You don’t need a lot of specialized tools or super talent to create
beautiful miniature figures—just patience and preparation before
painting.

Once you have purchased figures, they need to be prepared for
painting. This process is very important even though it is often overlooked
or not completed. The most important part of painting is actually
not the paint itself, but the preparation. Preparation will make the
difference between an obviously superior job and a mediocre one. The
painting only emphasizes this difference.

Patience is always the chief skill of a miniaturist. Whenever you’re in
a hurry, you can expect to have difficulty in doing a good job on the
more complex figures. To finish off figures quickly, choose some that are
basic, without a lot of detail in the casting. Minifigs and AIRFIX produce
these types of figures: extremely clean and simple. On the other hand,
these figures do not have much interest to the more advanced modeler
who wants more detail. A rule of thumb to remember before starting is:
the more detail in the casting, the
more difficulty will be encountered
in preparing it for painting, but the
better a well done job will look.

You have to start by cleaning off
all the marks left by the mold. Even
the best castings have marks left on
them by molds. The most common
mold marks are called “flash”. Flash
results when metal oozes into the
tiny space between mold halves.
Larger bits of material that remain
from the casting process are
“sprue”. There are impressions
from the pouring holes or air outlets
that are part of the mold. Both types
of casting marks are illustrated here.

Flash and sprue have to be cut,
scraped, or filed off before painting
can begin. This process is illustrated
by means of a series of diagrams. As
a demonstration piece, the “bard” figure from Ral Partha will be illustrated.
It is a kneeling harpist of moderate complexity, and an interesting.
figure in its own right.

A word of caution is valuable before you begin. Safety is always
important. Be especially careful of your fingers while working. It’s
relatively easy to cut or jab yourself with a knife or file, especially if
you’re tired or if the work is not supported properly. A small vise will be
extremely useful. If you use one, be careful not to damage the casting by
clamping anywhere other than the base. The metal is soft, and will crush
and deform. If you don’t use a vise, use a table or bench forsupport
whenever possible. This will not only lessen fatigue and “modeler’s
cramp” in your fingers, but will be safer and allow better work as well.

In order to do a good job, you’ll only need a few tools. A small knife
as well as round and triangular cross section files are required. These are
available from X-ACTO, but any other manufacturer’s tools will do. A
small pen knife, for example, can easily be substituted for the commonly
used X-ACTO knife. A small vise, a normal sized wood file, and a few
sheets of coarse sandpaper will also come in handy and speed the work.
These tools are illustrated with approximate costs indicated. You may
not have to buy them, since most workshops already are equipped with
them.

Cut the most obvious flash off first with knife. Start with the base of
the figure and work upwards. First trim off the sprue that normally
makes a lump on the bottom surface. Then use the large file or rough
sandpaper to even off the base to the exact position you want before
beginning other areas. When you use the file, it’s best to clamp the figure
in a vise rather than trying to hold it in your hands.

The reason for starting at the base and then working up is to provide
an easy method of tracking what you’ve done, and what still needs to be
done. Also, if you do higher sections first, you may spoil them by later
work on the base. After finishing underside of the base, go up the rest of
the figure with the knife as shown in illustration “A”.

Many miniature modelers stop here, but work with files is required
for a superior job. It’s difficult to get into all the corners with a knife, and
knives tend to leave rough edges or wavy surfaces that will need to be
filed. Major filing is easiest with the triangular cross section file. The tip of
a triangular file will fit into recessed areas nicely. This file is also the best
one to flatten or shape the forms of leathery wings, belts, sheaths, edged
weapons, and capes. This is shown in illustration “B”.

After removal of rough edges and shaping is finished, a bit of work
with the round cross section (“rat tail”) file can complete the shaping.
This file is best for rounded areas of the casting-legs, arms, shield
bosses, and spiked tails. Often, even facial features are a bit bubbly or
knobby. The tip of the rat tail file does a good job of smoothing these fine
areas illustrated. After inspecting your work, you can progress to the
next stage.

As an important step before painting, it’s good to cover the entire
figure with a thin coat of metal primer or undercoat This will allow color
to stick to the metal better, and will also point up any roughness or
unnoticed flash before you begin to paint. Imperfections really show up
well when coated with undercoater. The shine that always accompanies
metal is dampened, and light and shadow are no longer affected by
it-finally you can get a true idea of how the figure looks. After the first
coat has been applied and correction made, a second coat will allow
colors to be unusually brilliant, and cover up any work just completed.

Fantasy figures in 25mm scale are less than one inch high. Any
finger marks left will be relatively large, so your wet paint can be botched
badly by handling. Not only that, it gets very tiring to hold such a small
figure perfectly still for a long time. If you glue the figure on a “handle”,
painting will be much easier. You can control the figure better, and will
never smudge the figure with your fingers. Many modelers like to put
their figures on a small piece of wood scrap or dowel. This is fine, but
requires a place to stand the dowel or scrap up when the figure is drying.
This could be a problem. A piece of folded cardboard is just as good,
much more readily available, and can lay safely on its side. The full page
illustration that accompanies this article shows several methods of making
painting “handles” and should give you a good idea of your options.
Attaching the figure is the last thing to do before beginning to paint.

With the figure fully prepared, your chances of producing a superior
paint job are significantly increased. It may take as much as an additional
hour to prepare the figure. But this preparation will be repaid many
times over in the better paint job you now can do.