So I go online and I find a really beautiful roman mini for my upcoming game, and I order that sucker, and a few days later in the mail i get an unpainted metal mini with a shield i apparently have to glue on.
I am slightly dissapointed because i assumed because the pic showed a wonderfully painted roman centurion that that's what i would get.
but anyway, I learned my lesson, and now I am taking the opportunity to learn how to glue and paint minis. so, does anyone have any adive and/or good websites with extensive information for the art-challenged individual like myself?
thanks.
So I go online and I find a really beautiful roman mini for my upcoming game, and I order that sucker, and a few days later in the mail i get an unpainted metal mini with a shield i apparently have to glue on.
I am slightly dissapointed because i assumed because the pic showed a wonderfully painted roman centurion that that's what i would get.
but anyway, I learned my lesson, and now I am taking the opportunity to learn how to glue and paint minis. so, does anyone have any adive and/or good websites with extensive information for the art-challenged individual like myself?
thanks.
I've painted a fair bit of Warhammer figures, I'm no expert but have had a few hundred models training. My first advice for getting a decent colouring without a need for much skill, is use a quite dry brush for most of the model. A basic step-by-step would be:
1. Spray or paint the model black or dark gray or brown. Any dark color will do, really. Black is prefered.2. Use a quite dry brush with a dark nuance of the color you want (on fair flesh for example, use a dark brown).
3. Use a quite dry brush with a lighter nuance (for fair flesh, a fleshy color).
4. Highlight with a little wetter brush with a little lighter color (use the color in step 3 mixed with maybe 1/5th white).
5. Repeat steps 2-4 for each major part. Metal blades and the like, can be painted metal on the black without need for several layers.
Here's a link too:
http://www.wellofminiatures.net/guide/painting.htm
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Most minis are supplied unassembled/unpainted. That's the fun of it! Here's some simple advice to follow to get you some good results:
Supplies -You're gonna need a few things to assemble and paint your miniature. You'll need:
i) Some sort of flat black, grey or white spray primer. I use Citadel Chaos Black from Games workshop, but Krylon is much cheaper and does a good job.
ii) A hobby knife. One of those X-acto blades or a small craft knife is perfect.
iii) Glue. Crazy Glue Gel is great for just about anything. It fills in the gaps of the model and drys fast.
iv) Paint. If you're looking to do just the one mini, check out your dollar store for craft kits that come with acrylic paints. For a buck, you can get the primary colours, plus brown and black white. Buy some metallic craft paint too if you have armour to paint. Gold and a metallic silver should do. I use Games Workshop/Citadel products, but that's my personal preference.
v) Some sort of clear artist's varnish. Satin is nice and it protects your mini from chipping from being handled. Make sure it's compatible with acrlic paints!
vi) find a Games Workshop in your area and buy one pot of Devlan Mud wash. Trust me on this one!
vii) A reasonable quality brush. It doesn't need to be super fine, but should be able to form a good point.
To get your mini ready for the table, you'll need to:
1) Use your craft knife to carefully scrape off any casting lines or bits of excess metal from the figure. Take your time and take a good look at the mini before scraping to make sure you don't cut off something that's part of the figure!
2) Superglue any parts that need to be put together. Just put a small dab on the part and press gently into place. It sets in seconds.
3) Prime your mini. Do this outdoors and do multiple LIGHT coats from different angles. This avoids blotting out details and makes sure you get all the little nooks and crannies. Check your primer for dry times before painting.
4) Paint your mini. Decide what colours you want it to be ahead of time, then put down the base colours. It's best to do the lightest colours first, then carefully add the darker ones. It's easier to paint over light colours than dark ones.
5) Give your pot of Devlan Mud wash a good shake then fill your brush with it (not dripping, just full). Starting with the deepest recesses first, apply it to the entire mini. This will bring out all of the details and gives the model a lot of character. Let it dry completely before moving on.
6) Touch up any details like eyes and heraldry. Take your time because you're almost finished and you don't wanna have to start over.
7) Once you're happy the mini is finished, give it a couple of light coats of the varnish. If you're using a spray, do it outside!
That's it! A simple mini should take you only a few hours to do this way and you'll get some good results.
I may be repeating a few things said above, but it's easier to include everything than omit something accidentally. My 2 cents:
For Assembly
- GLUE: For METAL miniatures, you want cyanoacrylate (CA or CA+) glue, AKA superglue. I would suggest Zap-A-Gap or something similar, findable at any major hobby store like Michael's. This is what you will use to glue on the shield (little dab'll do ya) and the base.
- FLASH/MOLD LINE REMOVAL: If all you ever do is this one mini, you can probably skip this. If you plan to really get into the hobby, you will want the following:
---- Needle files. The link is an example, you may only need two or three (a flat and a round one, for example). You use these to file off any mold lines or deformities on the model.
---- Hobby Knife. Regular old X-acto knife is fine. Use this to remove random bits of metal hanging off the model--this is called "flash"--and useful for other miscellaneous jobs like separating any plastic parts you have, etc.
---- Clippers or Sprue Cutter: This is also useful for removing flash and separating pieces that are sprued together, whether metal or plastic. For example, you might order a model where the head and sword are separate, and attached to a separate little metal sprue. You'll want the sprue cutters to cleanly remove them.
-OTHER STUFF: If you REALLY get into the hobby, there's a number of other things like needle pliers and pin vises and putty you can get, but I won't get into those unless you want me to.
For Painting
- BRUSHES. Should be obvious why you need those.
---- If you buy ONE brush, I recommend a size 2 kolinsky sable round watercolor brush. The link goes to the kind I use. They can be expensive, but the linked site sells them for around $7.00 which isn't bad. You get what you pay for with paint brushes. Buy one good quality paintbrush and TAKE CARE of it (clean it with brush soap after use, and store it with brush upright in a cup) and it will last you forever; buy a cheap brush and it will fall apart soon enough (and you'll end up spending more money continually replacing it). This size and shape has a nice tip that will be great at even painting tiny detail, while it's just large enough to hold an adequate amount of paint without drying up too fast.
---- If you buy TWO brushes, your second brush should be one you use for dry brushing (see below). This you don't have to worry as much about quality because you're going to be slapping around with it (DON'T use your expensive kolinsky sables for this, unless you have a really old one that's falling apart). I use a nylon short "filbert" or "cat's tongue" shaped brush. But it can be any brush with a relatively flat or short tip--you can even cut the tip off an old regular round brush.
---- Third and fourth brushes can be larger and smaller brushes, the former for painting larger models or applying broad strokes/undercoating, the latter for detailing.
- PRIMER: This is a base coat of thin paint you put on the model, to help subsequent paint layers "stick to it."
---- What color? People often recommend white to beginners because it doesn't mute the colors as you paint on it. Personally, I've always struggled with leaving white gaps where I can't get the brush to reach, and prefer to use black primer, so the deep recesses just stay black. If I'm painting something bright, I drybrush the black primed model wit white paint. I also like to paint up from dark to light, so this works well for me. You may want to experiment to see what works best for you.
---- Spray: If you are okay with spray paint, the suggested Krylon Flat Black (or White) is great. Shake it a good 60 seconds before spraying about a foot away from the model; be in a well-ventilated room. Beware humidity and other things can mess with how well it works.
---- Brush on: If you don't have a good place to use spray paint, I suggest using Acrylic Gesso which you paint on with a brush. It gobs on a little thick, but shrinks as it dries and preserves detail surprisingly beautifully. Reaper and Vallejo's paint lines also have paint-on primers.
- PAINT
---- What kind? Oy. You want water soluble acrylic paint. You can do anything from cheapo Apple Barrel to expensive miniature paint; favorite brands are Citadel, Reaper, and Vallejo. Shop around and figure out what's best for you. One note about cheap craft acrylic like Apple Barrel is that their pigments are not as fine as specialized (but more expensive) miniature paints, so you must paint carefully and thin your paint. My personal preference after many years of messing around is Citadel Foundation for basecoating and terrain, and Reaper Master Series for everything else. I use Master Series Inks for enhancing pigmentation and providing detail/shading to leather and metallics, and Citadel Washes for quick shading of other colors (Xettah's Devlan Mud comes from this line, and I agree, it's awesome to have on hand). (These links go to the manufacturer's page, but you can also buy them at the Paizo store.) Inks and washes are translucent, letting paint underneath show through; inks are highly pigmented and glossy whereas washes are more watery and matte.
---- What colors? Two schools of thought: first, just the colors you need for the model at hand. So, for your Roman Centurion, you might want a brown, a flesh tone, and a metallic shade or two, and what other colors you feel you need to round him out. Xuttah's suggestion for Citadel Devlan Mud is a good one for quickly providing shading to your browns, fleshes, and gold or bronze metallics. Second school of thought is to go with the basics if you don't know exactly what colors you want. Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, White are the basic basics; on top of that maybe add some earth/flesh tones and metallics (a silver and a gold), and any colors you know you'll use a lot and not want to have to mix yourself. I would start small and buy as you need to go along. A lot of companies put out a "how to paint" kit which will package in important basic colors and maybe a brush or two.
- VARNISH: This is an OPTIONAL step, but varnishing your models helps protect them from chipping, and some varnishes help details stand out as well. Usually you want matte varnish--varnish that won't shine. This helps the colors on your model blend, makes it easier to photograph, and provides adequate protection. There are also gloss varnishes. While you want to avoid gloss most of the time, some items look cool gloss varnished--gems or an insect's carapace, for example. Gloss varnish is also harder than matte, so provides even more protection, if that's a priority. I would suggest for a spray, matte varnish, Testor's Dullcote. Reaper and Vallejo also sell brush on matte varnishes (note I've had bad luck with Vallejo matte varnish coming out glossy anyway) and likewise all the major producers of mini paints have paint on gloss varnishes. I would suggest sticking to brush-on varnish for gloss varnish since you will likely ever only gloss certain areas of a model (and in that case, apply your matte varnish over the whole model and then paint the gloss varnish on afterward).
Techniques
- Usually wet your brush first, and paint in thin layers, building up, rather than slapping paint on thickly. It's tempting to do the latter, but then you'll fill in all the details and leave visible brush strokes. Don't overload your brush with paint; you're painting a 28 mm model, a little bit will go a long way.
- Drybrushing is a fun, easy technique for highlighting. Taking your chosen drybrush, dip your brush WITHOUT wetting it first, into a bit of paint that is lighter than the coat you just painted (so for example, if you painted it gray, then use white for this step). Then either rub/paint the brush against a towel or scrap paper until all excess paint is gone. Then swipe the paint quickly across the raised areas of the model--you will "dust" the remaining paint onto the model, where it will catch onto the higher edges and leave the recessed areas dark. Getting used to this is a good way to get a feel for more delicate highlighting as you get better.
- If you want to put on really tiny details, like the pupils of eyes or writing on a scroll, a very fine Micron pen might serve you better than painting.
Sites:
Doctor Faust's Painting Clinic
Brushthralls
Books:
How to Paint Citadel Miniatures (the book is by Citadel; it doesn't just have to apply to their miniatures :) )
PS: If this all looks like too much trouble, you can always hire someone to paint your model for you, or look for already painted metal minis on e-Bay. :)
I really need to post some video tutorials.
For now, you could make a reasonably interesting mini just by inking: http://seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/miniatures/speedpainting_inking/
So, I live in a quiet little mountain town in the center of the Adirondack Mountains in NY, so all I have access to is a Wal-mart unless i want to drive a gazillion mes, and with 4 offspring that makes it a tad bit difficult.
So i went down to my local wal-mart, and i bought a 3 dollar brush set, some .97 cent color place black spraypaint, and a slew of water bases acrylic paints.
and i painted that sucker, and it came out really nice. my only gripe was i should have glued the shield on after i painted that section, because once the shield was glued on it became a pain to paint that section, but i got it and it came out really nice. especially once i got the dry bruishing down, which was waay easier than i thought.
so now i'm addicted. i gathered up all my other metal minis i had, cleaned them up, and started painting them as well. i also primed over a d&d mini (blood of vol cultist) and am currently working on that.
thank you all so much for your help, and anyone whose never done this before, seriously, just get a really small paintbrush and try it. it's a lot of fun, and relaxing, and NOT as hard as you might think.
Excellent!
And if you're ever disappointed with how your early minis turn out, look at my first solo endeavor, which I did without any training, advice, or help from anyone:
http://seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/miniatures/bycompany/wotc/crappymages.htm l
And here's what my first mini looks like after some basic tips about priming, drybrushing, and washing:
http://seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/miniatures/bycompany/wotc/chappy.html
Just a LITTLE knowledge of technique goes a long way toward making a mini look good on the table.
I don't claim to be a master painter--I'd rather have 10 B-level minis on the table than 1 A-level and 9 bare metal minis--but it doesn't take much to go from clueless to C or B!
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Very good news! It's a very rewarding part of the hobby and I too find it relaxing. When the kids are in bed and the wife is reading her Hemmingway, I break out the brushes for a couple hours. Sometimes, though, I lose myself in the process and look up at the clock and it's waaaay later than is good for me.
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Wal-Mart's "Apple Barrel" craft paints work on minis just fine. The lion's share of my paint are of this kind and I have no problem. Likewise, Krylon's White Primer works better than any other hobby primer I've used (sadly, *sigh*). A trip to Michael's or JoAnne's, or Hobby Lobby, or etc etc etc and $10-$15 will get you a nice 0, 10/0 and 000 sized brush. Until you get better, you won't need anything but these three (cheap flat brushes for drybrushing eventually, and superfine for details like eyes later too).
For assembly, I use Gap-Filling/Gel superglues for 75% or so of my models, and I assemble them before priming/painting. Yeah, it's hard to paint the inside area of a shield when it's already on the arm, but it's also hard to see in there as well. Fine details are wasted if you can't see them anyway, so don't sweat them. For bigger, more load-bearing joins, use 2-part epoxy ("JB Weld"), also available at Wally-World. Eventually, you'll want a pin-vise ($10 at HobbyTown, etc). I use only one bit and use lengths of sewing pins cut with a wire cutter (bonus: the ball end of the pins can be dropped into a pot of paint and used as a stirring-bb). This is really useful for weapon or head swaps or models with really odd joins (like my viking I just got last weekend with BOTH arms the weapon hand+weapon and shield as separate parts. really??).
Finally, some "green stuff". It's a putty ribbon with 1/2 blue and 1/2 yellow. Slice off what you need and then knead it until it's smooth and green. Then add it to seams in small ammounts. I use it for smoothing joins, filling in bases, replacing parts, etc etc.
Good luck!
I did have one more question, though.
What is the difference in the sizes?
I think that the d&d scale is something like 28 to 30 mm?
What does all that mean, and if i want to keep within that scale, what size minis should I buy?
For a long while, RPG-oriented minis were 25mm, measured from base to eyeball. Of course, that's an approximation... humans vary in height, poses make the eye level vary, dwarves are shorter, and so on.
At some point, several companies realized they could put more detail on a mini if they made it bigger, and started making what in effect were 28mm minis (again, base to eyeball, on average).
Then some companies started doing "heroic 28mm," which is much closer to 30mm base-to-eye. And yet others started aiming for 30mm or even 32mm.
However, if you consider a 28mm mini to be a 6 ft. tall male human, a 30mm mini is a guy about 6'4" or 6'5", a 32mm mini is 6'8" or 6'9", and 25mm is 5'3" or 5'4".
Or if you consider a 28mm mini to be 5'6", 30mm = 5'9", 32mm = 6'3", and 25mm = 4'9".
Human people vary by quite a bit. As long as two minis next to each other don't look like a child and giant (and standing my 4'11" friend Linae next to Jason Bulmahn's 6'7" is an extreme comparison but not so much that she looks like a child next to him), you'll be fine. I have 25mm, 28mm, and some 30mm minis in my collection and have never had any problems.
(There's also 15mm scale, which is handy if you want a halfling or gnome mini and there's nothing suitable in 28mm... 15mm is almost exactly half 28mm scale, so you can use a human 15mm mini as a Small 28mm-30mm mini with no problem.)
D&D plastic minis, Confrontation plastic minis, and all of Reaper's fantasy minis are 25mm or 28mm. Mage Knight plastic minis are a bit larger, maybe closer to 32mm?