Painter

Get some paint, brushes, miniatures, and a space to do your work. There is no `secret formula' involved, and despite all the advice and information you'll get from this FAQ and other sources, the best method of painting is the one that works for you. If you prefer one type of paint to another, that's great. Painting is a hobby, not an exact science. Pick and choose, practice, relax, and enjoy yourself. Take advice only if you feel right about it. Be patient with yourself. Most painters have a box of the stuff they learned on, or have removed old paint and redone several of their miniatures. Good painting's a skill. Remember: PRACTICE. Try different materials and techniques. Don't take anyone else's word for it unless you're sure - and the practice will do you good.

First off, drybrushing is most effective when used with a colour a shade or two lighter than the base. White drybrushed over black primer also makes for a very good painting base. It also looks good as a stand-alone colour scheme on some figures. Take your desired colour and an old brush, as drybrushing wears brushes out and tears them up (the author has had good success in using cheap watercolour brushes for large drybrushing projects with acrylic paints, but for smaller areas a better-quality brush is still necessary). Dip it into the paint until the tip is saturated, then blot on a paper towel until no paint can be seen on a dark brush, or a light one looks pretty clean. Take the brush and gently draw it along the raised parts you want highlighted. A little paint will stay on the highest edges and give great depth. Many painters like to highlight in stages, lightening the shade a little with each level. This can be either overkill and a pain or an excellent technique for brightening and preserving detail. Practice yourself and decide.

Drybrushing is the best method of highlighting any large area or area with repetetive detail, such as armour. For faces, hands, buckles and the like, highlighting can be achieved by taking a slightly lighter shade of the base (mixed with white or a lighter tone) and going along the raised areas lightly. A fine brushpoint is required, as is a steady hand. For faces highlight the chin, nose, and cheeks. For hands go along the backs and each finger. For other detail, pick the spots that should show up best and give them the lightest highlights. It's common to highlight twice, each time getting lighter in tone and finer in line. A bit of blending is required to keep things looking natural, but this blending is easier than the large-surface technique. Simply keep a damp brush handy and brush very lightly toward the darker areas. Again, this technique takes practice, but is worth the effort when the miniature is completed.

This depends entirely on what you're using the miniature for. If it's a display model, then you can get fancy. If it's for military gaming, you'll want a durable, realistic look. If it's for fantasy play you'll want durability and likely not too much fuss. Standard materials for bases are: the plastic slottabases many companies both supply with their products and sell seperately, pennies or flat washers, cardboard (not recommended - bends too easily), tiles, wood, sheet metal, matt board (available at art supply stores), and magnetic strips (often bonded to one of the above materials). Filler and water putty have both been used with success, and someone also has claimed to make his own bases out of hot glue. The general rule, of course, is the more use the miniature gets, the stronger the base material should be.

25mm is easier to detail than 12mm or 6mm, some miniatures are less or more detailed than others. Again, this is much a matter of personal preference and what you want the miniatures for. Look over as much as you can before selecting starter miniatures, unless you have your heart set on something. Just don't pick something so fussy or detailed that you'll get frustrated with your new hobby on your first project. Also, refrain from doing that `special' one until you've had a little practice. Some offerings of types in the 25-30mm range are:

Citadel: tend to have large areas and broad features, and are recommended `beginner' pieces if you can't find something better. Once you have the feel of painting, can be masterpieces.

Heartbreaker: Everything good about Citadel plus some of the most excellent modelling ever done in this style of figure. And costs less, too.

Metal Magic: again, heavier features, thus good for the novice.

Mithril: pre-primered and a little above 25mm, broad detail Ral Partha: tend to have sharp detail, good once you have the basics down.

Grenadier: detail can be hard to follow, but that can be a plus.

Soldiers & Swords: Good variety in both individual figures and quality. Some are excellent, some aren't worth the purchase.

Simtac: Good figures with fine features and nice detail. A little difficult for the beginner. Various military miniatures: varies greatly, use your own judgement.

It's an acquired skill. To convert a miniature requires a lot of imagination, steady hands, patience, and a few out-of-the-ordinary tools. Costumes have to be obliterated, faces changed, weapons removed or added or changed. In all honesty, the processes involved are more numerous than can be addressed in this FAQ. Therefore, only the most common modifications will be addressed. Tools: To properly modify a miniature, you're going to need: files (round, triangular, square, flat), the smaller the better X-acto knife and several replacement blades glue, preferably Zap-A-Gap, possibly epoxy nail scissors or tiny wire cutters needle-nose pliers, the smaller the better sandpaper and/or emery boards a hacksaw, the finest you can get any new pieces you want to add (weapons, etc.) % The most common modification is to change one weapon for another. For purposes of explaination, a fantasy figure will be used, the change being from sword to battleaxe, assuming the sword had been molded as one with the hand. First, clip or cut the sword off on either side of the hand, being very careful not to damage the hand. The new piece may be one cut from another miniature, or one acquired from a weapons pack. If it is the latter, you will need to measure it against the hand and cut out part of the handle to compensate. The next step is to make holes in either side of the hand where the handle enters in order to insert the new parts. An X-acto blade or file may be used. A pin drill would come in handy about now. Once the holes are made, a drop of glue is placed in each one, then the handles are carefully set in place. The glue should show, as the extra is needed to keep the parts in place. Hold until set, possibly reinforce with a little tape, a brace, or some sort of clamping arrangement, and let set. After the glue is thorughly dry, a file or emery board can be used to clean up the excess, Avoid using a knife or razor blade, as you're likely to take off too much glue and the weapon will simply fall off again. % Another common modification is to make a miniature suitable for superhero use. The easiest way to do this is to file and sand the clothing smooth with the rest of the body, then paint on the costume of your choice.

The common miniaturists glue is Zap-A-Gap, available at nearly all stores which sell paints. It's thick, holds well on both metal and plastic, and fills gaps and cracks. Also of this type are a line of cryanoacrylates which come in various-coloured bottles, each coded to its type, and a blank space for the local store's name or Wargames West (in the US, of course). Super glue is often used to join pieces; it dries brittle and a good drop might snap the connection. Its redeeming feature is speed of bonding. Epoxy is excellent for permanent bonding and building up areas when modifying. The bonds it makes don't break when jarred, and almost nothing will remove it once it has set (the author has never heard of set epoxy being removed, but refuses to use absolutes and be later proven wrong). Epoxy also comes in different formulas for different materials. Duco cement is a good all-purpose bonding agent. White glue, such as Elmer's or Aleen's Tacky, is good for adhering paper and groundcovering to plastic and metal surfaces. White glue does fatigue, however, so if it is used, a sealing agent overall will help keep your pieces together. For building up areas and the like, nothing beats ribbon epoxy. For more information on cryanoacrylate see section 7.A.a. above.

Start with the eyes. Then do the face in whatever shade you choose. Now add a touch of white to the flesh tone to get a slightly lighter shade and go back over the nose and cheekbones. A light orange makes defined but natural-looking lips. Remember, red lips are a product of makeup, not nature. Some painters prefer to put the eyes on last, but others say it's too hard to keep from making the effect pop-eyed when done last. Try whatever method you prefer. Moustaches are best if dry-brushed, paint beards a slightly redder or darker shade than the hair and dry brush with the same colour you use on the hair. There's nothing wrong with a 5-o'clock shadow on an appropriate figure, either. Dry-brush it on in a shade slightly darker than the hair. Once you get comfortable with faces, experiment with scars or tattoos. You might amaze yourself.

Two good methods have been presented in rec.games.miniatures. The first comes from Steven Loren Lane, and is used without permission: % "Well, on top of getting the smallest brushes available, you can always cut them down to an even smaller size. I have several brushes that have only a few hairs on them. These are very useful brushes. I would also recommend for the very fine detail to set the object up so you can use both hands to hold the paint brush as still as possible." And was followed up by Steve Gill: % "Another useful tool is a 0.13 mm spirograph ink pen, a couple of splodges of colour in the right place and you can pretty it up with the pen. I used this technique for 6mm heraldry." Yet another use for tech pens. They are also very good for shield devices and clothing patterning.