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vman
09-06-2009, 08:01 AM
Hi Guys,

I'm curious as to the average amount of time each of us would dedicate to painting a miniature.

I know this can vary from player to player so i will set a standard and ask that you answer this question as though you were painting a mini to a 'High' standard of tabletop painting.

Some of us field poorly painted minis whereas some field golden demon winners, however well we consider them to be painted, how long does it take YOU?

Please answer this as a "per miniature" question, not per squad.

Feel free to leave a comment as to how you would rate your own minis as well :D

sorri
09-06-2009, 08:18 AM
I've never painted just a mini, so I took how long it takes to paint a squad and divided it out. Put down "up to 30 minutes". But I'm not that great at painting, and I'd rate my minis at about "decent tabletop" quality (more than 3 colors, some details picked out, can't do faces well to save my life -- which is frustrating with a Sisters army. :)). I also cheat a bit, and use airbrushing or spray paints to base coat my army, so I only need to paint cloth/weapons/details for the most part. At least I feel like I'm getting better with my paintig every time I do it, which is good enough for me. :)

vman
09-06-2009, 08:33 AM
Thats what its all about sorri, learning and getting better

having a sisters army would mean that in the future should you decide to repaint them to a higher standard you can just strip them because they are metal... good olde bucket o' acetone works well on metal :P

Im currently staring at roughly 60 metal eldar minis, some stripped, but all back to metal and ready to repaint... again

I hope to get a medium to high standard this time round and well probably spend about 1 to 2 hours on each mini

sorri
09-06-2009, 08:45 AM
Thats what its all about sorri, learning and getting better

having a sisters army would mean that in the future should you decide to repaint them to a higher standard you can just strip them because they are metal... good olde bucket o' acetone works well on metal :P

Yeah, as I've been doing them, I've been tweaking both the paint scheme and methods I'm using -- I started about a year ago (right when 5th came out), and I'm on my 3rd method so far. :) I've stripped down some of the models already, and plan on doing most of the rest at some point. I've just been using Simple Green though, so I can keep it the same for metal or plastic -- works well enough in my experience. :)

Powerslave
09-06-2009, 09:04 AM
On a special character, tank or any large miniature I can spend anywhere from 10 to 30 hours.

But on normal units - I would spend around 3 hours per miniature, so I averaged it out to 5 hours per mini, although could have easily put 10.

Gotthammer
09-06-2009, 09:15 AM
For a 'regular' dude (a Tac squad for instance) I take around 2hrs per guy, working in batches. Characters take longer, but usually no more than around 4-5hrs each.

As for rating my own stuff, I think I do ok - maybe a 8 for my best stuff. That said I don't attempt things like NMM and the super-highlighting that is de rigueur at the moment due to not really liking it. I preffer a simpler, somewhat more comic-book style or a realistic (not hyper-real) look.

M3mph1s
09-06-2009, 09:59 AM
I usually never get a full army done because I like to spend a few extra hours on every mini.

I also usually paint them 1 by 1, finishing each and then moving on.

Schnitzel
09-06-2009, 11:09 AM
I typically spend anywhere from one to two hours on my first mini of a squad, taking my time to figure out the paint scheme and the best way to go about it quickly. After I have decided on a set method to the madness I line up the rest of the squad and go through a conveyor belt approach. All in all.... I spend maybe 15 minutes total per mini in a squad (excluded the first one).
I also prefer basecoating them with the spray gun. Major time saver.

Exitus Acta Probat
09-06-2009, 11:51 AM
Frankly, I almost never 'finish' character models.
I want to return to them all the time, but 10+ hours for individuals like that.

Units, entirely depends on whether I have found a 'cheat (if a micron pen will work on a particular scheme, if I mix a wash that lets me skip a shading/higlighting step. If I find a couple colors in a layering step are redundant...etc etc)'.
But I batch them, so it's hard to find an average.

Aldramelech
09-06-2009, 12:07 PM
So many variables.

The miniature, the scheme, the base, my mood, how work went today, is there anything good on telly, do I need it for a game soon, etc. etc.

What I do think is that the 1 hour a day minimum works quite well and is an achievable goal.

entendre_entendre
09-06-2009, 02:01 PM
ehhh, i'm gonna say up to 2 hrs/mini. if its a squad i just assembly line 'em so a squad of ten is done in about 5 hours (but they still look good). a tank on the other hand will take me longer so depending on the size/scheme it'll take about 3+ hrs. averages out to about 2hrs/mini w/ me. a solo characters take about as much time as a sqaud.

The AKH
09-06-2009, 05:15 PM
I generally knock out the basic squaddies in my army to a fairly nice gaming standard in under half an hour per mini... but on character models & display pieces, I usually spend more time... I usually paint in half-hour to one-hour sessions over 2 or 3 days.

vman
09-07-2009, 01:46 AM
Wow well the results are certainly flowing and it can be seen that there is a typical bell curve happening with the results as the majority of painters putting in up to 2 hours per mini.

I feel, knowing how long others spend on their minis is important especially to new painters as it gives them a rough idea of the level of work put in to each mini.

Keeping this in mind is there a general formula to determine how good a mini will look?

Does devoting 10 hours to a mini mean that it will come out looking like a centrepiece? Or do we find that after a certain amount of hours we are finished and devoting more time would simply be wasting time looking for areas that could potentially be better?

Vulture
09-07-2009, 05:19 AM
Well, being a painter first and a player only second I need an awefull long time to finish my minis... even a simple standard dude can take up to 6-7 hours. Character models take longer if they have stuff like banners and such.
In the end even my usual gaming models have a pretty high standard but it takes ages to finish a squad... :rolleyes:

Vulture

Emperorsmercy
09-07-2009, 12:28 PM
I love painting, and like to reflect the background of my army. Actually painting them well takes me about 1 hour-2 hours, with about 5-6 colours usually, including small details ect. Researching the pages of background of writeen for them... well thats another story... :)

EEG
09-07-2009, 12:31 PM
on average it's taken about 2+ hours for a mini. color scheme and amount of detail work factor in though.

Dia
09-07-2009, 06:06 PM
Assembly (and conversion) are my favorite aspect but painting is a close second. It's hard to spend less than one hour on a model. So hard.

Tetz
09-07-2009, 06:42 PM
I usually run about 3 hours per regular model, HQs and such obviously longer. That being said, I am a Black Legion player so I mean really once I prime my model with a good coat of black half the work is done for me. Then I paint the trim and details, throw on the highlights and I'm out, so for one of those guys I can get them done in maybe half the time it takes to paint a berserker.

I'm still getting used to painting miniatures though, but I think my stuff is fairly good. Better than a lot that I've seen. I would say I am likely a solid 7.

vman
09-08-2009, 02:48 AM
Well, being a painter first and a player only second I need an awefull long time to finish my minis... even a simple standard dude can take up to 6-7 hours. Character models take longer if they have stuff like banners and such.
In the end even my usual gaming models have a pretty high standard but it takes ages to finish a squad... :rolleyes:

Vulture

Vulture, your 74th Viridian Offworld RCT certainly show a high level of painting skills :D

6 hours for models looking like that is worth it imo

Warfare
09-08-2009, 10:16 AM
For me, it really depends on the model. For instance, I would usually spend around an hour and a bit on an individual eldar guardian including basing as they are fairly basic (prime, wash, paint, multiple highlight), whereas on my deathwing terminators it takes much longer-maybe 3 hours each (prime, 3 layers, wash, layer, freehand company logos/insignia/lorels, highlighting, wash+selective removal for weathering, further highlighting, battle damage, base+base interaction with mini-i.e mud spatters, seal)

Jwolf
09-08-2009, 11:59 AM
I have trouble counting time per, I just have to average. The base prototypes are roughly 2 hours a piece, to get color schemes down. I generally have most of an army in various stages of painted at any given time.