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Who will find this article useful?

Anyone who wants to be able to use thin paint built up in progressive layers to achieve a smooth clean finish using acryllic hobby paints. This technique is an advanced technique that is the foundation for creating show-quality paint jobs.

Note that I said The foundation.

This technique, combined with an awareness of “light-sourcing” is what is used by many contemporary miniature painters to accomplish smooth, realistically painted miniatures. Ever heard of NMM (Non-Metallic Metal)? Thinned paint is necessary to achieve good results with NMM.

Definitions/Concepts:
Thin Paint: Paint that has been diluted with water, blending medium, faux glaze medium, flow-aid, flow-extender, or anything else that someone has suggested you use to improve your paints performance.

Surface: A prepped and primed surface ready for the application of paint. In this article, the miniature. If you are housepainting, your wall. If you are painting a landscape, the canvas.

Component: Gloves, Jacket, Tabard, Flesh, Boots, Feather, Pouch. Distinct parts of the miniature that you’ll be painting.

Basecoat: The first color that you put on your surface (miniature). Some folks basecoat with the lowest shade. Some basecoat with the mid-tone.

Shade/Shadow: The lowest value color per component. The act of applying the lowest value color to the component.

Highlight: The highest value color per component, The next highest value color per component. The act of applying the highest/next highest value color per component.

Glaze: Paint that has been diluted to the point that it is translucent. Glazes are used to shift the existing color of the surface (miniature). They are also used to smooth a transition between layers of different values.

Thinner: Your preferred dilutant; any combination of water, extender, flow-aid, and mediums.

Wash: A mixture of paint used to darken recessed areas on the surface (miniature). Depending on who is using the term, the use of the wash could be controlled (Carefully placed) or uncontrolled (Slathered on). As such, I avoid using the term without clarifying it.

Value: For the purpose of this article, how much light the color does or does not reflect. Mustard Yellow has a lower value than Canary Yellow. Black has no value, white has the highest value.

Synthetic vs. Sable: Use brushes that you can afford AND maintain. There are several significant difference between Sable and Synthetic brushes. Sable brushes provide more “give” when applied to the surface (miniature); Synthetic brushes provide more bounce. Synthetic brushes have a tendency to “curl”. While careful care may stave this off, it is rare to prevent it completely. Curling is usually caused by one of two things; brush age, or residual paint on the bristles (the residual paint constricts as it dries). Good Synthetic brushes are CHEAPER than Good Sable brushes, but if you take care of your Sable brush(es), they will last longer and perform better. I use Synthetic for fast blocking-in (figures) or drybrushing (bases or terrain). I use Sable for any painting that requires fine control.

NMM: Non-Metallic Metal (Another way of saying really cool highlights & layers used to make things look like reflective/polished metal)

Fuzzy Primer: Primer that looks fuzzy or feels “crumbly” to the touch. When you apply your paint, the paint soaks IN to the primer and the “fuzz” maintains the primers original color… or at least hints at it.

Main Article

Assumptions: I’m going to assume that you have your miniature cleaned of all mould lines,assembled, and primed. DO NOT attempt these techniques if you have excessive mould lines or if your primer does not evenly or consistently coat your figure. Fuzzy Primer is the antithesis of this technique. There are ways to compensate, but this is article has been composed with the assumption that you’ve got a well prepped miniature. If you do not use primer, YMMV (your mileage may vary).

What consistency should you thin your paint to? That depends on whether or not you are blocking-in the area with your basecoat, highlighting or shading. With a basecoat, you should get the paint as thin as you can get it WITHOUT disrupting it’s ability to evenly pigment your surface. With shading and highlight, you should practice getting the paint as thin as you can get it WITHOUT losing control. Once you’ve done that, you will be able to hone everything in between with experience/practice. Below are explanations about what that means and how to become familiar with your paints:

Thin and even (Basecoating): Load your brush with your newly thinned paint, Paint a dash/line on a flat white piece of paper. Let it dry. Do you see texture? If so, perhaps more thinning. Do you see splotches? If so, perhaps less thinning. Do you see uneven coverage across the majority of the brush-stroke? If so, it’s too thin. Did the paper wrinkle from the moisture? If so, you should consider reducing the ratio of thinner to paint. Experiment with the same color until the majority of the surface (paper) you cover, per-stroke, is even.

Keeping Control: Load your brush with your newly thinned paint, Paint a smooth circle, Did the surface tension of the paint break and allow the paint to run or expand past your intended target? Yes? It’s too thin. Does the circle show texture? Yes? It’s a bit thick. Is the paper just at the edge of the circle wet/dark? Probably too much thinner

Did you get a smooth surface on your circle? Yes? Great! No? Were you able to push the pigment before it dried to even out the coverage? No? Try again with more and less thinner until you can.

Next will be the additional challenge of painting on a 3-D surface. Fold a piece of paper like an accordian. Test your newly thinned paint by drawing it along the edge of a peak. Is the paint travelling into the folds? Yes? Too thin No? Probably just right; look for texture and consistency problems to be sure.

Again, play around with paint consistency and brush angles. Alter one variable at a time. Super Thin paint & brush handle perpendicular to the fold. Super Thin paint & brush handle at a 45 degree angle to the fold. Super Thin paint & brush handle lined up with the fold. Thin paint & brush handle perpendicular to the fold. Observe and remember how the paint behaves. Observe the coverage of the paint. Observe the texture of the paint.

Once you’ve taken enough time, you’ll have a fairly good idea about how the color you’ve been working with performs. If you really want to improve, you’ll repeat this exercise with EACH color that you’ve got. There is a widespread misconception that all colors within a single paint line should behave the same. This is simply not true. While many synthetic lines increase the likelyhood that all of your paints (within a line) have similar characteristics, don’t count on it. LEARN YOUR PAINTS!

A few more random pieces of information:

When painting, observe how much time it takes for a layer to completely dry. Paint layers dry top-down. There is a point that the paint will look dry, but has not yet adhered to the the previous layer. It is at this point that an errant brush-stroke will break the dried surface enough to create texture and spoil coverage. If there is a magic formula to calculate the time; I don’t have it. Paint brand, thinner, your locale, the locale’s climate, temperature, air-flow, and humidity are all factors that I know contribute to the time. I’m sure that there are a few more.

Some sealer’s are actually clear primers. As such, thin coats of sealant can protect your investment (of time), and essentially give you a fresh start with a smooth surface…. or at least a re-juvinated one. If you do use a sealer as you go, be aware that it will eventually fill in and/or round-out the detail on the figure. Be careful if you are working on a competition level piece. You can overuse this trick.

Final technical information that I’m spelling to increase the value of this article:

As you thin paint, you run into the risk of altering it’s chemical composition. If you do thin the paint too much, it’s pigment will not distribute evenly within it’s medium AND on the surface you are covering. Additionally, there is some potential that the change in chemical composition will create clumps or grains that mar your painting surface. Finally, when you use flow improvers and/or extenders, the time it takes each layer to dry may be considerably longer than you are used to or longer than you want to wait. You can increase your work area temperature, decrease it’s humidity, or increase the air-flow to reduce it somewhat. If you find that it is still taking too long, consider reducing or dropping the use of your extender/slow-dry.

Finally, if you found any of this article useful OR useless, drop me a line, or leave a comment. Either way, it will help me improve this article. Thank You!

Filed under: Miniature Painting by ixminis