Hi I'm yet another noob. Just need to know where I should go for tutorials on how to start painting xwing minis.

I know these questions have been answered a million times. Just the basics:

What paint

How to thin

How to layer

How to phantom

It would probably be good to collect this type of info and have Juggler add it to the Index of Useful Links. There are links there now to repainted ships, but none to painting itself.

EDIT: and in an attempt to actually be somewhat helpful:

Acrylic Paint is generally recommended -- thins & cleans up with water, and I highly recommened it. Games Workshop, Foundry, Privateer Press are all acrylic.

Testors is enamel - takes a long time to dry, can crack if not applied correctly, must be thinned with spirits. I've seen several folks on here using it, but it's certainly not worth it to me.

I haven't seen any in-depth minis painting guides aimed at X-wing specifically, but there are absolutely excellent guides for other game systems. I cut my teeth painting warhammer 40k minis, and there area ton of guides for painting those that are applicable to painting X-wing. Google it up.

I know there are some good guides or threads out there. And its been asked a million times. If someone could write a guide for newbs it would totally be wonderful.

we should have it stickied in this subforum.

explaining, what paints

how to create layers

how to thin

what to do when you muck up

what do testors, spirits, airbrushing mean

techniques for creating patterns with cutout or tape.

I do occasionally dabble with tutorials, but nothing on this scale. Now there are lots of paintguides available but I don't think anyone has done anything specifically aimed at X-wing minis. Maybe I should take a crack at it.

A quick search yielded this page on DakkaDakka.

Most mini painting guides you find, this one included, are geared toward figures rather than ships. Many of the principles & tips will transfer, though. Please note: since most of these guides are for figures, they will discussing priming your models (as in applying a black or white spray can primer prior to brush or airbrush painting). This is because these types of models come completely unpainted. It is widely held that X-wing models, being painted already, do not need to be primed -- or stripped of the factory paint, for that matter. Just wash your ship in warm soapy water, let it dry, and start painting. (Washing it removes any chemicals used in the manufacturing process -- a possibly unnecessary but simple step that could save some frustration while painting.)

Take a look there (& elsewhere) & ask specific questions here. Many folks here have lots of painting experience, and would be happy to help: we just don't have the time to sit down & write a full-on beginner's guide, unfortunately.

Hope that helps, & good luck! It's a lot of fun & very rewarding to paint your own models. And quite a bit easier than most folks think!

I just saw a post from Sanchez in another thread recommending coolminiornot as a possible source of painting tutorials. Good idea! Here's a link to their Painting Articles Index.

Some X-Wing specific color recipes would be nice to gather in one place as well

Even better would be if FFG released a paint set (maybe in conjunction with Vallejo) - I'd pick that up in a heartbeat

okay well update:

I tried some acrylics with a thinner, and i got something that is really uneven. it looks, dare i say... fuzzy. How should I proceed? Simply add more thin layers?

Brand was Americana

A number of X-wing miniatures would benefit from priming, particularly the Imperial stuff (that blue grey can prove quite challenging to cover, and the Royal Guard Interceptor is especially resistant to being painted over). That being said, you want to use good judgement when spraying them.

Hey guys, do you usually remove the original paint or prime the miniature over it? If so, do you have any tips as to how to go about doing it?

Hey guys, do you usually remove the original paint or prime the miniature over it? If so, do you have any tips as to how to go about doing it?

It's not worth trying to remove the paint; in some cases (like the TIEs) the real problem is the color of plastic it's molded in, which is easily taken care of with sparing coats of a decent primer (Rustoleum or Krylon).

okay well update:

I tried some acrylics with a thinner, and i got something that is really uneven. it looks, dare i say... fuzzy. How should I proceed? Simply add more thin layers?

Pics? Some of us could likely be of more help if we could see what you're talking about.

And what thinner are you using? Acrylics thin with water.

argh gronk: Update: I'm a fool and a fool is soon parted with his pretty miniatures.

I done goofed.

Just very sad and mourning for my poor miniatures. Done mucked up by my own hand. I'm sure there's a good opera about this somewhere.

I was given some sort of thinner to try. Apparently, I think I was sold an acetone paint remover. (Which did come in handy for other stuff... but not happy about that.) When mixed with the acrylics came out really fuzzy. Tried it with water now, much better.

Sadly, I decided to gloss my shuttle, which I did in funny black white cow scheme. Looked better with the simple water thinned non-shiny paint. This gloss sucks too. It looks cheap now. My poor glitsy, porn-star cow shuttle.

Anyone know the best way to remove gloss too? Paint over it? The texturing has gone to crap. The original painter friend who did it had some fuzzy paint and it was a tad thick. (But he did a nice job). I added some thin water based paint on top. Looked swell actually. But the gloss distinctly has a thickness and its slowly wiping on the wonderful textures and layers on the original model.

Sounds like you need to strip it now. I've heard simple green, I've heard brake fluid (or brake cleaner?). Either way, I'm not the guy to help you with that, sorry.

Best of luck, though! I know someone here will be able to tell you how to strip it.

Yeah, it does sound like you have to strip the gloss varnish. Stripping effectively does depend a bit on what paint you have used to begin with. Acrylics are generally fairly simple to remove but enamels is just a pain in the behind. What stripping chemical to use depends quite a lot on your personal preference and also where you live as many substances are not available in all countries. My personal favourite, T-röd, is something that is very inherent to my own country, Sweden. It's a denatured alcohol that is just brilliant for stripping acrylic paints.

Something I just noticed (took me a while) is 'How to phantom' that you wrote at the start. Well here is my version of that. http://alternativewargamer.blogspot.se/2014/06/phantom-of-space-opera.html To be honest it isn't a completely accurate tutorial any more as I've gone back and painted it even further.