Miniature Painting Guide Part1

This post is a follow up on my first one. As I mentioned I recently acquired a copy of the Space Hulk board game by Games-Workshop. Not wanting the beautiful miniatures to go to waste, I have decided to take up the brush and try my hand once again at miniatures painting. Before rambling on though, I would like to point to someone else's work that I really admire. Below is Ork 105; painted with two colors only by paulvalenx As the title implied, the model was painted using a mix of 2 colors. This awesome style really game this miniature personality, placing the lone orc on a bleak battlefield atmosphere. Kinda like being one of the few survivors after a major battle where neither side truly won.

His work has inspired me to go monochromatic with my Spacemarines and Tyranids. I decided to limit my use of colors to two pots of paint as well. Not only do I hope to give the minis that dark and confined look, but I also hope to give my copy of the game the 'command bridge' feel to it.

Ok now, on with the tutorial. Before painting any miniature it is always best to clean off the excess mold lines, known as flash with a modelling knife. Take care to always cut in directions away from you and be careful so as not to shave-off fine details of the mini. Here is a page showing a selection of blades (link), you can find them locally in National bookstore and most hobby centers. I personally prefer using the Excel knives.

Once the model has been cleaned, it is time to 'Prime' it. I personally prefer Gunze Sangyo products for this as I have used them comfortably for years and find them reasonably priced. I am however not sure if any of the local hobby shops carry the brand, although I think I saw a few cans in V-mall the other day. For the model below I used 'Mr. White Surfacer 1000' (note: the higher numbers on other cans indicate finer particles in the spray, meaning they are less-likely to clog up details of miniatures).

Since I was going for dark and gloomy, I wanted to work from black. As a general rule, White primer will make your colors brighter, whilst black the opposite. I painted the black layer on after the white surfacer was suitably dry, if a can of black primer were handy then I could have definitely skipped this silly step. Some quick tips on priming models though: a.) do it in well ventilated areas and b.) do it in multiple 'thin' coats. Going trigger happy on the spray can will make your miniature look like a clump of paint and make a grand mess of your workspace (that's experience speaking right there).

To make handling easier I always pin the bottom, a tip shared to me by a friend some time ago. Drill a hole into an inconspicuous portion underneath the miniature and glue a rod or wire in. This can then be stuck into a piece of cork or foam, so when painting your hands don't have to touch the miniature.

1 or 2 pieces of wire may be attached depending on how fixed you want the miniature to be whilst painting. For the mini above I used 1 so that the miniature can spin around, allowing access to hard to reach areas.

Above are some work in progress shots of the Base Coat. Ill discuss painting on Part 2 of this series. I'm still working on the paint job and realized that I paint really slow now. This is largely due to lack of practice and time. :P

-alger