One thing I always value is that with every miniature I want to have painted at least ONE thing that I'd be proud of. Maybe a particularly smooth coat of paint, or a very nicely shaded and drybrushed skull, or just the gold trim on a fancy jacket, or maybe even just hitting that eye JUST right. One good thing where you can point towards when asked what you'd be proud of.
@@MidwinterMinis Yeah! I posted 3 more tips on my blog (let me know if you mind me sharing links) --> www.risingphoenixgames.com/blog/mini-monday-13-level-up-your-painting/ Great video!
I cleaned the mould lines off a Space Marine from the classic Space Crusade last night. It was so bad I thought it might be better just to put him out of his misery...
One Tip I discovered for me: Don't overwork your models! At one point you should say 'it is finished now' - you can spend 1 Month on edgehighlights, recess shading and wetblending, but at one point you should say 'I am done.' Just to keep the happiness from painting minis. 😄
My advices : - Get a natural hair brush - Make a "wet palette" (check youtube for that) - When priming your minis don't over prime, minis should be covered in speck of paint, not thick coats - Use medium to thin your paint instead of water - When painting a mini, sit your elbows on a surface or hold them against your sides and stick your palms together - Put paint no further than the middle of your brush and use the tip as much as possible - Try washes and dry brush - Put a nice playlist or T.V show while painting in the background
I've been painting for years and only just made a set palette a few weeks ago, I just used an old plastic take away tub and it work brilliantly. I wish I had done it earlier.
I am an old fart who bought his first GW paints and minis in 1986 (Dungeonquest!): all of these tips are relevant and useful. I especially like the emphasis on keeping going, experimenting and tracking progress: after 30+ years of painting, looking back at the minis 8 year old me produced, comparing and asking "would young me like this?" is a great motivator for progress: young me had 80's WD standards!
Point 7 can also be done with hydro-alchol hand gel, which when it dries also helps the brush keep a nice point if you shape it while cleaning it. I hope that helps!
Love this! When I take a photo of my models I often use a silver tone filter as it can give good indication of where light hits the model and gives me a good idea of where to highlight or shade. Love this channel, and recommend it to everyone whether they paint miniatures or not.
Many of you reading this won't believe me but I am the inspiration behind the current Ulthwé paint scheme. I didn't like the black with yellow helmets that was the standard at the time. But I did like painting my Warhammer Undead skeletons. As Eldar armour is Wraithbone I decided to do the main body in bone with black helmets and detail. When I showed a completed Guardian to the Manager of the Bedford, UK Games Workshop store, he liked the colours and my reasoning behind the idea. It wasn't my best work ever but it was up there at the time. Then the third edition of 40k was released and I drifted away from the hobby. I really didn't like the "white metal" models that they were also switching to at this time. I preferred the "lead" ones even if they were deadly. When I got the 40k PC game Dawn of War I was very surprised to see the Ulthwé in a mirror of my colour scheme. I hope that Manager who introduced my idea to the GW population also gets a kick out of the huge impact this tiny annoyance of trying to paint black and yellow side by side on a Guardian has had. So just remember that even if your painting skills aren't the best. Your ideas and concepts can be game changing, literally!
Neat. I think you mean you "assume" they did it because of you. Unless there is more to the story, this just sounds like a coincidence to me. Not calling you a liar. Just using Occam's Razor.
I am just getting into this hobby and have found all the information to be overwhelming as well as the gorgeous results I have seen. I was about to just forget it all as I was convincing myself I could never measure up. Thanks for this vid I randomly ran across and the encouragement to move forward. Oh and also thanks for a easy to watch style with no theatrics or over the top announcer style vid. Much easier to watch and learn from.
i felt the same way too. but once i put paint on a model i was hooked, the nice thing about having a 3d printer is that i get to experiment to my hearts content
Number 12 needs to be on first and last place as well! I picked up a large brush (size 5) I had lying around, and started experimenting with it, just because of this video. It damn well changed everything about how I paint minis. Details are easier to paint, glazing actually seems to work for me now, and washing is much easier. My painting skill has had three phases, where I improved massively in one leap: starting out, discovering wet palettes, and now using non-tiny brushes.
I really like the speed painting tutorials because it shows you can have great looking figures without obsessing over details or using complex techniques. Just what I needed to get inspired (but not too inspired 😉). Thanks!
#4 - *please* could you direct me to a proper guide on color theory? not necessarily which colors are complementary or analogous to each other, but when to use one or the other, for what purpose, etc... I never understood it. Thank you.
There's a link in the video description, but it's more important to just read, watch, and learn things, and then choose what you think works best :) You're the artist, after all
Every mini that I have finished painting I give my wife to examine. My wife has absolutely no idea about Warhammer and she doesn't paint herself but she ALWAYS finds places that I can't see when I turn the third time while painting. With time I got an eye for the places I like to forget :)
Good video, lots of solid tips. I feel like #23 should have been "Make sure to have fun while you paint. If something isn't working out, you're tired, or getting frustrated step back for a bit. Take time to reassess your project and allow yourself some time to refocus". Or something like that. Cheers
Seriously, RUclips is a goldmine for mini painting. I recently got back into it after stopping in 2004 and it's amazing to see the community that has developed around it since then.
Point 15 : "Make mistakes" & 17 : "Don't compare yourself to someone who does this for a living". This, so much. Spent so much time looking at tutorials, to start painting and stopping for days/weeks as soon as I couldn't get the right effect/finish, ending up not painting anything fully, or at all. Up to the point where I decided trying not to care (too much) and complete a model. Felt really good when the first finished model hit the board. It had lot of mistakes, but at least, I now had something to progress from. Thanks for your videos, and happy new year !
Absolutely! It's so satisfying when your freshly painted mini hits the table in a game. Unless it's the Necron Doom Scythe that I frantically painted before a game, that was destroyed in turn 1 :-/ haha
Point 20: Keep your old minis. This! A thousand times this! After I made the mistake of stripping several armies worth of figures years back, I always tell people to keep their old work. Yes I had improved and wanted to paint them better, but I didn't factor into that equation, that I was taking away the things I played with and would in fact have to paint it all over again, I know that sounds dumb. But when all your mates are still playing all the time and you're pretty much playing catch-up to try get enough back on the table, it's truly demoralising. And in fact led me to take a long break from the hobby at that time and do other things instead. And unfortunately on top of that, I never did get everything repainted and ended up passing a lot of it on to other friends who were new to/starting the hobby. Plus it being the days before camera phones, I have no reference to how far I've come along as a hobbyist.
Yep, solid advice throughout the video. I think the more painters and hobbyists, especially newer painters and hobbyists lose their fear of failure, the better they will be. Thanks for the video, I hope you both have a happy new year!
@@MidwinterMinis yeah... I know this is an old comment, but I still wanted to say that I had a small Space Wolves Force for around 10 years. I'd say I've always been rather handy when it comes to Modelling, but I was affraid to ruin great models with my crappy painting skills. Thanks to your awesome videos I painted my first 2 minis today, and I have to say, for the first time they turned out rather nice. So, thanks for giving me the courage to just try :D
Tip 20 keep your old models… That is super important. Still being kind of new to painting minis, I wish I would’ve kept my first handful with the original paint job. I painted the same five minis probably 6 to 7 times. I just kept dunking them in the “green” and starting over. I wish I would have just spent an extra 3 to 4 dollars each on some reaper bones minis so I could have a progression timeline.
Sitting down an talking a friend thru painting his first fire warrior definately helped me recently, probably the best mini i have ever done(we did 1 each) grey armour and beige uniform looked mint
You guys are smarty pants, you're even using euthymol. I know you're diligent and take care to know about your subjects because you demonstrate that knowledge so well. Thank you for your uploads, they're giving me a great headstart in miniature painting and terrain building.
One thing I would advice is give what you have painted a coat of varnish, you could have painted a mini without a primer but as long as you give it a coat of varnish it will be protected (not a 100% guarantee as it depends on varnish used). I do have a lot of old painted minis and it is interesting to see how one have evolved, but I also found out I had forgot things and can't paint that way again as I can't remember how I did it or what paints I used, and some of the paints used back then doesn't exists anymore, good and bad things about looking at old painted miniatures.
Just wanted to thank you for these videos, I had been in a real slump after painting 3k of Death Guard and your BSF videos got me back into it. Only 40 more infantry for my Blood Pact traitor guard!
Wow guys. I made a hobby channel then later stumbled upon yours. You do such an amazing job! I'm going to have to step it up BIG TIME! Great work and great channel!
Thanks matey! Your first video looks great. If you're looking for advice, I'd recommend scripting your video a little more, people tune out a bit with "umm" and "uh" left in :)
@@MidwinterMinis I agree. I was going for casual but you guys are so professional it's inspiring. When I first listened I thought you were some kind of professional network that covered the hobby. But it's just you and Penny. Impressive!
I've seen some truly impressive work before, but wow. 7:20 blew. Me away. I thought that was an actual painting, not a mini until I saw the hand. Whoever did that, it's truly glorious.
I almost cheered when you guys mentioned to use junk. I made a water cup out of the bottom part of an old spice bottle. Even made a little nob where the brush can sit on the top sideways.
While I don’t do warhammer miniatures just yet I do build gunpla kits and one tip I think is universally usable is: Don’t be afraid to use unorthodox approaches to painting For example don’t be afraid to use waterslide decals/foil stickers you can cut and shape foil stickers to get good glowing effects without much effort and waterslide decals are really good for doing small markings that you may not otherwise be able to put on the model/miniature
As a Tyranid player, I would highly recommend paint before assembly. I guess it goes for all models but especially for Tyranids. The chests of Gaunts and Carnifexes are damn near impossible to get at with screwing up. That's what I did with mine and it just looks better.
something i like to do is take pictures of weird places around town at different times of day. Seeing the same location in the morning is alot different than at dusk
Totally agree with point 20. Gutted I got rid of my second edition orks and necromunda redemptionists gang as I would love to see the comparison between then (about 23 years ago) and now
Wow! Marriage's Mill at the bottom of East Hill! I grew up down that end of Colchester! Great video folks, thanks for your continuing inspiration, Happy New Year!
@@MidwinterMinis which looks like it's behind my old primary school on Greenstead Road, jeepers! I never knew but not in Colchester any more (Suffolk so not far) but if I'm ever that way I'll check them out, thanks!
Im very excited as I think the use bigger brushes tip is really gonna help, cant wait to try it out. Also, not getting too inspired I think Is gonna be another great help. Thanks guys!
What a wonderful video. Happy year words. Only tip I can think of seems..really simple but - manipulate the model, not the brush when painting, when trying to get to difficult/hard to reach spots.
Late to the show, but lockdown made me start up again after 24 years away from the hobby. The most important tip I would put is to have fun! Express yourself a little bit. I'm going to start experimenting with the impressionism style for painting my miniatures. No one ever said they had to be life like
looked at this cuz ive been curious about the hobby (dont really have the means to get 40k miniatures though) and the mention of practicing on toys reminded me i have a LOT of toy army men from when i was younger. so i guess that's how im spending my day today: cleaning the mold lines off of those.
Am I the only one who enjoys cleaning up minis? I even went at one of mine carving away stuff that had big plastic bits where there shouldn’t have been anything so the mini looks better, and i actually did really good at making it blend with the look of the mini. I just enjoy trimming them to a ready to paint state
I'm a noob and I've found that painting my homemade terrain with cheap acrylic paints is a great way to practice things like dry brushing and homemade washes. Since the paints are cheap and the terrain is nearly free it's very efficient. Also, it's a nice thing to have finished when you get your models all pretty.
Ok, you got me on board with this video and I subbed! Great tips! One thing I would add to painting miniatures is to give them a quick wash in the sink with Dawn (or any detergent that removes/breaks up oil) to remove any oils or lubricants that may remain from the manufacturing process. That oil will prevent water based paints from adhering as strongly as they can and may even cause them to peel in the long term.
Some advice I've loved from Sam Lenz on Tabletop Minions, from a couple years ago: practice and learn the basics on troops, and push yourself on the heroes. Will probably be diving into my 3rd and 4th boxes of Zombicide this month. Each time I've done one, I've learned something new, and this time I'm going to work on learning airbrushing. Also, pretty sure I got this from either Miniac, or Vince Ventruella, but when learning the basics of something, pick a forgiving project for that thing, and keep the rest of the scheme as simple as possible. That lets you drill into the one thing you want to learn, and blow through the rest. I intend to paint something like 4-5 colors on the zombicide box without an airbrush. When you look at pictures of an object for reference, take color samples. Your eye will lie to you, but your computer will pick out the actual color. Find the range of colors that are used on that surface to create that effect. This goes double for shiny surfaces, where you have to account for how light interacts with the base color. Carrying on from this, use images of cars as color and light references for colored armor (I'm looking at you Space Marines and Stormcast).
I would actually counter Sam on that, I think if you push yourself on an important model and don't get the result you want, it can be really off-putting. Try out new techniques on basic,, unimportant models, I would say :) It doesn't matter if it's painted slightly differently if it dies on turn 1 anyway
Here's a tip for you, if your older brushes are getting a bit dry try using a little hair conditioner on the bristles. I'm a decorator by trade and I do this with my brushes when they get dry and crispy, just make sure you rinse them out properly.
Point 19 helped me realise I needed to wear my glasses when painting! I had taken some photos of a paint job that I thought was really well done. Turns out that my view of the miniature was SIGNIFICANTLY different than that of the camera.
Midwinter, for another tips and tricks video can you do one on colour theory please. Yes I know that there are plenty of videos on the subject but as someone who knows 40k and fantasy you would have a better understanding of the colour palettes we use. Cheers.
I agree with point 20 definetly wont get rid of my current minis i'm working on wich are my first ones since i do napoleonics. Repainting wont be a thing since they will all be multiple figures a base and packed together tightly but when doing napoleonics you need lots and i do mean lots of minis. Vive l'Empereur!
Slightly more advanced but a great way to learn how to be inventive with limited paints is the "5 Colour Challenge". The challenge is to paint a mini using only Abbadon Black, Corax White and 3 other paints chosen at random. Works really well with something highly individualistic like Necromunda Bounty Hunters.
As someone who doesn't really paint, or indeed really cares about painting, I think that this video is a very nice one! The sandstone Necrons look *totally awesome*! /drool
I don't mean to be rude but will you ever paint high fantasy miniatures? I play D&D and would like a video on those color pallets and not so washed out tones. Never the less, I love your Warhammer painting series a ton, especially for someone who has no idea what Warhammer is outside of a tabletop game!
Happy new year Guy and Penny! Also, most importantly of all- have fun. If painting is killing your vibe, take a break. If you dont enjoy painting the model, you'll hate the end result.
My Tips: Work from the inside to outside and paint the hardest first. Hard to reach area? Start there. Hard to do eyes? Start there. Difficult skintones? Start there. It is easier to clean up around a challenging area than it is to try and get a brush in a crany/dot in pupils. Zenithal prime your models (use both dark and light). This helps establish values, and gives more definition to the model. It aides in maximizing contrast and gives you a visual on where highlights and shadows are placed, and it is easy to do.
RE: Point #9, also look at games like AutoKill or Gaslands which use Hotwheels or Matchbox cars for their playing pieces. I customize a lot of Matchbox cars and they're a $1 to buy and easy to strip. They're cheap and fun to customize, and thus they're very stress-free to practice on. I only stress out on my Astartes...the Matchbox cars are a breeze. When you're painting post-apocalyptic vehicles there's no wrong way to do it--every car is a learning experience.
I think it's good to remember there is an ebb and flow to the quality of work you do. Sometimes you smash a paint job, but other times you feel like you're forcing yourself to put in lots of effort for something you might not be happy with. Also, paint for yourself, not for golden daemon or whoever contributes to the warhammer display cabinet. Paint until you are happy with what you have and be a little less focused on perfection.
@@MidwinterMinis This was me with some Flayed ones. They looked like a dogs dinner up until about 15 minutes before I finished each one. Also, never knowingly buying resin models again if I can help it! :D
I painted a reaper bones frog demon once and downloaded no less than 30 pictures of different dart frogs and other colorful frogs and toads. It doesn't look as good as I wanted it to, but I guess that covers making mistakes and keeping old models too.
Nice tips you two! If you don't mind I have a tip that took me far too long to learn. Regardless how little time you have, 10 or 15 minute sessions really add up over a week or a month. A while back if I didn't have at least an hour to paint I didn't think it was worth while. Having kids now and not some care free idiot from the 90's, I'm amazed what I get done with ten minutes here and there.
I have one bottle of expensive paint from reaper, other than that I've only painted with cheap acrylic paints that's where learning to thin your paint is most important that and metallics show better on black primed plastics in my personal experience/opinion. Brush gently is my top tip. Washes and drybrushing are instant masterpieces but don't rely on them.
There's also cheap minis like reaper to train on if you don't want to paint toys. Don't be like me and go for a 70$ creature caster right away. That one is sitting on my shelf til I feel ready
For the price of a branded citadel painting handle thingy, you can go down to your local supermarket and pick up a bag of plastic shot glasses. Light, recyclable/reusable, and the perfect thing if you want to get through a line of boyz quick and on the cheap.
"keep your workspace organized" that's the hardest part for me in the email...most everything else I got down....but that's my new year's resolution!! LUL ... well procrastination and notating my idea/formulas...those are lifelong battles
I like to make custom bases for my minis and use them as practice for a lot of techniques. Things like practicing edge highlighting on rocks or dry brushing dirt goes a long way.
One thing I always value is that with every miniature I want to have painted at least ONE thing that I'd be proud of. Maybe a particularly smooth coat of paint, or a very nicely shaded and drybrushed skull, or just the gold trim on a fancy jacket, or maybe even just hitting that eye JUST right. One good thing where you can point towards when asked what you'd be proud of.
The gag of stabbing that termagant with a massive brush is always funny. Gets me every time
You: "Clean your mold lines."
Me, after cleaning 34.5 of the exact same Gretchin mini, over 20 years: "AAAAGH!!!"
Who knew those little buggers could trigger such fierce PTSD, hah
@@MidwinterMinis Yeah!
I posted 3 more tips on my blog (let me know if you mind me sharing links) --> www.risingphoenixgames.com/blog/mini-monday-13-level-up-your-painting/
Great video!
Don't you mean WAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!
@@tyanarusxex2423 LOL, yes!
I cleaned the mould lines off a Space Marine from the classic Space Crusade last night. It was so bad I thought it might be better just to put him out of his misery...
One Tip I discovered for me:
Don't overwork your models! At one point you should say 'it is finished now' - you can spend 1 Month on edgehighlights, recess shading and wetblending, but at one point you should say 'I am done.' Just to keep the happiness from painting minis. 😄
Miniac screams from somewhere in the distance
I like to imagine he's doing that all the time, camera running or not.
😂 PAINT MORE MINI's! Arrrggghh!!!
@@WoodRabbitTaoist I read that in his howling pigscream thing ahahahahaha
Mwm videos, good
Mwm videos with penny, great
Mwm videos with penny and the pupper, perfect
Happy New Year everyone!
... also, don't forget to check out the video description for some useful links :)
Midwinter Minis thank you, you’ve helped me a lot :)
Happy New Year. It, by the way, is Mid-winter!
M&m have you accepted my friend request
On discord
My advices :
- Get a natural hair brush
- Make a "wet palette" (check youtube for that)
- When priming your minis don't over prime, minis should be covered in speck of paint, not thick coats
- Use medium to thin your paint instead of water
- When painting a mini, sit your elbows on a surface or hold them against your sides and stick your palms together
- Put paint no further than the middle of your brush and use the tip as much as possible
- Try washes and dry brush
- Put a nice playlist or T.V show while painting in the background
Great advice! Thanks Bosko :)
Dude. I do the elbow thing. And it is super comfortable.
If you know you'll stick to the hobby, look for a good wet palette to buy. In the beginning I agree with building one, but it's probably still subpar
Wet palatte and brace positions are definately top tier advise ;)
I've been painting for years and only just made a set palette a few weeks ago, I just used an old plastic take away tub and it work brilliantly. I wish I had done it earlier.
I am an old fart who bought his first GW paints and minis in 1986 (Dungeonquest!): all of these tips are relevant and useful. I especially like the emphasis on keeping going, experimenting and tracking progress: after 30+ years of painting, looking back at the minis 8 year old me produced, comparing and asking "would young me like this?" is a great motivator for progress: young me had 80's WD standards!
That's a great way to think! I love it!
Point 7 can also be done with hydro-alchol hand gel, which when it dries also helps the brush keep a nice point if you shape it while cleaning it. I hope that helps!
Great tip! We'll have to try it out :)
@@MidwinterMinis Just my little contribution to helping people keep their brushes in shape :)
Love this!
When I take a photo of my models I often use a silver tone filter as it can give good indication of where light hits the model and gives me a good idea of where to highlight or shade.
Love this channel, and recommend it to everyone whether they paint miniatures or not.
That's a fantastic idea, thanks Andrew!
I would like to do that but I paint my Tyranids Silver and gold. Would red work or something?
Many of you reading this won't believe me but I am the inspiration behind the current Ulthwé paint scheme.
I didn't like the black with yellow helmets that was the standard at the time. But I did like painting my Warhammer Undead skeletons. As Eldar armour is Wraithbone I decided to do the main body in bone with black helmets and detail.
When I showed a completed Guardian to the Manager of the Bedford, UK Games Workshop store, he liked the colours and my reasoning behind the idea. It wasn't my best work ever but it was up there at the time. Then the third edition of 40k was released and I drifted away from the hobby. I really didn't like the "white metal" models that they were also switching to at this time. I preferred the "lead" ones even if they were deadly.
When I got the 40k PC game Dawn of War I was very surprised to see the Ulthwé in a mirror of my colour scheme. I hope that Manager who introduced my idea to the GW population also gets a kick out of the huge impact this tiny annoyance of trying to paint black and yellow side by side on a Guardian has had.
So just remember that even if your painting skills aren't the best. Your ideas and concepts can be game changing, literally!
That's a crazy, and super cool story! :)
L
Neat. I think you mean you "assume" they did it because of you. Unless there is more to the story, this just sounds like a coincidence to me. Not calling you a liar. Just using Occam's Razor.
I am just getting into this hobby and have found all the information to be overwhelming as well as the gorgeous results I have seen. I was about to just forget it all as I was convincing myself I could never measure up. Thanks for this vid I randomly ran across and the encouragement to move forward. Oh and also thanks for a easy to watch style with no theatrics or over the top announcer style vid. Much easier to watch and learn from.
WHAT'S UP EVERBODY, it's ya boy Guy from Midwinter Minis, haha
i felt the same way too. but once i put paint on a model i was hooked, the nice thing about having a 3d printer is that i get to experiment to my hearts content
Number 12 needs to be on first and last place as well! I picked up a large brush (size 5) I had lying around, and started experimenting with it, just because of this video. It damn well changed everything about how I paint minis. Details are easier to paint, glazing actually seems to work for me now, and washing is much easier. My painting skill has had three phases, where I improved massively in one leap: starting out, discovering wet palettes, and now using non-tiny brushes.
Crazy how much of a difference it makes, eh? :)
I really like the speed painting tutorials because it shows you can have great looking figures without obsessing over details or using complex techniques. Just what I needed to get inspired (but not too inspired 😉).
Thanks!
Never TOO inspired! ;)
Agree
It's been a wonderful year with you guys, here's to ten more. Happy new years you lovely dorks
Thanks Miish! This year wouldn't have been the same without awesome fans like you!
#4 - *please* could you direct me to a proper guide on color theory? not necessarily which colors are complementary or analogous to each other, but when to use one or the other, for what purpose, etc... I never understood it. Thank you.
There's a link in the video description, but it's more important to just read, watch, and learn things, and then choose what you think works best :) You're the artist, after all
Every mini that I have finished painting I give my wife to examine.
My wife has absolutely no idea about Warhammer and she doesn't paint herself but she ALWAYS finds places that I can't see when I turn the third time while painting.
With time I got an eye for the places I like to forget :)
Those Necrons are fantastic! Never would have thought of using Agrellan Earth like that!
Yeah, it worked out quite nicely, eh? :)
Good video, lots of solid tips. I feel like #23 should have been "Make sure to have fun while you paint. If something isn't working out, you're tired, or getting frustrated step back for a bit. Take time to reassess your project and allow yourself some time to refocus". Or something like that. Cheers
Don't ruin my future video: "23 FREE ways to have fun while painting minis", haha
Love number 13! Teaching is ironically one of the Best ways to learn!
'watch tutorials while you paint' AHA! I was doing just that! Was painting some high details rock plateau's!
Ah, classic plateaus :)
Seriously, RUclips is a goldmine for mini painting. I recently got back into it after stopping in 2004 and it's amazing to see the community that has developed around it since then.
Point 15 : "Make mistakes" & 17 : "Don't compare yourself to someone who does this for a living". This, so much. Spent so much time looking at tutorials, to start painting and stopping for days/weeks as soon as I couldn't get the right effect/finish, ending up not painting anything fully, or at all. Up to the point where I decided trying not to care (too much) and complete a model. Felt really good when the first finished model hit the board. It had lot of mistakes, but at least, I now had something to progress from.
Thanks for your videos, and happy new year !
Absolutely! It's so satisfying when your freshly painted mini hits the table in a game. Unless it's the Necron Doom Scythe that I frantically painted before a game, that was destroyed in turn 1 :-/ haha
Ive been painting for 25 years and the white grey black prime plate was something I've never seen and it was a very good idea.
Yeah, it's quite handy to keep that nearby just to see how opaque or transparent your paint is :)
Point 20: Keep your old minis.
This! A thousand times this!
After I made the mistake of stripping several armies worth of figures years back, I always tell people to keep their old work.
Yes I had improved and wanted to paint them better, but I didn't factor into that equation, that I was taking away the things I played with and would in fact have to paint it all over again, I know that sounds dumb.
But when all your mates are still playing all the time and you're pretty much playing catch-up to try get enough back on the table, it's truly demoralising. And in fact led me to take a long break from the hobby at that time and do other things instead.
And unfortunately on top of that, I never did get everything repainted and ended up passing a lot of it on to other friends who were new to/starting the hobby.
Plus it being the days before camera phones, I have no reference to how far I've come along as a hobbyist.
It's a tragedy, eh? All my old Blood Angels, Tyranids, Imperial Guard, Sisters of Battle, Assassins, Orks, all gone. :'(
GREAT video with some simple, but very effective pointers...... Thanks guys! 👍
Glad you liked it, warmaster!
Yep, solid advice throughout the video. I think the more painters and hobbyists, especially newer painters and hobbyists lose their fear of failure, the better they will be. Thanks for the video, I hope you both have a happy new year!
Yeah, fear of failure is something that needs to get booted as soon as possible :)
@@MidwinterMinis yeah... I know this is an old comment, but I still wanted to say that I had a small Space Wolves Force for around 10 years. I'd say I've always been rather handy when it comes to Modelling, but I was affraid to ruin great models with my crappy painting skills.
Thanks to your awesome videos I painted my first 2 minis today, and I have to say, for the first time they turned out rather nice.
So, thanks for giving me the courage to just try :D
I like #5. You can only go so far with the paint colors out their. Custom made colors makes your project very unique.
Yeah, definitely! I love mixing stuff up :)
Tip 20 keep your old models… That is super important. Still being kind of new to painting minis, I wish I would’ve kept my first handful with the original paint job. I painted the same five minis probably 6 to 7 times. I just kept dunking them in the “green” and starting over. I wish I would have just spent an extra 3 to 4 dollars each on some reaper bones minis so I could have a progression timeline.
Very good point! It's important to be able to see and compare :)
Sitting down an talking a friend thru painting his first fire warrior definately helped me recently, probably the best mini i have ever done(we did 1 each) grey armour and beige uniform looked mint
Yeah! Understated tones often look really nice :)
You guys are smarty pants, you're even using euthymol. I know you're diligent and take care to know about your subjects because you demonstrate that knowledge so well.
Thank you for your uploads, they're giving me a great headstart in miniature painting and terrain building.
One thing I would advice is give what you have painted a coat of varnish, you could have painted a mini without a primer but as long as you give it a coat of varnish it will be protected (not a 100% guarantee as it depends on varnish used).
I do have a lot of old painted minis and it is interesting to see how one have evolved, but I also found out I had forgot things and can't paint that way again as I can't remember how I did it or what paints I used, and some of the paints used back then doesn't exists anymore, good and bad things about looking at old painted miniatures.
Yeah, paints going out of production is a nightmare! D-:
Time is key, always the time that gets me sometimes I might only get 20mins to paint a day but I do it and even if I can't finish it it's a start.
Every little bit counts! You can never have time to sit down for a long session of painting, but you can still paint tons of stuff! :)
just starting to get back into painting minis and you gays really are inspiring me to take a lot that I've seen and put it into practice thank you!
Just wanted to thank you for these videos, I had been in a real slump after painting 3k of Death Guard and your BSF videos got me back into it. Only 40 more infantry for my Blood Pact traitor guard!
Nice! Glad I could help you out Jim :) 3k of Death Guard? Mama mia
@@MidwinterMinis imgur.com/gallery/yb2WbAV as you can see, I also love John Blanche, but he's never had the occasion to be rude to me!
Wow guys. I made a hobby channel then later stumbled upon yours. You do such an amazing job! I'm going to have to step it up BIG TIME! Great work and great channel!
Thanks matey! Your first video looks great. If you're looking for advice, I'd recommend scripting your video a little more, people tune out a bit with "umm" and "uh" left in :)
@@MidwinterMinis I agree. I was going for casual but you guys are so professional it's inspiring. When I first listened I thought you were some kind of professional network that covered the hobby. But it's just you and Penny. Impressive!
Great video....really well done, well organized, perfect narration...and a metric ton of useful information. Thank You.
I've seen some truly impressive work before, but wow. 7:20 blew. Me away. I thought that was an actual painting, not a mini until I saw the hand. Whoever did that, it's truly glorious.
I know, it's absolutely insane. One of the top "cool mini or not" ranked minis of all time.
#17- great advise. Ive digged through numbers of tutorials before even priming my minis, now I just go with the flow of paint.
Yeah, it's easy to go "choice blind" as well, and you can't make up your mind on what colour scheme to use.
Point 23 is by far the part that has helped me the most!
Haha, excellent :)
After 2 days of binge watching all your videos from the very beginning... #17 😆
I almost cheered when you guys mentioned to use junk. I made a water cup out of the bottom part of an old spice bottle. Even made a little nob where the brush can sit on the top sideways.
While I don’t do warhammer miniatures just yet I do build gunpla kits and one tip I think is universally usable is:
Don’t be afraid to use unorthodox approaches to painting
For example don’t be afraid to use waterslide decals/foil stickers you can cut and shape foil stickers to get good glowing effects without much effort and waterslide decals are really good for doing small markings that you may not otherwise be able to put on the model/miniature
Great tips! Thank you. I'll be doing a gunpla video soon, so I hope you enjoy that one!
Midwinter Minis it’s not a problem I love helping people out
As a Tyranid player, I would highly recommend paint before assembly. I guess it goes for all models but especially for Tyranids. The chests of Gaunts and Carnifexes are damn near impossible to get at with screwing up. That's what I did with mine and it just looks better.
Yeah, certainly keeping things in sub-assemblies helps!
something i like to do is take pictures of weird places around town at different times of day. Seeing the same location in the morning is alot different than at dusk
Yeah, definitely! Light makes a huge difference :)
Totally agree with point 20. Gutted I got rid of my second edition orks and necromunda redemptionists gang as I would love to see the comparison between then (about 23 years ago) and now
Redemptionists! Woooft
Shampoo to clean brushes. That's brilliant!
Totally going to start using a swatch to test my color against. Great idea.
Wow! Marriage's Mill at the bottom of East Hill! I grew up down that end of Colchester!
Great video folks, thanks for your continuing inspiration, Happy New Year!
Small world! It's on my walking route to 4TK, Colchester's finest gaming store!
@@MidwinterMinis which looks like it's behind my old primary school on Greenstead Road, jeepers! I never knew but not in Colchester any more (Suffolk so not far) but if I'm ever that way I'll check them out, thanks!
Brilliant tips.........essential viewing especially for beginners......some really great minis too !
Well Done you two !
Too kind Guy! Great name, by the way.
Im very excited as I think the use bigger brushes tip is really gonna help, cant wait to try it out. Also, not getting too inspired I think Is gonna be another great help. Thanks guys!
What a wonderful video. Happy year words.
Only tip I can think of seems..really simple but - manipulate the model, not the brush when painting, when trying to get to difficult/hard to reach spots.
Yeah, definitely. How you hold the mini when you paint is almost an art form in itself ;)
@@MidwinterMinis I know the best way to get a decent paint job when holding any mini, is for me to give it to someone else, and let them do it.
Late to the show, but lockdown made me start up again after 24 years away from the hobby.
The most important tip I would put is to have fun! Express yourself a little bit. I'm going to start experimenting with the impressionism style for painting my miniatures. No one ever said they had to be life like
looked at this cuz ive been curious about the hobby (dont really have the means to get 40k miniatures though) and the mention of practicing on toys reminded me i have a LOT of toy army men from when i was younger.
so i guess that's how im spending my day today: cleaning the mold lines off of those.
Am I the only one who enjoys cleaning up minis? I even went at one of mine carving away stuff that had big plastic bits where there shouldn’t have been anything so the mini looks better, and i actually did really good at making it blend with the look of the mini. I just enjoy trimming them to a
ready to paint state
I'm a noob and I've found that painting my homemade terrain with cheap acrylic paints is a great way to practice things like dry brushing and homemade washes. Since the paints are cheap and the terrain is nearly free it's very efficient. Also, it's a nice thing to have finished when you get your models all pretty.
Awesome video! Thank you as well for omitting the now “standard” 1 hour long intro on most videos. Awesome tips. Thank you!
Haha, man, I hate intros.
Ok, you got me on board with this video and I subbed! Great tips! One thing I would add to painting miniatures is to give them a quick wash in the sink with Dawn (or any detergent that removes/breaks up oil) to remove any oils or lubricants that may remain from the manufacturing process. That oil will prevent water based paints from adhering as strongly as they can and may even cause them to peel in the long term.
Some advice I've loved from Sam Lenz on Tabletop Minions, from a couple years ago: practice and learn the basics on troops, and push yourself on the heroes. Will probably be diving into my 3rd and 4th boxes of Zombicide this month. Each time I've done one, I've learned something new, and this time I'm going to work on learning airbrushing.
Also, pretty sure I got this from either Miniac, or Vince Ventruella, but when learning the basics of something, pick a forgiving project for that thing, and keep the rest of the scheme as simple as possible. That lets you drill into the one thing you want to learn, and blow through the rest. I intend to paint something like 4-5 colors on the zombicide box without an airbrush.
When you look at pictures of an object for reference, take color samples. Your eye will lie to you, but your computer will pick out the actual color. Find the range of colors that are used on that surface to create that effect. This goes double for shiny surfaces, where you have to account for how light interacts with the base color.
Carrying on from this, use images of cars as color and light references for colored armor (I'm looking at you Space Marines and Stormcast).
I would actually counter Sam on that, I think if you push yourself on an important model and don't get the result you want, it can be really off-putting. Try out new techniques on basic,, unimportant models, I would say :) It doesn't matter if it's painted slightly differently if it dies on turn 1 anyway
Nice to see Miniac pop up here. Favourite crossover since Avengers Endgame.
It would be cool to do an actual collaboration with him one day, eh?
Here's a tip for you, if your older brushes are getting a bit dry try using a little hair conditioner on the bristles. I'm a decorator by trade and I do this with my brushes when they get dry and crispy, just make sure you rinse them out properly.
Happy new year! 'Keep your workspace tidy!' Classic.
The embarrassing part is that my desk is hugely messy.
These tips are all excellent and are the same things I tell new painters who approach me. I think from now on I'll just share this video with them.
23 was my favourite suggestion
A viewer of culture ;)
Midwinter Minis indeed
Not free but IMO, helps really well - invest in a mounted magnifying glass with lights
Point 19 helped me realise I needed to wear my glasses when painting! I had taken some photos of a paint job that I thought was really well done. Turns out that my view of the miniature was SIGNIFICANTLY different than that of the camera.
I know THAT feeling!
Happy New Year guys! Hope you and Penny have an amazing 2020
Thanks so much! You too :)
Oh no....
Midwinter, for another tips and tricks video can you do one on colour theory please. Yes I know that there are plenty of videos on the subject but as someone who knows 40k and fantasy you would have a better understanding of the colour palettes we use. Cheers.
Good idea! Maybe I'll cover it one day :)
I agree with point 20 definetly wont get rid of my current minis i'm working on wich are my first ones since i do napoleonics. Repainting wont be a thing since they will all be multiple figures a base and packed together tightly but when doing napoleonics you need lots and i do mean lots of minis. Vive l'Empereur!
Haha, I wonder when I'll eventually turn to historic wargames? ;)
Slightly more advanced but a great way to learn how to be inventive with limited paints is the "5 Colour Challenge".
The challenge is to paint a mini using only Abbadon Black, Corax White and 3 other paints chosen at random.
Works really well with something highly individualistic like Necromunda Bounty Hunters.
Thank you for this video. I always enjoy and learn something from watching your channel!
Thanks Darren! Glad you find our stuff useful :)
As someone who doesn't really paint, or indeed really cares about painting, I think that this video is a very nice one!
The sandstone Necrons look *totally awesome*! /drool
Happy New Year you two. Thanks for the tips and keep doing videos.
Thanks Ian! Happy New Year!
I don't mean to be rude but will you ever paint high fantasy miniatures? I play D&D and would like a video on those color pallets and not so washed out tones. Never the less, I love your Warhammer painting series a ton, especially for someone who has no idea what Warhammer is outside of a tabletop game!
Hey! Yeah, I think I'll be covering stuff that isn't just 40k this year, so watch this space! :)
Bunch of cool ideas.
Man, those old plastic gobbos! I think I still have a bunch of those unpainted too! Cheers guys!
HUNDREDS OF 'EM D-:
Happy new year both , more fun with Guy and Penny in 2020 please .
2020's going to be a good year :)
Many useful tips. Even being 20 years into scale modelling I learned something new so thanks for this video!
Hey, Happy new year to Penny and you Guy ! Thanks for all the great & good work !
Happy New Year David! :)
Those necrons look fantastic
Happy new year Guy and Penny!
Also, most importantly of all- have fun. If painting is killing your vibe, take a break. If you dont enjoy painting the model, you'll hate the end result.
FUN IS NOT ALLOWED, haha
you joke, but sometimes I question if my mini painting is on the line between fun and not-so-fun...
Also use me to mix your wash
My Tips: Work from the inside to outside and paint the hardest first. Hard to reach area? Start there. Hard to do eyes? Start there. Difficult skintones? Start there. It is easier to clean up around a challenging area than it is to try and get a brush in a crany/dot in pupils.
Zenithal prime your models (use both dark and light). This helps establish values, and gives more definition to the model. It aides in maximizing contrast and gives you a visual on where highlights and shadows are placed, and it is easy to do.
Great tips! Yeah, going for the hardest to reach parts first is a big time saver for fixing mistakes later.
....I don't know why I never thought to do pupils that way. Thank you so much and now I feel a bit silly.
Nice video to start the year with! Hope you guys continue with the amazing content in the months to come!
Thanks! We've got some awesome videos planned :)
This is going to be very helpful if I can finally get started this year. Thanks, fellas.
Nice! Good luck starting out!
@@MidwinterMinis Cheers, I will need it haha.
RE: Point #9, also look at games like AutoKill or Gaslands which use Hotwheels or Matchbox cars for their playing pieces. I customize a lot of Matchbox cars and they're a $1 to buy and easy to strip. They're cheap and fun to customize, and thus they're very stress-free to practice on. I only stress out on my Astartes...the Matchbox cars are a breeze. When you're painting post-apocalyptic vehicles there's no wrong way to do it--every car is a learning experience.
Yeah! Lots of people have been requesting Gaslands stuff, so we might have to look into it. Looks fun!
I think it's good to remember there is an ebb and flow to the quality of work you do. Sometimes you smash a paint job, but other times you feel like you're forcing yourself to put in lots of effort for something you might not be happy with. Also, paint for yourself, not for golden daemon or whoever contributes to the warhammer display cabinet. Paint until you are happy with what you have and be a little less focused on perfection.
That's definitely true! Sometimes I often find that - even right up until the end - I think it's going to be really bad, but then it turns out okay!
@@MidwinterMinis This was me with some Flayed ones. They looked like a dogs dinner up until about 15 minutes before I finished each one. Also, never knowingly buying resin models again if I can help it! :D
Tip 23 is the best! Love your channel and attitude! Happy new year to both of you!
Thank you Marco! Save the best 'til last, eh ;)
Fantastic tips Midwinter Minis :D Happy New Year and looking forward to seeing what this channel does in 2020 :D
Thanks mate! We're looking forward to it too :) WHAT WILL IT BRING?!
I painted a reaper bones frog demon once and downloaded no less than 30 pictures of different dart frogs and other colorful frogs and toads. It doesn't look as good as I wanted it to, but I guess that covers making mistakes and keeping old models too.
Nice tips you two! If you don't mind I have a tip that took me far too long to learn. Regardless how little time you have, 10 or 15 minute sessions really add up over a week or a month. A while back if I didn't have at least an hour to paint I didn't think it was worth while. Having kids now and not some care free idiot from the 90's, I'm amazed what I get done with ten minutes here and there.
Absolutely! A little bit here and there certainly adds up when you don't have lots of free time :)
You guys are smashing it. Great video
Also, happy new year 👍
Thank you Mark!
I have one bottle of expensive paint from reaper, other than that I've only painted with cheap acrylic paints that's where learning to thin your paint is most important that and metallics show better on black primed plastics in my personal experience/opinion.
Brush gently is my top tip.
Washes and drybrushing are instant masterpieces but don't rely on them.
Yeah! Using cheap paints certainly makes you appreciate techniques more than relying on materials.
Shout out to Dana howl. I'm blown away by her work as well as her video editing.
Dry humour, smooth transitions, the best combo
There's also cheap minis like reaper to train on if you don't want to paint toys. Don't be like me and go for a 70$ creature caster right away. That one is sitting on my shelf til I feel ready
I'd love to get a Creature Caster thing one day!
Tip number two is actually used in paint R&D. Look up Leneta 1B and/or 7B panels, they are just like the primed board and are used for the same thing!
For the price of a branded citadel painting handle thingy, you can go down to your local supermarket and pick up a bag of plastic shot glasses. Light, recyclable/reusable, and the perfect thing if you want to get through a line of boyz quick and on the cheap.
Some great tips...happy new year guy & penny
Thank you Stewart!
love the video... but now i need to learn how to paint that dinosaur.... love the color scheme!
"keep your workspace organized" that's the hardest part for me in the email...most everything else I got down....but that's my new year's resolution!! LUL ... well procrastination and notating my idea/formulas...those are lifelong battles
I'm literally typing this as I take a break from tidying my messy, messy desk.
I like to make custom bases for my minis and use them as practice for a lot of techniques. Things like practicing edge highlighting on rocks or dry brushing dirt goes a long way.
That's a great idea, I'm definitely a fan of making your own bases too :)