You sort of talked yourself into it, but I reckon that the third really useful entry in this "series" would be a "Preparing Your Minis" video, covering removing the model from the sprue, cleaning up moldlines, gluing, filling in gaps and that sort of thing. There's not really very many videos out there that cover all that kind of thing in one place or, if they do, they're as an afterthought to other things. In any case, this kind of video is great stuff, thank you.
@@ITDP Drills holes in one of the feet about 5mm and drill a hole into the base, use paper clips as a pinning material to pin the model to your base. No more falling off dudes, this can used for arms, large weapons, dodgy vehicles and all types of things.
Can’t stress enough one of the most important tips: write down all the colors your used, the order in which you used them and the techniques you used. Ex, 1) prime with Skull White, 2) Ultramarine Blue (drybrush with soft make up brush), 3) 50/50 Thunderhawk Blue/Scar white (edge highlight) Even stuff that seems super obvious, just write it down. Maybe today you do metal by drybrushing a gun metal over black, but perhaps a year from now your standard way of doing metal will be washing down a silver with a brown ink and you’ll be terribly frustrated trying to figure out how you got the original result. Only takes a few seconds and you’ll thank yourself if you ever come back to the army later on.
I do the same to make my painting process smoother and it gives me goals to work towards. My dot points usually look like this - White on armor - Blue on weapons and shoulders - Black on weapons and bits - Gold for skulls and bits - Brown for pouches and straps - Dry brush silver on black - Black wash white, silver - Brown wash gold, brown and gold - Dry brush blue - Dry brush white
I keep an index card and splotch a bit of paint on them just in case the paints are renamed. Its nice to just have a reminder of what you did so you can add to it.
You can also buy primers that you can paint on with a brush, which work great for times when you're not in a situation where you can be using a spray paint.
Thanks. I was a bit concerned as I’ve noticed everyone always talks about spray cans for priming, while I’m about to prime my first minis with a brush.
So glad I stumbled across this video. I have dozens of figures from years ago…no, decades ago that have been sitting on the shelf. I wanted (now that I’m retired) to get back into painting miniatures and this video has absolutely motivated me. Thanks! Once a geek, always a geek!…and proud of it!!
I have been watching your videos for about five years now. You Vince and Sam have been the guides on this hobby journey, thanks for being there every Friday. Nice blue fez.
Step 1 should be "Don't expect perfection". I get the feeling a lot of people don't paint their models because they're scared they won't look like what they see online or in magazines. The truth is when you're playing table top, you won't see the tiny intricate details of line infantry. As others have mentioned, the more you paint and practice, the more comfortable you'll get.
Not perfection but as stated must expect excellence. Most people don't live this philosophy and it's the difference in learning how to thin your paint and covering the whole model as apposed to not and having it look like you just slapped paint on.
Can confirm this is the best place to start and uncle A has explained it beautifully. Moving on abit I'll recommend some more things. Once you have gotten down how to thin your paints well, don't be afraid to use a lighter primer. You'll always have better colour tone with a lighter primer, they will pop. Once your paints are think you'll be able to fully cover the model no problems, just be consistent. Next is if you like the colour and don't need shade everywhere, practice just adding wash to recesses. Vallejo wash is pretty much used for this but the named ones here are great too. Just add the wash in deep recesses but down load the brush like you would to cover the whole model, less is more in this case. This video is really the way to make a beaut template for you models. Fill in the details and even down the track you can highlight or try another technique but for now it'll still look great 👌
Since dabbling with contrasts I exclusively use white primer now. I much rather how opaque paints settle on white too and if they're too bright... I was intending to use a wash anyway.
Noob painter here. Practice with basics, and don't pay attention to the more advanced stuff until you are ready. Man gotta get back to the painting again!! THANK YOU!!!
I always look forward to your videos, very well made and informative and, most importantly, total lack of horrendous background music that plagues many hobby videos!
The music is not there for your choosing, it's there to create drama and it does a great job. Just remember what you think is "cool" could be total shit to someone else lol. The music is just that, background noise, not your Spotify playlist.
I'm just starting out and I found your video very informative without "too much" information. I'm looking forward to starting and watching more of your videos. Thanks.
Thank you uncle Adam I haven't painted for over ten years just getting back into 40k and was feeling overwhelmed especially since my old models look really good and I don't think I can replicate that level of detail that I once did
"If you're a skeleton that you're painting, what colors the skeleton's skeleton? I guess? It's Skeleton color." LOL, these are the remarks I watch your videos for!!
People who struggle to get armies done, you'd be surprised how good u can get things to look with black primer and multiple dry brush layers. Foolproof techniques and you can do 4-5 models at a time
@@jeffreykershner440 For example, for Ultramarines you prime black, heavy drybrush macrage blue, gently drybrush altdorf guard blue on the edges, paint the metal part in the bolter, red in the eyes and you are ready to battle (which is not the same as Battle Ready as defined by GW) as you get the bolter casing and the pouches for free. The overal idea is that you prime black/dark gray, dry brush base, dry brush mid, dru brush highlight, tiddy up and pickup the small details.It is "messy" so for miniatures with a lot of details may not work that well.
@@soronthar explained it perfectly. Let's take poxwalkers. Very detailed. Black prime. Grey drybrush. Followed by a white drybrush. The details will really start to pop. Then choose any colour wash and the model will already look fantastic. The difference with drybrush and any other technique is that the details are actually working FOR you, not creating additional work. But it does depend on the model/look you're going for.
Great advice, still use these methods after a lot of years ;-) just to hammer out quantity. And I missed an important Uncle Adam step I belief: Write down your steps (which paints etc) for future projects! Have a great weekend all!
Agreed. I kept hearing him say that and failed to listen. Six months later I'm working on models again struggling to remember what paint I used for unique parts 🤦
I've taken to doing a zenithal style prime with my space marines using metallics. Dark Brown goes on instead of black, then I zenithal spray Army Painter Gunmetal Primer. It produces a nice, darkened metal effect and ensures the metal is no longer reflective in the recesses and shadows where it shouldn't reflect.
Ive used Uncle Atom's tips for a while. He didnt mention but on the Primer Spray cans...I have about 12 cans of different colors. Some are Citadel cans (black, grey seer, white), some are Army painter (Bone, Gun Metal) and then I also have from his previous recommendation...some of the Krylon Camo primers that I bought at the local Ace Hardware which is much cheaper than the other ones I mentioned. In particular there is a tan and a kinda olive green. If your doing Ork's or.....like Im doing right now....Dark Angel Space Marines...I prime with the Krylon camo green...it primes very nice and clean. Saves me a ton of time. I use on my Dark Angels...then shade with Nuln Oil....then dry brush with Greenskin Army Painter....bam perfect Dark Angels. They are like 80% done.....I just then do metal parts, chest skull/eagle...gun...etc.
Thank you, this and the previous video were exactly what I needed to see. I've just started the hobby and was feeling like it all might be a bit beyond me.
Gotta get my brother to watch this instead of just painting all his necrons for him lol. Give him that initial push or encouragement! Thanks for the upload!
It is mad that no-one has made a video like this yet. I got into mini painting again for the first time in a while back in March and got back to a decent level quite quickly, but I think had I been a total noob I'd have been completely intimidated by most of the video content out there right now.
This was really helpful to me. I've been watching all sorts of painting videos and while they're great, it's been actually TOO MANY techniques and information. This has given me a way to narrow my focus and skills to build first. Thanks.
@@thenightraven60 first you go to coney island and pay the man at the school to teach you to hammer a nail up your nose, and lay on the bed of pain, then you can wear a fez wherever the hell you want.
Flat red primer is my favorite for my Farsight Enclave. Your videos got me out of my initial bad habit of being overly careful and taking hours to paint a guardsman. Much more relaxing just getting the base colors on and touching up afterwards.
Great comments on the basics. Although I've been painting for years it's easy to get caught up in the details and sometimes it's easiest to stick closer to this way of painting as it ensures you don't get bogged down or overwhelmed.
Haven't had a chance to but any paint, but I have finished assembling my Deathwatch kill team. First models ever and if it were for folks like you, Uncle Atom, I'd never have had the balls to magnetize a bunch of arms and convert a harlequin mohawk onto one of em.
This is absolutely helpful thank you. I was looking for this exact style to get up and running. Every other newbie painting guide goes into highlights and all this complex stuff involving wet palettes and just makes me nervous.
This has been incredibly helpful for me. After 20 years, I finally have the time and money to build my.miniature collection. I have watched tons of videos, and felt... inferior for not working edge highlights. This gave me that piece of mind to ignore it, and enjoy that my minis, albeit basic, still look good.
Although management had no idea what I was talking about; I was truly impressed with how many co-workers laughed or agreed when I said can we get the Pachow for that (they kept referencing a link without actually giving it.) It was at that moment I knew just how far the message of Uncle Atom had spread.
I'll also add with spray primer, try to do it in a low humidity area or day. Too much moisture in the air can make it take forever to dry and also can cause some kinds of sprays to develop texture that can be a real pain
@@UnknownJorge I had to do the same in western WA. Learned that the hard way screwing up a Tau commander. Took over a week to strip off most, but not all of that primer.
Re:- rattle cans. Check art stores for the graffiti-art/mural spray paints - squillions of colours, stick like crazy (designed to withstand the elements) and cheaper than GW, Army Painter or similar. Same sort of prices as hardware stores but much better quality paint and a far wider colour choice. They don't usually come with nozzles attached - you have to get them separately, they come in all different spray patterns, but they're only about 50p each or £3 for a mixed pack. Just rinse them thoroughly after use as if it was your brush.
A good spray primer is tamiya fine spray primer. I spray Hotwheels cars and this primer highlights all the small details. I also used it on my first mini and loved the results.
My first set of paint and minis are coming later today and I am trying to suck up as much noob knowledge as possible and this video was great! Watched the "Stuff you don't need to know yet" vid too and learned a lot.
I would say with regards to priming a model to the colour you want, you'll still want a layer of the colour closest to that primer on it. In case of mistakes on later parts of painting the model you won't end up with areas that are slightly off colour than the rest of the model. So say you're painting a guardsman and prime him an olive drag colour because of most of his armour, take an olive drab paint over the armour of the model. That way if you splash a little brown or skin colour on those parts you can clean it up and have a colour nearly identical to what you use.
Quick tip regarding priming with spray cans: before spraying the miniature, just spray with the can upside down (NOT AT THE MINIATURE) for a few seconds until only air comes out, that way you are cleaning the nozzle of any dry paint that might be stuck inside.
UK watchers - Halfords (car & bike shop) basic grey, white & black surface primers are great for minis. Generally around £10 for a normal size can (they do smaller cans for around £8). A good plastic primer and easier to get a hold of. Working with Army Painter spray can colour primers atm and they are amazing. Alien purple... oh I love this colour. Great for warm or cold colours. Great as a base for skin too. Dragon Red is great blood angels. Demonic Yellow for Imperial Fists. Yeah... I've been spraying a lot lately.
@Connor Pithie I wouldn't spend the extra just for the AP paint. Hands up - I can walk to a Halfords store so I'm saving on delivery costs too. The Halfords grey goes on great and gives great coverage. If you watch the Blackstone Fortress painting guide on Midwinter Minis, Guy uses it to prime with.
Thanks for the beginner content videos. I know there are a lot of TH-cam videos on painting miniatures. My struggle is still with quality. A part of the problem is that the mid-steps looking messy. For me, my paint jobs go from clean primed miniature to messy base coat. Then, I get stuck on fixing little bits which never really resolves the messy look. I hope that a Wash will hide the worst parts of the base coat. I am working getting to 'good enough' and getting to 'done' so I can play games with painted miniatures. I find gaps and mold lines are a problem, too. Thx for continuing to provide useful tips. Have you tried using Perfect Plastic Putty to fill miniature gaps?
I bought some secondhand models from someone who used a coloured primer for their base coat and it was a night and day difference between the quality of that and my two layer painted base coat. Definitely worth the time IMO.
I wish I could have seen this video before trying to paint my first model in 1998. It would have saved a lot of frustration and built a lot of confidence.
Hey Atom, last week you told us not to watch advanced technique videos. I've stopped watching Sam Lenz. But, I'm worried for his income. I'm not a pro-painter, by any stretch of the imagination, and recently I've inexplicably struggled with certain things (can't do Deathwing Terminators without filling in details, or do the bone colour quickly and get that "pro look", or drybrushing Calgar Blue over Macragge Blue goes badly (helps if you don't use Citadel Air paint to do it)). It's always good to have videos showing the basics, even if it's just for a "how do I do this again" refresher.
I was out of black primer when I painted some coins that came with the HOMM3 board game so I primed them white. I did multiple coats with metallics yet the yellow plastic still shines through when you look at bright light. Go for dark primer and do a light coat on top if you have to.
I appreciate this. Its so overwhelming with all this talk of contrast paints, zenithal, slap chop, grimdark, yada yada yada... I have my bases done and models assembled. Primer cans bought. Painting handles made in my woodshop. Just scared to buy paint and start. This helped me calm down
I was thinking about this too. I started dry brushing with a makeup brush because of this channel and only a week later Army Painter has what are essentially make up brushes.
Also remember after priming to turn your spray can upside down and spray until you just see air. This stops your can nozzle clogging up when using in the future.
At 4:25, you show a figure in a Citadel holder to illustrate painting up into the undercuts. Here's a cheaper alternative that gets less overspray on the hand holding the model. Use poster tack (Blu-Tack) to stick the models to a paint-stirring stick (the kind you get for free at Home Depot with a gallon of paint). I stick about three models on a gallon-size paint stick, or four to five on the longer five-gallon stick, and prime them as a group. Leave several inches at either end of the stick for holding. The first few swipes of spray go across the whole set, and then I come back in to hit specific undercuts on individual models. On the single-model touch-ups, I sweep up-to-down, instead of right-to-left, to only hit one model at a time. (Some spray cans--like the Krylon Ultra-Flat Camouflage cans--have nozzles that are great for narrow spray, others not so much.) With the models stuck to the sticks with poster tack, I can hold the stick vertically or upside down to get at the armpits and underskirts; with hand-holding space at each end, I can reverse my hold on the stick to paint the backs. Poster tack does an amazing job of holding the models on the stick, and is easy to remove. You can even use it over and over again, regardless of it gets painted; just pull and knead it into a fresh ball, and you'll revitalize it's stickiness.
Yes, I used to use those. Made a video about them, too: th-cam.com/video/NV0CmJyLO3w/w-d-xo.html These days, I prefer the Citadel handles. Thanks for watching.
@@tabletopminions Your video is almost certainly where I got the idea of paint sticks originally, since you were one of my first virtual mentors on this hobby journey. I just figured that they deserved a mention here, since this was very much aimed at beginners who may not have invested in a lot of specialized tools like Citadel handles yet. And besides, you can prep dozens of minis on paint stir-sticks for a mass priming session, whereas you'd need $50 worth of Citadel handles just to prime a single unit of Intercessors.
Great videos. You've given me the inspiration and motivation I need to finish painting. During these early stages of learning, should I be adding water to my paint?
@@j453 okay but seriously man I sit down, I try to paint and then I feel so bad for the misery I'm about to inflict on my minis and the therapy they're going to have to attend and I put down my brush and can't bring myself to commit this act of murder 😅
@@j453 you underestimate my power 😊 nah, I'm not *that* terrible... But I'm incredibly inexperienced, and I don't want to ruin any of my cool new little lads by making stupid mistakes, so I'm being wayyy too slow and careful... But I'm fixing it by just buying some random plastic stuff and practicing on things I can afford to get wrong, so I'm slowly learning the ropes
This would have cut years off my learning process back when I started. On the other hand a) TH-cam did not yet exist during some of those years and b) I did not know what youtube was during some other of those years.
My wife was not sold on painting our living room "Skeleton Color".
Thanks for making me laugh man!
Nic Mcconchie you are most welcome, thanks for the note! Love this channel.
The trick is in the marketing. Eg. "No sweetie, this isn't Skeleton Horde... this is French Mushroom."
Her loss 😂
Your wife doesn't have a vision
You sort of talked yourself into it, but I reckon that the third really useful entry in this "series" would be a "Preparing Your Minis" video, covering removing the model from the sprue, cleaning up moldlines, gluing, filling in gaps and that sort of thing. There's not really very many videos out there that cover all that kind of thing in one place or, if they do, they're as an afterthought to other things. In any case, this kind of video is great stuff, thank you.
Ive been doing this smidge over a year and I'm just now remembering to regularly remove moldlines
@@ITDP Drills holes in one of the feet about 5mm and drill a hole into the base, use paper clips as a pinning material to pin the model to your base. No more falling off dudes, this can used for arms, large weapons, dodgy vehicles and all types of things.
I second that. Very important steps.
I’ve only just discovered this glorious hobby for Warhammer 40K, and I’m going to be painting my first minis soon. Thank you for this video
What minis did you get 😁
@@lifeofi7280 yes let us know 🤔 I'm back in the hobby after 20 years and am currently bankrupting myself via Necromunda 😯
Same here. Necron for the win!
@@Muchomorism just got mine today first ever tabletop game and first time painting!
Will never forget to thin my paints....
@@lifeofi7280 A small legion od necrons :) but I've would love to paint few marines as well. You know, just to remind me, that Emperor protects.
I've been painting models for 10+ years, but I still like watching these videos for the refresher and understanding other people's techniques~
Can’t stress enough one of the most important tips: write down all the colors your used, the order in which you used them and the techniques you used. Ex,
1) prime with Skull White,
2) Ultramarine Blue (drybrush with soft make up brush),
3) 50/50 Thunderhawk Blue/Scar white (edge highlight)
Even stuff that seems super obvious, just write it down. Maybe today you do metal by drybrushing a gun metal over black, but perhaps a year from now your standard way of doing metal will be washing down a silver with a brown ink and you’ll be terribly frustrated trying to figure out how you got the original result. Only takes a few seconds and you’ll thank yourself if you ever come back to the army later on.
Ooooor you could just play orks and paint every unit several different ways...
@@thefili8849 Dis Boy haz da right idea 'ere
I do the same to make my painting process smoother and it gives me goals to work towards. My dot points usually look like this
- White on armor
- Blue on weapons and shoulders
- Black on weapons and bits
- Gold for skulls and bits
- Brown for pouches and straps
- Dry brush silver on black
- Black wash white, silver
- Brown wash gold, brown and gold
- Dry brush blue
- Dry brush white
I keep an index card and splotch a bit of paint on them just in case the paints are renamed. Its nice to just have a reminder of what you did so you can add to it.
There’s just something about getting advice from a guy wearing a fez...you gotta admire the conviction! Thanks Uncle Atom!
You can also buy primers that you can paint on with a brush, which work great for times when you're not in a situation where you can be using a spray paint.
Thanks. I was a bit concerned as I’ve noticed everyone always talks about spray cans for priming, while I’m about to prime my first minis with a brush.
I learned that the hard way when I bought Primer last year when I started. Then I had to hand prime 200 minis ^^
So glad I stumbled across this video. I have dozens of figures from years ago…no, decades ago that have been sitting on the shelf. I wanted (now that I’m retired) to get back into painting miniatures and this video has absolutely motivated me. Thanks! Once a geek, always a geek!…and proud of it!!
Ah, wash....or as a friend of mine calls it: "liquid skill". Thanks Atom for a great beginner video. You've absolutely nailed it!
Beginning Steps for Painting
1:20 Step 1: Priming
5:36 Step 2: Base Color
7:33 Step 3: Wash
9:19 Step 4: Drybrush
10:46 Step 5: Variations on a theme
I have been watching your videos for about five years now. You Vince and Sam have been the guides on this hobby journey, thanks for being there every Friday. Nice blue fez.
Step 1 should be "Don't expect perfection".
I get the feeling a lot of people don't paint their models because they're scared they won't look like what they see online or in magazines.
The truth is when you're playing table top, you won't see the tiny intricate details of line infantry.
As others have mentioned, the more you paint and practice, the more comfortable you'll get.
Not perfection but as stated must expect excellence. Most people don't live this philosophy and it's the difference in learning how to thin your paint and covering the whole model as apposed to not and having it look like you just slapped paint on.
Can confirm this is the best place to start and uncle A has explained it beautifully. Moving on abit I'll recommend some more things.
Once you have gotten down how to thin your paints well, don't be afraid to use a lighter primer. You'll always have better colour tone with a lighter primer, they will pop. Once your paints are think you'll be able to fully cover the model no problems, just be consistent. Next is if you like the colour and don't need shade everywhere, practice just adding wash to recesses. Vallejo wash is pretty much used for this but the named ones here are great too. Just add the wash in deep recesses but down load the brush like you would to cover the whole model, less is more in this case.
This video is really the way to make a beaut template for you models. Fill in the details and even down the track you can highlight or try another technique but for now it'll still look great 👌
Since dabbling with contrasts I exclusively use white primer now. I much rather how opaque paints settle on white too and if they're too bright... I was intending to use a wash anyway.
Noob painter here. Practice with basics, and don't pay attention to the more advanced stuff until you are ready. Man gotta get back to the painting again!! THANK YOU!!!
Skeleton colour is my favorite colour !
Goes great with the skeleton pants!
@Connor Pithie I'll be honest Ive never painted a model in my life LOL but if i ever do I'll be ready ;)
I always look forward to your videos, very well made and informative and, most importantly, total lack of horrendous background music that plagues many hobby videos!
Lol ok
I think midwinter minis has pretty good background music if your interested
The music is not there for your choosing, it's there to create drama and it does a great job.
Just remember what you think is "cool" could be total shit to someone else lol. The music is just that, background noise, not your Spotify playlist.
I'm just starting out and I found your video very informative without "too much" information. I'm looking forward to starting and watching more of your videos. Thanks.
"not good when you have glowing armpits, I'm pretty sure about that." Lol. Priceless. 100%
Slaanesh disagrees
@@Sorrowdusk I would think that's more the realm of Grandfather Burgle.
Thank you uncle Adam I haven't painted for over ten years just getting back into 40k and was feeling overwhelmed especially since my old models look really good and I don't think I can replicate that level of detail that I once did
My wife and I are brand new to Age of Sigmar, Well, wargaming as a whole. This is a huge help. Thanks!!!
I've been painting minis for a few years now but it's always nice to get back in touch with the basics.
"If you're a skeleton that you're painting, what colors the skeleton's skeleton? I guess? It's Skeleton color." LOL, these are the remarks I watch your videos for!!
People who struggle to get armies done, you'd be surprised how good u can get things to look with black primer and multiple dry brush layers. Foolproof techniques and you can do 4-5 models at a time
Only black primer and dry brush? I've got some army's (wrath of kings) that need painting. Please elaborate!
@@jeffreykershner440 For example, for Ultramarines you prime black, heavy drybrush macrage blue, gently drybrush altdorf guard blue on the edges, paint the metal part in the bolter, red in the eyes and you are ready to battle (which is not the same as Battle Ready as defined by GW) as you get the bolter casing and the pouches for free. The overal idea is that you prime black/dark gray, dry brush base, dry brush mid, dru brush highlight, tiddy up and pickup the small details.It is "messy" so for miniatures with a lot of details may not work that well.
@@soronthar explained it perfectly. Let's take poxwalkers. Very detailed. Black prime. Grey drybrush. Followed by a white drybrush. The details will really start to pop. Then choose any colour wash and the model will already look fantastic. The difference with drybrush and any other technique is that the details are actually working FOR you, not creating additional work. But it does depend on the model/look you're going for.
I did the same for my indomitous necrons. Prime with dark brown and dry brush red on top. Gives a pretty neat effect
@@KMKimo I don't understand, what about the colouring for all the little details like boots, chains, wounds etc?
Great advice, still use these methods after a lot of years ;-) just to hammer out quantity. And I missed an important Uncle Adam step I belief: Write down your steps (which paints etc) for future projects!
Have a great weekend all!
Agreed. I kept hearing him say that and failed to listen. Six months later I'm working on models again struggling to remember what paint I used for unique parts 🤦
This series is awesome... should be a whole segment of this channel almost!
I've taken to doing a zenithal style prime with my space marines using metallics. Dark Brown goes on instead of black, then I zenithal spray Army Painter Gunmetal Primer. It produces a nice, darkened metal effect and ensures the metal is no longer reflective in the recesses and shadows where it shouldn't reflect.
“Get stuff good” is a good motto. Thanks, really helpful video.
Ive used Uncle Atom's tips for a while. He didnt mention but on the Primer Spray cans...I have about 12 cans of different colors. Some are Citadel cans (black, grey seer, white), some are Army painter (Bone, Gun Metal) and then I also have from his previous recommendation...some of the Krylon Camo primers that I bought at the local Ace Hardware which is much cheaper than the other ones I mentioned. In particular there is a tan and a kinda olive green. If your doing Ork's or.....like Im doing right now....Dark Angel Space Marines...I prime with the Krylon camo green...it primes very nice and clean. Saves me a ton of time. I use on my Dark Angels...then shade with Nuln Oil....then dry brush with Greenskin Army Painter....bam perfect Dark Angels. They are like 80% done.....I just then do metal parts, chest skull/eagle...gun...etc.
I'd still always base paint it the green, it'll look much better and adding a coat is not hard. Better yet get an airbrush
Thank you, this and the previous video were exactly what I needed to see. I've just started the hobby and was feeling like it all might be a bit beyond me.
Love this channel. Everytime I have a query there's always a vid addressing it. Top man!!
Gotta get my brother to watch this instead of just painting all his necrons for him lol. Give him that initial push or encouragement! Thanks for the upload!
Could start with him just spraying and nulning them up? Maybe instead of edge highlighting get him dry brushing so much more beginner friendly.
It is mad that no-one has made a video like this yet. I got into mini painting again for the first time in a while back in March and got back to a decent level quite quickly, but I think had I been a total noob I'd have been completely intimidated by most of the video content out there right now.
This was really helpful to me. I've been watching all sorts of painting videos and while they're great, it's been actually TOO MANY techniques and information. This has given me a way to narrow my focus and skills to build first. Thanks.
The fez is definitely not a beginner technique
indeed if you want to wear a fez start small maybe a red one not something flashy like that
Is a bucket hat/boonie hat better for beginners then, or should we go for a recruit style crap hat?
@@thenightraven60 first you go to coney island and pay the man at the school to teach you to hammer a nail up your nose, and lay on the bed of pain, then you can wear a fez wherever the hell you want.
Flat red primer is my favorite for my Farsight Enclave. Your videos got me out of my initial bad habit of being overly careful and taking hours to paint a guardsman. Much more relaxing just getting the base colors on and touching up afterwards.
Thanks for this Uncle Atom! While Ive been attempting to get better Im having trouble grasping techniques, I really needed this!
Great comments on the basics. Although I've been painting for years it's easy to get caught up in the details and sometimes it's easiest to stick closer to this way of painting as it ensures you don't get bogged down or overwhelmed.
I find the krylon spray cans have one of the best mist spray and coverage of any I've tried.
Krylon primer is the best I ever used. It has really good coverage without clogging the fine details
the Fez is back!! How did you know my skeleton only had one boot?!
Haven't had a chance to but any paint, but I have finished assembling my Deathwatch kill team. First models ever and if it were for folks like you, Uncle Atom, I'd never have had the balls to magnetize a bunch of arms and convert a harlequin mohawk onto one of em.
This is absolutely helpful thank you. I was looking for this exact style to get up and running. Every other newbie painting guide goes into highlights and all this complex stuff involving wet palettes and just makes me nervous.
This has been incredibly helpful for me. After 20 years, I finally have the time and money to build my.miniature collection. I have watched tons of videos, and felt... inferior for not working edge highlights. This gave me that piece of mind to ignore it, and enjoy that my minis, albeit basic, still look good.
I've been painting minis for a long time, and I was sitting here taking notes during this. GREAT VIDEO!
Although management had no idea what I was talking about; I was truly impressed with how many co-workers laughed or agreed when I said can we get the Pachow for that (they kept referencing a link without actually giving it.) It was at that moment I knew just how far the message of Uncle Atom had spread.
Watching this again and I wish I could give more likes on how good it explains basic stuff. Thanks!
beginners should use black to prime, help hide nooks and crannies that don't get hit while painting
I'll also add with spray primer, try to do it in a low humidity area or day. Too much moisture in the air can make it take forever to dry and also can cause some kinds of sprays to develop texture that can be a real pain
That's great to know! We have high humidity most of the year as well. How do you warm the can?
@@UnknownJorge I had to do the same in western WA. Learned that the hard way screwing up a Tau commander. Took over a week to strip off most, but not all of that primer.
It’s the worst when that happens.
This is definitely useful for beginners. I'll share it.
Re:- rattle cans. Check art stores for the graffiti-art/mural spray paints - squillions of colours, stick like crazy (designed to withstand the elements) and cheaper than GW, Army Painter or similar. Same sort of prices as hardware stores but much better quality paint and a far wider colour choice. They don't usually come with nozzles attached - you have to get them separately, they come in all different spray patterns, but they're only about 50p each or £3 for a mixed pack. Just rinse them thoroughly after use as if it was your brush.
Dude great vid I'm new to painting so thank you. Best vid I've seen so far.
The fez is back, fantastic!
This was a pretty good rundown of the really basic, beginner stuff. I'm waiting for the "advanced beginner" videos the most though!
A good spray primer is tamiya fine spray primer. I spray Hotwheels cars and this primer highlights all the small details. I also used it on my first mini and loved the results.
My first set of paint and minis are coming later today and I am trying to suck up as much noob knowledge as possible and this video was great! Watched the "Stuff you don't need to know yet" vid too and learned a lot.
Very clear and easy to follow instructions, thanks! As a beginner I sometimes find myself getting stuck in the fiddly areas and overthinking.
This fellers voice makes my subwoofer go nuts
I would say with regards to priming a model to the colour you want, you'll still want a layer of the colour closest to that primer on it. In case of mistakes on later parts of painting the model you won't end up with areas that are slightly off colour than the rest of the model. So say you're painting a guardsman and prime him an olive drag colour because of most of his armour, take an olive drab paint over the armour of the model. That way if you splash a little brown or skin colour on those parts you can clean it up and have a colour nearly identical to what you use.
Quick tip regarding priming with spray cans: before spraying the miniature, just spray with the can upside down (NOT AT THE MINIATURE) for a few seconds until only air comes out, that way you are cleaning the nozzle of any dry paint that might be stuck inside.
UK watchers - Halfords (car & bike shop) basic grey, white & black surface primers are great for minis. Generally around £10 for a normal size can (they do smaller cans for around £8). A good plastic primer and easier to get a hold of. Working with Army Painter spray can colour primers atm and they are amazing. Alien purple... oh I love this colour. Great for warm or cold colours. Great as a base for skin too. Dragon Red is great blood angels. Demonic Yellow for Imperial Fists. Yeah... I've been spraying a lot lately.
@Connor Pithie I wouldn't spend the extra just for the AP paint. Hands up - I can walk to a Halfords store so I'm saving on delivery costs too. The Halfords grey goes on great and gives great coverage. If you watch the Blackstone Fortress painting guide on Midwinter Minis, Guy uses it to prime with.
This helps get my head around the process a lot! Thanks!
Thanks for the beginner content videos. I know there are a lot of TH-cam videos on painting miniatures. My struggle is still with quality. A part of the problem is that the mid-steps looking messy. For me, my paint jobs go from clean primed miniature to messy base coat. Then, I get stuck on fixing little bits which never really resolves the messy look. I hope that a Wash will hide the worst parts of the base coat. I am working getting to 'good enough' and getting to 'done' so I can play games with painted miniatures. I find gaps and mold lines are a problem, too. Thx for continuing to provide useful tips. Have you tried using Perfect Plastic Putty to fill miniature gaps?
You are a great teacher, I appreciate your tutorials!
I bought some secondhand models from someone who used a coloured primer for their base coat and it was a night and day difference between the quality of that and my two layer painted base coat. Definitely worth the time IMO.
Thank you for this.
I’m a newbie and these things aren’t discussed enough in the videos I watched.
Not gonna lie you talking with your hands speaks to me and holds my attention a lot better
Boy I'm here early! I see the fez, I'm happy
Another great video Adam thanks!
All praise be to the fez, and the fez-bearer!
I wish I could have seen this video before trying to paint my first model in 1998. It would have saved a lot of frustration and built a lot of confidence.
Ready for the 4 AM uncle Atom's video with my 3rd bladeguard done
I love you you made this mini painting thing seem completely achievable. My wife is going to hate you. Thanks ;)
Point away when you start. You don't want globs on your model. Splatter is bad. - Uncle Atom
Oh really? - Every Nurgle player
Nice video and do not forget that painted models roll higher (or lower depending on the game)....
Easy 3 steps to make your models at least not grey )
Thank you for this video!
Hey Atom, last week you told us not to watch advanced technique videos. I've stopped watching Sam Lenz. But, I'm worried for his income.
I'm not a pro-painter, by any stretch of the imagination, and recently I've inexplicably struggled with certain things (can't do Deathwing Terminators without filling in details, or do the bone colour quickly and get that "pro look", or drybrushing Calgar Blue over Macragge Blue goes badly (helps if you don't use Citadel Air paint to do it)). It's always good to have videos showing the basics, even if it's just for a "how do I do this again" refresher.
One key nugget from this; “what’s really important is brush control.”
I was out of black primer when I painted some coins that came with the HOMM3 board game so I primed them white. I did multiple coats with metallics yet the yellow plastic still shines through when you look at bright light. Go for dark primer and do a light coat on top if you have to.
Nicely constructed tutorial! Well done, as usual!
You have seriously been the biggest help thank you!
If you're from the UK, you can use car body primer from Halfords, it does exactly the same job as the GW primer and its half the price
Do you use the same colour wash for the whole model or would you recommend using complimentary wash depending on the base colour? Thanks!
Stellar presentation
Why did I see dis so late? I've bin painting for like two weeks and I only got two minis done a day! Why didn't I watch this?!?
Also nice video 👍
Excellent tutorial! Love your approach to modeling, thanks a million!
One bit of advice I heard that’s been helpful is “put your shadows next to your highlights whenever possible.” It does really make the model pop.
I appreciate this. Its so overwhelming with all this talk of contrast paints, zenithal, slap chop, grimdark, yada yada yada... I have my bases done and models assembled. Primer cans bought. Painting handles made in my woodshop. Just scared to buy paint and start. This helped me calm down
What do you think about the armypainters ned drybrush set ? If you have seen it yet 😀
I was thinking about this too. I started dry brushing with a makeup brush because of this channel and only a week later Army Painter has what are essentially make up brushes.
THE FEZ HAS RETURNED!
Also remember after priming to turn your spray can upside down and spray until you just see air. This stops your can nozzle clogging up when using in the future.
Quick question what if it’s a smooth surface do I highlight then? If so how do I?
At 4:25, you show a figure in a Citadel holder to illustrate painting up into the undercuts. Here's a cheaper alternative that gets less overspray on the hand holding the model. Use poster tack (Blu-Tack) to stick the models to a paint-stirring stick (the kind you get for free at Home Depot with a gallon of paint). I stick about three models on a gallon-size paint stick, or four to five on the longer five-gallon stick, and prime them as a group. Leave several inches at either end of the stick for holding. The first few swipes of spray go across the whole set, and then I come back in to hit specific undercuts on individual models. On the single-model touch-ups, I sweep up-to-down, instead of right-to-left, to only hit one model at a time. (Some spray cans--like the Krylon Ultra-Flat Camouflage cans--have nozzles that are great for narrow spray, others not so much.) With the models stuck to the sticks with poster tack, I can hold the stick vertically or upside down to get at the armpits and underskirts; with hand-holding space at each end, I can reverse my hold on the stick to paint the backs. Poster tack does an amazing job of holding the models on the stick, and is easy to remove. You can even use it over and over again, regardless of it gets painted; just pull and knead it into a fresh ball, and you'll revitalize it's stickiness.
Yes, I used to use those. Made a video about them, too: th-cam.com/video/NV0CmJyLO3w/w-d-xo.html These days, I prefer the Citadel handles. Thanks for watching.
@@tabletopminions Your video is almost certainly where I got the idea of paint sticks originally, since you were one of my first virtual mentors on this hobby journey. I just figured that they deserved a mention here, since this was very much aimed at beginners who may not have invested in a lot of specialized tools like Citadel handles yet. And besides, you can prep dozens of minis on paint stir-sticks for a mass priming session, whereas you'd need $50 worth of Citadel handles just to prime a single unit of Intercessors.
Great videos. You've given me the inspiration and motivation I need to finish painting. During these early stages of learning, should I be adding water to my paint?
Purple robe? Fez? Uncle Atom is evil wizard confirmed
"What colour is the skeleton's skeleton?"
These are the questions that need answering. Thanks Uncle Atom!
Step 1: sit down and paint
Step 2: repeat
Step 3: repeat
Step 4: repeat
I dunno man that sounds a bit drastic, I honestly don't think I'm ready for even that 😅
@@tomgeytenbeek2207 lulz, foryou bud,
step 1: sit down and paint
step 2: __________
@@j453 okay but seriously man I sit down, I try to paint and then I feel so bad for the misery I'm about to inflict on my minis and the therapy they're going to have to attend and I put down my brush and can't bring myself to commit this act of murder 😅
@@tomgeytenbeek2207 you can't be that bad lol.
@@j453 you underestimate my power 😊 nah, I'm not *that* terrible... But I'm incredibly inexperienced, and I don't want to ruin any of my cool new little lads by making stupid mistakes, so I'm being wayyy too slow and careful... But I'm fixing it by just buying some random plastic stuff and practicing on things I can afford to get wrong, so I'm slowly learning the ropes
What primer and washes do you suggest. Which do you use? I'd appreciate some links. I realize these are your picks but I am interested.
This would have cut years off my learning process back when I started.
On the other hand a) TH-cam did not yet exist during some of those years and b) I did not know what youtube was during some other of those years.
I'm amazed that your Interocitor fez shows up on film!
only thing I would add is seal it.. to keep that pretty paint job on there longer
I prime with black and stand about half a meter away. I agree with the whole shadow area. It also helps with the areas I miss.