5 Essential Miniature Painting Techniques

5 miniature painting techniques to make your models stand out!

Below is a definitive painting guide for Beginner-Intermediate level miniature painters.

New to 40K? Looking to master the basic miniature painting techniques? Been painting for a while and feel like you’ve hit a plateau? These 5 techniques will level up your painting game to achieve incredible looking models, without giving you a headache.

First, some background:

I started painting warhammer back in 2006, hooked by the old Lord of the Rings strategy game models, many of which are still in production today! After an almost 20 year hiatus I picked up the hobby again in 2024. I love the sense of peace and accomplishment miniature painting brings, but the bar has raised a lot since I first picked up a brush in 2006. After being inspired by Warhammer box art, Golden Demon, White Dwarf and other pinnacles of painting culture, I decided to double down on the craft of miniature painting.

I understand that there’s a steep learning curve. I’ve seen painters at all levels become frustrated and overwhelmed with the time and effort required to finish impressive looking models. I created these painting guides to help new painters or burnt out painters get over that hurdle. I hope this guide gives you a solid starting point, best of luck miniature painter!

Miniature painting basics before we start:

Brushes

You’ll need 2 types of brush:

1) A regular miniature brush

A normal miniature brush with a fine tip. Look for a size 1 or 2 brush.

2) A small detail brush

Probably a size 0 or 00. This will really help when it comes to fine details, highlights, and getting into tight spots.

Paints

A wet pallet

I cannot emphasise this enough: water down your paints! I use a wet pallet – put a blob of paint on the pallet and mix in a couple drops of water with your brush until you find a consistency that runs off the brush easily without pooling.

If you don’t already have one, you can make a simple wet pallet by getting a tupaware box, putting a wet paper towel flat inside, then covering the wet paper towel with a sheet of baking paper. This is critical to be able to control the consistency of your paint and keep it from drying out.

List of paints

Rhinox Hide
Dryad Bark
Mournfang Brown
Skrag Brown
Deathclaw Brown

Note: I use Citadel paints, but there are some great alternatives for miniature painting!

I also do not use an airbrush. My guides are airbrush free!

1. DRYBRUSHING

Drybrushing is a beginner’s best friend. Get your paint on the drybrush, then dab it on a dry paper towel until the paint is almost gone.

Once most of the paint has been rubbed off and you can no longer see brush strokes, you’re ready to start drybrushing – quick, messy brush strokes across the armour areas. You can try to follow the direction of the light if you like, but it doesn’t make a huge difference.

Tip: Test the drybrush on the back of your hand first to see how much paint will come off.

2. Edge Highlighting

Edge highlighting takes a bit of time but for the results you get, it’s 100% worth it. Get a fine brush and just drag it along the sharp edges of the model.

The important step here is to keep the consistency of paint perfect on your brush. You might find that you keep having to dip the brush back into your paint more frequently. Too dry means that the paint won’t come off evenly. Too watery means that you’ll get blotchy highlights. You might also find that you need to go over the edges twice to get a solid highlight.

Advanced Highlighting…

If you want more of a challenge, you can do a thicker edge highlight with a middle-tone and then add a lighter highlight on top. For example, on black armour I like to use Thunderhawk Blue for a broad highlight, then add a finer highlight of Fenrisian Grey layered on top.

3. STIPPLING & BUILDING CONTRAST

Stippling

Stippling is a painting technique I wish I learnt when I first started. It’s the one technique that became an absolute game changer for me and it’s so simple to learn.

After adding a coat of your darkest colour, dab the next lightest colour on top. It’s important to start from the most raised areas and work outwards. You then dab the next lightest colour on top of the previous layers, but dabbing narrower with each lighter colour. Each layer of dabbing gets thinner and thinner, so the raised parts appear lighter and lighter (see image). The last layer (in this case just a bright white) can just be a thin line, like an edge highlight.

Example:

If you’re painting a red cloak you might start with dark purple, then stipple dark red on top, dabbing around the creases and working outwards. Next, you’d stipple medium red on top, working outwards from the same creases but narrower this time. Then you’d keep adding light colours on top, getting narrower each time. The last step would be an orange edge highlight along the crease, to lock the full colour spectrum of dark red-orange together.

Building Contrast

If you don’t have enough room to dab a wide-tipped brush, and that’s okay! You can still follow the principle of starting with your darkest colour and gradually layering with lighter and lighter colours.

Often beginner painters are told to start with their middle colour and then add a shade or wash to achieve shadows.

Using shades and washes is great if you’re goal is speed, or you’re learning where the shadows should fall on the model. I prefer to start with my darkest colour and work up to the lightest. I personally feel that this gives me full control over the spectrum of colours, particularly with colourful models. For example, on a feather you might go from a dark green up to a vibrant blue or yellow.

4. NON METALLIC METAL

Non metallic metal seems intimidating, it’s probably the main painting technique that separates the pros from the amateurs. It’s worth noting that not every painter wants to dedicate more time and focus to individual models, and that’s okay! If you’re aiming for quality over speed however, this element will really make your model stand out.

Put simply, you pick a spectrum of colours you’d expect to see on metal, often dark blue or grey going up to light grey or white. You might even pick dark brown going up through light brown/orange to light yellow, if you’re trying to imitate bronze or gold.

You then slowly add layers of each colour going from darkest to lightest. The trick is to blend the colours together, if you can get to grips with blending colours, the possibilities are endless.

The critical thing to remember here is that advanced techniques often involve building up a lot of layers and then blending them. This means it’s crucial to water down your paints!

While it looks like an advanced skill to master, I firmly believe that non-metallic metal is very achievable for all levels of miniature painter. That also includes people who don’t have an airbrush or years of experience! It just requires more time and a little bit of practice. If you’re ever nervous about painting something new, my best advice would be to try it on spare plastic first. Don’t throw away your sprues – they can be really handy for tests like this.

5. OBJECT SOURCE LIGHTING

There is no hiding the fact that this is an advanced miniature painting technique. Understanding how lighting works is complex but as will all aspects of miniature painting, anyone can master this with technique with practice. I’d like to add here that I’m very much still learning with every model I paint. Even if a project looks hard it’s still worth having a go. I’ve often got halfway through a model without really knowing what I’m doing, and if you persist you can surprise yourself with the end result! This is where progress happens, diving into things that look hard and seeing it through, even if the finished product becomes a lesson of how not to paint…

In its simplest form, Object Source Lighting involves painting an object that projects light, like a lantern or a bulb, and painting the light’s reflection on other parts of the model where that light would naturally reflect. There’s some crossover here with non metallic metal, but don’t overcomplicate it!

Tip: Some elite painters shine a torch on the model to see where the light hits, and paint those areas white. You can then paint your light colour over the top and blend into the surrounding model. Obviously this is much easier with an airbrush, but you can still achieve smaller scale lighting affects with your typical fine brush