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I've just been given an old Warhammer miniature kit and decided to have a go at building it and painting it to see if I enjoy it.

I've been down to my local Games Workshop to get a couple of brushes and some paints - the guy was very helpful in terms of getting everything I'll need to assemble and paint it - I've got some black primer, two brushes (standard and fine detail) and half a dozen little Citadel paint pots (plus things like superglue and a pair of cutters to put it together in the first place).

He also gave me a small plastic archer model to practice painting on just in case it all went terribly wrong the first time I tried and said not to worry too much, because it's more about technique than anything. I've done that and it doesn't look too terrible, but I don't really know what kind of technique I'm aiming for.

I've looked around online to see if I can find anything to actually learn how I'm meant to go about painting the mini, but haven't really managed to find anything.

Does anyone have any advice for starting out painting minis?

Edit: To clarify, I don't actually intend to play tabletop wargames with the minis once they're painted; I'm more interested in learning how to paint them properly.

SevenSidedDie
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Joe
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is not about roleplaying games. It is more suited to Boardgames.SE where wargaming is on-topic, although even there it may be too broad. See their miniatures tag for specific painting technique help. – SevenSidedDie Apr 20 '15 at 17:25
  • @SevenSidedDie I read the tag and it says "used in war games and role playing games" - it may well be that I'm off topic here, and if so that's fine, but I don't think your reason is conclusive – Joe Apr 20 '15 at 18:10
  • What their tag says about miniatures isn't relevant to RPG.se. The trouble is that this question isn't abour roleplaying games, using minis in roleplaying games, how to paint minis for the particular needs of roleplaying games, etc. Especially since WH40k minis are wargaming minis, the experts for WH40k minis painting is at a site where wargaming is on topic. – SevenSidedDie Apr 20 '15 at 18:29
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    This is really off topic, but I highly recommend the Reaper Mini forums for painting advice/feed back on what you've painted so far. – wax eagle Apr 20 '15 at 18:57
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    Even if it was on topic for boardgames.SE, I still wouldn't recommend asking it there, as a question isn't going to help you learn to paint miniatures. Look up some tutorials on youtube (there are hundreds) and practice. Painting is a technique you get better at, you can't really ask a question and suddenly be a good painter, it still takes practice. Tutorials can help you learn some special techniques, but it's not going to give you a steady hand. – Theik Apr 21 '15 at 07:53

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Miniatures intended for game play don't want or need to be painted to the level of expertise of collector figures -- but you could start with Googling "painted figurine" to get an idea how others go about it. If you have the right paints and brushes (and it sounds as if you do), it's mostly a matter of practice and color choice at the game mini level. Things like shading, color blending/mixing, and shadowing are advanced techniques that, honestly, you'll never miss on a mini that will be handled heavily for game play.

Zeiss Ikon
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  • I should probably clarify that I don't really intend to play with them, I'm more interested in painting. I just happen to have some Warhammer minis to try, and didn't even realise that there might be a better place to ask heh :-) – Joe Apr 20 '15 at 16:11
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Games Workshop related shops often have workshop-days where you can get together with some people and paint stuff. It usually means there's at least one employee who has some experience and a bunch of other people with varying levels of skills available.

You can check any nearby Games Workshop stores to see if they host any in your area.

Erik
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There are a large number of technique things you're going to figure out for yourself, but I can't stress enough how much having something to rest your wrist on while painting, so only hand movement and no arm movement effects the brush will help you make stable deliberate strokes.

The Amused Muse
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