A 'painting your army' article suggested basecoating in black, then another basecoat in the dominant color (boltgun metal, in my case). But that is two layers before I even start the multiple layers for skin & equipment... How about if I find a Metalic Silver metal primer and skip the black primer? Blasphemy, perhaps, using non-Gamesworkshop paint....but better for detail? Or won't make much difference? I love the GW articles, but Selling GW Stuff is always on the agenda---and may trump giving best advice. Also, any suggestions for a boltgun metal substitute...brands of metal primer that are especially good? Thanks

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"make me lunch... worthy of Mordor"

You're not the only person to think this! But it depends how agood a job you want to do. You paint your models to make them look good, or at least repesentable. If you cut too many corners, you can get stuff painetd super-fast...but it looks naff, thus negating the point of doing it in the first place, thus making the time you spent (no matter how shortened it was by the cutting corners) a complete waste!

you could try a few things out, although, again, if you try something and then it doesn't work, you may as well have just done things properly in the first place for the time and money you spent! Fact is, if you follow the guides, they're quick, really simple, and really fast. I painted over 100 Mordor Orcs in 4 days using the 'Army in an afternoon' technique. The guide for painting Isengard Uruk Hai is really quick and only really the first stage takes any time. Even then, it's just a few colours (Dark flesh for skin, Boltgun for armour, scorched brown for leather, plus I use snakebite leather for strapping). You can quicken it, I found, by spraying on the metallic colours. The rest is washes and quick highlights, it takes no time at all (meaning you can add some flourishes of your own to personalise your amy).

At the end of the day, painting is going to take SOME time! But look how easy it is to paint most LotR models; Wargs, Ghosts, Minas Tirith guys are mostly metal armour...I love painting LotR models primarily because the majority of them take no time at all, and are a cinch to make look really good. And it still remains that a can of spray and two pots of foundation will undercoat and basecoat and entire WotR army.

Painting over a black undercoat will allow you to add shading and definition to the models without much work, just allow the black undercoat to show through in the areas of deep shadow.
Another technique to try would be to drybrush the silver onto the amour this will give you good coverage with only a thin coat of paint, and its fast too.

But I think your concern over obscuring detail isn't really valid anyway. as long as you use paint from a palette, with a touch of water added, rather than straight from the pot you should be fine.

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Forth Eorlingas!

I don't want to cut corners; if black plus boltgun primers won't obscure detail, great. The opposite is my problem; my perfectionism slows everything down to a crawl. Is the 'army in an afternoon' article the one on the GW site? Got a link? Other thoughts/tips?

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"make me lunch... worthy of Mordor"

The 'Army in an afternoon' article is here: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/conte ... Id=8300013
The Uruk Hai article is here: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/conte ... d=12300002

The perfectionism thing is an issue. I say...don't be! I used to paint everything to the best standard I could, but it's not possible; it's too time consuming, painting becomes a chore, and the hobby's no fun anymore! Thing is, I haven't noticed any real difference. When you bear in mind that the mdoels will be viewed from standing height, you realise that doing things like getting the bases and big surfaces right is the main thing. I focus on trying to avoid smudging and 'going over the lines', but paint with fewer colours, and add variety by mix n'matching those few colours in varied combinations on batches of different models. Every now and again, a rank and file mdoel with have something extra, like a stolen weapon or scars or something, but it's surprising how good 'minimum effort' can look. I'll post some pics soon, and you can see if you agree. I know it might seem the 'But I'll know it's not the very, very best I could do!' feeling might seem like a barrier to just getting painting down, but really, it's easy to get over.

Again, it's not about putting out sub-standard models, but just about spending time on those special models that need it, and being pragmatic enough to neither rush or procrastinate over models that don't need as much attention!

For my SBG armies I used to paint to a pretty high detail. My models almost all used three shades for every skin/cloth/fur color so cloak would have a base, then a wash then a highlight or such. They looked good but it would take me a week to paint a Company worth.

When doing a lot of Orcs to beef up a Mordor force I tried the following: basecoat (I use a generic black spray primer, going over VERY careful not to be thick...GW is too expensive) black. Then paint all flesh (a few different shades of tan, green or gray scattered between the Orcs for variety), then cloth then armor...all with just one shade of the color. Then a wash of Black or Brown watered down. Then let dry and dull coat. For example, tanned flesh, followed by graveyard earth and dark flesh on cloths, snakebite and scorched brown for straps/belts, boltgun for all armor/weapons. Then a brown wash over the whole thing. A couple drybrushes of different green/browns over a sanded base washed with scored brown and some static grass and you're done. I will work on them about 8 at a time (company size) and find that when I finish with the flesh on the last one, the first is dry enough to start the cloths, for example. When everything is done I'll sometimes go thru and pick out details like buckles or such but not 100% of the time.

They really can look very good like this, and comparing a company of quick-style Wood Elves to a company of three-shade per color era Wood Elves it's generally very hard to tell the difference.

After a few companies worth of these quick ones I'll reward myself with a Hero or perhaps a Company of more elite models (metals) that I want to be sure look good.

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Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

Thanks for all this. My local store was out of Boltgun Metal spray, so I got Platemail Metal...and read that ths Army Painter stuff is made as a primer. Primers are a one-coat base to help other kinds of paint bond to metal...so TWO primers are not necessary, except if the second is light enough to allow the first to provide shading...but a wash seems more effective for that. Maybe the Boltgun is not a primer, so needs the Chaos Black primer to bind it...? Anyway, I think I'll use the Platemail Metal as it seems to have been intended: the primer. All this is beginner's theory; corrections welcome.

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"make me lunch... worthy of Mordor"

lol, unless you're like me, where making it as perfect as is possible with my skills is a great way to pass the time when I have nothing else to do... But that might be because I paint dwarves and I make an attempt to make each one different from the others...

Welcome Padawan to Lazy Painting 101.


Army Painter Plate Mail Spray with a Badab Black wash.



Then apply basecoats, and finish with a wash of Devlan Mud.

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Studio gaarew; Gaming armies, by gamers, for gamers.

Looks very effective I may try that with my Gondorians... I hadnt come across the silver spray, it looks like it goes on evenly without clogging detail?
Scott

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www.scottswargaming.blogspot.com

Pretty much. It creates a nice matt coat, and has a slightly plasticy feel, but takes a wash well, and doesn't show through Foundation/Vallejo extra Opaque paints.

The black wash tones the silver down enough that you don't need to repaint any of the model before applying the basecoats.

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Studio gaarew; Gaming armies, by gamers, for gamers.

Sweet.

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"make me lunch... worthy of Mordor"