have ever played with. I still have my box of cardboard mechs with stands... I do not even remember which set i got them with but it was in the middle to late 80s... 😅
Buddy of mine took to Battletech in the last few years. A favorite paint project of his involves painting as many mechs in Mega Man character color schemes. I never realized how much the Catalyst Trebuchet looks like Pharoah Man. 😆
I agree, paint what you want, I am not a jade falcon fan but when the clan kickstarter salvage boxes showed up, I got 2 random summoners so one became nicholi malthas and the other marthe pryde i also got a hunchback iic and a vulture so I had to paint them up in the cartoon livery I painted the sides of the bases to indicate fronting and to tie them all together. Its your game have fun
There's something wrong with your Regult battlepod. You left some big pieces of flash hanging off the side thrusters and you got the legs on backwards.
I just recently bought some clan salvage boxes from catalyst and i like the idea of painting thw mechs i got based on the pilot cards in the boxes, spo i have two options each for the mechs
Doesn't matter what faction you go with. As one thing is missed quite a lot is that any faction can't produce many mechs per year so they are often salvaged from the enemy and stripped of parts etc, pre clan invasion I'd say most mechs would look cobbled together, Or during a planatary campaign you might be using mech that have been plundered from the enemy where say the pilot has been killed but the mech is in tact... What you gonna do bring paints with you the several hundred light years from your base of operations so you all look uniform?
It's a terrible insight as to how badly GW has conditioned players, that someone actually asked "Will 40K paints work on Battletech?" Someone had actually been led to believe that Citadel paints were only formulated to work on GW minis or something. It blew my mind to even consider that, but I'm not surprised that GW is trying to indoctrinate people as to the proprietary nature of their product. Glad to see that Battletech has never succumbed to that nonsense. BTW my props to you for using the 8404 - it is, in my opinion, the best brush line for mini painting.
I generally paint my mechs olive green but I also have a few dark red and a couple in light blue as well as some light tan ones, all with white highlights. I also have a bunch of uniquely painted "pirate" mechs and 2 and a half star of clan mechs painted tan with yellow and green highlights.
long before Victor Milan added "Golden Vanity" to the Caballeros, I ran a gold chromed Warhammer simply because the whole point was to draw the best of the enemy toward me. Practical? Naw. Arrogant/Effective? Yup.
Im the only one in my looose playgroupe who even care about the fluff, the other ones play since the early Fasa days and normaly never care about force or lance building and select what they play on the fly by random dice.
This has been my experience over the last 30 or so years playing Battletech, too. I don't think I've seen or heard anyone asking about painting besides techniques until the last couple years.
Been looking to paint up Falcon Guards trinary. I opted for the camo specs standard camo with Jade trim, though I decided to add an iridescent medium to the trim color.
I don't paint my mechs in camo, because I'm not good at it. I mean because I want them to pop against the terrain to make the game look nice. Yeah, that's it.
I DON'T FRET over how I paint my mechs! I paint them the way I want and thier not everyone's liking ,they can kiss my ASS! I paint for my enjoyment NOT THERE'S! I got 281 CGL MECH'S and I have had a ball painting them!
ironic the title of the video is "dont fret over painting" yet you spent more time highlighting that mini than i do painting one smh get a load of this guy
Main reason you shouldn’t fret is your literally rolling a turd in glitter… I just got some CGL models and they are frankly embarrassingly bad models. The quality would be poor in 2000 let alone now. At $10 per unit for stuff that looks like cereal box toys from the mid 90s is pretty WTF. No point in nice sculpts if you hand them off to a Chinese company who don’t even make an attempt to make nice moulds for them. I guess at least CGL are making a killing off them
Spicy take. I'm not entirely in disagreement. For the switch to plastic, I would have preferred styrene rather than PVC. I have a lot of thoughts that are a mix of positive and negative for the new minis, but I am an old-school boy at heart. I prefer my metal minis despite any drawbacks. And that is what you see me painting in this vid. But that is a longer conversation I am not prepared to have
I do have to say, with the newer stuff, they tend to take things like washes better. The only problem is that there are way too many details that are "stacked" rather than recessed. Adam probably has a better way to explain it, but it's something I've noticed since I've been painting a lot more.
If you want to get in on the painting fun, share your work, etc... come check out our discord! discord.gg/Zu5X6ryUb6
You had me subscribed at "dirty clanner".
My rules of painting:
1, paint goes on minis.
1a, practice is always good, and a painted mini is better than grey plastic
1b, paint what you want, because ultimately you're the one you're keeping happy
2, don't compare your work to others, unless relating to 3
3, (optional) always try to improve. Processes, techniques, supplies, basing... There's always something you can learn. Certainly not something for beginners to worry about, but improvement is a part of any hobby in my opinion.
Well put sir.
Instructions unclear. I have consumed three pots of Nuln Oil.
My suggestion has always been for new players is to play as a merc. Then the answers to the rest of the question is whatever you want. Only after a while if they want to into the weeds, they can then dig into the lore and then pick one of the factions, ect.
My wife picked my paint scheme, now I have to build a House Imarra force.
One thing I would point out is don't worry about your skill level at painting, and don't let the idea of painting be too daunting. Back in the 90s when I first obtained some miniatures I got to painting them and didn't quite know what to do. We didn't exactly have online guides just yet and if there were, we didn't have google to find them. The minis that I had were the original pewter ones from Ral Partha. Previously in the 80s I had painted model kits as a kid but knew the oil paints used there was probably not going to work well.
Instead I had a cheap set of acrylic paints, about 12 simple colors. What I would do is paint an under coat and let it dry. Then I would dry brush the main color on by getting paint on the brush and making sure it wasn't thick at all and mostly dry and then dab at the mini. The result was a very weathered look. Like the machine had been in the field for a few weeks. Then for the detailing I would use a watered down dark color, usually black to let it kind of soak into the nooks and crannies to give it an outline and let the shadows be more pronounced.
Then I did the real heresy. I used an oil paint, a silver color to color in some of the barrels and vents to give them the metallic look. Didn't finish there. I would also use a glossy black or blue oil paint for the cockpit glass. More veteran painters like to use a jeweling effect using a few colors and white or similar color for highlights. Being glossy oil, the light in the room naturally reflected giving it more of a dynamic look.
I was worried if painting these in such a way would cause some of the paint to degrade over time. Well.. 25 years later, they still look decent.
Most mechs I painted were in random forms. Like Shadow Cat with a desert rocky camo (yellow and brown, again very simple colors of a cheap set). A bushwhacker in a fiery red and yellow. And one in some artic camo (I think an Orion) using baby blue and white. When I finally did some unit colors, I did some in the Davion Brigade of Guards parade colors of red, white, and blue. However I didn't know what kind of blue they used, so I ended up using baby blue with a red and white thin (and I mean very thin) stripe (instead of entire panels). Again we didn't have CamoSpecs Online back then or if we did, I didn't know. But when I later saw the actual pattern, I kinda shrugged and thought my way was better then the canon one.
Though what is kind of weird is I do see the red and white striping in a lot of paintings and even in MW5 if I'm not mistaken (I might be remembering wrong, hadn't played it in a bit). Maybe I was on to something nearly 3 decades ago? In either case, look around for a few tips, and do the stuff that seems easy. It will help build the confidence. And don't be afraid to skip a few more complex things. The idea is to get something painted and see how bad ass it is. You can do the minute stuff later if you feel you need to. And if you don't, no one should judge you. They're your minis.
Most of us have minis that are decades old and unpainted anyway. The best advice everyone ignores is don't buy more before you paint the ones you have. So no one ought to be judging anyone just based on that.
To echo some of the others here, I’ve been looking for this kind of format of show on Battletech, your format of painting with audio podcast on lore and advice is so cool. Thank you and please make more
Here's my take:
Battletech has easily the most forgiving context for painting. Got a smudge? Battle damage. Wrong colors? Just salvaged it. Not enough time or a repaint? We're a mercenary lance! We don't know what colors we want!
my plan was to do a flying circus style every mech is different in some way
@@fuzztsimmers3415 These are our mercenary colors!
exactly, also has one of if not the chillest communities.. people will help new players, loan them minis to use,
I mean i have seen on multiple occasions at different shops / venues older players just gifting minis to new players - like hey welcome to the gang here is some salvage to start off with ... not something you generally see in the grand scheme of ttwg ... one of many reasons why after four decades i still play and try to be active in the community... .
The models are fairly cheap and the community is very welcoming of 3D prints, so it's also fairly easy to get a second mech to try to do it better.
Never knew people were fretting about painting Battletech. Learn something everyday.
As a long time BattleTech player, while I love the canon regimental schemes, I do love the personalization options.
And, the personalization of 'Mechs Isa great way to tell two 'mechs of the same type in the same regimental scheme from each orher.
Thanks for this I was starting to get very caught up in lance schemes lore etc I know the broad strokes but now I feel more confident to paint them as I like :)
I love this video format. Watching a great paint scheme come together along with a great bit of podcast material. Reminds me of the true crime and makeup youtube stuff my wife loves. Maybe you'll make millions too! Totally using orange to shade my next blue scheme. Looks great.
I think most people bring their attitude from whatever they played before coming to Battletech: Wargamers tend to take painting and unit composition much more seriously than roleplayers and board gamers. But the rules are clear: A counter needs to be identifiable and indicate a facing, that's it. I spent many, many years playing great games with cardboard standees, and when I did get some minis, I'd take 3 or 4 to a game and 20 or 30 record sheets because they were just fancier slips of paper.
I think the best way to approach the topic is to think of unit compositions and paint schemes as roleplaying aspects. If you're going to be roleplaying out the war between Jaime Wolf and Takeshi Kurita for the next six months, then sure, picking something relevant can help build the mood. But if you're playing pick up games or random scenarios, then don't sweat it and do what makes you happy. Does it even make sense to have a specific unit when you're playing King of the Hill or a progressive battle royale?
I just painted mine like they where in the SLDF and did a basic Green with a few ACES sticking out. Appreciate your talk on this! Sub'd
Mantis shrimp is an uncomfortably close description of the merc company I'm planning... Think Miami vice!
Painting your units how you want them for your own enjoyment??? THIS is the way of Po Ding!!!!!
Black prime, zenithal gray followed by downstroke drybrush white. Contrasts in greys, browns, tans, and greens other than canopies and weapons. Done.
One of my rules in painting is if something reminds me of a videogame it gets a themed paintjob. The last one that got that was the wraith which reminded me of metroid a bit so metroid prime samus orange and yellow with hotrod red and a nice green on the arms.
I saw someone who painted a _Horned Owl_ in a VOTOMS style and it looked perfectly suited for it.
Going to paint probably all my battlemechs in variations of 80’s retro synthwave and cyberpunk inspired themes. Neon pink and orange and purple stripes on darker base colors.
I appreciate the Hell out'a this video.
Honestly having the freedom to paint what you want has really made me dive hard into painting Battletech. The first mech I painted, I wanted something ubiquitous so it seemed only right to do a tried and trusty Urbie in SLDF green. I went on to paint a Marauder in my custom merc companies colors. I'm currently working on a lower tier "garrison" lance with a camo scheme loosely inspired by the Cadian tank camo, which is the first time I've ever attempted camo anything. It's been a blast honestly. I'm used to painting D&D figures and while monsters are fun, heroes and NPCs can be stressful to try and get their faces to look good. Painting mechs feels like a vacation, honestly, and my through-out has increased by just how fun it is.
due to the smaller game size of battletech, i have gone through over the years and made 2 companies of mechs for each inner sphere great houses, 1 company of mechs for each periphery house, 1 company for each mercenary group of note, 1 star for each clan (with 2 stars for each of the 5 main invasion clans), and 3 companies of mechs and 2 companies of tanks for comstar
this allows me to play as whoever, whenever, depending on how i feel or who i am playing against. it also gives me the ability to have the resources to host RPGs, campaigns, etc and have all needed resources at my finger tips.
comparing this to how 40k is, where you will need 50 to 60 miniatures for a game, and then you will need other units and models painted the same way as your army list changes, you get more units and have more fun painting different schemes in a timely manner
To be honest, the merc set are the first 'minis' i have ever played with. I still have my box of cardboard mechs with stands... I do not even remember which set i got them with but it was in the middle to late 80s... 😅
Buddy of mine took to Battletech in the last few years. A favorite paint project of his involves painting as many mechs in Mega Man character color schemes. I never realized how much the Catalyst Trebuchet looks like Pharoah Man. 😆
Your friend sounds like someone up my alley. I hope he played the music from the game while he did it.
I agree, paint what you want, I am not a jade falcon fan but when the clan kickstarter salvage boxes showed up, I got 2 random summoners so one became nicholi malthas and the other marthe pryde i also got a hunchback iic and a vulture so I had to paint them up in the cartoon livery I painted the sides of the bases to indicate fronting and to tie them all together.
Its your game have fun
There's something wrong with your Regult battlepod. You left some big pieces of flash hanging off the side thrusters and you got the legs on backwards.
At 6mm scale any paint is probably fine. If you care about color schemes that's fine too.
I just recently bought some clan salvage boxes from catalyst and i like the idea of painting thw mechs i got based on the pilot cards in the boxes, spo i have two options each for the mechs
Doesn't matter what faction you go with.
As one thing is missed quite a lot is that any faction can't produce many mechs per year so they are often salvaged from the enemy and stripped of parts etc, pre clan invasion I'd say most mechs would look cobbled together,
Or during a planatary campaign you might be using mech that have been plundered from the enemy where say the pilot has been killed but the mech is in tact... What you gonna do bring paints with you the several hundred light years from your base of operations so you all look uniform?
It's a terrible insight as to how badly GW has conditioned players, that someone actually asked "Will 40K paints work on Battletech?" Someone had actually been led to believe that Citadel paints were only formulated to work on GW minis or something. It blew my mind to even consider that, but I'm not surprised that GW is trying to indoctrinate people as to the proprietary nature of their product. Glad to see that Battletech has never succumbed to that nonsense.
BTW my props to you for using the 8404 - it is, in my opinion, the best brush line for mini painting.
I generally paint my mechs olive green but I also have a few dark red and a couple in light blue as well as some light tan ones, all with white highlights. I also have a bunch of uniquely painted "pirate" mechs and 2 and a half star of clan mechs painted tan with yellow and green highlights.
long before Victor Milan added "Golden Vanity" to the Caballeros, I ran a gold chromed Warhammer simply because the whole point was to draw the best of the enemy toward me. Practical? Naw. Arrogant/Effective? Yup.
Im the only one in my looose playgroupe who even care about the fluff, the other ones play since the early Fasa days and normaly never care about force or lance building and select what they play on the fly by random dice.
This has been my experience over the last 30 or so years playing Battletech, too. I don't think I've seen or heard anyone asking about painting besides techniques until the last couple years.
Been looking to paint up Falcon Guards trinary. I opted for the camo specs standard camo with Jade trim, though I decided to add an iridescent medium to the trim color.
thanks for this!
Right now I'm just camoing my mechs and maybe some brighter colors on the shoulderpads, head, etc...
10:32 Unit Patches. :P
I'm twice as stressed now
I always say what faction you want to play is basically what color you like.
One could also paint a piece of paper and fold it over old school. A new take on an old idea!!
Nice Paint job
I see an Ostscout, I click on the video.
Excellent!
Agreed do what you want becomes mercenary commander 😊
I use generic camo scheme. that way I can use my entire collection for every faction.
I don't paint my mechs in camo, because I'm not good at it. I mean because I want them to pop against the terrain to make the game look nice. Yeah, that's it.
Basically i am a part of a secret ComStar force, pretending to be someone else for the sake of some bloke named blake.
Im in
I DON'T FRET over how I paint my mechs! I paint them the way I want and thier not everyone's liking ,they can kiss my ASS! I paint for my enjoyment NOT THERE'S! I got 281 CGL MECH'S and I have had a ball painting them!
its easy. i role play the game. therefore whatever the players and i are using in game, that is what they will look like!😉
ironic the title of the video is "dont fret over painting" yet you spent more time highlighting that mini than i do painting one smh get a load of this guy
Yeah, get a load of Adam for enjoying it. How terrible.
You missed the point, man.
Main reason you shouldn’t fret is your literally rolling a turd in glitter… I just got some CGL models and they are frankly embarrassingly bad models. The quality would be poor in 2000 let alone now. At $10 per unit for stuff that looks like cereal box toys from the mid 90s is pretty WTF. No point in nice sculpts if you hand them off to a Chinese company who don’t even make an attempt to make nice moulds for them. I guess at least CGL are making a killing off them
Spicy take. I'm not entirely in disagreement. For the switch to plastic, I would have preferred styrene rather than PVC. I have a lot of thoughts that are a mix of positive and negative for the new minis, but I am an old-school boy at heart. I prefer my metal minis despite any drawbacks. And that is what you see me painting in this vid.
But that is a longer conversation I am not prepared to have
I do have to say, with the newer stuff, they tend to take things like washes better. The only problem is that there are way too many details that are "stacked" rather than recessed. Adam probably has a better way to explain it, but it's something I've noticed since I've been painting a lot more.