I am geek, hear me roar

[kellinator]

This weekend my love for shiny objects got the better of me and as I'd been considering, I took the plunge and bought miniatures, paints, brushes, and primer. Shiny figures!! Pretty colors!! Insert squeeing fangirliness here.

The only problem? My characters may have a high Dex, but I do not. I trip over my own feet on a regular basis. What made me think I could successfully paint tiny little details on tiny little pewter figurines without constantly getting paint where it's not supposed to go? Your guess is as good as mine. At least the figures I've been practicing on are smaller than the ones I really want to do a nice job on. I know, I know, gotta walk before you can run, but no one ever accused me of being patient...

Any more tips, or can people recommend some good painting guides (preferably online)?

Comments

[arkhamrefugee.livejournal.com]

www.gamesworkshop.com has some decent little tutorials. See how far they get you.

[gladstone.livejournal.com]

You gaming? I'd like to find a good group to game with. Any recommendations?

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Talk to adric -- you've met him at margarita_fri, right? He's thinking of starting up a group. Check his LJ for some more information.

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

Run, do not walk, to your nearest rock shop or lapidary supply for a Donegan OptiSight Magnifying Visor. It is an incredibly cool horizontal headband with magnifying lenses that you can flip down or up. Goes on over glasses. Really truly works. 14cyclenotes gave me one for my birthday to do cross-stitch with, and I gave one to him for his birthday she he could paint miniatures.

They cost around $25 in Silicon Valley, and they are worth Every Single Penny.

[tall-man.livejournal.com]

Reaper has a couple of really nice tutorials here (http://www.reapermini.com/?nav=The%20Craft&sub=Paint).

Tips... One, find a good solid table to paint on. We've got a coffee table that suits the purpose well. Cover the "working area" with some kind of paper (printer paper, blank newsprint, whatever). Seat yourself a little lower than you might normally do, so that your wrists are resting on the table. Use one hand to brace the other whenever possible. Move very slowly and deliberately.

And remember; if you screw up, you can paint over, or wash off with nailpolish remover (well, unless the figure's plastic, then you're just stuck with painting over). So relax!

[hooper-x.livejournal.com]

Your best bet is to buy like a bag of those plastic knights or cowboys or whatever and start painting those.

When you feel comfortable doing those, then think about moving down in size.

(I've painted everything from TINY (no bigger than my pinky knuckles) miniatures all the way up to full-sized transforming robots, so I think I'm kind of qualified to give advice.)

The most important things are your brushes and your paints, obviously. You need at least one fine brush to do detail work with, or you can cheap out and use a pin. Paint consistency is really important too. I like my paint... about the consistency paint SHOULD be. Not too watery, but not too gloppy, either. It should flow well. If you're using acrylics, and it glops up (as Games Workshop is REALLY bad about doing ever since they switched to the screw-top containers that suck) put a LITTLE water, like two drops, on the end of a mixing stick (I use a busted parts tree) and swoosh it up until it flows better.

That's my basic beginner advice.

Good luck, tho!

-HX

[juanfandango.livejournal.com]

Mix the paint thoroughly with a cocktail stick (or, indeed, cockatiel sick, but not if you want the same effect). You think you've mixed it thoroughly? No, you haven't. Mix it some more.

Wash the figure first in water and/or degreaser. Don't use washing-bowl liquid, it contains a glass-shine chemical that screws things up and won't let paint stick. The aim is to get mould release agent, your grubby fingerprints, etc, off. Especially important with plastic models, this.

Undercoat the figure. Cheap can of white car primer, light dusting. The paint goes on so much better.

A /good/ O or OO brush with a decent point is far better than a cheap OOO or OOOO or OOOOO brush. Take care of it. Regardless of the thinner used for the paint of your choice, always finish cleaning it with clean water.

Dark colours will look darker on such a small figure. Light colours will look lighter. Bear this in mind.

Painting guide

[voxaurorae.livejournal.com]

Yeah yeah, I know you don't know me. :) I got to your page through Dellaran's friends list. And as a (once) figure painter myself I thought I'd put in my two cents. The guide I used the most was one put out by Robin Wood of "The People of Pern" fame. I looked on her site, but didn't see it. I'm not sure if Dellaran still has a copy of it, but if he does I'm sure he'd share. :) If not, there's always DragonCon - Ms. Wood usually makes an appearance. There are some great tips in there, although I'm not sure I'd go so far as to string tiny lutes with strands of my own hair... (although I did rip apart a cheep necklace and bore holes with a tiny chisel to insert fake gems into a treasure chest once...)

~Vox~