Copes' Army Painting - New Painter - Imperial Army - 883rd Legion

[Stasy 2,502]

Nice work!

I can confirm GW whites are tough. I wish I had a source locally for Vallejo because I love the matte in the dropper I use to take excess sheen/fill gaps with.

Drybrushing is an awesome technique, just takes time to figure out how to best apply it. 

[rasmussen81 82]

As a new painter as well, I hope I can jump in here to ask a question! I’ve never put together miniatures and I just opened my Core Set.

The directions in the book look pretty easy and I’ll work on putting the figures together this week but I was wondering two things:

1) Should I use super glue for this or model glue or something else? I think I’ve heard super glue, so do I squirt it into the spots or just a toothpick or something? I just don’t want to end up with globs of glue ruining these cool figures!

2) Are people painting figures before putting them on the vehicles? When I was looking at the AT-RT, the guy looks like he gets kind of blocked by the front shield, so is it easier to paint him off the bike and the. Glue him in?

Thanks!

[Bohemian73 161]

use super glue per previous comments on this forum. You can use blue tack (may be a different color as it can be used to hold things in place) for the riders if you want. Sarastro uses blue tack in his videos for riders and arms. it helps to mount the mini on something (pill bottle, paint pod) when painting so as to not touch the model. 

[Copes 225]

Took a crack at my AT-ST this past weekend - it isn't yet finished but I thought I'd show a progress photo. I plan to add some rush and corrosion, and then base it. However, my FLGS was having their first meet this past Sunday and I wanted to be able to play a list using my AT-ST.

 

Given that my store has started playing, its time to put a push on getting my units finished. Since the AT-ST is currently serviceable I'm switching to my two sets of Speeder Bikes. But for now, here is a WIP shot!

I'm very excited to be building towards my final army shot when I get this all done!

[Force Majeure 4,108]

Update?

[Copes 225]

Hey, @Force Majeure I appreciate your interest. 

I haven't been painting much over the past month because I've been incredibly busy with work, and real life. My AT-ST still isn't based. However, I can update with my first set of Speeder Bikes, which I finished about two weeks ago. I'm working on the second set right now, and then after that I'll be doing another Stormtrooper unit and two Snowtrooper units to finish out my competitive list that I play locally. A 4th group of Stormtroopers and Veers are also in the queue, and of course my AT-ST base and some wear-and-tear, but I want to finish the stuff that I'm utilizing on the table first. 

First, here are the bikes I finished at the end of May:

 

And as an added boost of confidence, we had our first Organized Play event at the local store. While I didn't perform great in the Escalation event (went 1 and 3 ) I did walk away as a winner of something. 

 

So that was awesome. Was against some really great models and really experienced painters too. So I'll take it!

[Alrik2438 20]

@Copes 
Dude, your minis look great. The fact that you are a new painter is not even crossing my mind when i am looking at them. I'm LOVING the bikes. The desert bases kick ***.
 

[Copes 225]

1 minute ago, Alrik2438 said:

@Copes 
Dude, your minis look great. The fact that you are a new painter is not even crossing my mind when i am looking at them. I'm LOVING the bikes. The desert bases kick ***.
 

Haha thanks man, I appreciate that. I think I chalk it up to being a perfectionist - I spend A LOT of time on each model. Generally I'll take over my kitchen island for several days, to the displeasure of my fiance. I see people saying they are whipping out groups of troopers in a couple of hours and I can't imagine how that's possible.

And thanks. I spent a bit of time trying to figure out how to make desert bases look decent. It's not too hard though. I'm literally supergluing on little rocks and pebbles from a bag I picked up at Michael's crafts, then covering the whole base (rocks included) with Citadel's Armageddon Dust. After that I wash with Aggrax Earthshade and then drybrush with Ushabti Bone. 

Thanks for the kind words!

[Copes 225]

Hey! First post in a long time. I was away for much of the summer and didn't do much painting or much playing. With September arriving I've managed to get back into things and actually finish my "Wave 0" army. I have other minis left to paint (another Stormtrooper group, 2 Snowtroopers, and Veers) but this is everything I had intended to paint upon release. I finished my last group of Stormtroopers, I finished the ATST I started on back in May, and I have my first army shot. 

First, my new Stormies. I bought a new brush so some of the smaller details have come out cleaner (lines on the helmet, etc.) but overall they look much the same as the others. 

 

After the Stormies, I also have what I think is the best model I've done to date (yes, better than my Vader!) My ATST looks sick and I can't wait to get it on the table (somehow I haven't played a RL game with it yet. Lots of Vader + Bikes). I'm really happy with how the weathering came out. I also made the larger boulder that you see on the base, as opposed to the small rocks I've added to other minis which are essentially pebbles from a hobby store specifically for terrain. Can you tell the difference between the fake rocks and the real rocks? 

 

I'll end the post with my "Wave 00" army shot. I'll begin working on my Wave 01 stuff in a week or two. I'm thinking of playing a Weiss list at a local tournament the end of October, so I wonder if I can blast through 2 groups of Snowtroopers and Veers by then to ensure everything I want to play with is painted!

[Copes 225]

Someone has pointed out the gun was upside down! Thanks! I now have it flipped.

[Borthcollective 17]

Your AT-ST turned out great. I would say from just the work you did on it, your painting quality is most certainly progressing at a really good rate. Also that group shot is really nice. Keep up the good work.

[Copes 225]

8 hours ago, Borthcollective said:

Your AT-ST turned out great. I would say from just the work you did on it, your painting quality is most certainly progressing at a really good rate. Also that group shot is really nice. Keep up the good work.

Hey, thanks! Feels great to hear that. I feel like I've painted boatloads of Stormtroopers so I'm very excited to dive into Snowies and post some progress.

[Copes 225]

So, bumping this since I didn't post much of my stuff for the tail end of the year. However, I wanted to share my 2018 progress! I was pressed for painting time in the last three months of the year but I did complete Veers as well as my first set of Snowtroopers. 

My full collection of painted 2018 minis is here. Note this is also my first ever end of year roundup, since this is my first year painting. 

Here is an album with some highlights from this thread as well as closeups of the new additions. 

https://imgur.com/a/Si0mHAK

Everything from 2018! On to 2019 - first order of business is my second set of Snowtrooeprs and Boba Fett. Then I have 2 squads of Scouts as well as one last set of Stormtroopers. A set of Royal Guards is soon going to be a purchase as well. 

Happy New Year!