Getting started in miniature painting

Don't skip the prep work!  I've tried painting without cleaning or priming and it just makes life harder in the end.

So you just got yourself a shiny (or plastic) miniature, now what? You want to try out this "miniature painting" thing without breaking the bank on something you're not sure you'll enjoy? What's the most cost effective way to start while avoiding common beginner pitfalls? I'm here to answer all that plus what tools do you need, brushes sizes, paints, and priming and more so you'll be off to a good start!

Obligatory 2011 New Year Post: Lessons for living a happy life

My awesome family, some day my nephew will be old enough to play miniature games with me, mwahaha! 

Sometime i look around me and i see people not happy and i try to figure out why? I don't have all the answers but here are some things i learned along the way how to make living better:

1. Have high expectations for yourself, and work hard to make yourself better. This is a given. Self-impovement is the game here, alway reflecting and striving to improve your personality, finances, skills, spirituality, everything. However, the problem with having high expectations for yourself, is that you generally also have high expectations for people around you. This will always be disappointing because no one is going to be the specific way you think they should be. Which leads to the next point...

DIY Paint Rack

Made myself a paint rack out of foam board + hot glue, very easy, probably took about an hour.  Shelves are 3.5cm deep (size of my largest paint pot (Reaper Pros), and craft paint bottles), and 3cm tall per step.  5 support struts over 20inch length.  3 steps for 4 rows (counting the ground row).  Looks great and it was free!

Fully populated.  most of my metallic paint not here since they aren't used often.

First resin kit finished!

100% hand-painted! Yes, it's possible to get good results without an airbrush as long as your paints are thinned so they level evenly. This is Mina from Soul Calibur, on clearance so i thought it suitable for a test article.

Woohoo! Check out my first resin kit project fully painted and assembled! If you don't know resin kits or garage kits are typically japanese models, 1/8 scale, hence they are quite a bit bigger than your typical table-top miniature figure. I got this one on clearance to test if i would be able to paint resin kits reasonably well without an airbrush before spending more money on an expensive Ah! My Goddess resin kit which i really want to paint. I think it turned out pretty good! But i did learn a few tips for resin kits which differ from normal miniatures painting techniques:

Miniature Painting Resolution!

If you are going to practice a skill every day, set up an environment conducive for the activity.  In my case,  I cleaned up my workbench and put ALL my paints on display, ready to be used.  If i'm going to be painting daily for only an hour, i don't want to waste time looking for paints.   Paint pots at the top group by color, brushes and tools on the right for easy access, and drying model pieces on the left on floral foam stands so i can paint a piece in the center and swap out for the next piece.  Maybe i should make a paint rack.

 

I tell people i paint miniatures but the reality is i haven't painted all that much.  7 "real" miniatures of Navia Dratp to be exact.  After i got started with navia dratp, i got all into it, read a bunch of painting blogs, bought loads paints and quality brushes, then got burnt out with painting repetitive Arcane Legions figures.  Since then, i've amassed a bunch of interesting models, but never got back into actually painting them!    I keep reading miniature painting blogs but it all seems kinda hollow since i don't actually paint.  

I've decided that i really DO want to paint all these miniatures and i do want to get really good at it.  The best way to learn how to do something, is to stop reading about it and to do it.  The only real way to get better at something is to do it every day.  The reason why i cook so well is because i cook pretty much every other day.   Thus, i've resolved to paint 1 hr a day, and to paint my existing collection before buying any more figures!   (but maybe i'll ask for that super sweet Winged Nazgul on Fell Beast model for Christmas  ^__^  ).   

Of course,  i have a slew of other skills i want to improve with the 1 hour/day treatment (like martial arts, music, language) but let's try one resolution at a time. 

Pumpkin Curry Recipe!

Here's a dish perfect for those clearance pumpkins after Halloween! Just click on the pic and download the manga-recipe. And yes, it's pulled from a curry-cooking themed manga (the protagonists solves all life's problems with curry!) but i've made it twice already and i can say it's really good! Sorry i don't have a pic of the real dish, i keep forgetting to take one, but it looks like a dark orange-reddish island of curried pumpkin in a pool of lighter orange pumpkin bisque soup. It's not that hard either and the recipe is rather flexible. Here are some tips for us Americans since the original recipe was intended for Japanese people (they're grocery stores are different than ours): click on keep reading for the tips!

DIY Banana Ice Cream

This is the level of stiffness i prefer.  More like ice cream.

So i tried out this recipe recently for DIY banana ice cream. Guess what the ingredients are? that's right! BANANA's! and nothing else! Seriously. It's a pretty sweet dessert you can whip up and enjoy guilt-free. However, the recipe page said they used a food processessor, which i don't have. Thus begun my quest to see if it could be made with something less than a food processor.