When purchasing a miniature to represent your character for your favourite role playing game, tactical strategy game, or just simply for the fun of painting it, there are a few things that you must consider.
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Does your miniature come in a box or a blister package?
If your miniature comes in a box (such as boxed set like the Fellowship of the Ring from games Workshop) and you can't physically see what it looks like aside from a snazzy, professionally painted and photographed picture on the box, then you will unfortunately be taking your chances with the boxes' contents. Your miniature may well be in perfect condition or it could be in a twisted and tangled mess, especially if it is a metal miniature. Plastic miniatures could be deformed as well from not being cast well during creation. For this reason you should ask the clerk if you can open the box to check for damaged miniatures. If the clerk won't let you do this, then take your business elsewhere, or at least insist upon the store replacing any damaged miniatures or parts thereof with undamaged ones from another box.
If your miniature comes in a blister package then you can actually see the quality of the mini and decide if you want to purchase that one or choose another.
2. Regardless of the packaging of your mini, this is what you want to look for:
Are there any dramatic, or enlarged mould lines?
Are there large areas of flash (featureless metal or plastic that leaked out between the mould halves, much like the webbing between your thumb and forefinger)?
Are any appendages (swords, staves, or other weapons) damaged or malformed?
Are there any obvious flaws with the mini?
If you answered "yes" to any of the above, then choose another mini or get it replaced if it came in a box.
3. Check for the level of detail.
You don't want to buy anything that looks like a lump of lead, unless the mini is going to represent a pile of goo. The more detail on the mini, the more intimidating it may seem to a beginning painter, but in actuality, the extra detail will help you see where the different colors of paint will go.
Preparing and Assembling the Miniature
Now that you have selected your diamond in the rough and brought it home full of excitement and anticipation at the masterpiece just waiting to be released you will first have to prepare your mini to take the paint. Remember that all great works of art begin with a blank canvas and that canvas can't be dirty and full of deformations. Below is a list of tools that you will need, although at the bare minimum you should have a sharp hobby knife such as an X-ACTO knife.
X-ACTO knife with spare blades - this is the bare minimum you should have for tools
Jeweller's files - also known as needle files, these are fine files in a variety of shapes
Fine tweezers - these are not your basic bathroom beauty tweezers, these have a very fine point for holding tiny parts
Diagonal cutters - these resemble wire cutters but cut diagonally to ensure a flat cut
Pin vice - this is a miniature drill that comes with a set of fine drill bits
Self healing cutting mat - this provides a stable and near indestructible cutting surface so you don't mark up your desk or table
A good source of light - any decent desk lamp will do
Epoxy glue - a two part glue used to glue metals and other non paper surfaces (5 minute epoxy is best)
Plastic model cement - use this for any plastic minis, the brush on kind is best
Crazy Glue - this is good for attaching miniatures to their bases if they weren't cast with one
An old, used toothbrush - excellent for scrubbing minis
Green stuff (Kneadatite)/epoxy putty (Milliput) - these are usually two part mixtures that when mixed resemble Play-doh and are used to fill any gaps in the mini
Toothpicks - used for mixing and applying epoxy glue
Carving tools - these can be used to clean out tough to reach areas on a mini
Here is a picture of some of my tools, all of which can be found at any good hobby shop.
Once you have gathered your tools, open up your miniature's package if you haven't already done so and take a good look at the areas you couldn't see while it was still in the package. Sometimes you can find nasty surprises that warrant a trip back to the game store for a replacement. If your mini meets with your satisfaction then pick a spot that needs some work such as a mould line along a leg or relatively detail free area to start with. Using one of your needle files begin to smooth out the mould line by filing away at it with light, short, strokes. Too much pressure, or too rapid a pace can quickly damage a mini especially if it is plastic or the area contains fine details. Removing mould lines can also be done with your X-ACTO but it is very easy to slip and cut away pieces of your mini or even your thumb!
Should you find an area on the mini that contains flash, common areas are under the arms or between the legs, use your knife to gently trim away the unwanted metal/plastic. Touch this up with your files if need be.
Continue on to different areas of your mini that need work and get rid of anything that doesn't look like it would belong on a real person/creature/robot. Be careful of accidentally trimming away a belt or strap in your desire to be thorough. If your mini needs to be attached to a base, then do so now with plastic model cement or Crazy Glue. If your mini needs to be assembled, be sure to clean up any of the other parts as well.
I like to wash my minis with soap and water in order to remove any greasy finger prints, or release agents used during the casting/moulding process. This helps the paint and glue adhere to the surface of the mini much better. Be sure to rinse the mini well as a layer of soap is just as bad as greasy fingerprints. Let your mini dry thoroughly or use a paper towel now if you have to assemble it.
Should your mini require assembly, then carefully test-fit the cleaned parts to check for a good fit. If your mini is one piece, skip to the next section. Sometimes parts don't fit nearly as well as they should and you have to use green stuff or epoxy putty to fill the gaps. If your mini is plastic then use your plastic model cement to stick the pieces together. Note that you should NOT attach any weapons to your mini's hands at this point as it will be substantially harder to paint the mini afterwards. If your mini is metal, you may need to pin the pieces together with a small piece of wire. Paperclips work well for this. Choose a bit for your pin vice that is the right size for the wire being used so as you do not have to force the wire into the hole.
Begin drilling a hole in your mini where the two parts will be joined, such as the socket where the arm will be connected, or any similar area depending on your mini. Don't drill too deeply, nor too shallow, use your best judgement depending on your circumstances. Straighten out a paper clip and test fit the hole, the clip should fit snugly, but not too tightly. Be sure that enough of the paperclip is inside the mini to provide a secure hold for any heavy parts to be glued. Remove the paper clip and use your diagonal cutters to cut off enough of the paperclip to provide a workable piece of wire. Determine how far you will have to drill the other piece of the mini in order to connect the appendage to the body. Most times you will have to cut the wire down a bit so that you don't drill through and arm or wing. It helps to re-insert the wire into the body of the mini and measure that way. You may want to lightly force the wire against the un-drilled piece at the join in order to create a small mark which will serve to guide you for a good drilling spot. Again, using your pin vice, drill out a hole for the pin on the appendage of you mini. Test fit, trim, and drill until you are satisfied of the fit.
Mix up some epoxy according to the instructions on the package and apply some to one end of the wire. Place the epoxied end into one of the holes you drilled and using a tooth pick place a small amount of epoxy into the cavity where the appendage goes. Be sure to put some on the other end of the wire. Join the two pieces together and clean up any glue that squirts out along the seams with another toothpick. Be careful not to get glue everywhere. Hold the two pieces to be joined together in the pose that you want or that looks best for the mini until the glue sets. For five minute epoxy, this is around five minutes depending on how well you mixed the glue. Once the glue has set, let it cure over night to be safe, or check the cure times on the epoxy's instructions. After the epoxy has cured completely give the mini another scrub with soap and water, rinse well, and let it dry once again. If you are impatient at this point you can use a hair drier on low heat to speed up the drying. Be careful not to melt the miniature.
Next comes the paint!
By now your miniature is dry and ready to paint. But first it has to be given a surface for the paint to adhere to. This is called "priming" the miniature. Priming can be accomplished in a number of ways using brush on primers, aerosol spray primers, or by airbrushing your primer. Primer can even be a coat of regular paint. I tend to use spray primers, either aerosol or airbrushed as I feel that the sprays give a greater uniformity to the surface of the miniature while brush on primers can leave brush strokes if you are not careful.
For spray primers I have used Krylon "Metal Primer", which is a neutral grey colour, as well as Krylon "Matte White", which is, well, white. I have also used Games Workshop's spray primer which is a matte black. You can buy almost two cans of the Krylon for the price of the Games Workshop primer. Both do an excellent job so you decide for yourself which brand to buy. I have also used my airbrush for priming miniatures using thinned down acrylic paints.
There are two schools of thought regarding the colours of primer, white and black. I would like to add a third, grey. For most of my painting life I have used either grey or white. I have only recently tried using black, and have had good results. Once I tried a brick red coloured brush on primer but I was not at all pleased with the results.
White primer is good for minis that are going to be painted with bright colours as the white tends to add some brightness to the color covering it.
Black primer is for darker coloured paint schemes or for a technique called "outlining" which I will deal with later.
Grey primer falls right in the middle of the two extremes, giving both depth and brightness, but not to the same degree as white or black.
For your miniature, you decide which is best or what you feel most comfortable with. If you choose to go with brush on primer, remember to give the mini lots of thin coats as the primer can obscure detail if applied too thickly.
Now we must find a surface to temporarily mount the miniature on in order to prime it. I like to use empty tissue boxes with some sticky tape such as duct tape or packing tape on the bottom for sticking the miniatures securely to the box. If you're thinking that duct tape is not double sided and neither is packing tape, well, you're right. The trick is to take a section of tape and fold it backwards on to the other end of tap forming a loop, then sticking it on the tissue box and smoothing it down so that it is tight against the box and the minis won't flop around. Make sure that the miniature is stuck well as you will be turning the box on its side or even upside down, and you don't want a miniature to fall from several feet up!
In this picture you can see that I was priming several miniatures at once, and that I used a black primer.
Once your miniature is fastened securely, take your spray primer, shake it well for about a minute, and go outside on a warm, dry, windless day, or into a well ventilated area like a garage. See my priming tips for more useful ideas. Make sure that any over spray will be contained or not get on the family car, or anything else important. Hold the spray can 10 to 12 inches away from the miniature and just off to the side. Press down and hold the button on the can and begin gently sweeping the mini with primer from side to side about twice. Don't go too slowly or the primer will build up and run on the mini. Turn the box around and do the same to the other side of the mini. Then repeat the process from directly above the mini. Try to get ever angle to ensure complete coverage but watch out for applying the primer too thick. You can always get the missed areas later with thinned down paint of the same color as the primer.
If the mini is too big for the tape and tissue box, I then use an old cardboard box such as these to act as a spray booth which catches almost all of the overspray.
Take the mini inside to a safe, dust free area to dry overnight.
Before we begin base coating, let's briefly go over some supplies you will need.
- Basic palette of paints - many hobby stores sell basic palettes of paints such as this one by Games Workshop. (Acrylic paints are easiest to use as they clean up with just warm water.)
It comes with the following basic colours:
There are also two brushes (standard size and starter size), and five plastic miniatures in the box.
- A mixing palette - this can be as simple as an old dinner plate, to as fancy as a real artist's palette. I use old lids from plastic containers as well as one that has wells for the different colors of paints.
- A container of water - this will be used to thin your paints and clean your brushes, so don't use any good china! I use old baby food jars. It's best to have two, one for thinning and one for cleaning.
- Toothpicks - use the toothpicks to stir and transfer your paint from the pot to the mixing palette.
- Tissues or paper towels - these clean up any spills and dry your brushes
- Brushes of varying sizes - brushes are the most important thing to have alongside paint. You will want to have at least two sizes, a medium sized brush and a detail brush.
Above are pictures of brushes as well as of some of my tools.
The brushes are, from left to right :
Floquil #10/0; two Leon Hardy #0; a Leon Hardy #3/0; a Loew - Cornell #18/0 liner; Games Workshop Starter Brush; Games Workshop Small Drybrush; and an old, beat up Robert Simmons #0 that use for drybrushing.
Now that you have a nicely primed miniature you must decide what colors you would like to paint it. It is best to start with a darker shade of the color you want, such as a dark red or dark blue if you want to have a red and blue miniature. If you have darker shades available then you are ahead of the game. If you only have a limited palette of paints as most beginners do, then you will have to mix your base coat. Don't worry, it's not as hard as it sounds. To mix a darker shade of a color stir up your paint with a toothpick and then simply transfer some of your main color onto your palette with the tooth pick. Then, using a new toothpick, stir up some brown or black and transfer some to another area of your palette, then use a third toothpick to mix in a small amount of the brown or black to the paint on the palette. Repeat as necessary until you have a color that you like.
Then take up a brush (usually the larger one, unless it is too large for the area to be painted) and start painting the miniature in thin coats in the desired area such as a shirt or pants. Always clean your brush in water between colours. Remember, just as with spray primer, too thick of a coat will hide the details on the mini. Keep painting until you have filled in the area on the mini, then mix up another colour for any separate areas like cloaks, shirts, boots, etc. If your mini has armour or areas of flesh, then use the appropriate colors (chainmail and Elf flesh) for those areas. Be sure to paint the armour last or use a fresh pot of water to clean your brush as the metallic paints have flecks of metal in them that with end up transferring from the water to your brush for the next colour and you'll end up with a mini with sparkly red pants.
Try to keep the colours in their specific areas without overlapping as this will save time in the following stages. If you did get some red on your mini's white shirt or blue cloak, don't worry, you can always fix it when it dries by going back over it with the appropriate colour. If you primed your mini with black primer, you may want to leave a thin line of primer in areas where two things meet such as boots and pants, sleeves and skin, etc.
Shading and Highlighting the Miniature
One the base coat has dried it is time to give your mini a little more life and depth by the addition of shading and highlights. Because you used slightly darker colors during the base coat the shading process is already begun. You should always add shading to your minis before adding any highlights as the darker colors would quickly obscure any lighter tones. The overall process in this stage of painting your miniature is to add progressively lighter and lighter shades of color to your miniature which, when done correctly, add tremendous depth and life to an other wise inanimate piece of lead. This is the stage where having a good selection of paints and good brushes can really be an asset. The same results can be achieved through careful mixing of basic colors and brushes as well, but it does take practice.
Let's use the example from the base coating section and continue on with our mini with red pants. The base coat is in a darker shade of red than the main colour will be and logically the highlights will be in lighter shades of the main red. Stir your red and the colour that you used to darken it in the base coating phase. Transfer some of each to your mixing palette and begin adding small amounts of the darker colour to the red until you get a colour slightly lighter than the base coat of dark red. Using a finer brush than the one you used for the base coats, paint this color along any folds of cloth on the minis red pants making sure to get the high areas in the folds down to almost, but not quite, the deepest creases. notice how the two shades work in conjunction to add depth and a hint of shadow to the deep areas. Try to leave the base coat shade visible along any seams between pants and boots, pants and belts, etc.
Now, stir up more red and add some more to your palette. Don't wait for the fist layer to become completely dry as if it is slightly wet the next shades will blend in and create a very subtle transition between shades. Mix in small amounts of red until the shade gets lighter than the shade you just painted. You may need to add minute amounts of white to give the mix a boost toward a lighter shade, but go easy on the white for now. Paint this new shade along the tops of the folds and any high areas just like before but don't go as deep into the depressions and folds as last time. You want to get the effect of a gentle transition from light to shadow, not a sudden and abrupt change.
Keep repeating this process using progressively lighter shades until you are happy with the results. On average, and unless you are using a very fine brush, you will probably do about three separate shades of colour in addition to the base coat. More shades give better results but are also easier to mess up and knowing when to quit definitely comes with practice.
Repeat the process with the next area and colour on your miniature. Remember to keep the darker shades in the shadows and folds of your mini. If it helps, look at the people and objects around you to see how light from different angles affects the colours of their clothing and skin. Notice how sometimes, depending on lighting conditions, that the color transitions can be quite abrupt or very gradual. This is where the black primer can come in handy as if you put some base coat over it the base coat will be darker but it will still be lighter than the primer itself. This can create very abrupt transitions between areas and is good for things like chainmail armour. However, the black primer method can also end up looking very cartoonish if not done right. As is always the case when painting minis, you are your own worst critic so go easy on yourself during your first few miniatures.
Detailing the miniature involves picking out all of the little things that great miniature sculptors love to incorporate into a miniature. Things like belts and buckles, detailed embroidery, runic scripts on a sword blade, or even a mouth full of teeth can be overlooked if you are not careful and picking these items out can really make a miniature look more realistic. Many painters also add eyes to their list of details on a miniature as they can be quite hard to paint although nearly every miniature has them. Based on that assumption, let us begin with the eyes of our miniature.
- Painting eyes: when preparing to paint the eyes on your miniature remember these key points:
- the miniature represents a person of average height scaled down to a few centimetres.
- to see a real person as four centimetres tall he would have to be at least fifty feet away, almost twenty metres!
- you can not see the colour of the person's iris at twenty metres
- the sclera, or white of the eye, is grey at a distance, not white
- the iris, or coloured part of the eye, is not usually seen in entirety, having a small portion of the upper and lower edges covered by the eyelids
- with the exception of darker skinned individuals, the transition from eyelid to sclera is not dramatic at distances
With these points in mind, mix up a light grey, nearly white shade to represent the sclera. Carefully paint this into the area of the eyes. If you get some paint on the eyelids you can fix it later with your flesh colour. Next, mix up a darker shade of grey about two shades darker than the previous one. This will represent the iris and its "generic" colour at distance. I have had people tell me that my minis have blue eyes, brown eyes, even green eyes, but they're really just grey. Painting the iris can be very tricky and warrant several attempts even with a very fine brush, but once again, practice really helps. Take your best and finest brush, or your only brush if you just have the one, and put a very small amount of the darker grey paint on the very tip of the brush. It will dry quickly in such a small amount so you will have to be quick (this is why several attempts are usually made). Dot the grey right in the center of the eye, don't worry if you got the lids as well, it can be fixed. Get more darker grey if the brush has dried and do the second eye. You may end up giving your mini a weird, cross-eyed look, but you can always do it over again if you are not happy. If you are happy with the placement of the irises then touch up any areas of eyelid that need it and prepare to go on to the next areas of detail. I will be listing different methods of painting eyes in my tips section later on.
- Painting buckles: buckles can be in any colour and any material from bone to gold to bronze but they share these things in common:
- they usually join two lengths of material
- they usually stand out from the material being joined
- they usually are comprised of two or more pieces
Although the pictures shown below in the Protecting the Miniature section don't show it due to the angle of the scan, the Boromir miniature had several detailed buckles. I chose to pick this out from the surrounding material to add additional emphasis on the degree of skill with which the miniature was made. I used a very fine brush on the smaller ones and the larger ones I tackled with a less fine brush. Similar results could be achieved by drybrushing the buckles with a base colour, on one set I used chainmail for example. I then lightly drybrushed mithril silver on top of the chainmail to add some additional highlights to the buckles. I had to be extremely careful when doing this as any slip could ruin the work on the surrounding areas.
- Painting runic swords: many people like to paint their detailed sword runes to represent the weapon's magical ability.
- some runes are engraved into the metal
- some runes are above the surface of the metal (relief or embossed style)
This can be done easily by using a bright colour such as red or a lighter blue to dramatically contrast with the cold metal of the weapon. Paint the engraved runes with the contrasting colour and then paint the metallic colour over any mistakes, leaving the engraved runes glowing with magical energy. To paint embossed runes, use the contrasting colour but be careful to only paint the raised areas of the runes. It may help to approach the runes with the brush at an extreme angle instead of the normal method of near perpendicular painting. Touch up with metallic colour as needed.
Any other items of detail can be approached using the methods described above, or feel free to try your own techniques.
Many people don't bother to do anything special to the bases on their miniatures other than painting them green or brown to represent the ground. In my opinion this is like getting all dressed up for the opera and then going barefoot. Having a finished base on your miniature makes it look much more realistic and is also a requirement for any Games Workshop events that you may participate in if you choose to do so.
Basing your miniature refers to the addition of flock and or sand to the physical base of your miniature and can be as simple or as elaborate as you want, your imagination is the only limitation. For the purposes of this guide I will take a median approach and use only two basing products to complete the base on the miniature.
You will need the following items to create a base for your miniature:
- Model railway flock - this is used to represent grass on model railways and can be found in any decent hobby shop.
- Fine sand - this represents small rocks and stones on model railways or the ballast between the ties on the railway tracks, any good hobby shop will carry it.
- White glue - the glue will hold the sand and flock to the base of the miniature.
- Small container of water - the water will be mixed with the glue and paint, more on this later.
- Dark brown or black acrylic paint - this will be applied to the base for shading.
- Light grey or tan paint - this will provide highlights on the base.
- A mixing palette - to mix and thin the paint.
- Small plastic containers - to mix the glue and water, and to hold some sand and flock.
- An old paint brush - if you don't yet have any old paint brushes then use the worst one you have and then wash it thoroughly with water afterwards.
- Liquid dishwashing soap - helps in the clean up of spills as well as to break the surface tension f water, as explained below.
- Toothpicks - to mix paint and glue.
Begin by mixing about a 50/50 mix of white glue and water in the small plastic container, and stir in just a small drop of liquid dishwashing soap to help the glue and water mixture to flow instead of beading up on the miniature's base. make sure that the glue and water mixture in well mixed but not a frothy mess, gentle stirring is all that is required. Use your old brush to paint the top of the miniature's base with the glue and water mix being careful not to get any glue on the mini's feet or other parts that touch the ground. Pick up your mini by the head or another part of the mini (like a sword) that will allow you to dunk it into the container of fine sand and ensure that the sand covers the base of the mini completely. The sand will adhere to the glue and water mixture and any excess will fall off. Remove the mini from the sand and gently tap the mini while holding it horizontally over the container of sand to allow the excess sand to fall off of the base. If you notice any large gaps with no sand repeat the process after painting on more glue and water. Set the mini aside for a few minutes to allow the glue to dry while you clean out your brush with some of the dish soap and water. if you need to use the brush again for actual painting, be sure to rinse it well and get all the soap out.
After a few minutes the glue-water-sand mix should be dry. Next stir up some of your dark brown paint and transfer it to your mixing palette. Thin it a great deal with water until it runs and flows like a thin cream but still has colour to it. This is called creating a "wash". You may need to add some black if it gets too thinned out. The idea is to use this dark colour to make all of the shadows amongst the stones and rocks on the base so it has to be able to flow into all the nooks and crannies, it may even help to add a tiny drop of soap to the mix if you are having trouble getting a good consistency. Once you are happy with your wash of dark paint, use your brush to apply the wash to the sand on the base of the mini. The wash should flow freely into the depths between the sand grains and give the base depth. The wash will also color the sand itself which will add depth here as well. Once the sand has been completely washed and all areas contain "shadows" between the grains of sand, put the mini aside for an hour or so to let the base dry. Clean your brush once again.
After the shaded base has dried, mix up some of your tan or grey paint and transfer some to your palette. Get a good amount of paint on your brush and then wipe nearly all of it off on a paper towel just like when you had earlier highlighted the mini by drybrushing it. Drybrush the tan or grey onto the sand to bring out the highlights. Be sure to leave some of the darker color visible for depth and to give the ground a realistic look. When you are happy with the base highlights set the mini aside again to let the highlights dry. Clean your brush yet again.
Once the highlighted base has dried, stir up the container of glue and water and soap or mix a new batch if it has dried as well. Use your brush again to paint on some glue-water to any areas that you think would look good with grass. Don't get too carried away at this stage as a little bit of flock goes a long way. Dunk your mini into the container or flock just like you did with the sand. Repeat until you are happy with the look of the base. Set your newly based mini aside for drying and clean up your brush and containers. Be sure to keep any unused flock and sand for later.
You are almost finished your first painted miniature, rejoicing can soon commence!
To see an example of a completed base, check out the bottom of the next section.
Now that you have created your first of many masterpieces you will definitely want to protect all of your invested time and effort and not have the paint rubbing off every time you pick up or use your miniature for you next gaming session. In order to preserve your work and keep your mini looking its best you need to give it a protective coating to resist the handling and abuse that gaming is sure to cause it. I prefer to use a two step process using two different types of coating agents for protecting my minis, which I will explain in the following paragraphs.
Make sure that your miniature has had a few days to let all of the paint and glue completely dry and cure before proceeding, if you don't you may end up ruining your mini just as you think you are finished. Your mini continues to cure and any dissolved gases in the paint will be released and bond with the protective coating causing a blurry film or discolouration to develop and then you will have to strip the paint and start right from the beginning again. One last warning, make sure your paint is completely dry!
While you are waiting for your mini to completely dry, head out to your favourite hobby shop and pick up a can of Krylon Matte Finish spray coating and a can of Testor's Dullcote. You may be thinking "Why do I need to buy a dull coat and a matte finish, they're the same thing aren't they?". Well, despite what their names imply they are not the same things. The Krylon Matte Finish is actually more of a semi-gloss, which we want, and the Testor's Dullcote is exactly that, a true dull finish that is dead flat, with no gloss at all. Once you have both sprays head on home and check to make sure that your mini is completely dry.
Take out your tissue box that you used when you primed the miniature and replace the tape. Stick your mini firmly on the tape and shake up your can of Krylon Matte Finish for a minute or two. Spray your mini with a very light coat off Matte Finish on all sides and from every angle just like with primer. Allow to dry for two minutes and then re-spray with another very light coat of Matte Finish. Allow this second coat to dry for a longer period, say an hour or so (this is why it is sometimes best to do more than one mini at a time). When the Matte Finish dries it will be almost a semi-gloss, which is good in that the glossy finishes tend to provide a tougher coating to the mini than the dead flat ones.
Once the Matte Finish is dry, shake up your can of Testor's Dullcote for a minute or so and give your mini a light coat of spray, again being sure to get all areas of the mini. You will notice a dramatic difference in the properties of the two brands of matte sprays after about a minute when the Testor's Dullcote lives up to its name. The semi-gloss of the Krylon will be completely gone. According to the instructions on the Dullcote can you should wait two hours between coats but I have had no problems after waiting only one hour between applications. After the first coat of Dullcote has dried do another one just as before, very lightly and thoroughly. Allow the mini to dry in a clean dust free area over night and you are ready to game!
One of the great benefits of using the two brands of spray (in addition to the stronger semi-gloss layer) is that when you notice that your gaming minis develop shiny spots from handling then it is time for another coat of Testor's Dullcote.
Here is an example of the Krylon versus the Testor's.
Now you have a completed and protected work of art, your first miniature! Hopefully you have learned a few things from my guide and are now ready to tackle even more miniatures. This is where I leave you with some good words of advice to carry with you along the road of your new pastime.
- Everyone was a beginner at one time, learn from your mistakes.
- Do not be afraid to try new ideas and techniques, you can't get to be a better painter if you stagnate.
- Paint as often as you can, this will help you develop brush control.
- Check out other people's work and ask them questions, most people love to share ideas and techniques.
- Painting is meant to be fun, if you find that is has become a chore, take a break for a while, your minis won't go anywhere.
- Don't try to be a perfectionist, perfection is unattainable.
- Excellence, however, is very attainable.
- Ultimately, you are the only one whose opinion matters. Paint for yourself, not others.
Be sure to check back here for more helpful tips, tricks, articles and photos in the coming weeks.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to email me and I will reply as soon as I can.
Good luck and happy painting!
