Miniature Painting

Miniature Painting
Miniature Painters Guild | BoardGameGeek - https://boardgamegeek.com/guild/view/909

Important Components

 * Paint
 * Fine Detail Paint Brushes
 * Primer (black / gray / white)
 * Sealer

Anti-shine vanish?

Black wash?

White Primer Testors Acrylic Plastic Model Paint

Avoiding Tacky Texture
I would be the painter of Funbelievable's miniatures. I used the same method that I have for the last two years. 
 * 1) Wash the miniature with mild soap.
 * 2) Prime miniature with Vallejo SKY GREY paint
 * 3) Base paint, wash, then finishing touches
 * 4) Varnish with Vallejo Matte Finish.

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Brushing on some watered down wood glue (gorilla wood glue) worked for me. Leaves a bit of a dull layer on black areas, but it's better than repainting IMO. 

Paint Types
HobbyTown USA - Duluth, GA - HobbyTown USA - Duluth, GA - http://www.hobbytownduluth.com/hobby-tools/paints-faq.html


 * Enamels:
 * Enamel paints are very versatile and can be used on paper, metal, wood, glass, some plastic, and many other materials. Enamels should not be used on polycarbonate plastics such as lexan car bodies since the paint will not adhere well. These paints use an oil and resin base and can be thinned with mineral spirits. Enamel paints come in matte and gloss finishes and can be brushed or sprayed. If an airbrush is used, the paint must be thinned by 40 or 50%.


 * Acrylics:
 * Acrylic paints are just as versatile as enamel but will not hold up to moisture as well. As with enamel paints, acrylics come in matte and gloss finishes and can be brushed or sprayed. Acrylic paints can be thinned with water, acrylic thinners and isopropyl alcohol for use in airbrushes. In many ways, acrylics may be a better choice than enamels. They are non-toxic, have little odor and can be cleaned up with water.


 * Epoxy:
 * Epoxy paint is popular with R/C plane hobbyists because it offers a very tough finish and is fuel-proof when dry. Spraying from a can is the most effective method of application, airbrushing is not recommended since this glue will clog the brush.


 * Lacquer:
 * Most lacquers have a cellulose base so care should be taken in determining what materials to paint. Lacquers are primarly used on R/C car bodies where, if applied in light coats, the paint will fuse itself to the plastic giving a very tough finish. Lacquer is also very popular with hobbyists building wood kits of boats and planes because it is tough, fuel-proof and resistant to water when dry. In most cases, lacquer should not be used directly on plastic models but can be applied over an enamel primer. If applied directly, the paint will warp or melt a plastic model.

Acrylics
Matte vs Satin vs Gloss

Acrylic Sealer
 * http://www.michaels.com/mod-podge-clear-acrylic-sealer-matte/10194372.html
 * http://www.michaels.com/krylon-acrylic-crystal-clear/10520106.html


 * Testors Dullcote

Acrylic Primer:
 * Krylon Fusion for Plastics
 * http://www.amazon.com/Krylon-K02518000-Plastic-Aerosol-12-Ounce/dp/B000GOV11M
 * http://www.amazon.com/Krylon-K02519000-Plastic-Aerosol-12-Ounce/dp/B000GONZC0
 * http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Krylon+Fusion

Apply Primer to Miniatures to Make Paint Stick - http://www.how-to-paint-miniatures.com/miniature-painting-apply-primer.html
 * Less Primer Means Sharper Details
 * You'll always want to use a flat, or "matte" primer, meaning it's nonreflective.
 * Prime miniatures with white primer

Recommended to spend a little more for: Vallejo or Citadel paints

Paint Pots - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000KNJCZQ/?tag=article-boardgamegeek-20

Tutorials
Painting Miniatures How To - http://www.how-to-paint-miniatures.com/

Painting plastic minis - A "how to" guide for beginners [Warning: Contains 175 images!] | BoardGameGeek | BoardGameGeek - https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/687047/painting-plastic-minis-how-guide-beginners-warning

Training
Miniature Mentor - Miniature Painting and Sculpting Tutorials - http://www.miniaturementor.com/

Tips
- Painting white is hard. Especially when you prime black.

- Priming white is hard. Mistakes stand out more.

- I need a wet palette. My paint is drying as I'm applying the multiple coats, and it turns all rough, ruining the detail.

- I need better brushes. After just a few models, the bristles are splitting.

- I can't paint eyes. I don't have that kind of brush control.

- I love using washes; It makes my models look halfway decent.

- You can't apply a wash to white - It makes it all dirty.

- I need some other way to shade/highlight white armor.

Response:

- prime white. That's what white primer is for. Besides, dark colors cover better on white.

- THIN YOUR PAINTS. It's OK if it takes 2-3 layers to get an even coat, it's gonna look leagues better than 1 coat of paint straight from the pot.

- get 2 magic liquids: glaze medium and flow improver. Flow improver (which is basically very very thinned detergent) makes your paint behave more like a wash, i.e. flow into cracks and recesses, while glaze medium (I use Vallejo) does the opposite and will thin your paint while making it stay where you want it (and you can make half-transparent layers using it).

- you need a bigger brush. Try artist's stores. Those can hold their point as well or better than standard miniature brushes and take more paint which means longer to dry on your brush. Also, wash your brush frequently. No, 2-3 times more often. It's amazing how much brush wear is paint drying on the bristles.

- trick for making eyes: don't paint the whole white, just 2 dots on the sides and a black dot in the middle. Sounds harder but is actually easier to pull off than painting the whole white + pupil. Oh, and don't use white but off-white/bone color for eyes.

- yes you can apply a wash to white, just get a better wash. For example, all GW/Army Painter washes have something I call "gothifier" - seems like small amounts of black ink mixed in that helps shade the minis better, but looks bad on bright colors. Get a wash without the gothifier or make your own (see flow improver). Good colors for washing white are grey/bluish grey/blue.

- you want your white armor a shade darker so you can use pure white only for the sharp highlights. I normally highlight light armor by glazing (also, it's fun to differentiate similar colors by different shade colors/methods)

Learning To Paint - Tips Appreciated! - Miniatures - Infinity: the Game Community - http://infinitytheforums.com/forum/topic/20658-learning-to-paint-tips-appreciated/

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Nine Tips by RPG Athenaeum
Nine tips for leveling-up your miniature painting skills Dec 18 by Alric

While many may consider the practice of painting miniature figures to be a hobby separate from role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, the origin of these games traces directly back to tabletop wargaming, and the painted miniatures associated with them. And although the recent availability of pre-painted miniatures has served to separate the activities of painting from game play, a significant subset of Dungeons & Dragons players and dungeon masters still paint their own miniatures, just as they have for more than 30 years.

Clearly, the idea of buying pre-painted miniatures “to save time,” – as if miniature painting was some sort of chore – is a foreign concept to these game masters, who recognize that painting one’s own figures can bring great satisfaction and can inspire creativity.Prior posts have mentioned that this writer teaches painting classes at a local gaming store as part of Reaper Miniatures’ Black Lightning Team; during those classes, painters new to the hobby have benefited from learning a few “tricks of the trade” that have led to almost immediate, marked improvement in their finished miniatures. Many of these tips have been published elsewhere and have been in common use for years – but every few classes, this writer shares one of the tips and a painter responds with a phrase like, “I’ve been painting for three years, and I’ve never heard that.”

The intent of this post, then, is to list helpful painting tips that readers can reference, supplemented by more tips that will hopefully be left as comments by readers.

This writer’s nine most frequently-offered tips include:

1. Pick figures with a level of detail reflective of your available time and painting ability. Like everything else, painting skill grows with practice; there is, therefore, nothing for which a new painter needs to feel ashamed. That being said, selecting a model that is too highly detailed for a given painter’s skill or time limitations can lead to a finished product that makes a good painter look average, and that makes an average painter look poor. Generally, choosing a simpler figure makes for a better basic paint job.

2. Choose your colors before you start. Discovering that two colors clash after they’re painted on the model is a frustrating experience, one that can be avoided by simply putting paint bottles from a proposed color scheme next to each other on the table before starting. Painters with no knowledge of color theory can purchase an inexpensive color wheel (this writer spent $4 U.S. at a local craft store for his) which shows the relationships between colors.

3. Cheat. This isn’t a general recommendation about morality, but a reminder that a paint job doesn’t have to be awesome to look awesome. Since miniature figures embody such tiny details, it isn’t always necessary to paint every part of a figure to the highest level of detail, especially if the figure will largely be viewed from a few feet away while it sits on a dungeon tile. A painter’s goal is as much to fool the eye as it is to please the eye. If painting pupils and irises in a figure’s eyes is beyond your painting ability – as it is beyond the ability of this writer – you don’t have to do it. By all means, practice trying to do it, but few people looking at a 25 mm-tall figure will notice that there are no irises surrounding the pupils.

4. Prime with black, then drybrush with white. Any ten painters will give ten different answers about whether to prime figures with black, white or gray paint, and why they choose to do so. One way this writer circumvents the whole question is by priming in black, then heavily drybrushing white paint over the entire figure, except for areas intentionally left black to be painted with metallic paints. By using this method, the deepest recesses of a figure remain an unobtrusive black – useful in case any spots are missed (see “Cheat,” above) – but raised areas and areas intended to be painted with bright colors are mostly an easy-to-cover white, so a painter won’t have to put six coats of flesh tones on a figure’s face to cover black primer. This effect also creates built-in highlights, since even the darkest acrylic paints are still slightly transparent; even with a unform basecoat, recessed areas will still appear shadowed and raised areas will appear lighter.

5. Stop using your paintbrush like a pencil. Many miniature painters instinctively hold the brush like a writing instrument. While doing so feels natural, the fingers end up positioned in such a way that the painter’s view of the figure is obscured. Try moving the point at which you grip the brush away from the bristles, to a distance about twice the width of your thumb. It will feel awkward at first, but you’ll like the results.

6. Brush control is your most valuable skill. Of all miniature painting skills, brush conrol – the ability to put paint exactly where you want it – is the monarch, upon which all other painting skills are based. It’s important, then, to learn this first. The easiest way to learn brush control is to use undiluted paint, straight out of the paint pot, when basecoating a figure. When practicing with undiluted paint, you’ll need to put a bit more on the brush or it will quickly dry out, and you won’t want to touch applied paint after it’s started to dry or you’ll end up with a cracked, flaky mess. When practicing brush control this way, don’t worry about details as much as controlling where the paint goes. Wet, undiluted paint is really just thickened water, and you can use your brush to tease “waves” out of the blobs of paint you put on the model, waves which you can push to the very edges of a garment, for example, without spilling over onto another part of the figure.

7. After you get brush control with undiluted paint, you have to learn to do it again. Painters seeking a smoother finish will thin their paints, either with water or an agent such as acrylic flow improver. The good news is that, by using these thinner coats, a painter greatly reduces the chance of fine details, like buttons and belt buckles, becoming obscured by thick globs of paint. Unfortunately, thinned paint behaves a lot more like water, so everything you just learned about brush control with undiluted paint doesn’t apply. If you thin paint, you need less of it on your brush to maintain control.

8. Paint the most difficult areas first. Some painters struggle with painting hair or skin on a figure; others have trouble with gems and jewels; still more have difficulty with freehand detail; this writer has trouble with eyes. Any aspect of a figure that troubles a painter should be done first; this way, an entire figure doesn’t need to be redone because, for example, the face didn’t look right when the painter finally summoned the courage to paint it.

9. Cook an extra steak. One fellow in this writer’s circle of friends is well-known for his uncanny ability to cook steaks over a charcoal fire exactly to order. On a cool evening last July, he shared his secret which, strangely enough, has immediate applications for miniature painting. He cooks an extra steak, but doesn’t tell anyone he’s doing it. Then, as he cooks, he periodically cuts off (and eats) sections of this extra steak to see where the other steaks are in the cooking process. This way, he knows exactly when the other steaks are rare, medium rare or well done, and by the time he’s done cooking, he’s eaten all the evidence that there was an extra steak in the first place. Miniature painters can do the same thing by having an extra, throw-away test model (or model parts) on hand to experiment on, just as the cook uses the extra steak. Wondering if the flesh wash you’re about to use on your figure is too dark? Try it on the extra figure first. And please don’t eat the evidence.

Nine tips for leveling-up your miniature painting skills « The RPG Athenaeum - https://rpgathenaeum.wordpress.com/2009/12/18/nine-tips-for-leveling-up-your-miniature-painting-skills/

Techniques
There is all sorts of techniques for painting you should look into. Dry brushing, Layering, inking, etc...all do different things with shadowing and coloring

Care and Feeding of Paint Brushes
by MyArtscape Paint Brushes

Q: What should I do when I get my set?

A: Always wash your brushes with warm water and a mild soap before using them for the first time. The brushes are coated with a water-soluble treatment for their protection during transit. Washing them will remove the coating and prepare them for their first use.

Q: What should I do if I receive a set with stray hairs?

A: We quality check each set before sending them to you, but we know we don't always get it right. If you receive brushes with stray hairs, please rinse them with warm water and reshape the heads. In many instances, this will return the hairs to their original position. If your brush has a single stray hair, you may wish to take a sharp craft knife and carefully cut the hair at the top of the ferrule.

Q: How should I clean my brushes?

A:
 * Wipe off excess paint from the brush using a towel or rag
 * Rinse off the remaining oil paint with odorless thinner or mineral spirits.
 * Rinse off the remaining acrylic/watercolor paint with lukewarm water and mild soap.
 * Repeat washing and rinsing the brush until the water runs clear.
 * Shake or wipe off excess water.
 * Using your fingers, gently reshape the brush head back into its original form.
 * Dry the brush, handle and ferrule by using a brush stand or the holder (if provided).

Q: How can I lengthen the lifespan of my brushes?

A:
 * Always clean your brushes immediately after use.
 * Never allow paint to dry on the brushes.
 * Never leave the brushes soaking in water.
 * Never stand the brushes on their heads.

Game Colors
72001 Dead White 72006 Sun Yellow 72008 Orange Fire 72010 Bloody Red 72022 Ultramarine Blue 72028 Dark Green 72051 Black 72052 Silver 72030 Goblin Green 72034 Bone White 72036 Bronze Fleshtone 72040 Leather Brown 72043 Beasty Brown 72049 Stonewall Grey 72054 Gunmetal 72055 Polished Gold