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An actual Space Marine Predator tank! 😁 Where was that, if you don't mind me asking?

That's so cool! Is there anyone offering the parts in a kit form, or are they only available as printer files? I don't have the space for a printer and I think I'm a bit long in the tooth to pick up yet another entirely new hobby branch!

Those are superb! Do you mind if I ask how tall they are? Or what sort of scale? I've got a 'Rifleman'/Destroid Defender I'm working on, I wonder if it's a similar size...

A friend's getting back into Warhammer 40,000. He hasn't painted in years and he's looking for some tips. We (his friends) have told him he'll be fine, just enjoy the process and he'll get much more out of the hobby than he puts in! Still, in the spirit of solidarity, I figured I'd give the novice painter thing another go. After all, every day's a school day, right? First up, a Tyranid in his preferred colours, using the bare minimum of tools and paint. That's it, literally everything I used on the mini. In theory the total cost was 4 x £4.75 for the paint and £5.75 for the medium drybrush; £24.75 total. My thinking being that the knife, snips/wire cutters, loose kitchen tile and superglue are all likely to be things he has lying around already. The 'starter brush' is a freebie GW and their affiliates give out like sweeties, they're in starter sets, magazine subscriptions and (if you're lucky) your local GW store might throw one (or an equivalent) in with the first boxset you buy. If not, it's a pretty crap wee brush, about equivalent to something you could pick up in a thrift store or the middle isle of your local supermarket for pennies few. First step is priming/basecoating: Abaddon black applied with the drybrush. Next up base coats using 'screamer pink' and 'administratum grey'. Two thin coats? Nah, more like at least four. GW paints are pants! Although in fairness, it's quite hard to get decent coverage over black for most paints. A roughly 50/50 mix of black and pink gave a rudimentary wash: The mini was finished off with a grey/white drybrush and a few details picked out with pure white or pink, as appropriate. Soz about the 'photos, it's late and I don't have the time to set up with a tripod and decent background. (Space is limited in my study/home office/mancave!). I couldn't figure out anything to use for gap filling that most peeps would just have lying around- maybe some baking soda + superglue? Not to worry, the point of the exercise is to show what can be achieved fairly quickly on a tight budget. With that in mind, the flocking on the base is tea and basil. Cost approximately nowt and it smells lovely! My plan moving forward is to complete another two or three with better paint and tools, to show what the same painter can expect to deliver in a similar time scale with slightly better kit. The difference in finish probably won't be large, which should reassure my friend that he doesn't have to go splurging hundreds of pounds on modelling nick-nacks to get a decent looking collection started. Thanks for reading this far, any hints, tips or advice, for me or particularly for newcomers like my friend, are more than welcome.

Superb work! I love the idea of this going to an old friend- he's going to be made up!

So, I have questions: Is this the best part of the forum for these types of pictures? Would the figures section be a better bet? And are you guys interested in seeing more of these? I've got a fair few in the stash, I'll be shifting a good few more during the winter months, do you want to see the endless variety of little toy soldiers Games Workshop has me addicted to building and painting?

Next, some regular Intercessors.

I've had these lads on the bench for a while now, I figured I'd take a few piccies before I lock them away again. First up, 'Assault Intercessors'. Close combat specialists in a future where chain swords are a thing...

Warhammer stuff is generally crazy expensive, but also painfully cool. It is what it is... It used to be worse- my interest is mainly in W30K, which was exclusively Forge World for the longest time. That wasn't just stupidly expensive models, but having to put up with resin kits as well. The reason I've only recently started to add vehicles to my collection is I just couldn't face trying to straighten out and fix misshaped resin panels inches long. 28mm figurines are bad enough! The modern plastic might be expensive, but it goes together a lot better these days. I'm looking forward to this one Mike. I've got a few GW AFVs in the stash. I know the scheme I want to paint each of them, but I'm not really into military modelling, so I'm looking to steal ahem, borrow some tips and techniques.

Yep, that's pretty much my experience too. I can put up with it on the pink/magenta, and mixing the green and the yellow gives something fairly decent, but the blue is just awful. No amount of mixing gets it to a usable consistency and when it dries- streaky, inevitably, every time- it doesn't look at all fluorescent. Next stop Element! Thanks for the recommendation!

The Rhino's starting to come together, I'm glad you've sourced a pintle for it. I'm afraid I missed out on that whole era of the hobby, I didn't even know they made a Mk I Rhino! I had my copy of Rogue Trader and the original Space Marine mini in white metal, but then I left school, work and life got in the way and it would be almost twenty years before I was able to get back into it. 'Course, that was another twenty years ago, now... ... am I really that old? It's been a mixed blessing. Having a hobby I can really delve into has been great. The minis are awesome and have been for decades, the lore firmed up and became somewhat consistent, the Black Library had some excellent writers working for them. The flip side is the corporate creep, the ever increasing cost ratcheting up, the company constantly finding new ways to hack off their paying customers and just lately a move toward pandering to loud tourists over dedicated fans. That never goes well- look at the comic book industry, mass entertainment or even (Western) video games to see how picking one side over another where divisive issues arise ends up. I know they (GW) think they're too big to fail, but I wonder if that's really true? On a less gloomy note, here's Rick Priestly talking about how it all began, back when we were all young and still had a sense of humour! It's quite a long video, but well worth listening to all the way through.

First, love the wip, great stuff (as always). Secondly: "I wasn't too happy withe the fluorescent blue, to be honest now I've used some of the green stuff world fluorescent paints I can tell the vallejo ones are pretty poor in comparison" Sooo, these Green Stuff World florescents- particularly blue- are good stuff then? I've got the very old Model Color ones and the blue is dire, I'm looking for a replacement, do you think the GSW one is worth a punt?

Niiice! I love the gold on your Dante and the osl on Mephiston is sick! Great stuff.

I'm looking forward to this one. I've only ever done one rescue- a little box of gunked up joy!- but I really enjoyed it. It took an awful lot of prep, but it looks like you're past that stage. Plain sailing from now on in! Good luck with it Calum.

Beautiful work. I'm still working on mine, in 1/72, not sure of the manufacturer. Have been since '86! It'll be finished soon, I promise!

Nicely done! Yep, MTP is tricky, particularly on smaller figures. I 'cheat' a little, by wearing my MTP trousers while I'm painting. It helps with getting the paint scheme a little closer to right, with the added bonus that any paint I spill on myself isn't going to show! 😉

I've never claimed to be a fast painter... 😬 The first issue of Imperium came out 25th August, 2021. It included these fine little chaps. I've painted a few of the other minis that came with the subscription, but these wee guys got completely ignored. Which is a shame, because they were an absolute joy to paint. The Necron (the robot/terminator figurine) is a custom paint scheme my daughter came up with. The marine is a metallic take on the standard Ultramarine colour scheme. I think the mini was unique to the magazine subscription? My plan is to dig out a few more of the models from the collection over the next few weeks. They should be ready around 2027! 😁 Why do I hear "I am the Law!" when I look at this pic? Ye Gods, miniature photography is brutal! I've just picked up on a whole bunch of details I need to finish on them! I guess three years wasn't quite enough after all! 😄 Thanks for viewing. As always, any comments, criticism or general mickey taking is more than welcome.

Top tip actioned: And tidied up, gold plated, all that George, along with some attention to other parts of the mini I wasn't happy with. The plasma pistol came out pretty well, I think? (Engages smug mode... ). Not sure it shows on the photos... Talking of such, is that any brighter on your 'phone, Mike?

That's looking great already! I'd be inclined to weather it and call done- lazybones! How about this, is it Foss enough? I love tiger schemes. Here's a crab air Jag that really tickles me: It doesn't have to be a conventional scheme. I love the two tone on this, I might steal it as inspiration for something of my own at some point:

Is it just me, or does the baldy one look a bit like Scott Manly? First time I've noticed that...

I've been collecting and painting minis for a ridiculously long time. If you include Airfix soldiers then my first efforts were in the 1970s! In 1986 Citadel released this wee fella and he sold out everywhere. I think they might just have realised they were on to something! This is his original state- Humbrol enamel paint, or maybe Airfix, did they ever have their own brand? I'm afraid I missed out on the whole 'Warhammer 40,000' thing. I bought a copy of 'Rogue Trader', but real life got in the way and pretty soon I'd left home and given up on any kind of hobby activity. Fast forward to 2013 and I'd just left HMF and finally had time and a place of my own. My kid asked me to build and paint some minis for him, which I really enjoyed doing. Then I found these guys, still in their original packaging. I could have punted them, but I had some new brushes and paint, not to mention an actual painting desk... well, it'd be rude not to! It's kind of addictive, this model building and painting malarkey. I found myself picking up toy soldiers of my own when I went to pick my kids up from the local games store. I discovered Forge World. The wee guys even have hi-tech 'jeeps' to blat around in. I've posted this one before (I was really chuffed at how well it came out)! Unfortunately, I was really struggling with my eyesight. These were the last Ravens I painted before it deteriorated so badly I couldn't paint any more. I went completely blind in my right eye, the left wasn't great either. Cataracts suck! Luckily we live in an age of miracles and wonders. My cataracts were destroyed and replaced with astonishingly clear acrylic inter ocular lenses. The operations weren't cheap, but there isn't a day passes that I don't feel incredibly blessed to have been given the opportunity to see again. It's been a long time since I painted a Raven. To be honest I've been putting it off- what if I've lost the (modest) ability I used to have? What if I just can't get back to where I was? It'd be wasting the opportunity I've been given to carry on thinking like that! So I dug out a few minis, tried some new paint and finished these three this morning. I'm really pleased (relieved?) with how they turned out. I hope you enjoy them too. Thanks for watching. Comments, critique and general mickey taking welcome.

Beautiful!

It depends on how dark your grey is and whether you want the primed part to show. I base my priming decision on what I'm going to be painting over the prime. For Han and the Taunton most of the finished model will be light colours, so a dark prime (grey, dark brown, black or even dark blue) + bright highlight/zenithal will create interesting shadows and a natural variation in tone as long as you're careful when applying your additional layers. Having said that, it's easy enough to cover even the darkest prime with enough patience and layers. Looking forward to seeing what you end up with- I'm pretty sure it's going to be great, I've got a good feeling about this...

Fabulous repair job on the main mini- your sculpting looks better than the original! I'm really looking forward to the underwater paint job. I love something a wee bit different, even although it sounds quite challenging. Good luck!

It was a rush job on the pics- like I said, it was a limited time competition, I paint really slowly, the pics were grabbed on the night before we submitted entries. When I get around to tidying up the mini I'll take some against a better background. They should read a little brighter. Watch this space!