My advice for anyone who is batch painting is that everyone has a number, the maximum that they can really work on at once. I found mine by starting with 5 and building up in increments of 5. Turns out my number is 5.

#4 "don't be afraid to strip" great tip! Might help me afford my next AoS army

All good advice. I would only add "don't stress too much". This is a hobby, so it means it is supposed to be fun, not another source of stress.

when i paint like an assembly line i always paint a first one fully, alone to know what i'm working toward, so when i start to get tired of painting eye lenses or belt buckles etc i ca look at the only finished model and say "thats the goal for the 9 remaining dudes" and it works really well with me.

Soooo true about the "Don't do too many at once" with assembly-line painting. 27 Chainrasps was an absolutely brutal slog.

Rule of thumb: Humans can concentrate on one thing for about 90 minutes, then they need to do something else, which could be a short break or 90 minutes of a different task. If you structure your work like that, you will likely get more done in six hours than if you worked eight hours straight.

5:39 I once tackled 60 Poxwalkers for my Death Guard army. I think a bit of my soul died on the painting table.

I have been using $7 worth of makeup brushes to dry brush my Grey Knights kill team and I cannot imagine living without them now. +1: do not ignore makeup brushes from Walmart etc.

Nugget of wisdom there about diminishing returns once your batch size gets too large. And RIP Jim Goose.

I started painting models about a month ago and people like you have been a big help. Thanks!

The week that 40k primaris came out, I bought 2 boxes of old tacticals, 2 intersessor squads, a primaris chaplain, a gravis captain and the redemptor dreadnought. I painted them all within a weekend. i have not painted a model since..

Him: you won’t ruin it unless you run over it with your car Me: I accidentally melted Abbadon’s chest when I knocked a scented candle onto my desk 😭

I definitely second doing assembly line painting in smaller batches. I just finished up 50 spider riders and it killed my hobby drive for a while afterwards.

You don't have a CTRL+Z but you can quicksave by sealing the mini with varnish and you can rub the paint off to this point. Vince Venturella mentioned that in one of his many amazing videos if I recall correctly :)

The best advice I got for painting was to paint something every day. Maybe it was just doing the base coat on the armour for these 5 guys for all of 5 minutes but it was something. Then figure out what you want to do the next day. And even when you spend a few days not doing much in each session you can see the progress, and maintaining that momentum means one of those sessions, you'll go a bit further and maybe knock out a small squad you were just going to finish up the basecoat and washes on. Progress is progress, you don't have to finish anything in a session, just get something done.

Couple days ago my girlfriend started to paint her first mini (wood elves, sorry Adam). She chose the colour scheme and I helped her with techniques and tips while doing another model from the squad myself. Teaching her is tremdously satisfying and at the same time not to be underestimated. Thanks for all the good tips these last years! :-)

Don't be afraid to be cheap. Use your makeup brushes. Get proficient in stripping. Wait, we're talking about models?

At this point in my hobby career I am pretty sure that Amazon thinks I am a gender confused beautician.

I always raise a brow when I see people going "look at this $100 Riptide I got as my first model, so excited to get into this hobby!"

Another note regarding assembly painting: when you get past 5-10 models, not only does it become a slog, you start getting sloppy. If you're painting 20 Ork Boyz or (DON'T DO THIS, PERSONAL EXPERIENCE) 30 Grots, you start rushing to finish that bloody 30th pair of boots and get paint everywhere, you start missing little details on the armour, it's just not a fun time.

Great video, Sir! I learned to drive a “4-in-the-floor” stick shift in the early ‘70s and thought I was The Man...until I got behind the wheel of a “3-in-the-column” pickup truck! It was embarrassing to say the least! Kinda like learning different painting techniques, it definitely required more attention, generated much more excitement for me, and broadened my skills. Growth can be fun, even if challenging!

I’ve found that I get a lot done with assembly line painting, but there are times where I’m pretty much done and I ask myself “do their spears really need to be brown or does it look cool if I say they painted their spears black like it’s primed.” And that’s why all 50 of my high elves have black spears. Lol

"Don't paint too many models in one batch". Meanwhile, here I am staring at 50+ stripped Firstborn Space Wolves.

Good advice. As a long time hobbyist I take a lot of this stuff for granted.

I went to a charity shop and asked them to save me some make up brushes for me if they got any in. 2 weeks later I went back and had around 50 brushes of all kinds of sizes and shapes and textures, many of which were brand new. Paid like £10 for all of them. Well worth it.

...painted 2k of necrons in 2 weeks...ummm....ya. should have watched this first

That assembly line tip is a+.I painted 16 models at once and thought I was gonna rip my pubes out. But about 5 at a time is the sweet spot for me personally.

"Don't do too many at once." This is all too true, and definitely my personal pick of best advice in this excellent video. Many moons ago I made the mistake of batch painting 60 Termagants that I received as a gift when my friend decided he didn't want his Tyranids anymore, in a single batch. I am still recovering to this day.

Thumbs up for the 'Lot' definition...and the pun. For some reason I needed that Dad joke this morning.

One thing that is also a good thing to remember: You're never going to be "good enough". It's a trap I still fall constantly, I have three models waiting because of this, but the fact it: I will never get "good enough" to do justice to those models. As I get better at painting, the goalpost I want to reach also shifts higher and higher. And those models I bough because I was excited about them just go deeper and deeper into the pile. By the time I visit them again, I might not even be excited about the models anymore, maybe my tastes and interests have shifted. If you're excited, buy and paint the model now. Don't wait until you get better, that way you just get a growing pile of backlog.

I just recently got info age of Sigmar cos my parents got me Clanrats, a box of castle brand paint and thin brushes, and my friends ordered me the screaming bell kit and Stormvermin. They don’t look spectacular so far but I’ve barely done any art before and I’m really happy with them so far! Having fun even in third gear

When I bought my make up brushes it was an overall very positive experience. I learned a lot about make from the counter girl and she even recommended these blending sponges that I have been using to make super good looking and easy marble effects on tiles. Also we flirted with each other which is always fun.

I spent the first six years of my hobbying with craft acrylics. I finally decided to try something fancier just this week and wow, does it make a difference - I'm loving my Scale 75. Though there's something to be said for starting with thinned craft acrylics, as it will *certainly* teach you a few things...

I like the Goose t-shirt. "Jimmy the Goose, larger than life and twice as ugly!"

I'm a maker [but not a figure painter per-se] but your advice is still extremely valuable. You demonstrate a mindset in your comments that suggests organisation WITHOUT panic. You alleviate anxieties that arise when beginning a hobby/project or when pushing your own envelope of skill level. An excellent video that is full of don'ts but is still very positive! Cheers. {Belongs in the 'required viewing' folder for all newbies}

For the assembly line painting, I found it helps a lot to have a friend who is ALSO painting their army and that way it takes away the tedium. You can chat and joke and have a merry old time despite painting like, 20 models.

"a lot, yeah you're right" I too live for puns.

Came for the hobby tips. Stayed for the life lessons. 🤙

That gearbox analogy hit home. Damn.

I am basically just starting painting. Thank you. My 7 Space Marines I got for $8 may not turn out like something in the back of the rule books, but they will be mine and I will enjoy painting them rather than worrying about having all the right stuff. Though, definitely going to get that Totally Awesome paint stripping stuff. These guys look like someone else didn't super enjoy painting them.

I gotta say: I really really enjoy your videos. You're super down to earth and chill. Plus you've give a lot of great advice in all of your videos. Glad I'm subbed. :D

Ork and nid players laughing at only 10 in your assembly.

Appreciate all you've done for my understanding of the hobby. Thanks for all you do and for your wonderfully dry sense of humor. Assembly line painting has been a great way to work. I usually do about 4-5 at a time.

Being an "old bunny" in the painting game I really enjoyed your video and have many times echoed all of these same points to others. Miniature painting and wargaming is a "Journey" and takes time. Funny you discovered the "makeup brush" as well! I discovered their place in the hobby since my wife is makeup artist in the film biz and gave me some of her fine old brushes (we both work in the film biz in Hollywood). I too started doing "production line" painting nearly 40 years ago and wrote several articles on it for magazines (no internet then!). I also have my first few mini's sitting in a case near my workbench as a constant reminder of where I started. One thing that all starting painters need to avoid is looking at the internet and seeing some of the frankly amazing world class jobs done by talented painters and being discouraged by their own humble efforts, remember "it's a journey" and journeys take time. At one time I was considered a very good painter and was winning awards and competitions across the country, I cant hold a candle to some of the painters today! Does it bother me? No, I paint because I love it, it gives an outlet to my creative side and restful almost meditative time of concentration. When I see some of these fantastic paint jobs it encourages me to become better, learn more, and that keeps the hobby fresh! You can see some of my "journey through the world of wargaming" on my site www.HistoricalHobbies.com Bottom-line, great work! Keep it up! Bill Witthans

I just bought a vortex mixer. Discovering how much better my mini paints (particularly Army Painter) should be has renewed my drive to paint more. I’d say best purchase I ever made but I doubt a beginner would buy one starting out.

In my country, most wargaming miniatures a veeery expensive. So I decided to start practicing with other tabletop games, such as zombicide. It's a great way to begin, since it has many miniatures and you can cover errors with bloodstains hahaha. Also it's an easy game to play with friends.

I feel the comedy part of this videos has really gone up a notch. KEEP THE GOOD WORK. I enjoy every bit 😄

Your makeup brush video was such a revelation for me. I can't imagine painting without them now. And combined with your recent terrain painting video has made a terrain painting a delight for me.

This was super entertaining. Your stories and tangents are great. Do them more often 🤣

Regarding the last point: I see what you're saying and I would also add "don't limit yourself to a single brand". The sooner you start doing this, the less frustrating it will be. I use paints from all manufacturers so I can pick the best one for each task from each range... I use fine art paints for very specific tasks and, heck, in my last video I also reviewed some Russian paints that I tried and proved to be excellent. The point is, variety is key!

I need to include painting more than one thing at a time. I’ve spent so much time just doing one piece at a time. Great video.

There was a suggestion I came across in an old White Dwarf magazine concerning batch painting. Don't remember who wrote the article, but he said to try things this way. Assume a unit of 20-30 models (it was referencing old Warhammer Fantasy). Take a week for just that unit. Day 1 would be for assembly (clipping off the sprues, cleaning off mold lines, and gluing them together). Day 2 would be for finishing up anything left over from Day 1, as well as priming. If time allows, put the base coats on the various pieces. Days 3-6 would be for painting the consecutive layers, shading, highlighting and whatnot. Each part would be done on all the models before moving on to the next part. Day 7 would be for basing and any touch up work you feel is necessary. In this way, one wouldn't get so overwhelmed with painting an army. Apply this method to other games in an appropriate manner.

Excellent point on the assembly line painting. It can feel like you are making no progress when working on a large group.

Started with Blightlord Terminators for my first models. Honestly, I’m happy with how they turned out to this day. They aren’t as good as I can do now but, they’re still really up to par imo

Been some time since I saw one of your videos. And it always brings a smile. Thanks for being part of the community Dude! PA CHOW!

I love how wise and articulate you are as you express these points.

Now I have the image of him just siting at the computer for an hour going "that is alot of space marines"

Great video as ever, Uncle Adam! 👍👍👍

This might be my favorite video boss! I wish I still had my FIRST mini, but I will remember yours because I'm sure my first space wolf was similar. Also, LOVE the gearbox description! Thanks for a great channel! 👍👍

One thing about assembly lines: I'll often start by doing like 10-20 models at a time for the early base coat (and maybe wash/drybrush), and then focus and like 3-5 of them after that. Always depends on the models ofc.

makeup brushes are great for removing dust from models gently if youve left them out for a while

Just finished a project painting 25 chaos warriors, 15 chaos knights, and 40 Marauders... batches of 5 kept me sane

I'm so glad I have a resin printer. I'll buy models eventually, but right now it's great having no worries about how bad I'm screwing up paint jobs.

Don't ever stop with the bad puns Adam - could chuckle away to that "lot" gag once a video quite easily

Moral of the story: Learn to drive stick on a car with a decent gearbox.

I've been researching videos to get into ttg on sw legion. I wanted to come back here after making a few purchases say thank you for your great advise. I saw this, watched others, came back here. yours is like an exec summary that keeps to the real issues and potential mishaps one could make. great video and thanks for all the advise

The "lot" joke had me rolling on the floor laughing. Thanks for that!

Strongly disagree with the last one. Starting with cheap craft paints was almost the reason I gave up back then. The results were horrible but I decided to give it a last shot and bought a small army painter set with 5 colors I think. Oh my word was that a revelation. The results were leaps and bouds beyond the craft paints even though I didn‘t change anything about how I painted. So sure, don‘t buy Rafael brushes and a 50 piece scale color set to start out with but please, please use purpose made tools for the hobby. Even the really cheap ones are vastly superior to craft paints.

*looks at roughly 30 tactical marines I started assembly line painting last april* yup, don’t do that

Thank you for helping us getting on the way to find that "first gear"! 😉👍

10:45 I definitely feel this. I started August 2019 and I have the poorly painted chaos cultists and chaos space marines I did back then, still part of my army. I've definitely improved since.

Makeup brushes are a game changer indeed. Get the pack that has the multiple sizes. You'll thank me later.

Do: paint your miniatures. Don't: not paint your miniatures.

That last tip was golden, got some training models yesterday, assembled them and primed them this morning. Was waiting on getting a wet pallet, but it's not really needed right now. Thx

Great Advise! When I got back into the hobby after 20 years out my first model was a Primaris Captain that I custom kitbashed. I had to redo/touch up so many spots because my skills were rusty that it took over a week to complete one model.

I did 40 Wracks in one assembly line as part of a Drukhari commission... it did not just destroy my motivation, it destroyed my soul...

Love the Mad Max tee

Totally agree with the assembly line method. I work in 15mm (1/100 scale) medieval historicals. I glue the figures onto wooden strips and can handle seven or eight figs on each strip and maybe 5 or 6 strips. I like to vary colours as my units are irregular so different browns or boots and belts, different colours for fabric, and you can just go down the line and do alternate boot colours or alternate cloak colours. You can also start two different units and switch from one unit to the other when 'mid brown' paint is in use, then go to 'dark brown' and do the same - switching from unit to unit and painting alternate figures with the paint pot which is currently open. Obviously if one is doing 'regimentals' then doing a whole block in the same colour is also economical on paint or time. Big shout out for assembly line - it worked for Ford! Barry

Great video. You have raised some great points in miniature painting for people that want to get into it. Painting Space Marines is relaxing and relieves me of the stresses of my line of work.

Most gamers probably have plenty of board game miniatures to train their paining on. No ebay required.

P.S.: A standing car should have been out of gear to begin with - and your father should have known that. Standing around with 3rd gear in? Ridonculous! XD

My word, I don't think I've ever heard ctrl-z so exhaustingly explained. Like, it's such a simple concept to me, but I guess if someone didn't use it much.. yeh, it's a weird phrase.

The car analogy was perfect! Just build, just paint and enjoy yourself!

In the rest of the world. 'Stick shift' is standard.

I did roll over a miniature with my car. And yes, it did get ruined. So - confirmed.

the 1st/3rd gear analogy is perfect. i love it.

We had an old Rabbit Diesel, but I was 20 at the time. I learned to drive at 12, got my license at 15. I learned how to drive stick in an Isuzu P'up. The old Rabbit had the same weird reverse as the '84 Charger I had at the time. You had to start in 1st gear, push straight down on the lever and then flip it to the left to get into Reverse. :)

just got 30 poxwalkers it's time to get over my fear of painting

Important one: don't procrastinate

Thanks, Atom, I think you motivated me back into painting again:) Great Tips!!!

1. Some circumstances 20+ models is ok, like airbrushing. 2. As someone who has painted since the early 2000's I use drybrushing all the time, it's an incredible way to highlight quickly if done correctly.

How fragile would your manhood have to be to be threatened by a cashier checking out your makeup brushes? LOL!

The top thing you shouldn't do in your hobby is let people tell you what you should and shouldn't do. It's your hobby. Do what you want

My first ever box of tactical marines stand on my desk as a reminder to always read the instructions. upside down shoulderpads, guns not resting in the hand properly, guns pretty much melted to the chest and ruining the Aquila, just to name a few mistakes. They're my goofy marines and i love them :)

Starting small is very good advice. This goes for purchasing and assembling miniatures, too! One of the biggest motivation killers is when you splurge on buying a massive army, assemble them and become daunted by the realisation that you now need to paint them all. I find I get more done when I buy a starter set or the equivalent (or maybe even start with just one miniature, like a cool commander guy or something), assemble, paint and then add just one unit then assemble, paint, repeat and so on. Resist that urge to splurge!

My mom runs a makeup company so I have an unlimited supply of drybrushes lmao

Don't be like me and start gobbling up the "cool" models first. start basic

Outstanding! Loved the driving stick story. Excellent analogy👌

I looooove to Dry Brush! picks up all the little details SO nicely.

I definitely don't agree with starting with craft paints. Craft paints are utter garbage. You will hate painting if you start with them. Get a few proper paints from Vallejo, they are cheap.