New To Painting

[WNxTyr4el]

So I'm looking to get my first starter kit in a month or so here and I'm just wondering if there are any good guides out there that teach newcomers how to paint pretty well (granted it probably won't be the best). I'm more of a visual learner so if anyone has videos bookmarked or knows of any good video tutorials out there is greatly appreciate the links! If its not video but a detailed written guide I'll take that too!

Thanks in advance!

[PG_Cydric]

Your best bet is to hop over to youtube and search for whatever starter your getting + painting tutorial. There's about one for everything out there.

[Autumn Stone]

You can look at all the articles in the painting resources thread - stickied at the top of the forum.

Or in the handcannon contents page. ( Lots of articles videos by lock and load panting master craftsmen and medal winners) that is linked in my signature

Welcome to the forum and the hobby!

Cheers
A.S.

[WNxTyr4el]

Your best bet is to hop over to youtube and search for whatever starter your getting + painting tutorial. There's about one for everything out there.

That's what I've been doing but I'm having a problem understanding the actual steps. Different people do it different ways. Is there a general way to do things? P3s video says to dry rush first then wash then coat (I think). Is there a general outline or step by step process for a new painter to follow?

[Lumber Jack]

That's what I've been doing but I'm having a problem understanding the actual steps. Different people do it different ways. Is there a general way to do things? P3s video says to dry rush first then wash then coat (I think). Is there a general outline or step by step process for a new painter to follow?

I'm quite new to painting too and I've found the actual steps change from model to model. I don't think that any one way could apply to every sculpt and turn out looking good. The more you paint you get a better "feel" for what steps to use where at least in my experiences. One thing that I and every other mini painter anywhere is to thin your paints! My painting improved so much after I learned that. Also a good brush is well worth the money! I use a Windsor & Newton series 7 #0 for most everything.

As for as painting tutorials I like Andrew from SchnauzerFaceMinis the best. It's easy to watch and huge amounts of info. http://www.youtube.com/user/SchnauzerFaceMinis Also Les from AwesomePaintJob is very good. Although he tends to stick more to GW stuff. http://www.youtube.com/user/awesomepaintjob

[WNxTyr4el]

Oh great. I saw the schnauzer ones but they were using an airbrush. Are the concepts essentially the same though? I'll look at the second video there in a bit!

[LichLordJones]

Schnauzer's Videos are a step-by-steps on how he paints his models using an Airbrush for most models. Watching someone paint is always a good reference guide, but most painters will agree that with practice you will find your own style that suits you. All I can recommend is to jump in and start painting models using different techniques. The more of a variety of skills you learn, the more comfortable you will get to painting overall. I will say that not every painter has an airbrush, so I would say first learn the basics with Ye Olde Paint Brush! Once you have got some basics down, then move to using more difficult techniques and different types of painting medium (airbrush, oil,pigments/pastels)

Everyone is nervous when they start painting in general, so my main train of thought is to just jump in and have fun. No model is ever painted badly, as long as you enjoyed painting it!

[WNxTyr4el]

Yeah that's probably true lol. I'd just hate for my models to come out "meh." I'd like them to be at least nice on the eyes a little bit! I guess this is what I've gathered so far

1. Prime (with what I don't know)
2. Base coat
3. Wash coat
4. Main coat
5. Drybrush when necessary

That's what I've got. I'm going to try that and see how it works!

[Grandmasterstevo]

Ok, lemme see if I can help you out here.

1. Prime: I personally bought a ton of P3 primer to start, but have been told that Krylon primer works just as good. You'll typically want to go with black or white depending on how dark or light your figure is gonna be. Example, if you're painting mostly white or yellow or other light colors, use a white primer. Or you could always just go with a grey primer for everything.

2. Base coat: Thin down your paints!!! It's the best advice I can give. General rule is that you want your paints to have the consistency of milk.

3. Wash coat
4. Main coat
5. Drybrush

Those last 3 are very subjective. Sometimes I save the wash for last. Sometimes I wash then highlight. Sometimes you need to drybrush first because it's pretty messy and you'll most likely have to touch up surrounding areas afterwards. It's really up to the model like the above posters said. And your personal preference. I'm finding that I prefer to go: Drybrush, main coat, wash, highlights. Now if I could just stop getting carried away while painting and actually follow my own advice, lol

[MikeyC]

Yeah that's probably true lol. I'd just hate for my models to come out "meh." I'd like them to be at least nice on the eyes a little bit! I guess this is what I've gathered so far

1. Prime (with what I don't know)
2. Base coat
3. Wash coat
4. Main coat
5. Drybrush when necessary

That's what I've got. I'm going to try that and see how it works!

Prime is the easy step. Use a spray primer on the model. Greys are good, I personally use black most of the time. Krylon sandable primer is nice, or you can get the vallejo surface primer that is a nice brush on that I am having some good success with.

As to your 2-5 none of that is an exact order. Generally speaking if you try to do all the base colors then to all the drybrushing you will eventually mess up for of the other base coats. What you should do is look at the model and identify the lowest areas and focus on them first with basecoat and highlights. Then move up to the next highest detail so on and so forth. Washing, if needed, is something you should probably do at the very end until you get better at it and most of the times if you are careful it won't even be needed.

RULE #1 and the most important rule for mini painting. Apply THIN COATS of paint. If you have to apply the paint to the same place multiple times to get the color you want that is perfectly fine and absolutely normal.

A quick trick for noobies. Prime the figures black then drybrush the entire figure white. Then apply your basecoats over that. You will notice that the basecoat over the darker area is darker than over the lighter area. Save yourself a lot of time. Its like auto highlighting.

[WNxTyr4el]

Prime is the easy step. Use a spray primer on the model. Greys are good, I personally use black most of the time. Krylon sandable primer is nice, or you can get the vallejo surface primer that is a nice brush on that I am having some good success with.

As to your 2-5 none of that is an exact order. Generally speaking if you try to do all the base colors then to all the drybrushing you will eventually mess up for of the other base coats. What you should do is look at the model and identify the lowest areas and focus on them first with basecoat and highlights. Then move up to the next highest detail so on and so forth. Washing, if needed, is something you should probably do at the very end until you get better at it and most of the times if you are careful it won't even be needed.

RULE #1 and the most important rule for mini painting. Apply THIN COATS of paint. If you have to apply the paint to the same place multiple times to get the color you want that is perfectly fine and absolutely normal.

A quick trick for noobies. Prime the figures black then drybrush the entire figure white. Then apply your basecoats over that. You will notice that the basecoat over the darker area is darker than over the lighter area. Save yourself a lot of time. Its like auto highlighting.

To prime what do I use? The black paint or an actual primer? Do I spray that on then paint it black?

[MikeyC]

To prime what do I use? The black paint or an actual primer? Do I spray that on then paint it black?

Copy pasta FTW

Prime is the easy step. Use a spray "primer" on the model. Greys are good, I personally use black most of the time. "Krylon sandable primer" is nice, or you can get the "vallejo surface primer" that is a nice brush on that I am having some good success with.

[WNxTyr4el]

Copy pasta FTW

Prime is the easy step. Use a spray "primer" on the model. Greys are good, I personally use black most of the time. "Krylon sandable primer" is nice, or you can get the "vallejo surface primer" that is a nice brush on that I am having some good success with.

Ohhh, okay I get it. Sorry for being so slow . I just want to make sure I get it. I think this link will help me a lot - http://handcannononline.com/blog/201...er-3-painting/. It seems to be a really good guide on painting and getting started.

[MikeyC]

Ohhh, okay I get it. Sorry for being so slow . I just want to make sure I get it. I think this link will help me a lot - http://handcannononline.com/blog/201...er-3-painting/. It seems to be a really good guide on painting and getting started.

Not a problem. I should have been more clear.

[WNxTyr4el]

Not a problem. I should have been more clear.

It's okay! Is the P3 Core Principles DVD any good? It's $30 so it better be, lol. Is that link I used a good guide for me to start at?

[MikeyC]

I wouldn't waste any money on that when you can find all the info you need for free on youtube.

[Ogrob]

Hand Cannon is generally a great source of painting information. I found this video with a quick youtube search, and he seems to have a lot of basic tutorials on his channels.