Miniature Painting Tools

Paints

When it comes to paint, the key thing for me in the colour rather than make. This is because all the major paint manufactuers produce high quality paint.  When I buy paint I buy it because I liked and want to use that colour.

I have Games Workshop, Vallejo Model & Air and Just recently I’ve got some Master Series Paints. When I paint I mix and match brands beacuse gettin the colour I want it the most important job of the paint.

For priming miniature I use aerosol primer Usually Games Workshop’s Black and White primers.

Brushes

I use Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes. I use the water colour ones and not the miniature ones. This is because the water colour brushes have longer bristles and a larger reservoir. The key thing when buying a brush is make sure it is made with Kolinsky Sable. Natural hair bristles are always better than synthetic. When you’ve bought your nice new Kolinsky Sable brushes you will want to make sure you pick up some brush cleaner to look after then. I use The Master Brush Cleaner and Vallejo Brush Restorer.  It comes in a little tub, is very simple to use and will make your brushes last longer.

As for handles and palettes I use the GW painting handles and a Redgrass games Wet Palette and lots of standard plastic well palettes.

The Basics

  1. A good craft knife is a must (I use an Xaccto Knife)
  2. Good super glue and cheep super glue
  3. Plastic glue (I use Revell Contacta Glue with needle applicator)
  4. Files (I use generic files from a local hardware store)
  5. Sandpaper (I like to use 1200 grit sand paper)

Basing

For me basing is half the fun of this hobby, because you have complete freedom to create something that can drastically alter the feel of the miniature on it. Therefore over the years I’ve built a large collection of bits and bobs to put in my basing box. Here is a list of some of my favourite basing materials.

  1. Cork (Tiles and Natrural)
  2. Sand
  3. Vallejo Plastic Putty
  4. Milliput
  5. Vallejo Grey Pumice
  6. Plasticard (Textured and Plain)
  7. Cast Plaster
  8. Balsa Wood

The basic process I use for making a base, firstly I glue cork to a base and then using Milliput and Vallejo Plastic Putty to disguise the cork tile peices. When you blur the line between the cork sheets they eye stops seeing it as cork. Next I use textured plasticard for the main surface and finally add detail with sand and Vallejo Grey Pumice. Using lots of products gives lots of textures and improves the look of the base.

Extras

There are lots of other tools that can be useful in basing and model making.

  1. Dremel
  2. Plaster

Extra Products I Use

There are lots of other things I buy – bases, DVDs and books. Here are a few extras I’d recommend.

  1. Base For Figures (plinths) from MiniArt
  2. Resin blocks from Miniature Heros
  3. Figure Art Book from Massive Voodoo
  4. Painting Gold Medal Fantasy Figures Book from Andrea Press
  5. Painting Buddha DVDs
  6. Miniature Painting DVD with Jeremie Bonamant Teboul