How to Paint Miniature Figures Using Oil Paint
Painting miniature figures is a favorite hobby of gaming and history enthusiasts. This allows you to put a personal touch on models that can help you build your collection. Oil paints, while more difficult to work with initially than water-based paints, are an ideal material for this purpose. With oil paints, there is no need to wait for the paint to dry to blend or shade your miniatures properly.
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Things You'll Need
- Oil paints
- Sandable primer
- Thin-tipped round brushes
- Thin-tipped angled brushes
- Oil medium
Instructions
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Choose an oil paint designed specifically for hobby painting purposes. These oil paints are available in most arts and crafts stores.
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Select several different thin-tipped paintbrushes for miniature painting. By nature, miniatures are small and thus require thin brushes. Choose an angled brush that will allow you to easily curve your brush into the corners and edges of your miniatures. Also choose several round brushes in varying sizes to use your paint-stippling technique.
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Apply a primer to the entirety of your miniature. This primer should be in a plain white base color or in a color similar to the actual paint color you will use. Choose a primer that can be sanded once it is dried to smooth out any unevenness.
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Mix your base color with an oil medium. For some, this is a matter of preference. An oil medium will thin out your paint and make it easier to work with and will shorten drying time. However, using oil paint without a medium is better for shading and blending your colors.
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Refrain from using too much oil paint at a time. In fact, the less paint you use, the better. To avoid wasting your paint, try dipping just the tip of your brush directly into your paint tube and use immediately.
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Use a stippling technique to help lessen the appearance of brushstrokes. A stippling technique involves dipping a dry brush lightly into the oil paint and gently tapping your miniature with your paint. Repeat until you have covered your surface.
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Apply your shadowing and blending colors while your oil paint is still wet. Oil paints take a long time to dry, which allows you plenty of opportunity to perfect your blending before your project is complete.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit soldatini di piombo image by giuseppe fulciniti from Fotolia.com
