Warhammer 40K: Best Hobby Tip Ever – Write Down Your Paint Steps
Oh man does this save so much time and headache later. For the love the hobby: Write down your Paint Steps!
Hey all you Warhammer fans and fellow hobbyists out there. Really, this goes out to anyone who’s going to be painting miniatures in the years to come. If there’s one thing I’ve learned having painted up no small number of models and armies in my years of playing and hobbying: Write down your painting steps! This might be the single best piece of general advice I’ve ever had to learn the hard way.
Wait – how DID I paint those Tyranids from years ago?
Recently WarCom had an article up talking about the various tips for different types of painters. And yeah, it’s got some good stuff in there. But it was really the last bit that hit home and I couldn’t agree with them more:
Write down all the paints that you will be using for your colour scheme, whether it’s an army or a single model. Think of it as a painter’s journal – it’ll help you compare and keep track of what steps got you the best results, or return to a project after some time away without forgetting what paints and techniques you used.
I think this is an absolutely critical step in for your long term hobbying. This goes DOUBLE for any “non-standard” paint schemes. If you’ve ever done something a little out there for your hobby projects: document it! Taking pictures is great but it can be a little time consuming or you’ll just forget.
When the new Nighthaunt Battletome dropped I had to go back and look-up how I painted those miniatures. Thankfully, I did at least document the process. If I hadn’t done this article I don’t know if I would have remembered everything. It’s not because it was super complex but rather I’ve just had a lot of other projects since then. And sometimes paint pots dry out or the names change…and then what do you do if you tossed out that “one green I can’t remember?” Was it Snotling Green? Why are there 54 greens now?
I’ve even done strange one-off projects years ago that I’m looking to pick back up again. I hope I wrote down how I did those just so I can match the schemes. You’d think that after painting 90+ gaunts and a couple dozen big bugs I’d have my Tyranid scheme memorized. And I do…mostly. I might have skipped a step here and there…or did I? I can’t remember. That’s why I should write it down.
And don’t just write the steps down for the model either — don’t forget to write down the steps for how you based them! If you want to add to the army later you’re going to appreciate the 30 seconds it takes to write down those steps, too. Trust me on that one.
You might be reading this and think “Oh, well I’m young and I have a good memory. I don’t need to document this.” Okay…I said the same thing myself when I was much younger. I figured I could just look at the model and remember how I did it. And sure…I can do that right now. But what about in another 10 or 20 years? Hey if you’re already posting your stuff on twitter/reddit/instagram why not take a snapshot of your steps and memorialize it there, too.
TL;DR – Write it down your hobby steps!
