The EASIEST Way To Paint Miniature Figures
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2022
- My friends, tonight we'll look at a figure painting technique so easy it feels like cheating! It's nothing new in the miniature painting world, but it might be a game-changer for armor and diorama modelers.
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Music: Quincas Moreira - Scratch the Itch - RUclips Audio Library 
Хобби
I'm returning to modeling after an absence of 42 years--I'm now retired. Part of my career was as a technical trainer (electronics, computers, s/w, processes), and this session is close to being a masterpiece. I learned so much about a topic where my knowledge and skills are literally at zero. Broad expanses of armor, wings, and hulls are a piece of cake, but this stuff is a true art form, and I feel blessed by the skill level you bring to the subject. Your knowledge is excellent, but your presentation skills, especially with commentary, are outstanding. I had a little difficulty with the accent at first, but caught on quickly, and I liked this whole segment so much I had my wife watch it just for the sheer entertainment value, and even SHE loved it! Kind of like the first time I heard Led Zeppelin in 1968. I'm a fan!!! It comes across as a true labor of love Mr. Kovac!
ha ha right on. I cant draw or free hand / paint canvas at all but for some reason I can do models decent and im learning faster and getting better at then I thought I would. Because in life im a slow learner witch surprised me. It gets even funner the more you do it thus the better you get. I paint warhammer 40k myself but Im a history nerd so id love to do some tanks down the road. After the Ukraine counter offensive mybie a challenger 2 or leapord we will have to see ! Enjoy your retire ment 42 year is a hudge tour lol
Really well said, I am retired and more into historical or fantasy dioramas in 1:18th scale but don't have years of miniature painting experience. I can do horses because I spent much of my life around them, drawing them and collecting and painting models of them but, the human face is just impossible, so I am eager to try this method.
As a recently reborn modeler, I echo your comments entirely. Just started my first kit this century (literally). I wasn't going to include any figures, but seeing this makes me think I could give it a whirl.
Holy moly, that white paint on the black layer just adds a whole nother dimension to the figure and it just looks so freaking COOL
With regards to the zenithal highlight technique, I've found that using a very dark brown/coffee base coat and an eggshell/cotton highlight coat helps with the starkness of the effect. Essentially, it gives yo a warmer base to work with which makes both cloth (particularly what is supposed to be natural fibers) and skin look less dead.
I agree. I find the best colour for the base coat is simply a darker version of whatever the glaze/filter would be (so in this case, it would be a dark olive) and not actual black. As usual though, I can't argue with the results that Martin gets! :-)
I can see how that would be ideal, but using black and white primers is probably quicker and more efficient than specifically finding fitting primers for every single unique figure...
@@ArenBerberian you do not need to look for matching primer just add additional cover with darker base colour (e.g. base colour with black) and do the zenithal highlight with white/ white tinted with base colour. I do not think it is much more effort. Nevertheless, you may use it only for faces to remove the "sicknes" just use dark skin tone for a whole batch of heads in your army:) additionally drybrushing hairs is great way to highlight them effectively.
Great idea
I was thinking the same thing.
I find when pre-shading skin tones, if I use a dark red instead of black I get much more realistic shading.
I use Vallejo Back Red (I think) or Hull Red mixed with a drop of German Grey
Redess Brown
As a modeler that just started into this hobby about 6 months ago and started with planes, I out of my zone and started on some armor. Night Shift has taught me a ton and this video was very informative for me in learning the miniature side of the hobby. Thanks again and what great work this is. All your videos are awesome.
I love how dynamical your work, and your channel is. You go all the way from spending 70hrs on chipping Tiger to basically speedpainting minis. Amazing that each of your models is not just "another one" but rather a journey to try and teach completely new techniques.
You make everything look easy in this hobby! But seriously, this is so helpful for painting figures. It’s so simple and looks like so much fun. :)
I love the fact that you're putting figures with your models now and you seem to be enjoying figure painting now which is a plus!
Thank you for this video I'm going to be working on my 1/32 scale He-219 and I have a resin maintenance crew, aircraft crew, and weapons loaders and this will definitely come in handy when I paint them
Gosh, If you ever do a diorama for this thing, I just feel it would fit best on a slope in a tall grass field, ever since the start of this build and seeing the turret so far tilted up I could just picture it. Doing something like a tall grass field would be a joy to see you figure out, as I've always wanted to do one of my own, and I really feel it would be an awesome change of pace.
After many minis painting tutorials watched, I must admit this is one of the best and most pleasurable. I like the way you talk on the video. It has some storytelling in it. "Let's go on painting adventure. 12 minutes. You and me. No risk man, just fun"
Just what I needed! this is actually a nice way for painting anything with brushes :D Going to try it over the weekend
Amazing how I just started buying figures for upcoming dioramas, and rewatched older videos of your figures… just for this video to come out today. Wonderful work! Glazing method seems to give the most control with the best outcome.
I've been getting ready to start tackling some figures myself. THANK YOU for putting this out. This will be a game changer for me!
That`s so amazing - I never thought about a black basic colour, before I started watching your videos. But concerning a "fake shadow" in areas, where one might miss some colour when paintig a model, this was the best idea ever. Thank you very much for this!
I just wanted to say that I enjoy every one of your videos and that they have helped me immensely in my builds. Some things that I thought I could never do you have made me understand how to and I have actually been able to pull the techniques off. Groundwork is an Achilles heel of mine and I will be doing one for a current build I have and I will be using your groundwork techniques step by step. Thanks for helping me and many others.
Martin, thank you so much for this. I know there are a multitude of other channels etc dedicated to figure painting but, I never been able to"get it". Watching this today domething finally clicked and tonight I've tried this out on a couple of figures. I'm only 3 filter/glazes in and already there's an appreciable improvement in my figures. Thanks again.
As a long-time minature painter, I recommend switching out the Tamiya flat white for a white acrylic ink. It will reduce speckling dramatically. I'm not a great airbrush painter, so I use it thinned 50:50 to be more forgiving, but that is not necessary.
I'll give this a go! Speckling can indeed be an issue.
I've found the opposite to be better and sticking with flat white thinning flat white 1:8 thinner at 28psi/1.8bar. The ink is too glossy which doesn't help with paint adhesion and doesn't build up as smooth a transition.
Specifically Liquitex white ink. Other brands I've used in the past have speckled just like paint. I think Liquitex uses much finer pigments.
+1 for Liquitex although it is not in anyway a robust color. It will rub off from handling even when dry.
In this particular case I'd say that the texture from the speckling actually gives it a more realistic look.
Nice video Martin. Yes glazing is a great way to go. Keeping that preshade is key to achieving good results. Lots of layers to blend those transitions. Great stuff!
This technique gives great results and seems easy to master, something good for the average modeler. I sometimes use a similar technique, utilizing glazes to soften the shadows and hilights on the figure. Excellent video, thanks for sharing! 👍
Awesome. I was also aware of zenithal highlighting, and props to you Martin for making the jump from table-top to scale models. The process you’re using here make such sense, and whilst I’ve done the thinning/glazing thing, it’s only when you said ‘yo, it’s a filter’ did it click. Can’t wait to try this on my Brit RAC figures i got for my Border Model’s Crusader diorama. Thanks so much! By way of helping, I’d recommend looking up Squidmar’s video on using wet palettes. He talks about ‘loading’ the brush correctly for highlighting, and once you see what he’s talking about, it really helps with the whole ‘tide mark/brush stroke’ thing. Great stuff Uncle!
I would like to thank you, for showing us this method.
Tried it today, and it worked pretty well.
Never would have dared to paint in this way, but the result is surprising and looks very good.
Greetings from Belgium and thx for all your tutorials!
Phenomenal! The results are amazing and work excellent here. Never have I seen green done this well. Thanks!
Thanks for this. I have avoided moving forward with my armour build as I wanted to add figures to it (I'm not an armour builder really, just wanted to try something different). This video has given me something to try and hopefully give me something close to what I had envisaged.
Fantastic Tutorial🏆🏆🏆! I’ve known about this technique for years and have always used it, but your thinning of the paints like you showed is the key as well as the use of flow retardant. Patience and practice are the key to any of our skills, but this just re-enforces what can be done with a simple change. Very well done and thanks…
I've been using this technique lately, especially since I picked up the line of Pro Acryl's Transparent Paints; they go down and mix like regular miniature paints but they're transparent, perfect for over-zenithal techniques.
Thanks for the video, I have a few kits that have included figures on the backlog and it’s nice to see how other people do their technique and learn something new
Vallejo air are great (and extremely cheap) colors to thin down for glazing. Using a glaze medium instead of water is also very good. If you want really vivid colors you can use Games Workshops contrast paints (stupid expensive) in a thin layer (or straight from the can if that's the result you're looking for) and if you're advanced you can use other colors than black/white to glaze over. And if you're really really advanced you can mix metals into your glazes and get cool results.
If you want more advanced underpainting you can wash, drybrush, highlight or even weather your sketch before glazing it. Or between layers of glaze.
You made a great figure. It's a definate yay from here. Good and patient job as always.
Definitely yay! Darn that looks good. I'm looking at it mostly from lotr/warhammer figures perspective and it looks waay better than most techniques I've seen. Sure it can't be applied to everything, but all the textiles easily. Gotta try it, it really gives it that nice realistic shadow transition
Looking forward to traying this method. It will be my first try at a 1/35 scale figure - or any figure, for that matter. Thanks for the detailed tutorial.
I'll try it! When it holds up under magnification like in this video, you know you've done a superior job. Amazing figure and model!
Hey thank you!!! This is a hobby I am just starting to get into and have been a bit disappointed with my first few efforts. Going to give this a try with my next set of minis. The comments from everyone, also very helpful. Thanks folks....
Heck yeah I'm gonna give this method a whirl. Looks simple enough and with what limited figure skills I've developed thus far this should take my figures to the next level.
Trying this out right now on the aircrew for my 1/48 diorama and so far I like it. Only put on two coats so far, but the zenital shading is still showing through and if I can get them somewhere close to this, I’ll be stoked.
Hard to argue with these results. They speak for themselves. Ive been doing a 3 step zenithal (B/G/W). And while this helps get an smoother transition (less speckling), I really like your White over Black for higher contrast. This is basically a sketch prime for values and it really works with the glazing. I will be trying this out. Love this video. Thank you.
The results are excellent. I've been trying to get clarity on this method. You did well in answering. Thanks for sharing.
This looks great! I think that this face may be the best one you have made yet! The tanker looks amazing standing on the tank, the uniform green looks terrific!
Great tip, thank you for that movie. You can also use Glaze Medium to dilute the main paint, It will of course cause the paint will dry much slower, but is also eliminating "water" tension and will not allow to accumulate paint in drop shadow areas.
Your modelling and painting techniques are amazing! I have learnt so much.
Looks like a more economic technique like the standard procedure that you and I use. I will give it a try with the next figure. Thanks for this very instructive and illustrating video, Martin. 👍
This is a terrific demo and I will use this method on my figures. I mostly build planes but take breaks painting figures for my plane.
Amazingly simple yet a very nice end result! If I still had both of my eyes I would try this method for sure.
100% yay!!! Great tutorial Martin....love it! I have the characters from "Fury" to paint for my diorama. I will be using this technique. I've NEVER painted figures before & was always worried about my skillset for figures, this has given me the confidence to try. All the best......& thanks again
Incredible. Best technique and results I have encountered. Now to apply it myself.....
Outstanding job, great technique, I do like the final mud effects, realistic and superb!
I discovered your channel this year and have become addicted. You are such a huge inspiration. I am going to focus more on realistic and detailed work in 2024. Marry christmas and happy new year!
Dude, I just want to say thank you for sharing all of your tips, and your modeling journey. See you in the next one.
Brilliant, what a perfect method you’ve introduced! Well done!
Awesome video and a great use of the highlighting technique. The mini-painting folks often call this a 'zenithal' highlight, but it was definitely surprising to learn as an armour modeller making the shift into mini-painting. After some experimentation, I find that with faces, in particular, it can be useful to put them on an armature and eschew the white/black to instead use flesh tones in the same approach - I usually vary this a little as humans get suntanned skin where exposed to sun if exposed to sun frequently; clothing does not share this trait.
Similarly, I find that varying the type of white you use for the highlight spray from pure white to various sorts of off-whites allows you to create cool or warm highlights in addition to providing the same benefits as the pure white. Some glaze colours do better over a yellow highlight spray (red, orange).
fantastic results! I'm going to paint my Imperial Guard using these techniques someday, but if you want to beat me to the punch, I would definitely watch a video of you painting a squad or a IG tank (if you're into WH40K). This is way better than having to use 30 colors of paint to get roughly the same result and minimal blending required! Great job!
I'm starting new project today and I think I'm going to try this method on the model. Great video very helpful and informative
WOW !!! Very nice results. I will definitely be giving this method a try on my next figure 👍👍
Hi Martin: I would consider for the next figure a dark brown and a warm white for base and zenital highlight (airbrush steps). This way the glaze colors are warmer too, and so, more natural.
Thanks for this video I have over 50 of them to paint and a time line, I don’t want them to look terrible, assembling a factory line to get them done, thanks again
Thanks for the information. The figure looks great. I'm learning something from every figure painting video I watch. 👍👍
Interesting method of figure painting. I must experiment on a figure for myself to see how it works. Great work as usual Martin 🙂
I was skeptical at the start, but daaaaaaaammmmmmnnnnn! That is one fantastic result! Will be giving this a go.
Welcome to the world of miniature painting! Wargamers, and & table top miniature painters have been using glazing and pin-washing techniques for ages. Great video!
You’ve just solved my worries of figure painting 👌
Thank you for showing such a great technique , it has helped me a lot in my painting of figures .
Very good method, the figure turned out great. Painting figures has always been my Achilles heel. Thanks for sharing.
that is truly amazing, next time i build figures i will have a go at this method.
I like using the glaze's complimentary color in place of black - so for an olive drab, a red brown instead of black. Of course this can be challenging if the figure needs a bunch of different color glazes.
Really smart man! From an old dude that has layering thick coats of highlights and shading. This is very smart and looks great! Thanks for teaching an old dog a cool new trick!
Thank you for this video! My bf is getting back into military miniatures and this technique looks doable!!!!
OMG. Totally AWSOME way of painting. Will have to give your method a good go !!!!
I've watched uploads from many very talented modellers and their subjects be they tanks, aircraft or buildings are magnificent but they let themselves down with human figures. They always seem to be overdone with heavy shading particularly on faces making them almost cartoonish.
You have no such problem!
That figure is a sheer delight to see.👍
Thanks! I haven’t painted many miniature figures, but this technique looks great! I wouldn’t consider it “cheating”, as it produces great results. I think I’ll give this a try, though I may substitute a different technique for the airbrushing - I think you have steadier hands than me.. Awesome work!
Wish I had seen this just over a week ago. Almost finished on a 1/32 Mirage pilot and this would have helped so much with the face and hands. I'm not a figure guy and just did as well as I could at the time.
Yay, fantastic video, I'll try the metod on my next figure, thank's!
-Superbe , bravo, quelle maîtrise.... et quel plaisir de découvrir les évolutions de peinture. On en tire toujours quelque chose à essayer , merci pour ce partage .
Amazing result. I'll be sure to try it on my 35th scale 'Screaming Eagles'... never thought it would work although I use the same technique to paint wood on styrene or resin.
Hi Martin- this method looks awesome! Can't wait to try it!!!
Excellent job. I love the final results and thanks for sharing this.
Yes, this is the method I use on every one of my figures. One of the major benefits (apart from the simplicity) is the finish is VERY matt, on account of the glaze/filter being just a diluted watery wash. There's no need to try and blast the figure into "matt-ness" with a flat coat at the end. The white highlight spray should be heavily thinned, too. Anyway, great video, as always! :)
How do you make a glaze?
@liamfarnell6638 Just very thin paint. I just mix it with water, though some people use a purpose-made glaze medium (available from Vallejo, Ammo, AK etc). I find water works fine though. This is assuming you're using acrylics, of course. For an oil or enamel glaze, use thinners.
A very neat concept, I'll try it when I get an airbrush. You could also do a diorama that mimics a black and white photo from WW2.
Absolutely love it :) And perfect timing, as I'll be painting up some figures for a diorama soon as well haha. Also really puts into perspective how bloody huge tanks are....
Excellent video! I just used this method on 70mm figure and it worked beautifully! I think I'll just keep using this technique.
Thanks for your post. I was just wondering if the technique would work well with a 1/16 Tamiya Japanese aviator I'm starting on. Apparently the answer is "yes".
great video....great tips....I have quite a few figures built, waiting on paint....going to try this method....kudos
Very impressive, I may have to get back into model making, you've inspired me!
Aewsome paint work. Superb result 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👌🏾👌🏾👌🏾
Just got back in to painting and thank you so much as i have to relearn all this again 👍👍👍👍
Amazing vid ! I especialy like to use glazes on skin tones beacose i think that is easier to see the shadows and then slowly adding higlights. Thanks a LOT uncle !
The best tutorial I found so far (and I was looking for one a lot)
Looks good! Sheperd Paine mixed 6 different shades of each color he used. Clever as he was, I'm surprised he didn't use a black undercoat. Thanks for the video!
love your figure painting videos. Please post more in the future
thank you 🙏
I like this method, might give it a try myself, I don't like doing figures because they are hard to get right, but this will make it easier, thanks for sharing...
You are a painting Wizard..! Amazing job Uncle.
Fantastic result.It looks great.Compliment.
Nice technique👍
What a fantastic channel ,I'm totally new to the model world and came across this channel while looking for a beginners modelling Chanel.....had to subscribe
I absolutely love your work! Thank you for making Fridays the best day of the week. Could you build a T-34 or Strv 103 sometime? It would be really cool. Thank you, you’re the best
Superb video, Martin. Makes me want to paint some figures right away!
I love this technique. So realistic.
I've never tried my hand at painting miniatures, as yet. I've got some Tamiya US Infantry that are depicted in desert fatigues and wearing PASGT armor and using ALICE gear. Those fine details on all the rigging is the "fun" part.
Wow. Beautiful. Thanks as always for sharing!!
Looks great. I mostly paint fantasy and scifi stuff but I’m thinking I should pick up a few more of these nice realistic green/olive/khaki colours as they’re really nice
I will definitely try this when I get back into model making.
Amazing - really love the mud and the glaze!
Primera vez que veo un video tan didactico para pintar figuras para que queden realistas...felicitaciones gran video y muy didactico.
Saludos desde Chile
Magic. Thankyou! And I liked the cork idea too!