Hella Minis

All opinions are those of the author, other people are entitled to disagree. All brushes were purchased by the author at publicly available retail prices. Methodology The comparison is done between size 1 (or equivalent) round brush from each brand, as this is a common size in use for detail work. Each brush is scored across the following metrics: Capacity: does the brush hold a good amount of paint. Too large a belly and moisture retained from washing can water down paint too much. Too small and the paint dries out quickly and you have to return the the palette between every stroke. Point: does the brush maintain a good point over time, or does it start to split. Firmness: does the brush return to a straight position in line with the handle between strokes, or is it a bit flaccid.  Lifespan: with proper care, how long will the brush last. Each metric will be scored 1-5 with the following meaning: Capacity: low capacity scores a 1, high capacity scores a 5 Point: failing to maintai...

 Whether box art or other great painters around the world, there are always colour schemes to copy for every miniature on the market. At some point though, every miniature painter feels an urge to branch out and come up with something all their own.  Colour Theory Colour Theory is a broad body of practical information on colour; how colours combine, visual effects, and more. It helps us understand what colour combinations people find pleasing. It may be controversial, but I believe in the context of miniature painting, you can choose to ignore it as long as you like the outcome. Research has shown there are cultural differences between humans on what music we find harmonious or discordant. There’s not reason to assume non-human fantasy or sci-if species would enjoy the same colour combinations we do. If however you don’t already have a colour combination you like, colour theory can be a useful way to find a colour scheme. The part of colour theory we are specifically intereste...

 We’re going to focus on painting cylinders as many parts of a miniature are roughly cylindrical, whether it’s an arm, leg, or torso. The principles we’ll discuss here can be applied to other shapes. Understanding how light reflects off different surfaces is key to techniques such as non-metallic metals (NMM) and generally creating realistic highlights and gradients. We’ll consider 3 broad categories of surface: matte, satin, and gloss. The key characteristic of these surfaces is how diffuse or specular it is. In scientific terms, a diffuse reflection means the surface is reflecting light in many different directions, typically due to many microscopic surface imperfections. By comparison a specular reflection is mirror like, with all the source light being reflected out at an equal but opposite angle. A diffuse reflection on the left, and a specular reflection on the right. Matte surfaces are those with diffuse reflections, gloss surfaces have specular reflections. Satin surfaces a...

 In this post we'll cover the set of tools everyone needs in their model builders toolkit to get started. Core Toolkit  Clippers While you could get by using a X-Acto knife for both cleaning up models and the initial step of cutting them from the sprue, it's safer and easier to buy some clippers. There are expensive clippers out of Japan specifically for models, and while they have their fans, I've yet to find a consistent glowing endorsement. What you need are "flush cut" clippers typically found in the electronics section of hardware stores. You could also buy a pair from a miniatures brand, and I actually rather like the larger handle size of Games Workshop's extremely over priced pair. The key factor is that one side of the clippers is completely flat.   As you can see in my terrible diagram below, flush cut clippers will cut nice and close to the part you want to keep, while regular clippers have a bevel on both sides and will leave a substantial nub beca...

 You’ve assembled your core toolkit , you’ve primed some models, now you’re ready to paint them. As you put brush to paint there are some fundamentals to think about. Making them part of your regular routine will help you become a better painter in a shorter time. The diagram below provides the names of the main parts of the paintbrush. Diagram of the main anatomy of a paint brush Putting paint on the palette Firstly and importantly, give the paint a good shake. Paint separates over time with the pigment falling to the bottom. Whenever you use a paint that’s been sitting more than a few hours, give it a really good shake to mix the pigment and medium together again. Once shaken, if you’re using paint with dropper bottles, you simply squeeze a drop directly onto the palette. If however you’re working with flip top pots, you’ll need to use a brush to transfer paint to the palette. Transferring paint is an easy way to unintentionally damage brushes, so use a rough brush. If you don’t...

 I got into this hobby over 20 years ago. In that time the innovation on the paint side has often seemed stagnant. New paint lines turn up but they’re largely variations on the existing ranges with a similar medium. Games Workshop has been one of the few companies innovating in the paint space. We’ve seen the washes back in 2007, and technical paints in 2013, where Blood for the Blood God is an especially gruesome success. More recently, in 2019, we saw the release of contrast paints. Love them or hate them they’re innovative. They don’t behave quite like the existing washes and inks and give us new ways to paint models. Following on the heels of contrast paints we got Tesseract Glow, which manages to combine two pigments that behave in different ways to produce extremely easy to achieve weapon glow. Left to right: Citadel’s Badab Black wash, Blood for the Blood God, and Ultramarines Blue Contrast  paint While we’ve seen a little innovation in other brands, like colour shiftin...

While you can get away with nothing more than a spray can for priming, as soon as you want to put more paint on your models you're going to need some additional tools. Let’s look at what your core set of painting tools should include. The Core Toolkit Brushes While natural sable hair brushes are the best of the best, you absolutely should not buy these when you're new to the hobby. They're relatively expensive, and for that money you get longevity when cared for. You will destroy your first brushes, probably your second and third set too. Don't start with sable. If it makes you feel better, many top painters still use synthetic brushes for a wide variety of painting tasks Start with synthetic brushes. Golden taklon is my preferred material as it has a good stiffness and maintains its shape well.  Brushes come in a variety of sizes. Its tempting to start with small brushes, size 0 and smaller, because, well, miniatures are small. This is a mistake that can kill your moti...