Have you painted your figures?

[Esturk]

(08-17-2011 07:13 PM)Onemangang Wrote:  Esturk and Munky.... respect to both of you. I try to do some now and than but it can't stand in the shadow of your pieces. Glad only my children see my work (and ... ey, I am their dad, so ,,,, dad is the best...)

Hah! Well, firstly thank you. Secondly, No matter how bad you think your minis are painted i'm sure you're not that bad. If you don't think your minis are up to snuff, just remember there's always going to be people out there who don't paint their minis at all, and a painted mini is more impressive than a lump of metal on the table any day.

I know how it is to look at a mini and ask yourself "Why don't my minis look that good?" because I still do it all the time. Best bet to get yours that way? Looking at minis that impress you and seeing what they did 'right' that impresses you. Without knowing exactly where you're at it'll be hard to give you proper advice, but here's some basics I feel apply all around the board.

Read articles. Trev has some awesome ones here, lots of little tips and tricks. Also look online for painting articles of what you're specifically about to paint. Cloth, fur, flesh, gems, bottles, metal armor, etc. paint very differently, requiring different techniques. Look these up before you sit down to paint and maybe keep a reference or two saved on your computer. A lot of people do things different ways so maybe read a few and pick and choose the parts you like best and make your own.

Oh, and of course let's not forget basing. An impressive base will always make a mini look better. Pay attention to the details people do with their basing. Adding a few spent shell casings or a skull or something simple like that can make your mini stand out, usually save more elaborate bases for more elaborate minis. A general rule warhammer modellers I come across like to use is if the mini is of significance to the game(essentially a special unit like a squad leader or solo mini) they tend to be the ones with more elaborate basing.

Other than that, practice, practice, practice. If you have a ton of 'enemy' minis from a box game (Like Descent, Hero Quest or the like,) I'd practice on them first. Save heroic minis or the highly detailed ones that you want to use a lot for when you have the technique down well enough to know you'll be satisfied with the end result.