Warhammer 40K assembly/painting/ETC tips?

[Sogo]

I've recently been going to a hobbyshop on Wednesdays and playing tabletop games with them (Flames of War, Dystopian Wars, Warhammer 40K, ETC) and have decided that I'd like to get into Warhammer.

After purchasing a kit that some of the others there  said would be good to start/practice with, I opened it up at home and found it was somewhat different than the models I had made before. Anyone here play Warhammer and have any tips/tool suggestions?

[at0m]

I've been playing 40k for 16 years.

As far as newbie tools, get yourself some decent superglue and styrene cement (aka plastic glue). The GW stuff will do, but Hobby Lobby's store brand is better and less than half the price. Also get an x-acto knife with some spare blades (the scalpel-looking ones they come with are fine for a start) and a good set of Xcelite flush cut snips. Hell, PM me your address and I'll mail you some snips, I have like 4 pairs. You came in at a good time for newbies, since they're transitioning away from metal (which is more difficult to assemble, although I like the weight of it grumble grumble), and the resin and plastic they use are both pretty easy to work with with just those tools.

What army are you looking to get started with, and what kit did you get?

[Sogo]

I've been playing 40k for 16 years.

Damn good advice

What army are you looking to get started with, and what kit did you get?

I've been borrowing Ork Armies until now, and am starting off off with a set of 5 Ork Nobz, probably picking up a Warboss tuesday so I don't have to borrow him anymore.

Thanks for the advice, It sounds like it'll definitely be useful.

[Bonesinger]

Be really careful when using plastic glue as it actually fuses (melts) the plastic together.

[Trace]

A small drill is always useful, whether for drilling out gun barrels, or making holes for magnets, or for pinning metal models. Modeling putty is fairly handy as well(GW greenstuff or an equivalent) helps fill in gaps and even be used for sculpting. As for painting tips, a well lit area is essential for good results, and I've always found a wet palette to be super useful in mixing colors and thinning down paints. Also buy some brush cleaner from an art store to keep em in good shape.

[at0m]

I wasn't going to get into advanced techniques like pinning and drilling out barrels until he'd at least gotten one kit put together

Pretty sure I have a pile of unassembled Orks rolling around in a box somewhere, if you want those snips and a box of random Orky goodies let me know. Always good to hear another player's getting started with Da Boyz!

[Dr. Zaius]

Well at0m has been here. So all that's left really is...


this thread needs more WAAAAAAAAAGGHH banners.

[Trace]

Well it's always nice to do a job right the first time, instead of looking back and having to redo shoddy work, so I wanted to give him the info if he was so inclined to put in the extra effort. I'm currently revamping my first 40k army(necrons) and I'm constantly finding myself wishing I knew back then all the stuff I know today  :p

[Luca Shoal]

this thread needs more Nuffle. All Warhammer related things need more Nuffle.

[Squishy3]

I've been playing 40k for 16 years.

As far as newbie tools, get yourself some decent superglue and styrene cement (aka plastic glue). The GW stuff will do, but Hobby Lobby's store brand is better and less than half the price. Also get an x-acto knife with some spare blades (the scalpel-looking ones they come with are fine for a start) and a good set of Xcelite flush cut snips. Hell, PM me your address and I'll mail you some snips, I have like 4 pairs. You came in at a good time for newbies, since they're transitioning away from metal (which is more difficult to assemble, although I like the weight of it grumble grumble), and the resin and plastic they use are both pretty easy to work with with just those tools.

What army are you looking to get started with, and what kit did you get?

My only complaint with the metal figures was always randomly during a match I'm playing some piece would fall off my Dreadnaught or Broodlord or Carnifex and it would be a big pain in the ass to replace there.

[at0m]

My only complaint with the metal figures was always randomly during a match I'm playing some piece would fall off my Dreadnaught or Broodlord or Carnifex and it would be a big pain in the ass to replace there.

That's where pinning comes in handy. Pin vice drill + brass rod + superglue = nothing ever falls off again. EVER.

[Sogo]

Blurry photographic evidence of my current progress, it's hard to tell, but I'm happy with how it looks atm.

[Squishy3]

[quote author=Squishy link=topic=6124.msg233008#msg233008 date=1323798172]
My only complaint with the metal figures was always randomly during a match I'm playing some piece would fall off my Dreadnaught or Broodlord or Carnifex and it would be a big pain in the ass to replace there.

That's where pinning comes in handy. Pin vice drill + brass rod + superglue = nothing ever falls off again. EVER.
[/quote]I was too lazy and I just started gorilla gluing everything and knifing off the excess glue. Nothing has fallen off since.

[Sogo]

Got the first Nob of the set put together and painted.



Still need to do a bit of touching up with the green, and I'm not too happy about how the red paint pen turned out, but on the plus side, I think drybrushing over the aluminum color with rust turned out rather nicely.

[Trace]

Not bad for a first model. Some suggestions I would give would be to apply some washes. They're an easy way to shade and give depth to a model, especially since you primed in white. If you're unhappy with the red I'd suggest first going over the white in a darker red then work up to the desired red, or you can just put more coats of that same red if you aren't getting the coverage you desire. I'd suggest a black wash over the metal and clothes and a green wash on the skin.  I'll try and put some pictures up explaining what I mean

[Trace]

Not the best picture in the world but oh well You can see the dark recesses on the gold armor are a bit more prevalent, this is what washes do. The silver on the blade handle was about the brightness of the metal on your ork before I washed it in black. Having the contrast between the deeper dark parts and the raised light parts makes the model look less flat. This can be done with washes or like how I did with the tabard by leaving the darker brown recesses unpainted.

[at0m]

Devlan Mud all the things.

[Squishy3]

Not the best picture in the world but oh well You can see the dark recesses on the gold armor are a bit more prevalent, this is what washes do. The silver on the blade handle was about the brightness of the metal on your ork before I washed it in black. Having the contrast between the deeper dark parts and the raised light parts makes the model look less flat. This can be done with washes or like how I did with the tabard by leaving the darker brown recesses unpainted.

shoutouts to sanguinary guard, can't wait to build a new blood angels army as all my old blood angels apparently got sucked into the black hole that exists in my house somewhere. the only thing I have left is some random guns and pauldrons and a dreadnought who I need to repaint. and commander dante is lurking around here somewhere.

[at0m]

I've got some pictures of my GK up here: http://www.stonypointrefugees.com/viewto...=19&t=3574. I now have a pair of Stormravens, a bunch more Psycannons and PAGK, some teleporter backpacks I have to magnetize, and a Rhino or two knocking around in a box. I need to figure out how to convert a Techmarine, but I need one with a Servoharness and all I have spare is a Thunderfire one at the moment.

I cheated and used metallic spray primer from ArmyPainter, then detail paint, then wash, then gloss varnished them. Dirt simple, good times. Nearly 3k in points painted in to a 3-color standard in 19 total hours of work.

[Trace]

lol my brother did the same for his GK, army painter makes some good stuff. I bought their dragon red to base coat my BA assault marines and my tanks.

I'm always jealous of GK, they're easy to paint, great in game, and cheap to collect(relative to everything else). I think I put about 5+ hours or so into that one sanguinary guard, my biggest problem with painting is wargaming a.d.d. I've got BA, and dark elves to paint, as well as new necrons to assemble and paint  :'(
I almost forgot I also started making a bunch of terrain for my table at home  :p