I always wanted to play a wargame, but I was always afraid of huge costs, complex rules with rolling bags-of-dices and painting models. Three or four years age my cousin talked me into WFB and we bought a stater kit, Dwarves vs Goblins. Gray plastic looks terrible on the battlefield, so I decided to read some books, buy some paints and try to paint my dwarves. After priming and base-coating few models they looked like s#*t.  "Didn`t I say so?" - I threw all this stuff into ma basement and forgot about wargaming.

Until last year, when I found DT and got immediately blown away with it. Fast and bloody, great models, simple rules but tactically challenging, quick setup, great game world - I love it, just like all of You :) My DT gaming partners are all avid painters, so I got jealous and decided to give it a try once more - went to the basement for my old paints and brushes and started again as an Absolute Beginner. 

In this topic, I will post pictures of my work progress and humbly ask You for comments and critique. Please note that I have no experience in this and "painters`-slang" may be difficult to understand for me :) So, in advance - thanks for Your attention!

Where to begin? Because I want maximum tactics in Dust Tactics, I decided that I need two sets of each unit for each in the game (I know, I`m really psycho), of course except of the heroes, command squads etc. An old core set tiles have "winter" and "industrial/interior" styles, so I decided to paint my infrantry in winter and regular camo. I started with Allies:

1. BBQ Boys, winter camo

Errors made:

1. I used my old Chaos Black primer, which I had been using when painting my infamous dwarves. Now I know: if You are about paint white or light-colored model, use WHITE primer! Black will be difficult to cover and will be slightly visible in some places - like on the bases, for example.

2. To paint faster (as a father and company owner I don`t have a lot of free time) I decided to use Army Painter`s Quick Shade. I followed the manual on the can - dipped my models, shaked them vigorously and waited till they get dry. Now look on the "mud-covered" coats and don`t believe that shaking will remove the excess of the shading liquid - You have to remove it with a BRUSH!

3. Using regular PVC glue for glueing sand to the bases is a really bad idea - the sand will diappear quickly, the glue causes strange black stains etc. Use white wood glue instead.

But, as for a first batch of models, it could been worse, IMHO.

2. The Gunners, winter camo:

Error made:

Exactly the same as in case of BBQ Boys - I was painting both teams simultanously. So, white primer instead of black, white wood glue instead of pvc glue and quick shade has to be removed with a brush. Please note first shy experiments with drybrushing - boltgun metal shade on bazooka`s camo green :)

3. Recon Boys, winter camo

Errors made:

Lessons learned - this guys were primed white and I removed the excess of quick shade after dipping with a brush. White wood glue applied as well. I am pretty pleased with them - as an Absoulte Beginner, of course. :)

4. Spec Ops Rangers, winter camo

Errors made:

It is not clearly visible on these pictures, but matte coating on these models have cracked and looks like "sunburnt-earth". I`m using Army Painter Anti-Shine varnish and it was the only case with that strange effect. The humidity and temeparture were average, models were completely dry after dipping (48+ hours before), so I suspect "overdosing" the varnish. I wasn`t pleased with the shiny look of the Recon Boys in some places and I gave each model 5-6 short bursts instead of regular 2-3. So, easy on the varnishing sprays guys!

More experiments with drybrushing - sniper rifle and radios are covered with a small drybrush of boltgun metal :D

 Fantastic stuff!  White is a very hard color to pull off for a beginner (and veterans like me), and you pulled it off very well

5. Spec Ops Rangers, regular camo:

Errors made:

This time I decided to accelerate even more and skipped priming. And guess what? - factory priming passed the test IMHO, so it is not an error. But it is a too shy drybrush attempt on coats and sleeves - Catachan Green with a small amount of Rotten Flesh didn`t work out.  Maybe the reason is that I was drybrushing these models after the quick shade dip - I`ll try to change the order of these activities with the next squad.

And here You can compare how my two camo styles look on the game board:

Sorry for the dark photo, I`ll use flash next time. BTW I tried the hairdryer + cold water combo for the first time on the antennas of green coat duo and was astonished with the effects. It really works!

They look great man. The army painter stuff is good but brush it on for more control. It really doesn't take much more time. If you want to see some quick winter highlighting techniques see below. Its just a light gray and white highlight over the primer on the german uniforms. They only take a few hours to bang out a squad. The camo takes a lot longer so I save them for when I can get some extra time like on a weekend or just do one an evening if possible. I base with wood glue and different train gravels and then when that's dry i cover it with a coat of scenic cement(just very watered down clear glue) all products by woodland scenics purchased from my local train store. Good luck with the rest of your army it looks great so far.

As I dont normally use army painter shading I cannot accurately comment on what happened (maybe not fully dry??) but for clear coating i use 2-coats of krylon painters touch gloss followed by 2-3 coats testors or model masters flat. I usually let my models dry over night. Works great and i have some very old minis that look like they never saw the light of day. If you live in a milder area they both dry quick to the touch and you can apply all coats quickly then leave in the sun to bake. (I used to live in Texas so they did bake even with the humidity!!!)

mgentile7 said:

The gloss would be pointless in this case, as Army Painter dip is a  polyurethane varnish with a stain added. (The flat is another story. I prefer the Army Painter Anti-Shine spray, but Testor's works well too.)

 looking good! so when you say you got 2 of each unit, are you doing one in snow cammo and the other in regular cammo? Don't know if I got that confused.  Hats off, they look like a really good standard for anyone, let alone a complete beginner!

Thank You guys for Your comments - they really motivate me to work even harder and improve my humble skills :)

@ Hammerhand: Yes, I intend to have two sets of each unit, one in winter camo and one in regular camo. I still haven`t decided how to paint Command Squads, as I have only one set of them :)

 Always use black primer. Even if th model will eventually be white. It gives you chances to layer the proper depth. 

Psykostevo said:

Actually, I would recommend NEVER using black primer when wanting to paint a model white-you have to spend ages layering white back over the black, time that could otherwise be spent getting more done on the model.

Bravester said:

JigBakerSugar said:

As I said in my statement I don't use army painter dip but I also don't discredit its use. If it is an alternative to the gloss coat that I mention then great you have saved a step and a few bucks. I know though from experience I have models many years old that show no signs of wear based on the products mentioned.  We all have our favorites so use what you think is best and can get your hands on and good luck. And yes I'm now considered old too.