By Kenneth Taba
You can see some examples of Kenneth's work on the Gallery Warhammer 40K and Warhammer Fantasy pages.
Do not handle miniatures after eating, scratching your head, picking your nose or when you have generally dirty fingers. "Your fingers are dirty and oily if you have not just washed them". The oils, dirt & grease that your fingers pickup can get transferred to your miniature. Water based Acrylic paint does not stick well to a surface that has grease or oil on it. Also dirt from your fingers could get rubbed off onto any really bright color you may have already painted, such as Yellow or White.
( I always wash my hands before I even touch any miniature that I am going to paint, and if I paint for more than an hour, I will wash them again because oil and sweat comes out of the pores in the skin of our hands, not to mention rubbing my face, touching my hair, etc. )
Make sure you remove the flash from your miniature and file any mold lines smooth. Buy and use a good set of files.
( After removing any visible flash and filling any visible mold lines, I use a paint on primer, then I will use a wash of watered down chaos black paint on the whole miniature, this really shows any missed mold lines and imperfections on the miniature, not to mention darklining the whole miniature. "Yes I know, my friend Troy has already told me this is crazy!" )
It's very important to have good brushes. Good 0 to 00 brushes are necessary, and I suggest you buy them whenever you find a good one, so that you will always have one when your current fine brush is just "a little too worn out for a particularly fine bit of detail". This is so you don't use a worn brush because you don't have anything better.
( I usually have at least 3 extra brand new 00 brushes on hand )
You need a large range of paints. Don't be afraid of mixing your own paint for that particular color you like.
( I have 7 bottles of different shades of skin tone that I mixed for use in shading skin tone, "I used 4 to 5 different colors to mix my skin tones." This is in addition to the 7 different shades of skin tones that I have straight from the bottles )
If your hands are shaky, don't paint. You need steady hands to paint accurately. Don't grip the miniature or your brush hard, use a firm but gentle grip, like holding an eggshell. Brace your forearms on the table edge or against each other to keep them from shaking or wobbling while you paint.
Relax, try not to get upset, angry or discouraged if you have to do something over again, and again, and just once more. Because if you are doing multiple layers of shading you will be putting many layers of translucent paint over the same areas to gradually build up the shading.
( When I do shading and highlights, I apply the base color, then I may use an ink to change the color and make it darker, then I start highlighting with the base color, then I highlight some more using a lighter color. "Generally I look at doing 3 levels of shading or highlights to get a nice effect, and the smoother your blending the better your shading & highlights will look." )
Choosing a good looking miniature is important if you want to have a really nicely painted miniature that people will Oooh and Aaah over and will win awards. If you notice, the Golden Demon Awards really don't have any junk (visual appeal) looking miniatures. They are all interesting and most of them are in dynamic poses.
With multi-part miniatures, either you glue it together before or after you paint
A. If you glue before painting:
1) You might glue parts together because your doing conversions (pinning)
2) careful not to get any on your fingers or tongue (which I've done)
B. If you glue after painting:
1) If you are painting your multi-part miniature before gluing. Cyanoacrylic Glue "superglue" gives off a fune when it is drying, this fume will collect on the surface and leave a permanent white film. To prevent this, place the glued miniature in front of a fan or blow dryer, and when you cannot smell the superglue anymore it is totally dried.
2) You would glue the miniature together after painting because:
a. If the miniature were assembled before painting, some areas would be too hard to reach with the brush to paint.
b. You are considered crazy by other people for doing it this way because you want to be able to paint all the parts whether or not they are noticeable or even visible so as to be totally thorough. (Consider that places you cannot paint because you can't reach it with your brush can still be seen)
PLASTIC GLUE
Plastic glue is for gluing plastic together (duh), so when gluing multi-part plastic miniatures together use plastic glue for the strongest bonds. Sometimes or some people prefer to use superglue because they can snap the miniature apart to change weapons later (after it's already painted?!!).
There are different types and consistencies of plastic glue. The old type is Testors model glue which comes in a squeeze tube and is thick (no sir, I don't like it). Then there is Model Master plastic glue, this glue has a needle tip applicator and is thinner and easy to control (I really like this one). The last type is a liquid, Plastic Weld is one brand among several, this comes with a brush applicator, (I prefer to use a disposable plastic squeeze pipette). This type is good for building plastic model vehicle kits.
Shading gives the miniature a three dimensional look.
When I do shading, I usually approach it with 3 different ideas.
1. Shading with basically 2 shades.
2. Shading with basically 3 shades.
3. Shading with 4 or more shades (refer to #6 Patience). Which just means a more gradual and subtle shade. (which will get more applause, and your friends will say that your crazy while drooling over you paint job)
I usually spend hours imagining how the miniature would look with different colors on it. Basically I try to picture it with 1 main color for the bulk of the figure, and 1 to 2 secondary colors. My primary color is usually either a bright color or a rich color. In addition to any colors that are used to accent the miniature, such as colors used on gems, medallions, pouches, boots, circlets, bracelets, etc.
You might do some conversions to your miniature before painting because:
1. The original miniature pose is too static, and you a more dynamic pose like changing the angle of an arm or giving the figure a different weapon.
2. You just want to add things to the original miniature to make it look better, like different weapons, equipment, etc.
If you are going to be playing with a metal multi-part miniature, then you really should consider pinning the parts together so that the glued joints don't snap apart when the miniature is handled. "Imagine, you've painted a Dragon and didn't pin the wings to the main body, eventually somebody is going to pick the Dragon up by it's wings or the Dragon will tip over. The wings will snap right off and then you have to repair the miniature. And every time you end up repairing the break it gets worse"
First you glue your miniature to the base, if it uses a slotta base, then you also should fill the gaps in the slot with something like Squadron Green Putty or extra 2 part Epoxy Putty.
At some point your going to need to flock the base. I use a mix of Flocking and Ballast from hobby companies and glue it to the base. Also add bits of real foliage (dried) to add more character to the base. And you can also add other bits like bones, weapons, shields, etc from your bits box.
Send your questions or comments to
Kenneth Taba at kktaba@hotmail.com
Stealth Mode.
Copyright © 1999 Troy Arakaki. All rights reserved.
Revised: December 19, 1999.