Pinning

Pinning is a technique used to create strong joints when assembling metal miniatures. To pin a mini we will drill two small holes in the miniature, one hole on each of the two pieces we are attaching together. Then we insert and glue a small rod of metal so each end of the rod is inserted into one of the holes. The rod bridges the two pieces, reinforcing the joint and giving it much greater strength.

Pinning is only strictly necessary when the pieces are relatively large and heavy. For small pieces, just using super glue may be good enough. That being said, I frequently use pinning on smaller pieces as well. I've never had a pinned miniature fall apart on me, and I like the peace of mind that comes with knowing that my minis are rock solid when friends & family are handling them.

Today, we'll be pinning Alabam, the mini which will be my son's D&D Illusionist!

Metal Mystic Theurge

When we look at the Reaper Bones version of the miniature, the spell book and wands are already attached to the character's side. But in the metal version, it is provided as a separate piece and we need to attach it ourselves.

Bones Mystic Theurge

To start, I looked at the back side of the spell book and identified a central area where I wanted the pin inserted.  Then I drilled a hole using a pen vice with a small drill bit.

Drill a small hole in the back of the spell book

The back of the spell book with a pin hole

The hole just needs to be deep enough to insert a small length of metal and have it stay put.

Next I needed to drill a matching hole into the side of the miniature. To get the proper location for the other hole, I used our old friend epoxy putty (Green Stuff). I mixed up a small ball of putty and stuck it on the side of the miniature where the spell book should be attached.

Then I positioned the spell book in the proper location and pressed it into the putty.

Next I carefully peeled the spell book off of the mini, while leaving the Green Stuff in place. There was a nice protrusion of putty marking the location of the hole in the spell book.

That's the spot to drill! Drilling right through the putty works just fine.

After removing the putty there is a hole on the miniature body which matches the hole on the spell book.

Now we need a small rod of metal to insert as a pin. Hobby stores sell small copper rods for this purpose and they are very nice. Another frequently used option is to snip off a small length of metal from a paper clip. Paper clips work fine as a pin, but you need to use caution when cutting them, as the small piece which is cut off tends to fly off in unpredictable directions at potentially dangerous speeds. The copper rods are soft enough to avoid this problem.  If you choose to use a paper clip, be sure to use caution as well as protective safety glasses.

Once we have our pin, we can insert it into one of the holes, 

Then dry fit it into the hole on the body, just to make sure everything lines up correctly.

With that verified, use super glue on both ends of the rod and a little extra glue on the book and the body of the miniature. Let it dry and you have a super strong joint that will stand the test of time! As an extra bonus, you can use the Green Stuff to fill any gaps in the miniatures base.

Fury of Dracula

“Denn die Todten reiten Schnell..." 

(For the dead travel fast...)

― Bram Stoker, Dracula

Today we start a new series! We paint The Fury of Dracula, Third Edition from Fantasy Flight Games!

I'm very excited for this one! I am a big fan of the Dracula novel by Bram Stoker, and this was one of my grail games before the third edition reprint.

This will also be a fairly easy game to paint, as there are only five miniatures.

Painting begins next week!

Highlighting

Now that the model is base coated and shaded we will highlight it, by painting the raised areas with a lighter color, to make the details really pop!

For the Warg, I decided to highlight the fur by dry brushing, and the face by detail painting.

Dry brushing is a messy technique that is more frequently used in speed painting than showcase painting. Some people claim to never dry brush at all, as it is too messy and lacks control. However I have seen many a dry brush critic get to a point where they’ll say… “Well… in this special case… I’ll dry brush… just this once…” It’s a valuable tool in the right situations.

And the right situation is this Warg’s fur! And the right color is grey!

A lot of greys have a surprising amount of blue in them… which I didn’t want to clash with the red in the sepia. So I went with the mostly neutral Vallejo Game Color Stonewall Grey.

When you dry brush, always, always, always use an old brush that you don’t care about. Dry brushing chews up brushes.

Get some paint on the brush when it is completely dry. Now rub the brush on a paper towel or rag until almost no paint is coming off it. Then run the brush quickly over the raised areas of the model, going against the grain of the surface you want highlighted. The raised areas will pick up the small amount of paint on the brush, while the recessed areas will remain untouched.

Not too shabby. We could stop highlighting the fur here. But, in my case, I wanted the highlight to be a little more subdued. So I took my black wash and thinned it out even more into a glaze.

A glaze is thinner even than a wash. Unlike a wash, it is not meant to be left pooled in the recesses. It is meant to be applied more lightly and to go over highlights and shades to help blend them together. The effect is often subtle, but it can help make the gradient between shading and highlights appear smoother. Premade glazes are usually called “clear” or “transparent” paints or something similar. These paints have uses outside of glazing as well, but in this case, I just want to use it to mellow out the dry brush highlights a tad.

Finally, I want to detail paint some highlights on the face. Why special attention to the face? It is the focal point of the model. All figures have focal points, the area that first grabs the eye, and these areas should get special attention.

When highlighting after shading with a wash, a good color to start is your base coat color. Since this was the starting point before the wash was applied, it will almost always make a good first level highlight color.

I highlighted the cheekbones, the area around the eyes, the ridges along the snout, and the sides and tips of the ears with beige brown. I also mixed up some thin black paint and gave the nose a couple coats, being sure to let each coat dry before putting on the next one.

With that highlighting done, what is left is mostly fiddling. I added a small drop of white to the beige brown, thinned it out, and gave an extra highlight around the mouth and the ridges of the snout. I used some black wash in the mouth, the inside of each ear, and the eyes. I painted the teeth bone white with my number zero detail brush. Then I gave the whole mouth another black wash to tone down the teeth a bit. I used the same number zero brush to put a drop of blood red in each eye. Finally I painted the base black.

And there we have our speed painted Warg!


This post was adapted from an article originally published on the Mad Adventurer's Society. 

Shading

Once the base coat is complete, it is time for some shading! Which is to say, that we are going work down and make the recesses of the figure darker.

The reason we start with a mid tone base coat when speed painting is that shading will usually be accomplished with a “wash.” A wash is similar to paint, but it is thinned out such that it is very runny. The thin consistency causes the liquid to pool in the recesses of the mini, taking a higher concentration of pigment with it. Thus, those areas are now darker! Ta-da!

Washes are a mainstay of speed painting. Although judicious use of washes are also used in showcase painting. In future articles, we’ll cover how to make your own washes. But, for now, we’ll keep it simple by covering the mini with some premade Vallejo Game Color Sepia Shade. For a brownish Warg, I want a little more of a red tone, so I added a drop of red wash to the sepia.

The wash pools in the recesses creating a shading effect.

Even though most of the wash will pool in the recesses, it will also darken the raised areas to a lesser extent. This is the reason we start with a lighter tone of base coat.

Don’t worry about being a little messy at this point. We’re just slopping the wash on there. But, while we want it to pool in the recesses, we don’t want it to lake. We certainly don’t want it to ocean. Too thick of a pool of wash won’t dry well and will look… well… gummy… I guess. It won’t look right. This is more of an art than a science, but you’ll learn the limits. If you want to remove some wash from an area that has pooled too much, dab off any liquid from your brush, on a paper towel or a rag, and let the capillary action of the bristles suck some of the wash out of the pool for you.

Brushes. Your good and faithful friends.

Now, looking at the contours of the mini, and some online pictures, it seems that the sculptor is suggesting a difference in color for the face and back of the mini from the body.

I’m going dark with this guy… but I don’t want to go too dark. So I mixed up a black wash with Vallejo black shade with a couple drops of grey shade. These I put on the face, back, hind quarters and the tail. This will take multiple coats. Be sure to allow each coat to dry before applying the next one.

First coat of black and sepia washes.

I like where this is going, so I got a little tricksy. As I added more coats of both the sepia wash and the black wash, I wet blended the washes together. This means I applied both washes at the same time, while they were both wet, without rinsing my brush in between. Then I pulled the black wash into the sepia wash to get a blended effect. I just kept doing this until I was happy with the result and decided to stop.


Important safety tip: Do not confuse inks with washes. Washes have the same components as the paint, but in different ratios. Inks are a whole different animal. They usually have alcohol as a medium and the size of the pigment is ground an order of magnitude smaller. Washes paint the mini, while inks dye it. Most importantly, never use inks with a natural hair brush. The alcohol will strip the natural oils out of the hair and greatly reduce the lifespan of the brush.

And that is the basics of shading with washes. Next time we'll cover highlighting, which will make your minis really pop!

This post was adapted from an article originally published on the Mad Adventurer's Society. 

Paints

Paints, not surprisingly, play a huge role in painting miniatures. You have many options, and your final decision will be a personal one, dictated by your goals, location, budget, and personal preferences.  However there a few guidelines which should be helpful to nearly everyone.

First, the "best" paints are those you can get your hands on.  

If your friendly local gaming store has a big selection of Citadel paints, then consider using Citadel. You are more likely to get your projects done if you can drop by the store and pick up a color you need, rather than waiting days or weeks for it to be shipped to you.

Likewise, if your budget wouldn't allow for the purchase of a large selection of game store specialty paints, then less expensive craft store paints are way better than no paints at all.  This is especially true if you are just getting started.

This principle is much more important than any of the information that follows below. Whatever paint you can get your hands on, grab it and just get started.

With that principle firmly in mind, here is one man's opinion on some of the more widely available pant options:

Craft / Big Box Store Paints

These paints are much less expensive than hobby paints. I primary use them for terrain, structures and other large projects which tend to have less detail, however they can be used for miniatures as well.

The reason they are less expensive is that the pigment used in them is less finely ground than the pigment in specialty paints. These paints tend to be thicker out of a container, and can be more difficult to get good color coverage on the miniature. However these factors can be compensated for by simply mixing the paint with a little extra water and putting on a few extra coats. Just be patient and wait for each coat to completely dry before putting on the next one. Just adding more wet paint on top of wet paint isn't going to give you the results you are after.

With some patience and practice you'll get really solid results with these paints, and you'll save a bundle as well.

Citadel 

One of the most popular lines of paint is the Citadel paint line from Games Workshop.

I'm on record as not being the biggest fan of Citadel. However, I'll be the first to admit that my reasons are mostly personal, rather than the paint itself.

First of all, I prefer dropper bottles over paint pots. I dislike paint pots because they are designed with the intent that you will use the paint right out of the pot. However using them that way leaves the pot open to the air while you are painting, allowing the paint to thicken. Despite the design of the pots, I do not know anyone who uses the paint right out of the container. Most people are going to scoop the paint out of the pot and put it into a palette to adjust its thickness, which defeats the purpose of the pot. Paints that come in dropper bottles are much easier to use than scooping.

I am also disenchanted with Citadel because they have a long history of going back and forth between outsourcing their paint manufacturing to subcontractors, switching those subcontractors or making it themselves. Invariably the formulation and color of the paint alters during these changes, making it frustrating to achieve consistent results over time.

Citadel also has a history of changing the names of their paints. This makes it confusing to use articles and videos which reference Citadel paints. For example, an article from a few years ago might tell you to use “Ice Blue.” You will now need to go find a compatibility chart to learn that the closest currently available color is “Lothern Blue.” A cynical person might suspect these changes are due to the fact that “Ice” cannot be trademarked while “Lothern” can. But would Games Workshop really use these kind of strong arm legal tactics to avoid competing on more important things like price and quality?

My lawyers have advised that I not speculate further.

All that being said, the reason I explain this is just to state why I, personally, don’t use much Citadel. It has a lot more to do with historical events, my impression of them, and fear that history will repeat itself, rather than anything to do with the paint that is sitting on store shelves right now.

But does that matter to you? Is Citadel good paint? Absolutely. If Citadel is easiest for you to get, then it is what you should use.

Vallejo 

I am a fan of Vallejo paints. They make excellent paint, it is widely available at many game and hobby stores, and the paints have been very stable and consistent over the years. This is due to the fact that Vallejo is a big player in this market, and they control a larger portion of their supply chain than smaller manufacturers. Also, Vallejo only makes paint. They do one thing and they do it very well. This is a strength, because they do not depend on miniature or gaming lines to keep them in business. If the old gods return and swallow Games Workshop, and a meteor hits Reaper, Vallejo will still be there, selling paint for whatever miniature lines arise from the ashes.

Vallejo has several different paint lines. The two which are most important to us are the Model Color and Game Color lines. The Model Color line is developed for painting military and historical models, while the Game Color line is developed for science fiction and fantasy. On balance, the Game Color line will have brighter colors, while the Model Color line is more “real world.” In practice, both lines are excellent and painters freely use both and mix them to achieve the results they want.

Reaper

Despite my fantastic experience with Vallejo, I also have a lot of Reaper paint. Partially this is due to the respect I have for them as a company, and the contributions they make to the hobby. However, just as importantly, their paint line was developed by some well known miniature painters, they make their own paints rather than subcontracting them, and their paints are mixed in small batches and hand tested by those painters. Their dropper bottles have agitators in them which means a little less bottle shaking, and the paint has some flow aid already added which can be useful in some situations.

Finally, Reaper has fantastic customer service, and some great online tools for paint selection. For example, Reaper groups paints into “triads” which is a group of three colors. You can order a triad and know that you have a set of three colors that will go well together for a particular purpose. If you look at Reaper as a whole, it is difficult to not want to support the scrappy little guy who is doing such a great job in so many areas.

P3 / Coat d’arms

P3 paints are widely available in many local gaming stores. Unfortunately, I do not have any experience with them. Privateer Press subcontracts the manufacturing of their paints to a company named HMG Paints. HMG has a long history in the industry and actually manufactured Citadel’s paints until 1997. The P3 paints seem to have a loyal following. I just don’t have any experience with them and can’t comment one way or another.

As an aside, if you painted with those older Citadel paints and liked them, HMG has re released them in the Coat d’arms paints line. They are the same formulation as the original Citadel paints under new names.



This post was adapted from an article originally published on the Mad Adventurer's Society. 

Luggage: Part Two

This is part two of the Luggage series. Part one is available here.

The surgery on the miniatures was very simple. Just a matter of carefully cutting off the brain from the legs on the mind eater with a sharp utility knife, and shaving off the bottom on the mocking beast so that the chest has a flat bottom.

Then I attached the legs to the chest with Green Stuff epoxy putty and covered the joints with a dose of thick super glue. I'm pretty happy with the results.

For a base coat, I gave the chest a couple thin coats of Reaper Chestnut Brown. The teeth and bumps along the chest lid got Vallejo Dark Grey and the legs were base coated in Reaper Rust Brown. The inside of the chest got Vallejo Red.

Then I started highlighting the teeth with the Reaper Skeleton White triad. First the teeth got a coat of Reaper Dirty Bone. Then the more raised areas of the teeth got some Reaper Graveyard Bone. After that, the most raised teeth surfaces got several thin coats of Reaper Splintered Bone. Finally I mixed up a thin wash of Vallejo Beige and applied it to the teeth to give them a subtle yellowing.

To tie the chest and the legs together, I gave them both a couple of washes with Vallejo Sepia Shade.  I was particularly happy with the grain effect this gave to the wood of the chest.  Later, I gave the hinges a coat of Vallejo Natural Steel and then a coat of black wash to mute the metallic effect.  The black portions of the lid also got a black wash.  The inside of the chest received a wash of Vallejo Red Shade.

Once the washes were dry, I highlighted the edges of the chest with Reaper Chestnut Brown.  The edges and raised portions of the legs and feet received a highlight of Reaper Highlight Orange.  The edges of tongue and nearby raised areas received a highlight of Vallejo Red.

With that, I called it done! The Luggage is ready to follow Maxwell and Shea on their many adventures!

Base Coating

Where to begin when painting a miniature? You'll likely get as many different answers as there are painters in the world. But I can tell you where I begin, and that is with a "base coat."

To explain the purpose of a base coat, we'll need to skip ahead just a bit and discuss what it is that we are trying to accomplish. Obviously our goal is for our miniatures to "look good." We want them to look like those miniatures that we see online, which are sharp and crisp and realistic looking. But, so often, when we try to put paint on miniatures, they end up looking more like a six year old's coloring book. What gives?!

Well, there are a lot of factors, but the techniques which are going to make the biggest difference in how your minis look are shading and highlighting. Seriously. Learn these two things, and you can speed paint every game you'll ever own with very presentable results.

Shading and highlighting means getting darker colors in the recesses, lighter colors on the raised surfaces, and a smooth gradient in-between. 

A majority of painting techniques are just clever ways of creating this gradient. Sometimes people “work up” which is giving the figure a dark coat of paint and then strategically painting lighter colors over the top until they get very light colors on the raised surfaces. Other times, people reverse this by painting the mini a light color and “working down” by getting darker colors of paint in the recesses.

Either way, that first coat of paint is your base coat. A base coat can be one color over the entire mini, or it could be different colors on various parts of the figure. It all depends on the needs for the miniature.

Generally speaking, speed painting starts in the middle with a mid tone base coat and then we work both up and down. I’ll explain why we do this a bit later. For now, just trust me so we can get a move on.

Take a look at this Reaper Bones Warg (77202).

Ultimately, we want the raised surfaces of all that great fur to be a lighter color. And we want all of those recesses to be a darker color, with as smooth of a gradient as possible in between.

But the very first step is just to get a base coat over the whole Warg. In this case, I gave him a base coat of Vallejo Beige Brown.

Vallejo Beige Brown is a bit lighter of a color than I want the final product to be. You'll see why we chose a lighter base coat color as we start to apply the shading and highlighting in future articles.

But, that's the base coat. And the base coat is where we are going to begin on just about every miniature we do on Color Spray.




This post was adapted from an article originally published on the Mad Adventurer's Society. 

Luggage: Part One

I have a deep, dark confession to make. Until very recently, I had not read any Discworld novels...

I know! I know! I've been busy... and stuff... for decades...

The situation came to a head when my shame was revealed and I was nearly cast out into the outer darkness!

But! I was given a second chance! I dashed off, like ripples of paradox spread out across the sea of causality, and read The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. Of no particular surprise to anyone, I loved both books!

The characters! The setting! The... words!

Oh those words... and the delicious order in which they are written...

Mmmmmmm.....

Oh! Right! Painting!

So, what follows has a minor spoiler for The Colour of Magic. It's really just the existence of a single character. No plot points or anything like that. But, if you really don't want to know anything about The Colour of Magic, then stop reading this, and go read that.

Ok, there is a character called The Luggage. It's a sapient chest which accompanies some of the other characters, skittering about on its many crab legs, carrying things inside itself, and generally being phenomenally useful.  I immediately fell in love with this concept and decided that The Luggage must be introduced into the D&D campaign that I run for my kids.

But, where to get the miniature? I must have a miniature!

(Thank you, by the way, for the many suggestions of counselors to help me get over this miniature issue... But, I'm afraid, I'm too old to change. Besides, the counselors all said that the miniature thing is the least of my problems...)

Happily a solution has been found! I present to you, the Reaper Bones Mind Eater (77229) and the Reaper Bones Mocking Beast (77048).

Later in the week, we'll do some modifications and see if we can get ourselves something not entirely unlike... The Luggage!

Painting Space

While gathering equipment for miniature painting, there is one requirement which is frequently overlooked. You need to have a place to do it.

Now, any space with decent lighting and a table like surface will do. However, if it is at all possible, I’d encourage you to find a space that can be dedicated to painting, where you can engage in your hobby with minimal distraction.

Leia. The ultimate painting distraction.

Like most people, I assume you are busy. If so, you are far less likely to make progress with your painting goals if you need to setup and tear-down each time. With a dedicated space, you can just plop yourself down, paint for whatever time you have, and then walk away. Well, probably you should at least clean your brushes first. But you get the idea. Speaking for myself, this hobby would be vastly more difficult without a dedicated painting space.

My painting desk.

If a dedicated painting area isn’t possible, don’t give up hope! Just do whatever you can to minimize that setup and tear-down time. Keep your equipment and paints nearby in plastic containers. Have a jug of water handy so that you don’t have to make the round trip to the nearest sink. Do whatever you can to get painting as quickly as possible every time you have a few minutes to dedicate to your project.

An ad-hoc painting area may not be ideal, but life is rarely ideal, especially when starting something new. Don't wait for the perfect set up before you get started. The most important thing is just to get started! Then work toward improvements over time.



This post was adapted from an article originally published on the Mad Adventurer's Society. 

Brushes

In the next few articles, we’re going to talk equipment! This should be easy, as it is a nice, non-controversial subject, upon which there is 100% agreement across the world!

Riiiiggghhtttt….

If you are an aspiring board game speed painter, there are really only a small list of things that you really, truly need, apart from the game itself. And then there are truck loads of things that are nice to have. These posts will focus mostly on those essentials, but we will also briefly list some common, optional accessories in future posts.

First, let's talk brushes. We’re not going to get very far without these. Sadly, brushes are a pain in the neck. Don’t get me wrong, they are a wonderful tool of creation. But they are also a mess of non-standardized materials, terms, sizes and shapes. But let’s keep it as simple as we can.

In our world, brushes break down into two major categories, sable and synthetic.

There are folks out there who will tell you that synthetic brushes are an abomination! And that if you commit the blasphemy of touching a miniature with anything but the finest in Siberian, virgin, weasel butt hair, your miniature will explode, costing you three of your fingers and your left eye… And it’ll be your fault!

Not surprisingly, we speed painters can relax a little. If your immediate goals include entering miniature painting competitions, then yes… some sable brushes might be in your future. But if your goals are more along the line of speed painting Imperial Assault for next month’s game night, synthetics will work just fine.

The easiest thing to do is to grab some Citadel brushes from your nearest FLGS that carries Warhammer stuff. If you are just getting one brush, get a standard brush (orange tip). If you are all gung-ho, also pick up a large brush (red tip) and a detail brush (yellow tip).

Now, I said this is the easiest thing to do, not necessarily the smartest. These are low end brushes, their quality varies wildly, they wear out quickly and they cost twice as much as they should. That being said… I have speed painted many hundreds of miniatures with them, to good effect, before I knew any better.

Warhammer greenskins all painted with Citadel brushes.

If you’re willing to put in a little more effort, you can spend about the same amount of money and get a better synthetic brush. My brush of choice is Princeton Series 4050 Synthetic Sable Round. If you go this route, grab yourself a size two. If you’re gung-ho, also pick up a size zero and size one brush. They are nice for detail work, but the size two will be your workhorse. Also grab yourself a number ten flat brush. We’ll use it when we run into large surfaces.

Most people have some old, dead paint brushes around the place somewhere. If you do, dig those out. We’ll use them for some dirty work and spare your new brushes some pain. If you don’t, grab yourself a bag of cheap brushes of various sizes.

A quality natural hair sable brush will likely run you at least three times the cost for each brush. Due to the price point, I don’t have a wide range of experience which this category of brushes. I own the Winsor & Newton Series 7 kolinsky sable brushes. I’m not going to lie… They’re fantastic. But I barely use them for board games, only pulling them out for fine detail work. If you’re just getting into this hobby, you’d be crazy to spend that much on brushes until you have more experience and know how to care for them.

When it comes time to buy, an online art supply store is going to get you the best price. I order from DickBlick and have been very happy with them.

Next time, we'll talk about other necessary tools for painting bliss!



This post was adapted from an article originally published on the Mad Adventurer's Society. 

Welcome to Color Spray

Welcome to the inaugural post of Color Spray! On this blog, we’ll be painting board games that have lots and lots of beautiful miniatures, and making them to look outstanding on the table.

If you are an experienced painter, hopefully we’ll learn some new tricks and tips from each other. However these initial articles mostly focus on new painters, folks who haven’t picked up a brush in a long time, and folks looking for guides on painting specific board games.

In any case, we’ll be painting games together!

Maybe.

If it seems like a good idea.

However, maybe we should set some ground rules first.

This hobby is fun. It’s a heck of a lot of fun and it can really create some beautiful games. But it isn’t for everyone. If you look through this blog and think something like “that looks exactly as much fun as watching paint dry” then you should probably walk away. This hobby isn’t for you, and that’s okay.

But if you look at this blog and think, “I’d love to do that, but I just don’t think I have the skill or the time” then you should read on. We can overcome those sorts of things together.

However, if you are in that second group, we need to go through a little thought experiment to determine why you want to paint. I know… I know… Sounds all mumbo-jumbo weird… But trust me. We need to figure this out. Otherwise fear will lead to anger… anger to hatred… and you know the rest.

Please ask yourself, dear potential painter, “Why do I want to start painting miniatures?”
Many different answers may come to mind. Perhaps you have seen online pictures of beautifully painted games, and you want your copy to look like that as well. Perhaps you think that painted miniatures will add immersion to your gaming experience. Or maybe you would enjoy the rapturous applause of your gaming group as you proudly spread your multicolored creation across the table.

If answers like these are the only things that spring to mind, then you have learned something very valuable! Here is what what you need to do.

STOP!!

Put down the paint brush and back away from the game. This will not end well. If you ignore this advice, don’t come whining to me when your expensive game looks like the Easter Bunny threw up all over it.

Sound harsh? Maybe. But if your only motivations for painting match those above, you need to slow down and do some soul searching.

Why? Because I’m trying to stop you from doing something directly opposed to the hobby. We want gaming to be a fantastic hobby which you enjoy. If you care enough about a game to want to paint it, you clearly enjoy that game. But if you go into this with the wrong motivations, you’ll trash your game, then stick it in the back of a closet where it will be slowly covered in a thick coat of dust and shame, never to see the table again.

No one wants that.

Why would I say this? Because ultimately there is only one motivation for painting miniatures, that will carry you through the work and lead to success. This motivation is best summarized by Daniel Karp from his classic essay entitled “So you want to paint your War of the Ring set.”

“The only people who should consider this are those who can honestly answer, ‘I think it would be really fun to spend a super long time painting my figures.’”

Nailed it!

When you look in the mirror, do you see a person who could enjoy dozens of hours in a chair, doing careful and sometimes tedious work, requiring attention to detail, without cutting corners? If the honest answer is “no” then stop right now. It’s not worth it.

To be clear, I’m not telling you to give up. I’m telling you that if you are unsure that you will enjoy the process of painting miniatures for its own sake, you need to start with something other than your beloved board game.

Now it is entirely possible that you just plain aren’t sure if you’d enjoy it or not. That’s great! We live in a golden age of miniatures. Go buy a dozen inexpensive Reaper Bones,that look cool to you, and give painting a try with those first. Find out if you enjoy it or not.

But do not approach your favorite game with highly pigmented chemicals without taking a good hard look at yourself and deciding if this is the kind of activity which fits your personality, temperament and attention span.

What will happen if you don’t enjoy painting, but you push forward anyway to get the pretty end result?

Most likely you’ll quit before you finish painting the game. Call it “taking a break” if it makes you feel better. But it’ll be quitting. Painting a game is too much work, over too long of a period of time, to maintain any artificial burst of naive enthusiasm. If you don’t enjoy the process of painting, you won’t keep doing it.

I could be wrong. Maybe you’re a strong willed person, who can grind your teeth and force yourself to soldier on. Most likely you’ll start cutting corners, and your miniatures will end up multichromatic blobs of goo.

But let’s say you avoid that fate, and manage to end up with a well painted game.

It’s not worth it. It really isn’t.

First of all, less people than you think will care. Your gaming buddies will pick up one mini, look at it for three seconds, politely say “that’s really cool” and that’ll be it. Dozens of hours, and more dollars than you’ll admit to your spouse, and that’ll be your big payoff. Sure, you’ll get some pleasure looking at the game, but it’s not worth it if you hate all the time you spent painting. Think how much more pleasure you could have had doing some activity that you really enjoyed. Like, for example, actually playing the game!

As I said, I don’t want to discourage you if you think you might enjoy painting. I certainly don’t want to suggest that painting miniatures isn’t fun. It can be a lot of fun! It is one of my favorite things to do. Many people, myself included, find that painting puts you in a relaxed “zen” sort of state. My blood pressure drops, I forget about my day to day cares and worries, and I lose track of time. It is a creative process that exercises parts of the brain which many people do not get to use throughout their normal day. And, yes, in the end, you can create a beautiful, unique, show piece for your gaming collection.

But you need to decide if painting itself is something you enjoy. If so, proceed! If not, walk away.

Capiche?

Ok… A few other ground rules.

We’re not trying to win The Golden Demon in this series. In the foreseeable future, this blog is going to focus on a set of techniques commonly referred to as “speed painting.” That does not mean we will be sloppy or taking short cuts that will make your miniatures look like junk. There are many different painting techniques which achieve awesome results. We will be selecting those techniques which have been proven to provide awesome results with a large number of similar miniatures, which will be primarily viewed grouped together, and at a distance of greater than 18 inches (46cm). Someday we might get into some showcase painting techniques, such as modding, blending, lighting effects and basing. But for now, let’s just get those board games to the table, shall we?

Still here? Excellent!

Next time we’ll talk about the gear you’re going to need and how to set up a painting space to use your time efficiently.

If you’re still gung-ho after seeing some of the expenses involved, you just might have the painting bug!

That would be cool!



This post was adapted from an article originally published on the Mad Adventurer's Society.