painting minis

I see some nice paint jobs. But how do you paint those really tiny rectangles
indicating surface sections?
How do you get those beautifully straight lines?   Someone
mentioned professional/technical pens but are there other
ways? Tape or does that pull off paint?

Glen

> Glen wrote:

If the mini already has a relief of raised/sunk panels you can use a
wash of thinned paint/ink (mostly thinner with just a little paint).
Paint this over the whole surface and then clean off with paper towel or soft
cloth. The panel edges will retain some of the paint. Try first on some
not-so-important model until you get the hang of it.

Greetings Karl Heinz

There is such a thing as painting tape, designed for painting house interiors,
which is supposed to come up without lifting paint, but a) I don't know if it
would work for acrylic paint, which is what I use, and b) I don't know that it
would be worth the bother on something as small as a mini. A couple of bucks a
roll from your hardware store.

[quoted original message omitted]

> I see some nice paint jobs.

This can be much easier than it seems. You'll need a fairly small brush for
this, but not too tiny as it will need to hold some paint. Select the raised
bit or panel you wish to pick out. Load your brush with paint and barely touch
it to the center of the area you wish to paint. The paint will be drawn off
the brush by contact. Now edge you brush around the surface, keeping that very
light contact. Because the brush is "high" on the model, the paint won't slop
onto adjacent panels. With a little bit of practice, you'll becaome adept at
working the paint into the corrners and edges by moving the brush around the
surface. Remember, let the surface contact draw the paint off the brush for
you; don't attempt to "paint" it.

> How do you get those beautifully straight lines? Someone

A tape mask can work, but unfortunately on figures with as many surface bumps
as GZG figs no mask will be perfect, and there's bound to be some "slop."
Unfortunately, getting a really straight line takes some patience. There are
many techniques: 1) Masking 2) Drawing a line on the figure with a pencil to
serve as a guide 3) Winging it No matter what technique you start with, the
key is how you deal with the inevitable "mistakes." What has worked for me is
to touch up one side of the line, then the other, back to the first side, and
so on until I'm pleased with the result. It helps to thin your paint slightly
for this so you don't get a "raised" line from paint buildup.

Hope this helps,

> "slop." Unfortunately, getting a really straight line takes some

I normally paint the two main colors, then go back with a black felt tip pen
or something similar and cover the line where the colors meet.

Here's something I've heard rumor of, and I'm not sure where I heard it.
Blue-Tack (the sticky stuff used to put up posters rather than tacks)
can be used to mask miniatures. I don't see why you couldn't use this method
to do lines even on an irregularly shaped model. Prime your model. Paint in
your
rough lines, over-size them and allow them to dry thoroughly  Roll out a
bit of
Blue-Tack (snake like) to your desired thickness and size.  Affix the
Blue-Tack
snake to the model atop your rough line. Paint up the rest of the model and
then remove your Blue-Tack.  If the rumor is true you ought to have a
reasonable line.

"Chris DeBoe" <LASERLIGHT@QUIXNET.NET> on 07/26/2000 09:04:34 AM

Please respond to gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU

To:   gzg-l@CSUA.Berkeley.EDU
cc:    (bcc: Aron Clark/AM/Avid)
Subject:  Re: painting minis

> "slop." Unfortunately, getting a really straight line takes some

I normally paint the two main colors, then go back with a black felt tip pen
or something similar and cover the line where the colors meet.

> I normally paint the two main colors, then go back with a black felt

A technical pen does the same thing, and produces a more even line.

> Here's something I've heard rumor of, and I'm not sure where I heard
can be
> used to mask miniatures.

Yes, but you need to be careful it doesn't leave and icky residue, especially
if you plan to paint more over the masked area!

> I see some nice paint jobs.

Try the masking sheets that are used for masking photographs, etc.
when doing airbrush touch-ups. It will not even lift acrylic paints
off of glossy photographic paper. The hard part will be to cut it, all you
need is one straight line, as the mask can be reused.

I wish I remembered the name of the stuff. I have a large piece of it right
behind me. It will be either clear, blue or red (at least all the stuff I've
seen) and is translucent.

Hope this helps,

> Try the masking sheets that are used for masking photographs,

Sounds like an adhesive-backed mylar?

> At 09:37 PM 7/26/00 -0400, you wrote:

It's called Frisket Film, I believe.

That the stuff! Thanks!

> It's called Frisket Film, I believe.