All of the paint guides in this section assume that you have the basics under your belt and are ready to move on and advance your skills. Many of the topics follow the Eavy Metal Painting Team's methods with touches of my own thrown in for good measure.
The Paints being used are all Citadel colours, mostly the old batch, but with some new ones too. As my colours exhaust they will be replaced with the new colours. In any case, the new colours will always be shown in brackets or made clear at the time of posting.
Starting with the basic equipment
Make sure you have all of the following.
A paint area with a mat or tray to lean on. I use the citadel paint station. A pot of water and a palette. A hobby knife, emery boards, small file, clippers and green stuff (liquid and solid). It is also advisable to have a decent white light lamp. This is to help ensure that the light comes from the same direction all of the time and that you can see everything on the model clearly.
Before you paint plan your colours, look at the model thoroughly. It is very frustrating putting in some hard work only to notice later on there were details you didn't spot and have to go back to finish.
Using various sources for ideas, look at several pictures in colour of what you want to paint. This will give a good idea of what colours and combinations work well. It will help you if you plan on using that exact scheme or decide what you want to change.
Have plenty of Lhamaen Medium handy as this will help you creat washes and glazes which are crucial to smooth blending and lighting.
Keep any left over bits not used. This is your trial piece. Anything new will almost certainly go wrong on the first attempt, so having spares to try the mix and technique on will help you feel confident about attempting I on your model.
Be prepared to spend time on the model. A rush job will NEVER meet the high standard you are hoping to achieve. A decent single miniature can take up to several weeks in sessions of a few hours.
Be prepared to make mistakes. You will rarely get it correct on your first attempt. However, good practice will get you there in the end.
Be realistic on your time frame. If you think you can complete a whole army painted to a very high standard in a few weeks then good luck to you. We are not the professionals who get paid to spend all day painting. A few hours at best is all we will get after our day job is done. My army is 3 years old and nearly half done. But if you have been realistic and are prepared to spend the time doing every single model then you will get it completed.
Don't buy too many models in one hit. If you have a massive back log you will be prone to giving up - too much work too do. If you have a small back log and build on it as you complete you will sustain your motivation.
Have a reward model to paint. Just finished a unit of 10 troops, then follow up with a vehicle or monster. It will change your colour palette and feel like a deserved break.
Make the face the focal point. Observers are always drawn to the face - it's in our nature.
Always use thin layers and build them up. You get much better results and can correct mistakes easier. Single thick layers are best left to scenery and buildings.
Now we are ready to start.....
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