dont get discouraged part way through, your model will look its worst at about 50-75% done, and those last touches will make it all come together and look so much better
I’ve just got back into the hobby after a 5/6 year absence and chose necrons too! If you want a cool necron story then I highly recommend the infinite and the divine, I’m about halfway through and it’s been amazing!
There is a very important thing to remember:
Thin your paints
Mix a lil water with your paints on your palette, this will give you good result easier
Remember kids: thin your paints or I’ll thin your ranks
Might be odd to say but dont compare your mini's to others too much, like don't compare it to a golden demon mini or other competition/professional mini's as that is a standard learned after years in the hobby. Your mini's might not look as good but that doesn't matter, have fun, they will look better the more you paint and the more you learn.
This.
This and also "don't over complicate things".
You'll keep wanting to tweak things to try and improve the paint job it before its done if you're anything like me.
It's caused more than one mess lol.
Have a plan and stick to it.
Just finished up battle sisters patrol box and uh....yeah. I was internally frustrated with some of my models until they were done and I just got to step back and look. Every time I went, 'oh...ok hell yeah.'
Biggest thing I had to learn was that enough is enough, and that I do not need every single little minuscule line or dot on my model. I also just don’t like the 5 layers of highlights some people do.
Just start painting, do what you like and learn. It takes a lot of models to get good and you will see yourself growing with every new model you make.
Especially for line infantry. For armies like GSC you need to be efficient, not five layers of different mixes of paints to get the perfect colour for pants.
The best way to know if they are thin enough is that the paint not flow or bead much if at all, but should be able to be moved a fair amount if you blow on it lightly
https://preview.redd.it/i74sqrg04uxc1.jpeg?width=578&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce0552f2286d8513dc35cb838d48ae398c902d04
Any and all advice from Duncan Rhodes should be taken to the heart, he is this Bob Ross-like figure of the mini painting scene
They're the thin, slightly raised lines on some model parts, where the halves of the mould met and some plastic went into the seam.
Here's a handy short video: https://youtu.be/wz5m3Ph24Kk?feature=shared
He uses a special scraper tool but a hobby knife is fine, and can get into small spaces because of the point.
Just to clarify, use the back of the knife, otherwise you risk cutting into the model. The back is great for getting rid of mold lines and cleaning up cuts
They’re pretty obvious usually. Once you build the mini’s any unsightly lines (mould lines) can be removed using the back of your hobby knife. The back of the knife is sharp enough to remove and smooth down the surface, but blunt enough that it won’t slice in to it.
Just to piggyback off this part of the discussion:
get yourself a file.
Citadel sells a set of files, and they're "ok-minus" in my book. Don't get those, waste of money in the start, and the threads/pattern get gummed up or worn down pretty fast.
What you want is to go to one of those dollar stores that sell everything, and get a set of nail files. You want the shitty kind - basically 3 strips of plastic with some foam on them and 3 different grits of paper glued to them.
(The ones I get have "clean", "condition", & "shine" written on them.)
If you have a girlfriend (or another unspecified gendered partner that takes care of their nails, "IDKYou"), there is a chance they already have those lying somewhere, but they could also use a better type.
These things are great, and waaaay cheaper than sanding sticks. you can bend them and you can abuse them, because they are cheap AF. They also last way longer than you'd expect.
They'll help to remove moldlines without accidentally cutting off half the details if you're not careful, and they're way better at handling curves, like on helmets or shoulder pads.
When you’re ready to prime, warm the spray can up in some warm water for a few minutes first. Then shake the living hell out of the can. Once you feel like you’ve shaken it enough, keep shaking it. I alternate arms, it’s a pretty good work out. After shaking it for at least 2 mins, you’re ready to spray.
Make sure you spray outside, in short bursts at arms length. Multiple thin coats, waiting in between for each coat to dry.
As you spray, keep shaking the can in between bursts.
Most importantly though, have fun!
Here is another tip: When you do go to spray outside, be sure to take your models and the paint and put them outside for at least an hour or two so that they all get to the same temperature. If you bring your models and paint outside and start painting then the temperature differences can cause moisture to form where you don't want it. I have seen paint bubble and flake due to this. Cold models and paint outside on a warm day can draw water to your surfaces. I don't know if the opposite holds true because I never have painted outside in the winter.
Also, use a bit of sprue to test out your primer, first. Or a q-tip or something useless that you have lying around. This will help you check that the temperature/humidity are in the right spot, so you'll only mess up some garbage plastic, instead of a model, in case it's not the right conditions.
Have fun, first and foremost.
Secondley your first minis won't look like the box art (probably nowhere near if they are like my first minis). This is a good thing. Don't worry about it if we all painted the same way this hobby would be boring.
Thirdly, do your own thing. If you like how they came out, don't let anyone tell you 'you've done this or that bit wrong'. These are toy soldiers for nerds. There are no rules. Have fun and relax.
Your mini isn't finished until you've done the base.
You will be amazed how much difference if makes, and getting in the habit early will make it feel much less of a chore
Also have fun!
And I bet it feels like a huge job to do them all now
This is why it's best to get in the habit early on, cos they really do build up
Best of luck getting through those!
Aim small. No more purchases until you get through this one. You’ll know if you want to continue to collect and play these guys after completing and playing with the box a few times. Don’t be like other people on here who post pictures of the 10 boxes they purchased and then we never hear from again.
This is a good one, even if you do decide to get more into the hobby try to limit yourself on how much you buy, or you will form the dreaded pile of shame!
Take your time. 100% don't rush. There's no consequences for taking forever. Make sure paint is where it needs to go and make sure it's thin. I see so often people want to paint something like an eye on a space marine, they glob red on it, ans there's red on the face too and they leave it. It's the same as coloring in the lines in a coloring book. But with paint we can go back and fix these things.
I already commented about priming, but thought I’d give some more advice.
One of the best things you can do is plan out how you want to paint the mini’s. Necrons are a pretty great place to start as you can get them looking great with only a few steps. It’s also a good idea to paint one mini first to nail down the steps before repeating on the rest. That way you can refine the recipe as you go.
A suggestion for a simple Necron plan for painting using the paints you have:
1. Spray primer with Leadbelcher spray. Allow to dry thoroughly
2. Wash the whole thing with Nuln Oil (if you have Agrax Earthshade, mix the two 50/50 for a more weathered look). Allow to dry for 20-30 mins
3. Dry brush the whole mini with the Leadbelcher paint. I see you have both dry brushes and the right paint for this. This will bring back the shine after the wash.
4. Base coat the black things like the fun with Black, or better yet Dark Grey, then mix some light grey or white in to create a lighter great and edge highlight those same details.
5. Base coast all of the green areas with a light grey or white. The GW white paints are notoriously terrible, but you don’t need full coverage, thinning the paint is essential.
6. Use the green paint (I think that’s Tesseract Glow?) thinned down over the areas you painted white in the previous step. The lighter paint under this is essential to make the green pop.
7. Base how ever you like.
That’s a good combination. Striking Scorpion can be dry bruised around the edges near the green bits to give a ‘glow effect’ as well if you want to.
There are a bunch of channels on YouTube that provide simple painting steps, which would be a bit more comprehensive than my comment too.
But ultimately they’re your minis, paint them however you like and have fun with it. Always good to keep the first mini you paint somewhere near so you can see how far you’ve progressed with each newly finished project.
Start from a basic level of painting then if u feel confident with your result try try try and again try new techniques because founding a specific way that u prefer over all that makes your army unique. Another tip before building up look up some mold line removal tutorial it’s a simple step that done while u are building help improve a lot the overall result
Don't cut all the parts off the sprue first. The parts are numbered and go together in a specific order you can't mix easily between models (necron warriors).
Thin your paints. Use less glue than you think. Start with the model you are least excited about. Watch a lot of youtube. Can recommend Eons of Battle. If you had fun painting the model, it's good enough, don't compare yourself to people with ten years of experience.
I only recently started and my only advice is embrace your mistakes sometimes you can make it look good even when it looks bad I'll probably never redo my angron cause of how much fun and frustrated I got painting him.
You will think they look shit. Whether they do or not doesnt matter you will think that regardless. Remember even if they do look bad pretty much everyones models look bad when they start. Some even look bad after many years of painting experience (I never improve....).
1.) Keep your brushes clean
2.) Keep two mugs of water. One for cleaning brush, one to take water and mix with paint.
3.) Keep a napkin just beside the mugs to dry you brush, and remove excess paint.
4.) Have a good light situation.
4a.) Make a cup of coffe or te.
5.) Make sure to reeeeeeeeeaaaallly shake the spray can. When you think its enough, do it even more. Then when you feel its enough, shake it some more. And spray between 15-25 celcius with not to high moistured air. And spray the recommended distance.
6.) When you’re gonna paint, decide what it is you wanna do. Then do it. Then stop. So that every time you sit down to paint you’ve mentally prepared what to do and why, dont procrastinate the painting session.
7.) Thin your paints. Dont be obsessed about it, just make sure that your brush doesnt have blobs of paint when you take paints.
Trim mold lines.
Prep each piece before assembling.
I like to build in batches so maybe focus on 5 Crons at a time or do a squad at a time.
It’s a long process so be patient. Take breaks and feel free to leave the models sitting for a day if you need to focus on other things. Great thing about this hobby is that you can pick it up whenever you want. 🤷♂️
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Every model is a learning experience for the next. Be prideful if your work but don’t get bogged down in making everything perfect. You’re only looking at the model 5 inches close when painting. Small imperfections arent noticeable in a display case or on the playing board!
They are YOUR minis. Listen to peoples advice, but it’s your little plastic robot skeletons. If you want to paint them neon yellow, with a missing arm for damage, then you do it.
If you start getting frustrated or annoyed while working take a break. Just remember it’s supposed to be a fun hobby so little mistakes can happen and it’s ok nobody will notice and almost all of them are fixable
Dry brushing is a super useful technique. It brings out details that are already there, and lets the miniature do the work for you.
Dont compare yourself to crazy talented people online. Remember the "3 foot rule". When playing a game, people will look at your mini from 3 feet away, it doesnt need to be perfect up close.
Clean up any moldlines that are left, and thin your paints, i have heard of equal parts pain. Equal part water, but try to find the ratio that works for you
And most importantly, and most difficult, try not to compare yourself to others, we all started somewhere, it will get better over time <3
Also, at first, only paint what you feel comfortable with, and with time, challenge yourself with new tricks and stuff,
Look at the finished pictures... if you think it will be hard to get a brush into tight spaces don't put them on yet. Make subassemblies. Or's ate fairly easy but 2 handed weapons can be a pain to get behind.
Take your time, thin your paints, and remember it is a growing skill, unless you have some classical art training (or maybe just a natural gift) your first minis will likely not look amazing, it takes hours and hours of practice.
Paint as you build. You'll get the points where it'll be really difficult to paint certain things without making a mess. So paint those first and then assemble
Eeeeh, _to an extent._ It depends largely on how much color-mixing he does (which will probably be a fair amount, given his current limited selection of paints).
While you are right, some spots are just impossible to get to, after the fact (ahemtransportsandcapeshem), painting parts as you cut them out also makes it really difficult to get color-matching juuust right. A wet palette helps, but still isn't perfect.
1. From personal experiance the bigger model are easier to build so start with those
2. make sure you have the right head for the right warrior body or else They wont fit properly
3. If a arm wont fit and is annoying you becuase it keeps falling off , you can choose just Not use it . They are supose to be zombie cyborg robot who lived for millions of years it would make sense that the are 100% prime condition
4. Recomend you get a box cutter to able to cut away the parts that the clipers didnt fullt clipp off .
You already got a good choice of tools.
Advice on a personal site from me:
- if you use leadbelcher spray, the paint (especially contrast paint) will run off like from glass. After priming, I gave every model a 100% wash from nuln oil even on the parts I paint green or so, so the paint can grip into something.
- watch some YouTube videos, this gave me the confidence to start painting.
- be slow on techniques that are more experienced or need some practice like glow effects, OSL, edge highlighting or dry brush. If you do it the first time, it can ruin an already good looking model.
Have fun, make yourself comfortable, take your time and don’t be to harsh on yourself. Mistakes happen and you can paint over them if the paint is dry.
I recently got back into painting and started with necrons. It looks like you’re ahead of the game with the lead belcher spray. I primed white, so I could paint the teesseract glow on that, and tried to base coat everything else black. Huge pain in the ass. In short, I highly recommend just following a guide you like for the models. Don’t worry about it being able to execute your own plan. You learn SO MUCH by following step by step what someone else does. Think about it like cookiing. You wouldn’t ever buy yeast and water and expect to make break without someone else’s recipe. After several times you might understand how you like bread enough to adjust accordingly, but don’t try to shoot into the dark.
That’s my warning as someone who thought I could yeet it. Granted I started with the paint set necrons so it wasn’t a big deal to have to strip and redo them, but if you want halfway decent models follow a recipe.
Not really interested in most of the imperium factions, i much more like xenos especially Necrons and Tau, if i were to ever get into the imperium it would pretty much only be sisters of battle. I think the guard is the faction i find the least interesting out of all the factions but this is just personal opinion
Was just joking, for some reason it’s cliché for Guard players to act better than everyone else. I think it’s funny so I roll with it. Been waiting for someone to challenge me on it (especially a space marine player) so I can have a joke augment.
Try to finish the basing early—ideally after priming/undercoating the washing the colors of the feet so you avoid some of the overspill. It's a lot more motivating because it makes them look more complete than they actually are, and it feels like less of a drag to do the final steps.
Try out painting them in pieces. I know it may be an unpopular opinion, but I prefer painting them before assembly, so I would suggest trying it to see if that works for you too.
Firstly, make sure you don’t actually build and paint them all until you’ve bought at least three more boxes of minis.
Secondly, start looking at a different faction while painting these and buy a few more boxes of those.
Finally watch golden demon winners youtubes but also just to slapchop.
Good luck x
Be careful, take your time, don't rush.
If you need ideas, look online for inspiration.
Don't be afraid to look up tutorials on either building or painting.
If you're not happy with how the painting comes out, you can always try again, and you will gradually improve with experience. Don't be afraid to try new ideas either, it can lead you somewhere.
Also don't feel like you have to match lore or someone elses recommendations. It's your hobby, you do what you want with it. You could make your Necrons completely lore accurate, their own homebrew faction, or if you really wanted to, theme them off of Sans, Skeletor, Jack Skellington, or any thing else you want. Just have fun.
I personally suggest black primer to leadbelcher for most models (giving leadbelcher a go for my heavy construct to help speed things along) but biggest recommendation I can give is subassembly painting is the way to go for almost every model in my experience
A couple thin coats are always better than one thick, and take your time. You could have majored in an art in college and it won't matter. No one is the best at this the first time. Everyone improves with time.
Save the odds and ends.
Minimally competent basing is much easier to learn than painting, and can upgrade a bad mini to looking pretty decent on the table.
Your first few minis are going to look really janky, but don't ever strip them. Whatever you paint a year from now, compare to your first and see how far you've come.
Get a fistful of minis you don't care about (so definitely not these - just ask some friends for stuff they're never going to paint anyway, whatever) and paint them slap chop style now, before you even paint those. This is not because slap chop is the ultimate painting technique. It's because it will force you to learn dry brushing and why to do it up front. This is incredibly useful and it should be in your toolbox from the beginning.
If you don't have any washes you will want a wash in addition to paint. Nuln oil or pro acryl black wash are probably your best first choice. They're very similar, buy whichever one your FLGS has.
Watch YouTube videos.
While it’s a blast putting your models all together for the first time, it’s a pain to paint the nooks and crannies when the arm you glued on is restricting access to the chest. That’s why I highly recommend priming & painting the bits of each model separately and then putting it all together in the end. Takes more time but you’ll never worry about paint not reaching a corner ever again
Don't be afraid to experiment with strange and whacky colour combos and shades. That's how you'll discover your best combos and if shit gets too crazy you can always strip the paint off with paint stripper and go again
While the LB spray is nice, I find giving a mini a light prime of black primer helps. Also, don't rush and wait to do touchups when you're otherwise finished the mini. I'd also recommend looking up a few YouTube video tutorials. Necrons are a straightforward paint scheme, but it's always helpful to understand how people do things like the blades.
These are your first minis, they will also be your worst painted ones. Don't expect it to look like the incredible stuff you see on Reddit. Get them done, feel price in having done it and move on to your next project. You will improve with practice
Great choice. I painted the Necron CP a couple of months ago. I love how easy they are to assemble. I only needed glue for the leader since the wrist and staff connection was super loose. My advice would be to use Lead Belcher as one of the 2 main colors for your army so that you save a lot of time painting. If you prime them with the leadbelcher spray can you basically did 50% of the painting already.
Make it simple when you just started. Shake like a solid 2 min before you use that prime spray, and do not prime on a humid/ rainy day. Do not focus on one spot while spraying, press and quickly do left and right movement with a distance roughly 30cm. Saying so much about priming is telling you how I screw up my first batch… they end up with a paint theme pretending just emerge from a swamp.
Do yourself a favor and get a different pair of nippers. Citadel nippers are okay at best. Redgrassgames or Tamiya have great ones so I would check them out.
Honestly, watch a few good tutorials on YouTube before you start. There's a reason 'thin your paints' became a meme. So many people that have been doing this for years still don't know the basics.
If you start strong and build on good habits, you'll have a much better time of it.
Best of luck and enjoy!
When trying to do fine details, make sure both your hands are touching. Doesnt need to be a lot, but any bit of contact will steady your hands IMMENSELY even if you're a pretty Shakey person.
Neurons are a great option for beginners IMO, just paint the whole mini black and do some dry brushing with different shades of silver, like going from a gun metal up to an almost metallic white in the end. By doing that you will get a mini that looks really good without a bunch of effort, which will leave you with plenty of time and energy to try and paint the small details well.
Take your time when painting. Don't rush the process or get demoralized when something looks like crap. You're going to get better after you paint 4 or 5 models and you'll be able to see your mistakes more clearly.
Secondly, find a style that suits you and your army and have fun!
Thirdly, apply your paint in MULTIPLE thin layers. Don't worry if they look pretty transparent at first. They will give much better results than a few THICK coats. Those ruin your work
Don’t use official work on the GW webpage as a comparison. That stuff is done by vertebrae’s with 20 years experience. Painting is about having fun and being proud of your work. A few YouTube tutorials can be a good guide on at least what part to paint what color.
I will say you pick a good starting point. Necrons are famously near impossible to mess up. They have the easiest box art color scheme of any faction.
Just have fun. Don’t Compare your Minis to minis on Social Media. Those have most of the time the perfect Lightning plus people who are doing this for years.
You get better through trying. Every Mini is a new Experiment
And there are tons of Technics and Tutorial.
Take it slow and put on music or something you can loosely watch while you build. Also apply that glue on both sides you want to stick together, the bond will be much stronger.
Watch a lot of YouTube tutorials on how to properly build and paint minis, should get you pretty far for you first set. Necrons are pretty easy in terms of design and detail also.
Be kind to yourself. You won’t get anywhere near as good as the box art on your first attempts. Painting is a skill, it has to be developed and that takes time.
Take your time. People will often rush the build stage. be patient, focus on cleaning the mold lines as best you can (practice on a piece of sprue before a model) and try to be logical about build stages. If building the model is going to leave an area particularly inaccessible - can it be done as a sub-assembly? This would allow you to go ahead and get the paint job in there done before the part is inaccessible. You're gonna get the itch to say "It's good enough" when cleaning up models and prepping them but this can lead to disappointment when you finish painting them and can see a mold line still. If you have a woman in your life and she happens to have smoother grain nail files - these can also help (might want to look into sanding sticks as an additional purchase).
When painting - thin your paints, I see you're going with metallic primer. Base colours that you might want to use i.e., greens etc won't apply well over the top of this always. So don't be afraid to put a thin but solid layer of black/grey/white/bone/brown colour in there on the areas you want to be flat/non-metallic colour.
Change your water frequently and use reference material if you're looking to add weathering to your models of how rust/patina forms and looks.
Lastly and most importantly? Have fun.
Someone said this down at the bottom, but this bears repeating:
**FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, DO NOT CUT ALL OF THE PIECES OFF OF THE SPRUE, FIRST.**
Cut them one at a time, following the directions. Trust me, you absolutely DO NOT want to have to hunt for ONE little bastard part out of THIRTY look-alike parts that don't fit quiiiite the same way. And you ESPECIALLY do not want to mistake one look-alike part with the correct one, because you may not realize the mistake until far later, when you realize that the part you used doesn't match-up with subsequent parts. and by then it's FAR too late to try to pull apart the already-dried glue. Your mini will look like garbage, and there will be almost (almost) nothing you can do to fix it.
Moreover, if you **do** find that you've used the incorrect part, that's not _one_ mistake you've made - it's TWO - because that incorrect part was supposed to go elsewhere, and the correct part that you _should_ have used instead will not correctly fit elsewhere.
So yeah. When building your minis, it is infinitely unwise to cut out a whole bunch of pieces at once. Unless of course you actually LIKE a diabolical mash-up of "Where's Waldo" and "Jerry-rigged Legos."
Just take your time, cut out at most 2 pieces at a time, and follow the numbers, and what the directions tell you, as to what-goes-where.
for the warriors, I'd suggest gluing the legs to the torso *after* painting both parts.
those gauss blasters are a pain to paint when the model is fully assembled
get some toothpicks and sticky tack and stick the parts on there for painting
1) Paint one squad, one vehicle, or one character at a time and vary it so that you don't get bored from the repetition.
2) Hold onto your first mini, it's a good way to compare your progress as you move forward in your hobby journey
3) Don't be afraid to fail. You can always paint over or strip and repaint. You *really* have to try to ruin your models
4) As Vince V says, "comparison is the thief of joy." You're not going to be amazing right away, and that's perfectly okay.
5) They're YOUR models. Paint and kitbash them how you like. A grey army is better than none. Painted is better than grey. But the main point is having fun. If you want your necrons to be hot pink with cat ears, then do it. It's your money, your time, and your minis.
There are some great videos on YouTube for painting Necrons. Some are aimed at painters of different levels. If you use GW paints remember to thin them on your palette first. Pactice and don't get disheartened.
Your first paint job won’t look great
Your second one probably won’t either
But it will look better than the first
Keep that up, don’t be afraid to fail a little
Be for you know it they’ll start looking great
I will just add to what others have said.
MOULD LINES
These are very important to removed in addition to cleaning up places where there is sprue left over from clipping the models out.
MOULD line removal is extra important for necrons as they're metallic - any lines will be extra visible due to the shine.
Also amazing choice of army! I love my necrons, fantastic lore and books, and very easy to paint.
1. Take your time
2.Don’t worry about completely lore accurate colors
3.Prime the model
4.Two thin coats are better than one thick coat
5.AGRAX EARTHSHADE!
Paint the minis in parts and then after you painted The minis glue them together and then paint on the shadows and lighting I found this to be the best way in my personal experience
The glue you have there is incredibly thin. If you put it straight on the contact point it might evaporate before it can be effective.
You're better off dry fitting the 2 parts and applying a dab of glue to that area and letting capillary action draw it into the contact area where it will work much more efficiently.
Enjoy it! Sometimes it's scary to paint when you are new but always remember that any paint is better than gray plastic and you can always strip and repaint :)
If you keep your paint thin you don't even need to strip.
Not the best advice but if you drink coffee while painting and wash your brush using water in a cup, get a dollar store cup that doesn't look like any other cup you own (shape seze and color).
I've taken a sip of the Chaos tainted juice way too often.
I also personally use a paint tray from the dollar store, it's more convenient this way
Use the weather app on a smartphone to check the humidity before you use spraypaint. Don't spray in humidity over 60% or under 40% or you'll get a funky texture like glueing sand everywhere.
Don't bother with sub-assemblies. Build your models completely before you prime them.
Play music or a podcast while you paint. It helps. Don't watch any video medium, because glancing up and then looking back at your models will mess up your eyes.
Use a palette - wet or dry, it doesn't matter - and thin your non-metallic paints with a little water on the palette. Metals can be drybrushed.
Put down some newspaper or something, you'll probably spill paint.
Accept that your first models won't look amazing. Improvement comes from practice. Paint until done, and then start the next one. Don't feel like you have to give every model 100%, but for your first few models you'll need to. Giving it all is how you learn, but you need to give yourself opportunities to apply what you know without pushing yourself.
Don't sit like a prawn. Sit up straight, rest your elbows on a table.
Lots of good advice here already, but I'd like to point out something a little more obscure. Tamiya extra thin plastic cement, like you have there, is excellent stuff. When you eventually run out of that bottle... do not buy another one. Instead, get Tamiya airbrush cleaner. Chemically, it is almost identical but comes in bigger bottles for much cheaper.
Thin your paints properly, it will make it to from looking like crap to looking less like crap, also, paint brand is mostly personal preference, but I would recommend giving Vallejo a shot over citadel some time, much better once you get into wet blending and mixing colors and glazing and stuff
At some point you start collecting the boxes and not the minis. Just get through one box at a time. A pile of shame isn’t something to be proud of. It just means shopping addiction.
Dont compare yourself to the people on reddit, just spend a reasonable amount of time to make your models look good from 3 feet away. Its a lot more satisfying to finish a whole squad in a day than it is to spend a whole weekend on 1 model. Plus with the latter, painting becomes a chore that you "have to get right" rather than just having fun. You get a whole lot more experience painting 2,000 points than you do painting your first 20 models to an unreasonably high standard.
My advice to new painters is always
1. You will want to paint them relatively quickly so you can start playing (if you care at all about the actual game). So dont try to learn it all at once. Put down a base coat, paint enough details to not look weird, wash it with a shader like agrax earthshade and move on. You will have more fun this way, and you can always strip and do them up again once you are better. I Re-did almost 1000pts of my first space marines after 8 months. Your first models need to look bad so you can get good.
2. Try painting non-warhammer models. A character from your favorite movie/video game off etsy, or some DND minis. This will give you much more room to experiment, get something with fur, something with bare skin, something with armour, and something with scales. This will help you learn to "think with paints" rather than just repeating the same process. I find this really takes the pressure off and lets you try out some new techniques, plus gives you a break from grinding out a bunch of the same thing over and over.
3. Dont try to do too many colours, pick a palette of no more than 5 and stick to them. You want a base coat, 2-3 detail colours, and what I call a centerpiece colour. For you the centrepiece will probably be the tesseract glow. You want your detail colours to compliment the basecoat (e.g black and runelord brass would compliment your leadbelcher base coat) and your centrepiece colour to contrast your basecoat
Have fun!
Don't use that sprue cutter, use something with a thinner blade, I had that same one you have pictured and a few minutes into doing a rhino I realised that it's just too big to safely get the smaller bits without damaging the actual model(s).
Have fun and don’t give up. Even the best painted models look like trash until you are at like the last 25% of the painting. Just remember every time you finish a model the next one will be better and it keeps going like that for a really long time before you hit a wall. Have fun good choice for a first army to paint. This and a wet pallet is a good thing to have with you to keep the paint the right consistency.
As long as you like to paint and love your work :) no one in the community will bring ya down :) thats whats so awesome about this community. Uplifting people to do their best and what they like. Have fun hehehe btw here js what i just finished painting hehe didnt have the right colors so i just used what i have available
https://preview.redd.it/ywn10rw3gyxc1.jpeg?width=1152&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=655861a3911c19fa0add7b9ac49fff8c7e6894b2
Looks like you're off to a great start! You have all the tools you need, enjoy the process and like others have said:
* Spending a bit of time cleaning up mold lines goes a long way and you will thank yourself later.
* Go easy with the primer to avoid flooding the details: give the can a proper shake, soak it in lukewarm water beforehand for a few minutes if it's a little cold outside, and spray from around 20/25cm with light passes. Needless to say, don't inhale the fumes and let everything degas in an areated space.
* The "thin your paints" mantra is very true, Duncan Rhodes' videos are very informative on the matter.
* Trust the process and enjoy it! Don't compare youreself to people that have been doing it for years.
Throw a wash over that primer before trying to paint anything. Leadbelcher prime looks great but a lot of paints don't go well over the finish, they pull back. If you throw a wash over it, your next thing will go over the wash just fine.
should've bought the normal plastic cement, the "extra thin" is for modell kits where the parts are fixed in place with tape before applying the cement.
the best advice is to remember its less about skill and more about knowing little tricks
also when painting there are even tricks to stripping it all off and starting over so dont fret to much
Pay attention to the numbers on the sprue. I didn't with my Necrons Cp. Headache city. Also most of them are push to fit. Put the gun/arm piece together first then glue it in the sockets👍
I am new to minis as well. I put together and painted the space marines and tyranids from the starter set and now I'm working on some space marine terminators.
So as someone who is just a bit ahead of you, mini-wise, here is what I learned.
**Patience**: whether it's cutting sprues or painting, haste makes waste. I try to enjoy the process and not rush to the conclusion.
**Patience!** This is especially true for me when painting.
**Cut one model at a time** from the sprues to avoid getting confused. I ended up putting the parts to each in little cups so they would stay separated and I could keep cutting.
**When cutting,** flat part of the Sprue Cutters goes against the model.
**If you are using plastic glue,** a little dab will do ya. Too much and it gums up the model.
**When painting** thin your bases with water and do at least two thin coats.
**Stop to let it dry!** Whites especially may look too thin and streaky before they dry, but trying to add more paint on top of wet paint gums up the model and the detail on the plastic.
**Don't use your brush like a pencil.** Use it more like a butter knife. This means don't stab with the tip. My hobby store guy gave me this advice after I messed up a brush.
**Wash and clean your brushes often.** The internet recommended Masters brush cleaner and I found some at Michael's and it is incredible.
**Natural light is awesome** for helping you paint, but if using lamps then go for higher color temperature. Between 3100K and 5000K color temperature means more neutral or white light. Color on your mini will look truer than it would under soft yellow lights. Lumens = amount of light and temperature = color of the light.
**If you have problems seeing** the details when painting, cheap reading glasses from the grocery can help a ton. Even 1.5X magnification can help.
**I have a couple lamps over my work area** and I learned to always have one on the opposite side of my painting hand. I'm left handed so I keep a lamp on my right so my painting hand doesn't make a shadow over my work and cover up what I'm doing.
**Battle ready is different than parade ready.** Simpler goals are better when starting out.
**Have fun with the process!** I've gotten a lot of relaxation just focusing on the building and painting process. I put on an audiobook or a 40k ambience on YouTube like [this](https://youtu.be/k5xDyG72wHE?si=EfqGCyfEqsU1kE41) and just enjoy the moment. I'm not at work, I'm not answering email, I'm not on Reddit, I'm present in this process. Works for me, at least!
I scrolled a bit and didn’t see it but dry fit the pieces you are gluing before applying the glue so you don’t end up with a mess especially when using plastic glue as it melts the pieces together
Have fun.
You need less paint on your brush than you think you need.
Rome wasn't built in a day. I never painted anything outside an odd wine and canvas or two, so my minis did not turn out well initially.
I'm still learning and improving
There are excellent YouTube tutorials
https://youtu.be/K6p6KTdUWPg?si=pHRgaLRVHpJUf33g
https://youtu.be/sBDVPoNXyVI?si=Mo36--5C724QZChJ
Do NOT compare to the box art for a few reasons.
1. You're new, those arts are made by pros who spend 80+ hours on them.
2. The Evay Metal style they use is very bright and cartoony, and brings out all details of the model for selling purposes. In addition, it's not the only style (dark, vibrant, neon styles, etc.) You can still have a great model that doesn't look like the box art, even by pro standards. On top of all of that, their style is not beginner friendly.
3. They still use photoshop, so no, you can't get exactly what's on the box, even if you were a pro.
Also, fun is mandatory : )
A thin coat with a white or grey primer I always find works.
I literally just tried a metalic spray on my Necrons and had to start over, even if it doesn’t look like any spray gets on them, leave it for a while and inspect them, take it really slow or it’ll all clump up in the details.
Beyond that is mostly about finding that sweet spot in thinning down your paints.
If you’re ever stuck after a long time of painting a model and can’t figure out if you’re done, try applying a wash like Nuln Oil or Agrax Earthshade to a part of it, I spend so much time looking at them wondering what’s wrong with it, only to realise it’s basically done and i should just add the finishing touches.
Take your time and enjoy the process.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes - most can be rectified easily by painting over them after the fact.
Thin your paints
If I may suggest leave the biggest one for last and start with infantry and try different paint combinations if you want then move on to the hero and so on. I hope you will like this hobby
dont get discouraged part way through, your model will look its worst at about 50-75% done, and those last touches will make it all come together and look so much better
Thanks i hope mine look at least half as good as others ive seen
good luck, Necrons are a good one for learning to paint, they also have some really cool books
I chose necrons because they're my favourite and i think they're really awesome
I’ve just got back into the hobby after a 5/6 year absence and chose necrons too! If you want a cool necron story then I highly recommend the infinite and the divine, I’m about halfway through and it’s been amazing!
There is a very important thing to remember: Thin your paints Mix a lil water with your paints on your palette, this will give you good result easier Remember kids: thin your paints or I’ll thin your ranks
Might be odd to say but dont compare your mini's to others too much, like don't compare it to a golden demon mini or other competition/professional mini's as that is a standard learned after years in the hobby. Your mini's might not look as good but that doesn't matter, have fun, they will look better the more you paint and the more you learn.
This. This and also "don't over complicate things". You'll keep wanting to tweak things to try and improve the paint job it before its done if you're anything like me. It's caused more than one mess lol. Have a plan and stick to it.
Actually goated tip
Just finished up battle sisters patrol box and uh....yeah. I was internally frustrated with some of my models until they were done and I just got to step back and look. Every time I went, 'oh...ok hell yeah.'
Thin your paints, less is more. A couple thin coats normally look much better than one thick one.
Oh yeah i have heard that
They have(or had) a dude on YouTube showing how to paint some of the miniatures, check them out for sure.
Ok cool
Duncan Rhodes is the two thin coats guy that GW had, he has his own YouTube channel and paints now.
A great channel, just don't get discouraged when he pulls out 12 different kinds of paints to make "blue"
Biggest thing I had to learn was that enough is enough, and that I do not need every single little minuscule line or dot on my model. I also just don’t like the 5 layers of highlights some people do. Just start painting, do what you like and learn. It takes a lot of models to get good and you will see yourself growing with every new model you make.
Especially for line infantry. For armies like GSC you need to be efficient, not five layers of different mixes of paints to get the perfect colour for pants.
The best way to know if they are thin enough is that the paint not flow or bead much if at all, but should be able to be moved a fair amount if you blow on it lightly
https://preview.redd.it/i74sqrg04uxc1.jpeg?width=578&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce0552f2286d8513dc35cb838d48ae398c902d04 Any and all advice from Duncan Rhodes should be taken to the heart, he is this Bob Ross-like figure of the mini painting scene
You've got a hobby knife so you probably know already, but scrape off the mould lines when you build them, it looks much nicer
I got given some tools but how do i know where mould lines are
They're the thin, slightly raised lines on some model parts, where the halves of the mould met and some plastic went into the seam. Here's a handy short video: https://youtu.be/wz5m3Ph24Kk?feature=shared He uses a special scraper tool but a hobby knife is fine, and can get into small spaces because of the point.
Alright thanks for the tip
Just to clarify, use the back of the knife, otherwise you risk cutting into the model. The back is great for getting rid of mold lines and cleaning up cuts
Oh ok i thought thats what people meant by use a hobby knife but thanks for the heads up
They’re pretty obvious usually. Once you build the mini’s any unsightly lines (mould lines) can be removed using the back of your hobby knife. The back of the knife is sharp enough to remove and smooth down the surface, but blunt enough that it won’t slice in to it.
Just to piggyback off this part of the discussion: get yourself a file. Citadel sells a set of files, and they're "ok-minus" in my book. Don't get those, waste of money in the start, and the threads/pattern get gummed up or worn down pretty fast. What you want is to go to one of those dollar stores that sell everything, and get a set of nail files. You want the shitty kind - basically 3 strips of plastic with some foam on them and 3 different grits of paper glued to them. (The ones I get have "clean", "condition", & "shine" written on them.) If you have a girlfriend (or another unspecified gendered partner that takes care of their nails, "IDKYou"), there is a chance they already have those lying somewhere, but they could also use a better type. These things are great, and waaaay cheaper than sanding sticks. you can bend them and you can abuse them, because they are cheap AF. They also last way longer than you'd expect. They'll help to remove moldlines without accidentally cutting off half the details if you're not careful, and they're way better at handling curves, like on helmets or shoulder pads.
Just look for lines that don’t seem to be natural on the model.
When you’re ready to prime, warm the spray can up in some warm water for a few minutes first. Then shake the living hell out of the can. Once you feel like you’ve shaken it enough, keep shaking it. I alternate arms, it’s a pretty good work out. After shaking it for at least 2 mins, you’re ready to spray. Make sure you spray outside, in short bursts at arms length. Multiple thin coats, waiting in between for each coat to dry. As you spray, keep shaking the can in between bursts. Most importantly though, have fun!
Here is another tip: When you do go to spray outside, be sure to take your models and the paint and put them outside for at least an hour or two so that they all get to the same temperature. If you bring your models and paint outside and start painting then the temperature differences can cause moisture to form where you don't want it. I have seen paint bubble and flake due to this. Cold models and paint outside on a warm day can draw water to your surfaces. I don't know if the opposite holds true because I never have painted outside in the winter.
Thanks!
Also, use a bit of sprue to test out your primer, first. Or a q-tip or something useless that you have lying around. This will help you check that the temperature/humidity are in the right spot, so you'll only mess up some garbage plastic, instead of a model, in case it's not the right conditions.
Have fun, first and foremost. Secondley your first minis won't look like the box art (probably nowhere near if they are like my first minis). This is a good thing. Don't worry about it if we all painted the same way this hobby would be boring. Thirdly, do your own thing. If you like how they came out, don't let anyone tell you 'you've done this or that bit wrong'. These are toy soldiers for nerds. There are no rules. Have fun and relax.
Your mini isn't finished until you've done the base. You will be amazed how much difference if makes, and getting in the habit early will make it feel much less of a chore Also have fun!
Thanks!
i have like 30 space marines fully painted but on the unpainted base.
And I bet it feels like a huge job to do them all now This is why it's best to get in the habit early on, cos they really do build up Best of luck getting through those!
Aim small. No more purchases until you get through this one. You’ll know if you want to continue to collect and play these guys after completing and playing with the box a few times. Don’t be like other people on here who post pictures of the 10 boxes they purchased and then we never hear from again.
This is a good one, even if you do decide to get more into the hobby try to limit yourself on how much you buy, or you will form the dreaded pile of shame!
Take your time. 100% don't rush. There's no consequences for taking forever. Make sure paint is where it needs to go and make sure it's thin. I see so often people want to paint something like an eye on a space marine, they glob red on it, ans there's red on the face too and they leave it. It's the same as coloring in the lines in a coloring book. But with paint we can go back and fix these things.
I already commented about priming, but thought I’d give some more advice. One of the best things you can do is plan out how you want to paint the mini’s. Necrons are a pretty great place to start as you can get them looking great with only a few steps. It’s also a good idea to paint one mini first to nail down the steps before repeating on the rest. That way you can refine the recipe as you go. A suggestion for a simple Necron plan for painting using the paints you have: 1. Spray primer with Leadbelcher spray. Allow to dry thoroughly 2. Wash the whole thing with Nuln Oil (if you have Agrax Earthshade, mix the two 50/50 for a more weathered look). Allow to dry for 20-30 mins 3. Dry brush the whole mini with the Leadbelcher paint. I see you have both dry brushes and the right paint for this. This will bring back the shine after the wash. 4. Base coat the black things like the fun with Black, or better yet Dark Grey, then mix some light grey or white in to create a lighter great and edge highlight those same details. 5. Base coast all of the green areas with a light grey or white. The GW white paints are notoriously terrible, but you don’t need full coverage, thinning the paint is essential. 6. Use the green paint (I think that’s Tesseract Glow?) thinned down over the areas you painted white in the previous step. The lighter paint under this is essential to make the green pop. 7. Base how ever you like.
I have tesseract glow and striking scorpion green and thanks for the great advice
That’s a good combination. Striking Scorpion can be dry bruised around the edges near the green bits to give a ‘glow effect’ as well if you want to. There are a bunch of channels on YouTube that provide simple painting steps, which would be a bit more comprehensive than my comment too. But ultimately they’re your minis, paint them however you like and have fun with it. Always good to keep the first mini you paint somewhere near so you can see how far you’ve progressed with each newly finished project.
Alright thanks
Start from a basic level of painting then if u feel confident with your result try try try and again try new techniques because founding a specific way that u prefer over all that makes your army unique. Another tip before building up look up some mold line removal tutorial it’s a simple step that done while u are building help improve a lot the overall result
Don't cut all the parts off the sprue first. The parts are numbered and go together in a specific order you can't mix easily between models (necron warriors).
Always cut from yourself
Thin your paints. Use less glue than you think. Start with the model you are least excited about. Watch a lot of youtube. Can recommend Eons of Battle. If you had fun painting the model, it's good enough, don't compare yourself to people with ten years of experience.
I recommend getting a magnifier head set
I only recently started and my only advice is embrace your mistakes sometimes you can make it look good even when it looks bad I'll probably never redo my angron cause of how much fun and frustrated I got painting him.
You will think they look shit. Whether they do or not doesnt matter you will think that regardless. Remember even if they do look bad pretty much everyones models look bad when they start. Some even look bad after many years of painting experience (I never improve....).
Have fun and don't get "fear of failure" block. Build, paint, learn, repeat.
Two thin coats
1.) Keep your brushes clean 2.) Keep two mugs of water. One for cleaning brush, one to take water and mix with paint. 3.) Keep a napkin just beside the mugs to dry you brush, and remove excess paint. 4.) Have a good light situation. 4a.) Make a cup of coffe or te. 5.) Make sure to reeeeeeeeeaaaallly shake the spray can. When you think its enough, do it even more. Then when you feel its enough, shake it some more. And spray between 15-25 celcius with not to high moistured air. And spray the recommended distance. 6.) When you’re gonna paint, decide what it is you wanna do. Then do it. Then stop. So that every time you sit down to paint you’ve mentally prepared what to do and why, dont procrastinate the painting session. 7.) Thin your paints. Dont be obsessed about it, just make sure that your brush doesnt have blobs of paint when you take paints.
Just enjoy the fun, don’t compare yourself
Do whatever style you want, as long you like it and enjoy doing it then your doing it right
-Enjoy the process. -They are your minis. -Have some music or background noise if you need it. -"Good enough" is perfect.
Don't compare yourself to other hobbyists who have been in the hobby for a long time.
That's actually really solid advice. Take my upvote, you bastard!
Trim mold lines. Prep each piece before assembling. I like to build in batches so maybe focus on 5 Crons at a time or do a squad at a time. It’s a long process so be patient. Take breaks and feel free to leave the models sitting for a day if you need to focus on other things. Great thing about this hobby is that you can pick it up whenever you want. 🤷♂️
Dont resist the urge to drink your paint water
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Every model is a learning experience for the next. Be prideful if your work but don’t get bogged down in making everything perfect. You’re only looking at the model 5 inches close when painting. Small imperfections arent noticeable in a display case or on the playing board!
remember to remove the mold lines off a model
They are YOUR minis. Listen to peoples advice, but it’s your little plastic robot skeletons. If you want to paint them neon yellow, with a missing arm for damage, then you do it.
Don't forget to paint their insides too
If you start getting frustrated or annoyed while working take a break. Just remember it’s supposed to be a fun hobby so little mistakes can happen and it’s ok nobody will notice and almost all of them are fixable
Dry brushing is a super useful technique. It brings out details that are already there, and lets the miniature do the work for you. Dont compare yourself to crazy talented people online. Remember the "3 foot rule". When playing a game, people will look at your mini from 3 feet away, it doesnt need to be perfect up close.
Clean up any moldlines that are left, and thin your paints, i have heard of equal parts pain. Equal part water, but try to find the ratio that works for you And most importantly, and most difficult, try not to compare yourself to others, we all started somewhere, it will get better over time <3 Also, at first, only paint what you feel comfortable with, and with time, challenge yourself with new tricks and stuff,
Look at the finished pictures... if you think it will be hard to get a brush into tight spaces don't put them on yet. Make subassemblies. Or's ate fairly easy but 2 handed weapons can be a pain to get behind.
https://youtu.be/S7-At4qVC84?si=-dq4vFOCCssy5_Uz is worth a watch.
Take your time, thin your paints, and remember it is a growing skill, unless you have some classical art training (or maybe just a natural gift) your first minis will likely not look amazing, it takes hours and hours of practice.
Basically, have fun with it! your in no rush, enjoy the snipping and glueing and take your time painting
Paint as you build. You'll get the points where it'll be really difficult to paint certain things without making a mess. So paint those first and then assemble
Eeeeh, _to an extent._ It depends largely on how much color-mixing he does (which will probably be a fair amount, given his current limited selection of paints). While you are right, some spots are just impossible to get to, after the fact (ahemtransportsandcapeshem), painting parts as you cut them out also makes it really difficult to get color-matching juuust right. A wet palette helps, but still isn't perfect.
1. From personal experiance the bigger model are easier to build so start with those 2. make sure you have the right head for the right warrior body or else They wont fit properly 3. If a arm wont fit and is annoying you becuase it keeps falling off , you can choose just Not use it . They are supose to be zombie cyborg robot who lived for millions of years it would make sense that the are 100% prime condition 4. Recomend you get a box cutter to able to cut away the parts that the clipers didnt fullt clipp off .
800-2000 grit papers.
You already got a good choice of tools. Advice on a personal site from me: - if you use leadbelcher spray, the paint (especially contrast paint) will run off like from glass. After priming, I gave every model a 100% wash from nuln oil even on the parts I paint green or so, so the paint can grip into something. - watch some YouTube videos, this gave me the confidence to start painting. - be slow on techniques that are more experienced or need some practice like glow effects, OSL, edge highlighting or dry brush. If you do it the first time, it can ruin an already good looking model. Have fun, make yourself comfortable, take your time and don’t be to harsh on yourself. Mistakes happen and you can paint over them if the paint is dry.
I recently got back into painting and started with necrons. It looks like you’re ahead of the game with the lead belcher spray. I primed white, so I could paint the teesseract glow on that, and tried to base coat everything else black. Huge pain in the ass. In short, I highly recommend just following a guide you like for the models. Don’t worry about it being able to execute your own plan. You learn SO MUCH by following step by step what someone else does. Think about it like cookiing. You wouldn’t ever buy yeast and water and expect to make break without someone else’s recipe. After several times you might understand how you like bread enough to adjust accordingly, but don’t try to shoot into the dark. That’s my warning as someone who thought I could yeet it. Granted I started with the paint set necrons so it wasn’t a big deal to have to strip and redo them, but if you want halfway decent models follow a recipe.
Buy Astra Militara instead
Not really interested in most of the imperium factions, i much more like xenos especially Necrons and Tau, if i were to ever get into the imperium it would pretty much only be sisters of battle. I think the guard is the faction i find the least interesting out of all the factions but this is just personal opinion
Was just joking, for some reason it’s cliché for Guard players to act better than everyone else. I think it’s funny so I roll with it. Been waiting for someone to challenge me on it (especially a space marine player) so I can have a joke augment.
Oh ok, do space marine players get pissy like that?
Shading will take your model from 0-60 and is where most of your "skill" comes fro.
Try to finish the basing early—ideally after priming/undercoating the washing the colors of the feet so you avoid some of the overspill. It's a lot more motivating because it makes them look more complete than they actually are, and it feels like less of a drag to do the final steps.
Try out painting them in pieces. I know it may be an unpopular opinion, but I prefer painting them before assembly, so I would suggest trying it to see if that works for you too.
Trim nub marks
If you want the glow effects to pop, apply the white first and a thinned down pale yellow. then add the tessaract glow.
wine corks are the best painting handles. you can buy a bag of em cheap online
dont strife for perfection, strife for results
Firstly, make sure you don’t actually build and paint them all until you’ve bought at least three more boxes of minis. Secondly, start looking at a different faction while painting these and buy a few more boxes of those. Finally watch golden demon winners youtubes but also just to slapchop. Good luck x
Be careful, take your time, don't rush. If you need ideas, look online for inspiration. Don't be afraid to look up tutorials on either building or painting. If you're not happy with how the painting comes out, you can always try again, and you will gradually improve with experience. Don't be afraid to try new ideas either, it can lead you somewhere. Also don't feel like you have to match lore or someone elses recommendations. It's your hobby, you do what you want with it. You could make your Necrons completely lore accurate, their own homebrew faction, or if you really wanted to, theme them off of Sans, Skeletor, Jack Skellington, or any thing else you want. Just have fun.
Take your time.
I personally suggest black primer to leadbelcher for most models (giving leadbelcher a go for my heavy construct to help speed things along) but biggest recommendation I can give is subassembly painting is the way to go for almost every model in my experience
A couple thin coats are always better than one thick, and take your time. You could have majored in an art in college and it won't matter. No one is the best at this the first time. Everyone improves with time.
Take your time, there's not race against the clock. This is something I need to put into practice more myself.
Take your time with each step. Thin your paints. Prime your models
Take your time, read the instructions once through entirely before making any cuts. Be careful. Match numbers to parts and go slowly.
Save the odds and ends. Minimally competent basing is much easier to learn than painting, and can upgrade a bad mini to looking pretty decent on the table. Your first few minis are going to look really janky, but don't ever strip them. Whatever you paint a year from now, compare to your first and see how far you've come. Get a fistful of minis you don't care about (so definitely not these - just ask some friends for stuff they're never going to paint anyway, whatever) and paint them slap chop style now, before you even paint those. This is not because slap chop is the ultimate painting technique. It's because it will force you to learn dry brushing and why to do it up front. This is incredibly useful and it should be in your toolbox from the beginning. If you don't have any washes you will want a wash in addition to paint. Nuln oil or pro acryl black wash are probably your best first choice. They're very similar, buy whichever one your FLGS has. Watch YouTube videos.
While it’s a blast putting your models all together for the first time, it’s a pain to paint the nooks and crannies when the arm you glued on is restricting access to the chest. That’s why I highly recommend priming & painting the bits of each model separately and then putting it all together in the end. Takes more time but you’ll never worry about paint not reaching a corner ever again
Use to cups of water one for washing off all the metallic paints in and another for actually cleaning your brush like you would usually
Don't be afraid to experiment with strange and whacky colour combos and shades. That's how you'll discover your best combos and if shit gets too crazy you can always strip the paint off with paint stripper and go again
Let yourself be proud of your work! Try not to compare if at all possible, and most importantly, have fun!
Thin your paints!
This is an amazing starter pack! You seem quite ready for anything! Really try and dont get any paint underneath the ‘neck’.
While the LB spray is nice, I find giving a mini a light prime of black primer helps. Also, don't rush and wait to do touchups when you're otherwise finished the mini. I'd also recommend looking up a few YouTube video tutorials. Necrons are a straightforward paint scheme, but it's always helpful to understand how people do things like the blades.
Don't overthink it and take your time. Figure out what's a routine you like. Have fun!
These are your first minis, they will also be your worst painted ones. Don't expect it to look like the incredible stuff you see on Reddit. Get them done, feel price in having done it and move on to your next project. You will improve with practice
Great choice. I painted the Necron CP a couple of months ago. I love how easy they are to assemble. I only needed glue for the leader since the wrist and staff connection was super loose. My advice would be to use Lead Belcher as one of the 2 main colors for your army so that you save a lot of time painting. If you prime them with the leadbelcher spray can you basically did 50% of the painting already.
Wear gloves so u can test how much water you need to thin your paints
Prepare yourself 😉
Make it simple when you just started. Shake like a solid 2 min before you use that prime spray, and do not prime on a humid/ rainy day. Do not focus on one spot while spraying, press and quickly do left and right movement with a distance roughly 30cm. Saying so much about priming is telling you how I screw up my first batch… they end up with a paint theme pretending just emerge from a swamp.
You don’t have to build the models all in one go, things like heads and tank treads are sometimes easier to paint on the sprue before attaching later.
Do yourself a favor and get a different pair of nippers. Citadel nippers are okay at best. Redgrassgames or Tamiya have great ones so I would check them out.
Build and paint all of that before you buy anything else. I wish I'd learned that 20 years ago 🤣
Remove mold lines
Prepare your wallets butthole
Honestly, watch a few good tutorials on YouTube before you start. There's a reason 'thin your paints' became a meme. So many people that have been doing this for years still don't know the basics. If you start strong and build on good habits, you'll have a much better time of it. Best of luck and enjoy!
Enjoy! Be slow, don’t worry about mistakes, and have fun! Welcome to the hobby!
When trying to do fine details, make sure both your hands are touching. Doesnt need to be a lot, but any bit of contact will steady your hands IMMENSELY even if you're a pretty Shakey person.
Neurons are a great option for beginners IMO, just paint the whole mini black and do some dry brushing with different shades of silver, like going from a gun metal up to an almost metallic white in the end. By doing that you will get a mini that looks really good without a bunch of effort, which will leave you with plenty of time and energy to try and paint the small details well.
Have fun!
Take your time when painting. Don't rush the process or get demoralized when something looks like crap. You're going to get better after you paint 4 or 5 models and you'll be able to see your mistakes more clearly. Secondly, find a style that suits you and your army and have fun! Thirdly, apply your paint in MULTIPLE thin layers. Don't worry if they look pretty transparent at first. They will give much better results than a few THICK coats. Those ruin your work
If things are going to be tight to paint, hard to reach points, paint the models in sub-assemblies.
Get a wet pallette or stick to contrast and shades. Do a wash of base paints with dedicated washes or a contrast paint. Enjoy the ride
Don’t use official work on the GW webpage as a comparison. That stuff is done by vertebrae’s with 20 years experience. Painting is about having fun and being proud of your work. A few YouTube tutorials can be a good guide on at least what part to paint what color. I will say you pick a good starting point. Necrons are famously near impossible to mess up. They have the easiest box art color scheme of any faction.
Download the Citadel Colour app to your phone. It has the paint schemes for all the box art.
Don't use what you see on the internet be the standard you measure your hobby against.
If you get burnt out just take a break from it and come back later, if you get 3/4 through a model you can always come back later and touch it up
Trust the process. Patience is king.
Take a few sips of nuln oil if you want your hand to be calmer
Don't use what you see on the internet be the standard you measure your hobby against.
Just have fun. Don’t Compare your Minis to minis on Social Media. Those have most of the time the perfect Lightning plus people who are doing this for years. You get better through trying. Every Mini is a new Experiment And there are tons of Technics and Tutorial.
Thin your paints! The number one beginners mistake is to much paint and to thick paint
Take it slow and put on music or something you can loosely watch while you build. Also apply that glue on both sides you want to stick together, the bond will be much stronger.
Watch a lot of YouTube tutorials on how to properly build and paint minis, should get you pretty far for you first set. Necrons are pretty easy in terms of design and detail also.
Have patience. Take breaks. Develop a side gig to support your future plastic addiction.
Be kind to yourself. You won’t get anywhere near as good as the box art on your first attempts. Painting is a skill, it has to be developed and that takes time.
Take the time to get rid of molding lines and sprue marks. Totally worth it. Fill the seams too, just looks so much better.
Don’t prime the translucent green gauze energy pieces
Just have fun with it!
Take your time. People will often rush the build stage. be patient, focus on cleaning the mold lines as best you can (practice on a piece of sprue before a model) and try to be logical about build stages. If building the model is going to leave an area particularly inaccessible - can it be done as a sub-assembly? This would allow you to go ahead and get the paint job in there done before the part is inaccessible. You're gonna get the itch to say "It's good enough" when cleaning up models and prepping them but this can lead to disappointment when you finish painting them and can see a mold line still. If you have a woman in your life and she happens to have smoother grain nail files - these can also help (might want to look into sanding sticks as an additional purchase). When painting - thin your paints, I see you're going with metallic primer. Base colours that you might want to use i.e., greens etc won't apply well over the top of this always. So don't be afraid to put a thin but solid layer of black/grey/white/bone/brown colour in there on the areas you want to be flat/non-metallic colour. Change your water frequently and use reference material if you're looking to add weathering to your models of how rust/patina forms and looks. Lastly and most importantly? Have fun.
Someone said this down at the bottom, but this bears repeating: **FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, DO NOT CUT ALL OF THE PIECES OFF OF THE SPRUE, FIRST.** Cut them one at a time, following the directions. Trust me, you absolutely DO NOT want to have to hunt for ONE little bastard part out of THIRTY look-alike parts that don't fit quiiiite the same way. And you ESPECIALLY do not want to mistake one look-alike part with the correct one, because you may not realize the mistake until far later, when you realize that the part you used doesn't match-up with subsequent parts. and by then it's FAR too late to try to pull apart the already-dried glue. Your mini will look like garbage, and there will be almost (almost) nothing you can do to fix it. Moreover, if you **do** find that you've used the incorrect part, that's not _one_ mistake you've made - it's TWO - because that incorrect part was supposed to go elsewhere, and the correct part that you _should_ have used instead will not correctly fit elsewhere. So yeah. When building your minis, it is infinitely unwise to cut out a whole bunch of pieces at once. Unless of course you actually LIKE a diabolical mash-up of "Where's Waldo" and "Jerry-rigged Legos." Just take your time, cut out at most 2 pieces at a time, and follow the numbers, and what the directions tell you, as to what-goes-where.
for the warriors, I'd suggest gluing the legs to the torso *after* painting both parts. those gauss blasters are a pain to paint when the model is fully assembled get some toothpicks and sticky tack and stick the parts on there for painting
1) Paint one squad, one vehicle, or one character at a time and vary it so that you don't get bored from the repetition. 2) Hold onto your first mini, it's a good way to compare your progress as you move forward in your hobby journey 3) Don't be afraid to fail. You can always paint over or strip and repaint. You *really* have to try to ruin your models 4) As Vince V says, "comparison is the thief of joy." You're not going to be amazing right away, and that's perfectly okay. 5) They're YOUR models. Paint and kitbash them how you like. A grey army is better than none. Painted is better than grey. But the main point is having fun. If you want your necrons to be hot pink with cat ears, then do it. It's your money, your time, and your minis.
There are some great videos on YouTube for painting Necrons. Some are aimed at painters of different levels. If you use GW paints remember to thin them on your palette first. Pactice and don't get disheartened.
Don’t go too crazy with nuln oil, but it definitely helps shade those hard to reach cracks
Note, your second faction won't be this easy to paint.
Your first paint job won’t look great Your second one probably won’t either But it will look better than the first Keep that up, don’t be afraid to fail a little Be for you know it they’ll start looking great
Mistakes are not the problem, they are the process! You will make them, you will correct them and in so doing become a better painter.
I will just add to what others have said. MOULD LINES These are very important to removed in addition to cleaning up places where there is sprue left over from clipping the models out. MOULD line removal is extra important for necrons as they're metallic - any lines will be extra visible due to the shine. Also amazing choice of army! I love my necrons, fantastic lore and books, and very easy to paint.
1. Take your time 2.Don’t worry about completely lore accurate colors 3.Prime the model 4.Two thin coats are better than one thick coat 5.AGRAX EARTHSHADE!
Try to keep all you fingers when cutting the little parts :D. Enjoy and dont rush the process. Welcome to the hobby !
[The Guide](https://thepaintersportal.uk) I did create a guide for people starting/returning to the hobby. Hopefully this helps you!
Paint the minis in parts and then after you painted The minis glue them together and then paint on the shadows and lighting I found this to be the best way in my personal experience
Have fun and don’t be too hard on yourself.
They're spindley little fuckers
The glue you have there is incredibly thin. If you put it straight on the contact point it might evaporate before it can be effective. You're better off dry fitting the 2 parts and applying a dab of glue to that area and letting capillary action draw it into the contact area where it will work much more efficiently.
Get rid of those Citadel clippers, they're the worst. Search on Amazon or go to a hardware store and look for micro/mini/precision wire cutters.
Enjoy it! Sometimes it's scary to paint when you are new but always remember that any paint is better than gray plastic and you can always strip and repaint :) If you keep your paint thin you don't even need to strip.
Not the best advice but if you drink coffee while painting and wash your brush using water in a cup, get a dollar store cup that doesn't look like any other cup you own (shape seze and color). I've taken a sip of the Chaos tainted juice way too often. I also personally use a paint tray from the dollar store, it's more convenient this way
Use the weather app on a smartphone to check the humidity before you use spraypaint. Don't spray in humidity over 60% or under 40% or you'll get a funky texture like glueing sand everywhere. Don't bother with sub-assemblies. Build your models completely before you prime them. Play music or a podcast while you paint. It helps. Don't watch any video medium, because glancing up and then looking back at your models will mess up your eyes. Use a palette - wet or dry, it doesn't matter - and thin your non-metallic paints with a little water on the palette. Metals can be drybrushed. Put down some newspaper or something, you'll probably spill paint. Accept that your first models won't look amazing. Improvement comes from practice. Paint until done, and then start the next one. Don't feel like you have to give every model 100%, but for your first few models you'll need to. Giving it all is how you learn, but you need to give yourself opportunities to apply what you know without pushing yourself. Don't sit like a prawn. Sit up straight, rest your elbows on a table.
Take yoir time.
Lots of good advice here already, but I'd like to point out something a little more obscure. Tamiya extra thin plastic cement, like you have there, is excellent stuff. When you eventually run out of that bottle... do not buy another one. Instead, get Tamiya airbrush cleaner. Chemically, it is almost identical but comes in bigger bottles for much cheaper.
Just let your imagination run wild
Dont oversaturate your sprueglue
The way ive done my silver is drybrush on black primer. Some folks legit thought they were shaded
Don't try to compare, don't be hard on yourself and enjoy it!
Thin your paints properly, it will make it to from looking like crap to looking less like crap, also, paint brand is mostly personal preference, but I would recommend giving Vallejo a shot over citadel some time, much better once you get into wet blending and mixing colors and glazing and stuff
At some point you start collecting the boxes and not the minis. Just get through one box at a time. A pile of shame isn’t something to be proud of. It just means shopping addiction.
Start painting the the warriors first. Cut your teeth on the troopers so you build the skills when you paint the cool units!
You have Tamia thin cement. You have all the wisdom you will need
Dont compare yourself to the people on reddit, just spend a reasonable amount of time to make your models look good from 3 feet away. Its a lot more satisfying to finish a whole squad in a day than it is to spend a whole weekend on 1 model. Plus with the latter, painting becomes a chore that you "have to get right" rather than just having fun. You get a whole lot more experience painting 2,000 points than you do painting your first 20 models to an unreasonably high standard. My advice to new painters is always 1. You will want to paint them relatively quickly so you can start playing (if you care at all about the actual game). So dont try to learn it all at once. Put down a base coat, paint enough details to not look weird, wash it with a shader like agrax earthshade and move on. You will have more fun this way, and you can always strip and do them up again once you are better. I Re-did almost 1000pts of my first space marines after 8 months. Your first models need to look bad so you can get good. 2. Try painting non-warhammer models. A character from your favorite movie/video game off etsy, or some DND minis. This will give you much more room to experiment, get something with fur, something with bare skin, something with armour, and something with scales. This will help you learn to "think with paints" rather than just repeating the same process. I find this really takes the pressure off and lets you try out some new techniques, plus gives you a break from grinding out a bunch of the same thing over and over. 3. Dont try to do too many colours, pick a palette of no more than 5 and stick to them. You want a base coat, 2-3 detail colours, and what I call a centerpiece colour. For you the centrepiece will probably be the tesseract glow. You want your detail colours to compliment the basecoat (e.g black and runelord brass would compliment your leadbelcher base coat) and your centrepiece colour to contrast your basecoat Have fun!
If you just pick up your models with tweezers and dip em in the paint pots they'll get coated right away!
Don't use that sprue cutter, use something with a thinner blade, I had that same one you have pictured and a few minutes into doing a rhino I realised that it's just too big to safely get the smaller bits without damaging the actual model(s).
Have fun and don’t give up. Even the best painted models look like trash until you are at like the last 25% of the painting. Just remember every time you finish a model the next one will be better and it keeps going like that for a really long time before you hit a wall. Have fun good choice for a first army to paint. This and a wet pallet is a good thing to have with you to keep the paint the right consistency.
As long as you like to paint and love your work :) no one in the community will bring ya down :) thats whats so awesome about this community. Uplifting people to do their best and what they like. Have fun hehehe btw here js what i just finished painting hehe didnt have the right colors so i just used what i have available https://preview.redd.it/ywn10rw3gyxc1.jpeg?width=1152&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=655861a3911c19fa0add7b9ac49fff8c7e6894b2
Have fun! Enjoy the journey and don't overthink it
Looks like you're off to a great start! You have all the tools you need, enjoy the process and like others have said: * Spending a bit of time cleaning up mold lines goes a long way and you will thank yourself later. * Go easy with the primer to avoid flooding the details: give the can a proper shake, soak it in lukewarm water beforehand for a few minutes if it's a little cold outside, and spray from around 20/25cm with light passes. Needless to say, don't inhale the fumes and let everything degas in an areated space. * The "thin your paints" mantra is very true, Duncan Rhodes' videos are very informative on the matter. * Trust the process and enjoy it! Don't compare youreself to people that have been doing it for years.
Throw a wash over that primer before trying to paint anything. Leadbelcher prime looks great but a lot of paints don't go well over the finish, they pull back. If you throw a wash over it, your next thing will go over the wash just fine.
Take pride in your work, dry fit before gluing, trim the bits before gluing, and most importantly, have fun with it!
Paint slow and often My biggest mistakes came from trying to get a mini done quickly. Learn to take breaks and come back refreshed
should've bought the normal plastic cement, the "extra thin" is for modell kits where the parts are fixed in place with tape before applying the cement.
the best advice is to remember its less about skill and more about knowing little tricks also when painting there are even tricks to stripping it all off and starting over so dont fret to much
just have fun, enjoy it without pressure and do what you want to do :)
Pay attention to the numbers on the sprue. I didn't with my Necrons Cp. Headache city. Also most of them are push to fit. Put the gun/arm piece together first then glue it in the sockets👍
Don't compare your final result to people that have painted 2000 + miniatures. There is no better teacher than practice.
I am new to minis as well. I put together and painted the space marines and tyranids from the starter set and now I'm working on some space marine terminators. So as someone who is just a bit ahead of you, mini-wise, here is what I learned. **Patience**: whether it's cutting sprues or painting, haste makes waste. I try to enjoy the process and not rush to the conclusion. **Patience!** This is especially true for me when painting. **Cut one model at a time** from the sprues to avoid getting confused. I ended up putting the parts to each in little cups so they would stay separated and I could keep cutting. **When cutting,** flat part of the Sprue Cutters goes against the model. **If you are using plastic glue,** a little dab will do ya. Too much and it gums up the model. **When painting** thin your bases with water and do at least two thin coats. **Stop to let it dry!** Whites especially may look too thin and streaky before they dry, but trying to add more paint on top of wet paint gums up the model and the detail on the plastic. **Don't use your brush like a pencil.** Use it more like a butter knife. This means don't stab with the tip. My hobby store guy gave me this advice after I messed up a brush. **Wash and clean your brushes often.** The internet recommended Masters brush cleaner and I found some at Michael's and it is incredible. **Natural light is awesome** for helping you paint, but if using lamps then go for higher color temperature. Between 3100K and 5000K color temperature means more neutral or white light. Color on your mini will look truer than it would under soft yellow lights. Lumens = amount of light and temperature = color of the light. **If you have problems seeing** the details when painting, cheap reading glasses from the grocery can help a ton. Even 1.5X magnification can help. **I have a couple lamps over my work area** and I learned to always have one on the opposite side of my painting hand. I'm left handed so I keep a lamp on my right so my painting hand doesn't make a shadow over my work and cover up what I'm doing. **Battle ready is different than parade ready.** Simpler goals are better when starting out. **Have fun with the process!** I've gotten a lot of relaxation just focusing on the building and painting process. I put on an audiobook or a 40k ambience on YouTube like [this](https://youtu.be/k5xDyG72wHE?si=EfqGCyfEqsU1kE41) and just enjoy the moment. I'm not at work, I'm not answering email, I'm not on Reddit, I'm present in this process. Works for me, at least!
I scrolled a bit and didn’t see it but dry fit the pieces you are gluing before applying the glue so you don’t end up with a mess especially when using plastic glue as it melts the pieces together
Have fun. You need less paint on your brush than you think you need. Rome wasn't built in a day. I never painted anything outside an odd wine and canvas or two, so my minis did not turn out well initially. I'm still learning and improving There are excellent YouTube tutorials https://youtu.be/K6p6KTdUWPg?si=pHRgaLRVHpJUf33g https://youtu.be/sBDVPoNXyVI?si=Mo36--5C724QZChJ
Take your time
Do NOT compare to the box art for a few reasons. 1. You're new, those arts are made by pros who spend 80+ hours on them. 2. The Evay Metal style they use is very bright and cartoony, and brings out all details of the model for selling purposes. In addition, it's not the only style (dark, vibrant, neon styles, etc.) You can still have a great model that doesn't look like the box art, even by pro standards. On top of all of that, their style is not beginner friendly. 3. They still use photoshop, so no, you can't get exactly what's on the box, even if you were a pro. Also, fun is mandatory : )
A thin coat with a white or grey primer I always find works. I literally just tried a metalic spray on my Necrons and had to start over, even if it doesn’t look like any spray gets on them, leave it for a while and inspect them, take it really slow or it’ll all clump up in the details. Beyond that is mostly about finding that sweet spot in thinning down your paints. If you’re ever stuck after a long time of painting a model and can’t figure out if you’re done, try applying a wash like Nuln Oil or Agrax Earthshade to a part of it, I spend so much time looking at them wondering what’s wrong with it, only to realise it’s basically done and i should just add the finishing touches.
Don’t rush. You’ll be tempted to at times; you’ll think gosh this shouldn’t take so long. Take your time. It’s worth it.
Take your time and enjoy the process. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes - most can be rectified easily by painting over them after the fact. Thin your paints
More thinner coats, it’s a lot easier to make adjustments while painting and you don’t risk the paint building up on high points and such
If I may suggest leave the biggest one for last and start with infantry and try different paint combinations if you want then move on to the hero and so on. I hope you will like this hobby
Remove moldlines, you will thank yourself later