Id like to preface that i only consider myself a novice painter, and as such this tutorial will be a guide aimed at the beginner. Also id like to point out that my way is not the only way to do this and i encourage and would love to see experimentation by anyone else.
The Materials used in this Tutorial are.
* Hobby knife or razor (for cutting flash)
* A size 2-3 brush (I used a citadel starter brush for the majority)
* Black base coat (any brand will do, however i used GW Abanddon Black)
* A light grey color for the panels and superstructure (I used Adminustratum Grey)
* A darker Grey to paint the cockpit Window (I used Mechanicus standard grey)
* A light green or red color for the front laser mounts, Its up to you ( I went with GW Goblin Green as i think it meshes better than red)
* A red color for the engine glow (most reds will do)
* A dark wash of your choosing. THIS IS IMPORTANT ( will not go over washes in this tutorial, I will assume you're experienced in them, however if you have any questions feel free to message me)
* Finally a gloss and matt finish (the gloss is for the cockpit, laser mounts, and engine.
As you can see the flash can be significant on some of the fighters, this step is not necessary but it can help to give your job that next level of quality. or your OCD like me and just want everything even.
After you've removed the flash from your fighters you should wash all of the models thoroughly in lukewarm water, you may use soap if you wish, i did not. It wont hurt
Then you can get ready to paint!
NOTE
: Bent wings seem to be an issue with the tie fighters of at least the core set, if you feel you want to change these to be more strait the solution is simple. Water treat the ships with a rather hot source of water (fairly hot but not boiling) you should be able to bend the wings back. I do not think this step necessary however and as such have not attempted it
So the first paint step is the base coat, this is fairly important and you can really decide to go to ways here. You can either base the model in black and paint in the main grey areas or base it in grey and paint in the main black areas. I personally decided to base in black and unless your a fairly good painter i suggest you do the same.
For black you can paint on, spray paint, or dip. I painted on, the models are tiny and light enough to make spraying for me a bit of a pain and i like to paint! But i recommend you tack them onto a popsicle stick or the like and give them a good go with spray paint as you'll achieve a better consistency.
When you're done you should have something like.
And a shot of all the paints I use in this tutorial
After you've done up all your ties in black you can then move on too adding the grey. This is the meat of the paint job and will likely take you the most time. I like to work on wing at a time going inwards so that i can leave it on the opposite side to dry. Do all the squadrons that way and by the time you get done the first one will have dried and you can do the other wing.
You want to hit the outside wing panels, try to keep your brush flat to the wing in order to get the best result. The wing sides also need to be painted and finally the superstructure, if you want an easier job you can just do that. However I personally don't think it looks quite right without the inner panels done. You'll have to do this freehand unless there is a better method that im unaware of.
NOTE : you'll be coming back later with black to clean up your mistakes so don't worry about getting it perfect.
If you've painted the inner panels and the wings edges, superstructure you should have something like this.
NOTE : If you want to stop here thats fine, give the superstructure a good dose of dark wash and the model will look ok in large numbers at a distance and much better than unpainted. That is just if you want to paint a lot fast and are not overly concerned with detail.
Edited by Lurtz
