So this is my first time ever even owning a miniatures game, and certainly my first time painting minis. Because of the cost I had to go cheap. I got some inexpensive brushes from Walmart and mostly Apple Barrel paints. I used floor polish to cut the paint and to seal the minis up (I actually like the glossy look). I did the best I could to follow some of Sorastro's guides and used some other info I found online.

Overall, I'm very happy with the results for the money and time I put into them, and the game is so much more enjoyable to play now.

I've pre-ordered Twin Shadows and between that and a bunch of other pre-ordered ally and villian packs I'll have about 20 more minis to paint soon (hopefully!).

I couldn't figure out how to upload them into this, I put them on Imagur. If anyone can figure out how to put them in here that would be wonderful.

http://imgur.com/a/yeQP1

Good results given the raw materials! And they'll obviously look way better on the table than plain plastic.

I don't think there is a way to load images directly to this board; everyone uses imgur or other space.

Thanks! Vader looks sparkly in the picture, but not when you're actually holding the mini. Weird, I think it's the silver highlighting or something. I think I'll try to fix that when I paint the next batch.

They look good!

You can add images to posts by clicking the image button in the post editor. It's right under the smiley. Though they still need to be hosted elsewhere like imgur

Very nice.... especially considering it was your first time painting.

Those are pretty solid for your first time painting (I've still got the first model I've painted and I've super glued him to my painting tray as a 'never again' reminder) those are definitely models to be proud of.

From an observation I can say that you've got large models nailed, the nexu (nexus? Whatever the plural is) are brilliant and the AT-ST's are spot on -the weathering and battle damage on Weiss is ace- I wish I could get them to that standard.

Can I offer a little constructive criticism? Thin your paints, just dip your brush in water and dab the excess off before dipping in the paint pot, it'll help massively with the normal trooper sized models, I speak from experience (those poor, poor 40K guardsmen...) that many thin layers that you build up is better than one or two thick coats.

All in all though, keep it up, those are incredibly well done for first models and I can't wait to see what you can do with even more experience under your belt!

They look great

Nice Job! looks great! I use the same paints, because I'm cheap too! However, there is a reason people use the more expensive ones... Also, I use to use a shiny sealer and thought "yeah this is great! whats the fuss with the matte?" Then I bought a matt spray paint protector at walmart. Well I can say a matte is way better than the shiny...brings out the details better...try it and see if you like shiny or matte, I'd bet you'll choose matte....

Thanks guys! I'm looking forward to getting the Twin Shadows soon. I'm almost through the first campaign, with about three missions to go.

Quick question: what if I did the shiny, and then put matte over it? The reason I say that is because I've already done all these with the glossy (which is basically the Future Shine acrylic floor polish, if it protects floors good then it will my minis too) and I don't want the new batch to look dramaticall different from the old.

So I'd put the glossy on, then spray on the matte? I remember that I completely forgot to seal my minis after I painted them for a few weeks, and I thought they looked rather drab. Then when I put on the clear coat they really popped (pics don't do them justice). Does the matte look drab, like how they look right after they've been painted?

I bought the 50 cent Walmart acrylic paints as well and they work just fine for me. I did buy the nuln oil because that stuff is magic for a beginner like myself but you can make nice minis with cheap paints

I painted Twin Shadows!

Here some Heavy Stormtroopers led by Kayn Somos!

Artoo and Threepo, without them everyone would have been squished in the first movie!

The new guys, Biv and Saska.

This first time painter is a little proud (I know it's no big deal to you pros) of free-hand painting the Rebel symbol on Biv's shoulder.... but who's that guy next to him?

None other than the greatest bounty hunter ever! I broke the rules and gave him a RED cape, because I like it better than green!

Let's not forget the crazies.

Nice work u will soon outpaint the best of em , I am painting my sandpeople tomorrow. I am thinking of making them look more like the ones in the movie, havent seen anyone paint them with a greenish color on their head yet, even on the twin shadows pack they are painted with a dark brown. I will go for green cloth and hope it will look nice

Thanks! Make sure you post yours!

The cheap painter has returned, and this time he's brought some Hired Guns.

More to come as Hoth arrives!

https://flic.kr/p/CskESc

HEY! Why could I use Flickr before but now I can't? That's a little frustrating....

Stormies!....nice and onederful!

Hired Guns!

These are seriously amazing for the materials you are working with! To answer your question that you asked early on about putting matte over gloss, that is precisely what I would suggest doing, even for newly painted models that you know you want matte. Pretty much all of my experience comes from painting metal models, which chip a lot easier than these, but my standard was a couple coats of lacquer followed by a couple coats of matte finish. You get the look of the matte but the protection of the gloss as gloss coats are quite a bit harder. Keep up the great work!

One more thing I forgot to cover about matte coating; always give at least a full day of dry time for your gloss before your spray on a matte coat or you will get an aweful frosting effect.

I started painting the Return to Hoth figures. This is what I have done so far.

First off, meatbags, everyone's favorite assassin droids! The dark wash helped a lot to where I didn't have to actually put any black paint on them.

The princess? She's here?! And the new medical droid hero.

The new Imperial tank.

Loku and Verena. Verena makes up for Leia's lack of color in her outfit.

These guys are looking for a Jedi happy meal for lunch. I don't know if you're supposed to do it this way or not, but I put a dark wash on them, then a white wash over the top.

Snowtroopers!

Nice work!

That is nice work. I'm in the category of who can I pay to paint mine

Wow! Love the snow troopers! I hope mine look half as good!