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krushgroove
Oct 23, 2007

Disapproving look
Before We Start!
The previous painting thread
This OP is still a work in progress, but it's about 90% where it needs to be and it's been taking a while to get online so here it is! The old painting thread (Oct 2009 to March 2015) is still full of great info and comment threads: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3210214

Historical Wargaming Thread
Lots of painting tips in this thread specific to historicals, many posters in this thread are also very active there

The Terrain Megathread
If you’re looking for gaming terrain-specific tips and advice, click here: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3570772

Casting
Totally welcome in this thread, however the Terrain Thread (link just above) had a lot of talk about casting when it was started, and every now and then continues to do do. There has been a bit more talk about casting in this thread, however, and it's welcome in either thread.

Sculpting
Figure sculpting is definitely relevant to this thread, and there are sometimes a couple of goons making semi-regular updates to their figure sculpting here.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Getting Started & Tool List This post
Assembly & Preparation
Priming, Paints and Brushes
Priming: why prime, what primer to use and how to prime, including zenithal priming
Paints: what paints to get, brands of paint, wet pallettes
Brushes: starter brush set, expanding your brush selection and brush care
Painting where to start, basic basecoating, drybrushing, washes and specific guides for power armor and colors (still a big work in progress)
Basing & Varnishing basic basing & snow
More info stripping models, agitators, color schemes, weathering powders, making your own washes, small scale specific painting and advanced weathering
Taking Pictures
Airbrushing advantages, disadvantages, basic gear, safety and cleaning
Casting one-piece, two-piece, basic and advanced molding
The Wrap-Up List of reputable brands, some places you can get models from, painting forums, how to stay motivated and goon tutorial posts




So you want to get started painting gaming miniatures? You’re diving in feet-first, rediscovered the joys of collecting plastic crack or you want a hobby to take up some time? Well here you go! Let’s get you started.


Getting Started
Please note that for the most part, this guide is just a jumping-off point to get you going. You might be a raw beginner or you may need a short refresher course, but there’s only so much info we can cram into the opening posts of this thread. This guide is also centered (very) generally on 28mm models, painted using acrylic paints. This is the most common size of fantasy and sci-fi gaming figures, and the most common type of paint used to paint them.

BASIC TOOLS
Like any hobby, you’ll need some basic tools to get started. We’ll start you off with the most basic bits you’ll need to get started. You can add to your toolset as your budget and enthusiasm allows. Citadel tools are very overpriced, Tamiya tools are good (and repackaged top-quality tools from other manufacturers), but there are many good tools out there. Don’t be afraid to ask for specific recommendations in the thread.

Standard brushes: Of course you’ll need brushes! Start with a #2, #1 and #0 for most of your general painting needs. Some brush suppliers name their brushes instead of using the standard artistic nomenclature of numbers, if this is the case look for words like Detail, Basecoat and Fine Detail in your model or hobby shop. This allows you to have a large area brush, a general detail brush and a fine detail brush to start with. You can go expensive getting ‘Kolinsky sable’ or just regular sable-hair brushes, but if you’re starting out you will be fine getting a decent set of artificial hair brushes, which will last you a long time and are much cheaper than sable hair. Don’t go cheap and get the discount shop art supply set, try to go into a real art supply or craft store to get your brushes. Citadel brushes from a GW store are fine to start with, just remember that there are much better brushes out there.
Drybrush: Drybrushing is a simple technique that will get you great results, however it is best used with old brushes that you don’t mind getting wrecked. Now, you might think this is where you can use discount store brushes, but this is false economy because they will immediately start losing bristles, and you’ll be pulling hairs off your model. If you don’t have any old brushes, look for a stiff-bristled synthetic hair brush for your drybrushing. Start with one #2 brush and get a smaller one or larger one later if you need them. The Citadel drybrush is actually a stipple brush, but it does the job OK.
Hobby snips: Used for cutting parts off sprues. You can get quite expensive snips but you don’t have to go crazy trying to get ‘super-flat cutting’ snips, because you shouldn’t cut that close to a model piece anyway. You should cut a couple of milimeters away from the piece you’re cutting off, then use your hobby knife (below) to clean up the piece..
Hobby knife or scalpel: Used to clean up the sprue parts after you snip parts off the sprue. Use the back edge of the blade to remove mold lines. The X-acto #11 blade and holder are the gold standard, but you can get a scalpel blade holder and pack of 10, 20, 50 or more scalpel blades for cheaper.
Cutting mat or plastic cutting board: Put this on your coffee or kitchen table so your knife doesn’t cut into your table. A cutting mat has saved many many lives! Cardboard will NOT protect your table from a razor-sharp blade. Cereal box card will NOT protect your table from a razor-sharp blade. Newspaper will NOT protect your table from a razor-sharp blade. And old wood cutting board, plastic cutting board or hobby cutting mat will!
Mixing pallet: Mix and thin your paints in this dimpled plastic or metal artist’s tool. If you’re on a budget, you can also use an old CD or any piece of flat, firm plastic, like a food container lid or something.
Cleaning tub: used to rinse your brush during color changes and cleaning. Basically just get an old coffee/tea mug, or anything that will hold water. If you’re painting with metallics, use one for metallic colors and another for plain colors, so the flakes of metal in your metallics don’t end up in your normal colors. You can also keep a small bottle of plain water for thinning your paints, so your white (for example) isn’t thinned with dull grey water.
Brush soap: Clean your brushes during long painting sessions and at the end of each session to keep them conditioned and ready for the next time you paint. Just get a small jar of Master’s Brush Soap and it will last you years.

Glue
Some wargaming modelers prefer to use plastic glue to attach parts of their models in place, some prefer CA glue. This OP will take no sides in this centuries-long debate, but will explain the pros and cons of each. As usual, each is useful in their own way and an experienced modeler’s worktable will have both types available (and various options of each).
Plastic glue AKA plastic cement: Actually melts the plastic and ‘welds’ the pieces together. Can take a minute or more to solidify and dry into a finished piece, but when dry the 2 pieces are effectively 1, which means repositioning models is much more difficult if using plastic glues. Revell Contacta and Testor’s are the preferred brands of ‘normal’ plastic glue, there is also the very fast-acting and acetone-based Tamiya Extra Thin and Mr. Hobby Mr. Cement S brush-on glues, which very rapidly spread along a join and attach pieces together.
CA glue AKA CyanoAcrylate, super glue, crazy glue: Can be very messy (and fatal! (not really!!)) if not careful, but allows repositioning of model pieces by snapping the connection carefully. Old models glued with CA glue can be taken apart, cleaned up and reassembled if built originally with CA. Prone to premature drying out due to the seeming impossibility of making a perfectly sealing glue bottle. Drying time can be near-instant if ‘accelerator’ or ‘kicker’ is sprayed onto the connection. Eats foam (but foam-safe CA is available). Best brands are Zap, Gorilla and Loctite, but most CA are the same and the ubiquitous Bob Smith Industries glue is fine as well (sold under dozens of different store/shop/brand names around the world). Some people have good luck with the no-brand discount store ($ shop or £ shop) CA glues, most don’t. YMMV.
PVA AKA white glue, school glue: Used for gluing basing material together, also useful for gluing porous materials like paper printouts (like banners or small signs) to various surfaces.
Hot glue, Shoe Goo, Goop, rubber cement: please for the love of your god do not use this to glue your miniatures together. These have their purposes if you’re making terrain (see the Terrain Thread link above) but not for assembling or detailing your miniatures.

More helpful tools:
Flat brush: lets you quickly put down paint smoothly on larger areas like capes, small- to medium- size vehicles and others. Look for one at least 4mm or ⅛” across, and go larger if you plan on doing many vehicles or large creatures
Chisel-tip brush: can be useful in many situations, such as getting into tight areas when you’re applying coats of paint over a wide area. Look for sizes roughly the same mentioned for flat brushes, above.
Shaping tool set: very useful if you will be using Green Stuff and other putties a lot, but you can get by with a toothpick, a needle stuck into a cork wine bottle stopper and hobby knife.
Wet palette: Used to keep paints wet and prevent drying out during a painting session. Once you use one of these you’ll wonder how you lived without one so far. Scroll down to the Advanced section for a bit more on these.
Needle files: Very helpful in removing mold lines, reshaping areas and cleaning up sprue connections. Get a set of diamond needle files and they will last forever, and are suitable for resin, plastic and metal figures.
Razor saw: Fantastic for modifications, enabling you to make very thin cuts to things like arms, joints, heads, gun barrels and more.
Pin vice: Great for drilling out gun barrels, making the start of bullet holes, etc. For gun barrels on 28mm models, a good selection of metric bits would be a 0.5mm, 1mm, 1.5mm and 2mm size bits. Get a pin vice from a hobby or DIY store and it should come with several bits (usually 0.5mm). The 0.5mm size will let you ‘pin’ or connect model pieces together with paper clip wire, and the other sizes let you drill out gun barrels of various sizes.

Here's a handy-dandy video to walk you through choosing some of your 'starter set':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2y8wIJCS-k

And here is a pair of buying guides for your basic 'kit' to get you started.

Note that videos and guides are always subject to the biases of whoever's making the the guide, so feel free to try anything (anything!) else you might spot at the hobby shop or game store that looks interesting.

krushgroove fucked around with this message at 13:05 on Dec 3, 2015

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krushgroove
Oct 23, 2007

Disapproving look
ASSEMBLING
Let’s get a little contentious here and suggest that you wash the model or sprue with warm soapy water and let it dry thoroughly before doing anything. You can also assemble the model first then wash it. Many people don’t bother to wash the model pieces, and usually this is fine, but if you let your dirty, grubby, oily fingers get all over the model, it’s definitely possible that your skin oils, dirt or whatever will stop the primer or paint from sticking to the model. Also, models molded in a sprue will have some mold release spray on them, which could definitely be a reason why your paint doesn’t stay on. Better safe than sorry! (it must be said that GW sprues are usually OK not being washed)

Of course, some models (board game figures, Reaper Bones and many others) require no assembly, so you can skip to the next part.

<some stuff in here about glue, etc.>


PREPARATION
Removing mold lines
Many people are annoyed when they see mold lines, others aren't bothered. It's up to you if you remove them. To attack mold lines, use the back of a hobby knife or scalpel blade to remove the mold line or seam on the model parts - just scrape the back (the not-sharp) edge gently down the mold line and you should see most of the mold line disappear. Repeat gently until you’re happy the seam is gone.

The hardest area to remove mold lines is in the folds of clothing, hair, ropes/cables, etc. - for this, a set of needle files are perfect. It will take time to get them all, but unless you're going for museum quality replicas just hit the worst offenders and move on.

Cleaning
Generally, you'll only need to worry about cleaning items molded in resin. Some manufacturers use a wax-based mold release or talcum powder in the molds, which needs to be removed before attempting to paint. Plastic (also called 'hard plastic' by some) and metal are generally fine to start painting, but some painters like to wash them as well. Usually a soak in warm, soapy water (use normal dish soap) and then a brushing with an old toothbrush is all you need to do, and if in doubt about the cleanliness of the model give it another scrubbing. Let the water drip off then gently pat dry with a lint-free towel. If the primer or paint runs off like beaded water, you'll need to give the parts a better clean!

Glueing
Depending on the brand of models you get, there are different types of materials you'll have to attach together. Here's the basic rundown of what glue to use:

See the above equipment post for a description of the different glues. See below for a description of pinning.

Pinning
Pinning is the process of using a metal wire to connect two parts of a model together. This is most often done with metal models but some plastic models will benefit from this, particularly if the model is large, the arm or whatever is really big or heavy, or the model will be handled regularly (such as any wargaming figure). You might also be changing the position of an arm, bending a straight leg or swapping out a body part like a limb or head.

Note that not every part you glue on needs to be pinned, for example if you’re gluing a Space Marine arm or bolter in place, that doesn’t need to be pinned. But that long, wavy monster tentacle or arm that attaches in just one place on the body? You might want to pin that.

Materials Needed
All you’ll need for this is a pin vice (basically a handheld drill bit chuck) with a 0.5mm drill bit, some paper clips to be the ‘pin’, a wire cutter to cut the paper clips and CA glue. You will probably also need to fill gaps (see next section).

How to pin
Basically, you will use the pin vice to drill a hole in each piece you are attaching together, then cut a short piece of wire, glue the wire into one of the holes and then the other, then glue the piece together. The glue and gap-filling material act together to hold it in place while the wire acts as a ‘bone’ and makes the connection much more secure than just the glue. Generally, you’ll need to drill at least 3mm or ⅛” or more into each part to make sure it handles the rigors of regular handling, dropping, storage and movement, etc. For large models or metal models you’ll want to drill about 5-6mm or ¼” into each piece if you can, and/or use multiple pieces of wire.

Gap and Bubble Filling
Gap filling is literally filling in the empty spaces on a model where you’ve attached pieces together. Bubbles are sometimes present on resin pieces for various reasons we won’t get into here, but on a finished piece bubbles and gaps kind of stick out and most experienced modelers like to fill them in. On most well-designed models there won’t be a need for filling any weird gaps, and even if there are you can get a good tabletop-ready result without thinking about gaps. However, some models have a significant gap, particularly resin models or pieces from smaller companies.

Materials Needed
If this is a step you want to do, there’s a ton of different materials you can use, and the most commonly used one is Green Stuff, also known as Kneadatite. It’s a 2-part epoxy (one part blue, one part yellow, yellow and blue make green!) that you mix together with your fingers like Silly Putty, it sticks to just about anything and provides a more flexible hold than super glue (also known as CA or cyanoacrylate). It is air-drying, like all the other gap fillers mentioned in this section. Its main drawback is that it isn’t easily sandable, so you’ll need to shape the Green Stuff before it hardens. Dip your fingers and whatever tools you’re using in water to help prevent the Green Stuff from sticking, and work it into place with a toothpick, dull hobby knife blade or other tools such as clay shaping tools.

Other products you can use for gap-filling are:
Liquid Green Stuff: sold only by Games Workshop, which is a premade, brushable version of Green Stuff that’s good for very small gaps such as part joins on organic models like monsters and creatures
Gunze Sangyo Mr. Hobby Dissolved Putty: similar in use to Liquid Green stuff but you will need to clean your brushes with mineral spirits or white spirit as it’s lacquer-based (so it will stink up your work area)
Squadron Putty: a great product that scale modelers have used for many year
Tamiya Modeling Putty: which is fantastic but WILL stink up your working area
Deluxe Materials Perfect Plastic Putty: another great putty, very similar to Squadron and Tamiya
Gunze Sangyo Mr. Hobby Mr. White Putty: I have not used this but I presume it’s similar to Tamiya putty

For filling large areas and actually sculpting parts and pieces, these are good to use with or instead of Green Stuff:
Brown Stuff: Very similar to Green Stuff, but dries firmer so it’s better for sharp edges like blades, swords, mechanical parts, etc. Can be mixed with Green Stuff to get a combination of the properties of both.
Milliput: another 2-part epoxy that has a clay-like consistency when mixed and sets harder than Green Stuff. It’s also easily sandable, which some people prefer.
Magic Sculpt: another 2-part epoxy that has a clay-like consistency and is easily sandable. Great to mix with Green Stuff for a combination of Green Stuff’s flexibility and Magic Sculpt’s sanding properties
Procreate: another 2-part epoxy that has a clay-like consistency and is easily sandable
Super Sculpy: requires baking in an oven for it to harden, so it’s not really the ideal product to use for gap-filling. It’s best used as an actual sculpting material because it doesn’t air-harden like all of the other products mentioned, it stays flexible so you can tweak the shape of your work.

Note that you can also mix these products together. Mixing Milliput and Green Stuff is a pretty standard thing with some custom model makers.

Setting Times
Most of these epoxy mixes will start to set within 15-20 minutes, and get fully hard after a few hours. Putties will set slightly faster because of the evaporative thinners or whatever is in them, so you will need to plan ahead. Adding CA glue on top of still-drying epoxy putties helps you move on to the next step faster if you can’t wait, but many people like to set the model under an incandescent lamp (remember those?), which provides a small amount of heat to let the epoxy firm up faster. You can also use a metal can, cut out at both ends to make a tube, to speed up the setting even faster: just set the model on a surface, put the tube over it and set the light inside or above the tube. Just make sure you don’t put the light too close or do this on a model made of soft plastic, as it can melt.

Now let’s get ready for priming!

krushgroove fucked around with this message at 10:44 on Sep 14, 2015

krushgroove
Oct 23, 2007

Disapproving look
PRIMING
Applying a single color of primer is the first time you’ll spot any mold lines you missed, flat spots that should be round and round spots that should be flat.

Why prime?
Putting primer on a model before you paint is the only way to get a uniform, single color on the model before you actually start painting it. Primer also adds a very slight gritty texture to the model, allowing the paint to grip the surface of the model better. Although a few paint brands claim that no primer is necessary, even painters that use those brands still prime their models.

Priming is also a great way to make sure that you have filled every seam and removed every mold line, and is the final step before actually painting your base colors.

What primer to use?
Spray can primer is the standard way to go if you don’t have an airbrush setup (see further down for airbrush info), just make sure you get PRIMER, not plain spray paint. Krylon, Rustoleum, Plasti-Kote and Halford’s Grey Primer (if you’re in the UK) are all fine. Various off-brand primers like what you can get from Wal-Mart, etc., are claimed to work as well, just be wary of changes between batches of paint.

It should be noted that Citadel/Games Workshop primer is widely considered NOT a primer, it’s merely spray paint. But many people still use it and are happy with it.

Here's how to get the best out of your spray primer (thanks to Slimnoid for getting this going):
1. Shake the can good and long. It's best to give a new can (and one you haven't used in a while) a thorough rattlin', upwards of ten minutes (realistically, 5-7 will do).
2. Don't spray when there is high humidity or moisture in the air. Too much of either can really skunk up a spray session.
3. If it's cold out, paint won't stick as well (the temperature needs to be 70 degrees F or 21 degrees C), you can keep your models inside in a box ready to spray them, and take them outside for the half a minute or so it will take to spray them. Then take them back inside. The paint and the models will still be warm enough for the paint to stick properly.
4. If your can is old, there's a good chance it's lost a bit of pressure. To help build the pressure back up, put the can in a bowl or sink of hot water (not boiling).
5. After you finish spraying, make sure to turn the can upside down and press the button for a couple of seconds to clear the paint from the nozzle. This helps make sure that the nozzle isn't clogged the next time you use it.

Always use spray paint outside, spraying in your bathroom with the extractor fan on is NOT good enough and will probably get you yelled at (by your parents, landlord, significant other, etc.). If it’s really windy use a box and spray 8-12 inches from the models. Use short, controlled sprays and don’t try to cover one model at a time, you’ll slather on the paint and lose all that wonderful detail.

You can always end up with a bad can. Sometimes that just happens, and you end up with a can full of gunk. There's no saving a bad can, unfortunately.

Games Workshop have a pretty helpful video that shows their famous ‘stick technique’ of priming models with spray primer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2MOmj-D9uo

Use your knife and needle file to fix any areas you want to fix, and if you’ve made any fixes hit them with another thin layer of primer so there’s no exposed plastic or metal.

Zenithal Priming
As an advanced technique, you can get white, grey and black spray primers and use ‘zenithal priming’, which is an awesome technique to create a gradient effect on your minature and only requires you to get an extra 2 cans of spray primer - see the Advanced section below for details on this, or click here to go straight to BULBASAUR’s tutorial. Painting with thin transparent layers over the top creates really easy and striking highlight + shading effects.


PAINTS
The subject of paints can be discussed long into the night, but there are many brand names associated with model painting. These include Games Workshop (Citadel), Vallejo, Badger, Privateer Press Paints (P3), Army Painter and a few others that are associated directly with wargaming and figure painting. Other less common brands include Coat d’Arms, AMMO (Mig Jimenez), AK Interactive, Life Color, Mr. Hobby, Tamiya, Scale 75 and a few others.

All of these companies make good paints. All of them. Arguing over which one is ‘better’ or ‘worse’ is pointless, as many companies get their pigments (the color particles in the paints) from the same supplier, and others are (or may be) rebrands of other larger company’s products. Some may be more expensive than others (GW) or supplied in crappy pots (GW) but the paints are all about the same quality.

More important is the range of paints that are available. Military scale modelers love Vallejo’s Model Colour and Model Air lines, but it’s more suited to WW2 armies rather than colorful sci-fi and fantasy colors - which is why they came out with the Game Colour and Game Air lines. Badger expanded their paint selection from railroad and a few military colors with the Minitaire paint range. The Minitaire, Game Colour and Game Air colors all closely match the Citadel range of paints up to 2013, which is when Citadel greatly expanded their paint range and type of paints they offer.

Buying a whole paint range
If you can afford it and KNOW that you’ll be painting a wide variety of models with different colors, try to get the full range bundle deal of whatever paint range you like the look of. You’ll save money over buying the paints individually but you might be left with several colors that don’t get used (you might be able to trade them with other painters in your club/group/shop, though).

Buying Goon-Selected Individual Paints
This is a list of the most recommended paints from various paint brands, recommended by goon painters and others. It's a mix of paints, because no paint line has 100% perfect paints for every color they offer. If you're looking to get just a few paints to start with, this is a great list to get you going. Keep in mind you will be buying them from different retailers, as very few retailers (even online shops) will have every possible paint range in their inventory. And yes, you can mix these together just fine.

Dropper bottles or jars
Another debate for the ages. “New style” painters prefer dropper bottles because they get a controlled amount of paint out of the jar and the jars don’t dry out like the infamous Citadel paint jars from many years ago. Painters trained in the Citadel way (probably from painting a free Space Marine model in the stores or watching the Citadel painting DVD or YouTube videos) prefer the “dip paint in pot, transfer paint to palette, wash brush out, thin with water” method, which new-style painters find much more tedious. Try both methods with whatever paint you like.

Paint brands
These are the most popular paints for fantasy and sci-fi figures and wargaming:
Badger: Dropper style. Minitaire paints, Ghost Tints (candies/washes) & Stynlrez primers (airbrush-ready and nicely thinned enough for brushing). An early manufacturing SNAFU had some of the Ghost Tints mislabeled but they’ve recovered from this. Available in singles, starter set (11 paints and 1 Ghost Tint (Oil Discharge), or all 12 Ghost Tints) and the full set of 84 paints.
Citadel: Jar style. The Citadel “paint system” consists of Foundation (extra pigment, great coverage), Layer (‘normal’ paint), Wash and Edge paints and are meant to be used in a particular sequence, using their prescribed sequence in White Dwarf and their many army painting guides. The current Citadel paint pots are deadly notorious for drying out way too fast, but the older pots (still used by P3 and Coat d’Arms) from 10-15 years ago are still fine and contain still-liquid paint. Available in singles, full set, army colors and various sets. Widely considered to be much worse value than other brands of paint (12ml of paint for the same price as 17-20ml of paint from other brands), and not recommended for airbrushing because of the large pigment size.
P3 or Privateer Press Paints: Jar Style. Wide range of colors, with helpful ‘triad’ sets that make things easy when picking a particular set of matching colors. P3 paints use the older style of paint jar that Citadel used to use several years ago which are known for keeping the paint from drying out. Available in singles and 'triads', which are matched sets of 3 colors that are great for particular colors of flesh and other specific areas of a model.
Reaper: Dropper Style. The ‘HD’ paints have more pigment, similar to the Citadel Foundation paints and the rest of the line has a wide variety of gamer-oriented colors. Available in singles and various sets. Download a PDF of paint swatches here, latest PDF version will be in this link.
Vallejo: Dropper Style. Vallejo Game Air (VGA), Vallejo Game Colour (VGC), Vallejo Model Air (VMA) and other paints. Very wide range, the Game line has fewer and brighter colors than the Model Colour selection, which is mostly for military modelers. Available in singles, full set, and many many varied sets, especially when you look at the Model Colour line.
Coat d’ Arms: Jar Style. Not as popular these days, but they still carry the older (up to 2013) range of Citadel paints, still with the same names, plus newer colors. UK/EU painters can get it relatively easily, if you're in the US this is the online retailer you should check.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyiIoy6oIcw

Mixing
The various brands of acrylic paint will also mix just fine with each other, and will paint over another brand of paint just fine as well.

Cleaning Up
All acrylic paints clean up with water, so no messy/smelly junk like cellulose thinners are needed to clean your brushes or yourself. They’ll also wash out of clothing as long as you rinse the spot well with soapy water and a stiff brush (like a toothbrush). If you need to, use clean spirit, which is a non-toxic, nearly odorless alternative to white spirit, to soak the paint mark on your clothes, then rinse and scrub it well before washing.

Transferring to Dropper Bottles
A few people online have had the patience to transfer their Citadel (or P3, or whatever) paints to dropper bottles, which is pretty easy to do, but tedious if you have a large collection.

The WHY of this is easy to explain:
  • paints in jars dry out quickly when left open whereas dropper bottles can be left uncapped and won't dry out anywhere near as fast
  • because the dropper bottle has a screw-on or snap-close cap the paint is very unlikely to dry out, unlike the latest Citadel paint design
  • controlling the amount of paint you get is very easy: one drop at a time instead of dipping a brush into paint, smearing it on a palette and then rinsing the brush off
  • less paint wastage because you can get a single drop at a time rather than rinsing off your paint transfer brush every time you need some paint
  • tipping over a dropper bottle of wash or paint doesn't mean you lose at least half a jar of wash!

Now, HOW to do it: Empty dropper bottles are easy to find on ebay or Amazon. Get one at least 20ml in size if you're transferring Citadel paints, as this lets you add water or thinner so you have pre-thinned paint (GW paints are quite thick in the jars). You can use a simple wooden coffee stirrer stick (the sticks that are about half the width of a popsicle stick) to help you get the paint out, or Tamiya sell a pair of paint metal stirrers that are fantastic - one end is a flat spatula shape, the other end has a tiny spoon shape to help you get into the crevice at the bottom of the jar and under the top edge. If you have a ton of paints, you can make a simple jig out of cardboard to hold a paint jar upside down at an angle, just above an empty dropper bottle, then rubber-band the paint jar in place. Use a flat brush to help get the last bits of paint out, then fill the jar about 1/4 to 1/3 full of thinner (be water, airbrush thinner, flow improver or matte medium), close the jar, give it a really good shake and pour it into the dropper bottle. Et voila, you have now joined the 21st century!

Wet Pallettes
A wet palette allows you to work for longer with your paint, losing less to moisture evaporation over time. You can make a mix of paint, leave to make a cup of coffee or other tasty beverage, and come back half an hour (or days) later and still have your paint usable and ready to apply. It also allows you to thin your paint easily, creating a better flow. Try it! Most people that use a wet palette never look back.

Don't waste your money buying a wet pallette, when you can make yourself one for pennies. Here are some simple guides:
http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.de/2013/07/how-to-wet-palette-20.html?m=1
http://www.fullborerminiatures.com/articles/wetpalette.html
http://handcannononline.com/blog/2012/06/15/a-beginners-guide-to-wet-palates-build-your-own/

BRUSHES
Now that we've talked about paint, let's talk about brushes. Let's reiterate the basic guide from the first post:
Standard brushes: Of course you’ll need brushes! Start with a #2, #1 and #0 for most of your general painting needs. Some brush suppliers name their brushes instead of using the standard artistic nomenclature of numbers, if this is the case look for words like Basecoat, Detail and Fine Detail in your model or hobby shop. This allows you to have a large area brush, a general detail brush and a fine detail brush to start with. You can go expensive getting ‘Kolinsky sable’ or just regular sable-hair brushes, but if you’re starting out you will be fine getting a decent set of artificial hair brushes, which will last you a long time and are much cheaper than sable hair. Don’t go cheap and get the discount shop art supply set, try to go into a real art supply or craft store to get your brushes. Citadel brushes from a GW store are fine to start with, just remember that there are much better brushes out there.

To expand on this, let's look at expanding your brush range. You might want to wait a while before getting more brushes, maybe you want to expand the use of a particular technique or you've gotten to the point where you need to get new brushes and are curious what's the point of all the different sizes and types. So let's see about expanding beyond the basic 'large area', 'detail' and 'fine detail' brushes you can choose from.

Basecoat or Large Area or #3: This is a size that's great for doing large areas such as a cloak or full suit of armor on a 28mm model. This should be one of the sizes you should first get.
Detail or #1: For smaller areas such as the face, weapon, shoes, belt pouches, etc. You can also use this to do line highlighting of the large areas that you painted with your #3 brush. This is another size that should be in your first brush set.
Fine Detail or #0: For highlighting the edges of areas that you painted with your #1 brush. This is the final size brush that should be in your first brush set.

Expanding your brush set
Medium Area or #2: smaller than the #3 brush above, this size is good for putting basecoat on smaller areas with a bit more precision than the larger brush, for example sleeves and trousers on a human-size 28mm model.
Large basecoat or size 4: obviously bigger than the #3 brush, this brush is ideal for doing something like painting a whole squad of space marines, human-size fantasy monsters or similar models quickly. The larger size lets you get more paint down faster than a #3.
Vehicle or Big Monster, or size 6: bigger still, this brush is for painting extra-large models like tanks, terrain and big monsters. Depending on the brush manufacturer, in a flat style brush, this size is up to 1/2" wide, making it perfect for getting lots of paint on the model very quickly. If you have many tanks or pieces of terrain to paint, a flat style would be more preferable than a round style brush. For monsters or more organic' style models, you can go either way but the round style brush is probably better as the brush will still form a nice tip to get into tight areas.
Lining brush: this is a 00 (also called 2/0) brush with very long hairs that hold a lot of paint, making it best for doing long, continuous lines. It's basically a round brush that's otherwise similar to a pinstriping brush that custom car painters use.
Freehand, cone-style brushes from 0, 2/0 or even 5/0: some companies call this something silly like 'extreme detail' or 'psycho' but this is a crazily fine-point brush, in size terms it's a 0 or even smaller like 3/0 or 5/0, round style brush with conical shape designed to hold lots of paint (for its size) to allow you to do very fine detail freehand work.
Fine Freehand, cone-style brushes from 5/0 to 10/0: if the 'freehand' or 5/0 brush is the 'psycho' brush, this brush has an even sharper tip, about a 10/0 and called 'insane' by one company. It's the same style and shape brush, just with a finer and smaller tip for even tighter lines.
The 'names' for the brush sizes in this guide are borrowed heavily from the WAMP brushes Kickstarter but Games Workshop/Citadel, Army Painter and many others have their own names. If you can, hold the brushes in your hand to see the sizes for yourself.

These are the major brush sizes you can look at for applying paint in a 'normal' fashion. There are plenty of other brushes you can look at. All of these brushes are available in various sizes, so get the one that is best for your purposes:
Drybrush: Only Citadel have a brush they call 'drybrush', but any old brush can be a drybrush. If you are buying from now and don't have an old brush to use for drybrushing, look for a stiff-bristled synthetic hair brush for your drybrushing. The synthetic hair has more 'snap' to it, which makes it easier to get good drybrushing results. Start with one #2 brush and get a smaller one or larger one later if you need them. The Citadel drybrush is actually a stipple brush, but it does the job OK.
Stipple: This kind of brush looks like a normal brush that has had its bristles cut down to be about half as long as it should. These are usually a round style brush with bristles that have been cut off, rather than each hair naturally coming to a tapered tip. It's designed to be used with just a bit of paint on the bristles (almost like drybrushing) and then lightly stabbing the surface of the model with the brush. This is really useful for adding specs of rust, freckles, stubble (a light beard or shaved head), etc.
Flat: Flat brushes are exactly that, flat. Most miniature painters use round style brushes, but flat brushes should have a place on the desk of most painters, especially if you paint larger models like vehicles, terrain, monsters, etc.
Chisel: These brushes are flat brushes that are cut at an angle so they let you paint wide strokes but also get into smaller areas.
Synthetic bristles: These have improved vastly in recent years and more model painters should look at them for general purpose use. For drybrushing, these have the potential to be the best choice of brush. Also, if you have any ethical questions about using sable brushes, there are varieties of synthetic brush that approach the quality of natural hair.
Natural bristles: Natural-hair brushes are pretty much the standard, and you can get cheap or expansive brushes with natural hair from various sources, from pig and camel to sable. Some are better than others for different purposes, and if you find a cheap brush that's a big different don't be afraid to try it. And don't feel you must get sable (or the more expensive Kolinsky sable) hair brushes if you don't have the money - not everyone needs the jump in price or quality.
Kolinsky sable hair bristles: Considered the best, however you pay for the quality. Not the best choice if you're just starting out or don't try to get a display-quality finish, because you won't necessarily care about or even see the difference in the quality. However, if you want to step up to better quality brushes and have the patience to look after and clean your brushes properly (see below), these are worth the money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eACqcAQdw2U

Caring for your brushes
The first rule of brush care is to never dip the brush in your paint so the bristles are completely covered. This could allow paint to get up into the ferrule (the metal part of the brush), and if it dries there it can very quickly splay (spread out) out the hairs and never allowing them to come to a point again, ruining the brush.

The second rule of brush care is to rinse your brush frequently. Don't let paint dry on the brush. Yes, you can let the brush rest in airbrush thinner to soften the paint, then clean it carefully, but it's easier to rinse regularly, especially if you have several brushes.

As for actually cleaning the brushes, basically, just get a tub of Master's Brush Soap. You can get small tubs or BIG tubs that will last you probably your entire painting career. Any art or craft shop will have it, and it's easily found online. It will clean and condition your brushes (remember they are probably real hair) after using acrylics, oil or watercolor paints. Just dip your brush in your rinse water, rub it in the soap until you have some collected on the brush, then dip the brush in your water again and rub the bristles vigorously in the palm of your hand. Doing this helps remove paint that may have gotten up into the ferrule (see above). Pinch and rub the bristles with your fingertips if you have caked-on paint, then rinse the dirty soap off. If you're storing the brush away, drag the brush on the soap gently (without applying pressure) while twisting the handle to get a of soap on the hairs, then use your fingers to re-form the point of the brush before putting it away.

Here's more detailed instructions:
For Cleaning
1. Wipe brush to remove excess paint.
2. Wet brush and/or the soap with water.
3. Swirl brush in brush soap and work into a lather.
4. Rinse with clean water.
5. Repeat if necessary until brush is clean (lather will be white). You can clean one color after another without removing the previous colors from "Brush Soap" first.

For Preserving
1. Clean brushes as above
2. Leave clear lather on bristles, shape and allow to dry.
3. Shake powder off bristles when ready to use again.

For Restoring
1. Clean brush as above, but use hot water.
2. Allow lather to remain on bristles for a few minutes.
3. If necessary, tap bristles on hard surface to work paint out.
4. To clean paint from ferrule, allow lather to remain on the bristles for several hours, and repeat cleaning process.
5. Leave clear lather on bristles, shape, and allow to dry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cjI68PAwAE

Oops, I didn't care for my brush properly!
The first thing to do is not panic. Your expensive (and even cheap) brush is most likely salvageable with a decent soak in the right stuff. See if you can find one of these products and use as the manufacturer suggests:
Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner & Restorer, or
Vallejo Brush Cleaner VAL28900
many brand name airbrush cleanes & thinners (iwata, Badger, Vallejo, etc.) are also suitable for cleaning brushes

You can also use these budget-friendly and widely available (from DIY or hardware stores) products:
white spirit (used by house painters to clean their paint brushes) or
clean spirit (the non-toxic alternative that works a bit slower but if you are able to soak your brushes overnight it doesn't matter)

Essentially, you soak the brush in one of these liquids and let the liquid soak into the dried paint and give it a good rinse. The simplest way to properly soak the brushes is to:
  • fill a (preferably) glass jar about 25mm or 1" or more with the liquid
  • line up the brushes so the bristles are at the same height
  • tape the brushes to a piece of card at the right height to allow the brushes to dangle from the lip of the jar bristle-end first
  • make sure the cleaning solution goes about 1/3rd to 1/2 the way up the ferrule (the metal piece above the bristles)
  • make sure the bristles of the brushes don't touch the bottom of the container
  • let the brushes soak overnight or for several hours, then remove them and give them a good rinse in the cleaning solution
  • carefully snip away stray hairs with a good pair of scissors, a sharp hobby knife/scalpel or good pair of nail clippers
  • moisten the bristles with water and lather them up will with Master's Brush Cleaner or a similar product from Winsor & Newton or Broken Toad
  • Form the bristles nicely to shape and let dry

Looking for new brushes?
You can achieve quite a lot with good synthetic brushes like what you can get at your basic craft store (in the US: hobby or art stores, Michael's or Hobby Lobby; in the UK: Hobby Craft, student art stores or even Dunelm Mill). Many people will tell you to get sable or kolinsky sable brushes from brands like Winsor & Newton, Broken Toad and Rosemary & Co., but if you're still starting out these are probably 'too much brush' for you - in the same way that a Ferrari is not the best 1st or 2nd car. If you don't maintain, clean or handle your brushes properly (see above), you'll just have expensive damaged brushes eventually, and you won't be able to tell the difference between the good brushes and the best brushes anyway. So if you're still working on your painting skills, it's better to spend less, get more brushes and develop your skills with brushes that aren't the most expensive you can find. You still need to take care of synthetic brushes, but the cost of them means you don't have to worry about it so much when you're still learning the skills to be a good painter.

krushgroove fucked around with this message at 13:05 on Apr 4, 2016

krushgroove
Oct 23, 2007

Disapproving look
PAINTING

This section is a big-rear end work in progress, so there's a lot more coming here and it's a bit disorganized now, but for the first rule of miniature model painting, watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3p_VuPIS2c

Model Prep
Remember that you need to prepare the model properly first. See the posts above for how to do this. For a complete list of tips specifically for the Reaper Bones models, check the Reaper Bones thread: http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/forum/48-bones-miniatures-legendary-encounters/

Thinning Paint - Why and How
This Reaper guide is really, really good for showing you what unthinned and thinned paint looks like. The article is written to highlight the increased control and detail you get from thinning your paints, from basecoating, layering, washing and more, as well as what materials to use to thin paint (apart from water, which is fine for when you're starting out) but it provides really good pictures to show you what unthinned and thinned paints look like, as well as examples of how some painters utilize the paints they have thinned.

Enough talk already, I'm ready to paint!
So, now you’re ready to paint. There are just a few BASIC steps to painting a miniature after it's been prepped, assembled and primed:
1. basecoat - which is putting the main bits of color in place (flesh color on the skin, whatever color you want on the cloth, another color on the armor, etc.)
2. shade with a darker tone of your main colors - using a dark brown or almost-pure black wash is the easiest thing in the world, and is called 'skills in a bottle' for a reason
3. highlight with a lighter color of your main colors - drybrushing is easiest but you can also use layers, edge highlighting and other techniques to achieve your highlights.

First, though, we need to decide what colors are going where and how we're going to start painting the model. Usually, it's easiest to approach it with an 'outside in' approach. On a typical fantasy or sci-fi warrior model, this means painting the cloth and armor before the skin and weapons. Because cloth and armor areas are usually the largest areas of the model, painting these first will help you feel like you're making big progress, quickly (which you are!).

Look closely at the miniature and determine where these areas are:
flesh (face, hands, torso, legs, etc.)
armor and clothing
armor trim (like the edges of space marine shoulder pads, etc.)
weapons
clothing accessories like boots, hats, etc.
details like visors, eyeglasses, screens or readouts, belt buckles, brooches, watches, straps and other things

Chances are, if this is your first miniature you’ll notice a lot more detail than when you first chose the model! Don't worry! You can ignore it if you want, or paint those bits separately if you want. It's your model, after all.

You might be better off watching a video of someone painting rather than reading a bunch of words about how to do it - painting is just that kind of creative thing it’s much easier to watch it being done rather than read about it. So here are a bunch of videos!

Base Coating
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7vMyAk6Lf0
This is a Games Workshop video, so it shows the 'jar method' of getting paint out of a jar, applying it to a pallete and thinning the paint on the pallete.

Cloth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spFUntFXohM
note: this video uses Citadel paints - if you have another brand of paint, just substitute the color you have that matches what's in the video. Because this is a video about painting cloth, you can use whatever color you want - use a medium red/blue/green, a lighter red/blue/green then a light red/blue/green, etc.

Flesh (human, Caucasian)
This is a really nice tutorial on painting flesh: http://www.jenova.dk/simpleskintones.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSAL6Ph7hyg
note: this video uses Citadel paints - if you have another brand of paint, just substitute the color you have that matches what's in the video

Drybrushing


Edge Highlighting

Washes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuTCEzyZ50o
Skip to 4:15 to get right to the actual 'how to apply a wash' part

You can make your own very simple washes with Pledge floor polish and ink! Click here for a video showing how

Power Armor
Possibly (probably?) the most popular genre of wargaming is sci-fi, and painting loads of armor-encrusted soldiers is considered fairly easy, because there's usually no skin showing, there are plenty of hard edges that make drybrushing a very effective technique and also because there are tons of Warhammer 40K Space Marines (c) R out there. This is the official Games Workshop guide to painting the ubiquitous Ultramarine Tactical Space Marine (c) R, which shows how quickly and easily you can get some plastic space dudes painted.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_odi1c7ErCg
Of course, you're suggested to use Citadel paints, but the colors are easily substituted with other brands of paint. See the suggested videos for painting guides on other chapters/colors of Space Marines. These are actually pretty good guides for getting started painting.

The difficult colors of power armor are the Dreaded Four: White, Yellow, Red and Black. Here are a series of videos showing one way to tackle these colors, specific to power armor. (it should also be noted that acrylics have a particularly tough time with white and yellow)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2URRLoQE5-I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kPASM8Evlc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUqpD9xZHUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmdvSjG7BzE

krushgroove fucked around with this message at 00:53 on Nov 16, 2015

krushgroove
Oct 23, 2007

Disapproving look
BASING
The Basics
Basing is super easy, and is a fantastic way to add a ‘finished’ look to your unit, team, army, whatever. You can base before you paint the model, or afterwards, whatever is easier for you. Many painters like to do this step last as the ‘final step’ to finishing their models.

Basing is pretty simple and easily done in assembly-line fashion. Just be patient and allow plenty of time for the glues and paints to dry.
The basic steps are thus:
  • Apply a thin coat of PVA (white glue) - you can also try watered-down glue - to the base of the model. Don’t cover the feet or go too far over the edges.
  • Simply push the base (not the entire model) completely into a tub of sand and let it sit for several minutes. The sand will absorb the moisture of the glue within a few minutes.
  • Shake the sand off the base and check for bare spots. Wipe away any sand/glue off the edges of your base with your fingers, and make sure your model’s feet aren’t covered with sand, or ‘sunk’ into the sand too much. As the glue dries it will shrink slightly but you don’t want your models too look like they’re slogging through deep sand or a swamp (unless that’s the look you’re going for)
  • Let the glue dry overnight
  • Apply a coat of paint and let dry
  • Apply a dark wash and let dry
  • Dry-brush with a lighter shade of your base’s base color (tan if the base color is medium brown, light green if the base color is medium green, etc.)
  • Varnish and let dry

You can also at a bit of variety by:
  • Glueing on small pieces of scenery, like an ammo case, skull or other model parts onto the base
  • Before dunking the base in sand, sprinkle on bits of gravel, model railroad ballast or very small rocks
  • Glue a twig or weapon on the base
  • Add static grass tufts when everything is dry

As usual, Dr. Faust also has a pretty good video covering the basics of basing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbzmCN6c8B0

For a more complete basing tutorial, Bulbasaur has a very good, very complete guide to scenic basing here.

Snow!
Snow bases can be difficult, and with model products like crushed glass being offered, it can seem overwhelming. However, there’s hope: http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/category/SoftFlakeSnow and if you have :tenbux: you can get this set that should last you a very good-sized army with this complete set of snow basing: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00149WXDS?ie=UTF8&tag=stormthecastl-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00149WXDS. A simpler way to get your snow on is to do this, as provided by goon WhiteOutMouse: Woodland snow mixed with gloss varnish (brush on obviously) works for me. Mix it up to desired fluffy or slushyness and smear. Sprinkle dry snow on top of wet pile for extra fluffy. Gloss varnish looks blue as it dries, don't be armed, it dries clear. You can also check out this helpful post from the From the Warp blog: http://fromthewarp.blogspot.no/2010/01/details-8-ways-to-base-with-snow.html

VARNISHING

Gloss varnishes: Pledge Floor Wax (previously Future), also known as Klear in the UK, makes for a good, cheap gloss varnish (it can dry to a satin finish however, depending on exactly what you have). One bottle from your grocery store will last you a lifetime of painting models. It can also be mixed with paint to make a wash and used as a thinner by cutting it 50/50 with water. Liquitex brand varnishes are also good. All of the paint brands like Badger, Citadel, Vallejo, etc., make their own varnishes and they all work well, however Citadel is the only one that has it available in spray cans. You can also use automotive clear lacquer. Many modelers swear by Testor’s Dullcote/Glosscote, too.

To protect the paint, use gloss varnish when you're finished, which dries to a harder finish than matte finish. Let it dry for a day or two (if you're airbrushing it will be a thinner coat so will dry faster) and follow it up with a matte finish, which is more suitable for cloth, skin, armor, etc. Touch up with gloss on glass or other shiny surfaces, and satin on cloth areas like silk, etc.

You can also use gloss varnish as a 'save point' between major steps of your painting project, such as after your base coat and before applying trim details. If you accidentally put paint in the wrong place, you can use cleaner to take the paint off while not worrying about your earlier painting.

krushgroove fucked around with this message at 13:03 on Dec 3, 2015

krushgroove
Oct 23, 2007

Disapproving look
MORE INFO AND TOOLS FOR YOUR ARSENAL
Stripping models
Ebay rescues, secondhand purchases, removing the taint of childhood efforts, starting over on test models...there are many reasons you may want to take the paint off your model. Use a plastic container with a lid (to contain any fumes), drop the models in and fill the container to cover the models. The stripping will take anywhere from 15 minutes to overnight. Use rubber gloves, an old toothbrush and toothpick to take off stubborn bits. The fluids listed below are fine for plastics and resins.

US: Super Clean, Simple Green
UK/EU: Dettol (but it will make your models smell horrible)
Everywhere: 90% isopropyl alcohol, methylated spirits (AKA denatured alcohol), Biostrip 20, any automotive degreaser, clean spirit

Use a container just large enough for your models, don't use something too wide because you might run out of liquid to over your models. Use dishwashing gloves or nitrile gloves and a toothbrush to scrub away any stubborn paint.

Isopropyl alcohol and denatured alcohol will take about 15-30 minutes to soften the paint but is toxic and flammable. Clean spirit is odorless, non-toxic and and even biodegradable - but as with most non-toxic stuff it takes longer to work, so leave it overnight.

Here is the complete stripping experiment, done by yours truly:

short answer - meth spirits/denatured alcohol wins hands down if you're short on time, clean spirit works pretty well if you have time to soak it overnight. The chemical reaction works best at room temperature (20 C or 72F), the warmer the temperature the faster the stripping action happens (obviously don't heat or boil these liquids, don't be stupid with chemistry).

here's the experiment:

The suspects of the experiment


Ready for dunking - the models are secondhand Eldar models bought from another goon. They're painted with acrylic paints, not sure if they are varnished.


Dunked and waiting time checks.


after 10 minutes: white spirit
Every model was given a gentle scrub with a synthetic hair paint brush


after 10 minutes: clean spirit
Again, gently scrubbed with a synthetic hair brush


after 10 minutes: meth spirits/denatured alcohol
Gently scrubbed with a synthetic hair brush


after 25 minutes: white spirit had eaten through the polystyrene cup and leaked out! plus it's flammable, is toxic and shouldn't be breathed in. The paper pad underneath took a day or so to dry out and stunk.


after 25 minutes: clean spirit had softened the paint enough to enable the brush to shift a little paint


after 25 minutes: meth spirits/denatured alcohol allowed the soft brush to completely remove the paint over 95% of the model

So the end result is: meth spirits/denatured alcohol wins, hands down, if you have only half an hour or so. The downsides of it are that it IS flammable (it's sold as fondue pot fuel, and backpackers use it for stove fuel as well), and it's toxic as well, so don't breathe it in. Use meth spirits/denatured alcohol outside, in a garage/shed or at an open window. White spirit is fine but is also toxic, so same cautions as with the meth spirits/denatured alcohol. Also, use a glass jar like a pickle jar or something like that to put the models in, to avoid what happened in my experiment. Again, these work best at room temperature, don't try to strip your models during the winter in the garage, you'll just weaken the plastic (see below).

NOTE: For white spirit and meth spirits/denatured alcohol, DO NOT leave your model in the liquid for longer than a half hour or so, it will weaken the plastic and scrubbing with a toothbrush can remove small details or break off what was previously solid plastic. If you forget and leave the models for hours or days in the liquids you may be able to salvage them by leaving them to 'gas out' or dry for several days, try to support any long items like vehicle gun barrels, etc., because they may be droopy.

Clean spirit is odorless, non-toxic & non-flammable but works much slower (as today's non-toxic stuff tends to do), so be prepared to leave the models in clean spirit overnight.

PVA glue used on the base will probably soften enough that a sculpting tool will loosen it, I was able to lift some of the basing material easily once I could get a little bit shifted.

You can also try to remove areas of color, instead of completely stripping your model. Use good masking tape (Bodyline, 3M, Tamiya) to mask the area you need to strip, if you need to, and use an old brush to brush on the stripping fluid.

Please don't poison your drinking water - pour the used liquid with the paint flakes and sludge through a paper coffee filter or into a big pot of sand or dirt.

For completeness' sake, you can use brake fluid but for the love of your god don't, the environment takes enough of a pummeling from us and there's much cheaper methods.

Paint agitators
No, this doesn’t mean annoying your paint until it bites you. The ideal way to make sure your pigment (the actual color flakes of paint) and medium (the clear liquid that suspends the pigment in the paint) are mixed thoroughly is to stir the paint thoroughly. Shaking is...OK but with some colors (especially metallics) you will see paint bottles that have ribbons of darker or lighter paint still on the side or bottom of the bottle, even after rigorous shaking. The way to get a properly mixed paint is to stir it, easily done with a coffee stirrer or these super cool Tamiya paint mixing tools. Some companies even sell repurposed milk frother kitchen gadgets as electrically-powered paint stirrers, but you can get almost the same effect as these paint stirrers with the ease of quickly shaking your paint bottle.

Basically, all you need to do is what spray paint companies do and add a mixer ball to your paint bottle or jar. The only model paint brand that does this is Reaper (they use a small pewter skull), but it’s easy to add a mixer ball to your bottles of paint. Just go to a craft store or find online stainless steel BBs, glass beads or even small round lead fishing weights and drop one in each of your paint bottles. Some paint bottles (Vallejo for example) will require you to remove the nozzle bit, but for most it’s as simple as popping the top of your paint pot or unscrewing the dropper bottle top. For a couple of bucks/euros/pounds you can get enough to do dozens of paint bottles. When you’re getting ready to use your paint, give it a quick shake, and you’re good to go.


ADVANCED TECHNIQUES
Picking a Color Scheme
This is in the ‘advanced’ section because for many wargamers the colors of your chosen army or faction are picked for you. If you’re going to start up a whole new army just because you like a certain color scheme or studio look (think Ultramarines, Kador, World Eaters, etc.), there’s not much to change really. However, if you’re starting up a whole new force that allows a wide-open selection of color choices, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed by the vast amount of choice you have.

Knowing a little about color theory will help you choose colors that look 'right' and will help your army 'pop' on the gaming table. There's a reason why some people always look fashionable, certain cars just look kick-rear end, some magazine covers just look like they're jumping off the newstand, etc. If you want to know more about color theory, just search for 'color theory' online or read this Wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_theory

If you know roughly what color you want (red, purple, yellow, etc.) and want to know what other colors to pick, check out this site for some great ideas: http://colorpalettes.net You can pick 'warm' (orange, red), 'cool' (blue) and other color sets and just pick the colors from your favorite paint maker that match what you see on the screen.

Here are some links to online color wheels and color palette generators:
A nice one
Adobe's online one

Eyes


Blending (by brush)
http://blog.brushthralls.com/?page_id=4157

for a super-advanced guide check this one out http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/32050-how-to-blend-by-olliekickflip/

Weathering Powders
Great stuff! Definitely try these once you have a good selection of paints and washes. How do you use them? There’s many ways (not that where ‘alcohol’ is mentioned immediately below, that means 90% isopropyl alcohol or ):
For a 'light rust' effect, drybrushing the powder on areas of the model and drop alcohol or thinner (from a brush or water dropper/pipette) on works well. This will end up with the powder more in the deeper areas of the model.
For a rust wash effect (in the deeper areas of a model), mix a bit of powder in a few cc of alcohol or thinner and spread it on like a wash. This will also end up with the powder more in the deeper areas of the model.
For another type of rust effect, tap a brush loaded with powder onto the model and drop alcohol or thinner on. This will end up with a little more rust on the higher areas.
For a more surface rust effect, spread alcohol or thinner on the model and then tap a brush loaded with powder onto the model.
For a chunky mud effect (tires, fenders, mud guards and tank tracks), add a lot of powder to alcohol or thinner so it’s like a paste, and spread it on in chunks.
You can also load the front up with powder and then blast thinner through an airbrush front the front to give you movement effects on planes/skimmers too.

Use a darker red or orange for older rusted areas and a lighter orange for ‘fresher’ rust.

There’s more than just rust, too! Purple powders work great on skin areas, grey or even black powders are great on models in a winter setting or around smokestacks, weapons and exhausts, etc.

‘Fixing’ Weathering Powders
This can be a tricky subject when you first start using weathering powders, but if you’re playing with and handling your models a ‘dry’ type hairspray, applied in a light misting coat, will hold your pigments in place pretty well. You can also apply your matte varnish and add the powders while the varnish is wet, but this will take some practice. Another option is to use 90% isopropyl alcohol, available at pharmacies. If you’re purely displaying your models and not handling them, you should be fine with just using the fixer product of your choice, whether it’s acrylic paint thinner, varnish or an actual ‘fixer’ as sold by MIG, Secret Weapon, etc.

Advanced Weathering
Weathering Part 1: Steel wool, dental tools, and chipping fluid
Weathering Part 2: Alcohol Paints, Scratch Highlights, Glow Effects, Lenses, and Custom Decals
Weathering Part 3: Oil Filters, Pin Washes, Lead Pencils, and (more) Metallic Alcohol Paints

Advanced Metallics
If you want to progress beyond ‘dark metal -> wash -> dark metal -> series of lighter metals’, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more advanced metallics tutorial than this

’Ethnic’ Non-Caucasian Skin Tones
This post on Cool Mini Or Not (abbreviated CMON or CMoN) has great info: http://www.coolminiornot.com/articles/1310-ethnic-skintones No specific paint colors are mentioned, just match the color swatches under the pictures with your paint selection. And don’t sweat it if you don’t have the exact colors you need, just get as close as you can - but hopefully you have more than just ‘flesh’, ‘tan’ and ‘brown’ if you are trying to paint skin!

Make Your Own Washes! (Acrylic)
On the most basic level, you can use a glass of water with a drop of dish soap and whatever cheap paints you have to make washes. Experimenting with orange, purple or red washes? Try them out for ‘free’ first before splashing out any money!

If you can get your hand on inks, you can get a full range of inks from any arts store. Dilute the ink heavily with acrylic medium or water and boom, instant washes.

If you want a proscribed, exact way to make easily repeatable washes, check out Les Burley’s homemade washes, which are exactly the same as the Secret Weapon Miniatures washes. I’ve price-checked this on my painting blog, it’s far far cheaper than GW washes, less than 10% of the GW price for the wash itself (although you will have to put them in bottles or jars, you can easily make enough to ‘dip your models in wash - great for big armies!.

Make Your Own Washes! (Oil)
Oil washes are fantastic and allow you to be much more exact and realistic than acrylic or ink washes.

Here is goon Bulbasaur’s guide:


Here's what I use to build oil washes. You can get everything except the glass bottles from dick blick:
Oil paint (I use classico brand)
Mineral spirit
Grumbacher Alkyd medium
Glass vials
Cork stoppers
Glass eye dropper
I make mine by mixing grumbacher alkyd medium, paint, and white spirit at about 1:2:5. The alkyd medium isn't needed, but it helps lower surface tension and clumps pigment in cracks (like an acrylic wash). I store mine in glass bottles with cork caps since white spirit melts/evaporates out of other containers. You can make oil washes on the fly, but with colors like rust (a combination of Indian yellow with flame red) it's not as easy to get consistent results.

Wargamers Consortium also have a couple of videos on oil washes, which scale modelers call pin washes (because they do panel lines on armored models really really well):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2JurVVWLzY

You can also use oil washes as a 'filter' to subtly change the tone of the model's color. This is a very popular step for scale armor modelers to do, and is basically an oil wash over the entire model, allowing some of the wash to gather in the receses of panels, doors, rivets, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpawT_bIZks
(This video has no sound)

Armored Vehicles
Here is Vallejo's official guide to painting AFV (Armored Fighting Vehicles):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGPH1BM4e_Q
This video is aimed at scale modelers moving from enamels to acrylics, so that explains why they over-explain water-based paints. It's a great resource though, and if you're thinking you've gone as far as you can with the basic techniques give this a watch.

Painting Fire
Getting flames and fire to look 'right' can be a real challenge on a solid object. Read this to understand how so many miniature painters get it wrong, and how it's supposed to work, and for a general walk-through of how to apply fire effects to a model read this page by the same author.

Small Scales
Most gamers play at 28mm scale, or 'heroic' scale, which some call 30mm. As you get smaller in size, detail is usually lost (in the faces especially) and to help the models stand out on the table it's generally best to use higher-contrast and brighter colors. This doesn't mean you can't use period-specific greens, tans and greys on your WW2 models, though, but to help the models look good you can look at deeper blacks for your washes and more extreme highlighting for weapons, faces and vehicles.

See this very helpful walkthrough for 15mm Flames of War WW2 infantry for an example of this high-contrast, bold color look on models less than half an inch high:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5zq8W1bLEg

Here's a video showing how this same painter did his tanks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H78D2XjjRlM

Of course, you can always keep it simple by spray painting with the appropriate grey, green or tan, dipping in a jar of ink wash and slashing a drybrush on it! But if you want to take it a few steps farther, you can do all the same techniques that 1/35 scale tank modelers do and apply them to 15mm tanks, just like this insane mentalist did with Flames of War tanks.

Scale Model Techniques
Speaking of tanks, the Scale Modeling thread has a ton of examples of how to get fantastic results using methods that scale modelers have been doing for years. It's only been relatively recently that many wargamers have caught onto these techniques, so if you feel there's more you want to learn, check out that thread or just find a YouTube channel of someone showing basic scale model techniques! (we have covered some of these already in this OP)

Terrain
There’s a wargaming terrain thread! Check it out here http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3570772

krushgroove fucked around with this message at 13:39 on Apr 6, 2016

krushgroove
Oct 23, 2007

Disapproving look
Taking Pictures
I can’t really cover it any better than paraphrasing one of the guys from the Tale of Painters blog, who’s been featured a couple of times in Warhammer Visions: “If your paint job is amazing, but the photography is lousy, it’ll be impossible to get across the quality of your work.”

The basic method to get good pictures of your models is:
  • Get lights. Lots of lights. Ideally all of the same type - whether it's 'cool' LED, incandescent, halogen, 'cool' CFL, 'warm' LED, whatever, the best option is to have all the same lights so your camera is not trying to figure out what white balance to use. A desk lamp is fine, two is better, three is ideal. If you're lucky enough to be able to use real sunlight, do so - but you will need to avoid harsh shadows (see below)
  • Use a white background - tape a piece of white paper (and not a sheet that has any writing on either side) to a spray can or a lamp and let it curve from your flat desk area up to a 90-degree angle. Make sure it CURVES and doesn’t fold. Yes, you can use colored backgrounds and whatever but this is the BASIC method.
  • Use a tripod, or something you can rest your hand/camera on. A stack of books or the back of a chair will do! It will steady your
  • Use more lights.
  • Use a tripod.
  • Avoid harsh shadows - put a piece of tissue paper or paper towel on the reflector of the desk lamp. This is your zero-cost light diffuser. You can get actual photographer’s diffuser cloth but this works fine too.
  • Use a tripod.
  • Use more lights.

If you’ve got a Digital SLR or advanced point and shoot camera, check out this guide from Tale of Painters for taking awesome army photos: http://taleofpainters.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/tutorial-beginners-guide-to-miniature.html?showComment=1421265781338


There's also these words from Leperflesh, taken and adapted from a couple of great posts in the Mantic thread:
FRONT AND BACK OUT OF FOCUS, MID-GROUND IN FOCUS
If your minis photo has a very narrow depth of field. So, the midground is in focus but the foreground and background is not. This indicates you are taking photos at too wide of an aperture.

To improve the depth of field, you can set a decent camera to Aperture Priority Mode (typically shown as "Ap" on a camera dial mode selector). Select a midrange to lower aperture. Then, when you take the photo, your camera will compensate: with a smaller hole to let light in (and presumably no change in how you're lighting the subject), the camera will take a longer exposure. If you are using a tripod or bracing the camera against something, a longer exposure will be fine. (For handheld photography or photography of moving subjects you usually want shorter exposure times to minimize motion blur caused by the camera/the subject moving while the shutter is open.)

If your camera does not have an aperture priority mode, it may still have a Manual mode: in this case, you'll need to manually set aperture, exposure time, and perhaps also manually focus. Again though, you can select a medium to small aperture, and then try photos at various exposure lengths to get the brightness right.

BLURRY PHOTO
e. With your second photo, the entire subject is blurry. I suspect you backed up and took the photo by hand, and that your longer exposure time is causing some motion blur. Either that, or your (auto?)focus isn't focusing on the subject.

e2. You can generally improve everything with more light, btw. More light means the camera can take shorter exposures for a given aperture, so you get both better depth of field, and better results when shooting handheld. 90% of the time if someone is having trouble getting a good photo, the #1 fix is to add more light shining from above or behind the photographer, onto the subject.

SOME TECHY BITS, BUT IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR PIKSHER TAKIN', HAVE A READ
ISO is a holdover from film camera days, but it does still have meaning in the digital camera world. Basically it's the "sensitivity" setting you're setting on the camera's CCD. At higher ISOs, the camera will record info from the CCD at a more sensitive level - that is, each pixel is being queried and recorded "more". Typically what this really means is that you've got less light coming into the camera, so you're telling the camera to "be more sensitive" to what light is coming in, and that means you can take a shorter exposure/less aperture and still record useful images.

However, the higher the ISO, the more "grainy" the photo will be. Exactly how grainy is strongly correlated with how new and expensive the camera is, because improvements in CCD quality and performance at high ISOs is one of the major areas of technological advancement. So, with a fairly old digital camera, you're right to want to avoid grainy high-ISO shots.

That said, ISO 100 corresponds to very bright outdoor sunlight. A typical ISO for outdoor shooting in normal conditions is 200 or 400. I use ISO 400 as my default for indoors photography, and go to 800 when I'm shooting in the dark or at night. So I think ISO 100 is probably way way too low for what you're doing. By telling the camera "this poo poo is super bright yo" you're asking it to restrict the aperture and take as fast a photo as possible, in order to protect the CCD from being overwhelmed. Even at this setting, your shutter speeds are very low, though. More on why in a bit.

Next: the actual f-stop is going to depend on the lens you're using and its performance. So I can't really know if f/3.5 is good or bad. One thing you should not be doing, though, is zooming - if you are using a zoom lens, have it all the way out (widest angle view) and adjust distance of the camera to the target to get the framing you want. Zooming inherently reduces the amount of light getting into the lens.

A shutter speed of 1/40 is pretty drat low. Given your ISO 100 setting, I think your big problem is... wait for it.... lighting. You don't have anywhere near enough light. You should have enough light that at ISO 400, not zoomed, a reasonable distance of camera-to-subject (say, a couple feet), you're getting shots at 1/125 or 1/500 shutter speeds even at smaller apertures.

You can't really judge your lighting based on how it looks to your eye. That's because your eye has a built in shutter priority setting: you don't have much ISO adjustment in your eyeball, and your shutter is almost always locked open when you're not blinking, so your eyeball adjusts exposure by opening and closing its aperture - the iris. It does this without your conscious control. So without a mirror, you can't tell if you're in a dim scene but your iris is wide open, or a bright scene but your iris is closed way down.

The solution to this is metering: physically measuring the light. Fortunately most cameras have built-in metering these days (your 400D definitely does). When you hold the button down partway, the camera does through-the-lens metering, taking into account all the rest of your settings, and programs the shutter and aperture accordingly. The -2 to +2 scale is not an absolute scale: it's basically the camera going "OK, given the ISO settings and any other settings the user has put in, such as (in aperture priority mode) the aperture or (in shutter priority mode) the shutter speed or (in full manual mode) both... is there too much light, just the right amount of light, or not enough light?

Just the right amount of light would be at the "0" point of the scale. So what you're seeing is that, with a pretty slow shutter speed (way too slow to be taking hand-held photos), a way too low ISO, a probably reasonable f-stop, and the aperture blown wide open, you're getting photos that the camera thinks are a little overexposed. Which makes sense given how white the background is, because (unless you've set it) it's probably doing some kind of area metering or maybe center-weighted area metering - averaging the light from the entire scene, most of which is your white background, possibly biasing a bit for the point at the center of the frame, and then going from that.

How to fix? More light. A tripod will do wonders for you, because it'll let you handle those slower exposures. A non-white background will help your camera properly meter the subject. Aperture priority mode will let you expand the depth of field. But most of all, you need moooore liiiiight. You'll struggle to get good photos without it.

e. Oh, one more thing: white balancing has to do with color temperatures of lighting and NOT how much lighting there is. If your camera doesn't have built-in white balancing (it might, check for a feature) you can do it later in gimp/lightroom/photoshop/whatever, like you're already doing. But needing to do that has more to do with what kind of lighting you're using (flourescent, incandescent, etc.) rather than how much lighting you're using.

A helpful and simply guide to doing a very simple computer edit (White Balance):

richyp posted:

In terms of lightboxes, I made a ghetto box out of cardboard box that I cut the top and front off, then I taped the top of a sheet of white paper to the back, and the taped the bottom to the under side of the box making sure that the paper was curved rather than creased (so there's no sharp line on the picture). Here's a shot of it:



I'm then taking pictures from about 12-16" away from the box. Followed by lloading the picture into gimp, choosing "Colors->Levels..."

Click the white dropper:



Click on the white paper "lightbox" background in the image and voila:



The picture would be sharper if I had a tripod because my understanding is that the shutter speed is slow enough that any minor movement is making its way into the final picture.

krushgroove fucked around with this message at 17:22 on May 1, 2016

krushgroove
Oct 23, 2007

Disapproving look
AIRBRUSHES
Airbrushes are great, not just as a time-saving device for getting models primed and basecoated indoors during the dead of winter, but also for getting amazing blends and color fades, as well as super-smooth finishes on any model you might have. It’s a valuable tool and while some old-timers may call them ‘cheating’ it does mean you can prime an army in an evening, achieve amazing effects and much more.

Why Airbrush?
Fast priming, easy zenithal priming, fast basecoating, easy OSL, easy fades, fast fast fast camouflage, quick mud spatter, fast varnishing, easy dust effects and more - all of these are techniques that you can do with an airbrush. Plus, for those of you living in cold/hot/wet climates, you can do all this INDOORS! (with the right protection, see below)

And here's the rub
So those are the positives. Are there any negatives? Like with any new complicated tool, yes there are. The two big ones are cost and the learning curve. Beginner airbrush sets with an airbrush, small tabletop compressor and accessories are about $/£100-250 online, while good airbrushes start at about $80 and no-name compressors without a tank start at about $100 (to convert these prices to £ or Euro just change the character in front of the numbers).

Meanwhile, you can get super-cheap airbrushes for $20 or less, so what will most people do? Get a cheap airbrush that you can't find spares for, try to learn how to airbrush from YouTube videos and very likely give up in frustration when they don't realize they have to keep their airbrush almost surgically clean to get the best out of it. So think about this before diving in and spending hundreds of dollars/rubels/shekkels on something new - if you can't keep your good-quality bristle brushes in top shape, you might not be ready for the cleaning adventures awaiting you with airbrushes.

You will need lots of practice before you get 'good'
Keep in mind that due to the size of wargaming models and model figures/figurines, you are automatically in ‘detail mode’ when you start airbrushing infantry models or small items on tanks and buildings. Airbrushing requires patience and practice, practice and patience. If all you want to do is prime and basecoat your models (which is a great way to get used to airbrushing, get good value from your setup and move away from spray cans), you’ll still need to get used to cleaning and color changes - and if you want to dive in deeper by doing effects like OSL or power sword fades, your efforts will be rewarded very well.


Required Watching
If you have an hour to watch, watch this VERY in-depth intro to wargame airbrushing from Badger’s owner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsW-vN0_lHw

Trusted Suppliers
Badger https://www.badgerairbrush.com and https://www.badger-airbrush.co.uk (airbrushes and paints) - USA-made airbrushes, the Patriot 105 is considered ‘the AK-47 of airbrushes’ (goon quote, it's a high compliment) because of its simplicity and versatility. It’s perfect for priming and base coating. The Renegade Krome and Sotar are high detail brushes and are also highly rated. I would NOT recommend the Sotar as your first airbrush (many people snap them up in Amazon's crazy cheap deals) unless you're prepared to learn very quickly about thinning your paints and keeping your airbrush clean. Note that Badger price their airbrushes lower than other brands because historically they just have. This does not mean they are 'cheaper' or lower quality, they are just as good as much more expensive airbrushes.
iwata Medea (airbrushes, compressors and cleaning supplies) - Mostly Japanese-made airbrushes, their cheapest line are the Taiwan-made Neo line (£/$55+, made by Sparmax, below), then the Revolution (£/$100+), Eclipse (£/$150+), Hi-Line (£/$220+) and Custom Micron (£/$320+). Wargaming painters will make the best use of the Neo and Revolution lines, with the Eclipse and Hi-Line more suited to people who airbrush literally every day. The Custom Micron brushes are meant for famous artists, so don't even look at those unless you're pro-level.

Other brands not as popular as the big 2 brands but still good
Sparmax (airbrushes and compressors) - The SP-35 is a decent all-around airbrush and you’ll recognize some of the other Sparmax airbrushes as the same as iwata Neo models. Sparmax also make the iwata compressors and are very good for the money!
Paasche - a well-respected brand, not too popular though
Grex - a German company, also well-respected
Harder & Steenbeck - a very well-liked German brand

Aztek - Not a popular brand for modellers, because it uses a non-traditional approach to different needle sizes. Each needle size or type of spray (like ‘spatter’) uses a specific cartridge, which is threaded into a single small plastic body. There are modelers who use Aztek airbrushes, but there aren’t many. Getting help is difficult because so few Aztek owners are out there. You may be tempted to pick up a used Aztek set from someone getting a traditional airbrush...but...just don’t.

What about the cheap AS-186 and TC-20 deals on Amazon, ebay and Harbor Freight?
Right, so you're looking at the el cheapo line-up, about $/£80-100 online... These cheap bundles are OK if you're getting your very first budget setup, but you have to understand that these airbrushes aren't as good quality and are harder to find spares for compared to brand name airbrushes (Badger, iwata, etc.) and the compressor won't last as long under regular use (meaning a couple times a week in short bursts). Best case scenario, you'll have something you use once or twice a month for priming and if you're lucky with a good unit it lasts you a little while. If that's all you need, you might be OK with the cheap Chinese stuff.

If you think you'll be doing this for a while, however, you should look to get quality supplies using brand name components. If you get more than a year or so out of a cheap compressor you're doing really well, whereas if you spend more on a good brand name compressor (Sparmax, Bambi or iwata for example) with as large a tank as you have room for you will have something that you will probably be able to pass down to your kids. A good compressor will be much quieter (no complaints from the neighbors or the significant other) and can be used all day, every day without breaking down or overheating. If you HAVE to get a bundle for about 100 cash units, the cheap bundles may be alright to learn with, just keep in mind you may want to upgrade relatively quickly. In the end, the usefulness of this cheap equipment comes down to how often you'll be using it, and managing your expectations.

Goon Recommendations
first airbrush: Badger 105 Patriot. You can spray anything you want for model painting through this, and the larger nozzle and other parts plus the gravity feed make it easy to keep clean. These are on sale as cheap as $60 but usually $100/£80. Other options include the Neo for iwata models, which are cheaper but that cheapness comes at a price (of course): lower quality & harder to clean (lots of threaded parts) but parts are easy to get in physical stores (Hobby Lobby in the US, for example).
second airbrush: Badger Renegade Krome, Badger Sotar (often on sale on Amazon.com) or the iwata Revolution models. Other fine detail airbrushes from Harder & Steenbeck, Grex and other brands are good choices, just get the one that's priced right for you and your needs. Even within brands there are almost no models that share parts, so don't worry too much about having different brands of airbrushes. The really expensive models are meant for professionals that paint all day, every day, so try not to get sucked into getting the best of the best, you could easily buy 'more airbrush than you need'.


Compressors
The gist: For the compressor, if you're limited in budget and not sure how much you'll be using the airbrush, get one of the cheap compressor models you can find on ebay or Amazon. If you can afford it, get one with a tank, it'll help the compressor last a bit longer. Eventually they'll break down anyway (because they're cheap), but the tank helps prevent it overheating too fast. When the compressor breaks down, if you are going to continue airbrushing, get a good quality brand name compressor like Wurther, iwata, Sparmax or Bambi but these may be out of your price range when you're first looking.

Compressed Air Cans - don't bother
Don't even think about using cans of compressed air. The cans get cold and lose pressure after a few minutes of spraying, meaning you have to wait for them to warm up again, during which time you're twiddling your thumbs. You'll probably need several cans to do a big unit of models, meaning you could have bought a cheap compressor with that money. Don't waste your money or effort.

Spare Tire or Canister - don't bother
You can get spare tire adapters to use literally a spare tire you have laying around - pump it up at a gas station, put the adapter on and spray. You'll have to pump up the tire every now and then but it works. I got my start with a spare tire (after using a couple of cans of compressed air) and it works. It's just not very convenient. In a similar fashion, you can get a tank of compressed air similar to a propane canister, which you'll need to get filled up but because it's a metal canister you can pump it up to much higher pressures at a welding supply shop or diving shop. One advantage of both of these methods is that the air supply is completely silent. The main disadvantage is that not only will you have to lug the tire or canister back to the gas station to pump it up, but you'll gradually lose pressure and have no real way to know how long you can spray for, unless you fit a pressure gauge.

Shop Compressor - don't bother unless you have a shed or garage you can hide it in because of the extreme noise
Relatively cheap, you can get these with a big tank but they will cut in when the pressure in the tank gets low and scare the ever-living poo poo out of you while you're painting. IF you can surround it with sound-absorbing and sound-deadening materials (solid brickwork and foam padding is a good start) these will work fine. Or get a very long hose to keep the compressor the hell away from you and an extra regulator at the airbrush end of the hose, so you can control the airflow without having to go all the way to the compressor to change things.

Cheap Airbrush Compressor - These are the ones that are $/£50-100 that come with every budget deal on Amazon or ebay. Basically, you get what you pay for. These are the cheapest compressors you can get for a reason. The compressors without tanks will overheat quickly and eventually break, when it fails mostly depends on how much you use them. Some people do get lucky and have it last for a while, but it's highly variable because of the poor quality control and high tolerances. If you're only going to prime and basecoat models here and there it may last 'for years' as some owners report, but only because you use it a couple times a month. If you paint regularly, as in a couple of times a week, it's a 'buy nice or buy twice' situation. I'll put it like this: if you buy one of these and it dies, then buy another one and THAT dies, by the time you buy the third one you could have gotten a very high quality, quieter compressor with a big 2-5 liter tank for the same price. You can extend the life of the cheap compressors by paying more for one with a tank but again they will eventually break, the hardware is the same and only has a tiny tank attached. The companies that sell these buy them by the containerload and don't bother to do repairs on them, they just scrap the bad ones or the returns and send out a new boxed one if you're lucky enough to have a warranty. Have I scared you off getting one of these yet? Hopefully.

Quality Airbrush Compressor (Bambi, SilentAire, iwata, Sparmax (who make the iwata compressors) - the only real choice for the serious hobbyist
If you're planning to be airbrushing for a while (meaning, continue airbrushing for a few years or more), the more you can spend, up to and over $/£200-300, you can be pretty assured the compressor will last for as long as you want to airbrush, used every day. Pay over 300 or so and you can have the compressor for decades and pass it onto your kids.

With compressors and airbrushes, you can pick Cheap, Good/Quiet and Support (as in spares, etc.) - you can only pick two.

Goon Recommendations
Again, if you're looking for a package deal that you can point someone at for a birthday or Christmas present, please try not to get the $/£80-100 'deals' that include a no-name, tankless compressor with 1 or 2 airbrushes. Those are literally junk and while you might get lucky and get one that suits your needs, after a while it will break or the compressor will burn out and you'll be left with worthless crap. Which is what they are. High quality bundle deals will be about $300/£250 or so and include a brand name compressor and airbrush with a hose to connect them and moisture trap. You will still need a mask, turntable, spray booth, etc. The mask should be an original 3M brand (don't get it from a discount seller, fake 3M filters are sold online, buy only from a reputable paint/auto supply place) but you can cheap out one the turntable and spray booth (see below).

less than $100/£80: Basically, if you can please save up to get a good brand name compressor (at least $200/£150) but if this is ALL you an afford at least get the cheap compressor with a tank, so the motor isn't running constantly. The motor WILL burn out eventually depending how often you use it, but the tank will help keep it going slightly longer. At this price level you're looking at tabletop compressors: the Sparmax ARISM Mini may be promising, in addition to the different iwata micro tabletop compressors. The ARISM Mini hasn't been tested yet but the early micro compressors were not promising, only putting out 15psi max so you'd be pretty limited in what you can spray. Mini and micro size compressors also can only be run for about 10 minutes at a time before needing to cool down, so continuous use is not possible unless you plan ahead.
$250/£200: The Sparmax TC-620X is an amazing value pro-quality compressor, it's quiet and very highly recommended by multiple goons
$400/£300+: A professional-level, silent, oil compressor with an 8-15 liter or larger tank that must rest under your table. You can expect something at this price to last you 20+ years or more. Bambi is a great brand name for EU/UK goons.


What the hell connector do I use??
The gist: Most airbrushes have a 1/8" connection and that is what size connection most airbrush hoses have, so you're fine there unless you have a Badger airbrush, in which case you'll need a converter - which you only have to get once. Quick disconnects are your friend here.

There are 2 different sizes for airbrushes and it’s common for new airbrushers to get lost trying to figure out which one to get for their airbrush. The standard airbrush compressor hose is ⅛” at both ends, this is the easiest one for you to find. iwata and most brands of airbrushes will fit right on, however Badger and a couple of other brands will need an adapter to fit.

NOTE that if you get a ‘shop’ compressor (one made for air tools, etc., and not made specifically for airbrushing) the air output connector will be ¼” so you will need an adapter to reduce the size. You can also get a hose with a ¼” connector at one end and a ⅛” connector at the other, however keep in mind if you get an airbrush-specific compressor the air output connection will have a ⅛” connector, so you’ll need a converter. See? It’s confusing. So just get a standard airbrush hose with ⅛” connectors and a converter if you need to.

iwata and Grex use the ⅛” size and Badger uses an M5 metric standard 5mm size connector. For Badger, only the Renegade Krome model comes with an adapter - otherwise you’ll need an adapter, which will be about $5/£3 or so. If you get an Aztek or Paasche you’ll need a suitable adapter as well, because they have their own sizes.

The easiest thing to do is get a standard compressor hose and a quick disconnector set for your airbrush.

Hoses
Most airbrush hoses have standard 1/8" fittings at both ends but you can get hoses with a 1/8" connection at one end and a 1/4" connection at the other end - this is for connecting to a 'shop' type air compressor. You can also just get a standard airbrush hose, a set of adapters and PTFE tape to seal the connections.

Moisture Traps
Try to get a hose with a built-in moisture trap or use a pistol-grip moisture trap (fits directly to the airbrush and makes it feel a bit like a pistol grip), as most compressors have traps mounted right on the compressor, which is useless because the air cools down after the trap, leaving water in the hose, which will eventually get on your model. Ideally, to catch all the moisture from the compressor, you should have the hose come from the compressor lead to a moisture trap then have a second hose which has your airbrush at the end. But this is the ideal setup, don't worry about it too much to start with but be aware you'll need to be vigilant to prevent water spatters from reaching your model.

Quick Disconnects
A quick disconnect (or QD, or quick release) set can be purchased online to fit your particular airbrush. These allow you to swap airbrushes quickly (from your basing to your detail brush, for example) without having to get multiple hoses or air valves.

QDs can be purchased to fit ⅛” connectors, and the plug or mating piece is standard so get as many plugs as you have airbrushes, and you can swap to your heart’s content and never have to think about what size adapter you need for anything! You can also get QDs for your main air hose, so if you have to store away your compressor between uses you can quickly get set up.

PTFE Tape
Also get a roll PTFE tape, also known as Teflon tape or plumber’s tape, to seal the air connections at the tank, airbrush, QD, etc.. Use a wrench or pair of pliers to tighten the adapter just a little tighter than finger-tight - don’t rely on your fingers, because you WILL have air leaks.

I've heard about this 'pulsing' thing...
Pulsing is a myth, the hose absorbs the 'pulsing' (this is covered in the first video above), if your paint is pulsing out of the airbrush your paint is too thick or your air pressure is too low, or (more likely) your nozzle is clogged with gunky paint.

You may need a paint booth
In this context, a ‘paint booth’ means some sort of air extraction system. This means something that sucks the air away from your personal space, pulling away paint fume and dried paint that is hanging in the air. This stuff is bad for you, mm’kay? If you don’t have a spray booth, paint will basically get everywhere - on your desk, your computer keyboard, your monitor, your phone, your other paints, your other models, etc.

The most basic paint booth is a simple cardboard box tipped on its side, so you’re spraying into the open side (which is the top of the box when it's turned over). This will keep paint overspray from getting all over your other models, but the overspray will blow back into your face (see paint masks, below). The next step up, which pulls air and overspray away from you, is an open window with a fan blowing out the window. Spray near the window or into the box (which has the bottom open as well and faces the window) to keep overspray inside your home to a minimum. This ‘box with fan’ is the most basic paint booth, you can get cheap foldable paint booths online or make your own, but you will need to experiment with how often you paint and how permanent your setup can be. Also keep in mind that the higher pressure you spray at, the more you’ll need a spray booth, because the speed of the air blows the paint around more. The cheap folding spray booth you can get for about $/£60 or so is OK at low air pressures like 15psi or so, but for larger models that are all one piece you'll need to use a larger box or just accept you'll get overspray on stuff.

You WILL need a paint mask
Period. If you paint indoors, whether or not you have an air extraction system, you WILL need a paint mask or respirator. A 3M half-mask like this will be fine, a dust mask from a DIY shop is NOT. The respirator linked is a ‘P100’ rated mask, which will protect you from organic vapors like lacquers and thinners, so it is more than enough protection from acrylic paint particles and resin or MDF dust. It doesn't cost a lot to protect your lungs, and you can use this mask for woodworking and other DIY/crafting pursuits.

Starting Out Airbrushing - FINALLY!
  • Always start with air and end with air. This means press the trigger first then pull back gently to get your paint out, and after finishing your stroke let the trigger go forward while still pressing down so air is coming out. Get used to this! Letting air flow over your work lets your model dry faster, so you can get used to applying a thin coat over one area, move on to another section and then come back to the first area
  • Find an easel or clip some paper to a board and hold it at an angle so you can practice. Use thinned ink, very thinned-down paint or even water with dark food coloring added for practice, so you don't have to think about clogging or cleaning.
  • PRACTICE 1 - Start simple: Dots. Press the trigger to get air and gently pull back to get a dot. Get used to how far or close you can be to the paper and note how small or wide the dot is when you move closer or further away. Fill 3 sheets of paper with dots.
  • PRACTICE 2 - Now draw straight lines on paper. STRAIGHT lines. Start and stop just before the edges of the paper. When you can do lines and start/stop them where you want, try thicker lines. Then thinner lines. Then shorter lines. Fill 4 sheets of paper with lines.
  • PRACTICE 3 - Make boxes with perfect corners. Shade in the boxes with a solid tone. Shade the boxes with a gradient. Fill 4 sheets of paper with shaded boxes.
  • PRACTICE 4 - Make circles. Circles are WAY harder than you think! Start and stop the circular line at different points so you don't have a large blob of paint on the line. Now shade the circle so it looks like a ball. Fill 2 sheets of paper with circles about 3" or 8cm across. Then fill 2 more with smaller circles about 1" or 25mm across! (all this practice is the kind of thing that takes up half a day of the 2-day wargame airbrushing course I help with)

Some issues you will come across that you should be familiar with. These are picture examples of airbrush issues you WILL have when you're starting out


Some beginner stuff to remember
  • Painting wargaming figures or figures of any size, really, puts you automatically in the 'high detail' range of airbrushing - don't think you'll just jump right into painting highlights on everything like the Infinity wargaming models. It takes lots and lots of practice to get to that stage.
  • After you know how to use the airbrush, start with large models like tanks, buildings, terrain, etc. Then move to smaller models like 40K Rhinos or vehicles about the size of your hand with 'large' flat panels. Then move to something size of 28mm biker models. THEN and only then try painting individual infantry/foot figures.
  • Spray thinner - constantly! You should also be shooting (spraying) thinner through your airbrush regularly. Spray thinner during every color change and every time your paint cup runs empty, if you’re spraying a large amount of one color.
  • Take 'Airbrush ready' paints with a grain of salt - you will still need to thin the paint depending on the work you are trying to do. If you are doing extreme detail work on a model 3cm high
  • Check the tip of your needle for 'dry tip' every few minutes of painting. Dry tip is dried paint collecting on the tip, which will affect the aim of the paint flow. Keep a damp toothbrush or old paintbrush handy to clean the tip of dried paint. The easier it is to clean the tip, the more often you will do it!
  • If you notice the paint spray is getting off-center or has changed for some reason, check for dry tip or dried paint around the nozzle end. You may be able to dislodge a clog or prevent further clogging in a couple of ways: pull back the trigger all the way and press down to blow out the clog, or try loosening the needle chuck, pull the needle back, rotate it 180 degrees (half a turn) and push it back into place and tighten the needle chuck
  • If the paint in your paint cup is bubbling, you have a clog - put a towel or damp paper towel over the end of the airbrush and gently press down on the trigger to release air - the air won't be able to escape out the front of the airbrush and will be forced back into the paint cup, making the paint bubble up and forcing the clog back into the paint cup. You'll need to dump out this paint and rinse the paint cup before continuing.

Cleaning - yeah, this is a big section...because it's an important part of working with an airbrush.
A good tool needs good maintenance, and when you start out you’ll eventually run into a problem that is easily answered by “you didn’t clean your airbrush properly”.

You need a cleaning station
Make your own cleaning station for airbrushing acrlics (name-brand cleaning stations can be $/£10+, this is basically free and still prevents clouds of spray getting into the air)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpjdv7hZv7E
An even simpler version is to cut a hole in a plastic drink bottle, spray into that and stuff it full of paper towels which you change out now and then. You can also use a bucket-shaped container (like a plastic ice cream tub or old gallon/2.5l paint can) and stuff it with paper towels, but you’ll get a bit of overspray. The cleaning bucket also doubles as a ‘dump tub’, too (see below).

You’ll also need a dump tub
When you’re changing colors and cleaning, you’ll want to save some time by not spraying out all the paint, dirty cleaner or water into your cleaning station. Get an old food container with a lid and use that as a simple ‘dump tub’. Eventually it will fill up with manky grey water with a slimy dark sludge at the bottom. If you’re eco-minded, pour this paint water through a strainer and/or a paper coffee filter to remove the paint particles, and pour the strained water down the drain. You can also use a large bucket of dirt (without a plant in it) or sand as a strainer - just pour the paint water in and let the dirt filter it out. The water will eventually dry from the dirt and you can just put the top layer of dirt in the garbage every now and then.

Basic cleaning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCsWug3n2U4

I have a clog!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxC_8DLp7hs

Daily airbrush care - something to do at end of each painting session
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9plBA1BITmY
You MUST keep your airbrush clean, properly, so regular maintenance is important

Leave paint in your airbrush overnight? (it happens...all the time) All is not lost…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1EsQozxEjM
Basically get a small ultrasonic cleaner with a timer (you can also just soak the airbrush parts in airbrush thinner - not ammonia cleaner! - or cellulose thinners for a couple of hours and gently scrub with a stiff bristle brush)

More quick pointers:
  • 90% of your clogs and issues with the airbrush will come from the nozzle - if you try to spray paint that is too thick through a nozzle that is too small, you will have problems
  • You don't need to take everything apart to clean your airbrush - just the back end, the needle, the nozzle holder and the nozzle
  • Airbrush cleaner from whatever brand of paint you have will removed paint build-up, but if you have a serious clog and you can't get inside the nozzle (the nozzle on the Sotar for example is absolutely tiny) you can soak the working/front end of the airbrush, the nozzle and the needle in cellulose thinners for a couple of hours to absolutely, positively remove any paint build-up - this must be used in a metal or glass container, as it will melt most plastics.
  • Do your disassembly/reassembly over a towel on a table, not over your lap - losing a $/£20+ nozzle among the detritus of your workshop floor is not a good time
  • Keep a scrap piece of paper and a paper towel handy at all times, in addition to a small pot of water with a plastic brush and/or toothbrush. This helps you do quick spray tests and cleaning and keeping them nearby (with hand's reach) will encourage you to keep everything clean.
  • After cleaning the tip of the needle, do a test spray on your scrap paper. This blows off any water or collected paint so it doesn't end up on your model. You can also use the scrap paper to test the air pressure you are spraying at.

Some more pointers:
  • Get used to testing your air pressure on the back of your off-hand - eventually you will know just from the feel of the air pressure roughly what air pressure you are spraying at
  • Use nitrile gloves to hold models you are spraying so you don't end up with heavily painted hands. You can also use old paint pots and poster tack or bottle corks with paper clips shoved in them to hold models with your off-hand
  • Try to have a spare needle and nozzle set available just in case you drop your airbrush, catch the end of the VERY DELICATE needle on a model or your desk, or you lose your nozzle (see above)
  • DO NOT mix up your nozzles and needles - they are 'matched pairs', meaning trying to fit a 0.21mm needle into a 0.4mm nozzle will result in inconsistent spray at best
  • Keep any old needles handy, they are good for gently scraping the inside of a nozzle or getting at very stubborn bits of paint - put a piece of colored tape around the end so you know to not use it in your airbrush again!
  • Everything goes on finger tight. You don't need to hero on an connections.
  • Use airbrush lube (Badger Regdab or iwata Super Lube) on everything when you're cleaning it, one bottle is cheap and will last you years and years
  • Use plumber's Teflon/PTFE tape on all air connections
  • If your compressor comes on at random times even though you're not using it, you have an air leak somewhere. These can be hard to track down but you'll probably have at most 2 or 3 connections to check - use the PTFE tape to seal up the connections
  • Quick releases (or multiple air hoses) are your friend
  • Dropper bottles are the ideal thing for airbrushers (paint pots suck!)
  • If you have a tank compressor, remember that the inside of the tank will collect water, so make sure to empty the tank from time to time and open the water release valve (usually just a bolt near the bottom curve of the tank). Do this outside or into a bucket because the water will be rusty and nasty!
  • Note that some paints (like Vallejo and Tamiya) don't thin perfectly with water, so invest in the same brand thinner as whatever your paints are. Badger paints and primers are perfectly thinnable with water. If you need proof, smell the air/paint particles in the air after doing lengthy spraying with a particular brand.
  • Badger airbrushes don't have o-rings on the nozzle holder or tip, which can allow bubbles to form if there's water or liquid around them - this is totally normal and the airbrush is designed to do that
  • For mixing paint in the paint cup, use cheap children's paint brushes with plastic bristles and handles - the plastic handle prevent scratching the inside of the paint cup
  • To mix paint in the paint cup 'like a pro', put a towel or damp paper towel over the end of the airbrush and gently press down on the trigger to release air - the air won't be able to escape out the front of the airbrush and will be forced back into the paint cup, making the paint bubble up and thoroughly mix the paint

Make your own thinner for acrylic paints
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoKJUrISnTo
I have discussed this with the owner of Badger, and he sees no problem with using this as a thinner. Using alcohol is BAD because it makes the paint dry even faster (acrylics dry quickly already, no need to make them dry faster). Ammonia is bad also because it breaks down the paint (it’s more suitable as a cleaner), so it wrecks the mixture and there’s no point using it as a thinner. Note that this is not ‘cleaner’ as in to clean the airbrush, it’s only meant to thin paints down a bit more effectively than water (thanks to it having drying retarder in it).

Suppliers
https://www.dickblick.com (US)
https://www.barwellbodyworks-shop.com (UK) (Badger)

krushgroove fucked around with this message at 14:16 on Feb 23, 2016

krushgroove
Oct 23, 2007

Disapproving look
CASTING

For some modellers, making your own parts is kind of the holy grail of modeling, and with easy online ordering it's possible to get resin, silicone and other casting supplies easily for you to waste money attempt to make many identical copies of your own bits*

For the purposes of this section we're talking about using silicone molds filled with resin or plaster for the purposes of tactical wargaming or figure painting. There are many different types of moldmaking, from white metal spincasting and injection molding, but this guide is purely for the home/hobby caster, not for professional high output production.

Terms (note: as above, all the terms below are relative to the home/hobby caster and this guide)
mold/mould: the item you pour your casting material into
mold material: a silicone mix that cures at room temperature (see RTV)
original: the original piece you're casting - once you have a good casting it's good practice to keep the original model in storage somewhere and also keep a perfect cast handy in case you need to re-make the mold
casting material: usually resin, but can be plaster
RTV: Room Temperature Vulcanizing...this basically means absolutely no special equipment is needed, you literally pour in the mold or casting material and let it cure (harden) at room temperature (20-22C or 72F)
base: for one-piece molds, a smooth, thick sheet of plastic you glue the original to. For two-piece molds, a Lego sheet will be fine as you'll be putting modelling clay on top of that
form: a Lego bricks are the easiest thing to use for the sides of a mold
mold release: only really necessary for two-piece molds, you can get release sprays or simply brush on Vaseline (if your ambient temperature allows you to)

Press molds
The simplest way to get into casting, press molding is a very easy way to make extra things like the fronts of skulls, icons and insignia shoulder pads and more. Essentially you get your mold material (silicone sealant, Miliput, Instant Mold or other stuff) and literally press in the thing you want to make. Let the casting material set (it then becomes your mold) then pull off the original and stick in a blob of Green Stuff (or your chosen casting material), let it harden a bit and bam, you have a new vent/skull/shoulder pad/whatever. This is super super easy and a great way to make many copies of some of your favorite items.

Method 1: Using silicone sealant, corn starch/flour and baby (or cooking) oil - stuff you may have in your garage and kitchen already!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHacQeO1vMo

Method 2: Using Instant Mold
Instant Mold (also sold under the 'Oyumaru' brand name) is a plastic substance that when dropped into very hot water is super pliable to make casts, but it requires a little different way of doing things. Here's one guy's way to use it (again, using Lego):

Method 3: Using Miliput or any other epoxy putty
Mix the putty and coat the piece you want to copy with oil. Press the putty over the piece, being careful to not overlap an area that would make it difficult to pull the part out of the mold. Let the putty set fully (24 hours or so) then coat with oil and press-fit in Green Stuff, Miliput or the same putty you used for the mold. Et voila, you have a new part.

One-Piece Molds
The next easiest type of casting to get into are one-piece molds, which literally have a single mold that you pour your casting material (such as resin or plaster) into. They are very simple and easy to make and use. Pour in the material, let it cure (the time depends on the material you're using but up to an hour or so for slow-acting resins), pop out the fresh cast then mix and pour a new batch of material. If you don't want to make your own molds, Hirst Arts make one-piece molds for about $/£30 each that you can use to make hundreds of pieces of terrain for your own Dwarven Forge-style dungeon crawl in classic Hero Quest style. Watch the videos below so you get an idea of one-piece casting.

Making your own bases is the easiest first step of custom casting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtsCRqftmeg

This guy has tons of videos on making your own model materials, from flock to hills.

Here's a walkthrough of using high quality mold plaster in Hirst Arts molds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpfIhikaikQ

I used this guide to cast up my own one-piece molds, using Crystacal at a 2:1 plaster-to-water mix and it works great. This guy is probably the best terrain maker on Youtube, and has tons of videos on making natural and man-made scenery. Pay attention to the 'wet water' method of getting rid of bubbles in the mold.

When making something that will be cast in a one-piece mold, try to avoid perfectly straight vertical sides, as this can encourage bubbles to form and prevent the casting material from flowing in smoothly. Definitely stay away from overhangs (areas of your model like rounded pipes) unless your design has enough 'give' nearby - silicone is very flexible and allows you to capture great detail, but too many overhangs in a cast can slowly weaken the mold and eventually tear the silicone. If you're making something that you know will eventually be cast as a one-piece mold, think in terms of what will fit into a pyramid shape - wide at the bottom and decreasing in width the higher it goes. This is ideal for one-piece moldmaking and is one reason why custom bases are relatively easy to cast.

Two-Piece Molds
One-piece molds are ideal for casting pieces with a flat side, such as bases, floor tiles and more. Two-piece molds, on the other hand, allow you to cast more complicated pieces, such as weapons, limbs and other parts. It takes more time and effort but if done right the results can be very nice indeed. Keep in mind that it can take much more resin material to make a good two-piece mold, and you will need to be patient as the learning process can mean some wasted silicone (which can be recovered) and wasted resin (which can't).

Here is goon Z the IV's own 2-part casting guide, using room-temperature silicone (aka 'RTV silicone'), modelling clay and custom-made parts: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=3705692&perpage=40&pagenumber=94#post449908079

Using Instant Mold
Yes, you can indeed using Instant Mold to make casts, but it requires a little different way of doing things. Here's one guy's way to use it (again, using Lego):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E69V3UkCJxE

Things to note for both one-piece and two-piece moldmaking:
- The item you're casting needs to be absolutely perfect before you make a cast of it. The tiniest imperfection will be present in every single cast, so you'll actually save loads of time if you make the cast, just fix any imperfections on it and then make a new mold of the fixed cast. Thinking "oh, I'll just fix that on every cast I make" is a losing proposition! Then you can keep the original model and the 'original cast' in case you need to make modifications or a new mold (the molds can and do wear out over time, depending on the complexity of it, such as overhangs, etc.)
- You can 'recover' silicone from bad molds, but this doesn't mean you can melt it down - liquid silicone before it cures doesn't stick to anything all except other bits of silicone, so one way to save money is to cut up your bad silicone molds and use the chunks to fill in spaces in your molds, meaning you will use less liquid silicone to make your mold.
- Most RTV silicone is measured by weight, so get a decent digital scale that measures in grams. GRAMS, Americans. That's the metric system. Learn to love it. 100g of Part A mixed with 10g of Part B, very easy to measure with a digital scale. And by the way, 'tare' means to 'zero out' the scale. So put your measuring cup on the scale, hit Tare and then pour in your silicone mix slowly.
- You will not be able to write on the cured silicone in any way, not with a paint marker, Sharpie or anything else, so the best way to store your molds is to cut cardboard to shape so that it fit around the mold, write your info on it (what the mold is, if it's starting to get beat up, etc.) and wrap a rubber band around the mold and the cardboard. For a two-piece mold, cut 2 pieces of cardboard and use 2 rubber bands so you have instant supports for the mold when you pour resin in the mold.
- Talcum powder is your friend when it comes to molding resin. The powder helps prevent bubbles and is super cheap in any drug store or pharmacy/chemist's.
- *yes, all of this information can be used to copy (or 'recast') copyrighted models, but please don't. And if you do, this guide and the material it points to isn't at fault if you decide to do that! You can learn a lot trying to recast production parts but DO NOT sell the parts (especially on SA, or in this thread).

krushgroove fucked around with this message at 10:41 on Oct 1, 2015

krushgroove
Oct 23, 2007

Disapproving look
Reputable Brands
Paints
Badger: Minitaire paints & Stynlrez primers (airbrush-ready and can be brushed on)
Citadel: paints, brushes and tools. The Citadel paint system consists of Foundation, Layer, Wash and Edge paints and are meant to be used in a particular sequence
P3: paints. Wide range of colors, with helpful ‘triad’ sets that make things easy when picking a particular set of matching colors.
Reaper: paints. The ‘HD’ paints have more pigment, similar to the Citadel Foundation paints and the rest of the line has a wide variety of gamer-oriented colors.
Vallejo: Vallejo Game Air (VGA), Vallejo Game Colour (VGC), Vallejo Model Air (VMA) and other paints. Very wide range, the Game line has fewer and brighter colors than the Model selection, which is mostly for military modelers.

Brushes
Army Painter: 2 lines of brushes
Citadel:
Rosemary:
Springer-Pinsel: OEM supplier for Army Painter and Oath Thread sponsor
Winsor Newton:

What are some good model lines?
These are manufacturers just of wargaming models up to 30-32mm scale, many of these also offer scenery and some do rules systems to help sell their models as well. For a long list of (mostly British) miniatures companies, see this list of traders from the biggest wargame show in the UK: http://www.salute.co.uk/files/salute2015traders.pdf

Fantasy
http://www.games-workshop.com
http://www.mierce-miniatures.com
http://shop.microartstudio.com
http://www.peterpig.co.uk/fantasy.html
http://www.reapermini.com

Ancient World
http://www.heroicsandros.co.uk/
http://www.peterpig.co.uk/page3.html
http://store.warlordgames.com/collections/early-middle-bronze-age

Romans
http://www.grippingbeast.co.uk
http://store.warlordgames.com/collections/romans

Dark Ages
http://www.grippingbeast.co.uk
http://www.heroicsandros.co.uk/
http://saxonminiatures.com
http://store.warlordgames.com/collections/dark-ages

Wars of the Roses
http://www.heroicsandros.co.uk/
http://www.peterpig.co.uk
http://store.warlordgames.com/collections/war-of-the-roses-1455-1485

Crusades
http://www.heroicsandros.co.uk/
https://www.perry-miniatures.com

English Civil War
http://www.heroicsandros.co.uk/
https://www.perry-miniatures.com
http://www.peterpig.co.uk
http://store.warlordgames.com/collections/pike-shotte

Pirates
http://www.peterpig.co.uk

Samurai
http://www.peterpig.co.uk

American War of Independence
https://www.perry-miniatures.com
http://www.peterpig.co.uk
http://store.warlordgames.com/collections/black-powder

Napoleonic
http://www.heroicsandros.co.uk/
https://www.perry-miniatures.com
http://store.warlordgames.com/collections/black-powder

Colonial
http://www.peterpig.co.uk

American Civil War
http://www.heroicsandros.co.uk/
https://www.perry-miniatures.com
http://www.peterpig.co.uk

Old West
http://www.peterpig.co.uk
http://www.reapermini.com

Spanish Civil War
http://www.peterpig.co.uk
http://www.theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/

WW1
http://www.heroicsandros.co.uk/
http://www.peterpig.co.uk/worldwar1.html
http://www.theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/

WW2
http://www.heroicsandros.co.uk/
http://www.peterpig.co.uk
http://www.theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/
http://store.warlordgames.com/collections/bolt-action-army-deal

Korean/Vietnam War
http://www.peterpig.co.uk

Cold War & Modern
http://www.grippingbeast.co.uk/Modern_Forces.html
http://www.heroicsandros.co.uk/
http://www.peterpig.co.uk
http://www.theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/

Science Fiction
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk
http://www.hawkwargames.com
http://www.games-workshop.com
http://shop.microartstudio.com
http://www.reapermini.com
http://store.warlordgames.com/collections/beyond-the-gates-of-antares

Accessories
http://www.anvilindustry.co.uk


Where to get models from?
This is NOT going to be a comprehensive list of online shops you can get stuff from, but if you’re looking for goon-rated sites you can trust, you could do a lot worse than starting with these sites. This is mainly a repository of sites to look at so when someone asks “I’m in XXXX, where can I get XXXX models from?” we can point them at the OP.

US
The War Store https://www.thewarstore.com
Miniature Market http://www.miniaturemarket.com/
FRP Games http://www.frpgames.com/
Discount Games Inc http://www.discountgamesinc.com/
Noble Knight Games http://www.nobleknight.com/
Scale Hobbyist http://www.scalehobbyist.com/ (not so much a mini-related site, but has plenty of paints & tools)

UK/EU
Troll Trader https://www.trolltrader.com
Dark Sphere https://www.darksphere.co.uk
Element Games https://www.elementgames.co.uk/

AUSTRALIA
The Combat Company http://thecombatcompany.com/ (models/paint)
Games Empire http://www.gamesempire.com.au/index.php (models/paint)
Milsims http://www.milsims.com.au/ (models/paint)
Frontline Hobbies https://www.frontlinehobbies.com.au/ (paint)

Forums with painting sections
Bell of Lost Souls http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/
Bolter & Chainsword http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/
Cool Mini or Not http://www.coolminiornot.com/ (probably the best painting site)
Dakkadakka http://www.dakkadakka.com/
Lead Adventure Forums http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php
Platoon Britannica http://platoonbritannica.co.uk/

Goon Painter Sites/Blogs
https://www.powerfisted.com Bulbasaur’s 30K/40K painting blog
https://www.tinyplasticspacemen.com krushgroove’s painting site

Commission Painting Goons
in alphabetical order (this is not a goon’s name, btw)
Bachtere
krushgroove
PierreTheMime
Red Shoe
serious gaylord
signal
Slimnoid



STAY MOTIVATED!

When you're just starting out, or you're jumping back in, it can be hard to stay motivated. Even long-time painters have trouble now and then keeping their willpower going. Maybe you're slogging through Ork #49 of 120, or you just can't stand to see another piece of ill-shaped terrain for your table...don't worry, there's always a way!

Unfortunately, 'taking a break' can extend from a week away from the brushes to years in the blink of an eye (stupid real life!), so here are some suggestions to keep going and make progress on your painting:

Peer Pressure
Ah this old trap - there's nothing better! Watching someone else's army start to get fully painted is great motivation, not just for yourself but for your gaming friends. When the first guy in your group or club has a fully painted army, it (hopefully) motivates the rest to get their stuff painted too!

Play It Painted Pledge
If you're a wargamer, here's a simple way to stay motivated: make a promise to yourself that you won't play with any models that are unpainted! You can tell your wargamer buddies about your pledge, so they can give you crap about it at the table, which helps to motivate you. Your pledge may also encourage them to do the same thing, and around and around it goes (see above).

Small but Significant Steps
You can also promise yourself or your friends that each time you play, you will have one more model or unit painted, built, primed or whatever, so that over time you're either adding to your army, using fewer proxies or having a higher percentage of your forces painted every time you play. Baby steps, but going in the right direction!

Just an Hour!
If you struggle to get in a few hours of painting over a weekend, try painting just for an hour each day. This can be scheduled into your evening ritual, say before/after dinner, after the kids are asleep, or while your SO is busy doing her/his thing. One hour and you can completely paint one or two models of your army each night, or get a lot of work done on a vehicle/monster/building. Before you know it you'll have a squad complete, then a company and soon an entire regiment!

Join the Oath Thread
You can always joint the SA Oath Thread, where you make a promise each month to paint one model, unit or whatever. Paint something during a month and you're eligible to win a wide variety of prizes, and earn points towards possibly winning huge prizes at the end of every year-long period! Plus, everyone is encouraged to use or learn one new technique each month, such as battle damage, OSL and other fun stuff.

Keep It Handy
If you have a (wo)man cave where you do your painting (an office, loft, spare bedroom, whatever), but find you're not able to sneak away very often to do your painting, get a laptop desk thing (one of those boards with a beanbag underneath) and keep a small jar of water and a couple of brushes near where you watch TV with your family or SO (or cat, since you're a goon). This helps you get your hour a day of painting in while you're 'spending time with the family'.

Get Others Involved
What's more fun than gaming? How about gathering together to paint all your stuff? Get your friends together and have a painting night - you can share techniques, try out new paints or brushes and check out each other's work. You can do this over Skype or Google Hangouts, too!

Look at Kick-rear end Stuff
As usual, looking at other people's awesome work is a great way to motivate yourself to gradually get better and better. Or cry yourself into a corner, cursing your hands and your fate. Either way, here's some cool things on the internets to check out:
Close-up pictures of the original Star Wars series models
Pretty much anything on Cool Mini or Not
Tom Schadle, master painter of Infinity models

Check out Awesome Goon Tutorial Posts
(these links are in other areas of this OP, this is just a one-stop shop area for all the goon tutes)
Scenic basing
Weathering Part 1: Steel wool, dental tools, and chipping fluid
Weathering Part 2: Alcohol Paints, Scratch Highlights, Glow Effects, Lenses, and Custom Decals
Weathering Part 3: Oil Filters, Pin Washes, Lead Pencils, and (more) Metallic Alcohol Paints
https://stripping
stripping with Simple Green vs Super Clean Part 1 - Part 2
making a homemade airbrush spray booth (just one way to do it)

krushgroove fucked around with this message at 17:29 on Dec 3, 2015

Pierzak
Oct 30, 2010
Holy poo poo that OP :aaaaa:

Time to take my procrastination to the new thread... later... someday... maybe... if I feel like it.

Indolent Bastard
Oct 26, 2007

I WON THIS AMAZING AVATAR! I'M A WINNER! WOOOOO!
reserved (I'm lazy and like being able to ? my own posts to find things and having a post on the first page is really useful for that).

Big Willy Style
Feb 11, 2007

How many Astartes do you know that roll like this?
Killer OP krushgroove! I now dont have trawl through bulbasaurs post history to find his rad tutorials.

krushgroove
Oct 23, 2007

Disapproving look

Big Willy Style posted:

Killer OP krushgroove! I now dont have trawl through bulbasaurs post history to find his rad tutorials.

Thanks guys! I will be putting Bulbasaur's pics and stuff on Imgur so they're not lost once the old thread goes to Archives - that was one of the things holding me up (as well as finishing off a couple of the sections).

Fyrbrand
Dec 30, 2002

Grimey Drawer
RIP old painting thread. Long live the painting thread.

SRM
Jul 10, 2009

~*FeElIn' AweS0mE*~
You're doin it right, Krushgroove.

Pierzak
Oct 30, 2010

Fyrbrand posted:

RIP old painting thread. Long live the painting thread.

Strip and repaint! Strip and repaint!

(while ~1200 other miniatures wait for their first paintjob)

lilljonas
May 6, 2007

We got crabs? We got crabs!

Pierzak posted:

Strip and repaint! Strip and repaint!

(while ~1200 other miniatures wait for their first paintjob)

Last thread was longer than my list of unpainted minis. Long live the new thread!

enri
Dec 16, 2003

Hope you're having an amazing day

lilljonas posted:

Last thread was longer than my list of unpainted minis. Long live the new thread!

Pretty sure the old thread started when I still used to work from home, that's going back a ways... back when working from home meant "slip in a cheeky bit of basecoating / drybrushing / etc." whilst waiting for stuff at the office to happen.

MasterSlowPoke
Oct 9, 2005

Our courage will pull us through
You really need some photos of models in this thread.

serious gaylord
Sep 16, 2007

what.

MasterSlowPoke posted:

You really need some photos of models in this thread.

Agreed.





































serious gaylord fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Mar 11, 2015

Fyrbrand
Dec 30, 2002

Grimey Drawer
Cool I'll be the guy to immediately follow a bunch of amazing models with my own weak sauce

Maelok the Dreadbound:





Pyrolocutus
Feb 5, 2005
Shape of Flame



Would it be prudent to add links for companies that produce basing items, not limited to but including base inserts, flock, and small items (crates, barrels, etc) as a resource?

serious gaylord
Sep 16, 2007

what.

Pyrolocutus posted:

Would it be prudent to add links for companies that produce basing items, not limited to but including base inserts, flock, and small items (crates, barrels, etc) as a resource?

Please do. Most of the issue with getting these things is that the websites are normally garbage so you're never sure what you're getting.

krushgroove
Oct 23, 2007

Disapproving look

Pyrolocutus posted:

Would it be prudent to add links for companies that produce basing items, not limited to but including base inserts, flock, and small items (crates, barrels, etc) as a resource?

Sure, post 'em and I'll add 'em!

MasterSlowPoke
Oct 9, 2005

Our courage will pull us through

Fyrbrand posted:

Cool I'll be the guy to immediately follow a bunch of amazing models with my own weak sauce

Maelok the Dreadbound:







I like this scheme way better than the stock one; I'll be sure to save it for when I paint mine (est. never).

Cooked Auto
Aug 4, 2007

If you will not serve in combat, you will serve on the firing line!




Fyrbrand posted:

Cool I'll be the guy to immediately follow a bunch of amazing models with my own weak sauce





I still think the Kriegers are my best painted stuff yet. :unsmith:

NTRabbit
Aug 15, 2012

i wear this armour to protect myself from the histrionics of hysterical women

bitches




I'll be the guy who drops the bar even lower with a much worse follow up set of photos, so that people can know that it's ok to post here even if you're terrible like me, we can't all be Serious Gaylord or Bachtere :unsmith: or Laikathespacedog and his :lsd: inspired creations, plus the rest of the commission crew





















NTRabbit fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Mar 12, 2015

NTRabbit
Aug 15, 2012

i wear this armour to protect myself from the histrionics of hysterical women

bitches




Also Krushgroove for the op, places to get minis to paint in Australia:

http://thecombatcompany.com/

http://www.gamesempire.com.au/index.php

http://www.milsims.com.au/

Also places to get paint, the above plus

https://www.frontlinehobbies.com.au/

Most frequent stockist of things you don't often think of, like laquers, plus paints we don't normally use like Tamiya

signalnoise
Mar 7, 2008

i was told my old av was distracting

krushgroove posted:

Sure, post 'em and I'll add 'em!

Time for me to make a post about specialty paints and poo poo I guess

MasterSlowPoke
Oct 9, 2005

Our courage will pull us through
I guess I should have put up or shutted up.











Reynold
Feb 14, 2012

Suffer not the unclean to live.
Oooh ooh I wanna post stuff too!






krushgroove
Oct 23, 2007

Disapproving look
What the hell, I need to post my stuff more often!







(I like big tanks & robots and I cannot lie)












NTRabbit posted:

Also Krushgroove for the op, places to get minis to paint in Australia:

Thanks, will add these!


signalnoise posted:

Time for me to make a post about specialty paints and poo poo I guess
I'll either link to it or embed it in the OP. Do you mean the alcohol paints, or what?

Who Dat
Dec 13, 2007

:neckbeard: :woop: :downsbravo: :slick:
Paining miniatures owns. Great OP. Looking forward to starting the hobby with a brand new thread. It's like take the cellophane off a CD of a band I've never heard of. :allears:

Zark the Damned
Mar 9, 2013

Joining the :bandwagon: and posting some of my favourite figs (mostly Orks plus Oaths from the past year):










Pyrolocutus
Feb 5, 2005
Shape of Flame



krushgroove posted:

Sure, post 'em and I'll add 'em!

Itar's Workshop: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Itars-Workshop/199845343387129

I first found out about them when I picked up a Mixed Crates and Barrels set for basing my Warmachine and Malifaux items with. Good quality and nice variety. The guy's webstore is currently closed since last November because of personal issues - his daughter had to have heart surgery, plus other stuff. He's currently fulfilling a Kickstarter he ran and it sounds like fulfillment is going slow, but it's going. Hopefully once he's out of the woods with his personal life and fulfilling the Kickstarter, he'll reopen his webstore.

Pegasus Hobbies: http://www.pegasushobbies.net/catalog/

I use their Red Brick (small) for a lot of my WM/Malifaux basing, for brick city streets and walls (see their gaming accessories section at http://pegasushobbies.net/catalog/Models-Peg.-Gaming-Accessories/c107_2/index.html). They're really nice, although if the bricks take enough of a blow, part of them might shear off and you'll have to cover it up - just an FYI. Otherwise they stand up to normal touching while gaming.

I also use the Army Painter Black Battleground stuff for basing my Hordes army. Dunno how people feel about them for return on cost, but I like it.

If you need small volcanic-like rocks for your bases, the midnight black gravel from Topfin is nice, can be gotten at Petsmart.: http://www.petsmart.com/fish/gravel-sand/top-fin-premium-quality-aquarium-gravel-zid36-17591/cat-36-catid-300072 HUGE BAG.

Big Willy Style
Feb 11, 2007

How many Astartes do you know that roll like this?

Zark the Damned posted:

Joining the :bandwagon: and posting some of my favourite figs (mostly Orks plus Oaths from the past year):


Close the thread, we can't top this. Best counts as allied unit ever conceived.

El Estrago Bonito
Dec 17, 2010

Scout Finch Bitch
You really need to wash bones FYI. They are usually dripping with mold grease to the point of being hydrophobic sometimes.

Also if we're just reposting our poo poo:


signalnoise
Mar 7, 2008

i was told my old av was distracting

krushgroove posted:

I'll either link to it or embed it in the OP. Do you mean the alcohol paints, or what?

The alcohol paint experiment came out not so great but there are a variety of shortcuts I've discovered, like metallic ink and industrial adhesives.

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serious gaylord
Sep 16, 2007

what.
I love all of the models posted on this page, especially Ork with Fighter jet strapped to his back.

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