Your Painting Setup?

[Banemorth]

I see another painting topic below that I was going to post in but I wanted to start something fresh.

It never even crossed my mind to paint the mini's. After just leafing through these boards for half an hour I'm STUNNED at some of the game-play pictures and the intricate detail that you've managed to put on your little guys. I have a myriad of painting questions and am hoping someone out there can either convince me to move forward with painting my little plastic pieces or tell me not to bother.

1. What kind of paint do you use?
2. Is there special "mini" paint that is good for this kind of plastic and constant use?
3. What does it generally cost?
4. Where do you buy it?
5. What kind of brushes do you use? I'd assume they'd have to be pretty fine for all of the intricate details?
6. Does wanting to do this make me crazy?

[Goblin-King]

1. What kind of paint do you use?

Personally I use Citadel paint from Games Workshop. The good thing is you can always find it as GW is very popular everywhere. Other brands may be harder to find in stores.
One competing brand is Army Painter. I've tried their spray paint. The difference is that Citade's is a little thinner. This is better for giving several layers. If you're a bit more impatient you could go for Army Painter and just give a single layer as it covers a bit better. Personally I prefer Citadel. I DO like Army Painter for terrain though.

2. Is there special "mini" paint that is good for this kind of plastic and constant use?

I would suggest using special miniature paint, yes. There is some differences from "regular" paint. As for applying to the mini, plastic OR metal, the "trick" here is to use a primer (white or black spray) before painting. The paint "sticks" and covers better on a layer of white spray. Trust me on this one... Use a spray for priming. I learned this the hard way. No spray is like a kick in the balls. Spray is like being served cake by bikini babes!

3. What does it generally cost?

Well, quite a lot - painting minis is not a cheap hobby. A can of miniature paint is around 3£ - Then comes the spray, brushes, varnish etc...
Of course it's worst getting started. Once you are going your need to resupply is limited.

4. Where do you buy it?

Hobby stores, Games Workshop stores, anywhere they deal minis they usually also deal paint. You can order online too, but it's cheaper to buy it in a store as you'll have to pay for the postage.

5. What kind of brushes do you use? I'd assume they'd have to be pretty fine for all of the intricate details?

You can use any kind, as long as it's small and pointy. Citadel, Army Painter and Winsor & Newton all make nice brushes. You'll need a few different sizes though.

6. Does wanting to do this make me crazy?

Yes... Yes it does. But it's a good crazyness

Anything else you need to know, just ask. There are quite a few talented miniature painters in here.

[Banemorth]

Wow that is a fantastic reply. Thank you for the information! Can you walk me through your process? Start to finish when you are painting a mini? (i.e. "I print out a picture for reference, I spray the figure with x layers of primer from x feet away, I paint top down/bottom up/ all the same colors first with x number of layers. It generally takes x number of times between coats and x minutes to dry, etc.)

[Big Bene]

One important thing that is often forgot, even in the painting guides published by Citadel and competitors, is to clean the figures before painting (this is, before applying the primer). Grease is your biggest enemy. Wash the minis in alcohol (normal household spirit, the kind you use for cleaning and firestarting), and then don't touch them with your fingers until at least the primer is finished.

[tasoe]

A can of miniature paint is around 3£

I'm sure he can get cheaper paints. Did citaled paints went that high? I haven't bought one since their previous range.
I use vallejo model color. They are cheaper, more quantity in the pot (17ml instead of 12) and a lot easier to use with their dropper bottles.
You can buy 20 for around 32£. No major differences than citadel paints. I would strongly recommend them.

Grease is your biggest enemy.

I second this. I often use sope to wash the figure before applying spray primer.

Another thing you should do Banemorth, even before that, is clean the mold lines about the figure.

Take a round shaped file and gently trim them off.
After that it should be smooth. (I only did the leg part)

If you paint with the lines not removed, you should get weird results, especially if you use a wash. If you don't know what a wash is, you can look it up!

[Goblin-King]

That's some very good advice from Big Bene right there! In my experience this only applies to metal and resin minis. Plastic seem good to go right out of the box. Someone correct me if this isn't always the case.

Another important and often neglected advice is to always use spray (both primer and varnish) in dry weather. If the humidity is too high the spray will catch microscopic droplets of water and the layer on your mini will get all grainy.
This is especially important for the varnish as it will get all frosty and completely ruin all your hard painting work.

Well, eerh... I'm not really up for writing a complete guide right now XD
But there are tons of toturials on the net. They mostly covers the same basic stuff and will cover your needs fine.

[Sjeng]

1. What kind of paint do you use?
2. Is there special "mini" paint that is good for this kind of plastic and constant use?
3. What does it generally cost?
4. Where do you buy it?
5. What kind of brushes do you use? I'd assume they'd have to be pretty fine for all of the intricate details?
6. Does wanting to do this make me crazy?

My painting setup: Just take a box with my stuff, and put it on some old sheets over a placemat on my table, near a window with good daylight.



I often use reference material to remind me of certain details on a figure. I use a wet-palette: plastic box with a cheap sponge in it, soaked in water, with baking paper over it. Put the paint on the paper, and it will stay fluid for much much longer than a regular palette. (My grocery store sells meat in these boxes. Wash em and they're perfect). Also use a scalpel for trimming mold lines and some small files. And get a pot with water. I use caps from toothpaste tubes and deodorant and such with sticky putty to place my minis on. Makes them easier to hold when painting. sticky putty also helps sticking them on an old cardboard box for priming.

1. Arcylic paint! no enamels! Acrylics can easily be mixed and thinned with water.

2. Citadel paints, as they are easily available here. Also ordered some reaper paints (along with a kickstarter project) Vallejo is also good. Citadel for primer (chaos black) army painter matte varnish spray for finishing. Army painter Quickshade for shading. I love that stuff. Quickshade adds a good shading layer of protection, and te matte varnish gets rif of the shine and protects the paint even more. ALWAYS spray in well ventilated area (outside) in multiple THIN layers, or you will get bubbles or clogged up details on your mini. Same for the varnish spray. 3-4 thin layers. It dries quickly, so don't worry.

3. As Goblin said: a lot, you might want to pick up a starter set with a selection of paints at a better price.

4. GW shop or local wargaming store. Sometimes online in my own country.

5. a very thin one and a bigger one from GW. A drybrush. seriously, get a drybrush and youtube drybrushing miniatures. Fantastic technique. Never leave your brushes in the water on their tips. Take good care of your brushes. rinse with water regularly. Keep them in a dry place.

6. Welcome to the club!

[Banemorth]

Well I went crazy and brought pretty much everything I need to get started. The only thing I DIDN'T do was get Citadel paints. After a ton of research I went ahead and purchased a bunch of P3 paints. Looks like they're just as good, you get twice as much, for a bit less. I found this website to be VERY fair. http://www.thewarstore.com/ Their shipping charges are incredibly reasonable and they had the best prices of anywhere I found on the web.

If I really get into this I plant to buy the Citadel 144 pot big box. Going to start working with the P3's now to see how it goes though. I've found some incredible how-to videos on YouTube with great tips, tricks, and techniques. I've never been remotely artistic and have always wanted to be. Hoping this is something that I'm good at. I appreciate all of the help you guys have given me so far!

[Spiky]

Hi Baemorth,

Congratulations on taking the plunge with the painting!

One thing I would like to add to all the good advice above is that there's always a trade-off between how good the mini looks and the amount of time you spend on it. There are some things you can do to maximise the appearance of the miniature without spending too much time. A lot of painting seems to be a matter of taste and what you feel suits your painting style, so don't take any of my comments as gospel!

My aim is to to paint to a good tabletop standard, rather than competition or display standard, and have found the following helpful:

- I brush on my undercoat, mainly because I have nowhere indoors to spray the minis and it's more sociable (I paint sat next to my wife on the sofa with a tray on my lap).

- I go with a dark undercoat (e.g black) and then try to avoid painting over this with the base coat in the creases of the model. I know people who also use grey and white as the undercoat instead though. I find that the neater you can get your base coat of colours, the better! I also try to leave a thin line of black between where coulours meet.

- Good lighting is essential, although expensive daylight bulbs are not. Who plays the game outdoors anyway I use a pedestal lamp with a reading light positioned over my shoulder

- I hate buying from GW these days, but have only good things to say about their foundation range of paints and the washes, although the Devlan Mud has a really offensive smell. Once the basecoat is done I liberally apply a coat of Devlan mud as a shade. I think the Army Painter dip is similar, maybe a bit less strong tone. I also use the vallejo Game Colour range which I can say has been good.

- Once the shade is dry, I repaint a watered down base coat again, leaving it darker in the recesses. Once done, I then highlight with a ligher shade.

- Don't forget to tidy/paint the base - this makes the model look so much sharper!

- As I paint mainly metal figures (and mainly for bloodbowl which puts a lot of wear and tear on the models) I brush on a layer of Vallejo Matt varnish to preserve the paint. I've had bad experiences with spary on varnishes leaving the models looking frosty.

Cheers,
Steven

Hope this helps!
Spiky

[Sjeng]

I've had bad experiences with spary on varnishes leaving the models looking frosty.
Spiky

that only happens if you spray too much in one go. Be patient, apply 3 very very thin layers, and be sure to let each layer dry up well.