Steve Troughton-Smith(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… 😅
Finally pushed through to the finish on these two. My new Artis Opus brushes are fantastic, now I just need to get better at using them 👌
At least basing is the fun part
Basing begins.
One thing new I’m doing on this batch is going back in and manually adding shading and black lining after the fact, which makes all the difference
Current status: very carefully trying to paint a model past me glued together and didn’t have the foresight to make in subassemblies…
When I’m just doing one, I’m much faster! Maybe batch painting is what’s been killing me
Particularly love how this cloak turned out. I still need a lot of practice
Honestly not a very complicated model or paint job. Another couple of sessions should be all I need
On the turntable, since this model arguably looks better from the back than from the front 😂
Attempting a pox walker test model, since I can’t find a decent box art tutorial. I don’t have my recipe 100% right yet, but it’s not too far off
I think I pulled it off? He looks reasonably close to the box art version
Poxwalker no. 2. These guys are fun to paint, as a little goes a long way, and every single model is unique
Ben S@stroughtonsmith is this your own personal style or the new GW house style? It’s very different to when I painted minifigs some 25 years ago.
TimboGreat artist, awesome man
Scott Elfstrom@stroughtonsmith This looks really, really good. I'd have to look really closely to not just assume it's official box art.
erin sparling@stroughtonsmith love it. That checkerboard must’ve been annoying to do!
@everyplace I enjoy checkerboarding in general (you can use a pencil to mark it out before you put paint to model), but painting white paint over anything is a nightmare
@stroughtonsmith fair re: white, but I imagine with all of the highlight work you’ve been doing that the white work has gotten easier.
@everyplace it's the chemistry! White pigments are the largest, so getting a smooth finish is real hard — it likes to come out gritty and uneven. I find you've gotta mix it with a lot of water, and use a dozen coats, which makes sharp squares a real pain 😄
MatchaMakes@stroughtonsmith slowmo!!!!
Illya Busigin@stroughtonsmith Your painting skills are incredible, well done!
MarkV
saplacat@stroughtonsmith awesome job at the lightning and the gold of the shoulder pad!
Adebisi O 🇵🇷beautiful 🙌🏼💪🏽
Tuonel@stroughtonsmith Great brush work!
NeurOnToSomething@stroughtonsmith looking good 👍 I have this mini premade in a job lot I bought second hand so will be in the same boat. From your pics I reckon you have better brush control :-)
@stroughtonsmith Golden demon here we come!!! 🏆🏆🏆🏆
A penguin typing with his beakI gave up batch painting. I do two models at a time mostly, then do things like sergeants and characters individually. I just have so much more fun this way.
this is beautiful. what colors you used? i been using maccrage blue and i hate how they look.
@aoyawale this is Macragge Blue spray, then nuln oil in the recesses and dividing lines, then I edge highlight with 1:1 Macragge:Calgar Blue, then (not pictured) Calgar Blue
(Scroll back up for a 'finished' one)
Henrik Fossan@stroughtonsmith i don’t really play warhammer but nice hobby
Andrew Burwell@stroughtonsmith You should throw these images into ChatGPT and ask it for a realistic recolor and new background. Cool results!
Joe Chott@stroughtonsmith that feels like it drastically increases the contrast and perceived vibrancy - AWESOME! :)
@stroughtonsmith Those be some great models. Really good shading and highlights!
@stroughtonsmith looks like you got one of the Blizzard deals where you get to level up to max level all at once - holy CRAP are you doing fantastic work!!!! :)
@Verxion feels good seeing that improvement, mini by mini