Painting Warhammer and Warhammer 40k Minatures: First and Last

I thought of a neat idea for this post. Basically, I wanted to show some of my first miniatures ever painted in comparison to some of my last miniatures ever painted. So I grabbed the first model I ever painted in both Warhammer Fantasy Battle (which is an Empire Spearmen) and Warhammer 40k (which is a Platoon Commander) along with one of the last models I painted for Warhammer Fantasy Battle (which is a Flagellant) and Warhammer 40k (which was Marneus Calgar for the Space Marines) and took some pictures. Hopefully this will show all you new painters out there that with a little dedication and practice your skills will improve!!

Here it is. The first miniature I ever painted and the beginning of my 11 year table top wargame obsession (which has not ended.) I was 12 years old when I painted this model. It is obviously, very basic. With a Black undercoat, I painted the red areas with Blood Red, the White Areas with a coat or two of Skull White. The skin was painted bronze flesh, the pike was painted Bestial Brown, and the lion emblem on the shield was painted Sunburst yellow. I even tried to paint eyes on the model, which turned out horrendous. My Empire army is very interesting because it shows the entire evolution of my painting skill. Now, the army spans close to 4500 points (maybe more when I add some characters) but it also spans 11 years of painting skill. Its an awesome testament to the fact that practice makes perfect! (at least practice makes better.)

Above is the last model I painted for my Empire Army. In fact, this is just one of 25 flagellants that I painted, but this particular model is the LAST flagellant I painted. Obviously, my skill has increased. Instead of the skin simply being painted Bronze Flesh, I painted the skin areas with Dark Flesh, then painted the area with Bronze Flesh, washed it with Ogryn Flesh, Highlighted it with a mix of Dwarf and Elf Flesh, and Finally applied Elf Flesh. The result is a much more realistic skin color. The pike, was painted with Scorched Brown, then highlighted with Bestial Brown, then dry brushed with Snakebite Leather. The fire on the miniature's helmet was painted by starting with a Red Gore, washed with Devlon Mud, then highlighted from the base up using Blood Red, Firey Orange/Bloood Red mix, Firey Orange, Firey Orange/Badmoon Yellow mix, Badmoon Yellow, and finally a touch of Sunburst Yellow at the tips.

Above is one of the first models I ever painted for Warhammer 40k, and I still use this model in my Imperial Guard Army. I started Warhammer 40k three years after I started Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Imperial Guard were always my favorite looking army, and still are one of my favorite armies. My skill had improved in those three years. I learned to leave certain areas darker than others to show depth. I started drybrushing in order to bring out different colors and textures (as you can see with the Camo). I also started layering and mixing paints to get different, more interesting colors. For example, the shoulder pads are a mix of Chainmail and Goblin Green.

Here is one of the last models I painted for Warhammer 40k. This is Marneus Calgar I painted for commission. Lucky enough for me, the person I painted it for is a good friend and leaves most of his models in my house so I have easy access to this model! I love this model and I put a great amount of work into it. The attention to the detail of this model was tremendous, and the result is great. It would take me a very long time to explain the entire process of painting this model. I would be happy to explain to anyone interested. Just leave a comment on a particular area and I can explain what I did.