Painting: An Easy How-To From a Lazy Painter.

Ok, lots of minis games involve painting. Its not mandatory at all. I have an entire dwarf army (the secret slipped) that's still pewter, and no one cares, even a little bit. I've played games that involved all pewter unpainted models and boxes on a kitchen table for terrain. It was as legitimate as any other game, but I personally don't feel as into the game when my stuff isn't painted. SO, that's why I'm going over this. This assumes that you've already got them glued together and they're dry. Also, this is just how I do it, and there's as many ways as there are people.

Supplies:
+A small lamp
+LOTS of brushes
+Paints
+A cup for water
+Toothpicks
+Various colors of ink
+Toilet paper or something similar
+Elmer's glue
+Superglue (in case you break a model)
+Sand
+Somewhere to paint that won't be disturbed for a while

Ok, here's the why of it all now. The lamp is nice because you can see what you're doing, and you can catch details that you may otherwise miss. You'll need lots of paintbrushes because eventually you'll start specializing them (if you're like me). Also some of them will die and need to be replaced if you're not very gentle, which I am not. Paints depend entirely on the painter and what's being painted. I prefer Citadel, but that's only because its what I know. Others are probably just as good, if not better. I HATE painting with oil-based paint though. Its messy, cleaning is even messier, and you don't get much forgiveness out of oil-based paint. And I LOVE having multiple shades of the same earthy-tone colors. I think I have three greens and 5 kinds of brown-esque earth colors. I like having so many shades because lots of people have leather straps and such. Horses are earth colors, BUT they have leather on them, and it looks better when the leather is a different color. Additionally, if you're using any sort of cavalry, making horses of different colors is nice for realism's sake. And I've found that you can make convincing rust with only two different browns. Beyond that, having a single shade of each basic color isn't a terrible idea, until you decide what colors you specifically need for your army. Having one of each is also nice because you can mix them, but I've found that I only mix for colors I don't plan on using much of.

*Our subject for this part is the Ogrun Bokur. He looks pretty sweet, he's useful, and I wouldn't mind having a pretty one anyway.  Time to get painting then, eh?*

I prime mine with the cheap fast-dry spray paint from Walmart. Its a buck a can and it doesn't go super far, but it also doesn't eat the models. You want a decent coat when you spray. Enough to get most of the models, but not so much that you start filling in details. I find that a good 5 second wave per side per model is adequate. You CAN use white or gray or anything for priming, but it'll change the shade of the paint you put on top, and my models tend to be darker, just because I assume the soldiers would all be filthy from being outside for days. Do NOT dip them in paint. It ensures that the model will need an overnight bath in acetone, and that will probably cost you a new base for the model.

After priming them, look each model over carefully. I think think a lot of people skip this step, and its important. Plan out a little bit of what you want. I find that if I have an idea of color scheme, i put a dab of each color where it goes, just to see if it all looks good. And if so, I paint the whole thing like that. The key concept here is to BE CAREFUL. If you take a second or two to plan what you're going to do, you're less likely to smudge. Smudges happen to the best of us, and you can go back and fix them. I ALWAYS go back and fix any smudges, just because i'm a perfectionist. Also I assume that if I paint them right the first time, I won't have to paint them again. It IS a mind-numbing job, but with the tv on, its so much easier. Also, when painting, take breaks when you feel you need them. It takes a lot out of your back, neck, and mind. Give you a break, you're working hard.

I always paint the bits deepest down first. If the model is wearing a vest over a shirt, paint the shirt first, THEN paint the vest, because the vest is a raised surface, so smudges will be light. Also, I've noticed that most people use way more paint than they need to, which makes the models look blobby and the details look muted or even disappear. In my opinion, its best to do a couple coats of a thinner paint than one coat of thick paint. BUT, keep at it! You'll make a lot of progress if you keep at it. I always keep toothpicks on-hand for small stuff, like teeth, eyes, rivets, writing, and any other extremely detailed work. It takes a lot of work to do those bits, and they're not at ALL required. And afterward you'll likely have to do some touching up, but its easy, and it makes the model look so much more impressive.

This took only about two hours, with the tv, and several breaks. However, I missed several patches. *sigh*

Then you need your inks. I prefer brown ink, though black ink has its place, as does red ink, and any other color. I don't use the other colors (anything but black, brown, and red) enough to justify the purchase. Brown is nice because it can fake weathering, dirt, grime, grease, tarnish, and adds depth. On skeletons, brown ink is absolutely ESSENTIAL because it fills in the cracks between the bones, making it look like both shadow and clinging dirt. On creatures with fur, it can add the look of layering and make the animal look natural. There's a reason brown ink is colloquially called "skill in a can." It makes the most mediocre models look gorgeous. I use black ink on things that are supposed to be burnt or especially mechanical, and red ink makes for the best blood I've ever seen. If you want to make one of your guys look hardcore, a dab of red ink around an "injury" will do it. Cut him across the chest with an exacto knife (if the model is plastic) and administer a tiny bit of red ink for a warrior who's mortally wounded but fighting on. And using it is as easy as this process gets. Its pretty thin and flows really nice, so you paint over the entire model everywhere. The ink settles into the cracks and dries, putting dark colors in the nooks and crannies, so the model looks like it has some shadows where shadows naturally are. And more experience makes one better. I recently used brown ink to provide depth to blond hair by making the stuff on the bottom a tad darker.

A lot of people highlight after ward, which uses a process called drybrushing to add more contrast to the figure. Your model should be sufficiently dark now, yeah? Highlighting takes the same colors you previously used on the guy, and on the parts that would be exposed to light, like the head, shoulders, cape, back, and whatever else you can think of. You take one color at a time, apply it to the brush, and brush a piece of paper until there's almost no color when you brush. Then you brush the model with the color on the appropriate color, so it looks like some of it is exposed to light and other parts look like they're in the dark. I personally don't do this with anything, but I love the darker look. Highlighting implies direct overhead light, so its your call.

This is after some inking and some light highlighting over his belly plate, weapon head, and the white portion of his shield. 

The last step in our model is basing. Basing isn't necessary, but then again, any step listed is entirely optional. I have a small container of sand. I use it to stabilize models' position while the glue holding them together while drying. However, its also essential in basing, in my opinion. I got the sand from a sandbox at a playground. Then I ran it through a strainer to take out the gravel and larger sand grains. For basing, you take the model, apply Elmer's glue to the top of the base. Spread it around. Don't worry if you get some on the model's feet. It looks totally normal. Then (again with the optional steps) it looks pretty good to paint the sand a natural earth color, then drybrush over it, just like you're highlighting, except that if you screw up, even LESS people will notice. Sometimes people will flock the base, to make it look nicer, which involves putting a bit more Elmer's on it, then adding something that looks like tiny foliage, which Citadel sells to look like all kinds of grasses, grains, flowers, shrubs, undergrowth, etc, however, the train set stuff by hobby lobby works too. I've been using plain old crushed leaves lately. Crush them into teeny tiny pieces, and apply them to the bases just like you would with the other stuff, except that you paint lightly over the leave litter with brown ink because it gives them more cohesion, so they stick together, and it also adds shadows, which all piles of leaf litter have.

The white lines are to denote front arc and back arc, for playing purposes. However, that sand is as good as its going to get until I determine what specifically I want to do. 

Now you should have a lovely model that's ready for the last step: GET YOUR GAME ON.