INTRODUCTION: The following tutorials were something I promised to do for Shadow Guard as part of the Raven Wing Project I am working on for him. Most are quick and easy. They aren't meant to give you tips on winning a golden demon or any other painting prize. They are however a way to have a decent looking army in a short amount of time. Many times in these tutorial your going to see non-GW paint names. I have nothing against GW paint, I think it is great stuff. The bottles for it on the other hand..bleh. So where possible I will include a GW equivalent (or close enough for government work) for the colors I use. That said, please understand that these are how I do these particular things. It is not the Games Workshop way, the Cool Mini or Not way, heck some might say it is not even the "right" way. All I can promise is that it works and if you choose to follow it, your army will at least be presentable on the table. Above anything though I hope that folks who are looking to start painting or improve their painting can learn something. So any comments / critiques you want to fire at me feel free: [ email: menshakhaine@hotmailcom ]

DECALS FOR SPACE MARINES By Matthew Hunt ( Kurgan )

THE BASICS

This is the first of a series of painting and modelling articles that have been created by my good friend Matthew Hunt specifically aimed at helping gamers and hobbyists who play the Dark Angels and their unforgiven brethren. I am eternally grateful for his support for my work in maintaining this site and for the superb series of articles that are published in this section. To see more of his excellent work, feel free to press the icon above on the right which will take you his own web site, "The Duck Blind Miniatures."

INTRODUCTION: The following tutorials were something I promised to do for Shadow Guard as part of the Raven Wing Project I am working on for him. Most are quick and easy. They aren't meant to give you tips on winning a golden demon or any other painting prize. They are however a way to have a decent looking army in a short amount of time. Many times in these tutorial your going to see non-GW paint names. I have nothing against GW paint, I think it is great stuff. The bottles for it on the other hand..bleh. So where possible I will include a GW equivalent (or close enough for government work) for the colors I use. That said, please understand that these are how I do these particular things. It is not the Games Workshop way, the Cool Mini or Not way, heck some might say it is not even the "right" way. All I can promise is that it works and if you choose to follow it, your army will at least be presentable on the table. Above anything though I hope that folks who are looking to start painting or improve their painting can learn something. So any comments / critiques you want to fire at me feel free: [ email: menshakhaine@hotmailcom ]

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Stage 1: To help cut down on silvering of the decal its always a good idea to put down a gloss coat on the area you plan to put a decal on to. It isn't required, but it helps a great deal.

Stage 2: After selecting your decal: [decal1.jpg], you want to cut away as much of the decal paper a possible: [decal2.jpg]. It will make the decal more likely to conform to odd surfaces, in this case the curved shoulder pad of a space marine.

Stage 3: After soaking the decal in warm water, I like to brush it off the decal paper and onto the mini. I use a large fan brush as this lessons the worry of the decal folding over on its self as it comes off the paper. Get the decal in position and then gently soak up an excess water with the edge of  a paper towel. If the decal shifts from where you want it at this point, just wet a paint brush and take it over the decal. Fresh water will float it up off the mini and you can reposition it.

Stage 4: At this point you still may need some help to get the decal in the proper position. Two things that can help with this are softening and setting solutions. Softening solutions dissolve a bit of the decal film and allow it to further conform to difficult shapes. Setting solutions can also dissolve a bit of the film, but act more like glue. These solutions tend to smell like vinegar as well, so be prepared.

Stage 5: Once the setting and softening solutions have dried you can usually stop. I however, tend to like to paint over any decals. This allows you to shade or highlight the decal as necessary to make it fit in better with the rest of the miniature. It also allows you to correct any areas that may have silvered or that are shining from the solutions. The degree to which you paint over the decal is up to you. A 10/0, 15/0 or 20/0 brush is usually your best bet here, as you have less chance of killing the decals design this way.

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