Mechanicum Hard to paint?

[General Strike]

It seems like they have all these little parts to them, I am a beginning level painter, and my main worry about joining the Mechanicum and Skitarri is being able to do a decent job of painting them. Anyone with some experience able to weigh in on this? Also, not sure if this is the right section, or if I should've put it in the painting forum, but I figured it had to directly do with AdMech and Skitaari. 

[Atia]

Howdy :)

 

First, what stuff have you painted so far, and what techniques did you use?

 

Basically, it comes all down to techniques, and the paintscheme. With a few tricks you can get a decend looking mini pretty easily, but of course it's also a bit of practice. GW's Basecoat > Wash > Layer > Highlight way is really good - you may check out some GW videos, they are aimed at beginners :)

 

 

Last but not least - for things like robots, onagers or even FW stuff, an airbrush is a present send by god. Don't be afraid - it's quite different from classic brushwork and you can use it for even basecoats and stuff (you don't need an expansive one for the start either)

[Tyriks]

Ok, I am a terrible painter but I've done okay so far! Just start out on an easier model (pick up that Start Collecting box and paint the onager). If you can paint something like a space marine you can paint some Ad Mech. My first attempt at vanguard was pretty rough but just be patient and go slow and you'll do fine!

 

I recommend watching some tutorials from WarhammerTv or Miniwargaming(typically high quality paint jobs) and then watch Winters SEO's stuff (his is more about easy corners to cut for low priority models). You will learn a lot about general tricks that work on any army. Something else that has helped me is to prioritize models that cost more money or points.

[General Strike]

I have painted about 50 space marines, a contemptor, some chaos cultists, and chaos space marines. I have only been painting(at all, my longest relationship was with an artist, so I guess I had been third party to an excellent painter for half a decade, but very little of my own), for about two months now. 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9VF7T1EY44_Y1pZTHhodEFmX3c

 

Thank you for the advice and the link! I love MWG, own about 5 shirts from them. I have been planning to pick up the SC box, I've been internally battling on who to start with in 40k. For the B&C supported army, it keeps coming back around to the AdMech and Skitaari, since I can't seem to stop debating on the other PA armies. This has been the best community so far, so I know I want my first full army to be something here, so I can keep up in this wonderful group of peeps. 

[Vel'Cona]

I basically paint by stabbing my wrist and elbow at models, and I can get paint on my Skitarii OK.  That said, they're a royal pain in terms of pure details.  I MUCH prefer painting Space Marines or Imperial Guardsmen as a rule, and can generally crank out 3 of the latter in the time it takes to do 1 Skitarii.  So I'd say if you have some technique or experience with detailed models, they shouldn't be too bad.  Just don't expect to "crank them out" unless you use some shortcuts.

[Tyriks]

Yeah, I think patience is the best technique.  I tend to start with the harder details so if I am sloppy I can fix it when I do the easier stuff it's next to.  As long as you are willing to go back and touch up you will be fine.  It just requires more touching up than a SM would.

[Xisor]

The above has been my experience too. Not hard, just markedly more time consuming than other models like Marines.

 

That said, I think the results are more impressive too. The Skitarii especially are just gorgeous models, and even my shonky paintwork looks pretty decent on them!

[thevoodooman]

I'm a crap painter too, by accident i went a bit OTT with the red wash over pink coats but it looks like they're wearing shin rain macs now.

 

There's a load of attention to detail and i've found a little bit goes a long way, I've never really highlighted anything before but having taken the time with these guys as well as using washes and stuff has made them look so much better.

[Magos Takatus]

I've been painting models for a while and I agree that Skitarii models are quite fiddly to paint, but they are worth it when they are finished. I have found painting details before gluing sections makes things much easier. I make sure to paint the cloaks and legs before sticking torso to legs, and I paint the guns and chest details before attaching the arms. There are quite a few areas you can just paint like metal and then stick a wash over them to save time. 

 

I would say the most important thing to remember about Skitarii squads is to keep the arms and backpacks together with the correct body. Skitarii do not like being mixed and matched like space marine parts. You can swap heads about but most of the other parts fit in a particular way.

 

This is what I made to keep each guy separate but you might find that excessive. I just thought it might be handy. I haven't tried painting fully assembled Skitarii models so someone else will have to chime in and point out if it is doable.

 

 

 Anyway, good luck, I hope you enjoy whatever you decide to paint. :)

[Carlson793]

Trying to get a solid coat of metal on bits, then coming back and touching up all the places the metal didn't belong, is a pain. I go the other way: base coat the whole model with a metallic, then paint the easily painted large areas the color they're supposed to be.

[Aethyran]

Yes...

Well Im an impatient painter...and the amount of detail on Ad Mech miniatures on makes it more frustating lol. Best tip I got was to paint the minis in parts...when I had already built them 

[Vel'Cona]

I've heard paint them in parts too. At this point I already have 30 Skitarii done so I don't want to switch my technique now. Problem is, I also don't want to paint anymore of them either. It's something of a pickle that probably won't be solved until the next codex drops.

[Akrim]

I've been painting/playing for many years now (since the 90s). We're quite fortunate to have the base/layer/shade system nowadays.

 

I highly recommend getting the digital How to Paint Skitarii guide, it's only like ten bucks and it is very precise. It is centered around Mars and Metallica schemes but the red or white could easily be swapped out if u wish.

[Tiger9gamer]

I prime on the sprue (GASP!) because of lucius's color scheme has cream colored legs, and black cloak insides it is really hard to paint and get it right. So, I prime the sprue, cut out legs and the torso that match, paint the legs, put the torso on and then put the rest together.

 

Pain in the arse but hey, it gets the job done.

[Vel'Cona]

Another option is to choose an easier color to work with. The default Mechanicum red CAN be a bear to get right, so swapping for a dark blue, green or grey isn't a bad plan. In general, darker colors will hide detail flubs better (making them the preference for awful painters like myself).

[Jarl of Wulfen]

For my vanguard/rangers, I glued the legs to the base, painted the prosthetics in silver and the pants dark grey. I painted the interior of the robes fully then glued it to the legs. Hit the metal and pants with Nuln oil wash. Then I went and did coat exterior, which is fluorescent orange for me.

[Chaeron]

I did mine in a batch of sixty Vanguard: so whilst fiddly, it meant I could basically do one colour and just plough through. I wanted to economise on effort, rather than compromise quality, and so this seemed the best way at the time! I think focusing on one or two details each time also helps you get it right, and not miss any of the intricacies, for that overall cohesive effect.

 

Look forward to seeing your work!

[Ascanius]

I painted mine fully assembled, and it is a pain in the arse, I can confirm.

 

I did choose the more forgiving Agripinaa scheme, which is grey outer robe, cream inner robe, and red trousers.

 

http://i.imgur.com/oZwE41L.png

 

Taken in full sunlight, so it's not the best representation, but you can just imagine how fiddly all these little bits were. I have no good excuse for the blob of red on the ironsight, however; I did clean it up afterwards.

[General Strike]

Is  there like set color schemes? I haven't been able to find any of the details. Like, SM have Chapters, does the mechanicus have things like that? I want to have the creative freedom of making a like, Mechanicus Explorator fleet in teal or something.

[Jarl of Wulfen]

Make your own forgeworld and create your own color scheme. In both codexs there a few canon color schemes for famous forgeworlds i.e. Mars, Ryza, Metalica, etc...

[Ascanius]

Both Codex Adeptus Mechanicus: Skitarii and Codex Adeptus Mechanicus: Cult Mechanicus give colour schemes for Mars and the Forge Worlds Lucius, Agripinaa, Stygies VIII, Graia, Metalica, and Ryza.

 

Nothing stops you from choosing any colour you'd like for your force, though, whether it represents a fleet-based contingent or a Forge World of your own creation. Out of the canon Forge Worlds covered by the codexes, most use some combination of red, black, cream, dark grey, and dark red as their primary colours, but Metalica and Ryza stand out with their primary colours of white and bright orange, respectively.

 

Metalica:

 

 

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/5/51/Metalica_Vanguard.png

 

 

Ryza:

 

 

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/2/2b/Ryza_Vanguards.png

 

[General Strike]

Metallica is a decent band, but I really only liked Ryza when he was with the wu-tang clan #oldpersonjokes

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2015/4/16/705486_md-Adeptus%20Mechanicus,%20Admech,%20Alternate,%20Alternative,%20Color%20Scheme,%20Concept.png

I really like Hazard and Azure