Wash painting High Elves?

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Hey guys!

So having owned a High Elves army for years, but never having put the effort into painting or even priming it, I'm looking for an effective way to quickly paint up a force. Having looked around through several other forums, I've come across one technique which is certainly quick, but I'm having trouble visualizing the outcome.

Put simply, does anyone here have experience using washes as the colour as opposed to simply add depth? From what I've seen, with a primed white model, you just use the appropriate wash on each area and that's it. Allow me to offer an example I found on Warseer:
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=262328

So has anyone here attempted this with High Elves or other armies and what were your general impressions? Worthwhile or disappointing? :)

[scadugenga]

I dunno..the pics you linked to looked...unfinished. I don't think I'd recommend wash only for painting...

But I'm by no means an expert.

[Aldramelech]

Not my idea of fun, but each to their own. High Elves are not the ideal choice as they are traditionally an army of very bold yet simple colours. A quick and effective way to do them would be a white undercoat and a simple scheme with foundation paints.

[eldargal]

In my opinion, only polite to wait untl the High Elves have finished painting before you start washing them.


Oh, and I agree with Aldramalech, bold colours suits them far more than washes.

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I've been going back and forth with this because I absolutely agree with you guys, but I'm concerned about the time that it would take to have a fully painted army.

The linked photos do look a bit unfinished, but it's undeniable that if speed is the primary concern, this is probably one of the better approaches.

For the Elves themselves, I'm going to stick with what you guys suggested and what I've been leaning to: painting them up, but now with the advantage of foundation paints and washes. This should get me the bold colours that I think drew most players into High Elves. For beasts, however, I think I'm going to attempt this wash painting approach, putting an excess of wash into recesses and highlighting with an appropriate colour and see how this works. :)

Thanks for the feedback guys, and helping me stay on the proper path! :D

[AdamHarry]

If you paint the metal chainmail, then wash it with the asurmen blue, it looks really good. you could stop at that point or drybrush the chainmail on top of the metal again. It's a pretty nice effect and relatively fast and easy.

As for the rest of the model, i'd figure out a color scheme and do some tests with inks. I agree with everyone that the models do look unfinished. they need...more. heh. good luck

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AdamHarry,

this is an awfully silly question as I'm certain I know the answer, but with painting chainmail and then adding the Asurmen Blue wash, would the base colour for the chainmail be white or black? In the photos I linked, you'll notice that the musician's horn was shining gold over white with a devlan mud wash.

I've always known to paint metallics over black, but haven't really tried painting metallics with washes over a white base coat.

On a side note, white or grey base coating? And if grey, is there a recommended brand? My FLGS only offers Citadel Skull White or Chaos Black, but there's an art and crafts shop nearby that I'm certain has several different kinds of primer spray paints, though not necessarily from other wargaming companies.

Thanks for the advice so far guys! I've always wanted a well-painted High Elf army as the paint-schemes have always drawn me in. After your replies, I'm far more dedicated to seeing that happen, but after years I'm open to trying new things with painting. Even moving away from a black primer is a stretch for me. :)

[Aldramelech]

Try this:

Undercoat grey
Spray White
Paint metal black

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Aldramelech,

Would that mean I'm effectively putting two coats on primer on it? Or when spraying white, is that simply a passing spray to maintain the depth of the grey?

Put simply, how much coverage should I apply with the white?

[Aldramelech]

Aldramelech,

Would that mean I'm effectively putting two coats on primer on it? Or when spraying white, is that simply a passing spray to maintain the depth of the grey?

Put simply, how much coverage should I apply with the white?

You will find that skull white is a very poor primer. I always (when doing a "White" model) give a light coat of Halfords Grey Primer first, then a coat of skull white. You should loose no model detail as the grey is a very thin coat.

You then have a choice. You can paint anything metalic black and then drybrush the metal.

Or you can paint the metal on the white and use a black wash.

I recommend the top myself, but its whatever works for you.

[CitizenZero]

I've done Lizardmen models with primarily washes for speed...I will try to post examples later.

Using just washes can work for some things fine, and "look finished" as long as the entire model isn't that method. One thing that I find really helps is using 2 coats of wash over white primer...it really makes for a deep color, and you still save time because it can be applied rather generously/haphazardly as long as it is one of your first steps...

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CitizenZero,

I intend on doing that with the blue cloth found on High Elf models and see how that works. But once I'm back home and able to pick up some proper gray primer (As Aldramelech mentioned, skull white is awful to prime with, but with those tips, that should help a lot), I'll be giving that a shot. :)

Certainly, as this method of even priming will be new for me, I intend to do a few test models first and see how I like the results.