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Archive-name: games/miniatures/painting-faq Rec-games-miniatures-archive-name: painting-faq Last-modified: 1995/1/4 Author: tierna@agora.rdrop.com - with tips gathered from posts on rec.games.miniatures and credited wherever possible Comment: Available for FTP from rtfm.mit.edu in usenet/rec/games/miniatures or from wais.com in pub/games/miniatures or by email from britt@python.wais.com or 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 15th of each month. An informal format is being used because it's easier. NOTICE: This document is Copyright (c) 1994 by Brenda Klein. Use and copying of this information is permitted, so long as the following conditions are met: o no fees or compensation are charged for use, copies or access to this information beyond the Internet o this copyright notice is included intact All formal archive designations remain the same, but references to this document have become "painting guide and FAQ" as its contents have become as much guide as FAQ. Contents ================ (* denotes changed entries) 1. How do I get started painting? A. Are there books on painting available? B. What kind of paints should I use? C. What kind of brushes should I use? D. What other equipment do I need? 2. Should I prime? (Also, what should I do to the miniature before priming?) A. Black, white, or gray? 3. What's the first step after priming? 4. What are shading, washing, drybrushing, highlighting and glazing? A. How do I wash? a. Why do my washes dry badly? B. How do I drybrush? C. How do I highlight? D. What are inks, should I use them, and if so how? E. What colours should I use for detail work? 5. What should I use for bases? A. What's the best stuff to cover bases with? 6. How do I strip paint? 7. What kind of miniatures should I start with? A. Metal or plastic? a. My miniature came in multiple parts, now what? 8. What is kitbashing? A. How do I convert miniatures? B. What kind of glue should I use? 9. How can I paint details? A. How do I paint eyes? B. How do I paint faces? C. How do I paint insignia? D. How do I paint armour? E. What other detailing can I do? 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? 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. A. Are there books on painting available? The only one the author knows of right now is the Citadel publication 'Eavy Metal, and its predecessor, a $1 pamphlet. The pamphlet is out of print, but if you can get one, do so. 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. 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: Oil- or solvent-based. These tend to be a bit thicker than acrylics and require that you have thinner on hand for washing, thinning, and brush cleaning. These paints are often referred to as enamels, but some acrylics can be enamels as well, so when in doubt, read the label. 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: Ral Partha (acrylics and dragonscale metallic creams) Floquil/Polly S (acrylics) Armory (acrylic) Pactra (acrylic enamels) Model Master (oil-base) Humbrol (oil-base) Citadel (acrylics and specially-formulated inks) * Howard Hues (acrylic) Accuflex (acrylics - formulated for airbrushing) 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. 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. Materials are sable, fox, camel hair (which is actually squirrel tail, BTW), ox hair, and nylon. Round and flat are also available. Red sable is the painters' choice, usually. A large brush for primering and large areas, something between a 000 and 5/0 for smaller areas, and anything from a 10/0 to a 20/0 for fine detail. 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. 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), a palette of some sort (professional, ceramic tile, old plate, even the plastic bubble from a large miniature or two), and GOOD LIGHTING. Against a window is ideal, if not a good overhead light or adjustable lamp is a must. Paper towels or napkins - some for blotting your brushes on and extras for the inevitable spill or splatter. Time - never enough of that so learn to paint bits at a time (also good so that one layer can dry before you put on another). Ventilation, ventilation, VENTILATION! All paints give off noxious odors and unless you like having headaches, you'll want lots of space, open windows, even a fan or two. The above are the _needed_ things. Below are optional: 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. As you get more practiced you'll start finding other things to use in your painting pursuits (such as toothpicks and small brushes), so you'll acquire your own personal array in time. 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 department-store $3 cans of Rust-O-Leum and the like, but the author has found that most of the detail on a miniature will disappear _very_ quickly unless you can manage a fine and even spray. Stick with the specially-formulated ones, a little more expensive but a much better result. Companies that put out good spray primers are Ral Partha, Armory, Floquil, Model Master, Testors, and Citadel. BEFORE APPLYING PRIMER you will need to clean up any bad lines on the miniature (use a small file, X-acto knife, or emery board), making sure you get rid of the bump under the base, if your miniature has a self-molded base (sandpaper is excellent for this), then WASH it in a little soap and water. Various substances are used on miniatures to make them come free of the mold, as well as the fact that hand oils get on the miniature as it's handled, and these will interfere with paint adhesion unless cleaned off. Now, use a little white glue and glue the miniature to a base of cardboard, cork, even a plastic bottle cap. This assures that you can handle it during the painting process without touching wet paint. Methods of applying primer are spraying and brushing on. If you're using a brush-on primer, make certain it flows well without being too thin and use a semi-large brush to brush over your miniature from top to bottom. If you're spraying, set up a large box enclosed on three sides in which to place your miniatures for priming. This will keep the paint from going everywhere and also tends to give a better coat. Make _sure_ you have good ventilation, outdors or in a window or set up a fan. Spray paint is nasty. On the subject of technique, the best advice I've seen came from sl9b4@cc.usu.edu (Deep Six), as posted to rec.games.miniatures, and is edited and used here without permission: "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 nozzel 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." 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 experiement 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 light shining 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. % 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 seperate 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.) 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. 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 two methods that can help solve the problem: 1) Use small amounts of wash, allowing each to dry before applying the next. Blow gently on the wash after applying, from the top, to keep the pools in the recesses where they belong. If the wash is thin enough, it'll dry with a minimum of blowing. 2) Mix a new wash, thicker. It might work better, being thick enough to keep from creeping, or maybe with just little different density. 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 succees 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. C. How do I highlight? Drybrushing is the best method of highlighting any large area or area with repetetive 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 brushpoint 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. 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 whutchis@bucknell.edu (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 matt 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. 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): Base colour Highlight Shade ----------- --------- ----- White (none) Gray or blue-gray Light gray White Dark Gray Dark gray Light gray Black Red Red-orange Red brown Red brown Orange-brown Dark brown Dark brown Light brown Black Pink Pink+white Red Human flesh Flesh+white or tan Red brown Tan Orange+yellow+white Brown+orange Black Black+green or blue (none) Light blue Light blue+white Medium blue Medium blue Medium blue+white Dark Blue Dark blue Medium blue Dark blue+black Purple Purple+white Purple+dark blue or black Bright green Green+yellow+white Medium green or dark green Medium green Green+yellow+white Dark green Dark green Medium green Dark green+black Yellow Yellow+white Yellow+brown Orange Orange+yellow Orange+red-brown or red Gold Gold+silver+yellow Orange-brown Silver (none) Black+blue Brass or copper base colour+gold base colour+black 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 seperately, pennies or flat washers, cardboard (not recommended - bends too easily), tiles, wood, sheet metal, matt board (available at art supply stores), and magnetic strips (often bonded to one of the above materials). 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. 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 foilage, the hands-down favourite material is the model railroader's groundcovering. 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). Verlinden is another recommended brand. A product called Basetex, from Colour Party Paints, comes in various colours and is available in the UK. Other materials that can be used are sand, sifted clay cat litter (not the scoopable stuff), aquarium bottom material, or sawdust. First, paint the base a neutral-type or natural colour. When it dries, take an old brush (or a cheap watercolour brush) and paint a 50/50 mix of white glue and water over the surface you want to cover. Painting the glue on gives more precise coverage than simply squirting it on. The base covering material may be applied either by having it in a tray about 1/4" deep and dipping the glue-covered bases into it or by shaking a spoonful over the wet glue. Give it an hour or so to dry and shake the miniature over the container holding the rest of the base covering. If needed, just dab the bare spots with a little more glue and reapply the covering. Mix different colours or drybrush for an irregular look, if wanted. Apply details, like rocks and the like (also available from model railroad suppliers) by dipping into the glue and setting in place with tweezers. 6. How do I strip paint? There are a lot of products that will remove paint. Most are caustic. The author recommends a non-caustic product. Pine oil cleaner will remove any type of paint (acrylic, oil-based, Rust-O-Leum, fingernail polish, etc.) from miniatures with no loss of detail, no caustic residue, and no hazardous fumes. It's safe for both metal and plastic miniatures and will not dissolve the glue holding parts together. Pine-Sol is the best brand, as it's 19.9% pine oil, but any percentage over 5% pine oil will strip paint (it just requires a longer soak in the less-powerful cleaners). It also works on paint that's been on for several years (the author successfully removed 10-year old Testors from a metal miniature with a 2-day Pine-Sol soak). Dettol, a prodict from the UK, seems to work as the US Pine-Sol does in preliminary testing. More information will be made available as testing continues. WARNING: Citadel plastic miniatures dissolve in Pine-Sol. However, most other plastics will not. So do NOT use Pine-Sol to remove paint from your Citadel plastic miniatures. The author will keep you posted on what is Citadel-safe. Simply place the miniature in a container which will allow full coverage, pour in enough pine oil cleaner to cover, and let it soak for 24 hours or more. The longer the soak, the better the stripping (the author has soaked metal miniatures for over a week with no damage resulting). If you're doing multiple miniatures, it's best to soak them seperately, if possible. Once the paint starts to dissolve, it causes a sliminess that can get on the others. After the soaking, take an old toothbrush (dry) and scrub. A soft bristled toothbrush is best, however using soft then stiff will get most everything without special work. The finest details are kept, the paint comes off easily, and the smell doesn't try to knock you out. If some paint remains stubborn, another soak will do the trick. (The tip of a toothpick is also good for crevasse-cleaning as are standard pipecleaners.) NOTE: Many people have complained about the pine-cleaner soak darkening the metal of the miniature. The author just finished cleaning a lead miniature on which the acrylic paint had been for two years. It soaked for 24 hours and was first scrubbed with a soft toothbrush then a stiff one until all the paint was removed. Then the soft brush was washed clean and hand soap (the bar of Ivory by the sink) was applied to the brush and the miniature was brushed down vigorously, as one would do teeth. It took about 5 minutes, but the lead shined up as good as the fresh-from-the-package figures it ended up beside on the shelf. So the `dark metal' syndrome can be taken care of, if it's important to you and you care to spend the time. For the sake of argument, the author is including other substances that posters have mentioned using: Brake fluid (requires much scrubbing and gloves) Acetone/nail polish remover (NEVER on plastic! Not recommended.) 5% Methylene Chloride based paint remover (soak 12+ hours) DioSol (2 applications and much scrubbing) Dettol (a disinfectant available in the UK, seems to work like Pine-Sol) Sodium Hydroxide (drain cleaner) Kuzit (_very_ caustic - eats rubber gloves) Honestly, your best bet is the pine oil cleaner or Dettol. 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 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. 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. Various military miniatures: varies greatly, use your own judgement. 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. 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 or super glue. On plastic, first clip in as close as possible with scissors 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 teabag handy. If you spill super glue on your hands wipe it on the teabag and the teabag will absorb it - teabags are highly absorbant 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.") 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. 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. 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 any new pieces you want to add (weapons, etc.) % The most common modification is to change one weapon for another. For purposes of explaination, a fantasy figure will be used, the change being from sword to battleaxe, 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 thorughly 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. 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. 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 groundcovering 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. 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. 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. Below are the three primary 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 s921959@yallara.cs.rmit.OZ.AU (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." [More from the author: He's right, tech pens are expensive. However the work a painter uses them for doesn't require the fine tip a drafter does, so it's quite possible to pick up individual pens or ones with semi-worn tips without paying an arm and a leg. And the benefits of having this tool are well worth the search!] % [This method is given by aew@spitfire.unh.edu (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." B. 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. Moustaches 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. C. How do I paint insignia? Two good methods have been presented in rec.games.miniatures. The first comes from lanes@spot.Colorado.EDU (LANE STEVEN LOREN), 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." And was followed up by TUK865@maccvm.corp.mot.com (Steve Gill): % "Another useful tool is a 0.13 mm spirograph ink pen, a couple of splodges of colour in the right place and you can pretty it up with the pen. I used this technique for 6mm heraldry." Yet another use for tech pens. They are also very good for shield devices and clothing patterning. D. How do I paint armour? Some suggest not priming the miniature, then washing or drybrushing (or both) the bare metal, but 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 seperate water/thinner for the brush you're working the metallics with, so as to not get flecks in the other colours. E. 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? This answer came from edd440u@nella02.cc.monash.edu.au (D.R. Splatt): "The best I've personally seen was to paint the flames red at the base, orange for highlights, yellow for the bulk of the flame and a light drybrush of white (or black for a smoky flame). Try to get the flames predominately yellow, eg: | <--------- White | | | | <--------- Yellow | ._| | | | |<-|--------- Orange \_(o)_/ !------------- Red Also a 'ragged' orange layer looks good." % From: reuber@hydra.rose.brandeis.edu (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." 10. What is an overcoat and should I use one? An overcoat is a coat of clear paint that protects those colours you so carefully put onto your miniature. Even an unhandled figure will begin to dull after awhile, and one in regular use will lose its paint even faster from hand and carrying case friction. So you should put a protective coat over the miniature to make sure the paint remains unmarred. Overcoats come in three (possibly four) types: gloss, matte, flat, and lusterless. Though four types are named, one company's matte is another's flat, flat and lusterless are often interchanged, and matte occasionally is labeled semi-gloss. When in doubt, ask. Overcoats also come in two different applications, brush-on and spray. Spray is easier to use when you want a uniform coating, brush-on is good for when you only want certain parts covered. Spraying overcoat on a miniature is much like spraying primer, though 3-5 coats is recommended for maximum protection. Remember to begin and end the spray beyond the miniature in order to get the cleanest application. Gloss is just that, shiny. It is most usually used on cars and other items that should shine. Semi-gloss (satin, sometimes called matte) is low-luster, and very durable on a figure that will be getting a lot of handling. Unfortunately, it tends to look artificial on humans and some animals. It's excellent on scales, however, and hard leather. Flat (also sometimes matte) is nearly without shine. It's a good all-around people coating, exceptional on animals, where it simulates fur's natural shine. Lusterless is absolutely flat, it doesn't even look like it's there. It's perfect for people and cloth and anything else that should have no shine whatsoever. Several coats can be applied and it never shows. A good method of overcoating a realistic-looking human/humanoid is to use a spray lusterless overcoat and put on 3-5 coats, then after the last coat is dry, use a brush-on matte or gloss to go back over all metallics, jewelry, eyes, lips, and anything else that should have a shine to it. This is the author's favourite method. Companies making overcoats are: Testors (flat & gloss), Ral Partha (semi-gloss/matte), Armory (armor coat in brush-on only: flat, satin <matte>, gloss), Floquil/Polly S (brush-on only: gloss, flat), Model Master (semi-gloss, flat, lusterless <recommended>), Pactra (brush-on only: flat, gloss), Citadel (matte). Krylon Matte (spray only) is flat and as good as any other, as well as less expensive. There are, of course, many more. 11. How do I keep paint from drying out? Shake or stir them often, put plastic wrap between the cap and bottle on paints that come in glass jars. Acrylics reconstitute fairly well with the addition of water and a good stirring. Oil-based do same with thinner. Try and keep your paints in a place where temperature remains fairly stable. 12. How do I use an airbrush for miniatures? The best paints for airbrushing are Accuflex and Humbrol, with Polly S and Testors each selling an airbrush thinner for their paints. That's the bulk of what the author knows on the subject. Some excellent information was posted to rec.games.miniatures by miket@netcom.com (Mike N. Tassano), however, much in regard to advising a novice airbrush painter, and is reproduced here without permission and with minor editing: "I've done a lot of airbrush as well as regular airgun painting, so maybe I can get you pointed in the right direction. "There is a relationship between the airpressure used and the rate at which the thinner evaporates. Ideally, the carrier or thinner is still liquid when the paint strikes the surface to be coated, but not so liquid it runs off. Inks have a really slow thinner, relatively, but since you're doing a wash, you don't care if it's really wet on contact. The idea is to puddle ink in the low spots anyway. "The primers usually have a fast thinner, allowing a good coating without running. Spray cans _usually_ are balanced between pressure and range and thinner and particle size. "Second, the pressure in the air-cans varies wildly as you use it up. And as the temperature changes. (So does the moisture content from condensation caused by cold air) Even the best airbrush will behave in a cranky way with canned air. "Third, the type of paint or ink used may not be too friendly to airbrushing. Particle size needs to be pretty consistent for spraying. A lot more consistent than brushing requires. If you intend to stay with airbrush priming, I can offer some possible helps: "1. If you can ONLY use canned air, shoot for shorter sessions. Let the can warm back up a little more. "2. Try an alternate air source, a compressor or an innertube filled at a service station. You want as little pressure difference between your air source and the spraying pressure as you can manage. "3. Use a primer designed for spraying. There are some hobbyist brands around that might be available where you are. "4. Practice, practice, practice!" And a word about priming, thinning and cleaning from esharpe@hsc.usc.edu (Ed Sharpe), which is also edited and used without permission: "After carefully cleaning, washing and drying the fugures, I prime them with Testor's flat white mixed 50/50 with airbrush thinner by Testors. I apply the paint using an air brush. It usally takes 2 to 4 coats. Take your time and do not rush any of the steps. I use the Testor's air brush thinner only to thin the paint. I use general paint thinner from the hardware store to clean my air brush." 13. How/where do I get miniatures? Game stores are, naturally, the best choice. Some comic and hobby shops deal in miniatures, so ask around. And a lot of companies do mail-order for those who live bereft of their product sold locally. The yellow pages is where to start, after that you get the feel of where to look. A. Is there a list of companies? Thanks to immense assistance from many, many readers of and posters to rec.games.miniatures, there is. It is kept by Keith Lucas (sillywiz@dcs.warwick.ac.uk) and is posted periodically to rec.games.miniatures. It is on archive for ftp at wais.com in /pub/games/miniatures. The author of this FAQ also keeps a copy and would be glad to send it out to anyone who wants it. -- "I was sleeping nicely, then someone shut the lid on my pillow... That hurt." - SJK 12-12-94 0500