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u/Alive_Transition_286

▲ 171 r/Warhammer40k

Rambling on my first minis

Hi all,

I wanted to share some of my thoughts about my painting journey so far. I don't know if it can be helpful in any way but personally I wished I knew some of those things when I started. I'm writing this as much for myself as for you guys, so if you don't care, know that I also don't care.

TL;DR:

Spent a year watching tutorials and prepping before actually painting, built a 2300pt Blood Angels army, and just finished my first 10-man squad. Took forever but I'm incredibly proud of the result. Main takeaways: there's no wrong way to enjoy the hobby, being proud is about personal growth not Instagram comparisons, proper prep (mold lines!) matters, and seeing a project through brings its own joy regardless of skill level.

** Overly complex painting recipe at the bottom of the post ***

About me for context:

I'm in my mid 30s. I had a very demanding career that ended abruptly 3 years ago. Went from real busy to too much time on my hands. I didn't know who I was, much existential crisis, saw a therapist. He told me I should try to do something "just for the pleasure of it, to get out of the productivity mindset". I remembered that during high school, I was fascinated by the warhammer minis I stumbled upon at the LGS near the school. I would visit the store quite often during lunch and drool a bit, but never bought any models. I had dabbled in some Tamiya kits when I was younger too, but never finished any.

So one spring day of 2024, I visited a warhammer store. I spoke to a knowledgeable employee who answered some of my questions about the different factions (I wanted to start a Deathwatch army at the time lol). The employee proposed to me to paint a space marine in the store, which imo is a very good way to introduce people to the hobby. I bought a space marine codex on the spot. Around the same time, I heard about an acquaintance who was really really into 40k. He was playing Necrons and Drukhari. I reached out to him, a very friendly guy who was keen on getting a new playing partner. I went to his place to play a couple of combat patrol games, and in december of 2024, after thinking long and hard about the different space marine chapters, I finally bought a Blood Angels combat patrol. I had caught the bug.

I started to build and build and build. I would buy kits, build them, prime them and put them on the shelves. I don't like building kits very much, because of all the sanding and scraping involved. But I kept building because I guess I was afraid of painting. As of now I got 6 characters, 44 marines and 3 vehicles, for about 2300 pts. 10 marines out of those are painted, the ones you see in the picture.

I'm the type of person who wants to get things right the first time. The pressure I put on myself means sometimes I will think a lot and not do much. That looks a lot like procrastination. I ended up binge watching youtube paint tutorials for a year. I bought 40 different paints and an airbrush before I even painted my first mini. I made about 20 list on newrecruit but only played one of them.

But I had a goal: I would build a 2000 points blood angels army that I'll be proud of. The type I would put in a glass enclosed cabinet with a nice display board. That idea kept me motivated and inspired so far.

I understand this goes against the common advice of having lots of reps to improve vs trying to only do once and trying to make it good the first time. But I still see the latter as deliberate practice. Early this year, I made 3 test models to get an idea of the recipe I would use, picking a red that would pop on the board without looking like I was playing a firemen army. Something that would look good at 3 feet without a 6500k lamp. Those tests helped me get the basics of airbrush, brush control, edge highlights, volumes and values. It took me forever, but after those I was confident I could start the army. So off I went with my first 10 man squad.

That squad took so long, not only because of painting all the small detail and covering my mistakes, but also because I had some decisions to make. I underestimated the bases. I wanted bases that read as a damp forest with moss and greens amidst overgrown ruins, but a base not so green that it took the attention away from the models. I have those Sanguinary Guards to do and I feel the old broken statues on their bases would work with that aesthetic. I wanted the smoke grenades to look as such, so I went with a color scheme that is a nod to the ones of Counter-Strike, grey and orange. I enjoyed doing all that research very much though, it's been one of the best parts of that hobby journey. I got an appreciation of the people who enjoy kitbashing.

I finished the squad this weekend, even though I might come back to fix some details, I feel they are pretty complete. I think I looked at them for an hour once I was done. I am very proud of what I have done. I didn't think I could paint them to the level I saw in the display cabinets at the Warhammer store. I would have laughed if you told me a year ago I would go beyond that level. I think I did so, but more importantly, I am just proud of that painting level and I don't plan on doing much better, except for the characters.

So what is this all about? What did I realize?

  • There is no wrong or right way to enjoy the hobby. Your process is yours and yours only. I've enjoyed doing 10 marines at once. I took a lot of time doing them. That might be the opposite for someone else. One could feel desperation thinking that army is never going to get done in years. I don't. I loved to paint them. I see each squad as a project within the larger project (the army).
  • Army painting is one aspect of the hobby which I seem to truly enjoy, one of my friends takes the rule of cool to the max and just paint anything that he likes, regardless of faction. I still made him buy a combat patrol so we could play some games together.
  • Being proud of your paintjob has nothing to do with comparing yourself to what you see on instagram. Let's keep in mind they all pop more with the best lighting conditions and some tweaks in post. Being proud is just being able to push a bit your skills to do better than last time, or being more efficient. Maybe it isn't though. If you got another definition of it, please share. My next project is a scout squad, it will be the first faces I will paint.
  • I was very happy to see the completed project. I found great pleasure just seeing it through. This is independent of the paintjob quality.
  • I now understand the value of prepping your models well for painting. Double check your mold lines after priming. I had to correct that on all the models after the basecoat.
  • Make sure your vacuum around your hobby space as dust gets on your models. Maybe it's because I took so much time. I got a compressed air can on my desk. It has been helpful.
  • A good LGS makes a difference. I was able to get good advice from the staff at Fenris Workshop. I highly recommend the place if you are near Quebec city.

Thanks for reading till the end!

Shout out to the Youtube channels that inspired me the most:

Blood angels JPI recipe

Base coats:

Airbrush Burnt red + blood red zenithal

Metals: black then Natural steel

Rubber: Neutral grey

Aquila, back straps, boot soles: Dark grey

Smoke grenades: Medium grey and volcanic yellow

Grenades: medium olive green

Right Knee pad: black

Leather: Leather brown base

Helmet: Yellow + space yellow quick gen (2x 1:1 with thinner)

Weapons: smoke black

Gold trinkets: bright gold (Pro Acryl) + hazel brown wash

scrolls: vampiric flesh + hazel brown wash

Purity seal: wine red + dark grey wash

Jump pack burners: Titanium white + ice blue quick gen

Jump packs metals: gun metal

Gloss varnish (Vallejo)

Black pinwash

Decals

Matte varnish

Armour touch ups 1:3:4 Burnt red / blood red / glaze medium

Eyes: Black, titanium white (pro acryl), fluorescent green (Golden)

Highlights:

Armor: Volumes with blood red glaze, light rust edging.

Metals: Redo them without touching the pin wash then highlights of natural steel on jump pack beads and silver everywhere else

Leather: dark rust, then dark rust + golden grown

Helmet: pale yellow, and some volcanic yellow glaze for some midtone correction

Weapons: dark grey

Armour touch ups 1:3:4 Burnt red / blood red / glaze medium

Scrolls: vampiric flesh

Purity seal: wine red

Basing:

Rusted rebars: Light rust + Hazel brown wash + rotwood brown wash

Bases: British khaki + Hazel brown wash

Concrete: Neutral grey + dark grey wash + neutral grey drybrush + medium grey drybush

Rocks: Dark grey + neutral grey drybrush + Dirty down moss

Tufts: Meadows and marshland set (gamers grass)

Rim job: Black

u/Alive_Transition_286 — 2 days ago