The crueler job is that each Ork is supposed to be individualized. Sure, Tyranids have a lot of detail, but they're supposed to all look the same. An Ork needs to give it's individualized devotion to the godz.
Funny how it takes another set of eyes to see through the forest. I've been painting since the early 80's and never once thought about not painting every little detail. Now maybe I can get more done. Thank you!
I agree, it's good to (only once in awhile) put more effort on hero/boss minis as you paint. This way will help you improve your mastery overtime. Painting is fun, factory production line isn't.
I actually like getting a color right on my wet pallet and then going through and line painting a bunch of goblins while I listen to videos on RUclips. It's incredibly relaxing for me for some reason. I know I did several hundred last year alone and I honestly never got burned out on it, though on the opposite side of the fence I totally loathed doing the stormcast eternals out of the dominion box. I guess it boils down to how much I like the models from the start
I personally paint because it is therapeutic and gives me a much needed moment of peace. Granted, my pace is slower, and I paint most of everything on a model but it feels so good when I go the extra mile. I don't worry to much about getting everything perfect because at the end of the day, I don't want my painting to feel like a job.
Both my son and I paint minis. I tend to lean towards the less is more train of thought while he loves painting every little detail. His favorite Chaos Marines are Death Guard and Red Corsairs. There is so much detail, but he paints it all and the models look great. But I can paint several warbands or crews for This Is Not A Test, Stargrave, or even Kill Team in the time it takes him to paint just a handful of miniatures. He loves it, but I want my little plastic men ready to kill other people's little plastic men more than I want them to look like they're going to win a Golden Demon. But hey, each his own. It is hard sometimes to get your mind in the zone of "I don't need to paint this".
Alleluia brother, there's way too much pressure to push things too far in this hobby at times, people need to be comfortable with whatever standard they paint to. Your videos are great at helping in this space.
For new painters especially, it's easy to see all the top level painting done online and think that's the normal level. I've gotten discouraged in the past as I'll likely never hit that competition level, it took a while to accept that what I do is good enough.
I started as historical gamer so I have a muted desire to superpaint rank and file, if I enter a paint comp yes I go nuts but for my tabletop figures I stay restrained
One of my favourite things about the building process is when you get to the end of the sprue and it's like here are 20 optional daggers, guns, bottles, crests etc. You can attach to your mini and taking a hard pass every single time on all of them
This video is like a direct intervention to me. I so over paint and obsess over my minis all while knowing half the work will look essentially the same.
Unless it's a big centerpiece model, you're not really going to appreciate very small color differences at the distances most games operate at. Dense, complicated gradients of subtle color variation can even make it harder to parse at those distances, because it overwhelms the senses with detail. The real key to a good paint job, most times, is _contrast._ Breaking up the model into coherent blocks, so you can tell far away what everything is supposed to be. You don't need three different shades of brown for all of the figure's leather. You just need it to be clear where the leather ends and the metal or cloth or skin begins. Obviously, this is for tabletop painting. For display painting, you're meant to make it look as good as possible, because you're _supposed_ to look at it real close.
I remember John Lyons at @ontabletop noting that the US army in WWII stuck spades, boxes, etc on their tanks and then sprayed them green. So literally everything including wooden handles ended up same colour.
Most of us aren't going to win awards for our painting? We just don't want to play with grey models. I try to explain this to people who are terrified of painting their minis in case they 'mess up'. Most have watched tutorials that spend hours on one figure. As great as those figures might be, that isn't how most of us paint, especially armies. And 'messing up' is how we learn. We strip them and start again. All gain, no loss.
I’m not a great painter so one of the things I find helpful is limiting the number of colours I use to a minimum, ideally three and no more than six. I saw a really nice space marine that was just painted black and dry brushed silver (including the bare head) the only other colours used were red and white for the purity seal. Sometimes less is more.
My wife, who is a painter of pictures rather than miniatures, is frequently astounded by the amount of different (often similar) colours used in some painting tutorials. She will use a limited range and create her own shades etc, with what she has got and sees no point in buying 12 different paints to get the same effect?
@@haxan6663 i have about 20 years experience with a 4 color printing press bl., c,y, and m. I can create any color you want.I also had a good idea of color theory, contrasting and complementing colors, ect ect. But I had never painted anything artistically. But I felt i had a better bassis than the average beginner. I ordered the army Painters starter set because I was told that I would need "miniature paint" and figured I'd at least start off with a at least above average paint, if for no other reason than to rule out the paint on any mistakes i may make. Got my first miniatures , the start collecting elite box set with space marines and necrons. Well the first thing I want to say is these miniature paints are much harder to predict colors when attempting to mix. Because they aren't single pigment paints. Like greens skin green for example, you would think cyan and yellow, green but no, the paint company puts some other color or colors into the formula to make it thier "green skin green " and when you start mixing paints you quickly get brown because of these secondary pigments. So, yes they make us have to buy many different shades of paint. I haven't tried finding one pigment primary colors yet but I have complete confidence I can then create any color and shade I want. So yeah her paints, probably oil based as well and not acrylics, are probably much more predictable.
Historically speaking people had access to and wore bright colors, cheap dyes like reds were especially common through the late roman and early medieval period. That said your point still stands, if I'm a regular guy i may have a brighter tunic and some leather straps for belts or whatever but it really shouldn't be more than like 3 colors
People did have access to certain cheap dyes. But they didn't have access to laundry services, so that red turns brown real quick when you spend 14 hours a day hoeing fields for the King.
I remember a lecturer mentioning greek cities and temples. Modern people seem to love that white, serene look of the marble, but back then they were probably painted in various colours. Vikings loved colours as well, and a kings hall would probably not be just natural wood. It would be painted in bright colours, the better to be seen. A kings hall on a hill by a fjord in Norway was showing residue of white pigment, making it visible far and wide.
@@onkelgroen Another data point: medieval castles weren't built with the mind to leave them exposed stone. They were plastered and white-washed, creating flat, bright edifices. It's only the march of time that caused the plaster to break away, leaving the stone underneath. Also, not all castles of the era were stone. Many - most, if anything - were made of wood, then plastered over same as the stone ones. Which served the duel purpose of protecting the wood from the elements, and disguising the fact they were cheaper, less durable castles. We only think of castles as all stone because both the plaster and wood long ago crumbled away. It's survivorship bias: our conception is focused around bare stone castles because that's all that survived.
Great video with a great point! Have definitely left myself burnt out trying to turn myself into a factory painting line, now I’m painting up a necron army with a 4 colour (not including primer) scheme entirely drybrushed. For anyone struggling getting over painting every model meticulously, I recommend just trying to paint a small force of something with simple techniques to appreciate how good a consistent force really looks compared to one or two great miniatures with a gang of grey mates. And the best part is once everything is painted to a basic standard, you can always go back and add more details later
Fully agree! For my last Orks I simpy drybrushed over the black primer for all clothing and armor and focused my painting on the green skin and added metallics to the weapons. This was a true timesaver without compromising the look of the army on the table.
This is so perfect, thank you!! I cant tell you how much I appreciate this! I'm currently painting up large amounts of vindictors and ardboys, and I've been dreading picking out so many tiny things! But this!!! Is priceless! And it makes SO much sense. Seriously, I'm excited to get painting after work! ❤🧡💜💙 amazing channel and unreal content 🥰
I paint dark ages minis. The problem with that era is that every soldier is a irregular, levy or at best semi-professional household soldier. So the name of thw game is painting them without a scheme and making each guy unique. I always envy people who play Napoleonics in this regard. :P
But that's really cool and tells a story, even without words. I'd love to do a proper (historic) Eldar army for 40k, where every model is a bit individualized. There will be a common base look, but the original lore at least describes the army as more of a militia than a standing and dedicated army, so each person is a unique person with a little bit of unique flair. As long as this kind of thing doesn't go totally overboard, where you spend 12 hours on each model, I think having that individual look is far more appealing that having everyone look the same.
Just a side note: Even back in the day, professional sculptor would sculpt components like weapons and backpacks separately, make a mold for them cast them and the use the cast parts in sculpting complete models. This not only reduces repetitive work but helps keep scale consistent within a range.
@@MightyEmperor low or high fantasy refers to the amount of magic in it, you're talking about portal fantasy vs I'm assuming urban fantasy. There's so many fantasy genres up to and including blended genres like science fantasy, grim dark, and dark fantasy.
@@TheTruthx58 nope, it has nothing to do with the amount of magic. Low fantasy is: "Narratives in which the fantastic element intrudes on the 'real world', as opposed to fantasies set all or partially in a Secondary World"
100% agree with this. The figures in the hobby are becoming more and more detail which is brilliant to see it but can become very daunting when you want to do a large force. I do historical stuff and if its somethin like a celtic or viking army it can be very hard to pick out colours for all of the. Find it hard to dress myself sometimes let alone thinking up outfits for 200 vikings. Keep the colour palet simple and to similar colours that a couple of washes can change. Keep up the good work mate. 😁👍
Funny that you just posted this. This is my hobby New Year's resolution. I can paint to a pretty good standard, but it takes me FOREVER! This year I decided I was going to tone things back in an attempt to get more minis in the hobby, which is good because I decided to do a couple combat patrols for 40k. I painted my test model for a Dire Avenger squad the other day with a toned down paint scheme in about an hour and fifteen minutes and it looks good! I figure I can knock out the rest of the squad in about 45 minutes per model now that I know what I'm doing.....which is blazing fast for me! It's a nice feeling that painting like this I could feasibly get a squad done in a week of painting as opposed to taking a month or so with my limited paint time. Also putting less pressure on myself seems to make painting seem more fun....at least so far!
I use an "arm's length" rule. I'll hold the mini at arm's length and check what detail stands out. If it isn't a leader figure, I don't paint anything that doesn't stand out. It's been a godsend working through the 4,000 Napoleonic figures I have to paint
I use the glasses off method lol. I paint all the details to build my technique but I'm painting as the whole hobby, the game doesn't appeal to me anymore.
There were guys at my store a few weeks back talking about painting some stormcast character doing a super hero landing. When they got to the part how the light was coming from the bottom and reflecting from each 15 metallic attachments and how those reflections would reflect again from his model I felt happy that my GK are full grey silver
I like to paint every little detail and try to get more definition each time I paint, but that’s more because I don’t play any of the games I just like to paint and try to improve and do more and more each time I paint.
I think the best rule of thumb is if it’s something you are going to create for continuous use, where the pieces and what you are using are supposed to be uniformed, then you probably should at least do the basics. A clean paint job is what you mostly need, it will be a great way to practice as well due to the repetition. This is what I see as common sense, realistic painting since armies who are in units generally are going to be one shade for tactical and field reasons. In a fantasy sense, it reflects medieval armies, with basic armor and basic weapons. When you want deep details, those are for the more expensive models that have more areas to show off such paints, and would more represent a display type model. Large dragons, Imperial Knights, or fantasy models where… generally you want to put extra effort because you want visual impact and extend your level for things like contests or showing off your style on a website/at home.
Great video. I started 40k with the Dark Imperium box. The Death Guard Models look great, but for a beginner set I think it was very daunting. Looking back I still like the way I painted them but I know I could've painted them better now. On the other hand, I am proud I managed to paint half of that box very quickly for my first local turnament. I am now in a position, where I don't get to play often, so I take more time with the painting, even space marines. But I found that I have to switch back and forth between painting in an assembly line stile and one model at a time. It can be really dissatisfying to not have finished five troop guys over a couple of painting sessions, with only slight details missing. I pay my pouches all the same color and use a different drybrush color between squads or armies. They really aren't important details imo.
Excellent video! I don't say this to argue your point because you're exactly right, but a very long time ago there was an article in White Dwarf titled, "You May Have Won, But My Army Looked Better!" I had such abominable luck with the dice I took the title as advice, painting to a high standard because I was confident I was going to lose the game. It did mean it took a long time to put an army together, but that's how I roll now: I can't beat you in the game, but I can beat you in painting.
I always love uncle Adam, he reminds me of the stuff I already know but haven’t used fora while or I forgot about PLUS he gives me new stuff all the time! One day I will have all the characters painted for Zombicide black plague… And I will probably use his method of not painting every little detail and I might use the different washes technique too
I personally feel painting atmosphere instead of details gives much better results. Krieg being a good example. Details don't really shine when you're covered in mud and grime. I get that people like the 'Eavy Metal look, but when you want a more realistic and atmospheric look, a focus on the overall vibe is much more important than making every single detail pop. And I'm kinda loving how more people are going that way now.
I love your very practical approach to the hobby. Whether it's something like this, or the eye-opening (yeah, I went there) video on why you don't paint eyes, these are super helpful to me as they help me take some of the pressure off myself to paint things at too high a level for what I'm going to use them for.
Thank you. I have this "problem". I have tried to cure it, but it is hard. Now with your pleasing I can actually try to paint the next Troopers battle ready and not parade.
The higher in hierarchy the model the more detail it receives. My leaders and characters I enjoy spending time because they are unique, but anything I have to repeat paint is simple because repetition is tedious
Preach. I have a lot of newer gaming buddies who are...trying to paint for a Golden Demon while wanting to build an army for games like 40K. Those two don't mix.
That's great advice. I know I spend more time than I should on the rank-and-file, and could be using that time for characters/officers/what-have-you. Will have to keep this in mind.
I love the hobby focused content. I need to get better about not fussing over every detail. I'm use to painting for Kill Team where I can slow down and look at the detail. But painting for 40k is driving me crazy
I know this is not the point of the video but the lighting in the room you're in is fantastic. I love the warm orange in the back and the white in front. It reminds me of sunset when you're standing next to the entrance of a building and the harsh white interior lights get to fight with the colorful sun
I paint for the tabletop and so try and limit the number of colours I use to no more than 8: 1. Undercoat; if possible this will be one of the dark clothing/skin colours. I undercoated my Krieg in Panzer Grey. 2. Flesh 3. Leadbelcher; there’ll be some metal 4. A woody brown; there’ll be some wood, hair, fur, belts etc 5. Main clothing colour; if not the undercoat 6. The other clothing colour or something suitable for hats, hair, coats, packs etc 7. Steel legion brown bases; I have a standard basing colour on round bases so my cowboys can join a Stargrave crew etc 8. Agrax Earth-shade; to bring it all together I basically paint the figure, wash it completely and then highlight and dry brush as required with the same colours. Simples. Oh and I never paint the eyes. There’s a 5 minute per figure saving right there probably more with the rework.
Thank you. I stress so much about painting that I want them to look awesome and not for anyone, but myself. I have difficulty with visualizing what I want and then I see someone else's work and not out of jealousy but frustration as I love what that person does and want to get skills to do that. I have never gotten into miniture wargamming until last year and I do not want to ruin my models or regret what I paint as I care about them, that probably sounds dumb to say.
Doesn't sound dumb at all! The biggest thing to remember is, you damn near cant mess up the miniatures! If you mess up paint over it. Mess up bad? Strip the paint and start from scratch. All depends on what your goals are, want to field a 2000 point army to play with your friends. You're probably not going to want to paint every one of the miniatures to high level detail, don't mean it has to be a bad paint job. Table top standard is plenty to field a army, going into more detail for the characters/leaders of your army. If you are like me, nobody to play with anyway there's no big rush to get done so I take longer. It all depends on what you want out of the hobby. And don't beat yourself up over being "perfect" as you learn brush control and experience with a few basic styles your skills will greatly improve. Have fun is the best tip, if you're not having fun its going to get like a chore
How have I been a decades-long delver into this hobby and never heard this before? I am SO guilty of 'over painting'! Such good advice that I will take to heart.
I've enjoyed your videos for some time, I've finally figured out what it reminds me of. This old house: tabletop edition. It's great only thing missing is practical application during the great talk. Appreciate your videos sir.
I'm currently painting my DKoK from Killteam and I'm going crazy with the detail. I was maybe thinking of dropping the hobby because it is so time consuming that I don't enjoy it anymore. I think I'll follow your advice and scaledown on the details. Thanks a lot
Before I say anything, you do have quite a good point about time, and a great solution with washes and contrast paints. Funny enough, serfs did have access to the same types of clothings and dyes as rich people did. Some were actually mistaken as nobles, getting to the point were, in some regions, certain types of clothing were banned for all but nobility. And as for the notion of clothes becoming brown as it is muddied and "washed" repeatedly, they had common sense. Their church clothes/fancy clothes wouldn't be worn while working on the field, then they also had cloaks to protect from the weather.
that’s a good point, that’s why since 2019 i’ve started painting all of my wargaming models as ghosts/ethereal. Saved me a bunch as i only needed 2-3 paints and i just go ham. i’ve got a ghost space marine regiment, ghastly sisters of the bloody rose and ghOrKs (ghost orks) 😁 Plus i get ooos and aaahs and some puritan hobbyist tongues wagging when i play at my local hobby shop.
Since these days I paint mostly single squads, and more importantly I'm in no rush, I find that I actually enjoy making every model a sort of hero. I know that's not an approach that everyone could take or enjoy.
I got into Warhammer back in 2007. Orcs and Orks were fairly quick and easy to paint. I recently got back into Warhammer 40K. Ork Kommandos...and all the recently bought Orks. I was blown away at the new details on these guyz. Straps, buckles, etc. I was wondering, am I painting Khorne or Orks?!!! Not that, that is a bad thing, just blown away of the newer digital sculpts.
Totally agree. In fact, when building plastic models I sometimes leave off extraneous bits. "Oh, look, I can glue on these little sheathed daggers on everyone. But do I want to paint that? Nope." And on some models I will paint over details so they blend in and I don't have to worry about painting them. I basically only have 2 levels of painting now (after 20 years of painting): Display and combat.
When I painted up my guardsmen I had 4 colors and a wash, that was it. Armor and guns were Castilian Green, exposed metal and eagle insignias as metallic silver, khaki for the uniform cloth, Bugmans Glow on skin and then a coat of nuln oil, came out looking decent enough and I got through like 100 dudes in a couple weeks
My custom chapter is called the Red Devils and the colour scheme I went for was British Paratrooper from WWII on the North Africa campaign. I've made the Helmet Maroon just like the Beret they actually wear in the British Forces.
Love your idea about transparent color over small details and then washes! I have painted a lot of historical and sci fi soldiers IMHO. I have found that spraying the figs on the overal uniform color helps a lot! Eg. Desert soldiers, spray paint a kaki or sand color, and go from there.
So True ! Just bought a box of Chaos Space Marine for Kill Team and I did a drybrush of Dark Reaper / Etherium Blue followed by Leadbelcher / Balthazar Gold and a little brush of AK Old gold. I'm saving time like crazy and the look is perfect for a old war veteran like a CSM.
Excellent video sir. I loved the suggestion of washing the bottom half of a pouch but not the upper half. I'm sure you know this channel, but just in case, check out Troy over at Sonic Sledgehammer. Excellent vids about getting "toys on tables".
I'm doing a horus heresy army from scratch and want to do a lot of weathering, but I'm not going to do any until models start getting killed in games. Get killed? You're going to get a little weathering.
I think you're right, but it feels like a waste if I don't paint them. The models are very expensive as is, and that's largely due to the detail. If I don't take advantage of the detail, why am I paying so much? That's just my opinion anyway, as someone who paints and highlights absolutely everything
I would do this if possible, but a lot of collections just won't work like this. Of course it depends on the game system: games like Malifaux just don't have enough figures per side to bother, but the amount of differing colours on the details of a WW2 German officer can be quite surprising.
I've been desperately trying to break myself of the habit of painting everything on any given model. I've been really enjoying Necrons for that reason (though I still go overboard, even with troops); I feel like there's not heaps of detail to paint, so I can more easily break out of that and things go faster. That said, my wife doesn't help. When I show her something I've painted, "Well, you could go back and do this and that to this little thing." I have to remind her I'm just trying to get them tabletop ready and I'm not going crazy with details and bogging myself down. She doesn't get it.
All great tips. I’m going to start applying them to my next army box I’m starting soon. I play WWII historicals and any cheat that I can do when painting 50 dudes at a time is helpful.
One I started doing this painting became sooo more enjoyable. Stress is alleviated and I can enjoy high quality minis, e.g. GW, Infinity, etc. and not feel the need to have to paint every bojangle/tinket a different color.
I like to do a simple paint scheme for my orks and slowly add more detail after games. like if a nob killed a space marine captain, i would add a broken helmet hanging off his pants or if he has a little pole, on the pole. just small things.
I'm a bit torn on this - with GW's models it's that they're so expensive that I feel like I'm actually wasting money if I don't put the proper time into painting them. It's like buying a bottle of Chateau Rothschild and tipping into a weeknight pasta sauce. That's one of the reasons why I prefer playing their skirmish games - I don't have to do huge batch painting sessions anymore. OTOH, with my "25 dudes for 20 bucks" historicals (SAGA in my case) I'm a bit more... casual with painting and get a 12-man unit on the table in 2 evenings.
I think the better thing to do is establish materials for your army. Planning that well in advance really does wonders. And if you are cheecky, just go with a similar highlight colour, this works really well with certain armies where an overall Bone drybrush over all the natural materials looks pretty damn good.
I think the best way to go about it is do the bare minimum so you have a finished miniature, but if you're sitting at the hobby desk or just want to get your hour of painting in for the night, pick up your models and maybe pick out some details. you may not have painted a new model but you're currently painted models are gonna look amazing.
This also applies to Gunpla. Yeah your kit will come with a bunch of stickers, and a mess of panel lines, but what kind of suit is it? What's the story you're telling? What vibe are you trying to capture? I mostly just panel line, but there have been a few where I change the limb color or completely cover it in decals because I had a vision for the kit.
...and this is why I collect the old GW Tallarn metal sculpts, supplemented by the Desert Raiders from Reptilian Overlords. That just right amount of detail
GW's cruelest joke is having so many hoard armies have so much detail on their troops. Like good lord Orks.
Ikr, I spent 3 hours just painting a boss nob a few days ago
As a goblin collector I totally understand
The new boyz have so much detail. Thankfully contrast paint helps a bit.
Yes! 100%
The crueler job is that each Ork is supposed to be individualized. Sure, Tyranids have a lot of detail, but they're supposed to all look the same. An Ork needs to give it's individualized devotion to the godz.
"Who's that then? "
"I don't know. Must be a king."
"Why?"
"He hadn't got $*%! all over him."
Didn’t know we had a king.
Funny how it takes another set of eyes to see through the forest. I've been painting since the early 80's and never once thought about not painting every little detail. Now maybe I can get more done. Thank you!
I agree, it's good to (only once in awhile) put more effort on hero/boss minis as you paint. This way will help you improve your mastery overtime. Painting is fun, factory production line isn't.
tell me about it... i have 60 Basilea Spearman waiting for paint. i will probably split them up in 4 batches of 15 to handle so much identical models.
ive painted 40 clanrats last week and i dont want to touch them again...
I actually like getting a color right on my wet pallet and then going through and line painting a bunch of goblins while I listen to videos on RUclips. It's incredibly relaxing for me for some reason. I know I did several hundred last year alone and I honestly never got burned out on it, though on the opposite side of the fence I totally loathed doing the stormcast eternals out of the dominion box. I guess it boils down to how much I like the models from the start
@@zugdsbtngizudsgbnudsdsoiu I feel your pain
Agreed. I attempt to paint leaders and the like with more detail. Pawns are basic
New merch shirt
"We live in an amazing age of skulls"
Laughed out at that and scared my dog.
I personally paint because it is therapeutic and gives me a much needed moment of peace. Granted, my pace is slower, and I paint most of everything on a model but it feels so good when I go the extra mile. I don't worry to much about getting everything perfect because at the end of the day, I don't want my painting to feel like a job.
Both my son and I paint minis. I tend to lean towards the less is more train of thought while he loves painting every little detail. His favorite Chaos Marines are Death Guard and Red Corsairs. There is so much detail, but he paints it all and the models look great. But I can paint several warbands or crews for This Is Not A Test, Stargrave, or even Kill Team in the time it takes him to paint just a handful of miniatures. He loves it, but I want my little plastic men ready to kill other people's little plastic men more than I want them to look like they're going to win a Golden Demon. But hey, each his own. It is hard sometimes to get your mind in the zone of "I don't need to paint this".
Alleluia brother, there's way too much pressure to push things too far in this hobby at times, people need to be comfortable with whatever standard they paint to. Your videos are great at helping in this space.
For new painters especially, it's easy to see all the top level painting done online and think that's the normal level. I've gotten discouraged in the past as I'll likely never hit that competition level, it took a while to accept that what I do is good enough.
I started as historical gamer so I have a muted desire to superpaint rank and file, if I enter a paint comp yes I go nuts but for my tabletop figures I stay restrained
One of my favourite things about the building process is when you get to the end of the sprue and it's like here are 20 optional daggers, guns, bottles, crests etc. You can attach to your mini and taking a hard pass every single time on all of them
Important message for all miniature painters, honestly.
This video is like a direct intervention to me. I so over paint and obsess over my minis all while knowing half the work will look essentially the same.
Unless it's a big centerpiece model, you're not really going to appreciate very small color differences at the distances most games operate at. Dense, complicated gradients of subtle color variation can even make it harder to parse at those distances, because it overwhelms the senses with detail.
The real key to a good paint job, most times, is _contrast._ Breaking up the model into coherent blocks, so you can tell far away what everything is supposed to be. You don't need three different shades of brown for all of the figure's leather. You just need it to be clear where the leather ends and the metal or cloth or skin begins.
Obviously, this is for tabletop painting. For display painting, you're meant to make it look as good as possible, because you're _supposed_ to look at it real close.
I remember John Lyons at @ontabletop noting that the US army in WWII stuck spades, boxes, etc on their tanks and then sprayed them green. So literally everything including wooden handles ended up same colour.
Most of us aren't going to win awards for our painting? We just don't want to play with grey models. I try to explain this to people who are terrified of painting their minis in case they 'mess up'. Most have watched tutorials that spend hours on one figure. As great as those figures might be, that isn't how most of us paint, especially armies. And 'messing up' is how we learn. We strip them and start again. All gain, no loss.
"We live in an amazing time of 💀 ☠ 💀 skulls" is now my favorite Uncle Adam quote.
I actually love going back over my models and fixing screwups or hit areas that I once either couldn't do or just overlooked
I have a dellima with this cos I want to do that but at the same time I wanna keep them as a reminder of how far I've come lol
I’m not a great painter so one of the things I find helpful is limiting the number of colours I use to a minimum, ideally three and no more than six. I saw a really nice space marine that was just painted black and dry brushed silver (including the bare head) the only other colours used were red and white for the purity seal. Sometimes less is more.
My wife, who is a painter of pictures rather than miniatures, is frequently astounded by the amount of different (often similar) colours used in some painting tutorials. She will use a limited range and create her own shades etc, with what she has got and sees no point in buying 12 different paints to get the same effect?
@@haxan6663 i have about 20 years experience with a 4 color printing press bl., c,y, and m. I can create any color you want.I also had a good idea of color theory, contrasting and complementing colors, ect ect.
But I had never painted anything artistically. But I felt i had a better bassis than the average beginner.
I ordered the army Painters starter set because I was told that I would need "miniature paint" and figured I'd at least start off with a at least above average paint, if for no other reason than to rule out the paint on any mistakes i may make. Got my first miniatures , the start collecting elite box set with space marines and necrons.
Well the first thing I want to say is these miniature paints are much harder to predict colors when attempting to mix. Because they aren't single pigment paints. Like greens skin green for example, you would think cyan and yellow, green but no, the paint company puts some other color or colors into the formula to make it thier "green skin green " and when you start mixing paints you quickly get brown because of these secondary pigments.
So, yes they make us have to buy many different shades of paint.
I haven't tried finding one pigment primary colors yet but I have complete confidence I can then create any color and shade I want. So yeah her paints, probably oil based as well and not acrylics, are probably much more predictable.
@@thomasgross8289 Try Kimera paints for single pigment paints
@@hotrodpunk thanks for the information. Ill definitely look into them
Thank you for this video. All these small parts make me overwhelmed and not wanting to paint. I'm going to keep things simple from now.
Historically speaking people had access to and wore bright colors, cheap dyes like reds were especially common through the late roman and early medieval period. That said your point still stands, if I'm a regular guy i may have a brighter tunic and some leather straps for belts or whatever but it really shouldn't be more than like 3 colors
A splash of red or yellow can be all it takes to add a depth to a color scheme.
People did have access to certain cheap dyes. But they didn't have access to laundry services, so that red turns brown real quick when you spend 14 hours a day hoeing fields for the King.
I remember a lecturer mentioning greek cities and temples. Modern people seem to love that white, serene look of the marble, but back then they were probably painted in various colours. Vikings loved colours as well, and a kings hall would probably not be just natural wood. It would be painted in bright colours, the better to be seen. A kings hall on a hill by a fjord in Norway was showing residue of white pigment, making it visible far and wide.
@@onkelgroen Another data point: medieval castles weren't built with the mind to leave them exposed stone. They were plastered and white-washed, creating flat, bright edifices. It's only the march of time that caused the plaster to break away, leaving the stone underneath.
Also, not all castles of the era were stone. Many - most, if anything - were made of wood, then plastered over same as the stone ones. Which served the duel purpose of protecting the wood from the elements, and disguising the fact they were cheaper, less durable castles. We only think of castles as all stone because both the plaster and wood long ago crumbled away.
It's survivorship bias: our conception is focused around bare stone castles because that's all that survived.
@@Bluecho4 Good point! We often forget that things looked way different when they were in use, than what is left behind now.
Great video with a great point! Have definitely left myself burnt out trying to turn myself into a factory painting line, now I’m painting up a necron army with a 4 colour (not including primer) scheme entirely drybrushed.
For anyone struggling getting over painting every model meticulously, I recommend just trying to paint a small force of something with simple techniques to appreciate how good a consistent force really looks compared to one or two great miniatures with a gang of grey mates. And the best part is once everything is painted to a basic standard, you can always go back and add more details later
Fully agree! For my last Orks I simpy drybrushed over the black primer for all clothing and armor and focused my painting on the green skin and added metallics to the weapons. This was a true timesaver without compromising the look of the army on the table.
Thanks! Never thought of painting the way you did with the pouches. Sounds so stupidly simple it's brilliant.
This is so perfect, thank you!! I cant tell you how much I appreciate this! I'm currently painting up large amounts of vindictors and ardboys, and I've been dreading picking out so many tiny things! But this!!! Is priceless! And it makes SO much sense. Seriously, I'm excited to get painting after work! ❤🧡💜💙 amazing channel and unreal content 🥰
Thanks for the pouches flap and using a wash tip ✌️
My God…as a Mechanicus main and fledgling painter, I needed this video. THANK YOU!
I paint dark ages minis. The problem with that era is that every soldier is a irregular, levy or at best semi-professional household soldier. So the name of thw game is painting them without a scheme and making each guy unique. I always envy people who play Napoleonics in this regard. :P
But that's really cool and tells a story, even without words. I'd love to do a proper (historic) Eldar army for 40k, where every model is a bit individualized. There will be a common base look, but the original lore at least describes the army as more of a militia than a standing and dedicated army, so each person is a unique person with a little bit of unique flair. As long as this kind of thing doesn't go totally overboard, where you spend 12 hours on each model, I think having that individual look is far more appealing that having everyone look the same.
@@ScooterinAB well I paint like 4-6 guys a month :P
@@michamalinowski8015 Better than my progress.
“We live in an amazing time of skulls…” Uncle Atom, 2022.
Love when you make this kind of videos you do them so well. Just want to grab that brush right now!
Just a side note: Even back in the day, professional sculptor would sculpt components like weapons and backpacks separately, make a mold for them cast them and the use the cast parts in sculpting complete models.
This not only reduces repetitive work but helps keep scale consistent within a range.
"Realistic fantasy" is called Low fantasy (As opposed to High fantasy). Grim, grimy and virtually nothing that isn't muddy. 🙂
The usual definition of low fantasy is one set in our world as opposed to high fantasy which is an alternate world.
@@MightyEmperor low or high fantasy refers to the amount of magic in it, you're talking about portal fantasy vs I'm assuming urban fantasy. There's so many fantasy genres up to and including blended genres like science fantasy, grim dark, and dark fantasy.
@@TheTruthx58 nope, it has nothing to do with the amount of magic.
Low fantasy is: "Narratives in which the fantastic element intrudes on the 'real world', as opposed to fantasies set all or partially in a Secondary World"
100% agree with this. The figures in the hobby are becoming more and more detail which is brilliant to see it but can become very daunting when you want to do a large force. I do historical stuff and if its somethin like a celtic or viking army it can be very hard to pick out colours for all of the. Find it hard to dress myself sometimes let alone thinking up outfits for 200 vikings. Keep the colour palet simple and to similar colours that a couple of washes can change. Keep up the good work mate. 😁👍
Was glad to see this! Stresses me out trying to pick different colours for all these trinkets 🤣
Yes yes yes. “pile of sham’s” and WIPs get me anxious and helps me not to paint to much.
Funny that you just posted this. This is my hobby New Year's resolution. I can paint to a pretty good standard, but it takes me FOREVER! This year I decided I was going to tone things back in an attempt to get more minis in the hobby, which is good because I decided to do a couple combat patrols for 40k. I painted my test model for a Dire Avenger squad the other day with a toned down paint scheme in about an hour and fifteen minutes and it looks good! I figure I can knock out the rest of the squad in about 45 minutes per model now that I know what I'm doing.....which is blazing fast for me!
It's a nice feeling that painting like this I could feasibly get a squad done in a week of painting as opposed to taking a month or so with my limited paint time. Also putting less pressure on myself seems to make painting seem more fun....at least so far!
I use an "arm's length" rule. I'll hold the mini at arm's length and check what detail stands out. If it isn't a leader figure, I don't paint anything that doesn't stand out. It's been a godsend working through the 4,000 Napoleonic figures I have to paint
I use the glasses off method lol. I paint all the details to build my technique but I'm painting as the whole hobby, the game doesn't appeal to me anymore.
There were guys at my store a few weeks back talking about painting some stormcast character doing a super hero landing. When they got to the part how the light was coming from the bottom and reflecting from each 15 metallic attachments and how those reflections would reflect again from his model I felt happy that my GK are full grey silver
I haven't painted any of my miniatures so hearing this is really helping me feel better about it.
I like to paint every little detail and try to get more definition each time I paint, but that’s more because I don’t play any of the games I just like to paint and try to improve and do more and more each time I paint.
I think the best rule of thumb is if it’s something you are going to create for continuous use, where the pieces and what you are using are supposed to be uniformed, then you probably should at least do the basics. A clean paint job is what you mostly need, it will be a great way to practice as well due to the repetition.
This is what I see as common sense, realistic painting since armies who are in units generally are going to be one shade for tactical and field reasons. In a fantasy sense, it reflects medieval armies, with basic armor and basic weapons.
When you want deep details, those are for the more expensive models that have more areas to show off such paints, and would more represent a display type model. Large dragons, Imperial Knights, or fantasy models where… generally you want to put extra effort because you want visual impact and extend your level for things like contests or showing off your style on a website/at home.
Lol I love those moments when the screen goes black and white cause he is like wtf did I just say xD
Great video. I started 40k with the Dark Imperium box. The Death Guard Models look great, but for a beginner set I think it was very daunting. Looking back I still like the way I painted them but I know I could've painted them better now. On the other hand, I am proud I managed to paint half of that box very quickly for my first local turnament.
I am now in a position, where I don't get to play often, so I take more time with the painting, even space marines. But I found that I have to switch back and forth between painting in an assembly line stile and one model at a time. It can be really dissatisfying to not have finished five troop guys over a couple of painting sessions, with only slight details missing. I pay my pouches all the same color and use a different drybrush color between squads or armies. They really aren't important details imo.
This is some amazing advice...along with a cool shirt choice! That's fancy!
It’s actually a prototype and will be coming to the Tabletop Minions Merch store (along with several new designs) very soon. Thanks for watching!
Excellent video! I don't say this to argue your point because you're exactly right, but a very long time ago there was an article in White Dwarf titled, "You May Have Won, But My Army Looked Better!" I had such abominable luck with the dice I took the title as advice, painting to a high standard because I was confident I was going to lose the game. It did mean it took a long time to put an army together, but that's how I roll now: I can't beat you in the game, but I can beat you in painting.
I always love uncle Adam, he reminds me of the stuff I already know but haven’t used fora while or I forgot about PLUS he gives me new stuff all the time!
One day I will have all the characters painted for Zombicide black plague… And I will probably use his method of not painting every little detail and I might use the different washes technique too
I personally feel painting atmosphere instead of details gives much better results. Krieg being a good example. Details don't really shine when you're covered in mud and grime.
I get that people like the 'Eavy Metal look, but when you want a more realistic and atmospheric look, a focus on the overall vibe is much more important than making every single detail pop. And I'm kinda loving how more people are going that way now.
I love your very practical approach to the hobby. Whether it's something like this, or the eye-opening (yeah, I went there) video on why you don't paint eyes, these are super helpful to me as they help me take some of the pressure off myself to paint things at too high a level for what I'm going to use them for.
Thank you. I have this "problem". I have tried to cure it, but it is hard. Now with your pleasing I can actually try to paint the next Troopers battle ready and not parade.
The higher in hierarchy the model the more detail it receives. My leaders and characters I enjoy spending time because they are unique, but anything I have to repeat paint is simple because repetition is tedious
Preach. I have a lot of newer gaming buddies who are...trying to paint for a Golden Demon while wanting to build an army for games like 40K. Those two don't mix.
I needed this, my iron hills dwarves have too many straps
Babe come quick warhammer dad uploaded again!
But… I upload every Friday. For over six years. I assumed it wouldn’t be that exciting anymore, but I appreciate the enthusiasm. Thanks for watching!
Yes, we live the amazing time of skulls. You really know how to put the right words.
"we live in an amazing time of skulls" killed me, I was walking in the cold with a mask and I fogged up my glasses laughing...
That's great advice. I know I spend more time than I should on the rank-and-file, and could be using that time for characters/officers/what-have-you. Will have to keep this in mind.
I love the hobby focused content. I need to get better about not fussing over every detail. I'm use to painting for Kill Team where I can slow down and look at the detail. But painting for 40k is driving me crazy
I know this is not the point of the video but the lighting in the room you're in is fantastic. I love the warm orange in the back and the white in front. It reminds me of sunset when you're standing next to the entrance of a building and the harsh white interior lights get to fight with the colorful sun
I paint for the tabletop and so try and limit the number of colours I use to no more than 8:
1. Undercoat; if possible this will be one of the dark clothing/skin colours. I undercoated my Krieg in Panzer Grey.
2. Flesh
3. Leadbelcher; there’ll be some metal
4. A woody brown; there’ll be some wood, hair, fur, belts etc
5. Main clothing colour; if not the undercoat
6. The other clothing colour or something suitable for hats, hair, coats, packs etc
7. Steel legion brown bases; I have a standard basing colour on round bases so my cowboys can join a Stargrave crew etc
8. Agrax Earth-shade; to bring it all together
I basically paint the figure, wash it completely and then highlight and dry brush as required with the same colours.
Simples. Oh and I never paint the eyes. There’s a 5 minute per figure saving right there probably more with the rework.
Thank you.
I stress so much about painting that I want them to look awesome and not for anyone, but myself.
I have difficulty with visualizing what I want and then I see someone else's work and not out of jealousy but frustration as I love what that person does and want to get skills to do that. I have never gotten into miniture wargamming until last year and I do not want to ruin my models or regret what I paint as I care about them, that probably sounds dumb to say.
Doesn't sound dumb at all! The biggest thing to remember is, you damn near cant mess up the miniatures! If you mess up paint over it. Mess up bad? Strip the paint and start from scratch.
All depends on what your goals are, want to field a 2000 point army to play with your friends. You're probably not going to want to paint every one of the miniatures to high level detail, don't mean it has to be a bad paint job.
Table top standard is plenty to field a army, going into more detail for the characters/leaders of your army.
If you are like me, nobody to play with anyway there's no big rush to get done so I take longer.
It all depends on what you want out of the hobby. And don't beat yourself up over being "perfect" as you learn brush control and experience with a few basic styles your skills will greatly improve. Have fun is the best tip, if you're not having fun its going to get like a chore
How have I been a decades-long delver into this hobby and never heard this before? I am SO guilty of 'over painting'! Such good advice that I will take to heart.
I've enjoyed your videos for some time, I've finally figured out what it reminds me of.
This old house: tabletop edition.
It's great only thing missing is practical application during the great talk.
Appreciate your videos sir.
Your Krieg look amazing, Uncle Adam! Love that more realistic colour scheme. 🦖
I'm currently painting my DKoK from Killteam and I'm going crazy with the detail. I was maybe thinking of dropping the hobby because it is so time consuming that I don't enjoy it anymore. I think I'll follow your advice and scaledown on the details. Thanks a lot
I took me 3h per guardsman to pair them! And I got double box to cover all possible units… 60h overall basing included for the DKOK!
Before I say anything, you do have quite a good point about time, and a great solution with washes and contrast paints.
Funny enough, serfs did have access to the same types of clothings and dyes as rich people did. Some were actually mistaken as nobles, getting to the point were, in some regions, certain types of clothing were banned for all but nobility. And as for the notion of clothes becoming brown as it is muddied and "washed" repeatedly, they had common sense. Their church clothes/fancy clothes wouldn't be worn while working on the field, then they also had cloaks to protect from the weather.
that’s a good point, that’s why since 2019 i’ve started painting all of my wargaming models as ghosts/ethereal. Saved me a bunch as i only needed 2-3 paints and i just go ham. i’ve got a ghost space marine regiment, ghastly sisters of the bloody rose and ghOrKs (ghost orks) 😁
Plus i get ooos and aaahs and some puritan hobbyist tongues wagging when i play at my local hobby shop.
Also, then every army you own gets the ‘Fly’ rule, which is nice. Thanks for watching!
Since these days I paint mostly single squads, and more importantly I'm in no rush, I find that I actually enjoy making every model a sort of hero. I know that's not an approach that everyone could take or enjoy.
If you like it, then it’s right for you. But it’s not a requirement. Thanks for watching!
I got into Warhammer back in 2007. Orcs and Orks were fairly quick and easy to paint. I recently got back into Warhammer 40K. Ork Kommandos...and all the recently bought Orks.
I was blown away at the new details on these guyz. Straps, buckles, etc. I was wondering, am I painting Khorne or Orks?!!! Not that, that is a bad thing, just blown away of the newer digital sculpts.
Totally agree. In fact, when building plastic models I sometimes leave off extraneous bits. "Oh, look, I can glue on these little sheathed daggers on everyone. But do I want to paint that? Nope." And on some models I will paint over details so they blend in and I don't have to worry about painting them. I basically only have 2 levels of painting now (after 20 years of painting): Display and combat.
"we live in an amazing time of skulls" best line ever!
When I painted up my guardsmen I had 4 colors and a wash, that was it. Armor and guns were Castilian Green, exposed metal and eagle insignias as metallic silver, khaki for the uniform cloth, Bugmans Glow on skin and then a coat of nuln oil, came out looking decent enough and I got through like 100 dudes in a couple weeks
My custom chapter is called the Red Devils and the colour scheme I went for was British Paratrooper from WWII on the North Africa campaign. I've made the Helmet Maroon just like the Beret they actually wear in the British Forces.
Love your idea about transparent color over small details and then washes! I have painted a lot of historical and sci fi soldiers IMHO. I have found that spraying the figs on the overal uniform color helps a lot! Eg. Desert soldiers, spray paint a kaki or sand color, and go from there.
So True ! Just bought a box of Chaos Space Marine for Kill Team and I did a drybrush of Dark Reaper / Etherium Blue followed by Leadbelcher / Balthazar Gold and a little brush of AK Old gold. I'm saving time like crazy and the look is perfect for a old war veteran like a CSM.
Excellent video sir. I loved the suggestion of washing the bottom half of a pouch but not the upper half. I'm sure you know this channel, but just in case, check out Troy over at Sonic Sledgehammer. Excellent vids about getting "toys on tables".
Many GW models are now coming from the Final Fantasy school of fashion, yes
Thank you, this video is gold. Subtle concepts that will have profound influence on my painting.
Tips like this are gold. Thanks!
I never used to "finish" a model until I started limiting myself to 5 colors and a wash. No more.
I'm doing a horus heresy army from scratch and want to do a lot of weathering, but I'm not going to do any until models start getting killed in games. Get killed? You're going to get a little weathering.
I think you're right, but it feels like a waste if I don't paint them. The models are very expensive as is, and that's largely due to the detail. If I don't take advantage of the detail, why am I paying so much?
That's just my opinion anyway, as someone who paints and highlights absolutely everything
This. I can't stand to look at the older minis I left at "eh, good enough". It's not good enough anymore.
That’s one of the reasons that I’m mostly painting older, simpler vintage figures these days.
Applaudable washes tip there - thanks, good work, and all best.
I would do this if possible, but a lot of collections just won't work like this. Of course it depends on the game system: games like Malifaux just don't have enough figures per side to bother, but the amount of differing colours on the details of a WW2 German officer can be quite surprising.
As an Imperial Guard collector, I approve this message.
Thanks Atom
I've been desperately trying to break myself of the habit of painting everything on any given model. I've been really enjoying Necrons for that reason (though I still go overboard, even with troops); I feel like there's not heaps of detail to paint, so I can more easily break out of that and things go faster.
That said, my wife doesn't help. When I show her something I've painted, "Well, you could go back and do this and that to this little thing." I have to remind her I'm just trying to get them tabletop ready and I'm not going crazy with details and bogging myself down. She doesn't get it.
Your wife has the right idea. 👍
All great tips. I’m going to start applying them to my next army box I’m starting soon. I play WWII historicals and any cheat that I can do when painting 50 dudes at a time is helpful.
One I started doing this painting became sooo more enjoyable. Stress is alleviated and I can enjoy high quality minis, e.g. GW, Infinity, etc. and not feel the need to have to paint every bojangle/tinket
a different color.
I like to do a simple paint scheme for my orks and slowly add more detail after games. like if a nob killed a space marine captain, i would add a broken helmet hanging off his pants or if he has a little pole, on the pole. just small things.
I'm a bit torn on this - with GW's models it's that they're so expensive that I feel like I'm actually wasting money if I don't put the proper time into painting them. It's like buying a bottle of Chateau Rothschild and tipping into a weeknight pasta sauce.
That's one of the reasons why I prefer playing their skirmish games - I don't have to do huge batch painting sessions anymore.
OTOH, with my "25 dudes for 20 bucks" historicals (SAGA in my case) I'm a bit more... casual with painting and get a 12-man unit on the table in 2 evenings.
I'm totally stealing the "He got it from the crazy lady next door" story for the next time I have to explain something on a miniature of character,
Sometime a lot of details is too much, I’m looking at you Kingdom Death.
You make some wonderful points :) thank you
Yes, this guy is saying what I've been thinking/doing. Love when that happens.
Very good video. Keep up the good work.
I think the better thing to do is establish materials for your army. Planning that well in advance really does wonders. And if you are cheecky, just go with a similar highlight colour, this works really well with certain armies where an overall Bone drybrush over all the natural materials looks pretty damn good.
I think the best way to go about it is do the bare minimum so you have a finished miniature, but if you're sitting at the hobby desk or just want to get your hour of painting in for the night, pick up your models and maybe pick out some details. you may not have painted a new model but you're currently painted models are gonna look amazing.
This also applies to Gunpla. Yeah your kit will come with a bunch of stickers, and a mess of panel lines, but what kind of suit is it? What's the story you're telling? What vibe are you trying to capture? I mostly just panel line, but there have been a few where I change the limb color or completely cover it in decals because I had a vision for the kit.
...and this is why I collect the old GW Tallarn metal sculpts, supplemented by the Desert Raiders from Reptilian Overlords. That just right amount of detail
Thank you! I needed to hear this.
Great video! I have thought for some time now that models are too detailed.
01:18
"...we live in an amazing time of skulls..."
-khorne, probably.
“We live in amazing time of skulls!”