Mini painting step-by-step

how-to, minis

I recently painted minis for my brother and his wife for Christmas (a dragonborn sorcerer and a half-elf bard). While I was going through the process, I figured I’d take some step-by-step photos of how I git ‘er done.

First off, the finished pieces:

What you’ll need*:

Now that we have all of our supplies in place, let’s begin!

Before even starting to think about painting the minis, it’s important to set up your mini painting area. with all of your tools. Here’s mine, with the scrap paper courtesy of my 3 year old. 🙂

Check out my 0000 brush. This is what I use for eyes and other tiny areas. 🙂

Next step is to clean and de-sprue the minis. Sprues are remnants of the mold pouring process, and the whole mini is covered by a releasing medium which will affect the quality of the paint job. I use a toothbrush and Lysol to clean the mini, and then an exacto knife to remove the large sprues.

Once the large sprues are gone, use the jewelers’ files to remove any other bumps, as well as filing down the seams where the mold pieces met. Try to get all of them now; otherwise while you’re painting you’ll come across bits that you need to cut/file off (it’s not a big deal, just annoying when you’re in the painting zone).

If there are any pieces that need to be assembled (such as attaching arms/heads/etc), use the adhesive to glue the parts together. Note: some minis come with a separate base, which I usually don’t assemble until after I’ve painted the mini)

Once assembled, it’s time to prime. It’s really important to use a couple of very thin coats rather than trying to load up the mini with primer. We want to make sure we keep all of the detail in the mini and not fill it in with primer.

Let the minis dry for at least 30 minutes after priming.

Finally it’s time to paint. Think about what colors you want to use – try not to use too many at once or your mini will start looking like a circus clown. Pick one or two accent colors and try to stick with neutrals for the rest (you’ll see I didn’t follow this for the sorcerer’s feather cowl, but I was attempting to make them look “peacock-adjacent”). Remember your color theory and the color wheel and try not to pair up colors that don’t go with well each other.

There are myriad ways, methods, tricks, and tips for painting minis, but I like to start with the base color working from the innermost layer out (with the exception of the eyes, which I do last). So I almost always start by painting any visible skin. You’ll want to choose a color that is a bit lighter than what you want the final color to be, as the colors will get darker during the wash step. Remember to turn the mini around and look at it from different angles so that you get every part of it.

Once I’ve done that, I work my way outward. Don’t worry too much about how it looks now as it will only really pop near the end when you dry brush.

Once you’ve laid down the base color on the whole mini, it’s time to wash.

A wash is a very thinned paint (or ink) that is used to add shadows and contrast. For cool colors I like to use a black wash, and for warm I like to use brown. Try not to go too dark on skin, as it can start to just look dirty. Here’s one spot where I differ from Reaper Minis – they have a flesh wash that is very reddish, and I kind of can’t stand the way it ends up looking.

To wash, you can thin out an existing color and add some black or dark brown, or you can use straight up black or brown with water mixed in. You can also use premade washes, which is normally what I do when I’m feeling lazy. Load up a nice fat brush with your wash and run the brush over every surface you want to wash. Don’t use so much wash that it overflows into the next section unless you’re using the same color wash for that. Make sure it gets applied to every surface; otherwise you’ll end up with bright spots surrounded by darker washed areas. Also make sure you give it a good long time to dry before the next step because moisture is the mini killer (apologies to Frank Herbert).

After you wash your mini, you may panic, thinking it looks terrible. I still do pretty much every time. But don’t fret, as we’re not done yet.

There are many techniques to add highlights – I find dry brushing to be the easiest, if not the prettiest if you get up close and personal to the mini. Start with a color only slightly lighter than the color you’re highlighting or you’ll end up with some *intense* high-contrast highlights – you can (and should!) go over it again with a lighter color.

Using a nice short-bristled fat brush, you can load up your base color (since the color on the mini at this point will be darker because of the wash), and then wipe the brush off on a paper towel until no more paint comes off the brush. Then using gentle strokes, paint against the direction of any ridges, which will deposit the lighter color on the tops of the ridges, which just happens to be the area that would get the most light for a light source overhead. Do more drybrushing near the top of the mini than the bottom, and don’t overdo it in areas that would naturally be shadowed (e.g. the inside of a cloak).

Once you’ve completed that coat, you can add a little white or off-white to your color and do another layer of drybrushing, being even more conservative with where/how much to apply. You may find that you really want to accent some areas, such as the top of the mini’s head. You can drybrush with straight white paint, but really think about how much you want to do because this can be overpowering.

Let the mini dry, and add then do the eyes (I’ll have to write up a separate eye tutorial later) and any finishing touches like freehand painting or writing. Let the mini dry for a good while (at least an hour), and then you’re ready to seal.

Like with the primer, several thin coats are better than really glopping the stuff on. I’ve used both brush-on and spray sealers, and personally I prefer using a spray. In either case, though, be sure to shake up the bottle *really well* to avoid getting an ugly haze on the mini from the matting agent being too concentrated. I also like to let the minis dry under a light bulb, which provides a warmer area to avoid getting white spots from the sealer (this usually happens when the mini wasn’t fully dry before sealing, but a little extra insurance policy is never bad!).

Base the mini (I see yet another tutorial coming!) and you’re done!

Make sure you clean your brushes really well. At the very least rinse them well under warm water. If you have brush cleaner, follow the directions on the package. Make sure you store the brushes so that they are not resting on the bristles.

Painting minis is simple but not easy, and it does take a LOT of practice. If you’re just starting out, try this method first, then experiment with how you paint and find your own way to do things.

Happy painting! 🙂

 

*I will receive a small commission for any products you purchase from Amazon.com links in this post. That said, these are all products that I actually use and recommend, not just random links trying to make money.