5 Stupid Miniature Painting Tips & Tricks That Actually Work
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มิ.ย. 2024
- Good afternoon! This video is my 5 Stupid Miniature Painting Tips & Tricks You Haven't Thought Of that Actually Work. These tips are either stupid obvious, or so stupid you're not sure who came up with them (it's me). Hopefully, all of these hacks will inspire you to go forth and paint more miniatures!
00:00 Intro
0:34 Paint the most difficult areas first
1:39 Look at your model from the source of light
2:40 Making molds with hot glue
6:05 Utilizing blue poster tack
8:14 Erase your mistakes
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I told my daughter (9yo, fellow mini painter) that this was your cat channel and sometimes between cat segments you paint minis. She was 100% here for it. *laugh*
This is my favorite thing
not really a painting trick but I always leave my latest work out somewhere i see it several times a day, it always makes me wanrt to paint instead of tidying everything away into a cupboard where i forget about it for days at a time.
My dumb mini painting trick to doing eyes and human faces is that all of my Space Marines actually *wear their damn helmets!*
Another person with sense. I've yet to update my crappily painted marines with Primaris, but whenever it came to assembling my old squad sergeants I'd clip and file a helmeted head so it would fit into a Mk VIII torso. It also helped to break the monotony to have a red helmeted marine leading the charge. Having your squad leaders fight bareheaded is a recipe for disaster.
I think Dynat is the only marine in my Alpha Legion army that's bareheaded.
I mean, we learned in Starship Troopers, DON'T TAKE YOUR HELMET OFF!! Makes total sense to me. :)
Crys in space wolf
@@TitusVarus One word.
A E S T H E T I C S
use the camera on your phone to look at your models in black and white to see if you have pushed the contrast enough.
I also love messing with the color curves in a photo editor (these things are on mobile now too), just to explore how I could push certain hues, lightness or saturation more directly
@@dv_xl that's a great idea! I know some people use photoshop to map out colour schemes, which alway seemed a bit much prep for my liking, this is like an on-the-fly version of that.
You can also use the camera to get an extreme zoom photo of a mini and find mistakes or spots you missed. Oftentimes I notice these after I've posted a photo of the "finished" model on my FB page or a group I'm in.
@@HeadHunterSix & 2$ macrolenz on clip makes it a looooot better to see it with my old phone, and lot better detailed photos/collages to post
My army is all black and white anyway, so i feel like ive hacked your hack lmao
Thanks for the videos, they're really informative :) Love the irritable cats, it's so much like here at home! My tip is more for terrain, but my family saves all our teabags. I separate green from black, dry them, and open them carefully. The teas make great ground cover of differing colors, the bags make awesome "cloth" when coated with mod podge, the tags can be turned into pretty cool paving stones, and the threads make good ropes after strengthening with glue.
For your Hot Glue moulds , i would recommend an alternative : Blue Stuff , or Oyumaru ( same thing ) . It's fairly easy to come by ( if i found some here , you are guaranteed to find it in your country ) .
It's essentially a thermoplastic putty that you soak in hot water to create press moulds . You can reuse indefinitely , a little bit goes a long way , you can make two-parts moulds with it , and it won't stick to your model like hot glue . So it less likely to break your original model . And since it's pretty flexible , it's less of a hassle to pull out your greenstuff from , especially if it's fully dried .
You should get some and give it a try :)
Most underrated comment. Oymaru is the way to go. Everyone should have a pack. Paired with epoxy putty from the hardware store it’s just amazing what you can do with that.
Absolutely. Plus Blue Stuff / Oyumaru won't break your models.
This and this again. I’ve only been in the hobby 6 months and I love these videos- Oyumaru is an amazing product. I’ve made copies of parts of minis to add on to other models in the army to tie them all together. It took about 5 minutes to make 7 molds, it couldn’t be any easier to use and it’s reusability means it’ll last a very, very long time for me.
Would liquid green stuff be good for doing this kind of thing as well?
@@MasterElements To use as a mould , or as a casting compound ?
In my experience Liquid Greenstuff is good at only one thing , it's filling mould lines , and that's pretty much it .
Never make a mould from the same material you're going to be casting with , it will adhere to the cast and try to merge itself into big clump .
I didn't even think of using hot glue to make molds. Awesome idea, will have to try it!
i'm new at this but i made some Jawas and they look great.
talk about saving money on miniatures !
Oh! Painting the eyes first makes so much sense, and I'd never have thought of it on my own.
I use wooden toothpicks to put small dots of paint for the eyes, I have also used the trick for freehand rune writing on a model, which was a bit painstaking but much easier to do than with a brush.
I have one MAJOR problem with your suggestion of using blue poster tack to help with masking - and that is some brands leave behind an oily residue that can damage paint underneath. I haven't done enough experiments to test which brands affect which brands of paint, but it's much safer to use actual silly putty instead of blue poster tack for masking. Regular peach colored silly putty, not the neon or clear versions.
I second this. Have seen it happen multiple times, where the residue sticks to the surface I was masking.
Do you have a stupid tip or trick you've learned while mini painting? I would love to hear it!
*I have heard of blue stuff, thanks for the info! That's why using hot glue is a "stupid" trick!
Rather than hot glue, use thermoplastic (aka oyomaru or blue stuff)
I've Heard of that stuff! Unfortunately I was in a rush and couldn't find it locally.
@@Drew17181. oooooooo. I'm loving all these new tricks. I definitely feel a new video coming on.
Hobby knife too sharp for removing mould lines? Just use the flat side of the blade. Works like a charm.
absolute dilution on paints before apply, the Stupid fact is the best thinner for acryllic paints is GLASS CLEANER
Remember to breathe, if im stressed or had too much coffee then I get a bit shaky. So deep breaths and relax so I stop messing up the details
I can absolutely relate to the coffee tip!
@@LylaMev yeah I'm an addict...
@@LylaMev A shot of whiskey is a good antidote to the shakes :)
Baking parchment or greaseproof paper is great when working with green stuff or milliput as it doesn't stick to it. It's not just for wet palettes!
Very nice, especially the part about the hot glue. Bonus points for the cat sighting
Great video as always! My stupid tip is to put little plastic baggies over my models when I am not working on them to keep dust off of them .
20 year mini painter here, never would have thought of prevarnishing as a save as button. Absolutely love that. Glad to see I'm not the only one who loves testors dullcoat.
Wow. Hadn't seen the hot glue mold technique before. Thanks for sharing!
A tip that doesn't have much to do with painting, but I'm very partial to putting a bit of super glue onto a piece of cardboard and then using a toothpick to apply that to the model, rather than putting the nozzle of the superglue right to the model. That way, if there's an air bubble in the nozzle, it'll barf all over something disposable rather than the model.
Making molds with hot glue is going to be super useful. I'm wondering how well this works with tiny thin bits vs larger models - time to go test!
Would be a useful tip if I didnt already have a resin printer XD
you can make complete minis whit oyumaru
GreenStuff world makes an easy to use thermal form plastic putty for this very thing. And it's way easier to use by the looks of things. Just my 2cents. Have fun
I think you’ll be better off with oymaru or blue stuff.
I'm honestly surprised that you didn't mention using plastic wrap on your mini to paint specific parts without touching other areas that you've already painted, like what you did for your "zombie girl" bust that you painted.
I thought about it! Maybe for part 2!
Thanks Lyla for all your videos. As a total beginner on miniatures painting, I am trying to learn all the techniques using my kids old "gormiti" figures, so I don't risk any fancy figures. Thank you! I have found out that best way of learning is by doing!
Wow, Lyla! You really make some Worthwhile videos to watch an learn an get ideas from! Nice one!
Never underestimate the power of art masking fluid. I put it on the face or eyes so I don't accidentally somehow mark it when painting the rest of the model, especially with attached helmets
What brand do you use and what do you do to prevent it from sticking in the crevices?
I like the hot glue mold idea that's a great idea
that glue gun mold trick is awesome, i will try it out right now
Love the hot glue mold tip. I'll have to try this out.
Medicine bottles with the child safety caps, particularly the ones with the taller lids. You can spin the cap without it unlocking, it's usually got enough give that you can tilt the cap a bit to get a better angle, and it's about the same size as a 25mm round base. Just poster tac the mini to it and you've got a cheap (albeit probably short) painting handle. If you need something longer or larger around, try gluing the body of the bottle into or onto something else. You can also save cylindrical caps from shampoo bottles that have got the tilt-open tops- just make sure you secure your mini to the top, and by pushing down on the cap, you now have a painting handle that's tilting your mini at a 30 degree angle off vertical. If the cap's still attached to a shampoo bottle, you can easily use this as a way to get up under a cloak when priming.
Blow on your minis. Particularly if you're trying to get really good contrast, after you apply a wash, a little bit of air can encourage the paint to find somewhere to hide away from the most prominent points. Obviously can cause the wash to get into areas you don't want, so be ready with a dry brush to soak up excess that goes where it shouldn't. Also helps deal with any air bubbles that could form from washing over strong textures.
I'm not sure if someone has already shared this, Green Stuff World sells a product called "blue stuff" it works so much better than hot glue to make molds of ears for elves, handlebars for motorcycles, and bullets for space marines. You place it in boiling water remove it from the boiling water and place the item you wish to cast in the blue stuff. Once it cools you remove the item and you have your mold. You can then boil it in water again and make a mold of something else. Thanks for all of you hard work and effort to making such high quality videos. 😊👍
OMG, thank you so much!!! The hot glue trick helped me. Love the cats.
Great tips, thank you!
You can also use blu tac for blanking off glue points before spraying/painting. If you are assembling plastic models with plastic glue and you went to be able to paint the model in multiple parts, it's essential.
What about painters tape, have you tried that?
Sculpting trick: Blend your green stuff with Miliput. It has a magical effect that just makes it easier to work with in every way.
Great painting and blessed be.
This was good and helpful. Thank you.
I really don't have anything weird or unusual I do when painting--I'm just happy to get the danged paint on where it's meant to be! This was, as usual, a most informative video and I'll have to invest in some blu tack so that I can try using my airbrush more often when painting.
Great tips! I got some of the clear coat Munitorum Varnish I was going to use for my Battle sisters stained glass/finished models... Never thought to use it as a save point! Been using my poster tack for priming minis, but now totally going to use it once I snag my first airbrush kit soon for coverups. Thanks :]
Great video as always!
dunking a mini in water, then applying the wash, if I want the wash to go more into the deep areas than the raised areas.
Holy crap! I have that Angel art in the background as a playmat!
top tip for you to try - do the eyes in oils.. you can do them at any point, if you make a mistake you can erase with mineral or white spirits without damaging the acrylics. you effectively get a cntrl z..
Thanks for that video !👍
Great video,
I enjoy modeling with the green stuff, anyway I would also suggest using water to keep it from sticking to everything, Also another thing of note is that green stuff does not need oxygen to cure. so you can paint over it after modeling just keep in mind that it will be soft until it finishes curing.
Thanks, this video was so helpful!
+1 to a lot of these! These tips need more people behind them!
yooo That first tip is such a good point! I'll try it for sure on the next minis I'll paint
Really enjoying this new style.
What do you mean? (I want to be sure to keep doing it!)
Okay that hot glue gun trick was amazing! Definitely going to add that to the toolbox.
Great stuff friend 👏 👍
I got a difficult model coming in soon so I am going to have to give these a try out for sure
Awesome tips! I actually build scale model cars, I'll be using some of these tips for that medium. One thing I do for texturing and doing worn distressed looks, is I use steel wool. You can get it in many different grits, coarse, medium fine etc. Sometimes I'll use it like a sponge for dry brushing paint on and it gives cool textures. It can be used for blending as well or transitions between colors.
Whoa! Assembling a multi part model TEMPORARILY with the blue-tac for Z highlighting! Genius!
Huh, somehow I hadn't really thought about doing the eyes first, because yeah, that's definitely the most stressful part of the mini by far!
... Some of these tips are stupid obvious... :P
I do them first because someone told me "then it makes you feel guilty for not finishing the rest." not just to get the hardest part out of the way.
Two reason for doing the same step first, nice!
@@ZigealFaust if it has eyes , it has a soul. It is looking at you, asking for color. ;) Eyes are most def the most stressful part of a humanoid mini because we all know what they look like...anything else I don't sweat it since it is unknown and up for interpretation. Humanoids are a whole different story, our brains instantly recognize wonky eyes on a familiar face/shape.
Ever try the "reuseable blue stuff" for molds?
Oyumaru, Japanese thermoplastic. Great stuff for molds. I mentioned it too.
Definitely better than super glue, although in a pinch, now I know I can use that as well.
Thank you. Plenty of food for thought.
While I was watching this video I could actually "feel" a couple of unpainted miniatures glaring at me from my painting workspace behind me. Like you said, some of these tips are "stupid obvious" Glad I subscribed :)
Great content! Thanks for making this video ! :)
Doing the eyes first takes off so much pressure, I'm honestly surprised more people don't do it.
Use a head torch to direct light to where you're looking.
Empty pill bottles with Blu-Tack on as painting handles.
As well as the ones you've mentioned, I also use Blu-Tack to stick my GW shades/washes to a Pringles lid to give them a much bigger base and stop them spilling as easily.
Use cheap make-up brushes for dry-brushing.
Put agitators in your paints.
Don't eat paint. It's a very expensive source of nutrition.
Think that's all I have for now.
Ok I know this is old, but here is one.
For modelers we tend to use gloss or satin coats between base coats, and weathering, or decal applications etc.
Many used to use Pledge floor polish for their gloss coat. It is no longer available, however we have found Quick Shine Multi-Surface Floor Finish works great. You can shoot it as is from your airbrush as a wet coat or apply it by brush. It self levels which is great. Most modelers I know apply it in the evening and by the next morning it is ready to go, meaning it has fully cured, although it dry's within a couple of hours, so technically if you were in a rush you don't need to wait. A 27 oz bottle is $8.00 at Walmart. Compare that to a brand name artist varnish and yeah, for intermediate coats it makes sooo much sense. For Matt or high gloss applications, a true artist top coat is prefered, although many say for a satin or semi gloss, this works great too. Just remember to apply it as a wet coat so it has enough material to self level. This is great for any application, even sealing in buildings etc.
I was expecting april fools, but these were actually good!
I didn't even consider that it was April 1st! I just uploaded on Thursday per usual.
You can fill small gaps with white glue. I hate getting putty out for something tiny and it works pretty well!
Great video, love the thumbnail ... it's pure brilliance. I hadn't thought/used these tips before so this was quite helpful. Also great cat clips.
You are so fantastic, and thank you for commenting!
@@LylaMev You need to stop letting your cats chew on your fingers :P
That tip with the lighting was awesome! Now it makes sense.
Greetings from Germany 😉🍻
Get ye some oyumaru! It's specifically designed to be used for making one-off molds. You put it in warm water to soften it, press it against the bit you want to copy, let it cool and you're good to go.
It's reusable so a stick will last you a long time!
Blu-Tac / Poster Putty on the bottom of paint pots that easily tip over.That way you can stick them to a table and worry less about knocking them over.
Yes, Lyla-- perhaps painting the eyes first *is* a good idea!
However, now what you have is a mini who stares at you throughout the rest of your painting session, *judging the crap out of your 'messups' and 'fashion color choices!'*
*I don't think so!!*
No eyes for me until the very end, *if* I even decide to paint them at all!!
smirk😆
Hey! Like we say in the Army "If it's stupid and it works,...THEN IT'S NOT STUPID!" Cool Video! Thanks!
HOO-RaH
@@ArdWulf You Americans 🇺🇸 and your “Hoo-Raa”s 🤣. You always make your NATO Allies smile! Cheers 🍻
@@justanothercaptain6566 Roger that, Sir!
@@ArdWulf Hoo-Raw?!? 🤷♂️🤣
It's HUAW - and it stands for "Hurry Up And Wait" :D
I use poster tac to fill gaps. It's quick and easy to form. When you get it to a shape you're happy with use some superglue to seal it.
I have a small flashlight that I use to check lighting from different angles.
Some good tips here
My model holders are glass vitamin and supplement bottles using a grey form of Blue-tack made by 3M (not sure what the product is called, I threw the outer packaging away years ago). I like the weight of the glass bottle in my hand, plus it gives me a place to store small parts/accessories for the model until I need them.
since i'm bouncing around the weird casting and modeling parts of youtube, if you want to fix broken miniatures, you can use super glue and (baking soda and/or graphite powder) to cast or repair hard plastic, and you can do it IN YOUR HOT GLUE MOULDS.
Thank you
Would love to see how you paint the Tiefling with the bone staff (maggotcrown?). I've painted him and am using him as my character mini in our Curse of Strahd campaign. Would love to see how someone with a bit more talent tackles it! Great video as always!
Great tips! Thanks for the video. Could you link to the archangel model you were painting?
Great video - instead of hot glue look at oyumaru / blue stuff its easier to use and reuseable Also check out black stuff which is poster putty but more extreme - often used by photographers.
Oyumaru (what GSW rebranded as bluestuff) can be found in Amazon and works wonders for molds.
You can actually use the green stuff to make the mold as well. Each a little bit of oil instead of water as a mold release. gently roll the green stuff onto the model. Once you roll it on don't move it around too much you'll lose detail. Then let it dry. Voila you have a green stuff mold.
Whenever you feel like you did enough painting for today do one more thing. (ended up painting for an hour or sometimes more afterwards)
I do this, except it's like 1:30 am and I need to get to bed to get up for work and... Bam! 2:30 am.
Hmm.. I think I'd get in trouble for not going to bed on time!
the fact,as in every creative job, the idea is to rest 15' every hour, to let the brain to work at 100%
some time I was painting over 8h-10h per day, like 2 months, buut average sessions, last 3h-4h
You can also use talcum powder (at least for casting resin and metal) or petroleum jelly (probably the better choice) as a release agent instead of water. You'll have more working time and have an easier way of removing the mold, not to mention it will still be on the part after the green stuff cures. You just have to clean off all release agent before painting (otherwise, your paint will wipe off).
Isopropyl alcohol or acetone can also be used to re-activate acrylic paint. You'll want an old synthetic brush to apply product to the area then wipe it away with a cotton swab or another brush. You can use this to erase mistakes. Just be careful you don't apply to much or scrub too hard or you'll strip everything away, including your primer. I'll have to try out the Testors spray, never knew they had something like that!
The acetone trick is new to me! Hmmmmnm
This is a helpful comment.
isopropyl for preference as acetone can damage hard plastics and you have to be more careful.
If you put old sprue bits and soak it in acetone you can make a liquid plastic that would work perfectly in the hotglue molds.
@@paultapping9510 Yah acetone can cause heart problems, even when it's absorbed through the skin (I'm amazed you can still buy it TBH or that it's still used in manicuring). You'll have to wear gloves. Alcohol is generally better because it won't completely strip everything. But sometimes you have an area that just won't come off or smudge for whatever reason and you gotta break out the acetone lol
@@nekrataali oof, I wasn't aware it was that toxic, thanks for the info.
fun little note on glue gun molding, if you take low temperature hot glue sticks and toss them in boiling water it acts like blue stuff molding :)
I was thinking the whole time watching, that all this tipps would be april fools jokes... But... this is really useful ^^
No April fools!
For masking, I use silly putty! It's self cleaning, just knead it, and reusable!
Good to know!
I tried this for the first time recently. Very handy. Could be the brand, but when I used poster putty, it pulled off some paint. But I have the gray/white Scotch stuff, not actual Blu-Tack
Saaame!
I use a bit of air brush thinner from Vallejo to erase, it works a bit better for me
Molding can be done using this stuff, Hinodewashi Oyumaru. Green stuff has something similar but it's blue.
I like to use hand moisturiser as a release agent for the glue gun trick.
Steel edge highlights with a lead pencil. varnish it after tho. also pupils with a fine marker
Sure is a useful presentation...my only "tip" is to use glassware to cover the model (not stemmed as that makes it prone to being knocked over) in between painting/conversion/sculpting sessions....which for me can be days in duration. Leaving it/them up front on the bench provides a not-so-gentle reminder to finish the piece(s) and keeps the dust, hairs, smoke and other particulates off.
More importantly, the creative spirit is held in abeyance within the crystal (yeah....that means NO PLASTICS 😊).
Cheers!
🥂👍✨✨✨
As lots of other people have said, silly putty is a great way to mask instead of blue tack since it won't pull up paint. You can also mix a very small amount of silly putty with blue tack to make the blue tack stickier. Also, miliput is a lot less sticky than green stuff, so it will come out of your mold easier.
Try using blue stuff to make moulds. It's a thermodynamic plastic that can be heated and remoulded continuously. No wasted glue. Yes, there's the initial purchase price but that's it - permanently.
Bit late to the party, but I keep a wet/damp brush behind my ear to fix mistakes.nice an quick. I make many 🤣
I have typically use talc powder (baby powder for a mold release
For #2 I airbrush from the bottom diluted black, brown mixture and from the top bright white to see my light and shadows
Thanks
A tip I got from a pro painter to remove dried paint is to break a toothpick and suck the broken/blunt end (or otherwise soak it with saliva), then rub it on the mini. It’s works and will just lift the last layer, unless you rub too hard & basically scratch off the paint. I’ve used it a number of times to lift paint from where it should be.
I use airbrush thinner for erasing mistakes when I find out after the paint has dried. It's quite dangerous if you didn't varnish in between, as you could eat through all layers of paint, but if you're careful enough you can often get away with it
try using bluestuff instead of hot glue
its a blast and super easy to use, to make 1 part molds - also fairly easy for 2 part molds!
I have tremors and I find I paint best when I press my painting handle and dominant hand against the workbench, sometimes I even lean on them.
I'm super new to mini painting, so this will probably be extra stupid. But when I wanted to replace the heads of my poxwalkers with Citadel skulls I needed to use green stuff to mold around the area where the skull met the neck to make it look more natural/connected. But I didn't think to buy skulpting tools. I ended up using the nails on my thumb and index finger to sculp the green stuff around the neck area. It was definetly crude and I ended up getting sculpting tools for when I go back to so the rest of my poxwalkers, but I feel like using my nails actually worked out pretty well.
Some good stuff here Thank you :)
One tip I have is not to paint when your cat is sitting on your lap, sometimes you get no choice. But I find many of my W40K minis seems to have stray hairs embedded in them! Not the worst look for Chaos Space Marines mind ;)