WARHAMMER 40K: Finished Orks Everywhere, Bloody Thousands of them... - Completed Army

Hail Mighty Readers and Followers of the Luck Gods Math Rocks,

You might recall a while agon (21st December 2025) we posted our schedule to get our 40K Orks up to scratch and fully painted before 11th Edition.  Well, sadly the scheule fell out however I can now let you know that we've proudly managed to get them all done.  So yay.  (Only a three months behind the schedule, although we did add some extra mini's to the paint line up so its not as bad as it sounds.)

So we wanted to get a post out there to show you that it can be done, it is possible and whilst we're not Angel Giraldez, Juan Sanz (El Miniturista) or Lukas Holmstrom, we did manage it and painted them as we learned, improving as we went.  (As they say to learn you have to do.)  

So our very last mini is completely different to how we started.  (First, Trukk, which we really grubbied up with a hell of a lot of rust rather than leaving it as brightly as it is pictured here, last Wazdakka.)

Painting is rewarding and there are quite a few lessons that we learned along the way.  

1)  Mass painting is not for us.  (We painted our Kommando's as a unit and to be honest, we got pretty demoralised and board painting them as it felt like too much repetition, so what we did for future squads was divide them up into three or fours, painted them and then went for something a little different to refresh our head.)  Yes when you're painting up a unit for Warhammer Old World there is going to be a ton repetition as some units of 20 are going to really get to you.  However what you can do, and what we'd suggest is add some variation, whilst you can keep the colours similar you can vary shades or placement to show that whilst as a whole its cohesive, that its been used to do what you had with whats available.  Likewise if you can afford to get more than one unit at a time you can paint them up as different cities coming together as a unified front or even just split them into smaller groups to fully enjoy going from one aspect to another.

2)  You don't have to paint them as the box shows.  Yes, bit obvious in some respects as you are going to create them either in the force you love or modify the paint scheme to give you some interest and so you can work with the paints you have without having to buy more.

3)  Never get upset that later models are better than the first ones you did.  You learn, you improve and whilst you can respray and redo, its nice to be able to look back and see your progress.  Likewise, just because you start in a certain style, you can change as you go.  For example most of my Orks are pretty dark because I wanted them super grubby from playing in the mud, however Wazdakka is pretty bright and for me, I preferred that so I when I open 11th I'll be sticking with that style.  

4)  Try different artists paint styles out, I started with just my own experience but upon discovering  Angel Giraldez, I loved how his painting came out and with a book that introduced starter concepts, found it a good way to begin again and learn.  

5)  Paint Ranges are a matter of personal choice.  There's so many paints out there that its easy to get lost, if you find a paint range you like, stick with it.  There's no need to buy everything that the range puts out (I don't tend to buy purple as I really don't like it on my mini's) but if you find one that works for you and your individual style go with it.  Likewise its also good if you can find someone who shows you how to paint the mini's in a style you like, use what they do, its easier to follow along and add your own flair when you know how that paint is going to act.  

6)  Find a place you can paint.  This might be a table in the home, painting round a friends house or just a little space you call your own.  Regular painting, improves you skill.  I can't tell you how much I've improved by painting at least once every few nights on a basic schedule.  Yes I have a lot to learn like how to do more subtle lining but I am learning and improving with each mini.

In the future I will take a pic and show my paint space.  Its not a massive area, its not got everything a lot of people have and I have the odd piece that might seem strange but I love it.  Likewise we're also dipping our toes into other miniature hobbies like Warlords Konflict 47, Para Bellum's Conquest and Mantic's Kings of War.  Although these will be down to when we can afford the mini's.

All the best,

ThunderMouser