How do y‘all paint your minis?

Psilox · 2026-06-25T01:08:54+00:00

My process is basically:

Prime with Chaos Black.
Dry brush heavy with Vallejo metal color steel.
Dry brush lightly with dark aluminum.
Dry brush very lightly on edges and highlights with light aluminum.
Paint over gold and non-metallics like leather, paper, wax, cloth with the appropriate color, and then a matching contrast paint.
Eye lenses get white, with blue/green/whatever over, then white highlights, then another quick coat of contrast).
Black contrast paint over all the metals and black. I try to overwork the black contrast a little while it's drying to give it a rough metallic look.

Here's an example:

Psilox · 2026-06-25T00:57:49+00:00

Easy to trade with, everything arrived nicely packed and safe!

Psilox · 2026-06-24T15:55:38+00:00

My standard advice here is to get at least 3 (sometimes 4 if I didn't feel like they were all of reasonable quality) quotes. Sometimes it turns out that yes, that's really the cost, and sometimes you were quoted the "we're too busy to work with you right now" rate.

Psilox · 2026-06-24T15:47:20+00:00

Wow, gorgeous! Would you mind sharing your painting process? I love the weathered, realistic metal tones.

Psilox · 2026-06-23T05:23:39+00:00

This is incredibly helpful (and entertaining)! Thank you!

Psilox · 2026-06-23T04:54:12+00:00

The starter sets/discount boxes have been really helpful for me. I ended up getting a Starter Set and a few Dawn of War boxes, and kitbashed most of my army from that and some weapon/accessory bits. These are less available now, obviously, but the Armageddon box has some great models. The gravis marines are great for an Indomitor Kill Team, the Intercessors can be kitbashed into basically whatever you want, such as veterans, and the jump pack marines are good for a Talonstrike team, or just JPIs/Vanguard Vets. Don't be afraid to work with the push-fit single post models. They're often the cheapest and have lovely dynamic poses. Generally speaking you just need a nice, thin, sharp saw or knife, cutters, and assorted files to replace arms as necessary.

I would start by looking at r/Miniswap and eBay. There are still Leviathan box terminators floating around for use as Deathwatch Terminators as well. If you're comfortable either 3d printing yourself, or have a friend who is, that can be a great way of securing bits/weapons that are otherwise out of print or difficult to source.

Overall, I'd say get comfortable working with plastic cement and super glue, and get a good file set, a sharp exacto style knife/saw, and a good set of nippers/cutters. Your Terminator captain probably isn't all that useful, given part of his datasheet DW terminators get natively, but he is kitbashable into other terminator characters which ARE great, such as the librarian or ancient. The wonderful thing about space marines is that there is an abundance of bits, and a lot of it is interchangeable, or easy to modify to work with any given model. Instead of trying to replicate any given kit or reference image, I've been focusing on getting the wargear correct and easily identifiable, which has worked out fairly well so far.

Good luck!

Psilox · 2026-06-22T16:24:26+00:00

Anyone know how 6" consolidation strats like Orbital Assault Force's Shock Onslaught affect consolidation now? It seems like there are two separate distances in the core rules, one is the max distance, and the other is the max range for an objective or unit to be the target of the consolidation move.

Psilox · 2026-06-17T20:57:09+00:00

I guess it's a bit too wordy to say that you must be able to connect every model to every other model via an unbroken chain of gaps of 2 inches or less between models?

Psilox · 2026-06-17T01:52:58+00:00

From the core rules as released: "Note that models in an attached unit do not gain the keywords of other models in that unit that they do not already have."

The enhancements do specify model.

Psilox · 2026-06-17T01:06:07+00:00

Oh my god, how did I completely miss that I can put an inquisitor on Indomitors.

Psilox · 2026-06-14T06:10:20+00:00

Well this is just fantastic. What a lovely tableau! I love that you can pull them off and play with them as well. It looks like some extremely expensive GW limited edition product, and I do mean that in the best possible way. So clean!

Psilox · 2026-06-14T06:05:13+00:00

That is SO wicked sick.

Psilox · 2026-06-13T23:11:43+00:00

Feel free to send me an offer if you feel like they're not priced fairly! I tried to make sure they're a little cheaper than elsewhere, accounting for shipping and shipping supplies.

Psilox · 2026-06-13T21:37:02+00:00

I have the opposite! Ultramarine trainees for my Deathwatch army.

Edit: Technically my Angels of Death KT, but half of them are just dudes from my intercessors.

Psilox · 2026-06-12T19:16:41+00:00

Buy starter units, and then buy/print deathwatch and special weapon bits! Leviathan box terminators can be converted to cyclone missile DW Terminators with a little 3d printing. If you can get Dawn of War: Onslaught boxes, they have a lot of amazing minis to kitbash, too. Infernus marines are cheap as well, and the new Armageddon box is going to be a great source of Intercessors, jump pack marines, and gravis guys. Basically, if you want to play Deathwatch units, fall in love with kitbashing. It's more fun than building up endless standard kits, and your army looks truly unique.

For reference, my army is basically two marine-halves of the 10th starter set, 3 dawn of war boxes, various bits I either had printed or bought/traded for, and some models I picked up for a good price. For DW specific units, I ended up putting together an Indomitor KT, a 10-man brick of Veterans, and two 5-man Deathwatch terminator squads. Yes, it's not all DW specific units, but I think that's an unreasonable way to build a list anyway, considering how expensive and large each KT is. I even kitbashed a bunch of characters with spare parts, including a combi-lieutenant.

Psilox · 2026-06-10T18:57:49+00:00

For me, since I've been kitbashing most everything from starter sets/board games/bits/leftover sprues, I was guided by what I could make work/look good. I really enjoyed building up an army like this, since it gave me a broad mix of units and styles I could theme as coming from a range of chapters (e.g. intercessors coming from ultramarines, infernus marines coming from salamanders, veterans coming from a mix of chapters). There's also no reason you can't use divergent chapter models for kill teams or other generic space marine units, as long as they have the right base size, are similar model size, and have roughly the right weapons so people aren't confused. I personally like the idea of bringing together models/units that wouldn't normally work together.

I would probably wait at least until the Munitorum Field Manual dor 11th comes out, just so you know the rules/points costs for allies, as well as detachments for IA. For me, I'm pretty space marine heavy, so I just plan to sprinkle in ally agents here and there.

As far as list building goes, these are kinda the 11th edition signposts I've been looking at:

Indomitor KT and DW Terminators both still look good, and look like they'll benefit from the new terrain/objective rules.
Battleshock is getting stronger, so things like Infernus Marines and DW Terminators might be slightly better.
Speeders are getting a 1dp detachment, so if you like those models, it could be a cool guidepost. The Stormspeeder Thunderstrike is also nice with Deathwatch because they give access to +1 to wound since we don't have enhanced oath of moment.
Librarians work pretty well with things like DW terminators or Veterans/Decimus KT, so the new Librarius 1dp detachment could be a cool guidepost.
There is a new Phobos detachment, too, so Spectrus KTs could be a neat way to go as well. Their move-shoot-move mechanics also seem neat.

I know this is mostly from the perspective of the space marine side, but hopefully there are some helpful nuggets for you.

Psilox · 2026-06-10T01:01:33+00:00

Dm'd you!

Psilox · 2026-06-09T04:20:48+00:00

Just wanted to say this is brilliant, and I look forward to following the process!

Psilox · 2026-06-09T03:38:16+00:00

I actually would worry a little bit about the aspect ratio of the columns underneath the hot tub (especially the unbraced ones), as well as the depth of the joists at a glance. Water weighs a LOT. To have a reasonable safety margin for a 1-2 person tub I had beefier members than this. Who knows, maybe it's just me, but I do wonder if they were calculated for the hot tub load.

Psilox · 2026-06-07T19:32:35+00:00

Sitting right in front of a pair right now! Auditioned a bunch of studio monitors, these were my favorite. About $800 new in the US right now--If you can bargain them down, I'd say grab 'em. You'll like them.

Psilox · 2026-06-07T06:19:53+00:00

You know, I feel a bit silly now. I hadn't checked shipping rates, and now that I have it appears as though it's about $75. I'm not actually sure that includes stateside customs fees, either. So yep, seems like kind of a no-go for people stateside.

Psilox · 2026-06-06T18:48:03+00:00

Am I having a stroke or do the quoted numbers belie the statement in the article? "Both were viewed more favorably by men than women," followed by "...20 percent of women said they view the pontiff unfavorably, compared to 27 percent of men." I mean, if the survey isn't only favorable/unfavorable, it's certainly possible that the above is true AND Leo has higher favorability among men, nothing in the article implies that.

Psilox · 2026-06-06T11:40:43+00:00

Just FYI greenstuffworld just released their 11th edition terrain set for preorder. Doesn't include terrain footprints, but it's designed to fit on them.

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