Speed Painting 101

Here are just a few of my hints for being an effective speed painter.

1. Keep a simple, restricted pallet. My normal pallet of colors per color scheme will be 4-5 colors, not including washes.
2. Keep multiple water jugs handy.  I use 3 - one for dark colors, one for light colors, and one for metallics.
3. Use multiple brushes - Again, same as above.  1 set for dark, light and metallics.
4. Accelerate drying times - invest in a little high velocity fan. After each base coat or wash, position the fan about 8 inches from drying models and then flip it on.  Speeds up paint drying times by about 50%.
   
5. Get and use a tank brush or equivalent - GW stopped making them, but there are regular art store brushes that are the equivalents. This one here is a favorite of mine.  Its a flat, making painting large areas easy and smooth, and with the narrowness, makes it easy to base coat rank and file.
6. Know your paints! - Know which washes shade what colors and what colors highlight them.  By grouping these colors together, you can base 2-4 colors and then wash them all at once.
   
7. Heavy pigment - Heavy pigment paints are best, and allow for cleaner coverage.  P3 makes a really nice range of paints and they are heavy pigment, just steer clear of their metallics unless you like really heavy flake.
8. Always prepare a test model. - Always assemble an extra model or two just to get a feel for the paint scheme to make sure it is looking the way you want it to.

Just remember, speed painting is a technique and may not work for everyone.  It is also a very nice base for more advanced techniques like highlighting, etc.  These are just a  few tips to help all of us out there get more painting in so we are fielding painted units faster!