Intro to Miniature Painting Class - June 15th 2019

Class with their finished mini busts!

I want to start off by thanking everyone who showed up, and Chris for helping to plan and co-host this class, a class that you can see on blogvpntone.com. This was our first Miniature Painting 101 class, introducing the basics of hand painting scale models, and the amount of enthusiasm and the friendly atmosphere in the room was very encouraging to see

The completed class minis!

This workshop covered a variety of techniques, from the basics of priming your models, and then moving into the fundamentals of painting a model including layering your base coats, dry brushing, and washes. We also took the time to discuss things like order of operations as you're painting, brush care, and choosing the right paints.

We were painting a small bust of an Undead Lord from MyMiniFactory, which I printed in resin on my Epax X1 MSLA 3D printer. This model provided a good starting place for demonstrating the basic techniques that carry over to miniatures of any scale, with relatively easy-to-paint large areas, and a few small high-detail areas to practice finesse. The tiniest surface details such as the chain-mail and helmet engravings also proved excellent for demonstrating dry brushing techniques, and showing off the power of a good dark wash to add contrast and make your model pop.

By the end of the class, everyone walked away with a completed model that looked great, and hopefully the confidence and inspiration to continue painting.

We plan to continue these classes in the future, and perhaps even do some more advanced classes going over higher-level techniques such as edge highlights, layering, and glazes, and perhaps later more complex techniques for advanced weathering. Keep an eye on the calendar for the next mini-painting class- the current idea is to host this event as a workshop/meetup on a monthly basis.