Hello all. Joe M. from Models Workshop here.

As you know I’ve been in the hobby for about 2 months now. I am enjoying it greatly, especially the painting, something that suprisied me. But since I didn’t get into it for the painting I made a number of mistakes when I started. It also hurt me that I didn’t know a thing about modeling and the store I was going to at the time was, lackadaisical, when it came to painting and modeling. So I’m going to talk about a few things you should do when you get started to save yourself some pain. This is more directed at those that want to eventually learn to paint really well, those that just want to play don’t have to go through all these steps.

First thing is to get the rulebook and decide what army you want to play. Look at them carefully and check out the various models, both painted and unpainted. Pick something that you will want to play and will have fun painting. (editors note: various online forums are a great place to research as well) You might also want to look into things that will challenge you as a painter. Clothes, armor, fur, bone, and scales all paint different.

Next get yourself familiar with painting terms. Don’t worry about how to do the techniques yet, but you should know what things like OSL (Object Source Lighting) are and what they can and can’t do for your model. Also get it in your head the difference between a well done line troop and a centerpiece model. Knowing how far to go on a particular model will save you much headache and time. Don’t forget to read articles on color theory and light theory. As a matter of fact just read and study as much as you can on painting.

Now that you know what you are going to build and have a clue on painting techniques, you need to figure out how you want to paint your models. An easy way to do that is to go to the internet and just start looking at pictures of other people’s models. It is easy enough then to make a few changes if you want and to start figuring out what paints you need. I would suggest enlisting the help of a more experience painter in this.

Now, ignore your army. Get a few test models. Go to your local hobby store and take painting classes there. Test out your paint scheme on the test models and use them to practice the various techniques you learn. Don’t worry about striping them inbetween tests…just keep painting over them and starting again. These are not for display.

That’s all for now, but next week I’ll talk about actually getting started with your army and what you need for that.

I’ll end this with some pics of a model I am currently working on for the painting challenge.  This is early stages and all I have done is base coat paints and a wash.

Joe M.

Editor’s Note: Joe pretty much hit the head of the nail with this. The biggest part about starting is do some research and to practice as much as you can. Take it slow as well, learn the basics because they will help you master Harder techniques in the future.

~djinn24