THE PAINTING PROCESS: STEP-BY-STEP

If you have followed all of the previous articles, you already know everything you need to paint your first miniature. Today's article is going to break down the various stages of the process, from purchasing the miniature to making it suitable for play or display.


Start Simple
If you're eager to get out there and buy some awesome, impressive model to try out your new-found skills, I applaud your enthusiasm. But I'd recommend you try something less complex first, until you have some experience and practice with the techniques. For our first Learn To Paint article (coming soon), I will be walking you through painting a basic Space Marine tactical trooper.

Trying to paint something with lots of fiddly little details the first time out can lead to frustration and dissatisfaction with the end result. If you've already bought some paints, good brushes and hobby tools, you've invested some money in this hobby. It would be unfortunate for your first efforts to lead to discouragement.

That said, don't feel too bad about what you do when you are just starting out! Nobody puts out studio-quality work on their first attempts (most of us can't do it after decades in the hobby). Even the greatest miniature painters have spent many years and thousands of hours perfecting their techniques.

No matter how far you come in this hobby, don't ever stop learning. Being open to new ideas, new methods and refinements of your technique will help you to continually improve. Even though I now write a painting blog, I still visit other blogs and forums and watch a lot of videos from people who get better results than me. I want to learn how they do it - and after I learn how to do it myself, I want to share it with others. It's an ongoing process of learning and growth, and it can yield immense satisfaction when you look at your latest work next to your previous work and see the difference.

A very important thing to remember: At some point in the painting of any given miniature, you may look at it in disgust and wonder why you want to bother to finish it. This is natural. Even after all these years, it happens to me on a regular basis. It's like remodelling a house - midway through the process, it looks like a mess. Remember that intermediate steps are not indicative of the finished result. Take a little time away from the piece if you must, and when you're ready to tackle it again, soldier on through it! If you do everything with care and patience, in the end you will have a miniature you can be proud of.


Cleaning and Assembly
So now, you have purchased your first miniature and you're ready to get started. We covered this process in "Preparing And Assembling Your Model" (01/28/15). Be sure to wash the mold release agents off of the miniature before you begin. Pay close attention to mold lines - areas like the sides of the head, shoulders, knees and hands are often easily missed. Scrape, sand and file these away as necessary.

If your mini is a multi-part model, glue it together and allow time for it to dry before you continue. You will want to make sure you can handle it during painting without spoiling your work, so glue it to a base or secure it in some other fashion. Some hobbyists pin the feet and then stick the mini into a cork or an alligator clip (XActo makes a "Helping Hands" workstation with clips and a magnifier). However you do it, make sure you don't need to touch the parts you're painting.


Undercoat the Miniature
Now that your model is cleaned, assembled and dry, apply a spray or brush on undercoat to prime the figure for painting. This process was covered in "Choosing and Using the Right Paints: Part Three - Primer" (01/29/15). Remember to apply thin coats of primer so as not to obscure detail, and if using a spray primer, be sure the weather outside is neither too hot nor too cold, neither too dry nor too humid, and not windy. Yes, optimal conditions for spraying primer (or topcoat) are very fussy - this is why a good brush-on product is the better choice.

For best results, remember to select an undercoat color that is appropriate to the colors you will be using on the model, and the desired effect. Black undercoats yield a more shaded, muted end result; white undercoats yield a brighter end product but may be harder to cover with colors like yellow or red. If a primer exists in the main color of your base coat, you will save some time in that step as well.


Wash Your Hands!
This is a recommendation that applies through every step of the process. The natural oils on your skin can leave fingerprints on the model, and if you paint over those areas, the finish will be affected. You also may have dust and flecks of plastic or metal on your fingers from cleaning a model, and you don't want that getting on or into your nice paint job.

It's quite likely you will get paint on your fingers when working on a miniature or from opening paint jars. Be careful - nothing spoils a great job like a paint smudge or fingerprint in another color, where it doesn't belong. Check and wash your hands often. Some painters wear rubber or nitrile examination gloves when working, to avoid fingerprints and for quick cleanup.


Stirring is Better Than Shaking
This is not James Bond's martini. You want to make sure your paint is evenly mixed in the bottle or pot before working with it. The pigment and binder have a tendency to naturally separate between uses, and so you'll have a thicker mix at the bottom and a watery liquid near the top.

The reason you want to mix your paints by stirring instead of shaking is simple: When you shake any liquid, air bubbles are introduced into the mix. You may notice with some washes or shades that there is a foam at the top of the pot after shaking. If you must shake a paint, wait for the bubbles to settle before you begin using the color.

If you are using dropper bottles, you usually won't be able to stir (unless you take off the nozzle, for instance when doing paint maintenance). Some people take off the nozzle and drop one or two BB's into each dropper bottle before using, to improve agitation and mixing when shaking. If you choose to do this, be sure to use something that won't interact with the paint or clog your nozzle.,

For flip-top or screw-off paint pots, stir with the handle of an old brush or anything of similar dimensions. You may feel a little resistance at first as your stirrer moves through the thicker part at the bottom. Continue to stir thoroughly until the paint is of an even consistency and color.


Remember to Thin
To achieve a uniform finish without brush marks and to preserve fine detail, remember that several thin coats are better than one thick one. This will also help you to build up color in desired areas without making the surface look like it's bee covered in paint. Be sure the consistency is even and remember that paints that are too thin will flow messily. You don't want your basecoat or layers to be as thin as a wash or glaze.


Apply Basecoat
Apply each of the principal, underlying colors to the appropriate areas of the model. For instance, when painting a Space Wolf, apply a thin coat of fleshtone to the face and any other exposed areas such as hands or arms; basecoat the weapons and flex joints in black; paint the armored areas in a blue grey; basecoat the areas that will be fur, bone or gold in a brown; and paint the shoulder pad, hair and other parts accordingly.

You will want to use a somewhat larger brush when basecoating the model. Many painters use a Size 1 or 2 brush for much of their basecoating. Citadel brushes are named according to their intended purpose, and if you are using a P3 brush, the Base Hobby Brush is probably the right size for most of your basecoating purposes.

The best way to go about basecoating is to use the "inside to outside" method. Paint the skin and hair, then the clothing, then the armor and finally the equipment. This will help to ensure that any mistakes you make by overpainting will be covered by the basecoat for the next area. However, sometimes you may wish to basecoat other areas first, if you know that your technique for shading or highlighting might spoil another area you have already painted. Some painters will apply basecoat, shading, layers and highlighting to an entire area before working on other parts. It depends on the miniature and your desired effect.


Apply Shading and Washes
Once the base coats are all dry, now you will want to shade the model to bring out the darker areas and recesses and to highlight detail. You will want to use a larger brush that's devoted specifically to this purpose, as washes can ruin the point of your good brushes much more rapidly. Citadel makes a Wash Brush, or you can use another Base Hobby Brush or a brush of a similar size. These don't need to be your expensive Kolinsky brushes, but you'll still want a brush with good natural bristles that don't come out when working.

The easiest way to do this is to apply a Citadel Shade or another brand of ink wash. The most versatile and effective products I've used for this purpose are Army Painter's Quick Tone line - particularly Soft Tone, Strong Tone and Dark Tone. Soft tone yields a sort of sepia effect and is good for skin and a slightly muted but richer effect on bright colors. Strong Tone is like Citadel's Devlan Mud or Agrax Earthshade (only better!) - it brings out details and relief when used on the entire model, and is ideal for hair, fur, leather, bone, and more weathered skin. Strong Tone or an equivalent will probably be your most-used shading product. Finally, Dark Tone is a black wash that yields the highest contrast and relief. It is ideal for armor panels, weapons, joints and other areas where you want a really dark effect.

Citadel makes a wide variety of shade washes, as do other brands like Vallejo and Army Painter. Depending on the model, you may find a wash that is ideal for your base colors. Take care to let the shade on each area dry completely before applying a different shade to another area, or else you may find that the washes run together and ruin the effect.

The most advanced painters will often use a thinned-down paint of a darker tone to shade each area, applying shading precisely with a brush rather than over an entire area with a wash. This is a more time-consuming process requiring greater patience, but the results are the best! Regardless of the method you use, take care to apply the shade carefully to the desired areas. You won't usually slather the entire model with a wash or "dip", because that just makes it harder to tidy up areas that don't need shading. When thinning colors for shades or washes, use a transparent medium (like Citadel's Lahmian Medium) whenever possible. An opaque thinner like AV Thinner can affect the color, while water may affect the flow and self-levelling characteristics you desire in a wash.


Applying Layers
Once your shades have had ample time to dry completely, tidy up the model by carefully reapplying basecoat colors to areas where shade may have gone unwanted. When you have done this, your model should have a neat appearance, with shading only in intended areas. The ideal brush for layering is a Size 0 brush, Citadel Standard (or Detail) brush, or a P3 Work Studio Brush.

Now you can begin to build up the desired colors and natural highlighting by applying one or more layers to each area. Your paint can be somewhat thinner than your base coats, as you'll be building on the existing colors with more translucent layers. Most paint lines have complementary tones for basecoats, shading and highlighting. Some advanced painters will mix bit by bit to build up the desried finish, but you can achieve great results simply by using the right choice of colors at this stage. Take care not to get your layer colors onto adjacent sections or into shaded areas. What you are doing at this stage is helping to build a natural progression from areas of shade toward highlights.

A good example of layering is when painting faces - you might start with a deeper or more ruddy base coat, shading it with Flesh Wash, and then layering the cheeks, nose, forehead, chin and ears with a slightly lighter tone before proceeding to highlight the very edges of those areas.


Highlighting and Drybrushing
Again, allow your final layers to dry before proceeding. Now you will apply highlighting to the most raised or well-lighted areas of your figure. The simplest way to do this is by drybrushing. You usually do not need to thin your paints when performing this technique, and you will certainly not want to use a good brush to do this. Many brush lines have a specific drybrush in various sizes, or you can use a brush that's lost its ability to hold a tip.

To drybrush, dip your brush partway into the desired highlight color and then wipe most of it off onto a paper towel. You want your brush to be very dry so that the paint does not flow from the bristles, but rather clings only to the most raised areas of the model's surface. Drag or flick the brush lightly along the area to be highlighted. You will notice the color is deposited only on the raised surfaces. You may want to do a second, lighter drybrush highlight with a lighter color - in this case, you don't usually need to rinse the brush between these steps - but be sure to wash it thoroughly when done, because paint really gets up into the bristles.

Drybrushing is an easy and effective method to bring out highlights, but it can cause your miniature to have a sort of "chalky" finish to it. After drybrushing, you may want to tidy up some spots with your previous layer color, or apply a wash or glaze to unify the finish. We will talk more about that in the next step.

As your skill increases, you may find yourself doing drybrushed highlights less often, and instead preferring to paint highlights carefully onto the model directly. Some areas like mail armor, fur, or weapons are always easier just to drybrush, but the edges of armor plates or the features of a face look much better with edge highlighting.

This requires a finer brush and much thinner consistency of paint, as well as a careful hand - but the results look much nicer than a drybrush highlight. An ideal brush would be a size 00 (sometimes called 2/0), Citadel Fine Detail Brush or P3 Fine Studio Brush. Just load a little of your thinned paint onto the brush and carefully draw the edge (not the tip) along the area to be highlighted. Done properly, the effect is fantastic! Citadel makes a small line of Edge paints for this purpose - I have found Blue Horror to be the perfect color for edge highlighting my Space Wolves.


Apply Glaze or Wash (optional)
Especially if you have used drybrushing to highlight an area, you may find that the result looks a bit "chalky" and unnatural. Or, you may just desire a richer, more vibrant color to unify a look or to bring out the best results on surfaces that are supposed to look like cloth. In these cases, use a glaze of the desired primary or secondary color appropriate to the colors beneath. This glaze is much thinner than the washes you may have used for shading, and should be an almost transparent application of color. Thin with Lahmian Medium or other transparent medium, or carefully with water. Be sure to allow each color to dry fully before glazing an adjacent area.


Apply a Protective Topcoat
Once you have finished painting your model, you will want to seal it with a clear varnish to ensure that your hard work is protected from chips, wear, and the inevitable handling it will encounter on the tabletop. Depending on how you base your model, you may do this step before or after finishing the model's base. If you are using ballast and rocks (or Citadel Texture for lower-quality line troops), you can topcoat the model after the base is done. If using flock, static grass, tufts or other similar product, seal it beforehand so as not to affect the look of the base.

If the weather is favorable, you may wish to apply a spray topcoat. Be sure that the product you are using is suitable for acrylic paints and be sure not to apply it too heavily. As with primer, you want a thin and uniform coating. Whether you use gloss, satin or matte varnish is a matter of personal preference - gloss varnish is more durable for models that will be handled extensively, but on most areas the finish does not look natural (and it photographs poorly). Matte varnish looks more natural, but may make some areas look dull. A satin varnish may be the best of both worlds, depending on the look you are aiming for. Most of the major hobby paint brands also manufacture a clear spray varnish in one or more types of luster.

When using a spray topcoat, it is extremely important that you are mindful of heat and humidity. If it's too hot or dry outside, the varnish will dry with a granular look. Too cold, and it will run. More importantly, humidity is the enemy of clearcoats. Spray when it's too muggy outside, and you'll find all of your hard work is now encased in a kind of cloudy layer of varnish. It's possible to rehabilitate these afflicted models in various ways, but the best advice is not to spray when the weather isn't right - or, better yet, to avoid spray varnish at all (until you have more experience).

If weather conditions are not favorable for spraying, or if you want different levels of shine on different areas of a model, you might want to consider a brush-on clearcoat. Citadel makes a 'Ardcoat varnish, and most other brands have a comparable product, but I am partial to Vallejo acrylic varnishes. I keep one of each type on hand to be sure I always have the desired result. As with shade washes or glazes, make sure each area is fully dry before applying varnish of a different luster to an adjacent area - and be extremely careful not to handle the figure until it's fully dry, or you will get fingerprints in the topcoat.


SUMMARY
If you've followed these steps carefully and patiently, you should have your first fully painted miniature, ready to play or display proudly. Even if you've done some painting before, you may find that your results are better than anything you've ever done before! Just remember - you can paint miniatures, and you can do it well. The secret ingredients are patience and careful application. The former comes from the proper state of mind, the latter is the inevitable result of experience and attention. If you take pride in your work and adopt a professional approach, you'll get results far better than you ever have before - and your armies will be the envy of your opponents when they face you across the table.

Do not underestimate the psychological benefit of a better-painted army. You may find that you play better than your opponent, whose models are hastily painted or not painted at all. They will feel less secure when facing your beautiful miniatures, and you will be more confident. It may sound crazy to say that a better-painted army is more likely to be victorious, but it can give you the edge you need to achieve victory!

Next week, we will do a step-by-step beginner's painting tutorial.  I had planned on using the Space Marine Paint Set. This kit contains small pots of 10 colors, a brush, and three Space Marines for you to practice on. However, the kit at the local hobby store was unsuitable - the paint appeared dried up in some of the containers, and seemed to be leaking out of another.  So... I'm not sure I'd recommend it as a "getting started" purchase.  I'll see if I can't find something more suitable, but either way we'll do a step-by-step guide, and a list of what paints to use. The tutorial will be accompanied by a list of other things you might need for best results, and pictures of each step in the process. Stay Tuned!

CHOOSING (AND USING) THE RIGHT PAINTS: PART ONE

As the name of this blog is The Sage Brush, it was only natural that our first technical article was about selecting and properly using the right paint brushes. But TSB is, after all, a painting blog, and what would a painting blog be without an early and in-depth discussion of paints?


We have already discussed why the right brush is the most important acquisition for painting - but a paint brush isn't very useful without the paint, is it? As with brushes, choosing the right paint is so essential for the best results possible.


ENAMELS OR ACRYLICS?
The first question is: Which type of paint should I use, enamel or acrylic? To find our answer, let us look at the benefits and drawbacks of each:

Enamels: Pros: Durable and chip-resistant, longer drying time (to enable blending)

Cons: Requires solvents to clean up, paint and solvents have strong odors and possibly harmful vapors, can be flammable, longer drying time (increases the amount of time to finish the work). May damage certain plastics, depending on the solvents used.

Acrylics: Pros: Cleans up with water, non-toxic, no vapors. Faster drying time.

Cons: Faster drying time (not as much time for blending), can rub or chip easily.
As we can see, enamels don't offer a lot of benefits, but there are a lot of reasons not to use them. And those reasons aren't reasons with easy workarounds. With acrylics, however, the drawbacks can be easily avoided with a couple of readily available products. We will go into those a little later and in future articles, but for now, suffice it to say: Acrylics are the indisputable best choice for miniature painters.
To be sure, there are some painters out there who do absolutely magnificent work with enamels, but they are very skilled and very experienced painters. They're not the sort who visit painting blogs like this, they are the sort who write their own blogs. They also have ventilated spray booths, airbrushes, and protective respiratory equipment.

So, for the purposes of this blog (and probably all future content), we will operate under the assumption that you will be brush painting with acrylics. I stopped using enamels over 25 years ago and I think my results (and my health) are better for it.


WHAT BRANDS DO YOU RECOMMEND?
There are an awful lot of brands of acrylic paints available to the hobbyist - some are far more suitable for this hobby than others. If you go to an art store or craft store, most of the types you will find are not going to give the best results. Generally speaking, you want to avoid any paint that comes in a toothpaste-like tube as these paints are far too thick for the type of painting we do. I also do not recommend the acrylic "craft paints" that come in bottles that look like trial size shampoo. These paints do not have the adhesion characteristics we need, and tend to go on far too heavily to get a thin, uniform coating like we need.

You will want to select a brand that's designed specifically for plastic/resin models and metal miniatures. The best places to look for these are game stores and hobby/train stores. There are still many brands to choose from; I would not personally recommend Polly, Humbrol or Tamiya for brush painting. I was never pleased with Humbrol or Polly acrylics when I used them many years ago, and while I did use Tamiya paints when airbrushing armor models, that's a topic for an advanced article much farther down the road.

So, what brands do I recommend for brush painting miniatures - and why? Here's my go-to list:

Vallejo Game Color - This is the line that I recommend most highly. They are of a similar formulation to the Vallejo Model Color line (AV's FAQ says that they have "a lower viscosity than Model Color and a resin more resistant to frequent handling"), but Game Colors are more brilliant than the matte Model Colors and thus, usually more suitable to our purposes.

A huge benefit of this product is that they come in 17ml dropper bottles, which are compact, long-lasting, and discourage you from painting right out of the pot (we will discuss why that's bad in an upcoming article). I bought a complete set of AV Game Color paints about 15 years ago, and with proper care and occasional thinning, stirring and cleaning of the removable dropper nozzles, they've lasted me quite well. I've only had to replace a few colors in that time. AV also makes many auxiliary products that I highly recommend for painting - brush-on primers, varnish, thinners, and mediums which will help you to get the best results.

Citadel Color - When I began painting with acrylics, Citadel was the only serious paint line designed for what we do. This was when I learned that Humbrol and Polly acrylics were unsuitable for miniature painting. Citadel's advantage is their "technical" approach to miniature painting. Their painting guides are second-to-none and I highly recommend the "How to Paint Miniatures" book and accompanying DVD, as well as any of their many painting guides specific to the army or faction you may be using.

The "technical" approach refers to the division of paint products into various types, depending on application. The painter will use a given Base paint to undercoat the model, applying a wash of a particular Shade to that, and then painting one or more Layer paints to establish the overall color of an area. Onto this, the hobbyist can apply a drybrush highlight using the Dry line, but I recommend edge highlighting using one of the Edge paints (or even a lighter Layer) instead. They also have a variety of Glaze colors; a Technical line for effects like rust, oxidation, corrosion or blood; and a Texture line for easy basing and similar effects (I do not recommend this unless you are painting line troops to a tabletop quality).

All in all, the Citadel line has come a long way and has helped enthusiasts to pioneer new techniques for amazing results. I remember when they released the Expert set of inks in 1990, and seeing the amazing effects we could achieve with ink washes. The paints in the old vinyl flip-top bottles have lasted incredibly well - I still have a blend for Space Wolves that's kept its consistency for 25 years! The newer hard topped pots are easier to open, but they don't close so well - it's easy for paint to accumulate along the rim or to otherwise fail to close them fully, causing the paint to dry out rapidly. I learned to my chagrin that "Liquid Green Stuff" quickly becomes "SOLID Green Stuff" when it's not fully and properly closed.

I would say that about half of my most widely-used paints are Citadel colors, because of their approach to painting and the specific applicability of their specialty paint lines.

Formula P3 - No, this is not a new format for auto racing. It is a line of paints by Privateer Press, the company that produces Warmachine and Hordes. Like the Citadel range, these colors are intuitively designed for easy shading and highlights - it's easy to tell which colors to use together.

The biggest reason for using P3 paints is that they have a liquid pigment base - this allows them to be thinned without separation or loss of brightness. This is very important, as later on we will discuss why you want to thin your paints rather than using them at the out-of-the-pot consistency. Coverage is fantastic with P3 paints - but I don't buy the "single coat" line in most cases. Don't worry about that, as in a later segment you will see why several thin coats are better than one thick one.

One note of caution: The original P3 metallics had some significant issues and are not recommended. These metallics had the white label like the rest of the line. Privateer responded to the issue by reformulating the metallic line and releasing new metallic colors with a black label. The black-labelled metallics are great, just like the rest of the P3 line.

These are the three primary brands I use - I do not have much experience with the Reaper Master Series paints or the Army Painter line, but I've heard no complaints and I leave it to the individual to decide for themselves if these products are suitable. One brief but very significant recommendation, however, goes to Army Painter Quick Shades. When Citadel reformulated a few years ago, painters lamented the loss of Devlan Mud and Badab Black, and noted how Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil were not exact substitutes. However, Army Painter's Soft Tone, Strong Tone and Dark Tone should be in every miniature painter's arsenal, regardless of what other lines you use. They are truly that versatile and that essential for best results.


SUMMARY
Herein, we have discussed why acrylics are the medium of choice for our particular applications, and what brands provide the best options and have delivered the best results. in Choosing (and Using) The Right Paints: Part Two, we will discuss which specific colors and auxiliary products every painter should have in their box, and later we will discuss the best methods of controlling consistency, flow, and properly loading a brush.