Effective painting

Looking back on my old Warhammer Fantasy skaven army, I did not want my Tau army to end up in the same way. That is, 10 % of the models adequately painted, the rest unpainted. And that's how far I got since the 90's... This was also the reason why I was reluctant to start playing 40K - not another unfinished project. So, instead my goal this time was: 100 % almost adequately painted! :-)

If you, dear reader, are not at all interested in painting techniques, you can stop reading. Also, if you consider yourself an expert painter, continue at your own risk... This is for amateurs only! ;-)

I needed to find a way to paint the army fairly quickly, since I didn't feel like I had that much time to spend on painting, and also because my back is killing me after sitting at the painting table too long (hey, 40 is closing in on me!). So, my goal was, and still is, to paint the army to a nice enough standard as effectively as possible. I decided to go for black and white, with orange details. Painting models in black and white was a bold move, someone told me (I thought maybe I had made a mistake, thinking bold=stupid...). Well, here is how I did it:

Step 1: Spray the model black (obviously).
Step 2: Highlight (drybrush) most of the model with dark grey.
Step 3: Drybrush some details with boltgun metal (old citadel with screwcap, still going strong!).
Step 4: The white areas are first painted white, then a creamy white, then highlighted with white. (They were actually just painted white at first, then I improved them like this... which was much needed.)
Step 5: Finally, the part I like the most, add some orange details, almost like warpaint. Done!

Below is an example of one of my battlesuits. I guess you recognise the antenna from a devilfish. I also chose to cut off one of the antennas on his head... makes him look less "rabbit-like". The blue thing under his foot is a Ultra Marines power fist...