First Models

In starting to paint again, the most typical model was chosen: a Space Marine. Standard tactical squad members have broad areas for armour, making applying paint far easier, and giving nice hard edges for highlighting work. They don't have much tricky detail, and so are very good for learning the paints.

Now, the photos are taken with a phone camera. So they're not good. A good camera costs money, and that money is currently being spent elsewhere on things such as buying far too many models and painting accessories.

The first model painted was simply a test. The idea was to see how bright the colours would turn out, how well they would mix and blend, that sort of thing. It would also help to see just how steady the hand still is.

The finished model is seen above. Note that the base has not been painted - this is something that must be finished at a later time, but I've never been much for painting bases. It looks kind of silly having desert sand when playing games within murky depths of a hive city. Seeing as the painting is more for the painting, however, and not the gaming, then the bases will get attention later.
A base coat of Abaddon Black was used, over which Caliban Green was applied. Leadbelcher was applied to the appropriate metal areas, and Mephiston Red to the gun and shoulder insignia. I did try Ceramite White on the other should pad, and the center chest, but it proves to be a somewhat thicker paint than I was expecting. It needs a little watering down if it's going to be used for these things. Later I patched up the details with White Scar, which is a much nicer white to work with, although it needs two coats to work properly.
With the base coat on, a simple wash with Nuln Oil over the metal areas and Agrax Earthshade on the chest (and the skull on the gun). This is about the extent of where things used to be; highlights with these paints are something new to work with. Dry brushing was tried on the backpack (it's visible behind the head), but that didn't really work. Blending colours was easier with Tamiya paints - they wouldn't dry so fast, so you could mix things in a bit. Citadel paints, however, dry a bit clearer and allow the underlying colour to come through. So the first layer of highlight was done with Warpstone Glow. This didn't really should up too much, but did show promise of use to step into another colour for highlighting with. I also tried it to raise the colour of some areas - it can be seen on the (model's) left shoulder pad, just below the white wing but above the trim. It can't be seen in the photo, but I wasn't happy with the blending there.
Blending with Citadel paints is different to when using Tamiya. With the Tamiya acrylics, you can get away with putting a small bit of each colour (from base to highlight) and mixing them in place. This produces a nice and gradual gradient towards the highlighted point. With the Citadel paints, it's a bit trickier: first water down the paint a little (getting this right takes practice) and then apply paint to the highlighted point. Wiping the excess off the brush (or using another brush), the paint is then "pulled" outwards. I find this is best done by starting on a dry area, and then using circular motions to gradually spread a small amount of the (hopefully still wet) paint outwards. This is done two or three times until the desired final gradient is achieved. It's not really that easy to get correct, but does work nicely if done right. I still find the Tamiya method better, but those paints are (or at least used to be) thicker, and ran the risk of obscuring detail, so couldn't be used in more complex areas.
Meh.
Moot green was used as a final stage highlight along the armour edges. This didn't turn out on the first go - I was using the brush all wrong. Plus, the brushes from Citadel aren't very good and became fuzzy very fast. Ironbreaker was used to highlight the metal areas, with Wild Rider Red used sparingly on the red of the gun and the eyes. A dot of White Scar in the eyes, and a little more along the chest insignia, and that's mostly it. That's not all of it of course (some browns for areas not shown in the photo, for example), but the main idea was on highlighting.

Lessons learned: hold the brush at the correct angle for the highlight, and don't overdo the highlight. The Ironbreaker was applied too much in some places, where as the Moot Green is missing in some places. The highlighting should be used to bring out edges, but the catch is that if not used on adjacent edges, then those adjacent edges look...well...bad. The model's right shoulder pad trim shows this. Highlight paints take a little getting used to, and they have to be chosen carefully, but are worth the effort, and the layer paints really are layers - they don't completely obscure the underlying colour.
Washes are best applied a little more thickly (but not too thick) on the other hand. They're not applied the same as layer paints, and you're not meant to be as careful. Adding just a small amount to the brush doesn't work: a fair bit should be applied in one go. Most of it is just water, and only practice will show just what it really looks like when dried out.

 Using the experience from the first model, and second was quickly painted.

The highlighting was much better this time around. It's still a little too sharp and bright in some places (it doesn't really show up in the photo, but it's worst on the legs), which means that the Moot Green was applied a little too thick, but overall it's a definite improvement.
Not much more to say really. The second model was basically an iteration over the first. Now that the paints felt more comfortable, it was time for....a Furioso Dreadnought. Yep, I skipped right past paint more standard Marines, and when straight to something more complex. That, however, is for another post.

  -- silly painter