# The Learning Curve



## Psydom (Jan 10, 2012)

Hey All!

So as a recently fallen Heretic (aka. Newbie ) it was suggested I start a project log.. so here it is!

I'm here for the painting rather than the gaming side of things so I figure this is probably the best way to get feed back on what I'm doing and how i do it. 
I'm really hoping to pick up hints, tips and the tricks of the trade during my visit here so all feedback and suggestions are welcome (and expressly invited!) 

So my background with miniatures is really back in the Spacehulk days.. I had the spacehulk box set, possibly for a xmas or something, and painted that up as best as I could.. which by Heresy-online standards is pretty poor, lol! at best we're talking solid colours and no shading ect..

So many years on I start thinking about getting back in to the painting the 40k stuff in addition to the automotive modelling I already do (mainly cars I've owned and a few I plan to..) and lo and behold my wife arranges for some 40k kits for my xmas pressies (she's not psychic but sooo good at reading me! lol! best wife EVAR!!!) 

So for xmas I get a Eldar dire avenger squad and a Nid warrior brood.. not useful as stand alone gaming squads and above my skill level to do justice.. so what do I do? I go and buy the assault on blackreach box set to practice on.. then think that maybe I'll give gaming a go.. so I need more space marines.. therefore a scout squad and landspeeder storm were also needed :grin:

So where does that leave me? with a lot of unpainted miniatures and a steep learning curve! 

So this plog is all about working through the Orks then the AoB SM and finally through the smaller kits I have with the aim of learning and improving as I go, hopefully with lots of constructive feedback from the community here!

In essence, please let me know what you think works, what doesn't, what you might have done differently and how it is done!

Cheers all!

Psydom


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## Psydom (Jan 10, 2012)

*The Workspace..*

First log post is all about the workspace..

I've seen a few people talk about having the right place to work and paint.. in this I reckon I'm pretty lucky in that I have my own study/office/big boys play room :biggrin:

Here's some pics..

















And some of the tools of the trade.. I'm rather happy with my home made 'tool block'. it keeps everything neat and in good nick while keeping it all in easy reach.. 









And most importantly, my own little desk defender! making sure all the miniatures behave when I'm not in the room.. (it's a Tudebeam.. as in attitude.. glows multi colours.. I'm a sucker for this kind of thing lol!)









Next.. on to first attempts...


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## Disciple_of_Ezekiel (May 23, 2010)

First an foremost, WELCOME to Heresy! 

And the addiction beginnings!

Looks like you have a nice area to do some painting at. You are going to want a large mat or something to cover up your nice desk, otherwise in due time your going to end up getting stuff on it, paint, glue, things that you won't recognize and wonder what the hell it is, etc.

Looking forward to seeing your started models!

Regards,
DoE


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## Psydom (Jan 10, 2012)

*Starting on the Orks*

Here are my first attempts on the orks.. I've done a little reading and been through some tutorials on the web so they are infinitely better than those from my spacehulk days.. 

I've not gone with any particular colour scheme, rather I'm going to allow a fair bit of variation in this first mob so I can try different combinations and techniques..

So here are my first two..

































I've base coated in black and used Orkhide green, Scorched brown and boltgun metal for the base colours for the skin, leather and metals..

I've then used a green wash over the skin and tried some highlighting with goblin green over the skin.. I still don't really know how to get the best from highlighting skin.. hints welcome! 
anyhow, I tried to blend it in with a 50/50 mix of goblin green and orkhide.. I'm pretty happy with first attempt results I gotta say..

I've also attempted some dry brushing with tin blitz over the bolters and some codex grey over the black trousers..

I'm still finding details on these little fellers so each following one seems to have a bit more character.. 

Someone suggested they were '_a bit too neat for orks_' for that persons taste.. would love to get more on that perspective and ideas about what might be done differently..


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## Psydom (Jan 10, 2012)

Disciple_of_Ezekiel said:


> First an foremost, WELCOME to Heresy!
> 
> And the addiction beginnings!
> 
> ...


Cheers mate! 

I think we should probably say, _Another_ addiction begins :biggrin: I already have a host of nitro powered RC cars and plastic models! 

Thankfully I don't need to worry about the desk.. in 12 months time it's trash anyway (and was cheep to start with) as we're moving over to Australia.. yay!! 
but I do have a dedicated cutting board for the really tough stuff AND a big, hard plastic carpet protector (the kind you use for office chairs with castors) to ensure there's no paint on the beige carpet in our rental!


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## cirs85 (Nov 9, 2011)

Your orks are off to a great start already. I have used this for orks in the past and I get really good results. 
foundation orkhide shade
50/50 orkhide and knarloc green
knarloc green
50/50 knarloc and gretchin green
Just get progressively lighter each time you go up on the muscles and face of the ork.

For the metal parts I would suggest badab black wash with chainmail highlighting around the edges.


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## Psydom (Jan 10, 2012)

Thanks cirs85  I don't have the knarloc or gretchin green atm but I figure I'll be adding it after a short while.. alternate mixes should give some nice variation to the skin colours in the mob..

There was a GW mega paint kit floating around but I can't find any still for sale (apparently they are released once annually.. D'oh!) if I could I would have just bought it and saved myself the hassle of buying everything individually!

The combo for the metal is much as I've been using for my second round (see below) and has been coming out ok but not nearly... uh.. weathered enough? for what I reckon an ork may have.. but more on that below..


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## Psydom (Jan 10, 2012)

Here is the second trio I've done. I read somewhere that when painting a number of models at a time it can be helpful to group them by body type so you don't miss details going from one type to another. so I've started to do that but I still seem to miss things!

as a result, still minor things to go on these..


















































The next trio all have the cloth hanging at the front.. I've been playing with different washes on each so they're all different.. 
This one I am working on highlighting that hair.. stared with brown and a brown wash, then a brown and red mix for some highlights and thought I might try some bright red and some blue to finish.. we'll see how it works out..









This one I was going for a wood finish on the axe haft but just can't seem to get it to work.. I think I need more shades of brown to work with..








Either way, these are still works in progress.. on average I've been spending about 2-3 days on getting each trio done, a bit here and bit there.


In an effort to keep things interesting I've started to prep the SM's for undercoating.. for the record, cleaning up all those moulding lines is a PITA.. on the other hand, while I don't think anyone is ever going to say 'gee! you've cleaned that mini up perfectly!' I have no doubt that people will definitely notice if you haven't!

Anyways, after looking through the codex I've decided on the Iron Lords chapter for the first lot of SM's.. I think they are just a nice mix of colour and darkness..


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## Dave T Hobbit (Dec 3, 2009)

The definition on the muscles is starting to look really good.

The weapons do look a little clean for the usual image of Orks; a touch of very thin brown or orange in the internal corners to represent oxidation would make them really pop.


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## CLT40k (Jun 18, 2010)

GW used to make a wash called "flesh wash" that was great for making things look rusty. Vallejo makes one that is close called "smokey ink" 

Also, Grypohnne Sepia from GW is pretty good too....

Nice painting so far... One thing to consider from a pallette standpoint, you'll get a bit more pop by making the color choices more dramatic... ie, if you're using a dark green, maybe a lighter brown on thier clothes, etc... 

The most important thing is that you're painting is very clean.... ie, you're staying in the lines and don't have a lot of run-over... though some folks (like me) don't worry about it when blocking them in and go back as a final step to clean it up.. the end result is that you want to have all the colors in the right places.. which you're doing.

After that, it's all about drybrushing, inking, and washing to get the desired effects. For example, if you were to do a light drybrush on the arms of the orks, you might get a cooler effect... but it's really all about experimentation.

Nice work so far, BTW + Rep


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## arumichic (May 14, 2011)

Nice job so far! The metal areas might be better dulled down a bit more and highlighted with the base metal color on the "sharp" edges, but they are orks, so their weapons might not be sharp. If you want any rust effects on the weapons, it's easiest if you mix in some blazing orange with a bronze (like Tin Bitz, or Reaper mini's Scorched Metal) and then stippled on. 
As for highlighting skin, try getting the highest raised areas a lighter color than the areas where it's indented or muscled if that makes sense. Check out the "warboss" in my signature if you want to see some examples. I know I'm not the best of painters, but it's a decent example I think. If you have any questions, ask there, here or pm me; I'd be happy to help!
Happy painting!~


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## Psydom (Jan 10, 2012)

Thanks for the comments and tips guys :so_happy:

I'm putting some of them to the test in amongst the other bits n' pieces I've been up to..

First things first tho, I went and added to the rapidly growing paint collection with some vermin brown, cathan brown, bubonic brown, snot green, Enchanted blue, ultramarines blue and snot green.. the washes I have now number 6 with the addition of gryphonne sepia as per suggested and asurmen blue just cause it sounds cool!

I was finding that I wasn't able to experiment with contrasts as much like someone suggested.. so more paint was clearly needed  I know I could mix my own shades but thus far it's not been very successful for me and really, being a beginner here, I want as much contrast as possible to start until I get the hang of things...

I've had a busy day cleaning up the last of my SM's and undercoating them alongside a practical arts n' craft project.. but more about that in the next post (so I can post pics too..) which will have to be tomorrow!


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## Psydom (Jan 10, 2012)

So I finally finished the bulk of the SM's in terms of trimming and getting rid of moulding lines so they were ready for priming.. The thing is that I've learnt a few lessons from doing the Orks that I have so far and taken some cues from others and have decided to leave of backpacks and weapons during the priming and the initial base colour coating..

So that left me with lots of little bits to undercoat.. the practical part of me says I need some painting stands so I went about creating some.. and I'm feeling pleased with myself.. it's not flashy but very practical and while I probably wont undercoat on this scale again they've got enough holes that I can be creative with the way I hang things on the wire, meaning I can put larger pieces on if I need to.. 

Anyhow, here's my undercoating and the priming racks described above!


















































The plan is for the SM's to be Iron Lords so a black and red colour scheme


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## Psydom (Jan 10, 2012)

Oh, and the work on the orks continues..

The suggested oxidation techniques have been giving good results.. the stippled brown and tin blitz with a touch of Gryphonne sepia seems particularly good (when I don't use too much sepia wash!)


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## Lubacca (Sep 4, 2011)

You got a good start going here man, just remember not to over burden yourself by trying to learn several techniques at once. Get one technique down or at least comfortable in your own mind before you add difficulty. 

I'm loving the Orks man, I'm working on some myself, muscle definition is very good. Keep it up and don't forget at some point to look into basing a miniature. Alot of people don't feel that a mini is 'finished' until it's based. (It also lets you get creative...at least in my opinion, with how you see your army or how you want it to represent!)


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## GrimzagGorwazza (Aug 5, 2010)

These are looking awesome, i'm really looking forwards to seeing how you progress with them. I find Devlan mud also works as a nice grimey brown wash. 

Looking forwards to seeing how you get on with the marines, it'll be nice to see a different chapter of marines painted up for a change.


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## Psydom (Jan 10, 2012)

Lubacca said:


> You got a good start going here man, just remember not to over burden yourself by trying to learn several techniques at once. Get one technique down or at least comfortable in your own mind before you add difficulty.
> 
> I'm loving the Orks man, I'm working on some myself, muscle definition is very good. Keep it up and don't forget at some point to look into basing a miniature. Alot of people don't feel that a mini is 'finished' until it's based. (It also lets you get creative...at least in my opinion, with how you see your army or how you want it to represent!)


Good point on not taking on too much at once.. I do have a tendency to do that  
Funny you should mention the basing.. I gave that a go the other day and call it a fail :biggrin: I got some coloured gravel/sand from the local crafts shop when I was getting other stuff and I think it's just too coarse/big.. I'll get some smaller stuff next time I'm out and use this stuff for the odd larger rocks..











GrimzagGorwazza said:


> These are looking awesome, i'm really looking forwards to seeing how you progress with them. I find Devlan mud also works as a nice grimey brown wash.
> 
> Looking forwards to seeing how you get on with the marines, it'll be nice to see a different chapter of marines painted up for a change.


Cheers mate! I'm glad you said that as I was thinking about looking at other chapter colour schemes.. now I'm set on the Iron Lords 

I've been experimenting with different reds over different base colours on bits of old sprue so I can see the finished shades.. at this point it's looking like red gore over white might be the go.. surprisingly enough I reckon the two tone scheme will be a bit of a challenge..


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Your Orks are looking good man! There is not much I can add at the moment that others haven't already mentioned so I will just look forward to the next set of pics!


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## Psydom (Jan 10, 2012)

Thanks Midge  

I'm trying something a little different with the current 4 orks I'm working on. CLT40k suggested I grow my pallet of paints for better contrasting options, hence the paint additions above.. So I'm trying cathlan brown for the upper body clothing which seems to be bringing out the leather straps (scorched brown) a bit better.. here's a pic of the first WIP ork of the current 4, next to it is one of the previous 3 I did.. seems to be working but will need some kind of texturing I think.. it's too clean as is..


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

Varying your color pallet, especially with a horde army is a good thing to do if you are able to do so. It gives the units more visual appeal and more importantly it helps break up the monotony. I think the new guy is looking good, different, but still fits in with the original models.


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## CLT40k (Jun 18, 2010)

I tend to use washes to dirty stuff up... especially Devlan Mud... 

Here is an example

Nice work... I'm looking forward to seeing your treatment of the Marines


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## Psydom (Jan 10, 2012)

Hey All!

So here is the latest update from my first foray in to serious painting of mini's..

Here are some pics of that latest Ork Boys I've (pretty much) finished.. no basing yet but that's more a case of not the right materials on hand yet so will have to be done last..

The major differences in these from my previous ones is i've given them different coloured vests instead of the black I had, I've been able to pick out more of the details as I've worked like buckles and features on the weapons and they're a bit grubbier now.. 

I've done a lot of retouching on these fellers as I keep finding details and having to retouch where I've over-painted around the bit I was working on but it's all part of the learning curve  

the main take away from theses fella's has been get the base colours in to the small spaces to reduce the retouching required (eg. do the bolt metal on the gun grip between the fingers before the orkhide green) and to get the blending on the arms done before the rest of the detail as dry brushing can get in places you didn't think you were touching!!

Anyhow, on to the pics!


























































I have also been working on my first pass at the Iron lords SM's.. bringing out the details on a black base is kinda tough but I think it's turning out ok.. the pics make the grey highlighting very bright and obvious but in real life it's a lot more subtle.. 

This first one has been a bout finding details and working with the colours mainly and has left me with some area's I'm unsure about so I was hoping for some feed back and opinions.. I've not added the decals yet but I am not too sure about the tac marine symbol on hos right shoulder.. it's far too bright but I just don't know what to do with it.. 
and for company markings I'm not so fond of the codex designations (colour combinations don't work with the black/red armour) and placement.. The last pic is of a pair I was trying out th the orange (6th company) on.. I'm not too sure about it.. what do you guys think? 



































































Any advice on where I can add something or improve are welcomed!

Cheers all!


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## TheReverend (Dec 2, 2007)

The iron lords are looking good. i might be tempted to shade that yellow band on teh helmet (brown or black wash maybe) just to add some definition to the vent as it's hard to see. 

The thing I'd say about the black is that you've highlighted some bits but not others, like teh edges of the pauldrons and elbow guards. Teh eys look great though. 

And those orks are really coming on!! 

Keep it up

Rev


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## Psydom (Jan 10, 2012)

Thanks Rev 
Good spot, the vent was all but invisible in the flesh too.. I've touched it up with a bit o' black wash and it makes a big difference, that helmet suddenly has a significant amount more shape.. amazing how something so small can bring about such a change to the overall effect..


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