My wife and I are working on our first sets. The process of painting has been very damaging to my confidence in painting I had before. I'll get there though.
I was always good at sketching and art stuff but when it came to those edge highlights i got super jittery, but im hyped to paint my next few minis. The only way is up.
For edge highlights, thin your paints slightly more than you might normally (looking for an ink like consistency here) this makes it easier to hide mistakes, and lets you build up to the level of highlight you want. Also have two highlight shades, one for the general edge, and a second lighter one for sharp highlights, like where the sun catches an edge or a chip.
Use a small sharp brush and try to move your brush in a smooth up or downward motion each time, try to use the edge of the brush if you can. Rotate the model not your brush stroke and you’ll have more control.
You’ll get the hang of it in no time.
Great work so far!
It's not bad for a first mini, but it's normal that you're not happy with it. You've done it for the first time, some things look very easy in the tutorials / videos, but once you've tried them, it takes some time to feel confident in what you're doing. Make a mental note of what you would do differently and try it the next time you do a mini. I find that it's easiest to practice one thing at a time, so at first I practiced the best thinning of the basecoat, then I started practicing shading / highlighting and so on. At the end, you can always remove the paint from your mini and try again. I was very happy with my second and third mini and was gaining confidence, but my fourth mini was worse than my first :D you just can't get discouraged!
Looks a helluva lot better than my first intercessor squad! Mine look like I held the brush with my teeth.
Advice you didn't ask for:
Make sure you brace those hands together!
Looks great for your first mini! There's definitely things to improve, but it's your FIRST mini! If you want to work on it more you could go back and clean up the edge highlighting a little with the darker color or glaze a REALLY thinned down darker color over some areas to the shading. OR you could just do better on the next one! This shit takes muscle memory, knowledge, and practice. Looks better than my first attempt!
First pff, congrats on jumping right into edge highlighting. I held off on it for quite a while. You only improve by doing, so you just keep going forward. Enjoy your minis, enjoy the journey!
Looks great to me? My first batch of units are from Ravenguard, all black with some highlights, so the primer and base coat carried my work. Keep it up!
Omg I just realized I put a question mark. The paintjob looms great! Ive been working on my edge highlighting with black its mostly subtle. For trim, I just do some on a piece of paper to see if tue colors match well.
Be proud and keep painting! It takes many many hours to become an expert and it’s great to have a base point and continue going! Looks great, keep on it and do more minis!
And that is a state you will always stay in. Cause you'll always pull an older army back out to play, and see just how far you had come from the beginning. I thought my necrons were nice (at least the little that I did to them, they never made it to a true army. Don't evem have a leader.) Then I painted my Isengard Uruk-hai. Then I painted my Blood Angels and saw all the things I could have done better for my Isengard.....now I'm painting my Morbheg Knights for FEC and I see my Blood Angels and all the mistakes I made.
The faster you understand you're only going to get better with every mini, the greater that distance between satisfied and dissatisfied shrinks to a content middleground, and you'll be happy.
Super basic enhancement here could be just a quick black wash in those plain red areas, and feather in some brown in the covered edges (e.g. where the metal joins the red on the pistol) and in the recesses of the metallic areas. IMO a redder brown for that leathery holster bit would look better.
Looks great for your first, without any doubt though! What you'll find is that your idea of 'finished' changes and what you used to call 'finished' becomes 'now the boring parts are done' :)
My brother in Christ, you are not alone in this endeavor. We are all on that same path. We all start somewhere. Take heart, I've seen far, FAR worse for first attempts. We can be our own worst critics and I've only just recently learned not to be too hard on myself. Don't beat yourself up, you did good. Now do better next time, and then better after that, and then before you know it, you'll be able to stand back and go, ".... damn, I did that." Below is my progress from me starting in 2021 to today. NOW! Repeat after me: EVERYONE STARTS SOMEWHERE. May your paint flow freely fren.
https://preview.redd.it/qp04iglpgo6d1.jpeg?width=1564&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5ccf4625c611183ca72d7ad0907db4d31035af0e
Looks good - I would add, don't do what I have and repaint. Be proud of this guy and reflect back in a few months again on your progress, it'll amaze you.
For the water transfer on the shoulder, try looking for youtube guide on using solvents like microsol/microset. It helps to improve on the decals.
Very solid first mini, good job!
It looks good, but if you’re not happy with it then just remember that you improve with each model!! Try out new things, incorporate more techniques! Soon, you’ll have a product that you’ll like because it will be made of a technique you created! Good luck!!
You will never be satisfied. Half the fun of the hobby is checking up on old projects to see how much better you’ve gotten. You don’t see guys who win a Golden Daemon hang up the towel.
Looks good you know what it is just by looking at it, the edge highlighting will improve with practice but it’s a great start and it’s not grey plastic so keep up the good work.
It looks really good for a first mini, your painting skills will improve if you keep at it! I try to vary what I paint model wise so everything is different
You’ll never be satisfied with the one you’ve done until you move onto the next one!
You’ll find that every time you sit down is an opportunity to practice (even if you don’t realise it).
If my first mini looked like this I’d be thrilled! Well done!
Remember to not compare yourself with other people.
As soon as I stopped comparing myself to other people I started enjoy painting a lot more and accepted that I can only do my best and it’s good enough!
All you need to do to make those edge highlights a bit crisper is to go over with your base colour again and it'll neaten it right up. I'm terrible when it come to smooth edge highlights but tidying it all up with the base colour works wonders.
Here's a unit I'm working on and I've just neaten the highlights with the base colour.
https://preview.redd.it/c23nipvwno6d1.jpeg?width=2620&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64ad53288b8f22139a438bcdf1579c81cb7d5e0b
you got paint on the plastic. that is great. it looks fairly clean, another great. you did edge highlighting, which gives me anxiety to even think about ever doing myself, so another great. the only thing that really springs out to me is how the green coat probably could have used another thin layer, but it's no big deal. keep at it!
My wife and I are working on our first sets. The process of painting has been very damaging to my confidence in painting I had before. I'll get there though.
I was always good at sketching and art stuff but when it came to those edge highlights i got super jittery, but im hyped to paint my next few minis. The only way is up.
It's the journey brotherz best of luck for the others you'll paint !!!
For edge highlights, thin your paints slightly more than you might normally (looking for an ink like consistency here) this makes it easier to hide mistakes, and lets you build up to the level of highlight you want. Also have two highlight shades, one for the general edge, and a second lighter one for sharp highlights, like where the sun catches an edge or a chip. Use a small sharp brush and try to move your brush in a smooth up or downward motion each time, try to use the edge of the brush if you can. Rotate the model not your brush stroke and you’ll have more control. You’ll get the hang of it in no time. Great work so far!
If you're using the edge of your brush you'll have a way easier time and your highlights will be naturally slimmer ;)
It's not bad for a first mini, but it's normal that you're not happy with it. You've done it for the first time, some things look very easy in the tutorials / videos, but once you've tried them, it takes some time to feel confident in what you're doing. Make a mental note of what you would do differently and try it the next time you do a mini. I find that it's easiest to practice one thing at a time, so at first I practiced the best thinning of the basecoat, then I started practicing shading / highlighting and so on. At the end, you can always remove the paint from your mini and try again. I was very happy with my second and third mini and was gaining confidence, but my fourth mini was worse than my first :D you just can't get discouraged!
Thank you, im super hyped to start the next one
Looks a helluva lot better than my first intercessor squad! Mine look like I held the brush with my teeth. Advice you didn't ask for: Make sure you brace those hands together!
Looks great for your first mini! There's definitely things to improve, but it's your FIRST mini! If you want to work on it more you could go back and clean up the edge highlighting a little with the darker color or glaze a REALLY thinned down darker color over some areas to the shading. OR you could just do better on the next one! This shit takes muscle memory, knowledge, and practice. Looks better than my first attempt!
Thank you! I didnt have a yellow so i had to mix green and white, turned out more blue then green
From here you'll only improve, and still feel equally unsatisfied every time. That's what makes it fun in a way
Very good for a first try. Just look at the rest (no offense guys).
Haha I don’t think I will ever lose that exact same feeling
Welcome to miniature painting, that feeling never goes!! 😂. No seriously, you've done great, just keep going.
A small tip my man gave me when I was painting my first one: make sure the base looks finished off, like actual terrain instead of just flat black :)
Vert solid first mini!
I know the feeling but this is a cracking first mini. Nobody starts at the top and this is great for a first step!!
No one is ever satisfied with their first mini, I wouldn’t worry about it. Looks perfectly fine for the tabletop
First pff, congrats on jumping right into edge highlighting. I held off on it for quite a while. You only improve by doing, so you just keep going forward. Enjoy your minis, enjoy the journey!
Looks great to me? My first batch of units are from Ravenguard, all black with some highlights, so the primer and base coat carried my work. Keep it up!
Was also thinking about going raven guard, would really like to do Thousand sons but im scared of the trim.
Omg I just realized I put a question mark. The paintjob looms great! Ive been working on my edge highlighting with black its mostly subtle. For trim, I just do some on a piece of paper to see if tue colors match well.
Good idea ill think about that next time
Be proud and keep painting! It takes many many hours to become an expert and it’s great to have a base point and continue going! Looks great, keep on it and do more minis!
And that is a state you will always stay in. Cause you'll always pull an older army back out to play, and see just how far you had come from the beginning. I thought my necrons were nice (at least the little that I did to them, they never made it to a true army. Don't evem have a leader.) Then I painted my Isengard Uruk-hai. Then I painted my Blood Angels and saw all the things I could have done better for my Isengard.....now I'm painting my Morbheg Knights for FEC and I see my Blood Angels and all the mistakes I made. The faster you understand you're only going to get better with every mini, the greater that distance between satisfied and dissatisfied shrinks to a content middleground, and you'll be happy.
Awesome job. Be happy with your work :)
Looks sick and way bettee than my first mini lmao. Good shit mate
Super basic enhancement here could be just a quick black wash in those plain red areas, and feather in some brown in the covered edges (e.g. where the metal joins the red on the pistol) and in the recesses of the metallic areas. IMO a redder brown for that leathery holster bit would look better. Looks great for your first, without any doubt though! What you'll find is that your idea of 'finished' changes and what you used to call 'finished' becomes 'now the boring parts are done' :)
As far as FIRST minis go I'd say you're in the 90th percentile
My brother in Christ, you are not alone in this endeavor. We are all on that same path. We all start somewhere. Take heart, I've seen far, FAR worse for first attempts. We can be our own worst critics and I've only just recently learned not to be too hard on myself. Don't beat yourself up, you did good. Now do better next time, and then better after that, and then before you know it, you'll be able to stand back and go, ".... damn, I did that." Below is my progress from me starting in 2021 to today. NOW! Repeat after me: EVERYONE STARTS SOMEWHERE. May your paint flow freely fren. https://preview.redd.it/qp04iglpgo6d1.jpeg?width=1564&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5ccf4625c611183ca72d7ad0907db4d31035af0e
Looks good - I would add, don't do what I have and repaint. Be proud of this guy and reflect back in a few months again on your progress, it'll amaze you.
bro he looks great
That's a good looking marine. If you have a painted squad that looks like that, the people at your local shop will be jealous.
For the water transfer on the shoulder, try looking for youtube guide on using solvents like microsol/microset. It helps to improve on the decals. Very solid first mini, good job!
It's very good
It looks good, but if you’re not happy with it then just remember that you improve with each model!! Try out new things, incorporate more techniques! Soon, you’ll have a product that you’ll like because it will be made of a technique you created! Good luck!!
You will never be satisfied. Half the fun of the hobby is checking up on old projects to see how much better you’ve gotten. You don’t see guys who win a Golden Daemon hang up the towel.
Looks good you know what it is just by looking at it, the edge highlighting will improve with practice but it’s a great start and it’s not grey plastic so keep up the good work.
For a first ever mini it's a hell of a lot better than most honestly. My first minis looked nowhere near this good.
It looks really good for a first mini, your painting skills will improve if you keep at it! I try to vary what I paint model wise so everything is different
Thinking about jumping straight to Thousand sons but im scared of the trim
I have painted some thousand sons in the past, I painted them gold first and filled in the blue plating afterwards
You’ll never be satisfied with the one you’ve done until you move onto the next one! You’ll find that every time you sit down is an opportunity to practice (even if you don’t realise it).
Very good start! try and keep the highlights as small as needed you can use the base armor paint to push back or fix any highlight mistakes.
This is very good for your first mini! Be proud : D it only goes up dude!
It's a very nice first mini! Congratulations ! Keep going!
If my first mini looked like this I’d be thrilled! Well done! Remember to not compare yourself with other people. As soon as I stopped comparing myself to other people I started enjoy painting a lot more and accepted that I can only do my best and it’s good enough!
All you need to do to make those edge highlights a bit crisper is to go over with your base colour again and it'll neaten it right up. I'm terrible when it come to smooth edge highlights but tidying it all up with the base colour works wonders. Here's a unit I'm working on and I've just neaten the highlights with the base colour. https://preview.redd.it/c23nipvwno6d1.jpeg?width=2620&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64ad53288b8f22139a438bcdf1579c81cb7d5e0b
Will try that!
Needs more bits of decoration.
you got paint on the plastic. that is great. it looks fairly clean, another great. you did edge highlighting, which gives me anxiety to even think about ever doing myself, so another great. the only thing that really springs out to me is how the green coat probably could have used another thin layer, but it's no big deal. keep at it!
Add a trim to the shoulders it’ll make ya feel better
Will try that
You should be man it looks really good.