Our Miniature Hobby Lifestyle
Welcome to a library of fantastic articles related to the painting of miniatures and models. If you’re a tabletop gamer, a miniature hobbyist, or artist of any genre, there is something to learn here. These painting articles are written by professional miniature painters.
If you’ve ever stared at a wall of metallic paints and wondered which ones actually perform well on miniatures, you’re not alone. Metallics behave differently from regular acrylics, and choosing the right one can change the entire look of your model. Some metallics are bright and reflective, others lean dark and gritty, and a few […]
Best Metallic Paints for Miniatures—My 5 Go-To Colors and Why Read More »
Are you looking for paint scheme ideas for an Ork army? The Orks are one of Warhammer 40K’s most iconic factions—loud, brutal, and wildly unpredictable. They’re a tide of green muscle and scrap-armor ingenuity, held together by the sheer force of their own belief that bigger and louder always wins. They’re fun, messy, and endlessly
Ork Paint Schemes (9 Color Motifs and Ideas) Read More »
What’s the best brush for painting miniatures? Paint brushes are an essential tool for miniature painting. The most popular and useful brushes for miniature painters are a pointed round kolinsky sable size #1 or #2 brushes. These paint brushes have a bristle length of about 8-12mm and a belly diameter of 1.5-2mm. A pointed round
Choosing the Best Brush for Painting Miniatures (Full Guide) Read More »
Are you looking for the best metallic gold paint for your miniature and modeling needs? Retributor Armour metallic paint as a base color in the pot is awesome. On the other hand, operate the spray version with caution (it’s not worth it in my opinion). For miniature painting that require a warm gold metallic paint,
Retributor Armour: Best Gold Metallic Paint? [Review] Read More »
Ever notice how some days you can paint for hours, totally locked in—while other times, you can’t focus for more than ten minutes? Your lighting might be the reason. A good lighting setup in your hobby space doesn’t just help you see better. It can actually boost your motivation, sharpen your focus, and help you
Struggling to Stay Focused While Painting? Fix Your Lighting 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 »
Ever spent hours painting a miniature, only to watch the paint chip away after a few gaming sessions? Frustrating, right? One of the biggest reasons this happens is skipping an essential first step—priming. You might wonder: Can’t I just use regular hobby paint to get started? It’s a common question, and the answer lies in
What’s the Difference Between Hobby Paint and a Primer for Miniatures? 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 »
Are you searching for the best miniature paints for airbrushing? Did you know you can use regular model acrylic paint in an airbrush? All you need to do is thin your normal miniature paints for it to flow properly through an airbrush. However, if you’re looking for premixed model paint formulated for use in your
8 Best Airbrush Paints for Miniatures and Models Read More »
Painting yellow is a love-hate relationship for miniature painters. It’s vibrant, eye-catching, and iconic for armies like the Imperial Fists, but its poor coverage can make even seasoned painters grit their teeth. If you’re like me, you paint to relax, escape, and experiment with different colors to keep things fresh. In this article, I’ll compare
Top 5 Yellow Paints for Miniatures: A Comparison and Guide Read More »
How do you paint comic style or cel shaded miniatures? In this article, Neil Amswych shares his experience as a colorblind miniature painter, and his whimsical comic book style of painting. Read on to learn tips and insights into painting with a comic book style (e.g., cel shading) that you can use for boardgame miniatures,
Comic Style Miniatures: How This Color Blind Artist Paints! Read More »
Want to paint miniatures faster? Have a horde army collection that still wears bare plastic gray? Speed painting and quality don’t usually mix well. But, with some planning and a few shortcuts, you can get a decent quality paint job on a miniature with little effort. In this article, I share some of my tips
Speed Painting Miniature Armies (Simple Tips and Tricks) Read More »
There are many different types of sealers that you can use to finish your miniatures and models. Miniature sealers come in both lacquer-based varnishes as well as water-based sealers, which have a lot of advantages over their solvent-based counterparts. There are also different finishes for the miniature sealer–matte, satin, or gloss. In this article I
Miniature Paint Sealers: Tips, Tricks, Guide Read More »
Are you looking for a fast and easy way to paint a stone base? The base of a miniature adds a huge amount of atmosphere to a model. Stone or cracked rocky terrain is a common motif in a lot of fantasy miniatures, e.g., Warhammer Age of Sigmar, and other tabletop hobby games. A base
How to Paint Stone Ruin Bases for Miniatures (Tutorial) Read More »
A wet palette is a great tool for miniature painters. It allows you to keep your acrylic hobby paints wet for long periods of time, helps thin your paints for proper consistency, and allow you to mix custom colors without worrying they will dry out. But, did you know there are 3 other applications that
3 Best Things You Can Do With a Wet Palette Read More »