I am finally considering painting my models and I have been looking for inspiration in this forum, both in terms of materials needed to do proper paint jobs but also for visual inspiration.

I am not entirely sure about what things are "nice to have" or "need to have". For instance, are primers and base coats necessary and what are the differences between using them and not using them? Can colours be bought and used without the need to diluting/mixing them to do get a "movie" look on the fighters?

If there is a comprehensive thread that covers these things, linking it in a comment would be highly appreciated, as are all inputs.

Trio of pages...one for X wing with a lot of info for beginners. The next is Starship combat news, give you link to main page but go onto message boards and there is a lot of info in the various posts and it does have a specific painting/modding board. third is TMP, linked to SF section but if you go to general board section there are painting/tool guides etc

http://xwingminiaturespainting.com/

http://www.star-ranger.com/Home.htm

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/boards.mv?period=scf

hope that helps

Hawk,
I will try to answer your direct questions first and then provide a bit of general advice.
Do you have experience painting miniatures?
Are you planning on painting squadrons, ships, or both?

All of the below is based upon painting squadrons:

-Primer absolutely recommended. I generally use white for "traditional" Rebels and black for "traditional" Imperial. I use Krylon in any of their different types.

-I do not usually base coat on top of the primer unless I want to change the "core" color to something else, e.g. red, blue, green, etc... Most Rebels have a "core" of white while most Imperials have a "core" of black or grey. So once the primer is applied I generally can start working on the details.

-Yes, paint can be bought and used off the shelf to get a "movie/traditional Star Wars" look. I and some others prefer Games Workshop/Citadel paints because I have experience using them. There are plenty of other good paints out there such as Army Builder, Vallejo, Privateer Press, etc...

-If you're looking for a specific color I always recommend going to a local store if possible and seeing what they stock on hand as a color may look different person to person and potentially batch to batch.

-I have found when working with GW/Citadel paints you don't necessarily have to water down/thin your paints out of the pot as long as you use a "wet" brush. What I mean by this is before putting any paint on the brush, dip it in your water supply, get the excess off on a papertowl or cloth then dip it into the paint pot. Doing this will thin the paint a bit without having to take it out of the pot first.

-That said, a thinned paint will work a bit better on squadrons especially to "blend" into the model better and not just "sit on top of the model". Try applying unthinned Testors paint to a model and that is what I am talking about when I mean on top.

When painting squadrons I generally use a 00 brush. You can go 000 if you want to depending on how detailed your planning to work things.
I like the Winsor and Newton Cotman 111 round personally because they're readily available, decent quality, and not too hard on the wallet.

A big thing I learned painting squadrons is the importance of highlighting with a lighter color and shading with a darker color when possible. These two techniques in addition to a very watered down wash can really make the model pop.


If you want some examples of what I am talking about, here is my project thread:

Take a look at the change from my first post to my most recent posts.


If I can answer any other questions feel free to post here or shoot me a message and I'll help if I can.

a few general hints:

-about brushes: do not pinpoint on brushes size, but be very choosy when buying them. A thin brush with a bad point will be bad (even with a lot of brush renewer), a mid sized brush with a good point will be used quite some time if you take care to smooth it after use.

-prime is mandatory. it should be very diluted, or light if you spray it, else you'll clog your mini and loose detail, but without it your paint will have difficulties staying on your mini.

-washing/rinsing/drying your minis in soapy water before anything is good reflex to have. It may not be useful with FFG prepainted, but will if you anyhow go for unpainted one

-undiluted paint is often hard to drag or push on your mini. getting hand on what is a good dilution is hard but rewarding

-have fun with paint. else you won't finish what you start.

-white paint is very transparent! you need an undercoat, grey if you want dull white, brown if you want dirty white, yellow if you want ivory taint, blue if you want some depth, etc...

Thanks for the great reponses! Just what I had hoped for!

@Shadoq I have no experience painting miniatures, so this will be my first time doing so. I know that I will need experience before my painting becomes anywhere near desirable. I am only planning on painting the squadrons for now and I will leave the ships be for the near future.

If you have no experience painting minis, a few more recommendations:

-PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. Seriously.If you are not happy with your first ones you do, don't give up. Take a break, strip them down and start over again, or try another squadron type. The only way you are going to learn what works for you and what makes you happy is to make mistakes. You will see a rapid improvement in your skills between even your first and second squadron.

-Don't start by painting the X Wings . They are one of the harder sculpts to get right without some practice.
On the Rebel side, the A Wings are pretty easy to do and the Y Wings can be as well.
On the Imperial side, the standard TIEs are good to teach yourself some techniques. Plus there are some good guides in the painting section on how to do TIEs.

About brush size: i use winsor&newtone size 1 and 2. Holds more color, tip still allows to paint detail.

About painting: look at several squads from gaming distance, then you probably want to put brighter highlights. People usually use weaker highlights when seeing the mini from close up