Painting Techniques

Miniature painting uses a wide range of techniques, from basic approaches that every beginner learns to advanced methods that create stunning display-quality results. This guide covers the most common techniques you'll see tagged on community palettes.

Base Coating

The first step of almost every paint job. Base coating means applying a solid, even coat of colour over your primed miniature. The goal is full, opaque coverage with no primer showing through. Use base paints (high pigment, good coverage) and apply in thin coats rather than one thick coat. Two thin coats will always look better than one thick one.

Layering

Layering builds highlights by painting progressively lighter colours onto raised areas while leaving darker colours in the recesses. Each layer covers a slightly smaller area than the last, creating a smooth transition from shadow to highlight. Use layer paints (thinner than base paints) and keep your coats thin. Patience is key — multiple thin layers look far better than rushing.

Dry Brushing

A fast highlighting technique where you load a brush with paint, wipe most of it off on a paper towel, then lightly drag the near-dry brush across raised surfaces. The small amount of remaining paint catches on edges and texture, creating quick highlights. Excellent for fur, chainmail, stone, and any heavily textured surface. Use a dedicated drybrush with stiff, splayed bristles.

Washing / Shading

Washes (also called shades) are very thin, highly pigmented paints that flow into recesses and panel lines through capillary action. Applying a wash over a base coat instantly adds depth and definition by darkening shadows. Often called "liquid talent" because a single wash can dramatically improve a model with minimal skill. Apply liberally and let it pool in the recesses naturally.

Edge Highlighting

A precise technique where you paint a thin line of lighter colour along the sharp edges of armour panels, weapons, and other hard surfaces. This simulates light catching on edges and gives models a crisp, defined look. Use the side of a fine detail brush rather than the tip, and drag it along edges with a steady hand. Start with subtle highlights and add brighter lines selectively on the most prominent edges.

Wet Blending

A technique where you apply two or more colours while still wet and blend them together directly on the miniature. This creates smooth, seamless transitions between colours — ideal for cloaks, large armour panels, and power swords. Work quickly before the paint dries, and use a damp brush to feather the boundary between colours. A wet palette helps keep your paints workable for longer.

Glazing

Glazing uses extremely thin, transparent layers of paint to subtly shift the colour or tone of what's underneath. Unlike a wash, a glaze is applied in a controlled, directional manner rather than flooding recesses. Glazes are perfect for smoothing rough transitions between layers, tinting areas with colour (e.g. a red glaze over skin for warmth), or unifying a colour scheme. Thin your paint heavily — you should barely see each individual coat.

Contrast Paints

Contrast paints (Citadel Contrast, Army Painter Speedpaint, Vallejo Xpress Color) are designed to provide a base coat, shade, and highlight in a single application. They're translucent and self-shading — thick where they pool in recesses and thin on raised areas. Apply over a light primer (white or zenithal) for best results. Excellent for speed painting armies or painting organic textures like skin, cloth, and leather.

Stippling

Stippling is a technique where you dab paint onto the surface using the tip of a brush in a dotting motion rather than brushstrokes. This creates a textured, mottled effect that's ideal for rough surfaces, weathering, rust, and organic textures. It can also be used to build up smooth blends gradually. Use an old brush or a dedicated stippling brush with short, stiff bristles.

Zenithal Priming

A priming technique that pre-establishes light and shadow before you apply any colour. Start with a black primer all over, then spray white or grey from above (the "zenith" — where the sun would be). This creates a natural gradient from dark undersides to bright tops. When you apply thin or translucent paints over a zenithal prime, the underlying values show through, giving instant depth. Essential for contrast paint and Slapchop workflows.

OSL (Object Source Lighting)

Object Source Lighting simulates a light source on the miniature itself — a glowing sword, plasma coil, magical fire, or torch. You paint the light effect radiating outward from the source, tinting nearby surfaces with the light's colour and making them brighter the closer they are to the source. This is an advanced technique that requires understanding how light falls on surfaces. Start with subtle glows before attempting dramatic effects.

NMM (Non-Metallic Metal)

NMM is the technique of painting metallic surfaces — gold, silver, steel, copper — using only regular non-metallic paints. Instead of relying on metallic pigments for shine, you simulate reflections and highlights by carefully placing light and dark tones according to how real metal reflects its environment. This is one of the most challenging techniques to master but produces stunning, painterly results on display pieces.

Weathering

Weathering adds realistic wear and tear to miniatures — chipped paint, rust, mud, dust, oil stains, and battle damage. Techniques include sponge chipping (dabbing paint with torn foam), rust effects (stippling oranges and browns), pigment powders for dust and grime, and enamel washes for oil streaks. Weathering can turn a clean paint job into something that tells a story and looks like it belongs in its universe.

Kitbash

Kitbashing is the art of combining parts from multiple model kits to create unique, custom miniatures. While not strictly a painting technique, kitbashed models often require special painting considerations — blending different plastic colours, gap-filling with green stuff, and creating a cohesive colour scheme across mismatched parts. Community palettes tagged with "Kitbash" often feature unique conversions alongside their paint recipes.

Airbrushing

Airbrushing uses compressed air to spray paint in a fine mist, producing ultra-smooth gradients and even base coats that are impossible to achieve with a brush alone. Ideal for vehicles, large models, zenithal priming, and pre-shading. The learning curve includes thinning paints correctly, controlling air pressure, and cleaning the airbrush. Even a basic airbrush can dramatically speed up batch painting and improve results on larger surfaces.

Slapchop

Slapchop is a speed-painting workflow that combines zenithal priming with heavy drybrushing and contrast paints. The process: prime black, heavy drybrush with grey, lighter drybrush with white, then apply contrast paints over the top. The pre-established highlights from the drybrushing show through the translucent contrast paints, giving you a shaded, highlighted result with minimal effort. It's become hugely popular for getting armies table-ready quickly.