Steve Troughton-SmithFleshy.
Not a whole lot left here! Bones, cloth, and final details
And just to highlight what 5 years of progress looks like, here's where I gave up the first time trying to paint these models, back in 2019!
I’m so glad I don’t have a timer counting how long these have taken to paint. The people who can do this all day every day are heroic
Tomorrow, the Death Guard will be done! Feels real good 😄
And we’re done; a full painted squad of Death Guard before Christmas 👨🎨
One for the Reddit crowd:
Spent December painting up some Death Guard a la the TableTopReady tutorial and they turned out neat!
Before I run out of energy, I figured I’d begin a test model for some very classic Dark Eldar I have lying around. Even the studio paint jobs for these were awful, just like the models 😂 So I have very little to go on; uncharted territory
I know sex is good and all, but have you ever successfully painted twenty eyes at 28mm scale with a size 1 brush?
(Keeping this one in the thread)
Closing thoughts on last month’s Death Guard: that was a real slog, but they look better than I could have hoped. The minis are incredible, but because there's so much variation it's impossible to build up a rhythm and each one has to be tackled individually, which is exhausting. I have a dozen more to paint, but I'm going to have to really be in the mood to commit to another three-week paint job. Immediate plan is more Dark Eldar, then some Ultramarines, and a Stormcast test mini
Trying my hand at something different. Old model stripped of paint and prepared for work…
Though my good brushes are on their last legs now after a solid few months of painting, so it's probably time to replace my setup 🥲
Surprise morning project! Painted up the mini that brought me into the hobby all those years ago…
One classic Carnifex 👌
I was too busy being sick 🤧 today to post in-progress pics of this guy, but rest assured it went through an ‘ugly phase’ like all the others. It wasn’t till I was 90% done that I could see it was going to be ok in the end, and I had to abort and re-try a couple portions along the way
I have never had so many upvotes on r/Warhammer40k 👀 I guess people really like a classic Carnifex — it is one of my all-time favorites
First batch paint of 2025 complete! There’s something quite endearing about these awful classic Dark Eldar sculpts when painted in a modern style
Keeping that painting desk populated for the hours I can steal late at night
Had the flu this week, so having to slowly force myself back into painting by doing tiny little bits. Avoiding the internet feels like the right thing to do lately
You spend so much time looking at this stuff up close, flaws and all, that seeing it from the intended distance feels like a whole new experience
As a bonus, tonight I painted up a Stormcast Eternal (using the TableTopReady tutorial)!
I can see why these are the face of Age of Sigmar. That was fun to paint, and it looks amazing 😄
Some of these highlights nearly broke me. Too many of the paints are shiny and the angles are awful which made it impossible to see what I was looking at under my lights 😅 I’m not gonna let this mini defeat me, but boy is it a struggle!
It’s all coming together. Honestly this paint job has been kinda fun, despite the complexity
This one deserves a full spin 👌
I said 2025 would be the year to progress my painting skills, and I meant it 😎
Honestly a pretty easy one to paint, all things considered
I have painting failures too; this guy (3D printed from Artisan Guild) wasn’t turning out how I wanted so I stopped half way.
I’ll see if I can rescue it when I’m in the mood
Finally started painting the display board that’s been hanging on my wall for a few years. Terrain is hard!
Looking better already! Still have the raised area to do, but I’ll get there
Not too bad, for a test model. It’s a lot smaller than it looks, but I’ll have an easier time with it when my new brushes get here. Not a particularly difficult scheme, thankfully!
It’s new brush day! Trying out Artis Opus this time. €100 doesn’t get you an awful lot of sable these days… 😅
SunDancer@stroughtonsmith G'Wullu scale creep XD
Stuart Gibson@stroughtonsmith did I miss some wild 40k lore where Vader was part of the Horus Heresy?
@stuart I know one of the earliest Warhammer scenarios involved a Dalek!
@stroughtonsmith wow. It’s not even subtle.
Julius Zukowski-Krebs@stroughtonsmith He looks great! Well done! Only 29 more to go?
@JuliusZK something like that!
@stroughtonsmith Good luck powering through! I feel the pain. But it'll be worth it in the end!
David@stroughtonsmith Very nice!
woe2you@stroughtonsmith I was clearing out the garage the other day and right at the back I found the sheet of chipboard I used to play 40k on 30 years ago. Never got around to landscaping it. Boulder Creek Railroad on YouTube is a goldmine for terrain techniques, if you haven't come across his stuff already.
Bill Vinson@stroughtonsmith that lightsaber glow on the cape & inner robe is 🔥
I have no talent for painting miniatures, but I enjoy your pics 😃
I have no talent for painting miniatures, but I enjoy your pics 😃
Al Power@stroughtonsmith these are just lovely!! How tall are these? Like the height of a mini pot of paint or smaller?
@alpower almost exactly a mini pot of Citadel paint; 45mm/1.7” to the top of the stormtrooper. '32mm’ in wargaming scale, I believe, so bigger scale than Warhammer
@stroughtonsmith well done. looks better than any of my attempts
@stroughtonsmith uuuuh. are these the new sprew sculpts?
@SunDancer no, the original core set! Scraping the mold lines is a nightmare
@stroughtonsmith i do remember XD look grand though
Kerr@stroughtonsmith which tutorial were you following?
How To Paint a Hive Fleet Leviathan Tyranid Winged Prime for Warhammer 40,000 / New40k
Reibubba@stroughtonsmith Just needs a Dreadnaught with a rolled-up newspaper - that would take care of the perniscious 'Nids 😆 But seriously, looking forward to how it comes out
Bruno Scheele@stroughtonsmith Looking forward to the rest now 🥰
Robert Jan Schutten@stroughtonsmith I need a hobby like this. Much better for my health than reading the news. Great job, I don’t if I could have so much precision, even with practice.
@rjschutten it's the escape I needed
Christian Selig@stroughtonsmith do you use a manual brush or an air brush? I loooove that second one
@christianselig all manual, but sable brushes not synthetic. I do have an airbrush, but I'm scared to use it!
@stroughtonsmith Well you’re doing something very right!
dmitriidSometimes I wish mastodon had likes just for posts like this
@stroughtonsmith And now evolve even more and do non-GW stuff. No, not GW-Bashing but grabbing minis from totally different ranges will challenge your skills even more. Battletech, Bot War, Moonstone, Stargrave.
@SunDancer I've done a little bit of Legion, but yeah there are so many mini ranges I'd love to pick up. I really like the Carnevale sculpts, and Black Site Studio stuff, but I need to get a bit better at painting before I try anything like that! The huge benefit of GW minis is there is a ton of reference material and high quality studio paint schemes. A lot of other manufacturers show off grey plastic and then you're on your own
Matthias BohlenWow, you are an artist! :-)
James Thomson@stroughtonsmith Those are amazing!
Joe Chott@stroughtonsmith HOLY FRIG!!
@stroughtonsmith Absolutely UNREAL - magnificent!!! :)
ya boi tim@stroughtonsmith fucken sweet gradient there!!
Pete Wright@stroughtonsmith it’s incredible. Best one yet.
Adeptus FortikusLooks very good though! But yeah, highlights in wierd angles are so hard lol
@stroughtonsmith it’s looking really great so far. The purple scales and claw especially are really nicely shaded.