RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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I've asked a few questions before regarding methods of painting miniatures and the folks on these boards have been very helpful. I come to you with yet another question, however:
I think I am finally ready to set myself to the task of finally buying the materials and painting the pewter minis that I own. However, I currently own about 40 miniatures. What I want to know is: How much paint should I buy? Obviously I will only need minimal amounts of a few colors (such as yellow, orange, and blue) but I will likely be using black, silver, and skin tones on every one of them. How long does a single tube of paint last? Would these paint sets probably be adequate for a beginner? Should I buy an extra tube of the colors I intend to use heavily? Thanks for the input!
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Are you painting to just give them a little color or do you want them to be display quality. Display quality is going to take more paint because of blending, washing and layering but then you will not be embarrassed to pull them out on game night. I have the first two Reaper learn to paint sets and that should paint forty medium sized miniatures but it will be close. Just make sure you use at least a one to one mix with paint and water that will make the miniatures look better and help make you paints last longer.
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Pewters are fine to paint first, since you can strip them back down if you screw it up.
A good primer is always the first step, I use Krylon sandable grey, so i can preshade with white or black paint before painting.
If you want to avoid having seizures, avoid things with lots of skin showing until you develop a technique.
Quantity, ugh, can't really say... enough...
Paint selection: These are my current favorite. the bottles can be used to put out drops, so mixing is easy, you can put out what you need without haf drying the rest of the pot... just have some wax paper around to mix paint on
And the most important rule of painting is adding more is better than trying to take any away... that is if you don't put enough paint on you can do another coat, if you put on too much, those details are gone forever
same with highlights, shading, etc etc etc
To add to what Derek said, I haven't noticed a difference between the Reaper/Citadel paints and the $1 or 50 cent craft acrylics, besides consistency. The Reaper/Citadel paints tend to be a bit thicker, good for laying down base coats.
Priming is a MUST - prime prime prime the metal minis! (Thank you Elan.) No priming, paint will not stick!
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Well my dream would be these paints but that is a lot of money to through down so if you want to start out I would suggest these. They each have eight paints in them, two miniatures, and two bushes and how to paint the miniatures in the kit(helps a lot). Each kit shows you how to layer and wash your miniatures and those two techniques will make them look a lot better. Reaper also have some good walk through examples on how to paint miniatures on their web site at the bottom of the page.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Well my dream would be these paints but that is a lot of money to through down so if you want to start out I would suggest these.
Looking at the Vallejo paints, $43 for the 'Intro Kit' is not unreasonable to me. Honestly, I was expecting to spend $60+ on my starting supplies. I want the miniatures to look good, that's for certain, but I suppose I'm not out to win any awards or anything. The Reaper kit includes 'practice' minis, though, so I think that is probably where I will start.
It's been a long time since I've painted minis. My advice, especially if you're doing 40+ miniatures, is to prioritize which you want to really spend time on and which can be a bit more generic (which can serve as practice). If you've got a platoon of orcs to paint, they don't all have to be amazingly detailed. Save the major time investment for the big guys. Once you've done these less exacting figures and have a more practiced hand you can do some great things with the nicer, more special pieces.
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I want the miniatures to look good, that's for certain, but I suppose I'm not out to win any awards or anything.
I am hoping to be able to get some that look like this. But I will need some more practice, the good thing is it is not as hard as you would think. Good Luck.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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It's been a long time since I've painted minis. My advice, especially if you're doing 40+ miniatures, is to prioritize which you want to really spend time on and which can be a bit more generic (which can serve as practice). If you've got a platoon of orcs to paint, they don't all have to be amazingly detailed. Save the major time investment for the big guys. Once you've done these less exacting figures and have a more practiced hand you can do some great things with the nicer, more special pieces.
Hmm, sound advice. However, I only buy miniatures to represent PCs, so there aren't any 'generic' ones to be had (besides the 'practice minis' in the Reaper sets if I go that route). We use dice to represent NPCs and monsters and I don't really plan to change that anytime soon. Perhaps I should buy a 4-pack of orcs or elven archers or something just to practice with?
Not sure exactly how he does it or what he does, but Magnus of these boards does a fantastic job with his minis. He has some very cool ones for his PCs in our games. Maybe he could even post pictures if we asked nicely. :)
Director of Game Development
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If you have a cat or know someone who has a cat, start looking around for the whiskers that periodically fall out. The root of a cat's whisker is tiny and pretty rigid so it makes a great fine detail "brush". Perfect for eyes, writing, symbols and any other tiny detail. My wife uses them when she paints our minis.
After several years of buying the cheapest Wal-Mart paints I can find, I've only just now started to dabble with the Reaper paints.
My 2 cents: The Reaper paints are superior, but ...
For starting out, you can't beat the Wal-Mart paints both for bargain and effectiveness. For only 20 bucks you can buy Krylon primer (I perfer white, but black and grey work just fine too), brushes and a starting assortment of paints.
(They get double use in my house, because my wife also uses the Wal-Mart acrylics for her crafts).
Both Reaper and the Wizards of the Coast archives have good articles on painting technique to get you started.
Painting minis is a great joy. Experiment and have fun. If you paint to please yourself, you be pleasantly surprised by the results.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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If you have a cat or know someone who has a cat, start looking around for the whiskers that periodically fall out. The root of a cat's whisker is tiny and pretty rigid so it makes a great fine detail "brush". Perfect for eyes, writing, symbols and any other tiny detail. My wife uses them when she paints our minis.
Well, I haven't had a cat in 7 months but there are plenty of strays in our neighborhood.
"Heeeeeere, kitty kitty kitty...."
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Director of Sales
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Perhaps I should buy a 4-pack of orcs or elven archers or something just to practice with?
Why only get a four pack? Here's 20 orcs for $22.49, which would be plenty of practice space for a pretty good price.
Just sayin'...
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Krylon sandable primers are a good choice and easy to find. They make (AFAIK) four colors: Black, White, Gray, and Rust Brown, each of which I've used, and each of which gives a different result. (My general purpose primer is the Gray.)
To begin, I'd start off with black, white, yellow, blue, red, steel or iron (not silver), gold, bronze, several browns, and whatever other colors you want for your first mini. (You can always mix other colors.) Over time you'll probably end up with quite a bit of paint, but you can start with a limited palette.
Pick up a decent primer on miniatures painting (for starters, you could take a look at this ENWorld thread).
While you can start with basic brushes, as soon as you stop ruining brushes, spend some money on a few good ones. Winsor and Newton Series 7 brushes are pretty much the gold standard. Make sure you understand how to take care of a brush before you spend $10-15 on a good one, though.
Your first figures are likely to (to put it plainly) suck. Don't worry, we all have figures just like that in our closets (if we haven't already stripped them). Like any craft skill, your first work will only reach the dizzying heights of "amateurish" if you have a truly remarkable native talent. Good is quite a few miniatures off. But nearly anyone can get to good with persistence; don't worry.
Finally, at some point you'll probably think that all the other painters have some trick that will let them get nice results without much effort. There is no such trick.
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Perhaps I should buy a 4-pack of orcs or elven archers or something just to practice with?Why only get a four pack? Here's 20 orcs for $22.49, which would be plenty of practice space for a pretty good price.
Just sayin'...
Do they pay you for these product plugs or something? :D
Honestly, I probably won't use the 4 that I do buy since, as I said, we only use minis for PCs. I would just want a few for practice. Having to 'practice' on 20 minis would probably make me mental, not to mention it would eat up all my green paint.
Walmart paints are the way to go when you're just starting out. Some advice for the finish spray, don't get glossy (we did this) get matte.
Oh, and the coolest way to start practicing 'washing' is to get a bunch of skeletons, paint them white, then wash the black on them. It gets you a little more comfortable with the idea before you start on a more detailed mini. Just my two cents, I'm no expert, but I think I can hold my own :)
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Some advice for the finish spray, don't get glossy (we did this) get matte.
Good general advice. One caveat: Gloss finish is more durable than matte, so for a really durable matte finish, spray with gloss first, then with matte. When you start to see gloss on the surface, spray again with matte.
Oh, and the coolest way to start practicing 'washing' is to get a bunch of skeletons, paint them white, then wash the black on them. It gets you a little more comfortable with the idea before you start on a more detailed mini. Just my two cents, I'm no expert, but I think I can hold my own :)
I get better results with an ivory base and a dark brown wash. (Ink does a particularly good job of shading smoothly.) Generally, you'll want to paint any details after the wash if you can. This minimizes problems with sloppiness in when washing.
Also, if you don't immediately seal your minis when you finish them you can go back into them once you get better at it. Of course, that means they won't be shielded from the elements.
Those Winsor and Newton series 7 brushes that Doug mentioned are pretty excellent; if you want to really treat yourself once you get some practice, they're awesome brushes. I've had a series 7 number 1 for about two years now, using it for inking and painting and it still has a reliable point. Make sure you pick up some ivory soap for cleaning; the minis can use a scrubbing when they come out of the package, and if you take really good care of your brushes they'll last a long time. Ivory soap is key for brush cleaning, in my opinion, because it doesn't have any perfumes or additives. It takes out acrylic, oil, ink, watercolor, whatever very well and it isn't harsh on your bristles.
Okay, total newb question: What do you mean by 'washing'?
Washing is a means to thin out paint, usually with water (for acrylic paints) so that the base coat color still shows through.
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Okay, total newb question: What do you mean by 'washing'?
Take a look at this thread. It's really basic, but it's a decent first description of the process. (Link from this ENWorld thread I linked earlier.)
Fatespinner:
If you haven't already, look at Pogre's thread on the ENWorld messageboards -> LINK. He's collected juat about all of the info imaginable in that thread!
Also look at the Reaper Mini site for "The Craft" area which has lots of articles on mini painting. Especially look at the Let It Flow article! That page made a HUGE difference in the quality of my painting (from really sad to just pitiable, but still that's improvement! Right? ;^)
I spent the money on the Vallejo paints. Quality paint does make a difference - the good stuff uses a LOT of finely ground pigment so that thining the paint really works. If you go with Vallejo look on their website for their how-to articles (you want to thin their paint a LOT more than 1-1 usually). There are other high quality paints (Master Series is supposed to be great too).
I recommend spending money on good brushes above all other priorities though. If you limit yourself to crappy brushes, you'll get poor results no matter how good a painter you are! Again look at the review sites. Treat your brushes well & they'll last "forever", treat them badly & they'll ruin hours of work!
Hope that helps some.
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Contributor
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I use primarily Games Workshop paints. For most colours, I tend to find that a jar will dry out before I find the bottom.
Painting GW Orcs, I've used up green, but that's over the course of probably 100, primarily skin and bases. I use a lot of Black (especially touching up Primer coats and the like).
I'd recommend getting a starter set (people have suggested good ones already) try painting a few models and see if you actually run out of anything. Like I said, barring something that covers more than half of every model being the same colour, you really should have plenty of paint.
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I am by no means a great painter (too little time and patience). A little trick I picked up a couple of years ago *braces for cries of "cheater"*, for the finer work, especially eyes, grab some 0.5 markers from your local art supply shop. It really makes a difference to your fine work as you get a lot more control than with a brush, and really, no-one knows if you don't tell them.
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A little trick I picked up a couple of years ago *braces for cries of "cheater"*, for the finer work, especially eyes, grab some 0.5 markers from your local art supply shop.
You needn't worry. I regularly judge miniatures painting contests and neither I nor anyone I've judged with would have a problem with that. (It's fairly common for some sorts of detail.) It's not how you did it, it's how it looks.
Though you might get people asking how you did it. 8-)
Thats not a bad idea for eyes. I remember painting my first set of eyes and getting them near enough OK. It was a Chaos Wizard, he looks pretty psycho. I even did a wash on his face that looks like a 5 o'clock shadow.
I haven't painted in years, and may start back up when I return. Originally I got into them with Mordheim, (which was a great game that I've been wanting to do a knock-off of) but I found out that I enjoyed painting the mini's more than I was playing the game. I picked up a few tips that existed online about 8 years ago; and while I never thought about going pro with them, I have recieved some compliments.
Okay, total newb question: What do you mean by 'washing'?
Oh, and the coolest way to start practicing 'washing' is to get a bunch of skeletons, paint them white, then wash the black on them.
Another term for it is wet brushing, if that helps at all. Pretty much what Lilith described. Water the paint down, 'wash' it over your figure, repeat over and over until the little details start to show.
I use primarily Games Workshop paints. For most colours, I tend to find that a jar will dry out before I find the bottom.
Painting GW Orcs, I've used up green, but that's over the course of probably 100, primarily skin and bases. I use a lot of Black (especially touching up Primer coats and the like).
I'd recommend getting a starter set (people have suggested good ones already) try painting a few models and see if you actually run out of anything. Like I said, barring something that covers more than half of every model being the same colour, you really should have plenty of paint.
I'm going to plug GW's paints as well. They are of excellent quality. I painted a lot of miniatures with them and very rarely ran out of paint for a colour. I really like the fact that they are very friendly. You could drink these paint vials and nothing bad would really happen (I don't recommend drinking them - but they are made to be very kid friendly). They are a water based paint as well so spills and such are easier (but not easy) to clean up. For the younger set I'd almost insist on them but for an older crowd I'll just give them a hearty endorsement.
In terms of actually displaying the minitures; I assume your just planning on using them for game day with your friends. In this case I'd go for a more mechanical approach. So if you have 10 orcs you prime them all and then line them up. At this point you paint their skins one after another (10 might be too many this is not super fun to do but its a good way to rapidly paint a lot of miniatures) after all of them have had their base coat of skin done you pain their swords and armour for all of them next etc.
I'd worry about washes and shadowing later in miniature painting for miniatures to use with your friends on game night there is a very strong point of diminishing returns. Without lost of shadowing and just done up in a pretty basic manner these orcs will look real good while dying on your players swords. Shadowing and shading pretty much doubles the time while improving the look by maybe 10%. You can always start adding little touches to improve your miniatures as you get more comfortable with painting them.
Primer colour is interesting in that it actually has a pretty big impact on the end miniature. I generally use a white so that I can get really bright almost neon colour effects but I do own a black primer for those dark and moody miniatures.
I switched up on primers. If the mini was wearing a lot of armor, I would prime him in Black. If they weren't, I'd use white. I never liked the end result of gray.
On instances when I've painted mini's I've only bought enough paint to get the first 5-6 figures churned out to about 90% finished. This is because I will sometimes change my mind on a color choice and don't want to commit unless I'm sure. I then buy just enough additional paint to get to whatever next stage I'm planning. I go slowly, deliberatley; not rushing, becuase I've seen some prettey hideous results from rush-job painting. ALso, since this is your 1st painting attempt, let me say, do not be overly critical on the results. Practice will refine technique. You will find that later jobs will turn out much more to your satisfaction. Looking back at the early job will cause you some chagrin. Don't sweat it, just keep plugging.
Enjoy.
I use a set of acrylic paints from an art store, they cost less that mini paint sets, and you can get high quality paints for less, but you need to dilute them yourself. I mix them on a palette and my results are every bit as good as I got when I used Reaper and GW paints.
I'm not the only one:
I use Wal-Mart acrylics. They work just fine. I see know difference between those and the high end expensive ones from Reaper or Citadel. I mean Wal-Mart ones cost $0.93. For a bottle that is 2 oz.
Just my 2 cents
But then, I have some experience with minis and with acrylic painting.
I use black, red or white auto primer. I hate gray. I almost always use black.
And lawgiver's advice, do it slow and steady, and do your minis in groups--awesome advice. When you get better, after 50 minis or so, you'll find you can do a pretty big group in a day or two. My best was to paint about 150 Warhammer minis in a week when I wasn't working but that was after a few years painting.
Some people use a big magnifying glass on a stand, cuz doing a lot of detail will eventually kill your eyes. My grandmother taught me this, she use to paint jewelery and did it for about 60 years.
My dad and i usally paint figuares, i don't know if this will be any help to you, but if you spray paint the figure black, let the paint dry. Then you paint with what your figure wants to look like then the detail on the figure will show more.
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Okay, I'll add my voice to this mess because I like painting minis--and I'm a cheap bastard.
You'll see all the paints, primers, etc in hobby shops and what not--ignore them all. Unless you want to enter contests where you'll be competing against uber-pretentious twits, you don't need them (and even then...).
Primer. You need it. It's what the paint sticks to. ;) Some people like Krylon, I prefer ColorPlace (equipment grey primer). The color primer does affect the brightness of your paints. Black makes colors darker, white make them brighter. If you're working with light colors (like yellow), choose a lighter primer. I like grey because it's the best of both worlds.
Paint. Watch me echo what's already been said--buy cheap acrylic craft paints. If you're not entering a painting contest where you're competing against uber-pretentious twits with judges that focus on the minutest of details, you don't need Vallejo or Reaper or whatever (and even then...). One exception: Metallics. If you're going to splurge, do so on the metallics (I like Reaper for this). Craft metallics tend to have too large particle--which ends up looking like an awful lamé. Also: Thin your paint before applying--multiple thin coats are better than a single (often too) thick coat.
Wash. Either use watered-down-to-hell-and-back paint or slightly watered-down ink. The effect is that the watered-down goo pools up in crevasses and stays away from raised spots. It helps create the effect of shadows and such. There are generally two ways to go about it 1) glop on a dark, neutral color (like black) all over the mini and call it good, or 2) wash specific areas with a darker version on the color in that area (like a light brown over a caucasian skin tone). Note: In areas with color patterns (like camouflage) avoid washes as they tend to obscure the pattern).
Drybrushing. Whereby you wipe most of the paint off your brush, and hit the high spots on the mini (typically with a lighter shade of the color in that area). Again, help create the illusion of lighting and brings out detail. Use old, worn out brushes for this--it will destroy new brushes quickly.
Sealing. Get a decent clear, matte sealer. Cheap craft ones (like Plaid) are fine. For best result, though, Testors Dullcote is the way to go (even if I rarely go that way, myself).
Stripping. No, not that kind of stripping. Because you're going to screw up (even when you get really good, you're still going to screw up every so often). The best thing that I've found to take paint off is Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner. Let your minis soak in a Green bath for a few days, then use an old toothbrush to clean the paint off. Metal only take a day or two, while plastic takes a bit longer. Also, test the Green on a small piece of the plastic as some plastics (rarely) react oddly to the Green (never experienced this personally, but better to advise caution). A pin or needle also helps for getting paint remnants out of those really small gaps and crevasses.
Patience. You can't buy it, but you it's a necessary tool. Don't try to rush painting a mini--painting groups of similar minis helps. Take breaks. Don't get exasperated with getting paint on the wrong area or otherwise screwing up--you can always do touch ups later (or strip the mini if it gets really bad).
Realistic Goals. Don't expect masterpieces to happen straightaway. Practice makes perfect (or as close to perfect as you're concerned with getting). Also: If you're going to use the mini in a game, don't worry about creating a masterpiece anyway--it's just going to get banged up. If you want to step up your painting, do so in increments--don't try it all at once. Know when to step away from the detail--some minis have way too much detail, sometimes it's better to just say no--the mini will thank you (and so will what's left of your shattered sanity). ;)
If any of that doesn't make sense or comes across as incoherent (which, given my current lack of sleep, I'm sure it does), just tell me to back up and put my blinders on before typing again (do not look into the swirling vortex, Azzy). ;)
Azzy, that was really well put. You and I need to get together and paint some minis ;) Seriously, those are all of the methods I would have suggested and use myself.
My only difference in products I use is the matte varnish. A lot of the craft stores around my neck of the woods sell a glossy type of matte varnish and I don't like my minis looking shiny. I don't mind spending the extra couple of bucks on Citadel Colour matte varnish (blue can - $10), which gives a nice flat finish. (There are a few minis I've painted in the past that I actually preferred the glossy finish, but for most I don't like it.)
One other technique I really like to use on some of my minis with metal parts that stand out, like a relief design on a shield, is polishing. I usually leave the area unpainted and when I'm finished painting the mini and the sealer has dried, I go over the area I want polished with an Exacto knife to scrape off the sealer and primer. Once you have all of that off, you use what's called a sanding stick. They look like women's emery boards for filing their nails... but they're not. There may be different brands in your area, but the ones I buy are called Tri-Grit. I use the courser sanding stick first to smooth out the nicks the scraping may have left. Then you take the finer sanding stick and go over it really good to polish it up. When you're done it looks really sweet, like a polished suit of armor type of thing.
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On stripping:
I've had very good luck with Pine-Sol. It's easy to find, it works well, and it leaves your miniatures smelling deep-woods fresh. 8-) (Really.)
Drop the figure in a small cup of the concentrate, come back in a day or so, and rinse. It works on both metal and plastic miniatures, and you can pour it down the drain when you're done.
On cheap paint:
It works pretty well, particularly when you're starting out. The biggest difference between cheap paint and quality paint is pigment density, which can affect coverage, especially with light colors (yellow and red are often real problems). Start with the cheap stuff, because it's cheap, but try some of the better paints when you get more comfortable with your painting. I especially like Reaper's Master Series paints, but that's a personal preference.
One point, though, is that you want to look at the craft paint labels very carefully. There are often both opaque and translucent versions of the same color; usually you'll want the opaque version.
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Azzy, that was really well put. You and I need to get together and paint some minis ;) Seriously, those are all of the methods I would have suggested and use myself.
Thank you. I would have been so lost in this hobby (and probably quit it a long time ago) without the advice and support of friends that have been doing this much longer than me.
My only difference in products I use is the matte varnish. A lot of the craft stores around my neck of the woods sell a glossy type of matte varnish and I don't like my minis looking shiny. I don't mind spending the extra couple of bucks on Citadel Colour matte varnish (blue can - $10), which gives a nice flat finish. (There are a few minis I've painted in the past that I actually preferred the glossy finish, but for most I don't like it.)
Yeah, like the metallic paints, I agree that this is one of the better places to splurge--because the difference in quality is striking. While I haven't tried the Citadel sealer (I try to give GW as little of my money as possible--what with their constant price hikes), but Testors Dullcote is another quality true-matte sealer (I forget the price, though).
One other technique I really like to use on some of my minis with metal parts that stand out, like a relief design on a shield, is polishing. I usually leave the area unpainted and when I'm finished painting the mini and the sealer has dried, I go over the area I want polished with an Exacto knife to scrape off the sealer and primer. Once you have all of that off, you use what's called a sanding stick. They look like women's emery boards for filing their nails... but they're not. There may be different brands in your area, but the ones I buy are called Tri-Grit. I use the courser sanding stick first to smooth out the nicks the scraping may have left. Then you take the finer sanding stick and go over it really good to polish it up. When you're done it looks really sweet, like a polished suit of armor type of thing.
Hunh, I've never seen anyone do that. I'll have the try that the next time I have a suitable metal mini (playing 40K Orks and Guard, the vast majority of my collection is plastic). Thank you for teaching me a new trick--I love being able to add to the arsenal. :)
Another thing that I've seen, but haven't used (for lack of an appropriate place to do it), is lacquering. Paint an area of the mini in solid base color (best results if a colored metallic), and brush on successive layers of ink wash (not watered-down, of only minimally watered-down) of the same color. After several layers, it gives a neat (and very shiny) effect that looks quite stunning.
Yah, Azzy gives great advice.
One other thing you might want to check out, and I haven't looked at them myself because I learned to paint about 25 years ago, are the websites by Reaper and GW on painting. I hear they have some pretty good tutorials, and they should have pictures that will show you ideal results for the techniques Azzy suggests. Also, check out the color combos on GW and Reaper minis unless you already have that artistic touch, it will help you avoid making color choices you regret.
Also, don't blow money on fancy brushes (sable)... for now, anyway.
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For those interested in polishing paints, you might want to take a look at the Gunze-Sangyo Mr. Metal-Color line of paints. (Warning: They're solvent based, and the solvent is very volatile. I've had bottles dry out in a matter of weeks after being opened, even when the cover is secured well on the bottle.) They're designed to be buffed after they dry, and they produce the best metallic colors I've seen. I particularly like their iron.
Another simple step that will make your life a lot better:
Take care of your brushes. Do not fail to wash them post-use - a good brush should last you a long time. Optionally, use a brush cleaner to keep them in tip-top shape (I've gotten crusty enamel out of brushes with this stuff).
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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*gasp*
Lilith got a new avatar! I'll never recognize her again!!!!
I really do appreciate all the insight so far, folks. I hope to begin the painting process within a month or so... depending on when my miniatures get here and when I'm able to find the time and money to get my painting supplies together.
*gasp*
Lilith got a new avatar! I'll never recognize her again!!!!
The Iggwilv/Lilith connections were too cool to pass up. :P
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Oh, one more thing...
Be mindful of humidity when you use your primer, sealer, or spay paint (which you might use for base coating bigger pieces). If you prime your minis when it's too humid (as is often the case in Florida), the primer coat comes out "fuzzy" and will probably require you to strip the mini and try again. Sealer, on the other hand, remains tacky even after it dries.
All in all, humidity sucks. If you live in an area with little to no humidity (like Arizona), you not have to worry about this. :)
I've asked a few questions before regarding methods of painting miniatures and the folks on these boards have been very helpful. I come to you with yet another question, however:
I think I am finally ready to set myself to the task of finally buying the materials and painting the pewter minis that I own. However, I currently own about 40 miniatures. What I want to know is: How much paint should I buy? Obviously I will only need minimal amounts of a few colors (such as yellow, orange, and blue) but I will likely be using black, silver, and skin tones on every one of them. How long does a single tube of paint last? Would these paint sets probably be adequate for a beginner? Should I buy an extra tube of the colors I intend to use heavily? Thanks for the input!
I paint regularly and i can almost paint an entire army of minis, warhammer usually, on a single pot of paint. If you buy Vallejo, p3 or the new citadel foundation paints, the last particularly, the paints only require one layer over an undercoat to give a neat coverage.
I have had pots of paint last years, so one of each should do fine
seriously, I have hundreds of minis; I have tried all kinds of paints; for the money and quality, just buy the Creamcoat by Delta or the Apple Barrel Colors by Plaid from Hobby Lobby. They are much cheaper and will save you a lot of money; they come in a plethora of colors to choose from and are high quality.
If you have not done a lot of painting; check out the warhammer website for some info; they have a lot of info on modeling, various painting techniques such as backshading and colorwash. Dont skimp on your brushes or brush care; you need one with very few hairs (called a micro sometimes) for small things like eyes, symbols, tatoos and whatnot say a #570; a larger brush for normal painting of things like legs and armor, something like an RG250; then your going to want a much larger brush, like the kind that comes in a kids watercolor paint set like a Crayola 2127 to do colorwashing. If you need a spotted or speckle effect, then you need a fan brush - any will do.
Always keep your brushes very clean and store them in their plastic caps if they have them; if they dont; wrap the steel and brush part in a napkin or paper towel or something; protect the hair fibers so they stay together and in a nice point so you don't get errant flier hairs; dont skimp on brushes.
you dont need any special palets; I mix colors in the metal beer caps as they are easily cleanable and small enough to not waste colors. If you know anyone with kids; pick up a babyfood jar from them with a lid; this is small and decent for water to use for washing your little brushes and other things.
well, hope this helps
I think I am finally ready to set myself to the task of finally buying the materials and painting the pewter minis that I own. However, I currently own about 40 miniatures. What I want to know is: How much paint should I buy? Obviously I will only need minimal amounts of a few colors (such as yellow, orange, and blue) but I will likely be using black, silver, and skin tones on every one of them. How long does a single tube of paint last?
Not sure what paints you will be getting. I use Vallejo colors, and the little bottle would EASILY cover your 40 miniatures from head to toe.