Miniature painting & hobby tips

Painting, photos & workflow

Hobby Tips

The stuff I wish someone had told me when I picked up a brush in 2023. Cheap fixes first, tradeoffs explained, and no pretending every mini has to be a display piece.

Start here

Your first mini: the minimum setup that actually matters

Two brushes, a handful of paints, primer, water, paper towel and decent light. Everything else can wait.

Start here

Your first 10 minis: a better beginner roadmap

Just get started. Give each early mini one job, don't be precious about them, and let photos show you the progress.

Painting

Tabletop-first painting: contrast beats perfect blends

Paint for the distance the mini will actually be seen from. Readable beats smooth.

Painting

Plan the palette before you paint

Five minutes lining up base, mid and highlight for every color saves an hour of guessing on the mini.

Painting

The next 10 paints to buy after a starter set

Buy the colors that remove friction from what you paint often, not the ones that look fun on the rack.

Painting

Metallic drybrushing that looks like metal, not silver dust

Almost-dry brush, light strokes, a blue-grey underlayer, and metallics saved for last.

Painting

Beginner OSL: make the light source read before you chase smoothness

The light has to be brighter than what it lights, and it has to fade with distance. Glow paint alone won't do it.

Painting

Basing as composition, not decoration

A good base supports the pose, tells a bit of the story, and points the eye at the face. Then it gets out of the way.

Painting

Easing into the airbrush (there's no rush)

I waited a long time before picking one up. What I use it for now, and the habits that helped.

Photography

Budget mini photography: make the paint job look like it does in person

Your minis don't suck, your lighting does. Construction paper, a daylight bulb, a mug and a timer fix most of it.

Photography

Every mini has a golden angle

Sculptors design a pose to read from one direction. Rotate, shoot a few, and find it.

Photography

Shooting minis on an old DSLR (and when better gear actually helps)

My first DSLR was a 2013 Rebel on the kit lens. Now it's a renewed Rebel T6 with a 100mm macro, shot RAW and tethered. Settings, what I'd change, and when better gear actually helps.

Photography

Foam vs. velvet: the cheapest photo upgrade I've made

Same mini, same light. Black velvet eats stray light so the background goes truly black and the paint does the work.

Prep, storage & workflow

Priming in batches with a rattlecan

Cheap hardware-store primer, the right color for the game, and a whole army done in one session so future you can just paint.

Prep, storage & workflow

Quick zenithal priming with two rattlecans

Black or grey first, then a couple of white swipes from above. Free contrast before you open a paint pot.

Prep, storage & workflow

How I magnetized about 200 minis in about 20 minutes

A baking sheet, parchment paper, hot glue and 6x2mm magnets. The station is what makes it fast.

Prep, storage & workflow

How I store a whole Marvel United collection

Grab-and-go core boxes, one wooden case for every expansion card, and numbered boxes that tell you where every mini lives.

Prep, storage & workflow

Brush organization without gadgets

Masking tape stripes on the handle. Less magic, more dead simple.

Prep, storage & workflow

Hobby slump or setup problem? Four ways to restart momentum

Sometimes it's motivation. More often the paints are buried and the next step is fuzzy. Make starting smaller.