Some painting advice please.....

Ok, so im happy with the way i paint, the results i get for the most part.
I only have about twenty paints plus inks, so i always blend colours to get different shades, then blend more to highlight out etc.

But, i spend a lot of time on one model, the big latest chaos spawn was at least 6 hours work, probably more.

Now, me and by gaming bud are going to start 40k, so i bought Dark Vengeance to kick it all off, plus the Assassin game to play with the kids, so i have a boat load of 40k stuff to paint.

We also want our next Mordheim campaign to be Vampire Hunters, so i have to paint up loads of undead which i have had kicking around for ages.

So the question is, how do i speed up? Are there any techniques i can learn to get much faster, but still be happy with what i have done?

Maybe this wont make sense, and im just going to stay slow, but i cant help thinking someone knows something i dont.

For the Undead I'd suggest a basic base coat and then use a wash like the Army Painter Soft / Strong / Dark Tone, depending on the desired end effect.  I use this for my Zombicide figures and the results not only look good (I haven't needed to highlighted a single Zombie) but is also extremely quick.  I can then spend more time on the "character" models.

All of the below pics are base coat and wash:

Ink washes all the way, usually messy if you are working fast, but the zombies don't need to be the tidiest beings anyway so it will do the trick. With my carnival for example I use: rotting flesh, then reickland fleshshade, then mix of rooting flesh+grey 2:1, then agrax earthshade. Add leviathan purple for bruises and carrobourg crimsom for viscera and wound. As you see,any recipe can be made nearly exclusively with inks

It's been a long time since I've painted a model quickly. An average Mordheim henchmen takes me about 4-8 hours. I feel your pain.

the trouble with dipping is i dont want to look at something and think i could have done better if id only spent more time on it.
i do that a lot anyway.
i was thinking more about how to speed up the way i paint now.

Okay, speed up techniques:

Batch painting, paint one colour at a time.

Try to be neat. You can always go back and correct afterwards, but a little extra care to start means you'll reduce the time spent correcting later.

Use a hairdryer. This is something I discovered recently and it saves me loads of time, more so with single miniatures than ones you're batch painting.

Quote :

i was thinking more about how to speed up the way i paint now.

Being open to changes and new techniques never hurt though. Inks and washes are the bomb.

actually Jed i should say im not anti dip, the results are really good and definitely fast, and i too have zombiecide (not even started painting them) and yours look really good.

i may well try it on them, there's a technique to learn to get the dip right as well.

I think i have to change my mentality for armies, shading every model out with six passes of lighter shades is just not achievable.

It also depends what the figures are, Marines are all a uniform colour basically, so i bet dipping them would work really well.

I can then spend more time on the "character" models. wrote:

This is probably one thing i need to do.

Batch painting is a good idea too, i dont ever do that, i always try to stick to one model till its finished which is probably a mistake, and why i have hundreds of mini's with zero paint on them.

Ive also ordered some different colour undercoat sprays as black or white undercoat i find just makes the whole process longer as i see the black bits in recesses and start trying to pick out highlights.

Dark red on khorne marines for ex as a base coat, then instead of blending colours buy the different shades and use them straight from the pot.

Im going to start with the 40k stuff soon so i will try all these things out.
Thanks for the suggestions.

i do use inks now VK, but i tend to paint the base colours, ink the whole thing, then highlight out over the top of the ink.

In the old days there was just GW inks, now there shade, glaze, layer, dry etc.

i need to modernize man, and learn some self dscipline.

Just to point out, I used the Army Painter inks, not dips. The dip is a much messier process. The inks are water based so nice and easy to use. Also, the inks can give the model quite a shiny effect. This can be countered with a matt varnish which I love.

Just had a look on ebay cheers Jed.

is that the ink set with the soft/dark tones as well as the coloured ones or are you just talking about coloured inks?

I use the Soft, Strong and Dark ones. I've got Vallejo coloured inks for all the major colours, plus Games Workshop Nuln Oil, Flesh and Agrax which are nice as well.

thanks jed, since they are half the price of GW inks i think i'll get a set!

Everything is half the price of GW