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Painting 1:6000 miniatures
Posted by
Christopher Cafiero
,
08 July 2011
·
3,600 views
It was suggested I might share some painting tips on 1:6000 miniatures fot GQIII, while I am a novice a painting, I thought I might share my thoughts, so that other new mini painters can learn from my travails...
Preparation
I chose Figurehead 1:6000 miniatures beacuse they were small enough to play in a moderate size area, they were reasonably priced, and there was a wide selection. My intial concern hwas, how well could minitures this small be painted without looking rather bland. My conclusion is that these small minis can look really great, with a little work and planning, and taht the secret is to "suggest" with paint, rather than go for great precision (good news for those of us who are mediocre painters!)
I order my ships from Strange Cargo, and while I liked them a lot they have recently closed their doors, I have also used Scale Creep (http://www.scalecreep.com/) and Scale Specialities (http://www.ss-sms.com/) too...
When your ships first arive you should examine each ship and test fit it to its base, usually a little trimming with exacto or file is needed to smooth out some mold lines and flash. Occasionally ships or bases can get bent also, and need to be genttly straightened.
After you have trimmed your ships as needed, wash them in warm soapy water, rinse clean (be sure to rinse thoroughly to get all the residue off)and them them air dry. Once dry a light coat of primer (I prefer white, it's easier to cover) is needed...let this coat dry completely, a good 24 hours. You are now ready to paint!
Research
I like to research my ships and go with historically significant camouflage schemes...to me this is the fun part! For example, if you are painting te Prince of Wales, do you wanther brand spanking new in Admiralty 507B grey at the Denmark Strait, or in a weathered Admiralty disruptive pattern she wore as part of Force Z? There is no wrong answer here, but it is rewarding to say "this is what she looked like in this battle"...I actually have over 100 ships now, and keep an Access Database with the ship ID, Ship name, Class, Camo Pattern, and Year represented. While this is hardly necessary, it is a fun bit of researching, for example, many Bismarck's are painted with swastika's on her bow and stern, and black & white ID stripes on her sides...a classic look, but these were painted out before she fought the H.M.S. Hood...she I like to point out my Bismarck is the Denmark Strait version, not cruising the Baltic!
I heartily recommend Synder & Short for your paints (http://www.shipcamou...colourcoats.htm) they have as correctly match paints as is possible, execellent service, and lots of resources on their site...Thanks to them, my Prince of Wales & Hood sport Royal Navy 507B gray, just like they did in 1941!
Once you ships are prepared, and you have selected a camouflage pattern and aquired the correct paint, it's time to get get painting! I'll described my techniques in my next entry...
Good resources for camouflage schemes:
http://www.shipcamou...e.com/index.htm
https://www.whiteensignmodels.com/
http://www.smmlonlin...eigsmarine.html
http://battleships.f....com/index.html
http://www.world-war.co.uk/index.php3
http://www.naval-history.net/index.htm
http://www.bismarck-class.dk/
Preparation
I chose Figurehead 1:6000 miniatures beacuse they were small enough to play in a moderate size area, they were reasonably priced, and there was a wide selection. My intial concern hwas, how well could minitures this small be painted without looking rather bland. My conclusion is that these small minis can look really great, with a little work and planning, and taht the secret is to "suggest" with paint, rather than go for great precision (good news for those of us who are mediocre painters!)
I order my ships from Strange Cargo, and while I liked them a lot they have recently closed their doors, I have also used Scale Creep (http://www.scalecreep.com/) and Scale Specialities (http://www.ss-sms.com/) too...
When your ships first arive you should examine each ship and test fit it to its base, usually a little trimming with exacto or file is needed to smooth out some mold lines and flash. Occasionally ships or bases can get bent also, and need to be genttly straightened.
After you have trimmed your ships as needed, wash them in warm soapy water, rinse clean (be sure to rinse thoroughly to get all the residue off)and them them air dry. Once dry a light coat of primer (I prefer white, it's easier to cover) is needed...let this coat dry completely, a good 24 hours. You are now ready to paint!
Research
I like to research my ships and go with historically significant camouflage schemes...to me this is the fun part! For example, if you are painting te Prince of Wales, do you wanther brand spanking new in Admiralty 507B grey at the Denmark Strait, or in a weathered Admiralty disruptive pattern she wore as part of Force Z? There is no wrong answer here, but it is rewarding to say "this is what she looked like in this battle"...I actually have over 100 ships now, and keep an Access Database with the ship ID, Ship name, Class, Camo Pattern, and Year represented. While this is hardly necessary, it is a fun bit of researching, for example, many Bismarck's are painted with swastika's on her bow and stern, and black & white ID stripes on her sides...a classic look, but these were painted out before she fought the H.M.S. Hood...she I like to point out my Bismarck is the Denmark Strait version, not cruising the Baltic!
I heartily recommend Synder & Short for your paints (http://www.shipcamou...colourcoats.htm) they have as correctly match paints as is possible, execellent service, and lots of resources on their site...Thanks to them, my Prince of Wales & Hood sport Royal Navy 507B gray, just like they did in 1941!
Once you ships are prepared, and you have selected a camouflage pattern and aquired the correct paint, it's time to get get painting! I'll described my techniques in my next entry...
Good resources for camouflage schemes:
http://www.shipcamou...e.com/index.htm
https://www.whiteensignmodels.com/
http://www.smmlonlin...eigsmarine.html
http://battleships.f....com/index.html
http://www.world-war.co.uk/index.php3
http://www.naval-history.net/index.htm
http://www.bismarck-class.dk/
