Steve Troughton-SmithAn evening of edge highlighting later, and I’m almost ready for the next step. Gonna try to push these through my painting desk to clear up space #minipainting
All that’s left is spot highlights, basing and transfers, I think! Well chuffed
Group photo! It has taken six years to make inroads on this box set 😰 And there’s still a lot to do before it’s complete… Something something ‘slay the gray’, something something ‘pile of shame’
Feels real good to move these off the painting desk 🥰 #MarchForMacragge
Halide is definitively my weapon of choice for taking RAW photos with the iPhone. This is 'just' a 12 Pro Max, but it consistently outperforms all my remaining, aging DSLRs by almost every metric, and Apple's Camera app by a wide margin. Really looking forward to a 48MP periscope assembly this year…
Next project for my painting table: Cadians! Hopefully this one won’t take 2 months…
…starting with a little bit of a touch-up on this Sentinel I painted in 2009 (💀). I will go back and give it a finer edge highlight later, but for now it's a little bit more respectable
Minor tangent I can paint up while I wait for new brushes. Could be a quick one
For context, this is part of the 1997 limited edition Imperial Guard Praetorian XXIV box set (pic 1) that nine year old me was enamored with. The last batch I painted turned out like the second pic, but yes it's taken 25+ (and counting) years to actually paint it all up 😅 And yes they're based on Zulu
Today’s side project: take this crummy 2009 paint job (first picture) and make it a little more respectable. Let’s see… /cc @pilky
Batch painting is exhausting and doesn’t have any real payoff until the end, so I’m gonna try doing some single minis to completion instead. It’s funny just how bad that first layer looks before highlights
Phase 2. Good opportunity to catch up on Critical Role 😄 /cc @dskuza
And some fine edge highlighting before bed. Pretty pleased about how much I can do in a day this way 🥹
Making good use of my fresh new size 000 Windsor & Newton Series 7 🤓
Back to the Cadians. If I’m lucky, I might get these done before the end of March. A decent month for minis!
A lot of edge highlighting left to do, but they’re starting to shape up
Honestly these are harder to paint than the Space Marines 👀 A lot more steps and more-organic highlights to worry about, but I can see an end in sight and they’re looking 👌
Last thing to do on the model is the skin, which I have no practice at. Can’t ruin it too badly from here though!
Final spread for the month of March! A touched-up Sentinel and Dreadnought, and freshly-painted Cadians, Praetorians, Intercessors and a lone Hellblaster. Very happy with every bit of this, and big chunk of progress made on the pile of shame 😄 #WarhammerCommunity #warhammer
And a glamor shot of the Cadians before I put them in the cabinet 🤓
I accidentally spent the evening creating a small diorama board just to have a nicer background to photograph minis on 😅 So have some action shots! /cc @pilky
I had begun these Death Guard back in 2019 when I first started painting again, with Contrast, but I think I can do much better today — so I picked up everything I need to re-spray them and start over. Luckily Contrast is very thin so I don’t think I’ll strip them beforehand. Final shot of the previous attempt
This sculpt is kicking my ass — there are just so many nooks and crannies and different surfaces to pay attention to. I don’t want to think about the other dozen on the todo list 👀
Starting to look convincing. I think every model in this damn army is going to have to be treated like a character model for painting. There’s just no way I could batch five of these at a time
No more for tonight. Just a few things remaining, but Papa Nurgle would be proud…
That specular highlight on the bone, and the fleshy tentacle, came out 👌
I guess I lied! Mini complete 🥳. I’m sure I’ll go back and tweak a few things when I have the patience, and basing is in progress, but so much better than my first attempt (second pic)
It finally feels like I can hit the standard of painting I always dreamed of, after 25+ years of collecting 40K. YouTube has completely transformed the learning process, it’s true, but having the right tools, brushes, techniques, and paints, really makes all the difference for an amateur like me. Proud of these minis! #WarhammerCommunity #warhammer40k
Tiny toys; it's easy to forget how small these things are, when all the photos are closeups #WarhammerCommunity
A strategically placed iPad mini makes for a great, versatile backdrop! #WarhammerCommunity
The next logical step was to create a little backdrop app, and populate it with some generated artwork from Stable Diffusion. Does the job!
Another Space Marine in progress, in the stolen minutes of late nights. Gotta keep powering through. My DIY dust shield seems effective…
Pretty much done with this one. My April quota is definitely not being met so far — this is only my second mini this month 😅
Doubtful Guest@stroughtonsmith we never made many but when I think back to melting lead on the oven hob….. not great really…
Yann Vaillant@stroughtonsmith are you a dust shield half-full kind of guy?
Tyler Stone 
@stroughtonsmith Next will be to put them on a turntable imaging rig so you can create 3D models to use in AR.
Ryan Conway@stroughtonsmith they look so good! Do you use a specific camera to take the pictures? Or just your iPhone?
@rylon just the iPhone, with Halide
@stroughtonsmith Ah very nice indeed. The iPad as a background really does sell it, they look great!
MatchaMakes@stroughtonsmith Was the reason for making an app, "because you can" or was there a benefit over just photos folder?
@matcha06 I didn't want to fill up my photo library with backgrounds, and I can add features specific to my use case
@stroughtonsmith Love it. Similar reason to some of the small apps/programs i've made!
elroy 
@stroughtonsmith this is basically how they filmed the mandatory an
stephen ryner jr. 🦉@stroughtonsmith huge difference
Gerard@stroughtonsmith that death guard looks absolutely terrific!!
Dave LaMacchia@stroughtonsmith You mentioned recently a bunch of tutorials and videos really leveled up your painting game. Anything you want to share? Your blending is really incredible! Also your close up photography of your finished models is great, I always have trouble having the models look nearly as good in photos as they do in person
@stroughtonsmith For me, using a high quality LED light with magnifying glass has been a game changer. That and paint selection — I’ve moved entirely to Reaper paints which I find layer more nicely than Vallejo (it looks like you’re using all Citadel)
@dml https://youtube.com/@TableTopReadyYoutube for starters, and I’m using Halide’s macro mode on my iPhone for the closeups
TableTopReady
Welcome to TableTopReady. My name's Michael, and if you're a miniature painter looking for guides and inspiration, you've come to the right place. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, my tutorials are for everyone - I'll explain in detail my techniques and let you know which products I'm using to help you become a better miniature painter. As always, if you enjoy my content, be sure to leave a like and comment and subscribe if you haven't already so you don't miss out on any new videos. If you're feeling particularly generous and want to support me further, you can become a YouTube channel member or join my Patreon.
@stroughtonsmith wow those are taken just on your phone with Halide? Gorgeous.
@dml yeah just iPhone, and only a 12 Pro Max. Shooting in RAW helps, and Photoshop has some nicer more-subtle processing than Photos
@stroughtonsmith Thanks for the pointer to the YT channel, I’ll check this out!
Pierre de Wet@stroughtonsmith this always seems like magic to me when I see people who can do this well. (or at all)
@pierredewet not magic, just a lot of patience and a good podcast (or Twitch stream)
John Willis 🔰@stroughtonsmith I wonder how many warhammer armies are made of Lego mini figs - would be fun to have a brick army!
Chris Wu 🪐@stroughtonsmith can’t take my eyes off of that blue one!
James Russell@stroughtonsmith do you play?
erin sparling@stroughtonsmith they look awesome.
Gareth Harmer@stroughtonsmith Looking great! Super clean work :)
Phil Dokas
Stuart Gibson@stroughtonsmith it’s what The Great Unclean One would want.
oisin@stroughtonsmith oof that's a tough one - looks you are making good progress tho 😀
jmorris1974@stroughtonsmith where do you get the figures?
Chris Dunbar@stroughtonsmith they already look pretty great.
@cdunbar must do better!
Alex@stroughtonsmith (I don’t know anything about this activity but the end result looks great :-)
Are there color themes or you go all by your imagination?
Are there color themes or you go all by your imagination?
Sophia 
@stroughtonsmith I read this as Canadians and was quite confused
Sujal Shah@stroughtonsmith how did you capture that. The shot is as beautiful as the figurines. I have a light box so that part I get, but the rotation?
@Sujal I have one of these I use for minis https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00PHRD1AW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
@stroughtonsmith oh the base is white. I couldn’t see the base in the image, blends really well. Guessing the overall brightness of the scene helps too. Thanks!
@Sujal I have a white plasticard disc I put on top of the turntable that's a little bigger and hangs over the edges, and then it exposes right out