Paint Planning

As I sit here waiting for my copy of the new Warhammer 40000, I decided to have a little chat about planning when painting.

Why is it important to have a plan and stick to it?

Most of the miniatures that we paint all have some sort of regimental cohesion, such as Ultramarines being blue and gold, Blood Angels being red, yellow and orange, and Imperial Guard mostly being greys and greens. I am guilty myself of starting a army project, finishing it, and all the models look different, down to the actual main colour being different. This has come from a lack of planning, using different colours, and results in a disjointed look to the army.

How have I got around this?

Basically now I make a list at the beginning of each project. I write a rough idea of each stage of the paint job, what colours go where, even down to the time taken for each stage. I then take a look at what paints I have. If I have less than half a pot/bottle left, I go out and get a new pot/bottle. I do this as there is a variation between each pot of paint, some being stronger colour, some being weaker, even within the colour range. I hate starting, running out, and getting a new pot that is darker or lighter. Here we go to a earlier point, it breaks the cohesion of the army.

I then paint a test model, just to see if the list I have written works, and I make amendments to it as I go. It becomes the final list, what I work to on every model.

I usually paint in batches of 10, keeping the models moving like a conveyor belt. Base coat all of them, and by the time I have completed model 10, model 1 is dry enough to be worked on again. I have found this also helps cohesion within the squad, and keeps them looking even.

So we get all the models in each squad looking the same colour wise, and all the models in the army are the same colour wise. In my eyes, it makes a much better impression when people see it, and looks better on the table.

Give it a try, make a list of the stages that need to be done, and stick to it. You might be surprised!