"Painting Customs and Precedence" Topic

As I was working through a painting project, I started to think about the steps I was taking. I realized that many of these started out as practical things, but have since grown into traditions (practice being the origin of many customs and traditions, I suppose). I'm guessing that others may have developed their own precedence systems as well. If so, what are your preparation/painting traditions?

Here are a few of mine:

1. Flags First and Apart: when it comes to eras where I field colors (mainly 28mm Napoleonics), first, I put together the flags and then mount them on the figs. Then I paint the color bearers separately from the unit.

2. Faces & Hair First, Headgear Last: sometimes, this makes sense as far as the figure goes, but it's only a coincidence if so. The head and the headgear have, respectively, become the alpha and the omega for me, signifying the official start and completion of the figure.

3. Soldiers First, Unit Officers and Musicians at the End. I paint assembly-line fashion, with the soldiers first and the specialty figures at the conclusion of each cycle. This started out as a way for me to get practiced with the sculpts by the time I got to the officers and/or musicians, but now it has evolved into an official marker of the end of a painting step.

4. Line First and Guard Last: When it comes to painting, there is an order of precedence. I save the guard or elites for last. Until the guard or elites are fielded, the army is not officially complete.

5. Command Figures are Separate: These would be defined as figures that are not going to be mounted on unit bases (regiment, brigade, and higher). The high command is painted separately from units, never included in the assembly line with unit figures. Like the guard, the unit is not "officially" commissioned until its command element is done.

6. Mounting: Flags first. If a stand has a flag, then after testing and arranging, the color bearer is the first to be glued. Other figures are glued as they radiate out from the flag.

Nothing OCD here…time for my meds.

Best,
Ed M

When working on my own armies in a new period, I've found I tend to stick to the same formula.

1) Generals first. I've seen and played against so many armies where Generals are almost an afterthought, or often a proxy from other armies. Generals first for me to set the tone of the whole army.

2) Artillery. I just hate it. I hate painting the crews, I hate the guns but I particularly hate the limbers. Get the stuff I detest painting the most out of the way.

3) Foot. Lots of foot generally. This pushes up the number count of figures painted and makes me feel better about what I've achieved.

4) Markers/camp and Baggage. Each of my armies usually has a lot of 'fluff' specific to that particular army. Again the approach I take is that if I leave it till last I'll probably not get round to doing it and use some of odd looking proxy. So, get it done.

5) Cavalry, my favourite bit. By now I'm at the final hurdle and chomping at the bit to finish the army. I love painting horses and donkey whallopers. They are left till last as its my treat to myself.

….Time for my meds too.

@Fat Wally, I'll pait your artillery if you paint my cavalry. :-)

I too paint in assembly line fashion. Life has pulled me away from painting these last few months and I am hoping to get some rime to start again.

Matthew

Skin and hair are some of the last things I paint.

Command frequently ends up last, but not always. It is really a function of me trying to put like poses on a painting stick so, the command ends up being the odd men out.

1. Inside out. Start with the flesh areas, then uniform, then insignia/trim, then boots, then webbing, then weapons.

2. 5 different projects ongoing at any one time. Stops me getting bored. At the moment I'm painting a 15mm WW2 German scout platoon, a U.S. Airborne recon platoon, some 28mm Australian policemen for 7TV, a 28mm building and a fleet of Traveller Imperial starships. I paint one stand/vehicle at a time.

3. Build the forces from the base units up. That means paint the battalions and platoons first, then the support units, then the command units.

4. How this all works: Using the above example it would go…Paint the faces and hands on one fire team base (4-5 figures) of the German scouts, assemble the jeep, glue the walls on the building, spray undercoat the 1st Imperial starship, glue the head on the policeman. Now, the flesh has dried; paint the helmets and move on down the line….

I usually go from bottom to top, hands and faces at the same time (unless masked or gloved,) and weapons last.

2. Faces & Hair First, Headgear Last:

1. Inside out. Start with the flesh areas, then uniform, then insignia/trim, then boots, then webbing, then weapons

I am a sloppy painter. If I don't get faces done first, then somehow flesh ends up somewhere else. That defines inside out. Hands get done later because they usually get splattered by a base layer somehow

Drybrushing – I use this a lot for textured detail. I try to do this first as somehow I end up hitting something else by mistake. Chainmail is the most important here – if I don't get that done early (after faces) then some figures are going to end up looking as though they had a mercury bath

2. 5 different projects ongoing at any one time. Stops me getting bored.

Yes. It also seems to be a good excuse to give in to the ooh shiny temptations

3. Soldiers First, Unit Officers and Musicians at the End.

I prefer to get everything done at the same time. Extra steps for different colours for the musicians etc are ok – but keeping them together means that steps like straps, backpacks, flesh washes can all be done at the same time. I also think it is important to paint a whole unit at once. My painting style changes all the time so it is likely that if there is a gap, then early figures will look different from later ones, or I forget exactly what I did previously.

4. Line First and Guard Last

Yes. By the time you have a few units done, you will be more accurate and much faster with the particular style of uniform. This allows your fancy troops to get a really good paint job. I do generals last for the same reason. However, if your enthusiasm for the army is lagging, do some of the specials in the middle to rekindle. If I did the specials first, I don't think I would ever finish the army :)

Good ideas from people – I like this thread

John

I am very lazy.

1. If I can, pre base them, if not, stick to painting bases.

2. Spray black, then mist with white from 2' up to land in the highlights.

3 Heavy drybrush of base colours.

4 webbing

5 equipment and boots

6 weapons

7 flesh, just flesh paint with an inkwash

8 headgear

9 overall drybrush of very light tan to pick out the highlights

10 highlight metallic parts of weapons etc

11 flags etc if any

I do the hands, faces and hats last as on the table top, they are the only things people really see.

Some figures or colours may get ink washes at various points during this.