Beginners Guide To Painting Miniatures

Needed Materials

The following is a list of basic materials needed the hobby of painting miniatures.

Paint/Ink

There is a wide variety of paints and inks on the market. Acrylic is the most popular for painting miniatures. Acrylics are relatively inexpensive and easy to clean. The basic colors to start with are:

Paint- white, yellow, green, brown, dark blue.
Ink- black, dark brown, green, blue.
(Make sure that your inks are opaque)

Brushes

As with many paints there are many different types of brushes on the market. I recommend using two sizes, 1 and 0, to start. Purchase the bets you can afford as a good quality brush will outlast many brushes of poorer quality.
NOTE: Nylon brushes are the best for painting miniatures. The synthetic bristles hold up to the "poking" motion when painting, better than the red sable.

Files

Jewelers files come in many shapes. If you are not able to purchase a full set, start with a rat tail file. As with most tools, get the best you can afford (I still use my original set and it's over 17 years old).

Craft Knife

The craft knife is mainly used along with your files when preparing your miniature. You will also find the craft knife a handy tool when doing conversions and sculpting.

Glue

There are many different glues to choose from. To start you will need a good quick drying super glue.

Pallet

Used to mix colors, this tool is often overlooked. A nonporous material is needed. I have found that on old white dinner plate or floor tile works best. Being nonporous you can easily clean the plate in dish water.

Art Box

Something big enough to keep all of your paints and tools in order. You can go to a local sporting goods store and purchase a cheap tackle box.

Area/Light

Last on the list of basic materials is the painting area and the light source. It is best to have an area out of the way that is permanently set up. Direct sunlight is best but in an imperfect world artificial light is needed. Get a lamp that you will be comfortable with, fluorescent or incandescent. I find that one of each (combined) gives the best and truest light.

Preparing The Figure

This process will always be the same no matter paint or painting style is. Start by cleaning flash and mold lines using your craft knife and files. Take care as these tools are sharp. Pay extra attention under arms and between legs for flash. Base and prime your miniature. I did not mention primer in the paint needed, as white paint applied thinly with a flat or shortened brush will work perfectly.
For ease of handling, you may mount your miniature to a roofing nail before priming. When painting large groups of miniatures, I mount 4 - 8 miniatures to a craft stick mounted to a roofing nail.

Painting The Figure

There are many techniques used in painting miniatures. Some are dictated by the type of paint you use. For this guide I will describe the most popular style, The 3 Step Technique.
When painting a miniature it is best to paint in the order it would have dressed. Start with the flesh, shirt, pants, etc. Leave metal, fur, hair and details for last.
The 3 Step Technique starts with painting a base color, adding a shade or a wash, and finishing by highlighting the raised areas. I will use painting a face as my example. Note that these steps apply to all areas

Begin by painting flesh color (base) on the face area. Once dry, use a diluted brown paint or ink wash to give it depth. Don't be afraid to apply generously covering all of the flesh area and letting the color flow into the creases. Let this dry completely. Finishing the steps use a little white mixed with the flesh base color to highlight. Before applying the paint, wipe the color onto a rag so your brush is dry. Lightly drag the brush across the raised areas leaving the lightened color only on the high points. This type of highlighting is also called dry brushing.
(see shade & highlight chart below for other colors)

Metal, Fur & Hair

Saving these areas for last, they will be painted in the same manner. Paint the area black (ink from the bottle works great). Be sure to paint along the edges, for example, around the face where the hair touches. Once dry, dry brush with the desired color. Repeat and highlight as desired. Lighten your touch with each pass.

Finishing

The final touch is to finish fine detail and blackline. Blacklining is painting a a thin line along the areas where two things meet separating and defining the detail on a miniature. Small parts such as belts and buttons may be painted black before you add color so you will not need to blackline.
Once your miniature is completely dry you may want to use a clear protective coating. You have many choices; brush or spray, matte or gloss. By far the best on the market is Krylon Matte Finish #1311. This can be found at professional art stores.

In Conclusion

The 3 Step Technique is a style that is easy for a beginner to learn. With practice using this style you can produce award winning figures.
In future guides I will cover other techniques, styles and areas of interest for painting miniatures.