Thread by @delaneykingrox

1) Some mini painting quick tips: a thread. #warmongers

2) dettol will slake off acrylic paint from all mini materials. Leave overnight then use an old toothbrush to gently push aside paint. Just do not add water or it the paint bonds reform and it turns into black sticky gunk.
When dry I then rinse them in hot water and jif(cif)

3) knowing you can strip off the paint makes you fearless about messing up

4) add a drop of dish washing concentrate to your water jar. It acts as a flow aid to stop paint sticking to your brush.

It also makes cleaning brushes more effective.

5) never get paint in the ferrule (metal bit) which dries, tightens and splays your brush.

6) mix paint with a cheap brush. You just want to dip and load the very tip on brushes, so mixing paint will not only trash them- it overloads the brush so you get flooding, sloppy strokes and too thick a layer

7) touch your brush to tissue to wick off excess moisture. This leaves the pigment and binder on your brush, but stops flooding.

8) never mix water into wash products- use medium instead if you want a subtler tone. The whole point of washes is the surface tension levels them- you get nice shading without harsh edges. Mix in water and you lose the very thing you are forking out $$$ on.

9) never put any mini between you and your water pot or your palette.

10) hot glue sharp things around the lip of your water jar- studs, bits of sprue, dollar store rhinestones. This stops you drinking it instead of your coffee.

11) my water jar is a wide bottomed coffee car. You can get hexagonal jars from dollar stores to agaim save you from a mouth full og paint.

12) when you buy a new paint, brush some of it on the lid or pop a drop into the divot on the cap of your dropper bottles.
This lets you see the true colors. Helps store them too.

13) your first coat always looks shit. I use three or four thinned coats to build up a nice even base coat.

14) be aware of color temperatures. Every color can be seen as cooler (towards blue) and warmer (towards orange).

15) this is value. Shades and tints work by adding white and black but...

15 cont) using shifts in temperature and hue make for interesting shading

15 c) source yokoboo.tumblr.com/post/138358905…

16) skin is especially important to understand sub surface scattering. Light enters, bounces around inside the bounces out. So you need to think of what is under the skin where you shade

16 b) notice how these examples get warmer as they approach the shadows but then cooler in the shadows? That is sss.

16c) fatty bits get yellow/white, blood rich bits get red.
This is true of all race skin.

16d) general rule:

17) glazes are thin even coats , washes go into tge cracks and are uneven.

To glaze, add water and/or medium, wick off moisture on a cloth then brush across whole surface.

To wash, add water or medium and touch brush to shadow areas.

18) overbrushing is rubbing the paint off on a rag and scrubbing across mini to pick up raised areas. Great for fur.

Drybrushing is the same but subtler, wipe off all moisture and let brush rest for a few seconds til completely dry. It just has faint pigment traces left.

18b) dry brushing requires no pressure- just let the surface scrape off a fine dusting of pigment. Easier to control on small details.

Wrecks your brushes tho

19) mix medium grey (old bone colors) into paints to mute them. This allows a more natural feel but lets certain colors pop

20) always undercoat your miniatures. Even bones.

Always.

21) cheap enamel car primer cans are just as good as top mini product but faaaaaaaaaar cheaper. Make sure you pick matt.

22) never use a rattlecan on pvc minis like bones or walking dead. It will never ever set.
Never use a rattlecan when it is rainy or overcast- the charged particles attract air moisure and get fuzzy.

23) if your model goes shiny it looks cheap and nasty and it makes it hard to see what you are doing. Brush on coat or two of lahmian medium or give a spray of testors dullcoat to turn in matt again.

24) noobs, ignore the gw black undercoat advice. Start on a mid grey. Easier to learn on.

Like my tips? Tip me a coffee at...

ko-fi.com/dellak

25) gotta go to work. Will continue later. X

26) magnificatiom gear and loupes are heavy and give you headaches and sweaty uncomfortable straps.

Instead buy dollar store reading glasses 3x or higher mag to work on fine details.

Cashed up? Ask your optometrist to make your prescription plus magnification for fine work.

27) finish all your base colors first. In tutes they do a bit at a time, but that just makes it easier to see the tute stages.

I base coat, dark line, shade, re base coat, highlight then apply glazes.

27b) this way your dark lining is softened by shading and if you fuck up you can reapply base color over it.

I find this better than black undercoats.

My black line is black and red ink mixed with matt medium. Ink gives strong blacks. The red helps it with leather and skin.

27c) dark lining is where you seperate out details like wrists from sleeves, belts from tunics- by having a dark line between.
Same as if you have black undercoat and leave a space.
But I lile lighter undercoats these days- usually neutral grey.

27d) because black is hard to see details, and requires lots of coats to build up solid colors on brighter colors.

28) I use cheap acrylics from jo sonja for my bases. That way I can get a lot cheaply and always know I can get it.

Their burnt umber is the best for getting rusty iron.

29) tube acrylics are perfectly good for shading and glazes. But use a specific mini paint for base colors to ensure a good coat that wont crack, fade or flake.

30) I use VMC, GW, P3, Reaper and Cote'd'arms (same factory and formula as p3).
I also use liquitex, jo sonja and windsor and newton inks.