Welcome, Critters! This will be a very thorough step by step for painting the limited edition resin Vax'ildan from Steamforged Games. My intention is to write something that someone who has never painted a figure before can follow, though there should be plenty in here for those of you with more experience too. A couple quick things before we start... first, for you novices, I have been painting for 20+ years (painting seriously for the past 8 or so). Don't expect your first figure to be a masterpiece, I know mine wasn't. Like any skill it takes a lot of time and practice to get good at it. But that shouldn't discourage you. The beauty of painting your figures is it's your figure. This is something you have created, so be proud of it! Just have fun and enjoy the process. Second, I will be posting this tutorial in multiple parts. This way you don't have to wait until I'm done with the figure before seeing how to start. And third, don't listen to just me. There are many ways to approach a project like this and you'll find thousands of tutorials online for beginner painters. Maybe what I do works for you, but maybe some other approach will work better. Look around and find what's most helpful for you.
Part 1: Preparing the Figure
Are you new to figures or are you new to resin figures? If so, this section is for you!
In many ways resin figures are like plastic figures. When it comes to the painting, you will approach them the same. But there are some differences in the prep and handling of the figures that you should know about.
1) Before starting to assemble, prime, and paint, wash the figure. When the figure is cast, a mold release agent is applied so they can get the figure out of the mold (hence the name). Unfortunately this can remain on the figure and make it more difficult for the paint to adhere. To remove it, gently (see comment 2!) wash your figure with warm (see comment 3!) water and soap. An old toothbrush is perfect for this. Put a bit of soap on it, scrub the figure, and then rinse it off. While the parts aren't too small, it's best to close the drain so avoid losing anything in case you drop it while washing. Or just wash the figure in a bowl where there's no risk of losing parts at all. If you got excited and skipped this step, don't worry. You'll likely see the initial coats of paint aren't covering all that well. Let them dry and then apply another coat. You may have to do this several times, but eventually you'll get complete coverage and can continue on from there as if nothing was ever amiss.
2) Resin is more fragile than plastic. While either material can break, plastic has a bit more give in it. If you're too rough with the scrubbing or bend some of the parts too much, they are more likely to snap on a resin figure than a plastic one.
3) Resin does not respond well to heat! When you're washing the figure, the water can be warm, but it should not be hot. If the resin gets heated, parts can begin to bend or sag. This can be useful if you're trying to straighten a part. Not likely an issue with Vax, but on other figures you may find a sword or spear isn't quite straight. Heating it with hot water can let you straighten the part. As for Vax, just be aware and avoid exposing the figure to extreme heat. So don't do anything like putting the figure right next to the stove or leave it sitting in your car on a hot day. You don't need to store him in the fridge or anything, just avoid high temperatures.
Because of all that, why make a figure in resin instead of plastic? First off, resin is better at capturing the details and produces a higher quality cast. Plastic figures can look a bit softer as the detail is not as crisp. And second, plastic molds are very expensive to produce. So for smaller run productions, resin makes more economic sense.
Filing, Pinning, and Assembling
Okay, now that we're done with Resin 101, let's get to the figure. Take a look over the parts and you will likely see 'mold lines.' These are lines formed where the pieces of the mold came together. Steamforged makes very nice figures, so you hopefully should not have any major mold lines to deal with. On my figure, I mostly saw these on his back. A set of needle files (available at your local hobby store) is a great way to get rid of these. They should come off pretty quickly, so be careful to just get the mold lines and not the detail on the figure. Alternatively you can scrape them off using an x-acto knife (use the side of the blade, holding it perpendicular to the figure and scrape along the line). Some fine grit sandpaper can work too.
IMPORTANT! Resin dust is harmful to your health. Ideally you should wear a mask when filing/sanding resin, especially if you already have any breathing issues. Many of us skip this (there's not going to be that much dust from this figure). But you should wear a mask. This is one of those do as I say, not as I do tips. =P
With the mold lines gone, we can now assemble the figure. For some figures, you may wish to add pins in other to strengthen the joints. A pin is just a small rod of metal when helps to hold the figure together. In this case, the joint between the wings and the body looks strong, so no pin needed there. There's also three points of attachment to the base (the knee and both feet), so you should be okay if you are using the base it comes with. I've decided to create a display base for the figure, so mine will need some added support.
Pinning a small figure like this isn't easy. I'm added a single pin into his foot, which will help hold him onto the base. While I don't have the design of the base figured out, ideally I'd like to provide some additional attachment points. Perhaps I'll place a post or something that will touch the edge of a wing (giving me an additional point for attachment). To pin, you'll need a pin vise, a set of micro drill bits, and a small metal rod. You may be able to find all three at your local hobby store. If not, an arts and crafts store could have them too. If that doesn't work, a hardware store would be my next guess.
I very carefully drilled a small hole in his left foot. Keep pulling out the bit to check how far in you've gone. It doesn't take long before you've drilled all the way through to the other side (something you want to avoid). My hole is maybe 2mm deep. Enough for the pin to get purchase. Try to angle the drill so the pin will be going directly into the base. Again, if you are using the base the figure comes with, you most likely can skip this step.
Now we can assemble the figure. Always test fit the parts before gluing. If parts don't go together, you may need to file the attachment points so they can slide together smoothly. Also take a look for gaps where the pieces go together. The wings and body should fit together well, but if you put them in at an angle (and glue them that way), you may find you've created a gap.
For resin, I recommend using Superglue (aka CA glue or Cyanoacrylate glue). Your local hobby store should most definitely have this. I use the 'Medium' or 'Gap Filling' variety. If your store has just one, this is likely it. You can also find CA glue in 'Super Thin' and 'Thick' varieties. They have their applications, but this is not it.
I find it best to NEVER apply the glue directly to the figure from the bottle. You will most likely get way more glue than you need. It can get out of your control, cover up detail, or end up attaching the figure to your hand. My preferred approach is to take a piece of aluminum foil and squeeze out a bit of glue onto that. Then, take a tooth pick, dip it in the glue, and then carefully apply the glue onto the figure. For Vax, apply the glue to the box in the center of the wings (the part that fits into the body). You'll want to mostly cover that box, but the coverage should be thin. You don't want it squirting out all over the place once you put the pieces together. If you get a big glob on there, use the toothpick to remove the excess before assembling the parts. Apply pressure (not too much, resin is fragile and you don't want to snap off a wing) for a few seconds and it should stay together. Eventually you will repeat the process to attach the figure to the base. A bit of glue on the attachment points and you should be good. But please read the next paragraph first!
For any figure you will want to consider whether you want to assemble the entire piece and then paint it, or assemble some of it before painting and the rest afterward. If you set Vax onto his base, you will notice that it will be challenging to get the brush to his lower regions. Maybe you will want to paint part of his body before attaching him to the base. The thing to consider is, though these regions will be hard to access... they will also be hard to see. That means you don't need to do much painting there since no one will notice it. My suggestion is to prime the figure and paint those regions black, then attach the figure to the base before painting the rest. The base will provide a good point to hold the figure while painting, so it's nice to have on there. By painting the regions black, they will appear to be in shadow (though you're likely painting the clothes black anyway) and the grey resin won't show. If you try to paint it black after attaching it to the base, you will likely miss a region and then, depending on what angle the figure is held, that grey resin may show.
Since I'm not using the provided base, this is not something I have to deal with. I will use the pin to hold the figure while I paint and attach it to the display base in the end. Of course pinning isn't simple either... so whatever you choose there's a bit of work to be done!
Alright, I hope that gives you a good idea how to prepare your figure for painting. In the next part we will be priming our figure and applying the base coat. I hope to get to that this weekend, so keep an eye out for part 2 sometime next week! And please feel free to ask me questions either here or on Twitter (@MiniPainterDave). I'm always happy to help in any way I can.
Part 2: Priming and Basecoating
With the figure prepped and assembled, the last thing to do before painting is to prime it. Primer helps the paint adhere to the surface of the figure. This not only makes the initial layering of paint easier, it also makes the end result more durable (though you may still wish to apply a sealer in the end if you will be using the figure for gaming). You can buy primer at your local hobby store or an arts and crafts store. Even automotive stores often carry primer. The primer will usually say the materials it works on (metal, plastic, wood, etc). If it says plastic, it should work for resin.
There are a couple other primer choices you should make. The first is do you want a spray primer or a brush on one. Most people, including myself, prefer spray primers. They're quick and give you a nice thin coat. Brush on primers can more easily result in initial coats that are too thick and cover up the detail on the figure, so I would avoid those if you can. The second choice is what color primer should you use. The most common primer colors are white, grey, and black. You can find some specialty primers in other colors. Those mainly come in handy if you know your model will be mostly blue or red or green or some other color. Not really applicable to Vax. But black, grey, and white all have some pros and cons.
Black Primer: This is a good 'beginners' primer. Using this will help get black down into all those cracks and recesses in the figure. Should you have trouble getting your brush in there when painting, they will remain black and look like a shadow. Thus black primer is more forgiving than say white (where missed spots will really show). On the other hand, painting light colors on top of black can take more effort. That's not a huge issue for Vax as he's going to be mostly dark colors. But you should expect to need some additional base layers for the face and arms to prevent your skin from looking dull and too dark.
White Primer: White primer is great for brightly colored figures. Almost any color will look brighter on top of white. However, since Vax is mostly dark, this really just helps you out with the skin. The downside of white primer is any areas you miss (small cracks, space between sections) will really stand out. You'll have to put in some extra work to get a nice end result. Unless the figure will be light/bright colors, I would recommend white primer to intermediate and above painters.
Grey Primer: A bit of a mix between the two. It has less of an effect on color brightness than black, but you still have to make sure you hit those crevices or else they will definitely show. I'd say Grey and White are more or less interchangeable (same pros, same cons). Use grey is you want a more subdued color and white if you want a brighter one.
So, in short, I chose to use white primer but if you're a beginner I'd suggest using black instead.
While the above picture was taken indoors, I primed the figure outside. Primer dries quickly, but it's best to give it at least an hour before handling the piece or applying paint.
You'll notice I just gave the figure a light coating of primer. You don't need to soak the piece in primer. Too much can clog up the details and actually make it harder for the paint to adhere (by making the surface too smooth).
Another approach to priming is called Zenithal priming or black and white priming. This technique using both black and white spray primer. Begin by giving the figure a thorough coating of black primer (you want pretty good coverage of the piece). Let that dry and then apply white primer but only from above. It's actually best to not just do it from directly above, but at a slight angle (30 degrees assuming the top is 0) and from each side (front, back, left, and right). Don't go too thick, just a quick spray from each side and you should have the coverage you want. This effectively pre-shades the model. I don't do this often, but I know many like the approach. The paint will cover up the shading, but if you use light coats it can show through somewhat and help guide you with your shadow and highlight placement. Here's a figure I painted a few years ago where I applied the primer in this way so you can see what I'm talking about.
Because of Vax's pose, I'd use a great angle from the front (more like 45 degrees, maybe even 60) to make sure you're getting some light onto his face.
Paints, Brushes, and Palettes
Okay, now that we're ready to start applying paint to the model, it's a good time to talk about supplies. There are quite a few lines of miniature paint out there and almost any of them should work for you. Popular brands are GW or Citadel, P3, Vallejo, Reaper, Army Painter, and Scale Color. They are all meant for miniatures and any of them will do a fine job. Personally, I use Reaper Master Series paints. They are not necessarily better than the others, I just happen to like them and they work with my style. If you are just starting out, I would suggest either Citadel, P3, or Vallejo for the sole reason that they are often carried in local game stores. For your first figure, it's nice to be able to stop by the store and pick up the handful of paints you will actually need, rather than ordering a big set online.
For brushes, the best for miniature painting are made from Kolinsky Sable. This hair will hold a point better and last longer if you take care of it. Brands I've used are Winsor & Newton (Series 7), Scharff (series 3000), and Raphael (8404). I've also heard good things about Broken Toad and Artis Opus. You will likely want a fine detail brush (size 000) for the face and other small parts of the figure. For larger sections, a size 00 or 0 should work well. You may also want something even bigger, like a size 1 for base coating. However, for the base coat, you can get buy with a less expensive brush. The point isn't as important, so you can find something a bit cheaper than Kolinksy Sable.
You've got your paints and you've got your brush, but you still will want a palette. For acrylic paints, I HIGHLY recommend getting or making a wet palette. These keep the paints from drying out while you work and can likely be made from stuff you've already got in your kitchen. I suggest Googling 'making a wet palette.' This should turn up tutorials and videos explaining how to make your own.
In short, you need a container (shallow plastic container or even a plate), a sponge or paper towel soaked in water, and palette or parchment paper. The paint goes onto the paper and absorbs water from the sponge below, keeping it from drying out while you work.
Base Coating
Finally, time to put some paint on the figure! Base coating is an important first stage. This is where you lay down the initial coat, start to color the mini, and provide a smooth base to work on for the following steps. If you chose to use black to prime the figure, this could be a very quick step.
You will normally want to select midtone shades for each part of the figure to use as the base coat. Since most of the figure will be black, I recommend a dark grey. If you primed the figure black, that's close enough. You don't need to go over it at this point. Instead, just take some more black to fill in any gaps missed by priming or areas where the coverage is not complete. For the skin, a middle of the range skin tone is a good choice. I used Reaper's Rosy Shadow, but skin from other ranges will work just fine. Aside from that, you may want to paint some parts brown leather. Leaving those black is probably okay, but you can go over in a dark brown if you prefer. There are also a few metallic sections like the dagger blades. Metallic paints, which we will get to later, work best over a dark base. So go ahead and paint those blades black for the time being.
To apply the base coat, begin by putting a small amount of paint on your palette. Miniature paint is close to the consistency you want, but you will typically still need to thin it a bit. Take a drop of water and add it to the paint (using the opposite end of your brush is a fine way to do this, quickly stir the paint/water on the palette and then wipe the back of the brush off on a paper towel). The consistency you are aiming for will require 2 to 3 coats for complete coverage on the figure. This is done so you have a nice smooth, even coat to work on. If the paint is too thick, it can fill in and obscure details and make the surface bumpy (which will create issues as you try to shade/highlight).
Below is an image of my Vax. On the left you can see the results of a single coat of dark grey. It's clearly grey, but you can see the white primer still showing through. On the right is two coats of the dark grey. Now we have nearly complete coverage. That's roughly what you are aiming for, 2 to 3 coats for full coverage. If it's taking more, your paint is too thin. If it covers completely in 1, it's too thick.
A couple notes... you see a difference here because the paint and primer are quite different. If you are painting a dark grey over a black primer, you likely won't be able to tell what your coverage is. In that case, try a bit of the paint on your palette or hand to see how thick it is before applying it to the model. Light colors also tend to have a harder time covering up dark colors. So when you go to apply your skin tone over a black primer, you may actually need 4 to 5 layers. This is okay, your paint isn't too thin. Just expect it to take a bit more work to get those light colors on there.
So what if your paint is too thick or too thin? If it's too thick, that's an easy fix. Just add some more water. If your paint is too thin, you can add more paint... but unless it's just barely too thin, that can result in you wasting a lot of paint. Usually its better to just move to a new spot on the palette and start over with a new drop of paint. Add the water more gradually, easier to make it thinner than to make it thicker.
Finally, I need to stress that to build up color with multiple layers it is CRITICAL (see what I did there?) that the first layer of paint be dry. Otherwise layer 2 just re-wets layer 1 and you end up pushing the paint around rather than building on top of it. Acrylics dry quickly, especially when you are applying thin layers. As you move around the figure, the earlier sections should dry before you get back to them. But if you're base coating a small region, like the face, you should pause for 30 seconds before applying the subsequent layer. You can use a hair dryer (set on cool, heat is bad for resin!) or just gently blow on your figure to speed up the process.
Remember, you ideally want to base coat your entire figure before moving on to the details. This is done to reduce the chance of mistakes later on. For example, when you base coat the hair, you may accidentally get some black onto the face or some skin tone onto the hair. Everyone gets 'outside the lines' from time to time. As you learn better brush control you will reduce these errors, but it still happens to us all. That first layer is where it's most likely to happen as you are going right up to the border between the regions. If you attempt that after doing a lot of detail work, you might create a big mistake that is tough to fix. When it's only the base coat, you can quickly go over the wrong color with the right one and fix your mistake. So, while technically you don't have to basecoat ALL of the figure at the beginning. If you plan to work on a specific area, it's best to base coat all of the surrounding sections first.
Part 3: Details!
Alright, now we're really getting into the painting. You've got your basic color down, but the figure just looks flat. More like a toy than Vax about ready to pounce on a monster. That's why we want to shade and highlight the figure. Light on a small scale figure doesn't react quite like it does on a full scale person, so we exaggerate the lighting to make the figure look 'correct' to the viewer.
If you're just starting out, this is often down with washes and dry brushing. I'll just briefly talk about those techniques and refer you to other tutorials (like Painters Guild on Alpha) if you want to learn more.
A wash is paint thinned down significantly so that it is semi-transparent. You apply this to the figure and allow it to wash over the surface, collecting in all the cracks and crevices of the figure. It's normally down with a darker color that will slightly tint your base coat, but make it much darker in all those cracks where it collects. This effectively shades the figure.
Dry brushing involves taking regular paint and wiping the majority off your brush, so that it is almost dry. You then run it along the model and the remaining paint catches on the raised sections of the figure. This creates the effect of highlights.
The result of this approach is that recessed areas are shaded and raised areas are highlighted. It works well for gaming figures, but it's not quite how light operates. How light or dark a part of the figure should be depends on the angle it makes with respect to our imagined light source. You can selectively choose where you apply the washes and the dry brushing to mimic this, but it's not quite perfect. Instead, I use an approach called layering to create my shadows and highlights. It's a more intentional placement of different shades to create the effect I want. The general idea is you apply slightly overlapping layers, each of a different shade, to create the effect of a smooth blend between colors. The more gradual your layers the smoother the end result, but the more time is involved to get there.
In terms of where you should apply those lights and darks, we often use the idea of zenithal lighting. You can find plenty of tutorials on miniature pages for this. The general idea is you imagine a light source above your figure. Think of it more like a halo than a point light. So whether you look at the figure from the front, back, right or left the light is above but slightly in front of the figure. Sheperd Paine, a painter of historical miniatures, described this using what he called the stop sign rule. Image an octagon, a stop sign. The top surface is pointed directly at the light and thus it is the lightest. The bottom surface is pointed at the ground, and it is the darkest. The horizontal surface is your mid tone (likely you base color). The other surfaces fall somewhere in between based on the angle they make with respect to the light source.
The concept is straightforward, but it takes a lot of practice to apply it correctly. For now, just keep it in mind as we proceed.
Painting the Face
So I decided to do something a little different and actually recorded my process of painting the face. Unfortunately the middle section, where I did the highlighting and shading, did not record properly. But the rest is still there and will hopefully be helpful for you to actually see the process.
Introduction and Overview:
Painting the Eyes:
Shading and Highlight:
Okay, this is the section that unfortunately did not record. But I will try to talk you through it. Remembering the stop sign rule from above, we place our shadows on the parts of the face angled down (under the jaw, brows, and nose, in the ears and lower part of the cheeks). From there I gradually blend my colors back up to the midtone. My shadow is a mix of Chestnut Brown (a reddish brown) and Rosy Shadow (a medium skin tone). I start with roughly 90% Brown and 10% Skin. Then, over the course of 5 or so layers, add more and more skintone until I'm at 100% Skin. Now, I begin to add in my highlight colors (Fair Skin). Gradually I mix more into the Rosy Shadow and start to apply the color where the face is angled up. This is the top of the cheeks, bridge of the nose, forehead, upper lip, and chin. As I get closer and closer to 100% Fair Skin, I reduce the area where I apply it. Just the very top of the cheeks, the top of the nose and again where it meets the brow, the upper part of the forehead, and the part of the chin which sticks out. Finally, I add in Fair Highlight for some final pop. This is just small dots on the nose, cheeks, and top of the forehead. Keep it very limited in application. If you apply it over too large a region it will cease to look like a highlight and appear more as a midtone (with the flesh being VERY light in color).
Glazing to Add Color Variation to the Face
Thankfully the last part did record. Here's where we do some magic and turn a decent face (above) into something much more lifelike. The beauty of the approach is it doesn't matter how good your original face is, it should still make it better. Even if you're a novice, it can help you step up your results.
Here are a few close up images of the finished face.
How to Paint Black, Black, and Black
With the face finished, it's time to move on to the rest of the figure and that means you'll be painting a lot of black. But there's not just one way to paint black and we want to take advantage of that. We've got a variety of materials to paint: cloth, leather, feathers. While these will all be 'black', we still want them to look like distinct materials. Thankfully we have a couple ways to distinguish between them. The first is by varying the colors we use to shade the black. The second is by the finish (how matte or shiny) we make the material look. This is accomplished by varying how strong the highlight is (how far you go towards white) and how rapidly we transition from dark to light.
Let's begin with color. When painting black, you ideally want to start with a very dark color but not quite true black. This allows you to get darker and create shadows (which will be true black). The paint line you're using may have some good variations on black, but if not don't worry, we can make our own. I'm using Reaper paints and they have a couple sets I like for black. Their Dusky Skin set is grey that tends towards brown. I like this for cloth as it as a more natural feel to it. Then there's their Dark Elf Skin, which is a grey with hints of purple in it. You can obviously just use a set of neutral greys, but these just don't have the same visual interest. Below is a look at those two sets (along with black for the shadow and an off white for an extra highlight when needed).
If you don't have those paints, don't worry. You can create a variant of the Dusky Skin set by taking pure black and adding some dark brown. Then, into the brown-black mix, slowly add some skin tone to create your highlights. For the Dark Elf, try mixing a grey with a bit of blue or purple. The exact shade is not important, just that you create variations on black to add interest to the figure and to help distinguish between materials. I'll show you another version of black when we get to the feathers, but let's focus on the main body for now.
We've got our mixes, but how you apply them can also create interesting effects. For cloth, we want a softer look so you'll do more gradual transitions from dark to light. For the leather and hair, you might want a shiny look. In this case, we will attempt to rapidly transition from dark to light to mimic the gloss effect. Yes, you can use a gloss finish to do this quickly... but it doesn't work as well as you hope. Because it tends to get into the recesses too, you lose depth and the piece looks more like a toy than naturally shiny material.
Let's start with the boots and armor. I find it easiest to sketch on the shine and then go back to blend it in. I use the colors shown above (black, dark elf shadow, dark elf skin, dark elf highlight, and vampiric skin) without any intermediate shades (this is just a sketch). You can look at reference leather for help on where the shine might appear. Edges tend to pick up the light. With zenithal lighting, the highlights are generally on the top of surfaces. Reflections act a little differently. You still imagine a light source above the figure. But the reflection point moves down the surface, closer to spots angled around 45 degrees. The reflections also tend to take the shape of the object. Got a cylinder (like the leg)? A sphere would have a spot reflection, but the side of the cylinder would create a line reflection. Here is how I sketched the lights onto the legs...
From there I go back in to blend the colors together. For most things I like to work from dark to light, but with black I find it easiest to reverse that. I start with the lightest color and create a gradient on my palette to the darkest. Then I work from the center of the shine spot to the outside, getting darker as I go. Here's a look at those boots after blending...
I made a few adjustments after that, but this should give you the basic idea of how it went. In addition to the boots, I'd done a bit of work on the cloth using the Dusky Skin mix. After finishing the boots I took a look at the piece and felt the dynamics (light to dark contrast) of the cloth wasn't strong enough. So I went back in to push the highlights. I also redid the chest armor to make that shine stronger. You can see how that looked below. Notice how both the colors used in the black create a different effect, but also the sharpness of the transitions. Both the armor and cape use the Dark Elf mix, but the armor has shape transitions while the cape has softer ones. The cloth on the arms and legs uses the Dusky Skin mix with soft transitions while the arm uses the same mix but with sharp transitions (for more of a shiny look).
Feathers!
The one thing we have yet to touch on are the feathers. You can use the above mixes for that too, or you can do something different. Let's take a look at some reference for help on how to approach it.
The first image is a bit more neutral, but still feels a bit like a cool grey. I'd say the Dark Elf skin set is a good approximation. The second image shows a black with far more blue in it. For this effect I would take pure black and mix in a dark blue. From there, I'd add something like a skin tone to create the highlights. You could swap the blue for teal, green, purple, red, etc. You can create some very interesting effects by choosing different colors.
For any of these, I recommend picking a small spot and trying out the mix there first. See how it looks and whether or not you like it before applying it to the rest of the figure. I'll be starting the wings soon, but I'll test out the color I chose to see how I feel about the mix and how it looks in comparison to the versions of black already on the figure.
For my wings, I went with Pure Black for the base and then to Scale 75's Abyssal Blue. Nothing special about that color/brand, so don't rush out and buy a set just for it. The color is just a very dark teal shade. A good alternative would be Vallejo's Deep Sea Blue. In addition, Vallejo is a brand commonly carried by hobby shops (if not your local gaming store, look for a hobby shop that sells model cars, planes, etc.). To that, I gradually added some Vampiric Skin (an off white I used to highlight the black on Vax's clothing). A light skin tone can also be a great highlight color to mix in to black. I've used that on numerous occasions. However, I want the figure to feel like it's under the same light. If you switch up the highlight colors for different parts (use a warm light here, a cool light there) it can make things look a bit off. Picking the same highlight color will hopefully create a more realistic looking result.
Okay, color choice aside, the real issue is how to you actually paint all those damn feathers!? I took a more painstaking approach and worked on individual feathers. Most people don't want to spend the time or risk their own sanity in that way. So dry brushing is your friend! I mentioned it earlier, but if you're not familiar you can find numerous tutorials on how it works. In short, you wipe off most of the paint from your brush so it's almost dry. Then you gently brush it across the surface of what you're painting. The minimal paint on the brush will catch the raised edges, helping to bring out the detail. It's an efficient way to work with feathers, fur, etc. But maybe we can take it a step further and improve the results.
Below you'll see my version. To create something similar with dry brushing, here's how I'd do it. First, we still want to think about how light hits the figure. The undersides of the wings will be mostly in shadow. You can leave them pure black, but you lose the detail. So let's try to use dry brushing to apply minimal highlights. Start with a base of pure black. If you primed it black, great. Just take a close look to make sure no spots were missed. Easy to still have some resin showing in all those cracks between the feathers. Take some black and make sure they all get filled in. Now, pick your 'near black' color. That Vallejo Deep Sea Blue should be ideal. If you want something darker, add a bit of black to it. Now, give the undersides of the wings a thorough dry brushing. Hit all the feathers. After that, let's get a bit more direct in our application. Mix in a bit of your highlight color into your Deep Sea Blue (or whatever color you used). Don't get too light, but you want it to be noticeably brighter. With this, I just want you to hit those upward facing edges of the feathers. Get the from sides of the wings (from Vax's shoulders to the wing tips. But under the wings, drag the brush along the length of those long feathers, just on the upper side, not the whole feather. You can even be more selective. For his left wing, do this mainly for the feathers nearer the tip of the wing. For his right wing, notice how the shape curves. Hit the feathers closer to the body (where the wing is at more of an angle), skip the middle (where the wing is flatter), and then hit the tip (where the wing curves up again). Again, check the pictures below to see where I placed the highlights. Finally, go back with pure black and paint the back edge of each of those long feathers. You're not dry brushing this step, you want a nice solid line of paint. This helps clean up the dry brushing (you likely got some highlight on the lower edge while doing the upper edge of the feather next to it) and creates a clear border between the feathers.
The effect is subtle (the underside of the wing is in shadow), but it still provides definition to the shape and visual interest.
I'd approach the top of the wings similarly. As you can see I'm still working on the top section. You'll go brighter here as it's being his directly by the light. However, you should still pay attention to the shape. You can vary the intensity of your light as you dry brush. I'm still giving the upper edges of the feathers more light and, at times, also a bit more light on the tip.
And here's the view from the front. Overall the wings are dark (underside in shadow), but notice how the limited application of highlights helps provide detail and shape to the wings.
Here's one last image that I've included so you can see the figure in extreme detail. Click on the image below to see the full image. You can see the brush strokes and get a better idea how the color and shading is built up through individual layers.
I still have a little bit left to paint (the rest of the wings and the glove on his right hand), but I've covered how I approached the figure and hopefully provided you with some useful insights on my process. We could end the tutorial here, but there is one last part I want to cover... the base.
Part 4: Basing
To be continued...
Part 2: Priming and Basecoating
With the figure prepped and assembled, the last thing to do before painting is to prime it. Primer helps the paint adhere to the surface of the figure. This not only makes the initial layering of paint easier, it also makes the end result more durable (though you may still wish to apply a sealer in the end if you will be using the figure for gaming). You can buy primer at your local hobby store or an arts and crafts store. Even automotive stores often carry primer. The primer will usually say the materials it works on (metal, plastic, wood, etc). If it says plastic, it should work for resin.
There are a couple other primer choices you should make. The first is do you want a spray primer or a brush on one. Most people, including myself, prefer spray primers. They're quick and give you a nice thin coat. Brush on primers can more easily result in initial coats that are too thick and cover up the detail on the figure, so I would avoid those if you can. The second choice is what color primer should you use. The most common primer colors are white, grey, and black. You can find some specialty primers in other colors. Those mainly come in handy if you know your model will be mostly blue or red or green or some other color. Not really applicable to Vax. But black, grey, and white all have some pros and cons.
Black Primer: This is a good 'beginners' primer. Using this will help get black down into all those cracks and recesses in the figure. Should you have trouble getting your brush in there when painting, they will remain black and look like a shadow. Thus black primer is more forgiving than say white (where missed spots will really show). On the other hand, painting light colors on top of black can take more effort. That's not a huge issue for Vax as he's going to be mostly dark colors. But you should expect to need some additional base layers for the face and arms to prevent your skin from looking dull and too dark.
White Primer: White primer is great for brightly colored figures. Almost any color will look brighter on top of white. However, since Vax is mostly dark, this really just helps you out with the skin. The downside of white primer is any areas you miss (small cracks, space between sections) will really stand out. You'll have to put in some extra work to get a nice end result. Unless the figure will be light/bright colors, I would recommend white primer to intermediate and above painters.
Grey Primer: A bit of a mix between the two. It has less of an effect on color brightness than black, but you still have to make sure you hit those crevices or else they will definitely show. I'd say Grey and White are more or less interchangeable (same pros, same cons). Use grey is you want a more subdued color and white if you want a brighter one.
So, in short, I chose to use white primer but if you're a beginner I'd suggest using black instead.
While the above picture was taken indoors, I primed the figure outside. Primer dries quickly, but it's best to give it at least an hour before handling the piece or applying paint.
You'll notice I just gave the figure a light coating of primer. You don't need to soak the piece in primer. Too much can clog up the details and actually make it harder for the paint to adhere (by making the surface too smooth).
Another approach to priming is called Zenithal priming or black and white priming. This technique using both black and white spray primer. Begin by giving the figure a thorough coating of black primer (you want pretty good coverage of the piece). Let that dry and then apply white primer but only from above. It's actually best to not just do it from directly above, but at a slight angle (30 degrees assuming the top is 0) and from each side (front, back, left, and right). Don't go too thick, just a quick spray from each side and you should have the coverage you want. This effectively pre-shades the model. I don't do this often, but I know many like the approach. The paint will cover up the shading, but if you use light coats it can show through somewhat and help guide you with your shadow and highlight placement. Here's a figure I painted a few years ago where I applied the primer in this way so you can see what I'm talking about.
Because of Vax's pose, I'd use a great angle from the front (more like 45 degrees, maybe even 60) to make sure you're getting some light onto his face.
Paints, Brushes, and Palettes
Okay, now that we're ready to start applying paint to the model, it's a good time to talk about supplies. There are quite a few lines of miniature paint out there and almost any of them should work for you. Popular brands are GW or Citadel, P3, Vallejo, Reaper, Army Painter, and Scale Color. They are all meant for miniatures and any of them will do a fine job. Personally, I use Reaper Master Series paints. They are not necessarily better than the others, I just happen to like them and they work with my style. If you are just starting out, I would suggest either Citadel, P3, or Vallejo for the sole reason that they are often carried in local game stores. For your first figure, it's nice to be able to stop by the store and pick up the handful of paints you will actually need, rather than ordering a big set online.
For brushes, the best for miniature painting are made from Kolinsky Sable. This hair will hold a point better and last longer if you take care of it. Brands I've used are Winsor & Newton (Series 7), Scharff (series 3000), and Raphael (8404). I've also heard good things about Broken Toad and Artis Opus. You will likely want a fine detail brush (size 000) for the face and other small parts of the figure. For larger sections, a size 00 or 0 should work well. You may also want something even bigger, like a size 1 for base coating. However, for the base coat, you can get buy with a less expensive brush. The point isn't as important, so you can find something a bit cheaper than Kolinksy Sable.
You've got your paints and you've got your brush, but you still will want a palette. For acrylic paints, I HIGHLY recommend getting or making a wet palette. These keep the paints from drying out while you work and can likely be made from stuff you've already got in your kitchen. I suggest Googling 'making a wet palette.' This should turn up tutorials and videos explaining how to make your own.
In short, you need a container (shallow plastic container or even a plate), a sponge or paper towel soaked in water, and palette or parchment paper. The paint goes onto the paper and absorbs water from the sponge below, keeping it from drying out while you work.
Base Coating
Finally, time to put some paint on the figure! Base coating is an important first stage. This is where you lay down the initial coat, start to color the mini, and provide a smooth base to work on for the following steps. If you chose to use black to prime the figure, this could be a very quick step.
You will normally want to select midtone shades for each part of the figure to use as the base coat. Since most of the figure will be black, I recommend a dark grey. If you primed the figure black, that's close enough. You don't need to go over it at this point. Instead, just take some more black to fill in any gaps missed by priming or areas where the coverage is not complete. For the skin, a middle of the range skin tone is a good choice. I used Reaper's Rosy Shadow, but skin from other ranges will work just fine. Aside from that, you may want to paint some parts brown leather. Leaving those black is probably okay, but you can go over in a dark brown if you prefer. There are also a few metallic sections like the dagger blades. Metallic paints, which we will get to later, work best over a dark base. So go ahead and paint those blades black for the time being.
To apply the base coat, begin by putting a small amount of paint on your palette. Miniature paint is close to the consistency you want, but you will typically still need to thin it a bit. Take a drop of water and add it to the paint (using the opposite end of your brush is a fine way to do this, quickly stir the paint/water on the palette and then wipe the back of the brush off on a paper towel). The consistency you are aiming for will require 2 to 3 coats for complete coverage on the figure. This is done so you have a nice smooth, even coat to work on. If the paint is too thick, it can fill in and obscure details and make the surface bumpy (which will create issues as you try to shade/highlight).
Below is an image of my Vax. On the left you can see the results of a single coat of dark grey. It's clearly grey, but you can see the white primer still showing through. On the right is two coats of the dark grey. Now we have nearly complete coverage. That's roughly what you are aiming for, 2 to 3 coats for full coverage. If it's taking more, your paint is too thin. If it covers completely in 1, it's too thick.
A couple notes... you see a difference here because the paint and primer are quite different. If you are painting a dark grey over a black primer, you likely won't be able to tell what your coverage is. In that case, try a bit of the paint on your palette or hand to see how thick it is before applying it to the model. Light colors also tend to have a harder time covering up dark colors. So when you go to apply your skin tone over a black primer, you may actually need 4 to 5 layers. This is okay, your paint isn't too thin. Just expect it to take a bit more work to get those light colors on there.
So what if your paint is too thick or too thin? If it's too thick, that's an easy fix. Just add some more water. If your paint is too thin, you can add more paint... but unless it's just barely too thin, that can result in you wasting a lot of paint. Usually its better to just move to a new spot on the palette and start over with a new drop of paint. Add the water more gradually, easier to make it thinner than to make it thicker.
Finally, I need to stress that to build up color with multiple layers it is CRITICAL (see what I did there?) that the first layer of paint be dry. Otherwise layer 2 just re-wets layer 1 and you end up pushing the paint around rather than building on top of it. Acrylics dry quickly, especially when you are applying thin layers. As you move around the figure, the earlier sections should dry before you get back to them. But if you're base coating a small region, like the face, you should pause for 30 seconds before applying the subsequent layer. You can use a hair dryer (set on cool, heat is bad for resin!) or just gently blow on your figure to speed up the process.
Remember, you ideally want to base coat your entire figure before moving on to the details. This is done to reduce the chance of mistakes later on. For example, when you base coat the hair, you may accidentally get some black onto the face or some skin tone onto the hair. Everyone gets 'outside the lines' from time to time. As you learn better brush control you will reduce these errors, but it still happens to us all. That first layer is where it's most likely to happen as you are going right up to the border between the regions. If you attempt that after doing a lot of detail work, you might create a big mistake that is tough to fix. When it's only the base coat, you can quickly go over the wrong color with the right one and fix your mistake. So, while technically you don't have to basecoat ALL of the figure at the beginning. If you plan to work on a specific area, it's best to base coat all of the surrounding sections first.
Part 3: Details!
Alright, now we're really getting into the painting. You've got your basic color down, but the figure just looks flat. More like a toy than Vax about ready to pounce on a monster. That's why we want to shade and highlight the figure. Light on a small scale figure doesn't react quite like it does on a full scale person, so we exaggerate the lighting to make the figure look 'correct' to the viewer.
If you're just starting out, this is often down with washes and dry brushing. I'll just briefly talk about those techniques and refer you to other tutorials (like Painters Guild on Alpha) if you want to learn more.
A wash is paint thinned down significantly so that it is semi-transparent. You apply this to the figure and allow it to wash over the surface, collecting in all the cracks and crevices of the figure. It's normally down with a darker color that will slightly tint your base coat, but make it much darker in all those cracks where it collects. This effectively shades the figure.
Dry brushing involves taking regular paint and wiping the majority off your brush, so that it is almost dry. You then run it along the model and the remaining paint catches on the raised sections of the figure. This creates the effect of highlights.
The result of this approach is that recessed areas are shaded and raised areas are highlighted. It works well for gaming figures, but it's not quite how light operates. How light or dark a part of the figure should be depends on the angle it makes with respect to our imagined light source. You can selectively choose where you apply the washes and the dry brushing to mimic this, but it's not quite perfect. Instead, I use an approach called layering to create my shadows and highlights. It's a more intentional placement of different shades to create the effect I want. The general idea is you apply slightly overlapping layers, each of a different shade, to create the effect of a smooth blend between colors. The more gradual your layers the smoother the end result, but the more time is involved to get there.
In terms of where you should apply those lights and darks, we often use the idea of zenithal lighting. You can find plenty of tutorials on miniature pages for this. The general idea is you imagine a light source above your figure. Think of it more like a halo than a point light. So whether you look at the figure from the front, back, right or left the light is above but slightly in front of the figure. Sheperd Paine, a painter of historical miniatures, described this using what he called the stop sign rule. Image an octagon, a stop sign. The top surface is pointed directly at the light and thus it is the lightest. The bottom surface is pointed at the ground, and it is the darkest. The horizontal surface is your mid tone (likely you base color). The other surfaces fall somewhere in between based on the angle they make with respect to the light source.
Painting the Face
So I decided to do something a little different and actually recorded my process of painting the face. Unfortunately the middle section, where I did the highlighting and shading, did not record properly. But the rest is still there and will hopefully be helpful for you to actually see the process.
Introduction and Overview:
Painting the Eyes:
Shading and Highlight:
Okay, this is the section that unfortunately did not record. But I will try to talk you through it. Remembering the stop sign rule from above, we place our shadows on the parts of the face angled down (under the jaw, brows, and nose, in the ears and lower part of the cheeks). From there I gradually blend my colors back up to the midtone. My shadow is a mix of Chestnut Brown (a reddish brown) and Rosy Shadow (a medium skin tone). I start with roughly 90% Brown and 10% Skin. Then, over the course of 5 or so layers, add more and more skintone until I'm at 100% Skin. Now, I begin to add in my highlight colors (Fair Skin). Gradually I mix more into the Rosy Shadow and start to apply the color where the face is angled up. This is the top of the cheeks, bridge of the nose, forehead, upper lip, and chin. As I get closer and closer to 100% Fair Skin, I reduce the area where I apply it. Just the very top of the cheeks, the top of the nose and again where it meets the brow, the upper part of the forehead, and the part of the chin which sticks out. Finally, I add in Fair Highlight for some final pop. This is just small dots on the nose, cheeks, and top of the forehead. Keep it very limited in application. If you apply it over too large a region it will cease to look like a highlight and appear more as a midtone (with the flesh being VERY light in color).
Glazing to Add Color Variation to the Face
Thankfully the last part did record. Here's where we do some magic and turn a decent face (above) into something much more lifelike. The beauty of the approach is it doesn't matter how good your original face is, it should still make it better. Even if you're a novice, it can help you step up your results.
Here are a few close up images of the finished face.
How to Paint Black, Black, and Black
With the face finished, it's time to move on to the rest of the figure and that means you'll be painting a lot of black. But there's not just one way to paint black and we want to take advantage of that. We've got a variety of materials to paint: cloth, leather, feathers. While these will all be 'black', we still want them to look like distinct materials. Thankfully we have a couple ways to distinguish between them. The first is by varying the colors we use to shade the black. The second is by the finish (how matte or shiny) we make the material look. This is accomplished by varying how strong the highlight is (how far you go towards white) and how rapidly we transition from dark to light.
Let's begin with color. When painting black, you ideally want to start with a very dark color but not quite true black. This allows you to get darker and create shadows (which will be true black). The paint line you're using may have some good variations on black, but if not don't worry, we can make our own. I'm using Reaper paints and they have a couple sets I like for black. Their Dusky Skin set is grey that tends towards brown. I like this for cloth as it as a more natural feel to it. Then there's their Dark Elf Skin, which is a grey with hints of purple in it. You can obviously just use a set of neutral greys, but these just don't have the same visual interest. Below is a look at those two sets (along with black for the shadow and an off white for an extra highlight when needed).
If you don't have those paints, don't worry. You can create a variant of the Dusky Skin set by taking pure black and adding some dark brown. Then, into the brown-black mix, slowly add some skin tone to create your highlights. For the Dark Elf, try mixing a grey with a bit of blue or purple. The exact shade is not important, just that you create variations on black to add interest to the figure and to help distinguish between materials. I'll show you another version of black when we get to the feathers, but let's focus on the main body for now.
We've got our mixes, but how you apply them can also create interesting effects. For cloth, we want a softer look so you'll do more gradual transitions from dark to light. For the leather and hair, you might want a shiny look. In this case, we will attempt to rapidly transition from dark to light to mimic the gloss effect. Yes, you can use a gloss finish to do this quickly... but it doesn't work as well as you hope. Because it tends to get into the recesses too, you lose depth and the piece looks more like a toy than naturally shiny material.
Let's start with the boots and armor. I find it easiest to sketch on the shine and then go back to blend it in. I use the colors shown above (black, dark elf shadow, dark elf skin, dark elf highlight, and vampiric skin) without any intermediate shades (this is just a sketch). You can look at reference leather for help on where the shine might appear. Edges tend to pick up the light. With zenithal lighting, the highlights are generally on the top of surfaces. Reflections act a little differently. You still imagine a light source above the figure. But the reflection point moves down the surface, closer to spots angled around 45 degrees. The reflections also tend to take the shape of the object. Got a cylinder (like the leg)? A sphere would have a spot reflection, but the side of the cylinder would create a line reflection. Here is how I sketched the lights onto the legs...
From there I go back in to blend the colors together. For most things I like to work from dark to light, but with black I find it easiest to reverse that. I start with the lightest color and create a gradient on my palette to the darkest. Then I work from the center of the shine spot to the outside, getting darker as I go. Here's a look at those boots after blending...
I made a few adjustments after that, but this should give you the basic idea of how it went. In addition to the boots, I'd done a bit of work on the cloth using the Dusky Skin mix. After finishing the boots I took a look at the piece and felt the dynamics (light to dark contrast) of the cloth wasn't strong enough. So I went back in to push the highlights. I also redid the chest armor to make that shine stronger. You can see how that looked below. Notice how both the colors used in the black create a different effect, but also the sharpness of the transitions. Both the armor and cape use the Dark Elf mix, but the armor has shape transitions while the cape has softer ones. The cloth on the arms and legs uses the Dusky Skin mix with soft transitions while the arm uses the same mix but with sharp transitions (for more of a shiny look).
Feathers!
The one thing we have yet to touch on are the feathers. You can use the above mixes for that too, or you can do something different. Let's take a look at some reference for help on how to approach it.
The first image is a bit more neutral, but still feels a bit like a cool grey. I'd say the Dark Elf skin set is a good approximation. The second image shows a black with far more blue in it. For this effect I would take pure black and mix in a dark blue. From there, I'd add something like a skin tone to create the highlights. You could swap the blue for teal, green, purple, red, etc. You can create some very interesting effects by choosing different colors.
For any of these, I recommend picking a small spot and trying out the mix there first. See how it looks and whether or not you like it before applying it to the rest of the figure. I'll be starting the wings soon, but I'll test out the color I chose to see how I feel about the mix and how it looks in comparison to the versions of black already on the figure.
For my wings, I went with Pure Black for the base and then to Scale 75's Abyssal Blue. Nothing special about that color/brand, so don't rush out and buy a set just for it. The color is just a very dark teal shade. A good alternative would be Vallejo's Deep Sea Blue. In addition, Vallejo is a brand commonly carried by hobby shops (if not your local gaming store, look for a hobby shop that sells model cars, planes, etc.). To that, I gradually added some Vampiric Skin (an off white I used to highlight the black on Vax's clothing). A light skin tone can also be a great highlight color to mix in to black. I've used that on numerous occasions. However, I want the figure to feel like it's under the same light. If you switch up the highlight colors for different parts (use a warm light here, a cool light there) it can make things look a bit off. Picking the same highlight color will hopefully create a more realistic looking result.
Okay, color choice aside, the real issue is how to you actually paint all those damn feathers!? I took a more painstaking approach and worked on individual feathers. Most people don't want to spend the time or risk their own sanity in that way. So dry brushing is your friend! I mentioned it earlier, but if you're not familiar you can find numerous tutorials on how it works. In short, you wipe off most of the paint from your brush so it's almost dry. Then you gently brush it across the surface of what you're painting. The minimal paint on the brush will catch the raised edges, helping to bring out the detail. It's an efficient way to work with feathers, fur, etc. But maybe we can take it a step further and improve the results.
Below you'll see my version. To create something similar with dry brushing, here's how I'd do it. First, we still want to think about how light hits the figure. The undersides of the wings will be mostly in shadow. You can leave them pure black, but you lose the detail. So let's try to use dry brushing to apply minimal highlights. Start with a base of pure black. If you primed it black, great. Just take a close look to make sure no spots were missed. Easy to still have some resin showing in all those cracks between the feathers. Take some black and make sure they all get filled in. Now, pick your 'near black' color. That Vallejo Deep Sea Blue should be ideal. If you want something darker, add a bit of black to it. Now, give the undersides of the wings a thorough dry brushing. Hit all the feathers. After that, let's get a bit more direct in our application. Mix in a bit of your highlight color into your Deep Sea Blue (or whatever color you used). Don't get too light, but you want it to be noticeably brighter. With this, I just want you to hit those upward facing edges of the feathers. Get the from sides of the wings (from Vax's shoulders to the wing tips. But under the wings, drag the brush along the length of those long feathers, just on the upper side, not the whole feather. You can even be more selective. For his left wing, do this mainly for the feathers nearer the tip of the wing. For his right wing, notice how the shape curves. Hit the feathers closer to the body (where the wing is at more of an angle), skip the middle (where the wing is flatter), and then hit the tip (where the wing curves up again). Again, check the pictures below to see where I placed the highlights. Finally, go back with pure black and paint the back edge of each of those long feathers. You're not dry brushing this step, you want a nice solid line of paint. This helps clean up the dry brushing (you likely got some highlight on the lower edge while doing the upper edge of the feather next to it) and creates a clear border between the feathers.
The effect is subtle (the underside of the wing is in shadow), but it still provides definition to the shape and visual interest.
I'd approach the top of the wings similarly. As you can see I'm still working on the top section. You'll go brighter here as it's being his directly by the light. However, you should still pay attention to the shape. You can vary the intensity of your light as you dry brush. I'm still giving the upper edges of the feathers more light and, at times, also a bit more light on the tip.
And here's the view from the front. Overall the wings are dark (underside in shadow), but notice how the limited application of highlights helps provide detail and shape to the wings.
Here's one last image that I've included so you can see the figure in extreme detail. Click on the image below to see the full image. You can see the brush strokes and get a better idea how the color and shading is built up through individual layers.
I still have a little bit left to paint (the rest of the wings and the glove on his right hand), but I've covered how I approached the figure and hopefully provided you with some useful insights on my process. We could end the tutorial here, but there is one last part I want to cover... the base.
Part 4: Basing
To be continued...
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