Use these 5 painting tips to instantly upgrade your painting with the latest eBay Miniatures Rescue tutorial!
eBay Miniature Rescues is a unique channel that shows you how to take beat up, damaged minis, and restore them to their fullest potential! It’s a relatively new channel on YouTube and it’s super fun to watch what Casey is able to do with some once hopeless miniatures. Be sure to check out all his stuff here!
This week, he shows us some tips on how to paint better with some easy steps!
5 Painting Tips to Upgrade your Painting: eBay Miniatures Rescue
The Mini
Neyam Shai Murad from the Black Stone Fortress Box set is going to be the mini he is working on today. Let’s see how he transforms it. He will also be actually painting the mini while giving tips, so the tips will also have the stages of painting in it as well.
Tip #1
Pick a mini you actually like! Then go online and look at color schemes for reference. Try to find a reference that is better than what you think you can do. This way you can use a roadmap to get better. Following how they paint will make you a better painter naturally. Having a reference just makes everything that much easier. Or you can just always watch a tutorial on how to exactly do it! Kind of like this channel…
Before we get into the second tip he strips the mini to get it ready for painting. Then he does a quick base coat with Synylrez Grey Primer and puts some sand on the base.
Tip #2
Use a Wet Palette! This will improve your painting the next time you sit down. It keeps your paint from drying out, mixing colors easier, and just all-around easier. This step will aline make you better.
He starts with the airbrush and uses two Citadel Oranges in it, he starts darker and slowly moves to the brighter shade. He hits the cloak the entire mini with it in a few passes. Once he’s satisfied with that, he then uses Mephiston Red and hits the cloak and mini from the bottom. Then he does a quick base coat with a Medium Bright Silver from Vallejo. He just does a good basecoat on all the metal with a brush. Then he does the same type of basecoat on all the skulls and pants with Zandri Dust. After that, he uses Kislev Flesh and Cadian Flesh for the face. Lastly, he paints the gloves and straps with Black.
Tip #3
This is a bit of a two-parter. First, you have to thin your paints. When your paint is flowing properly from your brush it will be more detailed and easier to fix mess-ups. Part two of this one is, the cleaner you paint, the better your mini will look. So when you make mistakes, go back and clean them up. Don’t rely on a wash to fix it for you.
Next, take Nuln Oil and Drakenhof Nightshade and mix them 50/50. Go over all the metal for a good wash here. Once dry he goes over the mini again but uses it more like a glaze this time.
Tip #4
Use your washes with a purpose! Make sure it goes into the areas you want to be darker, not just thrown on willy nilly. Wick-it off it goes to areas you don’t want, don’t let it destroy the nice coats of paint you already put down. A good wash can finish a model in most cases.
Tip #5
Don’t be afraid of your airbrush! Even if you’re in the middle of a paint job. Take risks and use them as often as possible. You have to use it for more than base coating if you’re going to get the most out of it! The more you use your hobby tools, the better you will get with them!
From here, he highlights the mini using the picture as a reference. It will take some time to get the look you want, but it will make you better. He just goes back and forth from the guide to the mini until he has the look he wants. Make sure to utilize your wet palette here often and just stay patient. A lot of times we hit a plateau with painting, trying to replicate a better paint job will help you breakthrough. The final semi-point is this. Stay patient, don’t compare yourself to other painters, and just keep improving!
His 5 Miniatures Painting Tips Lead to this Mini
That does it for this one! They turned out awesome and he feels like he got better! He wants to leave you with one last thought, just be good to one another!
Watch the full video, and be sure to follow eBay Miniature Rescues on YouTube now!
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Joined: 2019
Socials: @paschbass
Bio: Dark Eldar Dracon and Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the third edition in 1998. He also loves camping because you can only paint so much! He joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the main daily writer since 2020.
Maybe one day, he’ll finish converting all his Ad Mech models and turn into a true tech enjoyer, complete with sad and happy robot noises!
