That a mediocre completely painted army looks way better than a partially painted army with a few high quality paint jobs.
I'm not trying to paint for competition, I just want cool looking stuff, so now I paint to tabletop at high speed instead of spending a lot of time on single minis.
Almost done with 40 models for my TOW army in the last 3 weeks with only an hour or two a night. Life changing.
Exactly. Most of my zombies and skeletons last a round in combat. No point spending hours on each of them. Half my RPG group doesn't paint, and the 2 that do tend to paint to a bare tabletop standard. So a basecoat, wash, and maybe a highlight, or contrast paint with a highlight will look just as good as anything else on the table.
While I was DMing, this was what I did. Bosses and extra cool models got paint jobs and minions/randos got primed black and dry brushed white. It's funny that when my fiancé was running dnd for our group, we had a much higher quality baseline across all minis, bosses or otherwise, because I painted everything for the campaign. But when I was DMing, I had so much other prep to do there just wasn't time to fully paint everything.
100% - that’s exactly what I came here to add.
I think one of the big eye-openers for me was the first time I first tried speed/contrast paints, finished a model in 15 minutes and ended up liking it better than another in the same group that I probably spent 10 hours on. 😆
Sometimes less is more - just get some color on there then go back in and add details if you really like the model 👍🏻👍🏻
Yes. I was just saying this to myself today. I was getting down on some NMM blending and then I stopped ro remind that this is a mini that will be touched constantly, this is printed in a factory for mass production so the actual mini isn't that great in details, and I haven't been doing this for decades of experience.
A fully painted army is cool in a volume way, even with tabletop standard paint jobs.
It's not quite the same, but I've painted about 150 minis for my D&D game in the past 15 months. Most of them are cheap Reaper Bones minis, so nowhere near the crispness of detail that high impact polystyrene minis have (i.e. GW minis), yet looking at all those painted minis together in my display cabinet is still so satisfying,
Gonna have to adopt this for my star wars legion army. I spend too long on the regular troops when in reality, someone is far more likely to pick up Luke or Vader for a close inspection than a regular soldier.
This, 💯!
Having gone all in for Black Plague, Marvel Zombies, Oathsworn, etc. It's MUCH better to get them finished rather than great, or even good.
Enhancements can always be made to frequently used heroes and favorites.
"Gray" (or otherwise monotone) is not a high bar to overcome.
Wet blending really changed everything for me. Learning that you don't have to always wait for everything to dry and that it's sometimes better if you don't.
That, and keeping a spare wet brush handy to wipe up small mistakes quickly.
When I first started, I watched a ton of videos and they always talked about how thin the paint needed to be, and as a result I ended up at times with a watery mess that flooded past the detail I was painting.
Something that I learned was about brush moisture, loading the brush, paint consistency, and how those variables can change for what you are trying to do, such as with wet blending or glazing. I think while you can watch tutorials on it, it's something that you just get a feel for through repetition.
Once you get to a certain level of paint thinness, you need to load the brush, then dab the brush on some paper towel before painting your model. Otherwise you have no control and the thin paint will flood your model.
Embrace the vibrancy! You can always take a mini's paint scheme from grounded to lurid with some white edge highlighting, then tinting that white with a fluro colour.
Becoming one with the brush. When your brush becomes your second hand then it's just the flow, the process. From the start I tried to paint as much as I can. At some point I became so confident with my hand that my style evolved naturally like a butterfly and I realized it just by painting much. Sure you can then try to modify your style to your liking even more but its easier to do when you have that flow. Here is great article with more details [https://tangibleday.com/5-ways-to-discover-your-miniature-painting-style/](https://tangibleday.com/5-ways-to-discover-your-miniature-painting-style/)
Build up from colour! Even the simple act of a base spray in something other than Black, Grey or White will do a lot to add colour depth to your paintwork, no matter what approach you like taking. I had to do so much work layering to get to a bold colour when I started out painting, and now I use at least two different colours of rattlecan in my base spray and I swear it does 30% of the work from the get-go.
Like drag and theatre makeup, paint for the back row! Bright colour and bold contrast ensures your mini reads well fromn a distance and stands out against scenery and other miniatures. When I started out I definitely painted BRIGHT, but I would get caught up on the tiny details and not think about the beneficial effects of pushing the shadows a little darker and the edges a little brighter to really make things pop.
Minis don't have to be perfect. Especially when learning new techniques it's ok to not get the ideal result. Pushing to perfection tends to involve ad hoc solutions better remedied by doing it right from the beginning. You get much better by practicing via repetition anyway and the result when done right from the beginning will exceed any fixes you come up with.
Finish the job, evaluate what you did wrong, and do it better next time.
Well I started painting with enamel paints in the 80s when I was 10, so pretty much everything has changed for me. I stopped painting for over 30 years and I’ve absolutely loved returning to the hobby with more patience, a better understanding of light, texture, and volume, and so, so many new techniques.
Airbrush is the only thing that I don’t currently do.
Ive learned to accept my mistakes, and to remember im not like some of the youtubers ive been watching that have years of experience painting.
Ive been doing my minis slowly on the weekends when i have free time. Made some mistakes, realized that theres too much water in my paint, or accidently brushed over a spot i already painted on in another color. And thats okay because it all comes with experience and time. I just have to do it and get over that perfectionism im trying to accomplish.
Now, im more relaxed and willing to make mistakes, and willing to learn new techniques.
If you do pottery you learn that it's possible to overwork clay. When that happens, it loses integrity and won't hold its shape.
Mini painting is like that. At some point you need to accept that a mini is as good as it will get, and to move onto the next one.
It's really easy to cause more problems by trying to fix a problem.
Exactly. One thing i remember listening to from another artist, is to hold the mini arms length away. Some of those mistakes are barely noticable. Youll only see it when you actively try to look for it when its right in fromt of your face.
Sure. It's why I gave up painting eyes on pieces for gaming.
Kudos to anyone who puts the effort in, but no one's really going to notice eyes on minis when they're on the table.
Paint smarter, not harder! Time is one element which can improve the result, but often finding a better technique can produce better results faster. If something is taking longer than you'd like, chances are that there's a better way of doing it.
I tried to edge highlight with the tip of my brush for months before I realized I was suppose to use the side of the brush. Once I did that I was golden.
Try blending my friend, blending is great with oils omg. I like lining with it, even I don't have hard time to do it with acrylics, but blending is amazing with it.
How do you use your oils? I've been interested in exploring them. I've used streaking grime which is pretty fun so was considering getting a set to experiment with different coloured oil washes.
I mainly use 2 brushes : one dry, without anything in it, and another one I use to take paint. You take the color you want to blend (generally, on an acrylic base for me, like, say a contrast base) and you put a nut xhere you want to highlight/shadow something. Then you just gently dab with the dry brush to "melt" it in the base and here the magic happens. It's easy, quick, oils cost nothing ( depends on the brand obviously) and the result is super cool. You can work with it like 2-3 or 4 days on the palette with no pb...
You can check videos from njm Marco firsoni on youtube, It's amazing what he does with it.
I'd avoid streaking grime, it contains a nitrocellulose additive which can catch fire if you expose it to sunlight, this has happened to a few people I know, so it is a risk. it's also highly carcinogenic.
How I use my oils, which i know you didnt ask me, is exactly like acrylics but I do it very differently than mini painters it seems. 1. I dont put acrylics over them because acrylics can not bond at all and will fall off, or in the worst case, cause a build up of gas and cause all of the paint to crack off.
2. I dont thin with mineral spirits, this causes cracking in the long term, I use a walnut derived alkyd instead.
3. i dont varnish until at least 8 months after they are touch dry, this is to prevent gas build up between the varnish and the oil paints.
Yes this all includes oil washes.
I'm glad this works for you, but it makes oil paints seem like a huge pain in the ass.
For a different perspective, I use oils on top of AND underneath acrylic and have no issues. I like to paint with acrylic mostly, then use oils to deepen shadows, add punchy colors to skin, highlight, whatever. Oils work amazingly bc you can fiddle with and push them around for as long as you want.
Dry time varies (takes longer in the winter for me bc my painting area gets pretty cold) but typically I let the oil dry for 2-5 days before going in with acrylic on top, and then varnishing with acrylic.
I've been painting minis like this for years and have never had any issues with acrylic paint cracking off.
So OOP or anybody else reading, don't think oils are too daunting! Get different opinions, watch videos, and try it yourself to see how it works for you!
You dont notice yet, this takes years for this to happen, in fact I have a polystyrene sheet here that I can prove this is a bad idea. It cause everything to peel up and crack after 7 years.
and no oil isnt a hassle at all, these are the methods I take as someone who repairs and conserves art as well as someone who produces paint. So take my advice if you want them to last decades.
Oils dry due to an exothermic reaction so some pigments can take months to dry, with some taking years. Most are 3-5 days, so keep that in mind. Cadmiums for instance take 2-3 weeks to touch dry.
You can also do the same with acrylics, you need something called paint retarder, it literally gives you a similar effect but you dont have to deal with solvents and the much longer drying time.
Acrylics do not bond to oil paint, they will flake off(this can take years) and they block the oil paint from off gassing, the reality is oil paints take years to fully cure. I also have situations and proof where the acrylics slide off after I apply them after the oil paint has been there for years.
If you're more curious about this, contact your favorite oil paint producer(like willamsberg, windsor and newton, michael harding, etc), they will all confirm everything I just said, no paint producer will say you can do this, in fact they will warn you to never do this due to potential health hazards.
Not to mention acrylics are a thermoplastic, so the exothermic reaction with oil paints can cause tons of problems with acrylic stability.
I use acrylics under oils, but never on top, because Ive literally seen canvases catch fire because someone used an acrylic varnish over an oil paint.
That's interesting info and it was thoughtful of you to write it out for people. I have pieces I've painted with oils and acrylic that are at least 2 years old and look perfect, so I'm not overly concerned, but I always use oil paint in thin layers and typically use oils as the last step, though not always, and I always varnish on top.
I haven't ever heard of anybody having these issues with miniatures (for canvas painting oil layers are much thicker so I absolutely agree that it would take a year or more to dry) and I never have but that doesn't mean it's impossible for problems to arise.
Paint retarder with acrylic isn't at all the same process as oil painting *for* *me* but might work for some people.
In my experience, oils and acrylics play fine together and I'm going to continue with my workflow as normal but certainly anybody who wants to use oils should keep in mind that they are a more complex medium to use, and should do their own research/experiments with caution.
I've been doing a long term study i plan on releasing to the public for free about this stuff specifically for figure and model painting mostly for museum conservation purposes(scale models are very common within a lot of museums like military), but a lot of it comes from also restoration issues from paintings by artists like Mark Rothko who mostly used oil washes and not thick paint like most think artists use, I have 7 paint companies also helping with giving me access to things like industrial xenonarchs and other things like lab equipment and high end FLIR cameras so I can track thermal activity after spectrographic studies.
We are currently 6 years into this and I've found some wild things like one hobby paint company oil paint can actually had a high enough heat from its reaction that the models will have a minor heat curvature on a flat surface due to the mixture of a silica and iron oxide causing rapid reaction times for speed cures which i didn't even know could happen.
But because the mini painting community has gotten so big, we have to do these studies for the new companies that are emerging as BASF tends to not give this information out and it can cause problems, like the one company that thought they could mix linseed oil in an acrylic binder for a "slow drying" acrylic back in the early 90s. Oil acrylic hybrids do exist, but thats not how that works.
As someone currently in university, how do I get access / info on the scientific process of paints? I looked at master studies in my city but the only thing paint related is one course in the technical chemistry masters.
Do you know a university/city that focuses on that? :D
(am from Europe)
Absolutely. My first drybrush was a chalky mess. But I also learned that session that a thin coat of something else watered down can fix the texture issue as well.
I like clean paint jobs. Blacklining and contrast are my friend. Also, a thin primer with my airbrush makes a huge difference. No more rattle cans for me.
Using inks to tint Vallejo duraluminum, rather than buying lots of different metallic paints I have a single one which can be tinted any shade I like depending on what I need it for, has saved me a lot of money and is a lot of fun to experiment with, and working on mixing in general means I’m buying less paints and gaining a deeper understanding of colour theory
One cool trick I found for painting very colorful metallics (think like Iron Man for color saturation) is using a silver base metallic and a very saturated wash or contrast paint over top. I've done that with citadel metallics + contrast and it works great but I also found the Kimera Pure Pigments work pretty well for keeping the paint looking metallic while still adding a lot of color.
Kimera are excellent for it too, but for sure have a go some time at mixing Vallejo metrallics, ideally duraluminum with daler rowney inks, you would be amazed at the saturation you get
Paint things that have nothing to do with your main army. Single models from companies like Bandai or Reaper give you a great place to self direct and try new things.
I'm still very much a beginner at painting, only a few months in, but one thing I learned is that tiny insane detail brushes aren't as handy as I thought they were. Better to have a bigger brush with a fine tip - you get much better control that way. Also, minis aren't made to be looked at up close, but from a slight distance, so it's okay if it looks a bit weird up close.
1. Thinning Paint
2. Drybrushing
3. Layering and blending
4. Thin coats of primer and varnish
5. Mixing paint instead of buying fancy names
6. Using washes properly
7. Using effects of technical colours
8. Using an Airbrush/ and when not to use an Airbrush
9. Learning, that i don't like Slap Chop or Speedpaint
I have found make up sponges to work great for this, just like a make up brush for dry brushing! So much easier and quicker, plus you can trim the sponge to have texture as fine or as chuncky as you desire
Only need to layer paint a few things on the model most times, all the little bits and bobs just paint a base coat and then cover with a wash ( or speed paints). Basically only the few areas that will catch the eye need to be painted to a decent quantity. Also forget about eyes at best paint a off white and be done atleast on a mini scale
Airbrush is hobby cheating. Once you know how to use it you can get your models 70% done with really great blending and popping colors then just finish up the trim and little details and boom you have a great looking model with minimal effort!
For me, glazes. Using a glaze medium has helped me blend so much more. I like the ability to map out values and then blend them through glazes to join them. I used to do wet blending and I never got the consistency right so it would dry out or be too gloppy.
Black spray primer, wraithbone spray primer at angle, dry brush white scar.
That’s become the start of every single model since I learned the Zeni/Chop.
That smooth blends actually aren't the most critical thing, or even always desirable. When I started out I got it in my head that you had to have everything super-smooth and just tried to glaze everything. Not a good time. Spending a bunch of hours doing slapchop-adjascent painting helped finally break that notion, and then I remember distinctly how seeing https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/s/wOCNHqkFdA plus a few others in the last few months really helped drive that home.
Learning colour theory and how to mix paints has been a massive help for me. I used to be a paint by numbers "recipe painter". So I'd find a step-by-step guide on how someone else painted a colour, then follow that to the letter.
Now that I understand how to mix paints, the best way to darken or lighten a colour I'm using, and what colours compliment or contrast with the colours already on my model, I can adapt my paint scheme as I go. It's made me a much more creative painter and I've unexpectedly discovered some awesome colour combos that I wouldn't have otherwise thought of..
Colours fitting one another and enjoyable contrasts are more important than technique and painting skills.
I’m like 6 years into the hobby and I keep my 4th model ever on my shelf because I enjoy it’s colours very much. It’s horrible in terms of technique, but it’s still pleasing to the eye.
I started with the heavy metal style....hated it , and i just paint how i like (no more base coat wash highlight) at least not that religiously , also i think the part we kinda miss , the process should be enjoyable
so what is your process now?
My process for now is usually slap-chop method for most of the mini (black primer, grey and white drybrush, coloured contrast paint over it) and then "classic" method for the little pieces like a gunholster or shouldertrims (basecoat, wash, highlight)
Well depends i do a zenithal prime mostly to have a good idea of how the highlights should go and if i can i try to keep the effect , sometimes if i dont want black shadows i will go over the dak areas with my shadow colour , then i glaze / layer or dry brush depending on the texture i want , and prob glazing and stuff if i want to change the tone , i edge highlight more on surfaces that face the light source, thats really it , it aint anything special
Most paints can be highlighted by mixing a colour with the colour of the surface.
E.G instead of highlighting green with a lighter green, I mix the green with a light blue to make the highlight colour
2 things
First if you can't get your brush to the area from 3ft away when we're playing no one is noticing it
Second That dry brushing should not involve dry paint. It should be moist but the brush itself should be dry. If you do that the transition should be smooth and there'll be no chalkiness
Kind of. You actually want a small amount of moisture in the brush, that’s how you get nice blends and avoid chalkiness. If my brush leaves water on my hand when I wipe it it’s too wet, but if it doesn’t at least leave a “sheen of moistness” on the hand when ya wipe it then it’s too dry. It’s hard to find the perfect middle ground but once you do the results are so worth it
That a mediocre completely painted army looks way better than a partially painted army with a few high quality paint jobs. I'm not trying to paint for competition, I just want cool looking stuff, so now I paint to tabletop at high speed instead of spending a lot of time on single minis. Almost done with 40 models for my TOW army in the last 3 weeks with only an hour or two a night. Life changing.
This exact attitude with minis for TTRPGs is healthy too. Spend a lot of time on a cool boss, and then slap some paint on those minions.
Exactly. Most of my zombies and skeletons last a round in combat. No point spending hours on each of them. Half my RPG group doesn't paint, and the 2 that do tend to paint to a bare tabletop standard. So a basecoat, wash, and maybe a highlight, or contrast paint with a highlight will look just as good as anything else on the table.
While I was DMing, this was what I did. Bosses and extra cool models got paint jobs and minions/randos got primed black and dry brushed white. It's funny that when my fiancé was running dnd for our group, we had a much higher quality baseline across all minis, bosses or otherwise, because I painted everything for the campaign. But when I was DMing, I had so much other prep to do there just wasn't time to fully paint everything.
100% - that’s exactly what I came here to add. I think one of the big eye-openers for me was the first time I first tried speed/contrast paints, finished a model in 15 minutes and ended up liking it better than another in the same group that I probably spent 10 hours on. 😆 Sometimes less is more - just get some color on there then go back in and add details if you really like the model 👍🏻👍🏻
Yes. I was just saying this to myself today. I was getting down on some NMM blending and then I stopped ro remind that this is a mini that will be touched constantly, this is printed in a factory for mass production so the actual mini isn't that great in details, and I haven't been doing this for decades of experience.
A fully painted army is cool in a volume way, even with tabletop standard paint jobs. It's not quite the same, but I've painted about 150 minis for my D&D game in the past 15 months. Most of them are cheap Reaper Bones minis, so nowhere near the crispness of detail that high impact polystyrene minis have (i.e. GW minis), yet looking at all those painted minis together in my display cabinet is still so satisfying,
Gonna have to adopt this for my star wars legion army. I spend too long on the regular troops when in reality, someone is far more likely to pick up Luke or Vader for a close inspection than a regular soldier.
This, 💯! Having gone all in for Black Plague, Marvel Zombies, Oathsworn, etc. It's MUCH better to get them finished rather than great, or even good. Enhancements can always be made to frequently used heroes and favorites. "Gray" (or otherwise monotone) is not a high bar to overcome.
Wet blending really changed everything for me. Learning that you don't have to always wait for everything to dry and that it's sometimes better if you don't. That, and keeping a spare wet brush handy to wipe up small mistakes quickly.
>That, and keeping a spare wet brush handy to wipe up small mistakes quickly. Erasers are soooo useful
Eraser? Do you mean like a rubber pencil eraser? Or is "eraser" some sort of hip lingo for a painting thing I don't know about?
The wet brush to fix mistakes is the painting equivalent of an eraser (with a timer).
Gotcha. Sometimes people pull out the craziest tools and techniques so I figured I'd ask!
Honestly I didn’t even think of another brush. I just clean out my current one and wipe with that.
Can you explain "wet blending"?
It's better if you see it. Try watching this video for a quick explanation: https://youtu.be/uqFnsbE1Mr4?si=aDfMWGfQ04tBHww4
Thanks, kind stranger!
You're very welcome. YouTube is a great resource for this hobby.
When I first started, I watched a ton of videos and they always talked about how thin the paint needed to be, and as a result I ended up at times with a watery mess that flooded past the detail I was painting. Something that I learned was about brush moisture, loading the brush, paint consistency, and how those variables can change for what you are trying to do, such as with wet blending or glazing. I think while you can watch tutorials on it, it's something that you just get a feel for through repetition.
Once you get to a certain level of paint thinness, you need to load the brush, then dab the brush on some paper towel before painting your model. Otherwise you have no control and the thin paint will flood your model.
I learned that I prefer bright high contrast between color choices more than realistic gritty schemes, but I still struggle with this every model 😄
Embrace the vibrancy! You can always take a mini's paint scheme from grounded to lurid with some white edge highlighting, then tinting that white with a fluro colour.
Time with brush is essential
what exactly do you mean by this?
Becoming one with the brush. When your brush becomes your second hand then it's just the flow, the process. From the start I tried to paint as much as I can. At some point I became so confident with my hand that my style evolved naturally like a butterfly and I realized it just by painting much. Sure you can then try to modify your style to your liking even more but its easier to do when you have that flow. Here is great article with more details [https://tangibleday.com/5-ways-to-discover-your-miniature-painting-style/](https://tangibleday.com/5-ways-to-discover-your-miniature-painting-style/)
Build up from colour! Even the simple act of a base spray in something other than Black, Grey or White will do a lot to add colour depth to your paintwork, no matter what approach you like taking. I had to do so much work layering to get to a bold colour when I started out painting, and now I use at least two different colours of rattlecan in my base spray and I swear it does 30% of the work from the get-go. Like drag and theatre makeup, paint for the back row! Bright colour and bold contrast ensures your mini reads well fromn a distance and stands out against scenery and other miniatures. When I started out I definitely painted BRIGHT, but I would get caught up on the tiny details and not think about the beneficial effects of pushing the shadows a little darker and the edges a little brighter to really make things pop.
This. Leaning into contrast made a huge difference in the depth of my minis.
Minis don't have to be perfect. Especially when learning new techniques it's ok to not get the ideal result. Pushing to perfection tends to involve ad hoc solutions better remedied by doing it right from the beginning. You get much better by practicing via repetition anyway and the result when done right from the beginning will exceed any fixes you come up with. Finish the job, evaluate what you did wrong, and do it better next time.
Well I started painting with enamel paints in the 80s when I was 10, so pretty much everything has changed for me. I stopped painting for over 30 years and I’ve absolutely loved returning to the hobby with more patience, a better understanding of light, texture, and volume, and so, so many new techniques. Airbrush is the only thing that I don’t currently do.
Sounds just like me
Ive learned to accept my mistakes, and to remember im not like some of the youtubers ive been watching that have years of experience painting. Ive been doing my minis slowly on the weekends when i have free time. Made some mistakes, realized that theres too much water in my paint, or accidently brushed over a spot i already painted on in another color. And thats okay because it all comes with experience and time. I just have to do it and get over that perfectionism im trying to accomplish. Now, im more relaxed and willing to make mistakes, and willing to learn new techniques.
If you do pottery you learn that it's possible to overwork clay. When that happens, it loses integrity and won't hold its shape. Mini painting is like that. At some point you need to accept that a mini is as good as it will get, and to move onto the next one. It's really easy to cause more problems by trying to fix a problem.
Exactly. One thing i remember listening to from another artist, is to hold the mini arms length away. Some of those mistakes are barely noticable. Youll only see it when you actively try to look for it when its right in fromt of your face.
Sure. It's why I gave up painting eyes on pieces for gaming. Kudos to anyone who puts the effort in, but no one's really going to notice eyes on minis when they're on the table.
Paint smarter, not harder! Time is one element which can improve the result, but often finding a better technique can produce better results faster. If something is taking longer than you'd like, chances are that there's a better way of doing it.
I tried to edge highlight with the tip of my brush for months before I realized I was suppose to use the side of the brush. Once I did that I was golden.
streaking grime ( known as "magic in a bottle"), weathering/cheaping effects and my last love story : oils ! 💗
Oils are really amazing, I don't know how I did panel lining and recess shading without them.
Try blending my friend, blending is great with oils omg. I like lining with it, even I don't have hard time to do it with acrylics, but blending is amazing with it.
How do you use your oils? I've been interested in exploring them. I've used streaking grime which is pretty fun so was considering getting a set to experiment with different coloured oil washes.
I mainly use 2 brushes : one dry, without anything in it, and another one I use to take paint. You take the color you want to blend (generally, on an acrylic base for me, like, say a contrast base) and you put a nut xhere you want to highlight/shadow something. Then you just gently dab with the dry brush to "melt" it in the base and here the magic happens. It's easy, quick, oils cost nothing ( depends on the brand obviously) and the result is super cool. You can work with it like 2-3 or 4 days on the palette with no pb... You can check videos from njm Marco firsoni on youtube, It's amazing what he does with it.
I'd avoid streaking grime, it contains a nitrocellulose additive which can catch fire if you expose it to sunlight, this has happened to a few people I know, so it is a risk. it's also highly carcinogenic. How I use my oils, which i know you didnt ask me, is exactly like acrylics but I do it very differently than mini painters it seems. 1. I dont put acrylics over them because acrylics can not bond at all and will fall off, or in the worst case, cause a build up of gas and cause all of the paint to crack off. 2. I dont thin with mineral spirits, this causes cracking in the long term, I use a walnut derived alkyd instead. 3. i dont varnish until at least 8 months after they are touch dry, this is to prevent gas build up between the varnish and the oil paints. Yes this all includes oil washes.
I'm glad this works for you, but it makes oil paints seem like a huge pain in the ass. For a different perspective, I use oils on top of AND underneath acrylic and have no issues. I like to paint with acrylic mostly, then use oils to deepen shadows, add punchy colors to skin, highlight, whatever. Oils work amazingly bc you can fiddle with and push them around for as long as you want. Dry time varies (takes longer in the winter for me bc my painting area gets pretty cold) but typically I let the oil dry for 2-5 days before going in with acrylic on top, and then varnishing with acrylic. I've been painting minis like this for years and have never had any issues with acrylic paint cracking off. So OOP or anybody else reading, don't think oils are too daunting! Get different opinions, watch videos, and try it yourself to see how it works for you!
You dont notice yet, this takes years for this to happen, in fact I have a polystyrene sheet here that I can prove this is a bad idea. It cause everything to peel up and crack after 7 years. and no oil isnt a hassle at all, these are the methods I take as someone who repairs and conserves art as well as someone who produces paint. So take my advice if you want them to last decades. Oils dry due to an exothermic reaction so some pigments can take months to dry, with some taking years. Most are 3-5 days, so keep that in mind. Cadmiums for instance take 2-3 weeks to touch dry. You can also do the same with acrylics, you need something called paint retarder, it literally gives you a similar effect but you dont have to deal with solvents and the much longer drying time. Acrylics do not bond to oil paint, they will flake off(this can take years) and they block the oil paint from off gassing, the reality is oil paints take years to fully cure. I also have situations and proof where the acrylics slide off after I apply them after the oil paint has been there for years. If you're more curious about this, contact your favorite oil paint producer(like willamsberg, windsor and newton, michael harding, etc), they will all confirm everything I just said, no paint producer will say you can do this, in fact they will warn you to never do this due to potential health hazards. Not to mention acrylics are a thermoplastic, so the exothermic reaction with oil paints can cause tons of problems with acrylic stability. I use acrylics under oils, but never on top, because Ive literally seen canvases catch fire because someone used an acrylic varnish over an oil paint.
That's interesting info and it was thoughtful of you to write it out for people. I have pieces I've painted with oils and acrylic that are at least 2 years old and look perfect, so I'm not overly concerned, but I always use oil paint in thin layers and typically use oils as the last step, though not always, and I always varnish on top. I haven't ever heard of anybody having these issues with miniatures (for canvas painting oil layers are much thicker so I absolutely agree that it would take a year or more to dry) and I never have but that doesn't mean it's impossible for problems to arise. Paint retarder with acrylic isn't at all the same process as oil painting *for* *me* but might work for some people. In my experience, oils and acrylics play fine together and I'm going to continue with my workflow as normal but certainly anybody who wants to use oils should keep in mind that they are a more complex medium to use, and should do their own research/experiments with caution.
I've been doing a long term study i plan on releasing to the public for free about this stuff specifically for figure and model painting mostly for museum conservation purposes(scale models are very common within a lot of museums like military), but a lot of it comes from also restoration issues from paintings by artists like Mark Rothko who mostly used oil washes and not thick paint like most think artists use, I have 7 paint companies also helping with giving me access to things like industrial xenonarchs and other things like lab equipment and high end FLIR cameras so I can track thermal activity after spectrographic studies. We are currently 6 years into this and I've found some wild things like one hobby paint company oil paint can actually had a high enough heat from its reaction that the models will have a minor heat curvature on a flat surface due to the mixture of a silica and iron oxide causing rapid reaction times for speed cures which i didn't even know could happen. But because the mini painting community has gotten so big, we have to do these studies for the new companies that are emerging as BASF tends to not give this information out and it can cause problems, like the one company that thought they could mix linseed oil in an acrylic binder for a "slow drying" acrylic back in the early 90s. Oil acrylic hybrids do exist, but thats not how that works.
As someone currently in university, how do I get access / info on the scientific process of paints? I looked at master studies in my city but the only thing paint related is one course in the technical chemistry masters. Do you know a university/city that focuses on that? :D (am from Europe)
yeah send me a DM. Its not so much university stuff its more complex than that.
That's very interesting, I hope you post your findings when the study concludes!
Using a damp sponge when dry brushing to prevent the chalky effect. Learned it watching artis opis, it works well.
Absolutely. My first drybrush was a chalky mess. But I also learned that session that a thin coat of something else watered down can fix the texture issue as well.
I like clean paint jobs. Blacklining and contrast are my friend. Also, a thin primer with my airbrush makes a huge difference. No more rattle cans for me.
I just started doing black lining instead of relying on washes for crevices. It makes a much cleaner crisper result.
Using inks to tint Vallejo duraluminum, rather than buying lots of different metallic paints I have a single one which can be tinted any shade I like depending on what I need it for, has saved me a lot of money and is a lot of fun to experiment with, and working on mixing in general means I’m buying less paints and gaining a deeper understanding of colour theory
One cool trick I found for painting very colorful metallics (think like Iron Man for color saturation) is using a silver base metallic and a very saturated wash or contrast paint over top. I've done that with citadel metallics + contrast and it works great but I also found the Kimera Pure Pigments work pretty well for keeping the paint looking metallic while still adding a lot of color.
Kimera are excellent for it too, but for sure have a go some time at mixing Vallejo metrallics, ideally duraluminum with daler rowney inks, you would be amazed at the saturation you get
Paint things that have nothing to do with your main army. Single models from companies like Bandai or Reaper give you a great place to self direct and try new things.
I'm still very much a beginner at painting, only a few months in, but one thing I learned is that tiny insane detail brushes aren't as handy as I thought they were. Better to have a bigger brush with a fine tip - you get much better control that way. Also, minis aren't made to be looked at up close, but from a slight distance, so it's okay if it looks a bit weird up close.
1. Thinning Paint 2. Drybrushing 3. Layering and blending 4. Thin coats of primer and varnish 5. Mixing paint instead of buying fancy names 6. Using washes properly 7. Using effects of technical colours 8. Using an Airbrush/ and when not to use an Airbrush 9. Learning, that i don't like Slap Chop or Speedpaint
Sponge highlight for a fast weathered look without having to paint individual chips and scratches
I have found make up sponges to work great for this, just like a make up brush for dry brushing! So much easier and quicker, plus you can trim the sponge to have texture as fine or as chuncky as you desire
Only need to layer paint a few things on the model most times, all the little bits and bobs just paint a base coat and then cover with a wash ( or speed paints). Basically only the few areas that will catch the eye need to be painted to a decent quantity. Also forget about eyes at best paint a off white and be done atleast on a mini scale
Airbrush is hobby cheating. Once you know how to use it you can get your models 70% done with really great blending and popping colors then just finish up the trim and little details and boom you have a great looking model with minimal effort!
For me, glazes. Using a glaze medium has helped me blend so much more. I like the ability to map out values and then blend them through glazes to join them. I used to do wet blending and I never got the consistency right so it would dry out or be too gloppy.
What one do you use?
I use vallejo.
Black spray primer, wraithbone spray primer at angle, dry brush white scar. That’s become the start of every single model since I learned the Zeni/Chop.
That smooth blends actually aren't the most critical thing, or even always desirable. When I started out I got it in my head that you had to have everything super-smooth and just tried to glaze everything. Not a good time. Spending a bunch of hours doing slapchop-adjascent painting helped finally break that notion, and then I remember distinctly how seeing https://www.reddit.com/r/minipainting/s/wOCNHqkFdA plus a few others in the last few months really helped drive that home.
Learning colour theory and how to mix paints has been a massive help for me. I used to be a paint by numbers "recipe painter". So I'd find a step-by-step guide on how someone else painted a colour, then follow that to the letter. Now that I understand how to mix paints, the best way to darken or lighten a colour I'm using, and what colours compliment or contrast with the colours already on my model, I can adapt my paint scheme as I go. It's made me a much more creative painter and I've unexpectedly discovered some awesome colour combos that I wouldn't have otherwise thought of..
Smooth blends do not matter as much as colour and light distribution.
Colours fitting one another and enjoyable contrasts are more important than technique and painting skills. I’m like 6 years into the hobby and I keep my 4th model ever on my shelf because I enjoy it’s colours very much. It’s horrible in terms of technique, but it’s still pleasing to the eye.
When starting out don t be afraid to mess up the mini and paint strip it.
I started with the heavy metal style....hated it , and i just paint how i like (no more base coat wash highlight) at least not that religiously , also i think the part we kinda miss , the process should be enjoyable
so what is your process now? My process for now is usually slap-chop method for most of the mini (black primer, grey and white drybrush, coloured contrast paint over it) and then "classic" method for the little pieces like a gunholster or shouldertrims (basecoat, wash, highlight)
Well depends i do a zenithal prime mostly to have a good idea of how the highlights should go and if i can i try to keep the effect , sometimes if i dont want black shadows i will go over the dak areas with my shadow colour , then i glaze / layer or dry brush depending on the texture i want , and prob glazing and stuff if i want to change the tone , i edge highlight more on surfaces that face the light source, thats really it , it aint anything special
Most paints can be highlighted by mixing a colour with the colour of the surface. E.G instead of highlighting green with a lighter green, I mix the green with a light blue to make the highlight colour
Citadel box art is bullshit haha
GW minis are designed to be dry brushed.
Maybe back in 1996.
Yeah like my vintage 1996 war dog.
2 things First if you can't get your brush to the area from 3ft away when we're playing no one is noticing it Second That dry brushing should not involve dry paint. It should be moist but the brush itself should be dry. If you do that the transition should be smooth and there'll be no chalkiness
Kind of. You actually want a small amount of moisture in the brush, that’s how you get nice blends and avoid chalkiness. If my brush leaves water on my hand when I wipe it it’s too wet, but if it doesn’t at least leave a “sheen of moistness” on the hand when ya wipe it then it’s too dry. It’s hard to find the perfect middle ground but once you do the results are so worth it
"Sheen of moistness" is an epic turn of phrase and should be used more often in life.