In a model collection we all have a select few models that we would rather keep hidden away for no one to see, it could be some models that you painted when you first got into the hobby, it could be from a time when you tried something different that didn’t quite work out or it could be a model that you learned a lesson from.
Let me introduce to you what i consider my worst painted model, this is what is supposed to be a space marine Seargent model that i call thinius your paintius. Now this isn’t the first model i ever painted but it would be from around the time when i first started the hobby and at first glance at this guy you can tell what’s wrong with this guy straight away, he’s bald. The poor guy started going bald after his 21st birthday. Oh, wait that’s what happened after my 21st birthday…. thanks for the crappy hairline dad.
But seriously this guy is covered in thick layers of paint that were recklessly slapped on by a younger Spunge Murphy. You could probably pick some of the paint off with your nails it’s so thick and the poor guy’s neck just blobbed so much that and his head and neck are a single piece. There was some attempt to try and fix him a bit with his power fist later on but it didn’t help much.
Now i know what you’re thinking “Spunge, why not just strip the paint off? Youve done it loads of time before” and yea i could do that but there are two things i learned from this guy that are much more important than simply repainting him. Those two things were patience and the importance of thinning your paints. When you start off painting no one paints the perfect model in their first try and if there was one piece of advice to give someone starting painting is to plan your paint scheme and take your time.
Duncan Rhodes, who did the brilliant painting tutorials for Warhammer TV, constantly said in his videos to apply “two thin coats” and he didn’t say that in every video for the fun of it, applying thin layers of paint is one of the most important parts of painting a model. This requires patients but the pay-out will be the complete opposite of the monstrosity that i painted.
The best way to see this working is when you’re going for a clean looking paint job like on an armour part, robes or some cloaks. Everyone gets a little intimidated when it comes to painting a bright coloured robe, you want it to have a nice and smooth look not crust and thick. That’s when the fear of painting a model kicks in. “well i can’t paint this guy as good as that so I’m not even going to try”. I might be going off track a little here but don’t compare your work too much to other people’s work use their models as inspiration. Just take your time while painting it pays off in the long run.
Unless your one of those guys who can paint freakishly fast, i wish i could speed up my painting a little, but after taking my time painting a model, I’ve never looked back at it and said i rushed painting and it looks terrible, its usually “god that took a while but it turned out better than i thought it would”.
That is why i never ended up repainting this guy, he is a constant reminder to not rush into painting and to thin my paints. If you’re wanting to see, how get painting a space marine with slight better results make sure to click on the gallery tab above But you know what guys i really enjoyed making this post, being able to share something like this and if you want to share some of your thoughts and stories let me know in the comment section, my Facebook page or here on spungehammer.com
