Hello Kseven and welcome aboard.

First off - enthusiasm is not only a great place to start but an essential ingredient. The skill part just comes with practice, practice and more practice, so don't worry about that.

As for this historical accuracy side of things, some guys enjoy the research and the attention to detail - and that's fine, nothing wrong with that. But the main thing is to just paint first and foremost for yourself. Because when it comes to wielding the brushes, neither striving for total accuracy nor not bothering about it at all will make you a better or worse painter. There is no right or wrong approach, as long as you're enjoying yourself.

I've checked out the photos you're posted up elsewhere. You'll find plenty of "how to" type threads here and on the wider internet from better painters than me. But allow me if I may to make a few basic suggestions that you might find helpful.

1) Not sure what sort of paints you're using but whatever they are, try to apply your paint in thin coats. Two (or more) thinner coast are better than one thick one. Thin your paints with whatever medium is suitable for the type of paint you're using.

2) If you're using acrylics or enamels, make sure they're very well shaken / stirred before use. This will help avoid the unwanted glossy finish you seem to be getting on some of your models. Oil paints tend to have a more satin or gloss finish anyway, so allowing the carrier oil to leech out before use is a good way of mitigating this. Just put the paint onto a piece of card then leave it to stand for an hour or so before use.

3) To get nice smooth highlights and shadows with natural transitions, try blending the base colour with darker and lighter colours to get lighter and darker shades of the base. Rather than (just for example) a neat "dark brown" on top of a neat "light brown" to get shades. Otherwise it just looks like what it is: Two completely different colours, with no shading or highlighting effect.

Just have fun playing around with the colours and experimenting, and the more you practice the more you'll find things falling into place.

- Steve

Hi there K7

BIG WELCOME to PF

Thank you for the intro post ...all figures are welcome

Great to have you with us and see you posting

Reckon Steve ( Babelfish ) has got great advice in his post ...but do not be worried about asking anything ..not matter how small ......I do !!

Just have fun and enjoy the benchtime

Nap