I know there's tons of advice on painting different types of miniatures scattered across the Internet, but I figure this group will have some great collective knowledge. My current challenge, for example, is finding the right primer for a set of cast resin figures, since most paint won't stick to them without a prepared surface. So far I've had pretty good luck with the Montana spray primer carried by my local art supply store, though the miniatures in question haven't had to withstand too much table use yet. But anyway, what do folks like to paint with? Do you have a favorite brush brand? Which glues are really super, and which create a mostly mess? Feel free to share a shot of your favorite creation!
For primer, I use whatever is cheap, unless working with bones figures. For bones material I recommend Army Painter primer; I’m not sure why, but other primers leave my finished mini feeling slightly tacky, even with a clear coat.
For paints, I suggest Vallejo and GW (Citadel). Quality wise, I find them very comparable, and both are a bit thick, so you can thin them out as needed. Personally, I’m more partial to Vallejo, but that’s mainly because I prefer the dropper style bottles.
And yeah, Loctite superglue is awesome.
For brushes, I use Revell and Royal Taklon. They are pretty cheap, and I've gotten way more use out of them than any other brands I've tried.
Glue-wise I've used Loctite, and plain old classic super glue on occasion. I love my x-acto knife for little repairs and shaping edges. On the cheaper side I've had pretty good luck with the smallest sizes of the "Zen" line Royal & Langnickel brushes, which so far hold their shape well. I also have a couple of gold taklon La Corneille brushes that I really like, I'm not sure which line but they're a size 18/0 in the Round and Spotter shapes.
For workhorse minis I buy the camel hair craft brushes from michaels crafts. Even for cheap brushes I like natural hair. Sometimes the super tiny nylon brushes are nice but I haven't seen those anywhere lately.
For painting metal minis and minis that require more techniques I use Army Painter brushes.
As for primer I have done TONS of experiments with Reaper bones and other cheap minis. From my personal experience brush on Vallejo brush on primer is probably the best. I had somewhat good results with the colored Army Painter Primer. The Color match stuff NOT the regular white and black. Using Reaper Liner seems to work OK too. I have have also painted directly on the Reaper Bones minis as per the offical instructions. Those worked out OK but I also varnished them with watered down Vallejo matte varnish.
As for other minis I have have good luck with the Krylon Primer (Never the paint + primer). I also like to varnish finished minis with Krylon UV resistant matte varnish. A light coat for minis with a ton of detail and a heavier coat for board game minis that are going to get a ton of use on the table.
And as always The Masters brush cleaner and restorer is KEY. If you using cheap brushes or super expensive ones this stuff will keep your brush clean and serviceable longer. Remember to only get paint on the brush tip and remember to leave your brushes On their SIDE to dry. Putting them in a cup will let the water leak into the brush tip and you will lose more bristles that way. Once the brushes are dry you can store them in a cup bristles up.
I have been using Duncan Ceramic Bisq-stain paints since I started painting miniatures in 1985. The colours available have diminished over the years but for the core colour palette, they have anything you could need for base/wash/drybrush. These paints are pretty inexpensive compared to Polypaints/Magic Wand/Partha/Citadel/Reaper and last forever. I still have half a dozen pots of paint from '85 that I haven't used up.
Thanks for the heads-up on Loctite glue. I've used Zap-a-Gap for decades and they've either modified their formula after getting sued enough times by youngsters with torn flesh from glued together fingers or the new metal Reaper uses doesn't bond as well with it. I used it on an old lead Ral Partha mini and it worked like it used to, so I am guessing it's the metal Reaper uses.
I used to use PolyPaint's white primer when I could still find it, I just use white Duncan paint on metal minis or grey on Bones/HeroForge minis for the best enhancement of features.
Lorathorn, the link in my original message should get you to the Duncan website. Otherwise, find out where your local ceramic studio is and ask them what brand of paint they carry. There's a few different brands out there, my local one I've been frequenting for 20 years carries Duncan exclusively so I've been happy with that. At worse, you can go to a Corporate Art/Craft Supply store and check out their acrylic paints. I find that the paints for crafters tends to be too thick on the brush yet too thin in the application which leads to streaks and requiring multiple paint layers that could impact your detail on the model, especially the plastic ones.
Hi all!
I know there's tons of advice on painting different types of miniatures scattered across the Internet, but I figure this group will have some great collective knowledge. My current challenge, for example, is finding the right primer for a set of cast resin figures, since most paint won't stick to them without a prepared surface. So far I've had pretty good luck with the Montana spray primer carried by my local art supply store, though the miniatures in question haven't had to withstand too much table use yet. But anyway, what do folks like to paint with? Do you have a favorite brush brand? Which glues are really super, and which create a mostly mess? Feel free to share a shot of your favorite creation!
For primer, I use whatever is cheap, unless working with bones figures. For bones material I recommend Army Painter primer; I’m not sure why, but other primers leave my finished mini feeling slightly tacky, even with a clear coat.
For paints, I suggest Vallejo and GW (Citadel). Quality wise, I find them very comparable, and both are a bit thick, so you can thin them out as needed. Personally, I’m more partial to Vallejo, but that’s mainly because I prefer the dropper style bottles.
And yeah, Loctite superglue is awesome.
For brushes, I use Revell and Royal Taklon. They are pretty cheap, and I've gotten way more use out of them than any other brands I've tried.
Glue-wise I've used Loctite, and plain old classic super glue on occasion. I love my x-acto knife for little repairs and shaping edges. On the cheaper side I've had pretty good luck with the smallest sizes of the "Zen" line Royal & Langnickel brushes, which so far hold their shape well. I also have a couple of gold taklon La Corneille brushes that I really like, I'm not sure which line but they're a size 18/0 in the Round and Spotter shapes.
I really like the gel loctite glue.
For workhorse minis I buy the camel hair craft brushes from michaels crafts. Even for cheap brushes I like natural hair. Sometimes the super tiny nylon brushes are nice but I haven't seen those anywhere lately.
For painting metal minis and minis that require more techniques I use Army Painter brushes.
As for primer I have done TONS of experiments with Reaper bones and other cheap minis. From my personal experience brush on Vallejo brush on primer is probably the best. I had somewhat good results with the colored Army Painter Primer. The Color match stuff NOT the regular white and black. Using Reaper Liner seems to work OK too. I have have also painted directly on the Reaper Bones minis as per the offical instructions. Those worked out OK but I also varnished them with watered down Vallejo matte varnish.
As for other minis I have have good luck with the Krylon Primer (Never the paint + primer). I also like to varnish finished minis with Krylon UV resistant matte varnish. A light coat for minis with a ton of detail and a heavier coat for board game minis that are going to get a ton of use on the table.
And as always The Masters brush cleaner and restorer is KEY. If you using cheap brushes or super expensive ones this stuff will keep your brush clean and serviceable longer. Remember to only get paint on the brush tip and remember to leave your brushes On their SIDE to dry. Putting them in a cup will let the water leak into the brush tip and you will lose more bristles that way. Once the brushes are dry you can store them in a cup bristles up.
https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Cleaner-Preserver-Ounces-Carded/dp/B0027AEANE/ref=sr_1_1?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1491068887&sr=1-1&keywords=brush cleaner
I have been using Duncan Ceramic Bisq-stain paints since I started painting miniatures in 1985. The colours available have diminished over the years but for the core colour palette, they have anything you could need for base/wash/drybrush. These paints are pretty inexpensive compared to Polypaints/Magic Wand/Partha/Citadel/Reaper and last forever. I still have half a dozen pots of paint from '85 that I haven't used up.
Thanks for the heads-up on Loctite glue. I've used Zap-a-Gap for decades and they've either modified their formula after getting sued enough times by youngsters with torn flesh from glued together fingers or the new metal Reaper uses doesn't bond as well with it. I used it on an old lead Ral Partha mini and it worked like it used to, so I am guessing it's the metal Reaper uses.
I used to use PolyPaint's white primer when I could still find it, I just use white Duncan paint on metal minis or grey on Bones/HeroForge minis for the best enhancement of features.
We all leave footprints in the sands of time.
Where do you find these ceramic paints?
We all leave footprints in the sands of time.
Thanks! I must have missed the link the first time. Interesting... I'll have to investigate further.