So my priming went well. I got a little too much paint on a few of them, but it's not too bad. I may go back and simple green a few of them.

I tried to post pictures on here, but every time I include a link it's telling me that extension is not allowed on this community. I don't know why it isn't working for me. I'm sure I'm doing something very simple very wrong.

My ties turned out pretty good, I got some black on the edges, but I should be able to clean that up while drybrushing.

my x-wings however look terrible. my lines are all crooked and I just couldn't keep them straight. any tips on that?

http://imgur.com/a/NhKge

there's a link at least if anyone is interested

Check this, it might help:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1495797/easy-fast-way-paint-armada-unpainted-models-wave-1

For the Straighter Lines (especially on things like, the Nose/Fuselage of the X-Wings), its all in how you hold the Brush.

Personally, I like to sweep it across, so the bristles are perpendicular to the model... Hard to explain without a picture, but you'r enot actually trying to bristle-point the paint on, its more of a 'touching the edge with the part of the bristles that's a little further up than the tip"...

So, look at that image... Rather than trying to paint the eyes, what I am suggesting is having the brush in that position if you were tyring to paint the Edge of the hair... Touching it to the model and sweeping it down....

*furiously takes down notes*

Personally, I like to sweep it across, so the bristles are perpendicular to the model... Hard to explain without a picture, but you'r enot actually trying to bristle-point the paint on, its more of a 'touching the edge with the part of the bristles that's a little further up than the tip"...

I never would've thought to do it this way.

I was going horizontally and kind of dragging the brush along the model. I will try this.

thanks!

If you want another trick for straight lines:

Use a post it note as a ruler. It's easy to position/reposition (easier than masking tape, IMO), and while there may be a bit of bleed if you use really thin paint, it will still be cleaner than free hand.

I use them for quick airbrush masks, but I think it would help with brush painting as well.

Paint small batches...6 or 9...no more...you will go crazy.

I'm doing batches of 9 x-wings and it goes smooth. Ties....six is usually the norm.

Paint small batches...6 or 9...no more...you will go crazy.

I'm doing batches of 9 x-wings and it goes smooth. Ties....six is usually the norm.

i did an entire batch of 2 sets of imperial fighters expansion and a core set all at once

i wouldn't say it drove me crazy, but it was stressful and i won't be doing it in that large of a batch ever again

but you can do more than 9 fighters and be fine

84 Imperial Fighters (Fighters, not Squadrons) at once just the other day.

Next up is 72 Rebel Fighters.

Then Rogues and Villains.

And then another Commission batch that arrived, all Imperial Fighters

Paint small batches...6 or 9...no more...you will go crazy.

I'm doing batches of 9 x-wings and it goes smooth. Ties....six is usually the norm.

i did an entire batch of 2 sets of imperial fighters expansion and a core set all at once

i wouldn't say it drove me crazy, but it was stressful and i won't be doing it in that large of a batch ever again

but you can do more than 9 fighters and be fine

Depends on how detailed you intend to go, and how much time you're willing to spend.

Me I learned long ago there is a fine line between game capability/time spent/and shifting metas....I used to paint Waffen SS armies for FoW to a level of stupid good detail and they'd get tabled constantly and I'd have to shift with the meta...stuff fell outta favor quick (or so it seamed) so I vowed to balance time spent/quality/whatever.

I also work/married/school/other hobbies to balance out.

6 to 9 allows me to really focus on the batch, but not focus so much I end up spending more time painting than I should. For guys just starting out, I'd follow this approach. If you make a mistake, it can be easily corrected.

Paint small batches...6 or 9...no more...you will go crazy.

I'm doing batches of 9 x-wings and it goes smooth. Ties....six is usually the norm.

i did an entire batch of 2 sets of imperial fighters expansion and a core set all at once

i wouldn't say it drove me crazy, but it was stressful and i won't be doing it in that large of a batch ever again

but you can do more than 9 fighters and be fine

Depends on how detailed you intend to go, and how much time you're willing to spend.

Me I learned long ago there is a fine line between game capability/time spent/and shifting metas....I used to paint Waffen SS armies for FoW to a level of stupid good detail and they'd get tabled constantly and I'd have to shift with the meta...stuff fell outta favor quick (or so it seamed) so I vowed to balance time spent/quality/whatever.

I also work/married/school/other hobbies to balance out.

6 to 9 allows me to really focus on the batch, but not focus so much I end up spending more time painting than I should. For guys just starting out, I'd follow this approach. If you make a mistake, it can be easily corrected.

i went as far as a 2 tone colour for a shading effect, different window colour, blaster highlights and engine glow. which is already above and beyond the detail you need at such a small scale for the fighters

i could have added highlighting as well (still can if i want) but i felt it would be overkill and i spent more than enough time on them already

i also work full time, have a wife and plenty of other hobbies to attend to as well

Bingo, you nailed it man.

Executioner: How did you get such clean straight lines in the interior of the tie? I am good elsewhere, but my lines didn't turn out well on the inside panels.

I can bet money he held his breath and painted as straight as he could.

I tried that...but when the wall of ties looked at me I was like "nope."

On "Regular" Squadrons, I just do it. Long bristle brush, a little flick, done...

On Heroes, I typically take my time to get it right, and will even re-touch the black if I have to.

Executioner: How did you get such clean straight lines in the interior of the tie? I am good elsewhere, but my lines didn't turn out well on the inside panels.

very carefully, but remember to breathe. don't worry about the lines being perfectly straight; as you can always go back afterwords with the black and straighten out the lines to correct any of the mistakes you made

i found that my brush generally gave me thicker lines than i wanted so i had to go back over most of my lines with the black anyways

I can bet money he held his breath and painted as straight as he could.

I tried that...but when the wall of ties looked at me I was like "nope."

at first that was exactly what i did, but i started to get a bit of a headache after a short while so i took a different approach. Which was to control my breathing with slow deep breathing. It also helps to position your hand on the table you're working on and let your fingers do the work. I don't have the steadiest of hands but if i didn't have my hand down i'd be moving enough to make those small lines look like i had a bad case of parkinson's disease, lol

I have been getting through my squadrons and have another question for the paint wizards.

I'm trying to basecoat some of my fighters, in this case regular ties, so I watered the paint down significantly, as I didn't want to obscure any details, but the paint seems to be puddling, and avoiding the raised areas, like the spokes on the solar panels (the areas I'm most convened with getting) did I just use too much water? It seemed to go ok with red, just took a few coats, which is to be expected with watered down paint. But I also tried a metallic bronze (which I hope will look really cool) is not totally dry yet, and I should probably wait before asking but I'm impatient.

I added some windex to the water, should I be using straight windex? Or a specific fluid instead of regular water?

I haven't run into this yet, as used the army painter basecoat/primer so even though I've done about 20 fighters, I haven't actually basecoated yet.

I did use a larger brush and kind of just slopped it on there, maybe I should just be using a smaller one and just go slow?

Thanks in advance

I wouldn't worry too much about that. Base coat paint -can- be specially formulated with a lot more body and pigment which allows it single coat coverage. That said, regular acrylics don't. They simply require a number of thin coats to get a smooth even coverage without ruining the details. Let the paint dry, then go over it again (maybe with a touch less water and maybe the tiniest dab of windex, not too much or it can act as something close to a stripping agent. Try to reduce the quantities of both just a little and attempt it again).

A medium brush should be enough but for the most part, with thicker paint you'll get small crevices that you simply miss. Expect to go over a model at least twice for their basecoats, even if it's just touch ups in little parts. .

As Vykes says, not many paints are formulated to be primers.

Prima Black and Titanium White are excellent for base coats as they have a high pigment. Zinc mixing white is outriight awful as it has a low pigment to allow it to mix well.