Painting Miniatures

I’ve gone ahead and corralled all the posts on painting miniatures on this page. Occasionally I might add more to it as posts pop up. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere this isn’t a masterclass painting series. Instead it’s a collection of posts to walk you through the steps of painting tabletop quality miniatures, from sprue to protective varnish.

The big 3 – This covers the 3 main techniques you will be using when painting: base coats, washes, and drybrushing.

Washes and Shading – More details on applying washes and shading to minis, including using wet water to dilute your washes.

Drybrushing and Highlights – More information on drybrushing, including high contrast highlighting. Object Source Lighting (OSL) is also touched on.

Priming – You should be using primer, why do it and what are your options?

Varnish – When done you need to protect that figure, why varnish and/or dull coat is what you need.

Miniature Prep – What’s needed to get that mini off the plastic frame. This will talk about stuff to consider and tools you might want to help with the process.

Gluing Miniatures – What’s the best way to assemble your miniatures? And what the heck is green stuff anyways?

Bases – A great paint job is bupkis without putting a little effort into the base.

Brushes – How many do you need and how do you clean them?

Paints – Why use water based acrylics, how many shades do you need, and why use a palette?

Handling your mini – Why holding that miniature directly by the base hints you’re a neophyte, and why using base handles are a better choice.

GW Contrast Paints – It’s paint pre-mixed with medium and it appears you can skip washes entirely. This new line of paints looks like a great product for new painters or people looking to speed up their rank and file projects.