Discover our how-to tutorial guides for everything from painting and modeling to storing miniatures for games like Warhammer and more!
A little while ago I did a tutorial on my Pre-Heresy Iron Fists Army, but I left one model out- my Librarian. Today we’re going to take a look how I made him, and how you can make your own (as there is no model for the Power Armor Librarian right now- sad pandas) Back in the […]
Read More
The other day I was cutting up some bits, and a sweet conversion idea hit me outta the blue. Come see the custode conversion that appeared out of thin air.
Read More
Hey guys welcome back. Today I’m going to go over step by step how I painted up my Chaos Space Marine Death Guard models for an upcoming Apocalypse Game.It was really simple and took about 4-5 hours total for each squad of ten, which I thought for the end result was great. Keep in mind […]
Read More
Way back in the day before Pre-Heresy was “cool”, I attempted an ambitious project: a Pre-Heresy Iron Fists Army. Unfortunately for me, my painting skills weren’t quite up to the task and I couldn’t quite pull off painting yellow then. But I certainly had fun converting the army, and that’s all that counts. Eventually I went back and started painting them green for […]
Read More
It’s the age old question- Magnets how do they work? Some say magic, but I am almost 100% sure Tom Cruise has something to do with it. Regardless, they just work and its awesome! Today we have a Two-Fer for you, how to magnetize your Stormraven, and how to magnetize stuff in general. So back […]
Read More
I got a ton of response lately about the Looted Guard. Everyone seems to want to know how I did the chipped paint. Guess I’ve procrastinated long enough right? Time to get an article together on it. So without any further fuss, here’s your how to article on the Chipped Paint Effect! To start out I just painted […]
Read More
Here is a guest Painting “Guide” by Scottywon82. According to him it’s not really complicated enough to warrant the name, but I still like it. You can find Scottywon82 lurking about over on DakkaDakka most of the time, or harassing us at FTW Games 🙂 I really went for a simple look with the Prussians, […]
Read More
Since all the new Space Marine books came out with rules for Razorbacks armed with Twin Linked Assault Cannon turrets, there has been quite a high demand for that turret loadout. Unfortunately the only way to actually get one is the Land Raider Crusader / Redeemer kit for $66, a price which has made the turret go for […]
Read More
I remember the dark skies, the smell of brimstone and death hanging high almost as if to linger in the air. The year was 2003, the Chaos Space Marines were on the warpath, and it was good to be bad. Nowadays while the skies have cooled with the times (and their abomination of a “5th […]
Read More
I have to admit, the one thing hobby related that I have always shied away from was doing snow on bases. No clue why…. I can pin, sculpt, build stuff from scratch etc, but I always run screaming when it comes to doing snow. Why? I have no clue. I suppose it has to do with messing up and ruining a […]
Read More
I have to admit, the Stormraven kit really kicked my butt. Maybe I was just preoccupied with things around the shop, or just tired from the night before- either way I still managed to screw it up a bit. Regardless this kit is pretty cutting edge and it’s a blast to assemble. First off, when […]
Read More
This is another guest post by FTW Games regular Meeker. Like a lot of people around the shop, he got into Dystopian Wars recently. Read on to find out how he painted his Federated States of America Battlegroup, and feel free to catch up with him over at the Stony Point Refugee (SPR) Forums, Painting […]
Read More
Here’s a little article about updating terrain pieces you may have already, with some of the plastic kits Games Workshop has put out over the last few years. By combining old buildings and ruins with the new kits, you can make a fluid looking theme out of two different designs of terrain. I originally made […]
Read More
Okay so were back with part two of my Thunderwolf Cavalry of Khorne conversion. So now I had a great foundation to work from, and just need to add some arms and a head. I knew I wanted the model to be dynamic- either holding his weapon over his head, or swinging it to attack. […]
Read More
Hey guys hope everyone had a good weekend. I myself was quite the busy beaver, and managed to put the finishing touches on my Thunderwolf Calvary of Khorne conversion. I can’t wait to hit the table with it. Here is how I went about making it. When I began the project I started from the […]
Read More
This is a quick and easy method I use for the white warpaint on my orky vehicles. The base coat is a foundation color, which is great for going on over the blue paint of the hulls. Now you don’t have to get all fancy and neat and stuff, cause it’s the grots that are […]
Read More
I saw these guys the other day, along with the Ku’Gath model I posted earlier, and was really really impressed with them. The are brought to us by the same Nuglely genius; isotope99. This is his walk through of how to make plastic plague bearers (which if you are chaotic at heart like me, this […]
Read More
We’ve all issues with primer- whether it was too much, too little, flakes, or fuzzy paint it’s one of the most frustrating parts of the hobby. Mastering this basic technique is easy however- as the most common solution is to not prime your minis in high humidity. Also keep in mind the distance between the […]
Read MorePainting Warhammer miniatures is all part of the fun of the hobby! However, sometimes getting paint on those gray models can sometimes be a bit of a hurdle. So, here’s how to paint Warhammer miniatures, the tutorials you need, and plenty of inspiration. Plus, playing with painted armies just makes the game so much better, and if you’re going to a tournament, everything must be painted.
Whether you’re painting your thousandth mini and are just looking for some new tips or are painting your first Warhammer miniature, you can always keep learning. That’s one of the coolest parts of the hobby that you can see your progress in a very visual way, and playing games with fully painted armies is hugely appealing.
Over the years, there have also been huge improvements in the techniques, paints, and products. Most notably, airbrushing Warhammer miniatures have started to take over the painting scene, and it has a pretty steep learning curve. Still, when you start to understand it, airbrushing makes painting much faster and better.
Acrylic paints are the most commonly used for painting Warhammer miniatures, 3D printed miniatures, historical figures, and any RPG models. However, there are a ton of companies out there that make paint specifically for miniatures. Here are some of the best and why to pick what.
If you want to see all the paints tested against one another, check out a full comparison here.
If you’re playing Warhammer 40k, the Necrons take the top spot as the easiest to paint as they are just mainly metal and can be drybrushed silver for the majority of the paint job. For AoS, Stormcast Eternals are the easiest, as they are almost all armor, meaning no faces (generally), and the paint schemes are very simple.
The easiest way is to start putting paint on models. However, this is where test models come in. The best thing to do is buy some models you don’t care about too much, then you can test your paint schemes, what paints you like, etc… on those and not worry about how they come out.
We recommend finding a tutorial with the exact paint scheme you want for your models and trying to replicate exactly what you see. Eventually, you will be able to branch out but try to just copy what you see until you have the techniques down.
The first thing you want is good lighting! We recommend getting some lamps that can give you good light and get two of them so they don’t cast shadows on your models. After that, it’s best to decide on your paint scheme before you put any paint on the mini.
You decide the primary colors you want everything to be, making it easier to just fill them in. Then, the next thing you need to do is prime the miniature, there are a few ways to go about it, but you can paint on the primer, but using a spray can is generally the easiest way.
Then you can get into the painting; you want to start with your basecoat (the darker and primary colors of your paint scheme). Once you have the main colors blocked in, you can either use a wash paint or start highlighting. If you want to learn how to paint your first Warhammer miniature, check out an easy-to-follow tutorial here.
It’s not really hard, as painting is part of the hobby, and even if your miniatures don’t win any painting competitions, it’s all about putting paint on those gray models! With the insane number of tutorials out there, you can learn quite quickly how to get better and get those models on the table!
