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rec.games.miniatures.misc,rec.games.miniatures.historic Subject: Miniatures Painting
Guide and FAQ Keywords: Comment: Available for FTP from rtfm.mit.edu in usenet/rec/games/miniatures or from http://agora.rdrop.com/users/tierna/Painting_Guide or by email from tierna@agora.rdrop.com. Frequently Asked Items This document is presented to help the inexperienced miniatures painter get a grasp of the basics. Most answers given were collected from months of discussion on rec.games.miniatures and represent the experiences and tips of a great many people. The rest of the answers are Britt's, compiled from hours and hours of experimentation and practice. Many answers are not absolute. Painting is an art and in art there are few absolutes. This FAQ is scheduled to be posted monthly, around the 20th of each month. An informal format is being used because it's easier. NOTICE: This document is
Copyright (c) 1995/1998 by Brenda Klein. Use and copying of this
information is permitted, so long as the following conditions are met: IMPORTANT CHANGE: The email address of the FAQ maintainer is now: tierna@agora.rdrop.com NEW STUFF: There's a new book in section 1.A. Are there books on painting available? ================ (* denotes changed entries) 2. Should I
prime? (Also, what should I do to the miniature before priming?) 8. What is
kitbashing? 9. How can I
paint details? 10. What is an overcoat and should I use one? 11. How do I keep paint from drying out? 12. How do I use an airbrush for miniatures? 13. How/where do I get miniatures? 13.A. Is there a list of companies?
Questions and Answers ============================= 1. How do I get started painting? 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. * 1.A. Are there books on painting available? There are several, though
probably not all publications will meet all painters' needs. The best
descriptions and information available at this time are listed below: Guide to Miniature Painting by Ken Carpenter, published by Alderac Entertainment Group, 1996. The cover price is $9.95. It's a full colour, soft cover booklet of about 167x260 mm. It has 64 pages (excluding back and cover), of which 8 are full paged advertisements, and handles basic and advanced painting techniques. All is explained quite clearly and demonstrated on miniatures from several brands. As far as I'm concerned it's one of the better books on the subject. Citadel produces a Painting Guide which is a $1 pamphlet. It was also reprinted in the back of Golden Demon Awards , which covers the finalists and many entries in the 198? Golden Demon Awards , and also in Fantasy Miniatures , which is likely a later printing of Awards. Citadel currently produces a book for its games called 'Eavy Metal . The book retails around $20 US and has a lot of excellent information, if you remember that the only standards you need to adhere to are your own. Some people love the way GW- painted miniatures look, others hate them. It's all a matter of taste. The first edition of BattleSystem (TSR, trademark, blah-blah) had a nice, though thin, intro to painting with pictures of a work in progress. (Thanks, Coyt!) (David Lee McLellan is to be thanked for finding the next two titles.) The Armory Painting Guide to Military Miniatures. A 24-page pamphlet which costs $3.00 US. They also do a painting guide to horses which costs $2.00 US. Both are aimed at the wargaming audience. Building and Painting Scale Figures by Sheperd Paine, available from Kalmbach Publishing. (Steve Gill kindly listed the following from his personal library.) Making Model Soldiers of the World by Jack Cassin-Scott pub: John Bartholomew and son Ltd 1973, 1977 Quite a good little book, covers design, sculpting and casting of figures as well as sections on painting. Due to it's emphasis on 54mm Napoleonic figures it has a very good section on horses. The Encyclopedia of Military Modelling gen ed Vic Smeed, con ed Alec Gee pub: Octopus Books 1981, Peerage Books 1985 Large coffee table size book: has sections on all the major historical periods, the different types of figures available, equipment, vehicles, dioramas and displays. Sort of a collection of long articles from the Military Modeling magazine crowd. Buildings for the Military Modeller -Design & Construction by Ian Weekley pub: B.T.Batsford Ltd 1989 Covers Ian Weekleys building techniques, more is spent on describing the subject than the techniques used, unfortunately, but very inspirational. (Gary Leitzell himself kindly provided the information about his book.) Brush Strokes Has been advertised in Military History Magazine, had reviews in MWAN and The Courier and had an article published in issue 61 of Courier on painting. Mail orders to World Games Network, P.O. Box 15834, Pittsburgh, PA 15244. Include $12.95 per copy, which includes shipping and handling, in check or money order. Also, Renaissance Ink publishes
a monthly newsletter that covers painting techniques (12 issues $15.00).
We also offer a pocket miniatures painting guide with shading and
highlighting chart for paints and inks ($0.50). To receive these
publications mail: 1.B. What kind of paint should I use? This question has sparked some
vigorous discussion from two major camps: acrylics and enamels. First, a
description of what these terms mean: Acrylic paint is water-base and tends to be smoother, though if it gets dry it can become grainy. All you need to thin or clean up with this stuff is tap water. Discussion on the newsgroup rec.games.miniatures has uncovered that more posters prefer the acrylics to oils. (This author uses acrylics.) Again, a matter of taste. The basic colours from which just about anything can be mixed are white, black, brown (you can mix this yourself, but it's a pain), red, yellow, blue, and gray (same as above). Metallics, various shades and hues, practically anything you can think of is available through one company or another. Start with the basics and expand as you feel you need it. Soon enough you'll have more paint than you ever imagined you'd need, and likely use every one. Most like-type (acrylic or oil) can be mixed regardless of brand, but be cautious at first as some brands are incompatible. Companies which manufacture
miniature-formulated paints: There are other companies, of
course, these are just the ones the author could think of right now.
Most paints are available at your local hobby or gaming shop, and places
that specialize in miniature railroad equipment often have the best
selection. Railroad paints are often oil-based, but primers and sealers
of that type are usually quite good at preserving detail. Paints may be
bought by the individual bottle (usually under $2 US per) or in sets. If
you buy a set, be sure that you can _see_ all the paints before
purchase. This way, you'll assure that you get what you're looking for
and that the consistencies are good. SHAKE all paint before purchase, to
make sure they mix up well. 1.C. What kind of brushes should I use? Brushes come in a myriad of
sizes and several different materials. Sizes range from 1" to 20/0
or more. The more 0s the smaller the brush, generally, however companies
vary in size so the only true scale is to look and compare. Drybrushing destroys good
brushes so a couple camel hair for drybrushing is a good idea. Again,
look at them before you buy. Make sure the tips are smooth and end in a
point and the sizes are right. A good brush retails anywhere from $3 to
$8, so it's a purchase to take time over. Brushes are available at hobby
and game shops, often at crafts stores at a better price. 1.C.a. How should I clean my brushes? It depends on your paint type, mostly. For acrylics which are water-based, a good careful washing with warm water and dish detergent is fine. Remember to re-form the tips into points before storage. For oil-based paints, your best bet by far is to buy a bottle of thinner made by the same company as your paints. Not all paint is formulated the same and thinner is often product-specific. Also, Badger brand "Air-Opaque ready-to-use- cleaner" for airbrushes does a wonderful job of getting dried paint off of paintbrush bristles, either acrylic or oil-based. It costs $4 for 16oz. (Thanks to Bill Gilliland for that tip.) While we're at it, there are
three `nevers' to brush-handling. Never scrub a good brush across either miniature or blotter. Never let paint dry on your brush. This'll fray the bristles into an unusable mass. When cleaning a brush while
painting, gently rotate it against the side of the solvent/water
container until the bristles stop exuding paint. A gentle wipe across
the blotter before washing the paint out of the bristles both saves
solvent/water from clouding prematurely and helps get rid of traces of
paint you can't readily see. A clear solvent/water container is
desirable so you can monitor its cloudiness and how clean the brush is
coming. 1.D. What other equipment do I need? Not much. Something to hold
your water/solvent (two of them if you're working with metallics, one
for the regular paint and one for the metallic - keeps flecks out of the
other stuff, and change often to keep from muddying your colours), a
palette of some sort (professional, ceramic tile, old plate, even the
plastic bubble from a large miniature or two - Coyt suggests the plastic
lid from a large margarine tub or the like covered with foil. When done,
strip the foil off and discard), and GOOD LIGHTING. Against a window is
ideal, if not a good overhead light or adjustable lamp is a must. A magnifying glass - useful for
seeing fine detail. An X-acto blade can be helpful,
tweezers can be invaluable if you'll be gluing, files and emery boards
are used to remove sprue, mold lines, and anything else you don't want.
Nail scissors get into places larger ones can't. 2. Should I prime? (Also, what should I do to the miniature before priming?) Yes. Primer not only assures
for good paint adhesion, but it also brings up detail more starkly than
on an unprimered miniature. Now that that's settled, we go into another
major area of controversy among painters: how? The only thing painters
seem to agree upon is that a spray primer is best, and the primers
specifically formulated for miniatures are better at retaining detail.
Some folks use Krylon with very good results, but it takes a light and
even spray to retain detail. Companies that put out good spray primers
are Ral Partha, Armory, Floquil, Model Master, Testors, and Citadel.
Krylon is the best of the non-hobbyist primers, but other store brands
are in the same league. If you use sandable primer, be especially
careful to use thin coats so as to not obscure detail. (Many department
stores and most home improvement centers carry spray primer at much
lower cost than hobby and other specialty shops.) "First, be sure you shake
the paint well. It says on the can you should shake it for a full
minute, so I do it for two minutes. Shake during use, too. The second
thing is spraying the figures with the `good' stream of spray. You do
this by starting the spray before it hits the figs and stopping the
spray after it hits the figs. The spray that comes out of the can when
you first start spraying and when you stop spraying is incomplete -- it
has too much or too little paint, and/or too much or too little carrier.
What I do is put the figs out on newspaper and start spraying the
newspaper to one side of the figs, when the spray has been coming out
for a half-second or so, I pass the spray over the figs, and when the
spray has passed over the figs, I stop. This assures that only properly
mixed paint is falling on the figs. It takes longer and wastes some
paint, but the finish is worth it to me. Next, keep the can as upright
as possible, and keep the nozzle about 10 inches from the figs. Any
closer and it's too hard to control the amount of paint on the figs. Any
further and the paint starts to dry before it hits the figs. And
finally, IMO you should never use a whole can of paint (on figs anyway).
It seems like when the can is about 3/4 of the way empty, the paint is
really crappy, uneven and it comes out of the can in spurts. And Coyt
reminds us to always make sure you get the underside of the miniature as
well, particularly if it's a figure in a cloak or the like. Spray upward
and at an angle and make passes from all sides to assure coverage. 2.A. Black, white, or gray? A thousand answers exist for
this one. The best advice available seems to be use what you prefer.
White primer makes colours go on brighter and is best for anything on
which you want that effect. Black primer gives good shadows and is
commonly used to base modern military and skeleton figures. Gray is
rather neutral allowing for brighter light colours and decent shading.
The best tip so far is to experiment and see what you like. Also, and
the author likes this effect, prime in black and then drybrush raised
areas in white before painting. This allows for the depth of the darker
shade but gives the lighter base for the brighter colors. 3. What's the first step after priming? Pick the colours you want for
the major areas (skin, each piece of clothing and armour, hair, shield)
and paint them on in layers. Think of dressing the miniature. Start with
eyes, move on to face and hands, then clothing, armour, hair, lastly
weapons. You aren't going for massive detail just now, you're only
setting each area's base colour. Make certain the paint goes on smoothly
and remember to paint from top to bottom. Once you have this part done,
it's time for detailing. This is achieved by many different techniques
such as drybrushing, washing, shading, and highlighting. 4. What are shading, washing, drybrushing, highlighting and glazing? These are techniques to give a little realism to your miniatures. % Shading and highlighting give the illusion that there is lightshining upon the figure. Shading details the folds and shadows and highlighting picks out the brighter, better lit areas. Washing, glazing, outlining and blending are all methods of shading. (See below.) %
Drybrushing is a highlighting method, as is simply accentuating the high
spots with a bit of paint a bit lighter than the base. %
Glazing is done with inks, as can be washing and outlining. % Outlining is simply picking out the line between two separate parts of the miniature (i.e. sleeve and arm) and painting or inking in a fine line of either black or a darkened shade of the base in order to bring out the division between the two sections. % Blending is rather difficult and takes much practice. To blend one changes the tone of the paint as it crosses the surface of any non-detailed section, as Mecha armour or unscaled hide. Darker shades are laid into any depressions and carefully thinned and blended into the surrounding areas using a damp brush. (This is NOT a technique for beginners. The author still has trouble getting her blending to look good, and finds nothing wrong with not shading miniatures at all. Again, try it and see if you want to practice the technique or not. Another personal-choice situation.) Some excellent advice from Coyt D Watters: "If you're using acrylics, you can pick up several TONING MEDIUMs, which alter the brightness of the paint without the headache of black. I've started using a drop of white, a drop of black, and a drop of toning and mixing all four with equal parts of the color I'm using, so I get light - color - toned color - dark My first attempt was on one of the mages in Partha's Forgotten Realms set, and the cloak looks better than anything I've done, and I haven't drybrushed or washed it yet."] And a tip from Christian Widmer : "Use a slower on acrylic colours. This slows them from drying but they do still not cover if they didn't before. Warning, oil colours tend to lose their colours and go brown-grey when I try this." Nick Fogelson shares his methods, which are far better than anything the author could provide (used without permission): "The way I always do blending is to put a smudge of the two end colors in a strip, separated about 1.5 inches. I then use a slightly moist brush to mix them together into a spectrum. The colors near the original smudge will be closer to that color, the colors in the middle should be fairly even mixes of the two. You then have a nearly infinite palette of color to use. You can do a nice blend with only 5 or so shades that looks really good unless you magnify it. Alternatively: Say you want to go up red to yellow. Paint the entire area yellow. Put a block of watery red on the top. Slowly draw a moist brush down the area, drawing the red pigment with it. If you're patient, this method will bring the best results (but if you're not, you'll get a big mess)." Kenneth Creta also has two good
techniques: "This idea was suggested by Tom Harris and I added a
little of my own touches. Let's say you want to fade from green to
black. Just paint the whole darn thing green. At the point where you
want it to fade, wash with a black ink. When dry, wash again but a
little farther down and so on until the bottom is black. The first ink
is not a smooth transition so when the washes are done, go back and
dry-brush green over the first ink line and this will smooth it out. The
washes may be diluted to the desired consistency." Here's another banding method from Roxanne Reid-Bennett : "I have a Water Elemental that was done in this style (Rafm). The typical way of handling this is to "blend" two colors together (which I have a LOT of trouble with). What I did was to paint the base (bottom 1/2") dark blue (RP Paladin) then used graduated shades of blue (about 5 different) up towards the top of the figure where I used a light blue (Sky) for the upper torso of the elemental. After the bands were in place I went back and used mixed intermediates on the band overlap areas. I kept this up until the graduated shading looked right. Some of the intermediates I watered down some so they wouldn't go on very thick. I really wish I could "blend" like the books and FAQ say - by mixing the two wet paints in the middle - but so far haven't succeeded. "For finishing work I used a slightly darker blue for wash on the torso to bring out the muscles. I used white on the tips of the water waves and washed in blue. Just for final effect I washed the whole figure in Pearl White (RP). Gives the figure a nice wet look - even with a flat seal cover. "So the hard way is to literally to paint stripes on the figure in shades close enough to each other that our (human) eyes can't see the distinct lines." And here's a rather advanced
shading/blending/tinting method from John Colasante , used without
permission: "Lets say you want to paint an orange tunic on a
figure. Mix the base color and plop a pile on your pallette. Next to it,
plop down a dark tint and a light tint. For orange, lets say dark brown
and yellowish-white. It doesn't matter what kind of pigment you use,
water base or oil base. Now, tint the base color with the dark tint and
paint the entire tunic, or even drybrush the tunic if painting over a
dark primer. When dry, paint the basecoat over the dark tint, BUT NOT
ALL THE WAY TO THE EDGES. Also, leave tinted dark shade in the folds.
Next, tint light and highlight the center and high spots. Note: this is
similar to drybrush except you are painting color here, not actually
drybrushing, so you get a certain effect which it different than pure
drybrush. In fact, it often looks nice when there is a clear demarcation
between the tinted shades on certain surfaces, almost like color
contours. Use more than three tint levels for certain effects. It sounds
tedious but if you use the palette it's _very_ fast and the results
often look much better than the purely drybrushed highlights, especially
for larger, flat areas where drybrushing might miss." 4.A. How do I wash? Washing comes before drybrushing. Take a shade darker than your base color and dilute it until
it's about the consistency of milk. Now,
brush it across, gently. It'll flow into folds and crevasses.
Makes cloth look real good. Remember, you can always add
wash, so start light and work your way up. Don't be afraid to wash,
then darken and wash again, until you've reached the effect you
like. Wash yellows with yellow-orange or yellow-brown, flesh with
light brown, white with bluish-white or gray. Experiment, only
you can set your style. 4.A.a. Why do my washes dry badly? It seems that once in a while,
even though the inks and washes
have been mixed properly, they end up drying, not in
the low spots like they should, but on the high contours. It
has something to do with the density of the wash and the
slickness of the surface; on matte surface the effect is
more prominent than on glossy surfaces. It happens because
a pool of wash in a recess starts to dry from the edges,
then the rest of the paint in the wash adheres to the
already dry paint, producing a ring of paint around the recess.
There are four methods that can help solve the problem: 4.B. How do I drybrush? 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. 4.C. How do I highlight? Drybrushing is the best method
of highlighting any large area or area
with repetitive 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 brush point 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. 4.D. What are inks, should I use them, and if so, how? Inks are just that,
semi-transparent tones that can be used to add colour
and shading to a miniature. If you wish to go beyond the range
of paints, you might wish to try working with them. Unless
using for outlining, inks should always be thinned slightly
for glazing and rather a lot for washing. A milk-like consistency
is best for washing (or even thinner, since you can always
wash again if more is needed) and about 50-50 ink and water is
best for glazing. If you do
not get the specially formulated for miniatures inks (the
only brand known to the author is Citadel, and they're very good),
then the best information available comes from Wade Hutchison,
as posted to rec.games. miniatures
and is edited and used here without permission: "A
tip about Inks. If you go to the art supply store to buy your
inks, be sure and get _pigmented_ inks, not transparent ones.
Pigmented inks, especially brown, work much better for a
wash than the transparent ones. Red and blue don't seem to matter
as much. For shading white, there is a really good ink color
called "Payne's Grey" whick is a kind of blue-grey. It does
a much better job than black when washing white or very light
tans and greys." Recommended
also have been Windsor & Newton inks. Inks
are best used as washes, for outlining, and as glazes. When
washing with inks on a matte surface (or on any other, actually),
a gentle blowing of air from the top to the bottom of
the miniature helps keep the ink from drying back up into the raised
areas. The author usually blows lightly until the wash stops
looking slick-wet. %
Glazing is done with inks. In this technique, a slightly darker tone
than the base is thinned and then brushed over the entire surface
and allowed to dry. Glazing brings out a richness of colour
not possible with paint alone. Glazing should be done after
highlighting and shading and tends to bring up detail of these
well. 4.E. What colours should I use for detail work? Here's a standard chart on what looks good together (remember, nothing is absolute. Try new blends and develop your own preferences):
NOTE: colour+colour means two
or more colours mixed, colour-colour means
either a commercial shade of that name or colours mixed. 5. What should I use for bases? 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 separately, pennies or flat washers,
cardboard (not recommended - bends too easily), tiles, wood, sheet
metal, matte 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. 5.A. What's the best stuff to cover bases with? Again, a matter of how
natural-looking and/or durable you want the
base to be. For foliage, the hands-down favourite material is
the model railroader's ground covering. Woodland Scenics has an
excellent selection and it's inexpensive (particularly when you
figure that the small bags of the stuff can do 100 miniature bases
or more). Bill Gilliland uses something
called GRASS (es, all caps) from Life-Like Scenery, which
is ultra-fine sawdust which has been coloured. 6. How do I strip paint? There are several substances which will work, outlined below. Other than the top two (which are the author's personal default choices), they're in no particular order. a) Pine Sol
for a 24-hour soak then brush off remaining paint with a soft
toothbrush. Works great on metal. Brian Lojeck <lojeck@mizar.usc.edu>
ran extensive tests on Citadel plastic genestealers
and Pine Sol for paint removal. Here are his results:
"I soaked the plastic
genestealer in about 50-50 Pine Sol/water solution
for 7-8 hours (a nights sleep). The plastic didn't seem softer, the
detail didn't seem any worse, and the paint came off pretty well (as it
always does with Pine Sol. it was hard getting the paint out of the
cracks (I soaked in acetone to do that)." Then
he soaked some unpainted Citadel plastic figures in another 50-50
Pine Sol/water solution: "The
figure survived whole, without softening or loss of detail. The
solution turned milky white about 30 minutes after the experiment
started, but had cleared back to golden by morning." <Britt's
note - that's the standard Pine Sol reaction in water, does same when
I'm cleaning the toilet.> Brian left the figures soaking another 48
hours and they didn't mar under the toothbrush bristles,
but he was able to stick his fingernail into the plastic about
1/16". It looks like the 50-50 mix is the key. Certain other
pine-oil cleaners of less strength than Pine Sol are on the market.
Anyone who tests these on plastic figures is encouraged to
send the author your results for inclusion here. 7. What kind of miniatures should I start with? 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
modeling 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 judgment. 7.A. Metal or plastic? Opinion varies. Some favour
plastic because it's cheaper, some prefer
metal for better detail. Choose according to your own budget
and preferences. 7.A.a. My miniature came in multiple parts, now what? Get the smallest file you can
find, a pair of scissors, and some
glue. If it's a plastic miniature, you can use model cement
or super glue, if it's metal use Zap-A-Gap, super glue,
or any model formulated cyanoacrylate. On plastic, first clip in as
close as possible with scissors (nail scissors are
excellent) then file. On metal, carefully file the edges. The
goal is to get the pieces to fit together as closely as possible.
Once they do, clean them with soap and water to remove
all shavings, dry, and glue. Hold for about twice as long
as is recommended for the glue to set. The innovative miniaturist
can come up with a great many ways to clamp, fasten,
or hold parts together until everything's dry. (Regretfully,
the author has forgotten who posted this tip
[likely it was Tom Harris], but it's excellent: "A
little note, if you're working with super glue keep a
wet tea bag handy. If you spill super glue on your hands
wipe it on the tea bag and the tea bag will absorb it
- tea bags are highly absorbent of chemicals. It works great
for me and I don't end up with shells on the ends of
my fingers of dried super glue.") (This
one comes from John F. Bailey : "If
you do become adhered to yourself or pieces via super
glue (cyanoacrylate), most of them can be dissolved with acetone. May
take a little soaking, but it works. Unfortunately it also removes skin
oils almost completely. Follow
it with isopropyl alcohol to neutralize the acetone then
lots of soap and water to neutralize the alcohol, and then
a good moisturizing lotion to replenish skin oils and avoid
those nasty dry skin diseases (eczema, etc.). A bit of
a pain, and it eats most plastics, but a whole lot better than surgery
to remove that battle-axe. A preventive technique is to use
"barrier cream", not a lot of mechanics in this country use it
even though it is very common
in the UK, but I have obtained it by asking for it in pharmacies/drug
stores. You put it on like hand lotion before
you get into something. It dries to a thin film that protects your skin
from most solvents, gas, oil, etc., and washes off with soap and
water.") Note: If
working with cyanoacrylate, have the acetone (nail polish
remover is the most available form) on hand and nearby. When
you aren't prepared, you'll end up stuck to something. Murphy loves
modelers. Once the glue has
dried, take an X-acto blade or razor blade and
carefully clean off the excess glue, if any. A file or emery
board will also do the trick. You'll
have to wash the miniature again before primering, to remove
hand oils and glue remains. After
you've gotten the basics of gluing your miniatures, the best stuff you
can use is epoxy. It's permanent, filable, and
works exceptionally well on miniatures that will get a lot
of handling. 7.A.b. What is pinning and how is it done? Pinning is a method of securing
multiple-piece miniatures by
drilling small holes and inserting wire before gluing in
order to reinforce the joint. Required are a pin vise, suitable
size drill bit, thin wire (copper wire, paper clip wire,
anything like that) and either cyanoacrylate model glue
or epoxy. 8. What is kitbashing? Kitbashing is the colloquialism
used by miniaturists to describe the process
by which a miniature is converted from its original form to another
permutation, such as taking a fantasy miniature and making it
into a figure for superhero roleplaying, or changing gender. Most
properly, it refers to the
instances when two or more figures are used for
components in the final version. 8.A. How do I convert miniatures? 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 explanation, a fantasy figure will be used, the change being from sword to battle axe, 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 thoroughly 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. %A
note on drilling, thanks to Andrew Reibman: "A
useful tip for figure converters and folks drilling out spears
to replace them with wire. Before drilling (with either
pin vice or dremel tool) dip
the bit in Johnson's tube wax (what the pros in the machine
shop use), dried-out Simonize car wax (my choice), or
other wax. Even a bar of soap may work. "Since a buddy of mine who
spent his career in machine
shop recommended this, I've cut bit breakage down
by a huge fraction, and starting and drilling are both much easier. I
use to break my .014 bits, used for starter wholes in tough 15mm jobs,
about once every ten holes - well
that's an exaggeration, but I did break a lot of bits... The
wax lubricates the bit, and "keeps the flutes from filling/jamming",
allowing the cutting end of the bit to
do the job more effectively." Brian
Oplinger says that turpentine, mineral
spirits, and paint thinner also make good bit lubricants. If
things get hot, though... And remember to ventilate. 8.B. What kind of glue should I use? 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 cyanoacrylates 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 ground covering 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 cyanoacrylate see section 7.A.a. above. 9. How can I paint details? Finest brush you can get, a
steady hand, lots of patience, and good lighting.
Fine detailing includes (but is by no means restricted to) faces,
eyes, jewelry, shield devices and banners, small clothing details,
weapon decoration, insignia, and armour detail. For many of these,
some of the highlighting/washing/drybrushing tips above apply, for
others a whole new range of techniques are necessary. 9.A. How do I paint faces? 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. Mustaches
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. 9.A.a. How do I paint eyes? Depending on the size of the miniature, there are a couple of good methods. On a 15mm or smaller miniature, don't try too hard for absolute detail until you've gotten a lot of practice in. On 25mm and larger, though, eyes can be done rather easily (with practice, of course). Below are several methods: % Before painting the face, paint the eyes white. When that's dry, dot them black. Then paint a slightly darker shade than you're going to use for the rest of the face around the eyes to define them (mix a touch of brown or tan into the flesh tone for this). Then paint the rest of the face. % [This method is courtesy of Andrew Cameron Willshire: "Another easy way is to paint the white of the eye with a brush. Let it dry. Then, take a tech pen (architectural or engineering) and draw the iris. With another tech pen, dot in the pupil. Note that this requires a few different pens since you'll want a few different colours - say black, blue, brown and maybe green. "This is a really easy technique, and since the ink is water based if you muck up you can just rinse it off (this is assuming you use enamels for the rest of the figure, like I do)." [Author's note: even if you use acrylics, if the white is already dry you can still blot the ink off with a damp Q-tip or the tip of a damp, fine brush.] "It also works great on monsters, say orcs. However, they tend to look better with `reds' instead of `whites' in their eyes, then having a white iris and black pupil - very nasty looking! Tech pens may be a little pricey to pick up, but you can easily find sets with a few in them that are reasonably cheap. They also work magnificently for such things as flag details, shield heraldry and so forth." % Steve Harvey has some advice regarding affordable tech pens: "Most tech pens are obscenely expensive, but there are two brands of non- refillable tech pens that I am aware of. Sakura makes an excellent series of tech pens called Pigma - these come in a variety of colors, in sizes ranging from .005mm to .8, and cost about $2 each. I like these so much that even though I have a set of Pentel professional tech pens, I use these instead. Schwan/Stabilo also makes a series of pens called OHPen 96 (or at least that's what it says on the barrel of mine...) which also come in numerous colors and several sizes. They are not as fine as a true tech pen, but they will write on ANYTHING - glass, plastic, etc. without the ink beading. The one thing to watch out for is that they come with either permanent or water-soluble ink; the latter are popular as overhead transparency markers, but for miniature work, the permanent is what you want." % [This method is given by Allan Wright and has been edited]: "I paint eyes on 25mm (and 15mm officers, standard bearers, etc) with a technique taught to me by a friend. 1. Fill the eye socket with white. I use an OOO brush, one stroke horizontally across each socket. Be sloppy, it's OK. 2. Paint the middle of the eye, Black, Dark brown or Dark blue. Paint a vertical stripe down the center of the eye - taking up the middle third of the eye socket - don't worry about going over the top/bottom edges. Again I use an OOO brush. In both let the brush 'fan out' 3. Eyebrow - paint with hair color of your choice. Paint the eyebrow on the ridge above the eye socket in a slight crescent shape, cover the white and black from 1 & 2. 4. Under eye: use tan or slightly darkened skin color (under the eye is usually darker or shadowed). Cover the white and black from 1 & 2 with a slightly crescent stroke." [The author has adapted this method slightly and finds it most effective thus far. Suggest you try this at least once.] %
Bill Gilliland says: "For humans, I
paint the entire eye socket black. Then, on either side of
the center where the pupil is, I put a small white dot to show the
whites of the eyes. On character models, I paint the iris a solid circle
(usually blue or green) with a highlight in an upper corner, then put a
smaller dot of black in the center. This method gives you outlining of
the eye for very little effort. "For
evil creatures (such as orcs) I paint the socket black, then
put a white oval inside, leaving an outline all around. The
white is then over painted with red. On characters the corners of the
eye are spotted with a translucent yellow to accentuate the red
pupil." % Derek
Kingsley Schubert (dks@acpub.duke.edu) explains his method:
"Faces/eyes: Shade/highlight the face completely first. Paint dark
brown or black in an area just slightly larger than the eye itself. Then
paint white for the eye, and finish with a dot of dark brown or black
for the iris. Colored irises don't look good unless surrounded by a dark
ring to set them off from the white; but this is darn tricky, so new
painters should paint only dark irises on figures that should have
humanlike "white-and-iris" eyes." 9.A.b. How do I paint hair? It's honestly not as hard as it
looks, though you do need
to both wash and drybrush it. Base in a good neutral
tone for the colour you want (a dark yellow for
blondes [tan, dun, khaki, yellow], dark red for redheads,
lighter for auburn, orange for strawberry blondes, any shade of brown
for brunettes, and black or
dark blue for black hair). Then darken it or select something
a couple of shades darker and wash. Let that dry,
then wash thicker and darker. Let that dry and drybrush with the
original colour. Then a lighter shade. (For
black hair, drybrush in dark blue and leave it at that, drybrush in dark
gray, white or light for salt-and- pepper,
or don't even bother to drybrush if you like the
colour it ends up after washing.) Black
hair can honestly be achieved with a dark, dark blue base,
two black washes (one light and one heavy), then a
very light dark blue drybrush. A royal blue drybrush achieves
a nice punkish-look. Blonde
starts out best with a dark base then lightening with
dry brushes. Wash chestnut or light brown. Redheads
are best if understated a little. Don't use red
unless you want something impossible to nature. Dark red-browns
are best (Polly S Demon Deep Red is great, too) washed
in brown and highlighted with first the original shade,
then something lighter in that line, then perhaps a
dark orange or yellow-brown brushed very, very lightly. 9.B. How do I paint insignia? 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." 9.C. How do I paint armour? For fantasy and historical,
some suggest not priming the miniature, then washing or drybrushing (or
both) the bare metal, but to others this
looks sloppy and unfinished. Besides, not much armour looks like lead,
and lead certainly doesn't make good armour (nor do any of the alloys of
which miniatures are cast). Paint
the armour a base-metal colour, usually silver or one of the like
tones, and let it dry. Don't be afraid to use bronze, or gild it,
though. Then take a black wash (ink is excellent for this) and go
over it carefully. Let that dry, then take either your original colour
or a lighter shade and drybrush. Remember to use a separate water/thinner
for the brush you're working the metallics with, so as
to not get flecks in the other colours. 9.D. What other detailing can I do? Get in the light and give your miniature a good look-over. Usually a dot of paint or careful drybrushing will bring out the final details. Certain specialized questions have been asked, the answers to which are given below: %
Does anyone have a decent method for painting torches? Also a 'ragged' orange layer looks good." %
From Kent Reuber : "People
doing micro-armor have been using this sort of thing to simulate
burning tanks for quite a while. Paint the torch itself black.
Then tear off a small bit of cotton, paint the upper part grey-black
and the lower part red-orange. Glue this bit of cotton onto
the torch." 9.D.a. Can I use anything besides paint and ink for details? Of course you can. The simplest are decals, which are sold by the sheet and have many different styles to choose from. Technical pens can be used for a lot of intricate work, as can fine tip permanent markers. There's a catch to the markers, though, they can bleed when overcoated. Alec Habig has a good remedy: "I used some fine tip permanent markers to do letters and lines on some miniatures. This works well, giving better results than painting the same sort of stuff. The problem - the marker would bleed when I coated the minis with the obligatory DullCote lacquer. The solution - I rubbed a little bit of good old Elmer's white glue on the spot that I'd lettered wi |