Greetings and salutations, from the far Eastern Fringe of the Imperium. At the
time of writing this little piece, I’m sitting at a sidewalk café in
Sintra, Portugal. My Wife and I just finished scampering over the ruins of a
9th Century Moorish Castle, how cool is that. I’m now quite inspired to
finish my newest Fantasy army.
With Games Day happening in early May, I could go on for
pages about this great event, but I won’t. Go, experience
the madness for yourself, it is well worth the trip. When
you do go (and you all should) and are planning to play
and build at Mad Grox and Ascension to Power, register
at the events early as space is limited and the event is
very popular.
I thought I’d share with everyone how I paint armies.
Not the actual painting techniques, but the process of
getting the army painted. It is all a matter of motivation
and time management. You don’t need to paint your
figures to the crazy level that you see in the pages of
White Dwarf, that level of skill takes lots of practice
to obtain.
Here’s how I get the job done:
SETTING A TIME: I schedule three painting
sessions a week, more if I can. This way everyone knows
when I’m going to paint and can work with my schedule.
Now this is the best-case scenario and no plan survives
first contact with the enemy, but I try hard to stick to
my painting times. If I don’t, units crying for attention
are not painted and that sad. I
CLAIM THIS LAND… Mine is at the
end of my kitchen table near my Computer Desk and a several
windows. If you keep the area clean and tidy, significant
others or parental units rarely complain about your workspace.
One of my friends keeps his paint station on an old rolling
computer stand so he can put his painting away easily after
his painting sessions. Ease of access is the key.
WORK AND PLAY WELL WITH OTHERS: Company
helps with motivating me to paint. It gives me a second
pair of eyes to pick out mistakes, omissions and advice
on colours and etc. I also find that I get more accomplished
when I have someone to talk to.
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE… or CHOOSE YOUR
POISON: I like Tea, my Wife, Deborah prefers
Hot Chocolate when she paints (She plays Dark Eldar,
Chaos Space Marines and Dwarves).
ALL WORK AND NO PLAY: Take regular breaks,
I take a break every hour or so to get up and stretch and
move around. Wake yourself up; give your brain a rest.
After doing 40 pair of Imperial Guard Boots in a row you’ll
understand.
SETTING THE MOOD: Like any other activity;
setting the proper vibe is important. I like listening
to old/bad movies/TV shows on DVD. I like plot and I want
voices filling in the background silence. Others use music.
Why old and/or bad, because if they were new and/or good
I’d watch the show and not paint.
BITE SIZED CHUNKS: Work on one unit at
a time, leave the rest in storage. Having your entire 2000-point
Goblin Army egging you on can become daunting and discouraging.
THE FAST AND THE… Paint one part
of a unit at a time, (i.e. paint all the units boots first,
and then move on to the next part). This is known as assembly
line painting, and works really well for getting armies
painted quickly.
DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF: Get
your base colours down and get playing, you can always
go back and work on the details. No one will care if they
look like toy soldiers, because that is what they are.
Remember, that most of the time you will be looking at
your army on the table at a distance. Paint so they look
good on the table, your army will be done sooner than you
think. Personally I paint most of my army this way and
spend more time and effort on vehicles and Characters,
so they stand out. I hope you find this helpful and go
to Gamesday….
Todd
Clements :