Acrylic craft paints of different brands.

Oil paints and various high-quality acrylics.

Most craft paints come in small plastic bottles with a squirt cap. Shake up the bottle of paint before using it. One trick is to remove the lid of the bottle and dip your brush into the lid instead of into the bottle. There will be plenty of paint adhering to the inside of the lid for most of your painting needs. If you run out, simply replace the lid, shake vigorously, and open it again. It is a good idea to wet your brush before painting. If you are using non-toxic thinner (water) and paint (acrylics), clean or wet your brush in fresh water, then suck on the end of the brush while withdrawing from between your lips. This will rid the brush of excess water and form a nice point on the bristles. If you don't get a nice point, or if the bristles are bent or suffer from a few stray hairs, you should re-assign that brush to the "craft" brush pile and break out a new brush. Usually you can use the paint straight from the bottle without thinning it, and one coat is enough. However, you may find with some lighter colors (e.g. butternut, light gray, or white) you may need two coats over black primer. If so, try thinning the paint a bit for the second coat. This will prevent too much paint from building up and obscuring the fine details.

Painting does not require talent but it does require practice and patience. First, don't try painting details like buttons, mustaches, and shoulder insignia when you are tired. Also, you may find your hands are steadier if you haven't had caffeine in a while (a surgeon friend of mine says he never drinks coffee before performing an operation).

You will want a comfortable, well-lit workplace to allow you to do your best work. Good lighting is imperative. Natural light is best, or buy the "true light" lightbulbs or a good quality natural light lamp (e.g. Ott).

Example of a miniatures workshop (cramped, but well lit!)

Hand position is important. The ideal is to reduce any unwanted motion between the brush and the miniature, and your hands will be more steady if they are held together and your arms are not extended. Hold the craft stick containing the miniatures between the thumb and index finger of your left hand and place your right hand (holding the brush) in the palm, or against the fingers of your left hand. Rest your forearms on the edge of a table, or hold them in against your body.


Good quality brushes are a must. You don't need to spend a ton of money, but expect to pay a few dollars or more per brush. Windsor & Newton Series 7 are the best quality brushes made, but will cost you $15-20 a piece. If you can afford these, by all means treat yourself but save your best brushes for the finest details such as mustaches, painting plaids, etc. Cheaper brushes that are adequate for most painting needs. Buy a variety of sizes, from about size 1 down to 3/0 or so. You will also find cheaper "craft" brushes useful for drybrushing and utility work like applying glue or brushing excess away flocking.

Brushes (Plaid brand economy packs on left, Windsor & Newton Series 7 on right).

Most people assume that a magnifying glass is required to paint miniatures. The skill in painting fine details has more to do with having a steady hand than it does with having microscopic vision. I have never found those big lighted magnifying lens to be very useful, in fact they generally get in the way. Looking through a single large lens provides a somewhat distorted view since light passes through the lens through slightly different paths on the way to your two eyes. Binocular magnifying glasses like those used by jewelers can be purchases at some sewing stores. These work much better, but are expensive and can be annoying to wear for long periods. Inexpensive reading glasses found at discount and drug stores work very well, and provide some protection to your eyes. When buying them, follow the instructions at the counter and buy the weakest strength that your eyes allow.

Always wear some kind of eye protection when working on your figures. This may sound like overkill, but you will be holding your work close to your face, and it is just too easy to break off the tip of a sharp knife and have it end up in your eye.

While there are many techniques and styles, the general idea is to paint from the "inside out." This means paint recessed areas first, then raised areas. Faces, hands, and other exposed flesh are painted first. Next, paint clothing (trousers, shirts, and coats) or armor. Then paint hair, hats or helmets, webbing, backpacks, belts, rucksacks, boots etc. Lastly, paint weapons. Swords and bayonets may be scraped clean of primer instead of painted.

Faces and hands should be painted, of course, to represent the army being modelled. For most armies you can start with "flesh" (which is generally too light for any human race) and add other colors to tint it darker. Burnt Sienna or brown works well. Native Americans, Asians, Arabs, etc. of course will be darker than most Vikings, British, or other peoples of Northern-European origins. Be careful not to fall victim to stereotypes -- Native Americans are not red and Chinese are not yellow any more than Germans and English are white. For darker-skinned peoples, use various shades of brown.

When painting faces and hands, don't worry about getting too much paint on sleeves, helmets, etc. You will be painting over these later anyway. At 15mm scale, you don't need to paint eyes, mouths, or sometimes even hair -- these will stand out after a wash is applied later.

Faces and hands painted.

Paint uniforms the color that is correct for the army being portrayed. Keep in mind that very few historic armies really dressed and were equipped in a "uniform" manner. Invariably soldiers in the field made modifications to what they wore, or substituted with whatever handy to replace lost or destroyed clothing and equipment. This is particularly true of armies that have been in the field for a long time,or for poorly-equipped or -supplied armies. Therefore, don't hesitate to paint the occasional figure differently from the bulk of your army. For example, dark blue Federal-issue paints on the odd Confederate soldier, dark green Navy uniform on one or two figures in a Japanese Army regiment, etc.

In choosing colors for an army you have never painted before, it is a good idea to paint a couple of figures completely before you invest time in an entire army. If you don't like the results, you can adjust as needed. For example, you may not be happy with the shade of red you used for the British redcoats, or the black boots on the Confederate infantry may stand out too much. Write down the colors you use at each step so that you can reproduce the same paint job in the future.

The amount of detail you paint depends on the scale you choose and your personal preference. One trick is to find a good color drawing in a reference book (e.g. Osprey Men-at-Arms series), prop it up, and walk away to a distance such that the size of the figure in the drawing appears the same size as one of your miniatures held a foot or more in front of your eyes. Whatever detail you can see on the drawing should be painted on your miniature. At 15mm, this will likely extend up to backpacks, sword scabbards, blanket rolls, cap bills, etc. but will not include most insignia, eyes, belt buckles, trigger guards, etc. At 25mm, you may end up painting teeth, buttons, rifle bands, etc. Again, this is pretty much up to personal choice, and you will need to balance the detail you paint against the desire to eventually field a miniature army while still keeping your day job.


When you are pleased with your paint job, it is time to apply a wash while they are still temporarily mounted on the craft sticks. Mix equal parts of water and acrylic floor polish and add a few drops of dark paint. Alternately, you can add a drop or two of liquid dishwashing soap to plain water. The color of paint you choose somewhat depends on the dominant color of the army you have painted, but brown or black usually work best. The idea is to produce a wash that looks like very muddy water. Dip the figures directly in the wash or apply it heavily with a brush. Don't worry about how they look now -- when the wash dries it will be less noticeable. Again, experiment a little on a few figures to make sure you like the effect before committing your entire army.

Alternatives to the floor polish method include artist inks and the "miracle dip" method. Artist's inks can be used straight from the bottle as a wash. Different colors can be used to wash base paints of different colors (e.g. green ink to wash a green cloak, blue ink to wash blue trousers, etc.). This has always seemed like a lot more work than I care for at 15mm scale, but you might find it worthwhile at larger scales.

Windsor & Newton inks.

The "miracle dip" method works quite well and can produce results similar to to the floor polish method. Using a one-step wood stain and polish (e.g. Minwax in dark shades) simply dip the craft stick, miniatures and all, into the stain and let it drain for a bit back into the can. Place the dipped stick on several layers of newspaper and allow to dry completely. You may need to remove excess stain that collects in the crook of the arm or the crown of a hat, for example, but don't worry too much since the effect of the stain will be much less dramatic once dry. The only major disadvantage of this method is the need to use petroleum-based thinner and cleaner for the stain, but otherwise it works very well.

There are commercially prepared washes available, too, which work quite well, like "Black-It-Out" by The Detailer.

"Black-It-Out" Detailing Liquid (wash)

You may want to experiment with giving your figures a light coating of matte spray before applying a wash. Bare acrylic paint, even when dry, seems to absorb some of the wash and become darker or even muddy-looking. This may be fine for dusty, battle-worn Marines or Confederates, but not so great for a colorful Hundred Years War army arriving fresh to a battle.

Let the wash dry completely. At this point you may decide to drybrush your figures. Armies in darker uniforms (German field gray, Union blue) tend to look better with a little drybrushing, as do weapons (cannon, machine guns). Figures in metallic armor or lighter-colored uniforms generally don't need drybrushing. Use a lighter shade of the base color, or simply white paint, thinned with water. Dampen the brush first. Dab the brush in the paint and then repeatedly on a clean surface (like your hand) until very little paint is left on the brush. Now, lightly pass the brush over the figure, using long strokes in one, downward direction only, until the highlights on the figure show up. Do not overbrush, or your figure will look like it leaned on a freshly-painted whitewashed fence.

Now it is time to seal and protect your hard work. You can opt for either a glossy finish or a flat finish. A glossy finish emphasizes the "toy" nature of the miniatures while a flat finish looks more lifelike. Take your pick. Do not over-apply the clear coating, and let it dry overnight before handling.

Your figures are now completely painted, and ready to be moved from their temporary setting on the craft stick to a permanent home on a base.

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