Brent from Goobertown Hobbies challenged himself to finish a model a day for 13 days, but how much time should we spend painting a miniature?
Goobertown Hobbies is a great content creator who has interesting takes on the hobby. Whether it’s a collaboration with other hobby YouTubers or a challenge for himself, he has a broad range of topics he covers. His 13-day challenge was made in an effort to see how long should we each be spending on our minis? Let’s find out his thoughts!
How Much Time Should We Spend Painting a Miniature?
So, how exactly did he go about painting them all? He would first apply a black primer coat, followed by a standard zenithal highlight. After that, he would base all of the colors. This section would take him anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 hours. This also includes times he changed colors or did multiple coats. After that, he would take a break and let them dry. Once dry he would come back to apply a wash.
Once the wash dried he would come back for the finishing touches. This means highlights or extra detail work, then he would declare it done! The detailed work usually took him around an hour.
This means on average each model took about 3 hours of serious focus not including waiting for it to dry and washing. After that, he would get tired and call it a night.
The next morning he would look at the previous night’s work, notice some things he could improve, and try to figure out the good things too. However, for him, this challenge meant that a new day means a new mini and the cycle continues!
It is important to realize what role your mini is playing. Is it a special character that will stand out? Or perhaps it’s part of a large group that will be together? The role that the mini is going to fill really directly affects how much work and effort you’ll naturally want to put in. Sometimes quantity is just more appealing when you sit back and look at each of them all together!
Seeing a large completed group can help give a bigger sense of accomplishment. But so can a single masterpiece. It’s a good idea to do both every now and then so you don’t lose motivation to hobby!
Another factor might be what you enjoy about painting! Do you enjoy looking at a shelf full of minis? Or do you like to challenge your self to do the most intricate freehands as possible? Sure you can add some serious transitions and details to the potion on this model’s waist, but would you rather do that or start a new model?
The more models you do the more you get to experience with color combinations! The more you try the more you’ll learn. Sure some will look better, but all of them will be unique and there is value in that.
Another nice aspect of painting lots of minis versus a single serious one is you’re more likely to take risks! Obviously, it doesn’t always work out, but sometimes it does! Take this model, for example, Brent messed up multiple times on his left eye, so instead, he decided to remove it! He took a risk and tried to make it look like he had a traumatic head injury losing his eye.
Now the model has a completely different aura about him. He is fierce, he has nothing left to lose, he will defend those books to the last!
It’s okay if some don’t turn out good. You can always choose a model to strip and try again. The less time you take on it, the easier it is to come to that conclusion! It’s pretty hard to decide to redo a mini that took you a month to do, but if it only took a day, you’ll look at it more clearly and decide faster. When you paint minis fast, you get to try lots of different techniques you wouldn’t otherwise. Maybe after looking at minis you did quickly, you decide to put more detail on them!
That is always an option!
Brent’s advice to all of us is to try to paint faster for a little while, then slow down and try to take more time for a little while.
You’ll find out which you prefer and you may even learn a little bit about your own paint style! Do you wet blend every model? Do you prefer airbrushing base coats? Sometimes you don’t notice this, but the more often you paint a mini, the more likely you are to notice these little habits you may have!
At the end of the day, the decision about how long you should spend on a mini is up to you! Test out which method you prefer and go from there! After all, there are clear positives and negatives to each.
If you are curious about what he has to say about how much time you should spend painting a miniature, and more details on his techniques watch the full video below! Also, be sure to Subscribe to Goobertown Hobbies if you enjoy his content!
About the Author: Andrew Schrank
Andrew Schrank
Job Title: Miniatures & Warhammer Hobby Staff Writer
Socials: Facebook
About Andrew Schrank: Over the past 15 years, Andrew has played all the games, including tabletop and video games, and immersed himself in the associated lore. Andrew joined the Spikey Bits team in 2018 and covers the Warhammer hobby and tournament scene, along with the latest in tabletop miniatures, each week.
Aspiring diplomat, Lord of Fluff, and Master of Ice Hammer, He loves Star Wars, Chaos Undivided, and Gundam. During his free time, he hunts Platinum trophies on PS5 and reads international news. On weekends, Andrew plays commander and cEDH games, often with unique strategies that push the limits.
He believes each day presents a new opportunity to grow and be challenged.
