Our Miniature Hobby Lifestyle
Are you looking to improve your miniature painting? Do you want to increase your arsenal of painting techniques? Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced painter, these articles will show you some new (and unique) ways to approach your painting projects.
One of the great things about painting miniatures is that there are endless possibilities when it comes to techniques. You can go as simple or as complex as you like, and there’s always something new to learn. Explore some different miniature painting techniques, or learn how to spin something you already know how to do.
Experimenting with different approaches can help you find new and better ways to achieve the results you want. It can also be a lot of fun! So don’t be afraid to get creative, and try something new today.
How do you paint a resin 3D printed miniature or model? 3D printed tabletop miniatures are easy make and paint with a resin 3D printer. Because of the high quality sculpts, painting a 3D printed miniature made with a resin printer is also the same process as painting any other regular miniature or scale model […]
How to Paint a Resin 3D Printed Miniature Read More »
Acrylic paint is the favored medium for painting miniatures and models. But, did you know you can paint your models with oil paints, too? Oil wash filters and weathering with oil paints create amazing effects that can add realism to your miniatures. If you’re painting wargaming models, e.g., Warhammer 40k or Age of Sigmar, then
Painting Miniatures with Oil Paints: Guide and Tips! Read More »
Do you want a fast and easy way to paint highlights on miniatures? Zenithal highlighting is a technique that quickly reproduces the light and shadows produced by an imaginary light source directly over the subject. Using a spray can or airbrush with a bright color, usually white, you spray directly downward onto a dark-colored model.
How to Airbrush Zenithal Highlights (Fast & Easy) Read More »
Think before you act. It’s always a good idea to go into a painting project with a plan. A great way to remember things is to use a mnemonic, which is a device of patterned letters that you can associate with something. For example, we know that “USA” stands for the United States of America.
“C.R.A.P.” for Better Miniature Painting Read More »
Do you get bored painting miniatures? Do you want to experiment with new, exciting ways to paint miniatures and models? A great way to overcome painting block is to experiment! Try a new technique. How about painting with coffee? Yes, I do mean paint miniatures with a do-it-yourself (DIY) coffee paint mixture. Board games, miniature
Painting with Coffee: Miniatures! Read More »
“You’re unique, just like everyone else.” This oxymoron is a principle for why you will always be different than your neighbor. This includes painting miniatures and other art forms. But, what is fascinating is that you don’t actually know the particulars of your “uniqueness” until you express it. And, perhaps this is why discovering your
5 Ways to Discover Your Miniature Painting Style Read More »
Not sure if you have enough contrast on your painted miniature? A quick way to check if you have enough contrast on your miniature is to take a photo! Once you have the image, remove the color. You’ll see the dynamic range on your model a lot better, and painting with high contrast will become
How to Paint High Contrast Miniatures with Photography (5 Steps) Read More »
Are you painting miniatures and looking for new techniques to try? Miniature painting tutorials are everywhere. But, the use of watercolor for washing miniatures is a fairly unique way to paint models. In this article, I show you how to paint a warjack from the Retribution of Scyrah faction of Privateer Press’ Warmachine tabletop strategy
Watercolor Washes: How to Paint a Warmachine Warjack (10 Steps! ) Read More »
Are you wondering about the possibility of 3D printing your own miniatures? There are free 3D files for almost anything now. Even your favorite wargame miniatures are coming to an open source database near you. Out of simple curiosity, I did an online search for free 3D printable files for Warhammer 40k and Forgeworld models.
3D Print and Paint a Forgeworld Warhammer 40k Tank (13 Easy Steps!) Read More »
Are you trying to choose a paint color scheme for your miniatures? Looking for a good paint scheme for Warhammer 40k or other tabletop games? Even if you’re familiar with painting techniques, you’ll still need to know what colors to choose for painting miniatures. In this article, I share with you 5 simple ways you
How to Choose a Miniature Painting Color Scheme (5 Simple Ways) Read More »
When I was learning how to improve my miniature painting, I was always on the look-out for resources to learn from. Of course, there are many ways to learn how to paint miniatures: you can watch YouTube videos, take classes, join a club, find online tutorials, or look for books. As I was searching the
21 Great How-To Books for Painting Miniatures (So Far) Read More »
This article is a descriptive overview of the differences between tabletop quality and display level miniature painting standards. What do the terms “tabletop standard”, “display level”, or collector quality” mean in regards to miniature painting? This seems to be a recurring question in the miniature painting community. And, it is an especially relevant topic for
Tabletop Standard vs. Display Level Painting [Criteria] Read More »
Non-metallic metal (NMM) painting is the technique of using regular paint (without metallic content) to give the illusion of a metallic, reflective surface. In general, NMM requires high contrast painted with smooth transitions from light-to-dark. There are many technique you can use to blend color in the NMM style of painting miniatures. You can wet-blend,
Non-Metallic Metal (NMM) Sword (Blending with the Loaded Brush Technique) Read More »
When I first started learning to paint miniatures–I mean really trying to improve my work–I searched everywhere on the internet for the best tutorials for how to paint non-metallic metal (NMM). NMM-style painting is the method of painting metallic-looking objects using regular paint that doesn’t contain any reflective metal flake pigment. Although, knowing how to paint
Top 3 Websites for How to Paint Non-Metallic Metal (NMM) Read More »
I’ve recently begun a new project painting an army of Tyranids, the swarming, all-consuming alien race of the Warhammer 40k Universe. Unlike my other projects, which have been vehicular or armored machinations, these Tyranid models are all organic, fleshy, scaly creatures of various shapes and sizes. In this article, I take a philosophical approach to describing
How to Paint Tyranids for Warhammer 40k (Painting Organic Models) Read More »