Calling my fellow geeks!!

[kellinator]

I'm thinking about taking up a new hobby (as if I needed another time and money sink): miniature painting! I was hoping some of you out there might have some tips on getting started. In particular, is there any such thing as a set of paints that won't break the bank?

Comments

[eudaimonia.livejournal.com]

My husband paints miniatures, lately it's been English Civil War figures. He uses acrylic hobby paints. But he spray coats a base before painting. I'll ask him tonight if he has any tips for you.

[deza.livejournal.com]

Sure; you come borrow mine!

Get a good primer first of all. Without the primer, the paint just kind of slides off the metal figure. Howard Hughes paints are cheap; but you get what you pay for. I'd say stick with Ral Partha paints in basic colors, then mix those colors to achieve specific effects. And don't underestimate the importance of using washes (paint mixed with water) in a variety of ways.

Check out the Games Workshop painting guide (http://us.games-workshop.com/games/lotr/sbg/hobby/painting/painting.htm) for really good advice and ideas. Just remember that there's no reason you should have to use their paints. ;)

[mgrasso.livejournal.com]

I haven't painted in years, but here's a beginner's guide:

Invest in a couple of cans of primer. For the beginner, I recommend one white and one grey. Black is tough to work with for beginners, and even when I became more advanced, I always had trouble with getting successive layers of paint on to cloak the black. The colors do seem deeper, though.

Start with water-based paints. They're easier to work with and much more forgiving w/r/t mistakes. I don't know what's being sold these days, but Citadel's always had a really good selection of colors. If you're good at mixing, all you'll really ever need is 8 to 10 colors. I never was, so I had almost a hundred. :)

Brushes: I only ever needed 2 or 3: a fine (10/0) and a wide (2/0).

Prime your figures, wait a day, and then get to it! Start with wide swaths of color (like cloaks and such) and then work on the details. Rinse frequently. Have a palette ready for mixing and for sloughing off excess paint.

I used to do checks and stripes a lot. A mechanical pencil is tricky to use on a really detailed figure, but you can use it to draw patterns, then paint over them.

The two most impressive methods of adding texture to your figs are drybrushing and washing. In drybrushing, you take a wide brush and tap the brush on your palette until there's almost no paint on it. Then, apply it to hair or fur to give the illusion of light striking it. Washing will give cracks and crevasses texture. Do this by diluting some paint about 1/1 with water in a shallow pool. (Or you can use wash inks). For a red cloak, for instance, you could use red and black paint to create a deep red watery mix that you then can lay on with a wide brush.

Wow, this takes me down memory lane. I played a lot of Warhammer 40K and it's been a while since I painted. Maybe I'll put pics up of some of my figures one of these days. :)

On paints...

[apocalypse-0.livejournal.com]

I used to have a big "thing" on painting miniatures. I may choose to re-post it on LJ.

As far as paints go, it depends on the seriousness with which you want to commit funds towards painting resources. Here's what I'd recommend:

Games Workshop paint sets. There are several "starter" paint sets with bunch of tiny little pop-top paint cups. If you just want to try it out, and don't mind possibly throwing away the paint afterwards, this is the best way to get miniatures-grade paint cheaply.

Vallejo paint sets. These come in little dropper bottles and are, without a doubt, the best-recommended paints for miniatures anywhere. If you're going to be painting for the long haul, this is the way to go.

Coat D Arms. Mid-pack answer that comes in pop-top bottles. This is what I use for about 80% of my painting. I have too large an investment to switch over to Vallejo, wholesale.

Floquil/Polly Scale. This is a lower cost answer that is slightly tailored to the model railroad crowd. This is the bulk of the remaining 20%. It's *very* good stuff, and will give you the best blacks and base tones you can find.

Delta/Ceramcoat. This is *very* inexpensive craft paint which may not give you quite what you're looking for. Large pigment covers well, but may obscure fine details.

In all cases, you're looking for acrylics.

Avoid enamels like the plague.

[adric]

Okay, I've been out geeked. All I have to offer is:

http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/minis

And the GW is was and always will be immensely evil, so be wary of them. Under no circumstances should you come to like or depend on their product, as this will ensure it's cancellation.

Anyone need a few Necromunda Redeemers, in box?

On the other hand...

[apocalypse-0.livejournal.com]

many of us would consider that to be a good thing.

The current GW paint, while no longer having the rather dubious singular distinction of having the absolute worst paint jars in the history of paint, still dries too quickly and is too expensive.

From another beginner...

[tall-man.livejournal.com]

Paints: I'm really liking the stuff from Reaper (http://www.reapermini.com), as they've got a wide selection (especially their pearlescent colors!) and reasonable sized bottles for the money. As deza said, Howard Hughes (the historical line) and the same company's fantasy line are pretty skeezy. Their metallics are OK, but the jars become very hard to open as the paint gets in the threads. Look (or ask at the hobby store) for paint sets, especially beginner sets. Usually these run in the $25 range, and generally include a brush or two, a couple of paint pots (although perhaps small ones, as in the case of Games Workshop (http://us.games-workshop.com/)'s sets), and a figure or six.

Brushes: I generally use 2 or 3. A 10/0 for details, a 5/0 for drybrushing, and a 3/0 for filling in big swaths of color. Right now I'm using synthetic bristles (Taklon, IIRC), mainly because they're cheaper, but I've heard that sable lasts longer, so I might take the plunge.

Primer: Armory primer is OK, but you need to mix it well first. We've been shaking the can until the rattle stops, and then putting it in warm water for a couple of minutes, to help mix the powder in with the propellant and fixer. As voltbang noticed last week, primer can go bad; it then becomes essentially airborne talcum powder that refuses to stick. But figures need primer for the paint to stick. You'll probably want a white or grey primer, depending on the kind of figure that you're painting -- grey is a good base primer for metallics.

Figures: An often-overlooked part of painting, the figures... Look at the figure and envision what kind of techniques you're going to need to use on it. Do they fit in with what you're good at and have on hand? It always sucks to go "man, I wish I had [foo], that'd make this look perfect." In fact, shop with the figure you've got in mind. Is it going to need a lot of dry-brushing? Might want to pick up an extra brush to do it with (drybrushing kills brushes). Would a wash make it look great? Think ink, then. If you're bad at a technique, find a cheap figure and practice it out (Ral Partha army packs are great for that -- $7-$10 for 5 figures, if you screw one or two up, no biggie).

How-To guides: Citadel has a book on painting minis, that includes some great tips (even though it's a bit steep, like $25). There're a couple of "how to" guides online (Reaper has one, I think there's one on coolminiornot.com (http://www.coolminiornot.com), and their boards are full of cool advice).