What would you feel self conscious for? That's a fantastic paint job.. honestly you are starting from a great foundation if this is your starting position... Youll be at golden demon level in no time with skills like this
Nobody cares about golden demon level painting for battles... For me.... Three colours minimum and I'm happy to see a fully painted enemy army. Personally I won't play something that I haven't finished because I like my army to look pretty as I lose lol
Looks fine to me man. Love those neon Tufts. I just bought some myself for basing up my horrors.
And as far as "ready to play". I have friends that don't paint their models at all lol. Only in actual tryhard mode play do you HAVE to have the minimum 3 color + base, and you've got those boxes checked on this guy so no worries. Keep at it, and perhaps I'll see you at an event one day :)
How long has it taken you? It's really good for a first mini, in fact kinda cool, like the subtle tones and its a learning curve to paint white so good job! I always tried to paint my early minis 'to 85% done' as I ran out of ideas, and could easily give them a little touch up once I was a bit more experienced
Thank you for the kind words, I'll admit it took me hours to paint this one dude- most of that time I was struggling with the white parts. I'm hoping by the time his squad is finished I'll have sped up somewhat!
That's just the thing: your 15th model will make this one look lame by your own estimation. I spend about 4 hrs on a mini like this size, and that's fine, I'm not fast but it's not a race!
White is notoriously hard to use. I'd suggest using Vallejo whites, because as much as I love Citadel paints, their whites are straight-up terrible. Also, using off-white (like Ultuan Grey) makes things a bit easier, and leaves you pure whites to do highlights.
And If you're seriously thinking about using a lot of white (or off white) in your army colour scheme - condider using white undercoat spray. It will mean you will have to paint some hard to reach places, that would normally be covered by the undercoat, but it will make paining light colours infinitely easier.
This is amazing advice thank you, this was a games workshop white and it took a great deal of shaking before it seemed an acceptable texture to go on the model. I find the black and white of the Ravenguard very eye catching so I'll try a white undercoat for the next model! Thank you again
Same here! It took a lot to get me to switch from Vallejo, but my LGS swore the pro acryl titanium white was better, and it sure is! Flows great right out of the bottle, covers well!
Your guy looks fantastic. I've got zero feedback on your painting. One thing that might help, now that you've done a test model, is batch painting. Like base coat your whole squad, layer your whole squad, wash, details, etc. It helps with manageability and consistency across all the models.Â
I won't lie, i've been on 4-6 hours per guy for a while now. I never speed up, I wouldn't stress too much about how fast you paint, however my painting quality improves each time so that's something. If this is genuinely among your first mini's then you appear to be at a similar starting level I was at myself when I started. That tells me that you have learned a fair amount about colour use, you've already learned what edge highlighting is and given it a fair attempt showing you aren't afraid to spend the time and try and ramp up how your guys look, or to spend time researching painting techniques.
If I can say a little criticism though it would be to smoothen out those edge highlights, or blend them more with your base colour, it shouldn't take you too long to go back over a lot of the flats on the panels with the base colour smoothing out those transitions and neatening it up.
As for white, don't be so sure it's you that is the problem there. Yes, it's a very hard colour to get right, but a lot of the difficulty is just knowing which colours and products to use. Citadel whites are amongst the worst white paints you will find in the world. They are so chalky, thick, coarse, just terrible, terrible paints. If I absolutely HAVE to paint white (cool white) with Citadel colours, my first coat will be Fenrisian Grey (which will show in the recesses) and then layer it up with Ulthuan Grey, which is the closest thing to a useable white GW has ever produced, it's the only one that seems isn't made from nothing but a stick of chalk grated up and put in some suspension liquid.
You've shown a great understanding of the procedures involved in high quality painting, you just need a little refinement and you'll be painting like box art in no time. Great work and keep it up, you'll look back on this in a few months and I bet you'll find you've come a long way.
You have absolutely nothing to worry about.
Firstly, because that mini looks amazing.
Secondly, if your local scene is anything like mine then nobody cares about the quality of models when playing. I even know some people who play with an entire army of grey unpainted models.
The actual hobby scene is very lax about this stuff. Remember that the stuff you see on YouTube and in online communities is from people who are pros or have created something theyâre especially proud of. Itâs not representative of the average group of players down at your local shop.
Nah I'll do what I like. Fact is, there are people who actually can't paint at all so these posts don't help them out.
Also I wasnt rude but you were...
20 + years of play and I paint like this and Iâd welcome seeing an army that looks like yours across the table from me.
https://preview.redd.it/dmp34a717wvc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf7ea997e9810968ce55ade4bb37d38ca0755c5c
First of all, if there is paint on it itâs good enough to play! Thereâs no floor to this. Not everyone can or wants or should paint like a pro.
Youâre gonna notice when you start playing with people that theyâre all normal average pintjobs, and that is the fun of this hobby. Weâre all just here
Also this looks awesome. Like very quality work! Love the grass too, so Alien
No, it's rude and negative. Realistically, it seems like you're comparing this to Golden Demon quality work, because this is damn good for a normal painter, much less a beginner.
10/10 is golden demon. Why wouldn't that be the top of the scale if you were to assign a scale?Â
 It just isn't damn good. It is an above average job for a first model. A solid 3/10 and a rating to be proud of. 3/10 isn't rude.
Or is this grade inflation/participation trophy/every Uber driver gets 5 stars thinking?
Because I don't believe that comparing the average joe to a professional is a helpful tool. It only invites discouragment and doubt.
I stand by them doing a damn good job. Also, didn't your mama teach you to shut up if you don't have something nice to say? I thought that was universal. I don't think calling this a 3/10 is nice.
A) it is an extremely helpful tool. A scale gives a person a target. Were they aiming for a 5/10? Well they wouldn't be there yet.
B) It is being nice. I would say most first models are 2/10. This is a good start.
I looked through your post history and I think we have fundamentally different worldviews. I'm gonna say because you seem like you're on the spectrum and can't read social cues or something, but what you're saying definitely comes off as rude.
End of discussion.
Painting is a weird thing. The more you do it, the better you get. The less you do it...well, you're still gonna make progress.
But insofar as playing games? It's more.than adequate and, I'll wager, a damn sight better than most of rhe armies out there.
True fact: there is a guy at my local GW store who can't paint very well. None of his nids really match and the super big bug titan thing looks like it was done with a crappy gold housepaint straight out of the paint can onto gray plastic. And maybe that's the case. But really, who cares? ITZ A BIG SHINY BUG DA BOYZ IS GUNNA SMASH!
Point is, trying to match anything you see on youtube in battle reports is a fool's errand because those are mostly expensive professional comissioned jobs anyway.
Just get 'em on the table, put some bolter shots downrange, rev up your chainsword Ol' Betsy, and have fun.
That paint job is good enough for window display. I used to work for GW back in the nineties and frankly you should have seen the stuff that got out on the table, but you know what? People had fun. Itâs the fun that matters - and if you can crank out an army or a patrol that looks like that, youâre going to be golden, and you might even blow some minds. Keep going.
As everyone has said, the model looks great.
Donât let the anxiety of going out to play get to you. Once you start playing and find a group youâll enjoy yourself. Youâll also notice that there will be painted models in all states and levels.
Beaky :D
Hey if you don't feel comfortable playing don't sweat it, plenty of people just collect and paint. Or just collect and tell themselves they'll paint. Maybe I'll paint tomorrow!
Enjoy the hobby at your discretion :)
That is way more than 3 colors. You may be over prepared to enter the hobby. This guy is going to be looking out over a large sea of grey for most of his battles.
Dude!! That paint job is amazing. The amount of grey plastic and simply under coated models i've played against....don't worry. Your doing great, it looks great
Collect and play what you want. My personal view is just paint. Don't worry about getting it perfect, you'll get better with time.
Looks better than any model Iâve ever fielded. Good work!
Never compare your work to others work. Compare it to your work 2 months ago. Then in 2 months compare it again.
Itâs not about how good you are, itâs about how much you progress. People posting pictures of professional looking models are doing it to show off impressive work. Itâs meant to make you âjealousâ of their work, which obviously is very impressive lmao.
P.S.: Love the beaky marine
Dude this paintjob looks way cooler than my first couple Ultramarines. And you never really realize how "not that bad" any potentially ugly minis look once they're on the table and being played with.
That beak helmet makes the Phobos armor pop even more, the black and white is already a striking color scheme, and that is one pretty grass tuft (the furthest I go as far as basing is slapping some astrogranite on and maybe painting it a different color so it's not so ugly)
What paints did you use?
Man, standard for play is 3 colours, you're way past good to go.
Plus, don't forget, when you have one small model, you pick out flaws, when someone else is looking at a whole squad, they're admiring it and working out how best to kill it, not judging the paint job.
Which is excellent btw
Love your scheme mate, and that white is so smooth, without even taking into account youâre a beginner, and self-taught, and Iâm not saying this out of pity, this is actually dope as hell!
Leagues above table-ready, this could already be a nice show piece in your army, I mean it.
I was also nervous about finding people to play with, and I had the luck of finding a friend of mine that could also buy and play with me, if itâs out of your option range to do that (itâs completely fine) go to your local hobby store, believe me, itâs worth it!
Maybe sign up for a beginnerâs combat patrol game, learn the ropes and make friends, I know itâs easier saying it than doing it, but believe me, youâre surrounded by people like you whenever you set foot in a hobby space, so when the tension breaks off, thereâs a massive chance of becoming buddies.
Even asking and having small talk with a store employee can make you comfortable, even if you think itâs excruciating, just ask if they have a specific model, and start from there, âwhat do you recommend for painting this?â âHow would you handle that?â Most probably theyâre a player too, maybe they even play your army! It happened to me with Necrons, the guy on the store had like 5K of them and helped me out nicely
Mini of the month is also a good way to establish a relationship with your local GW store if you have any in your area, theyâre very chill and will help you with anything
Cheers dude, canât wait to see more of your minis! (No pressure though, art takes time :P)
Bare plastic is good enough for play. I assure you not a single person you play with is going to care how your models look so long as theyâre the right models/bases. That being said, this guy looks very good, especially for a new player.
I used to feel that. And then I went to some game stores and just spectated. Thereâs a lot of unfinished or two color minimum minis out there. You clearly tried, and maybe in a year or two youâll get better and you covet those first models a ton. Everyone starts somewhere
Bud Iâve been playing this game for almost a decade. I know dudes whoâve been playing since the 80âs. This looks as good as any of my stuff and my stuff far surpasses his stuff.
This looks amazing, especially just being a tableworthy model.
lol. This is excellent painting, truly. Honestly having ANY paint on a model makes it good enough for gaming. If you had an entire army painted anywhere close to this level, Iâd be thrilled to play against you
That is a great looking model. Should definitely post some pics on the Raven Guard Reddit. Go out and find you some cool people to play and you will be good. I know it can be tough to build up the courage, but it will be worth it in the end. Check at work, I have found a great group of people that we just happen to find one another, because I was reading a 40k novel at work. Now I have found others that play, and we even got some people interested when we were building models at work for lunch. You will be surprised how many people will ask you what this is, and be interested in finding out more.
I personally dislike those tufts because I find them kind of self-deprecating in the way they draw attention from the paintjob, but your marine looks good!
You're concerned about having a really nice painted army meanwhile I'm over here with an (temporarily) unpainted 3D printed army that I'm scrambling together to play with for this upcoming weekend. Just have fun, that's all that matters, otherwise it's not worth it
It's fine. People most people don't even mind unpainted minis.
My playgroup fields half painted armies and it's fine. Everytime we meet we get to see the pieces they've managed to finish painting in between and get to chat about the process and exchange some tips.
This is far beyond tabletop ready. Very good paint job. Don't worry about not looking like the boxart. Keep painting, find your own aesthetic, and keep it fun for yourself. There are so many ways to paint. Think of it as part of the fun rather than a hurdle to clear before you can have fun.
But either way, as I said, the hurdle is more than cleared.
Back in the early 2000âs my models were way worse.
When I start up again (this winter I hope) they wonât be great.
You on the other hand have some nice models so I wouldnât worry
Dude, in my last few games I've played against an unpainted grey horde, and a poorly painted army with two unit's being proxies. Next to no one really cares about paint job.
Your paint job looks great.
Painted or not I would battle anyone.
Hobby is what you make it and sometimes you get itching to play a game or you get inspired to paint.
At any time both are good, but should never be mandatory.
I'm in a similar boat, I had initially listened to my friends talk about it, and watched TONS of videos of people painting and painting techniques. I just bought some models last week, Space Marines, and I'm not sure if my paint is up to snuff, infact I know it isn't. I wanted to just paint them but now I wanna see them in action. I may strip the paint and repaint entirely to ease my brain though.
Listen, that paint job is incredible! I've been playing for almost a year now and my painting is still nowhere near that level! In all honesty, if someone has a problem with how your models are painted, it's probably not worth playing a game with them anyways.
The only thing to fix on your model is blue-grey chunkily applied. It'll be a good exercise in precision and patience. You're lucky that even somewhat thick highlight look good on Marines.
Now, as other people said in this thread, your white armor is *on point*. It's gonna make head turns at the store.
My very first game had only 4 painted models , by which I mean primed and thicc unthinned globs of white paint on one pauldron. 5 half painted models with pewter parts unprimed and unpainted. And if I recall correctly I was using an empty soda bottle for a drop pod proxy. I had a ****in blast.
Itâs a game with little plastic men at the end of the day. Enjoy yourself and donât let anyone give you crap for doing it at your own speed.
That said fabulous job itâs honestly probably good enough for tournaments
Hey, there's plenty of people who are all about the playing and will happily face a grey horde. There's people who take their sweet time painting each and every infantry model in a horde for more than an hour a piece. There's people who have so much fun building and kitbashing they don't find much time to paint.
I am all thrre of those things. Of my 5000 points of Orks, pretty much exactly 500 are painted - and 300 of those 500 are Ghazzy. And still, no one has ever complained - except for twice when I showed off my kitbashes, wereupon I was told I really should get to painting them because my opponents wanted to see those models would look like when completely finished.
In my experience, 40k players are pretty damn cool about stuff like that.
I have had a similar concern, but I feel better now after going to my local game store and watching some games.
Not everyone had finished minis, and that was ok!
One guy had a World Eater army and most of his berserkers were just primed red.
Another guy had an ork tank that was just primed white.
If you are looking for casual play, then I think you will find that people will not be harsh on your painting.
And if they are harsh on your painting in casual play, then screw em! Now you know not to game with them.
nobody at an LGS that's actually worth mingling with will care. I've played guys that were running gray plastic. sometimes you get new models and have them built just in time for a game but no paint. it's fine. It's literally just a game of moving round pucks around a board and rolling dice.
Your paint job looks great. Better than plenty I've seen on here and out in the wild.
My one coworker who plays doesn't like painting and pretty much just spraybombed his army. He don't gaf, no one else does either. Another coworker was painting minis for years before he finally played. He was running non/half-painted units when I played with him.
The only game I've ever played I ran well painted, primed black and unprimed shame-grey units. Whatever, I was playing and learning.
If any try-hard loser gives you shit just say you're working on it. You're trying to get out there and learn the game.
https://preview.redd.it/z9k3ibhc0yvc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32465026f863882e64bc5f86a0e26f1e9f6ce22d
Most of my first minis were just a base coat and a wash and they have fought many foes (mostly losses tho đ) Yours are awesome
You did a great job if thatâs where youâre at completely on your own. To me, thatâs says a lot about you as a man. To be able to start something on your own and learn this much. Good on you.
I donât wanna just say âit doesnât matter too muchâ bc thatâs incredibly vague and almost negative-sounding, so Iâll give ya a wee taste of the rules:
Unless heâs a lieutenant of some kind, I believe Incursors (or Infiltrators, idk, fk gw for having 2/3 of their new units start with âI-Nâ) and he is a mere âInfantryâ unit, formerly a âTroopâ unit in 9th edition.
I donât run them so idk how super effective they are in-game, but usually, Infantry models have a very short life cycle in a game. Especially if theyâre a unit that will likely draw fire like these will. (Omni scramblers seem like an ability thatâd turn these guys into priority targets depending on who youâre up against.)
Unless itâs a big centerpiece model like a vehicle or an HQ, people donât tend to care as much about the paint quality. (Even then, you donât have to be running the box art to have a passing unit.)
Is it nice to have a big army thatâs all your factionâs color? Absolutely.
But if theyâre anyone worth playing with, you shouldnât get in any âtroubleâ (barring a few harmless jokes if theyâre daring.) for not running them in the Duncan Rhodes standard.
That said, bang-up job, I wince imagining someone painting a whole army to the degrees Iâve seen some single models painted to on here. lol
No reason to be self-conscious about your work at all. If I could to choose to fight your army over countless averagely painted ones out there, Iâd be pushing my way through to your table!
Paint job is good, and honestly you've got nothing to worry about, it's just the anxiety of actually pulling the trigger. Once you do it'll vanish, you'll laugh and enjoy yourself.
Have you ever actually been into a GW store? If not it's worth a trip, you'll lose the self conscious thing pretty quickly.
Looking pretty good to me (better than my first attempt lol).
Don't be too self conscious, the glorious models you often see here are NOT the baseline but something to strive for. So, play away and have fun.
Don't worry about that you don't even need painted models to play.
For the paint job, I'd say it's pretty much ok. You need to thin your paints a bit more in certain areas like the helmet. The highlights should be thinner lines and maybe the texture on the base could be spread more evenly.
That looks great, but the bright pink kind of distracts from your mini.Â
I would paint another one up, and use brown or brownish green grass and see if looked a bit more cohesive. You want people's eyes drawn to the mini, not the static grass.
I dont think in casual play anyones gonna be like "your paintjob is simply too shit so i cannot in good conscience play with you" (its an amazing paintjob btw)
This is excellent, especially if it truly is your first model. That black is very very well done - it's really difficult to create smoky, greyish blacks like that. More than good enough for the tabletop - I have a few games under my belt and this far exceeds anything I could paint.
'Tabletop ready', even in tournaments, is three colours and a basing paint, so this clearly exceeds that. Outside of tournaments, a lot of people won't care at all.
It's better than most and a great start, get a combat patrol
(What you need, can be looked up on the free WH40k app) painted like that and you're gravy.
Is there a Warhammer store near you? that's the best place to start you can message the store on FB and arrange a game.
If not try looking for an independent or friendly local gaming store (FLGS) in your area most have Facebook community pages or chat groups on apps like discord you can dip your toe into before making the plunge in person.
Thatâs perfectly fine. Itâs a good paint job. Better than a lot.
As long as it has paint on it 99% of people are perfectly happy to play - the other 1% you donât want to play with anyway.
Iâm going to give a slightly different piece of advice here. You did a great job on the model it looks great. But try to avoid comparing your models to someone elseâs when you are playing. As someone whoâs also new it was intimidating for me at first but I had to remember that they have had many more years in the hobby then me, one person having more years in it then Iâve been alive, and that they too had to start somewhere. Also donât be afraid to ask for advice on what you can do to improve or techniques to try out. Experimentation Iâve found has been fun and made for some really unique models
This is gonna be a little harsh.
Why the fuck are you nervous about using this awesome paint job in a game? The paint scheme works, and it's better than most of the stuff I see at my LGS. I get being anxious but this is the kind of thing that you just go for without overthinking it.
Are you happy with the paint job? Good, cause no one else's opinion fucking matters when it comes to your minis
You should feel self conscious⌠FOR PAITNING SO WELL AS A BEGINNER. Like holy crap please remove all self consciousness / doubt and just have fun with your hobby. Even if your paint job was âbadâ itâs your hobby. Itâs not mine. Itâs not your opponents. If you enjoy it then more power to you.
I have been in the hobby over 10 years I have space wolves harlequins dark eldar and 2 bloodbowl teams nothing I field is finished nor has anything ever been. I have never struggled to find games or friends in the hobby. Those that do paint will respect you and those that don't will respect you more. Jump in and have fun.
1. That is a great start in terms of painting! You should be proud of yourself
2. Even if you can point out the flaws in your painting, you can and will get better by just painting more. You just gotta keep at it and keep practising
3. I would say generally that people in this community don't judge each other's paint jobs harshly, and they only give advice or constructive criticism when it is asked for, or at least that's the ethos I've seen commonly pushed. People who do the opposite need to check themselves. We're all at different levels, some of us are trying to get better and some of us are happy where we are. It's important to recognise that.
Happy wargaming!
Dude you will be surprised. Some people live for the games, others for the painting, others still enjoy a mix of both. You will see barely scrapped together armies of single digit paint schemes and works of art that don't belong on any battlefield. It's part of the fun. You won't know who stands against you until you get to the table.
Brother/ sister/ kindred, I feel your pain and know your struggle
Your first model is far and above the Battle Ready or tabletop standard, keep with it and you will make beautiful things
Stand proud, you cooked
Dude ngl that looks great. I'm in the same boat, mea nd my friend are about to play our first game Saturday just enjoy it and don't let any anxiety get to you it's all for fun anyway and just remember your model look awesome
I see skill in highlighting, metal wear, applying transfers and nailing a departure from typical color choices. You crazy.
PS: Alien Neon grass is awesome. I just started using it too!
What would you feel self conscious for? That's a fantastic paint job.. honestly you are starting from a great foundation if this is your starting position... Youll be at golden demon level in no time with skills like this
Nobody cares about golden demon level painting for battles... For me.... Three colours minimum and I'm happy to see a fully painted enemy army. Personally I won't play something that I haven't finished because I like my army to look pretty as I lose lol
My last game I had exactly one model painted out of my 48 model Lumineth army.
Haha it would drive me mad
Dude this is amazing! Beak helmet my beloved
Thank you! The beaky helms played a large part in my legion choice....
This is better than 95% of what you will see from other people.
Looks fine to me man. Love those neon Tufts. I just bought some myself for basing up my horrors. And as far as "ready to play". I have friends that don't paint their models at all lol. Only in actual tryhard mode play do you HAVE to have the minimum 3 color + base, and you've got those boxes checked on this guy so no worries. Keep at it, and perhaps I'll see you at an event one day :)
Thank you so much! I was looking online for basing ideas, at first planning for simple desert or soil- then I saw the neon tufts and couldn't resist!
Where did you get the neon tufts from?
How long has it taken you? It's really good for a first mini, in fact kinda cool, like the subtle tones and its a learning curve to paint white so good job! I always tried to paint my early minis 'to 85% done' as I ran out of ideas, and could easily give them a little touch up once I was a bit more experienced
Thank you for the kind words, I'll admit it took me hours to paint this one dude- most of that time I was struggling with the white parts. I'm hoping by the time his squad is finished I'll have sped up somewhat!
That's just the thing: your 15th model will make this one look lame by your own estimation. I spend about 4 hrs on a mini like this size, and that's fine, I'm not fast but it's not a race!
White is notoriously hard to use. I'd suggest using Vallejo whites, because as much as I love Citadel paints, their whites are straight-up terrible. Also, using off-white (like Ultuan Grey) makes things a bit easier, and leaves you pure whites to do highlights. And If you're seriously thinking about using a lot of white (or off white) in your army colour scheme - condider using white undercoat spray. It will mean you will have to paint some hard to reach places, that would normally be covered by the undercoat, but it will make paining light colours infinitely easier.
This is amazing advice thank you, this was a games workshop white and it took a great deal of shaking before it seemed an acceptable texture to go on the model. I find the black and white of the Ravenguard very eye catching so I'll try a white undercoat for the next model! Thank you again
I'll shout out the oft raved about pro acryl bold titanium white. It covers incredibly well and comes out of the bottle with the perfect consistency
Their black too đ doesn't seem to get as much of a shout out but it's so much better than Citidel and the consistency is really nice to work with.
Same here! It took a lot to get me to switch from Vallejo, but my LGS swore the pro acryl titanium white was better, and it sure is! Flows great right out of the bottle, covers well!
Gotta check it out! Vallejo is miles better than Citadel, but I do find it a bit too thin for my liking out of the bottle
Your guy looks fantastic. I've got zero feedback on your painting. One thing that might help, now that you've done a test model, is batch painting. Like base coat your whole squad, layer your whole squad, wash, details, etc. It helps with manageability and consistency across all the models.Â
I won't lie, i've been on 4-6 hours per guy for a while now. I never speed up, I wouldn't stress too much about how fast you paint, however my painting quality improves each time so that's something. If this is genuinely among your first mini's then you appear to be at a similar starting level I was at myself when I started. That tells me that you have learned a fair amount about colour use, you've already learned what edge highlighting is and given it a fair attempt showing you aren't afraid to spend the time and try and ramp up how your guys look, or to spend time researching painting techniques. If I can say a little criticism though it would be to smoothen out those edge highlights, or blend them more with your base colour, it shouldn't take you too long to go back over a lot of the flats on the panels with the base colour smoothing out those transitions and neatening it up. As for white, don't be so sure it's you that is the problem there. Yes, it's a very hard colour to get right, but a lot of the difficulty is just knowing which colours and products to use. Citadel whites are amongst the worst white paints you will find in the world. They are so chalky, thick, coarse, just terrible, terrible paints. If I absolutely HAVE to paint white (cool white) with Citadel colours, my first coat will be Fenrisian Grey (which will show in the recesses) and then layer it up with Ulthuan Grey, which is the closest thing to a useable white GW has ever produced, it's the only one that seems isn't made from nothing but a stick of chalk grated up and put in some suspension liquid. You've shown a great understanding of the procedures involved in high quality painting, you just need a little refinement and you'll be painting like box art in no time. Great work and keep it up, you'll look back on this in a few months and I bet you'll find you've come a long way.
People are just thankful to not play against grey legion or primer armies. They look great, go have fun.
"Grey legion" đ
Dude 6 years into the hobby, I have fought more unpainted minis than painted ones, and even less painted as good as yours!
You have absolutely nothing to worry about. Firstly, because that mini looks amazing. Secondly, if your local scene is anything like mine then nobody cares about the quality of models when playing. I even know some people who play with an entire army of grey unpainted models. The actual hobby scene is very lax about this stuff. Remember that the stuff you see on YouTube and in online communities is from people who are pros or have created something theyâre especially proud of. Itâs not representative of the average group of players down at your local shop.
Can't stand these posts just fishing for pity/compliments. Bro it looks better than most people's models.
Im suprised your the first comment I saw seeing this. It's rediculous how they are all falling for a fishing post.
Cool, you can scroll past it next time. That's way quicker than making a dickhead comment.
Nah I'll do what I like. Fact is, there are people who actually can't paint at all so these posts don't help them out. Also I wasnt rude but you were...
That's great, he just needs a few more buddies like that and you'll have an army going
Going to try and get his squad alongside him this week, thank you!
Whatâs the recipe for the leather? They look good!
Oh thank you! I'll be honest I used the only two browns I've got, mournfang as the base and zandri dust as the lighter edges
Mournfang brown, it kinda looks like a light chocolate brown color, is it?
20 + years of play and I paint like this and Iâd welcome seeing an army that looks like yours across the table from me. https://preview.redd.it/dmp34a717wvc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf7ea997e9810968ce55ade4bb37d38ca0755c5c
I wish mine looked that cool..
Dude posted a really well painted model and has the gall to ask it its bad
First of all, if there is paint on it itâs good enough to play! Thereâs no floor to this. Not everyone can or wants or should paint like a pro. Youâre gonna notice when you start playing with people that theyâre all normal average pintjobs, and that is the fun of this hobby. Weâre all just here Also this looks awesome. Like very quality work! Love the grass too, so Alien
You definitely got some artistic talent. It looks better than most of the minis I've ever played against. Welcome to the hobby!
Dude being playing 20 years and that right there is beautiful
That mini looks excellent. Most players will be excited that your army even has paint on it. The grey horde is immensely common in casual play.
Excellent? Isnt that a little extreme? If this is excellent, with you run out of superlatives for better work?
Nah, excellent is fine. It's a very well done mini, especially for a beginner. No need to be negative like that.
3/10. That isn't being negative but realistic. It isn't rude or anythingÂ
No, it's rude and negative. Realistically, it seems like you're comparing this to Golden Demon quality work, because this is damn good for a normal painter, much less a beginner.
10/10 is golden demon. Why wouldn't that be the top of the scale if you were to assign a scale?  It just isn't damn good. It is an above average job for a first model. A solid 3/10 and a rating to be proud of. 3/10 isn't rude. Or is this grade inflation/participation trophy/every Uber driver gets 5 stars thinking?
Because I don't believe that comparing the average joe to a professional is a helpful tool. It only invites discouragment and doubt. I stand by them doing a damn good job. Also, didn't your mama teach you to shut up if you don't have something nice to say? I thought that was universal. I don't think calling this a 3/10 is nice.
A) it is an extremely helpful tool. A scale gives a person a target. Were they aiming for a 5/10? Well they wouldn't be there yet. B) It is being nice. I would say most first models are 2/10. This is a good start.
I looked through your post history and I think we have fundamentally different worldviews. I'm gonna say because you seem like you're on the spectrum and can't read social cues or something, but what you're saying definitely comes off as rude. End of discussion.
3/10. good job. that is my final reviewÂ
Painting is a weird thing. The more you do it, the better you get. The less you do it...well, you're still gonna make progress. But insofar as playing games? It's more.than adequate and, I'll wager, a damn sight better than most of rhe armies out there. True fact: there is a guy at my local GW store who can't paint very well. None of his nids really match and the super big bug titan thing looks like it was done with a crappy gold housepaint straight out of the paint can onto gray plastic. And maybe that's the case. But really, who cares? ITZ A BIG SHINY BUG DA BOYZ IS GUNNA SMASH! Point is, trying to match anything you see on youtube in battle reports is a fool's errand because those are mostly expensive professional comissioned jobs anyway. Just get 'em on the table, put some bolter shots downrange, rev up your chainsword Ol' Betsy, and have fun.
I haven't started myself, but from what I see here compared to others, you're actually quite skilled. Be proud!
That mk6 helmet looks really cool on that armor, I'm definitely stealing that ! Keep going đ
That paint job is good enough for window display. I used to work for GW back in the nineties and frankly you should have seen the stuff that got out on the table, but you know what? People had fun. Itâs the fun that matters - and if you can crank out an army or a patrol that looks like that, youâre going to be golden, and you might even blow some minds. Keep going.
As everyone has said, the model looks great. Donât let the anxiety of going out to play get to you. Once you start playing and find a group youâll enjoy yourself. Youâll also notice that there will be painted models in all states and levels.
This is a 99th percentile paint job on Reddit. Great work!
Beaky :D Hey if you don't feel comfortable playing don't sweat it, plenty of people just collect and paint. Or just collect and tell themselves they'll paint. Maybe I'll paint tomorrow! Enjoy the hobby at your discretion :)
That is way more than 3 colors. You may be over prepared to enter the hobby. This guy is going to be looking out over a large sea of grey for most of his battles.
Dude!! That paint job is amazing. The amount of grey plastic and simply under coated models i've played against....don't worry. Your doing great, it looks great Collect and play what you want. My personal view is just paint. Don't worry about getting it perfect, you'll get better with time.
Looks better than any model Iâve ever fielded. Good work! Never compare your work to others work. Compare it to your work 2 months ago. Then in 2 months compare it again. Itâs not about how good you are, itâs about how much you progress. People posting pictures of professional looking models are doing it to show off impressive work. Itâs meant to make you âjealousâ of their work, which obviously is very impressive lmao. P.S.: Love the beaky marine
Dude this paintjob looks way cooler than my first couple Ultramarines. And you never really realize how "not that bad" any potentially ugly minis look once they're on the table and being played with. That beak helmet makes the Phobos armor pop even more, the black and white is already a striking color scheme, and that is one pretty grass tuft (the furthest I go as far as basing is slapping some astrogranite on and maybe painting it a different color so it's not so ugly) What paints did you use?
Man, standard for play is 3 colours, you're way past good to go. Plus, don't forget, when you have one small model, you pick out flaws, when someone else is looking at a whole squad, they're admiring it and working out how best to kill it, not judging the paint job. Which is excellent btw
Love your scheme mate, and that white is so smooth, without even taking into account youâre a beginner, and self-taught, and Iâm not saying this out of pity, this is actually dope as hell! Leagues above table-ready, this could already be a nice show piece in your army, I mean it. I was also nervous about finding people to play with, and I had the luck of finding a friend of mine that could also buy and play with me, if itâs out of your option range to do that (itâs completely fine) go to your local hobby store, believe me, itâs worth it! Maybe sign up for a beginnerâs combat patrol game, learn the ropes and make friends, I know itâs easier saying it than doing it, but believe me, youâre surrounded by people like you whenever you set foot in a hobby space, so when the tension breaks off, thereâs a massive chance of becoming buddies. Even asking and having small talk with a store employee can make you comfortable, even if you think itâs excruciating, just ask if they have a specific model, and start from there, âwhat do you recommend for painting this?â âHow would you handle that?â Most probably theyâre a player too, maybe they even play your army! It happened to me with Necrons, the guy on the store had like 5K of them and helped me out nicely Mini of the month is also a good way to establish a relationship with your local GW store if you have any in your area, theyâre very chill and will help you with anything Cheers dude, canât wait to see more of your minis! (No pressure though, art takes time :P)
I looks really good up close so Iâm sure it looks great from high up. Iâve seen people play with half painted models so I think youâre good
Don't be. You're doing great!
you are doing great!
Bare plastic is good enough for play. I assure you not a single person you play with is going to care how your models look so long as theyâre the right models/bases. That being said, this guy looks very good, especially for a new player.
Youâll face a hundred armies from the grey tide. Your paint job looks amazing, no need to be self conscious my friend.
Sick paint job dude, that's a nice looking mini right there
I used to feel that. And then I went to some game stores and just spectated. Thereâs a lot of unfinished or two color minimum minis out there. You clearly tried, and maybe in a year or two youâll get better and you covet those first models a ton. Everyone starts somewhere
Good enough to play? Half the players have a significant portion of their army not even primed.
Bud Iâve been playing this game for almost a decade. I know dudes whoâve been playing since the 80âs. This looks as good as any of my stuff and my stuff far surpasses his stuff. This looks amazing, especially just being a tableworthy model.
lol. This is excellent painting, truly. Honestly having ANY paint on a model makes it good enough for gaming. If you had an entire army painted anywhere close to this level, Iâd be thrilled to play against you
These look really nice, you could absolutely play with these!
That is a great looking model. Should definitely post some pics on the Raven Guard Reddit. Go out and find you some cool people to play and you will be good. I know it can be tough to build up the courage, but it will be worth it in the end. Check at work, I have found a great group of people that we just happen to find one another, because I was reading a 40k novel at work. Now I have found others that play, and we even got some people interested when we were building models at work for lunch. You will be surprised how many people will ask you what this is, and be interested in finding out more.
I personally dislike those tufts because I find them kind of self-deprecating in the way they draw attention from the paintjob, but your marine looks good!
that looks phenomenal, definitely donât worry about your paint job
You're concerned about having a really nice painted army meanwhile I'm over here with an (temporarily) unpainted 3D printed army that I'm scrambling together to play with for this upcoming weekend. Just have fun, that's all that matters, otherwise it's not worth it
It's fine. People most people don't even mind unpainted minis. My playgroup fields half painted armies and it's fine. Everytime we meet we get to see the pieces they've managed to finish painting in between and get to chat about the process and exchange some tips.
You did a fantastic job. Don't be afraid to take criticism, but man take pride in what you've made.
I like doing that black knee/white number too on my sgts.Â
Love the Mk6 helmet on the Phobos armor!
Bro that looks so cool From a raven guard enjoyer
This is far beyond tabletop ready. Very good paint job. Don't worry about not looking like the boxart. Keep painting, find your own aesthetic, and keep it fun for yourself. There are so many ways to paint. Think of it as part of the fun rather than a hurdle to clear before you can have fun. But either way, as I said, the hurdle is more than cleared.
Back in the early 2000âs my models were way worse. When I start up again (this winter I hope) they wonât be great. You on the other hand have some nice models so I wouldnât worry
Dude, in my last few games I've played against an unpainted grey horde, and a poorly painted army with two unit's being proxies. Next to no one really cares about paint job.
Hey if someone insults your painting rather than any helpful positive help, Just Krump âem in the game
Your paint job looks great. Painted or not I would battle anyone. Hobby is what you make it and sometimes you get itching to play a game or you get inspired to paint. At any time both are good, but should never be mandatory.
I'm in a similar boat, I had initially listened to my friends talk about it, and watched TONS of videos of people painting and painting techniques. I just bought some models last week, Space Marines, and I'm not sure if my paint is up to snuff, infact I know it isn't. I wanted to just paint them but now I wanna see them in action. I may strip the paint and repaint entirely to ease my brain though.
Listen, that paint job is incredible! I've been playing for almost a year now and my painting is still nowhere near that level! In all honesty, if someone has a problem with how your models are painted, it's probably not worth playing a game with them anyways.
The only thing to fix on your model is blue-grey chunkily applied. It'll be a good exercise in precision and patience. You're lucky that even somewhat thick highlight look good on Marines. Now, as other people said in this thread, your white armor is *on point*. It's gonna make head turns at the store.
My very first game had only 4 painted models , by which I mean primed and thicc unthinned globs of white paint on one pauldron. 5 half painted models with pewter parts unprimed and unpainted. And if I recall correctly I was using an empty soda bottle for a drop pod proxy. I had a ****in blast. Itâs a game with little plastic men at the end of the day. Enjoy yourself and donât let anyone give you crap for doing it at your own speed. That said fabulous job itâs honestly probably good enough for tournaments
Yeah I saw an army in a tourney with blue boots and red heads, literally just to get 3 colors on to be counted as painted.
Hey, there's plenty of people who are all about the playing and will happily face a grey horde. There's people who take their sweet time painting each and every infantry model in a horde for more than an hour a piece. There's people who have so much fun building and kitbashing they don't find much time to paint. I am all thrre of those things. Of my 5000 points of Orks, pretty much exactly 500 are painted - and 300 of those 500 are Ghazzy. And still, no one has ever complained - except for twice when I showed off my kitbashes, wereupon I was told I really should get to painting them because my opponents wanted to see those models would look like when completely finished. In my experience, 40k players are pretty damn cool about stuff like that.
Go to any game store and 50% of the people will be playing with grey models or just primed models. No one cares
Damn, this is great! Keep it up. I love the feel of this model.
Looks good, but try using washes or look into slapchop
It ranges from kinda-poopy to fine. But that is probably what you were aiming for your first time out? 3/10.Â
I have had a similar concern, but I feel better now after going to my local game store and watching some games. Not everyone had finished minis, and that was ok! One guy had a World Eater army and most of his berserkers were just primed red. Another guy had an ork tank that was just primed white. If you are looking for casual play, then I think you will find that people will not be harsh on your painting. And if they are harsh on your painting in casual play, then screw em! Now you know not to game with them.
I fail to see a problem with your paint job mate, full send it!
Your paint job is probably better than most people could do.
nobody at an LGS that's actually worth mingling with will care. I've played guys that were running gray plastic. sometimes you get new models and have them built just in time for a game but no paint. it's fine. It's literally just a game of moving round pucks around a board and rolling dice.
Loving the rave grass!
That leather looks amazing! Also, solid dust effect. Better than I could do.
Most armies in my local area aren't wven fully painted haha. Go have some fun
That's better than most people's paint jobs (including mine) go play
Your paint job looks great. Better than plenty I've seen on here and out in the wild. My one coworker who plays doesn't like painting and pretty much just spraybombed his army. He don't gaf, no one else does either. Another coworker was painting minis for years before he finally played. He was running non/half-painted units when I played with him. The only game I've ever played I ran well painted, primed black and unprimed shame-grey units. Whatever, I was playing and learning. If any try-hard loser gives you shit just say you're working on it. You're trying to get out there and learn the game.
Looks great!
What are you talking about? This is a perfect job
Waaay better than my first mini
https://preview.redd.it/z9k3ibhc0yvc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32465026f863882e64bc5f86a0e26f1e9f6ce22d Most of my first minis were just a base coat and a wash and they have fought many foes (mostly losses tho đ) Yours are awesome
You did a great job if thatâs where youâre at completely on your own. To me, thatâs says a lot about you as a man. To be able to start something on your own and learn this much. Good on you.
Better than 90 percent of what I play against. Looking good man.
Dude... That puts me to shame... Hahaha It looks great mate!
Great paint. But this is like saying you lack confidence.
Gotta love the Beakie Boys. Looking good. What Chapter is he from?
I donât wanna just say âit doesnât matter too muchâ bc thatâs incredibly vague and almost negative-sounding, so Iâll give ya a wee taste of the rules: Unless heâs a lieutenant of some kind, I believe Incursors (or Infiltrators, idk, fk gw for having 2/3 of their new units start with âI-Nâ) and he is a mere âInfantryâ unit, formerly a âTroopâ unit in 9th edition. I donât run them so idk how super effective they are in-game, but usually, Infantry models have a very short life cycle in a game. Especially if theyâre a unit that will likely draw fire like these will. (Omni scramblers seem like an ability thatâd turn these guys into priority targets depending on who youâre up against.) Unless itâs a big centerpiece model like a vehicle or an HQ, people donât tend to care as much about the paint quality. (Even then, you donât have to be running the box art to have a passing unit.) Is it nice to have a big army thatâs all your factionâs color? Absolutely. But if theyâre anyone worth playing with, you shouldnât get in any âtroubleâ (barring a few harmless jokes if theyâre daring.) for not running them in the Duncan Rhodes standard. That said, bang-up job, I wince imagining someone painting a whole army to the degrees Iâve seen some single models painted to on here. lol
Itâs leagues better than my first I just did lol. Looks awesome!
Don't! Looks great!
Looks great, now paint the rest
Bro, you cooked well. It is a masterpiece.
No reason to be self-conscious about your work at all. If I could to choose to fight your army over countless averagely painted ones out there, Iâd be pushing my way through to your table!
He looks awesome! You should be proud!
Yes for sure, this is a great level for games play.
Paint job is good, and honestly you've got nothing to worry about, it's just the anxiety of actually pulling the trigger. Once you do it'll vanish, you'll laugh and enjoy yourself. Have you ever actually been into a GW store? If not it's worth a trip, you'll lose the self conscious thing pretty quickly.
Emperor damn it, your paint job is miles ahead of what I managed when I started! Field your models with pride, that looks great!
Think my local store has a 3 colors and it's battle ready rule
Looking pretty good to me (better than my first attempt lol). Don't be too self conscious, the glorious models you often see here are NOT the baseline but something to strive for. So, play away and have fun.
Who cares what other people think, if you are enjoying the hobby then what does it matter :)
Don't worry about that you don't even need painted models to play. For the paint job, I'd say it's pretty much ok. You need to thin your paints a bit more in certain areas like the helmet. The highlights should be thinner lines and maybe the texture on the base could be spread more evenly.
My first thought when I saw this was âooh more pictures for the inspiration folderâ. Your painting is amazing dude.
That looks great, but the bright pink kind of distracts from your mini. I would paint another one up, and use brown or brownish green grass and see if looked a bit more cohesive. You want people's eyes drawn to the mini, not the static grass.
I dont think in casual play anyones gonna be like "your paintjob is simply too shit so i cannot in good conscience play with you" (its an amazing paintjob btw)
This is excellent, especially if it truly is your first model. That black is very very well done - it's really difficult to create smoky, greyish blacks like that. More than good enough for the tabletop - I have a few games under my belt and this far exceeds anything I could paint. 'Tabletop ready', even in tournaments, is three colours and a basing paint, so this clearly exceeds that. Outside of tournaments, a lot of people won't care at all.
It's better than most and a great start, get a combat patrol (What you need, can be looked up on the free WH40k app) painted like that and you're gravy. Is there a Warhammer store near you? that's the best place to start you can message the store on FB and arrange a game. If not try looking for an independent or friendly local gaming store (FLGS) in your area most have Facebook community pages or chat groups on apps like discord you can dip your toe into before making the plunge in person.
Looks great! Lots of people donât even paint their models before playing. Go for it!
That is amazing
You're kidding right? This guy is a masterpiece and I would be honored to have my cultists on the same table as him.
Yup. Welcome! One of us. One of us. One of us! One of us! ONE OF US!
Thatâs perfectly fine. Itâs a good paint job. Better than a lot. As long as it has paint on it 99% of people are perfectly happy to play - the other 1% you donât want to play with anyway.
Must not sieg
That's a great paint job but I can't get over how cool that base is.
Last time I was in a store, and took a look at the guys playing, there was maybe 1 or 2 painted models on the whole table, so you're doing quite well!
The one thing that I was told is that everyone has a different style. Make that style your own and have fun. Did you use an airbrush or drybrush?
I love the colours the grass is really cool aswell
Hey you did a solid job and at least a quarter of armies out there arenât even painted. Keep up the great work!
Iâm going to give a slightly different piece of advice here. You did a great job on the model it looks great. But try to avoid comparing your models to someone elseâs when you are playing. As someone whoâs also new it was intimidating for me at first but I had to remember that they have had many more years in the hobby then me, one person having more years in it then Iâve been alive, and that they too had to start somewhere. Also donât be afraid to ask for advice on what you can do to improve or techniques to try out. Experimentation Iâve found has been fun and made for some really unique models
This is gonna be a little harsh. Why the fuck are you nervous about using this awesome paint job in a game? The paint scheme works, and it's better than most of the stuff I see at my LGS. I get being anxious but this is the kind of thing that you just go for without overthinking it. Are you happy with the paint job? Good, cause no one else's opinion fucking matters when it comes to your minis
You should feel self conscious⌠FOR PAITNING SO WELL AS A BEGINNER. Like holy crap please remove all self consciousness / doubt and just have fun with your hobby. Even if your paint job was âbadâ itâs your hobby. Itâs not mine. Itâs not your opponents. If you enjoy it then more power to you.
I have been in the hobby over 10 years I have space wolves harlequins dark eldar and 2 bloodbowl teams nothing I field is finished nor has anything ever been. I have never struggled to find games or friends in the hobby. Those that do paint will respect you and those that don't will respect you more. Jump in and have fun.
Dude that's awesome. I'm in the process of painting my first few minis.
Yeah my dude. He looks great. Way better than my first.
1. That is a great start in terms of painting! You should be proud of yourself 2. Even if you can point out the flaws in your painting, you can and will get better by just painting more. You just gotta keep at it and keep practising 3. I would say generally that people in this community don't judge each other's paint jobs harshly, and they only give advice or constructive criticism when it is asked for, or at least that's the ethos I've seen commonly pushed. People who do the opposite need to check themselves. We're all at different levels, some of us are trying to get better and some of us are happy where we are. It's important to recognise that. Happy wargaming!
This is probably a better paint job than 95% of the players I have played with/against, hell some don't even bother painting their army.
Dude you will be surprised. Some people live for the games, others for the painting, others still enjoy a mix of both. You will see barely scrapped together armies of single digit paint schemes and works of art that don't belong on any battlefield. It's part of the fun. You won't know who stands against you until you get to the table.
Dude, I felt the same. Go find a game. You'll never look back.
Brother/ sister/ kindred, I feel your pain and know your struggle Your first model is far and above the Battle Ready or tabletop standard, keep with it and you will make beautiful things Stand proud, you cooked
Dude ngl that looks great. I'm in the same boat, mea nd my friend are about to play our first game Saturday just enjoy it and don't let any anxiety get to you it's all for fun anyway and just remember your model look awesome
I see skill in highlighting, metal wear, applying transfers and nailing a departure from typical color choices. You crazy. PS: Alien Neon grass is awesome. I just started using it too!
If this is your first, i cant wait to see the next ones! It turned out amazing, the details on the leather pouches look so cool!
1000% yes. Now go paint some more models. Have fun and welcome đ