A Beginner's Guide to Painting Board Game Miniatures feat. Sea of Legends!

[@DanaHowl]

HUGE THANKS TO SEA OF LEGENDS for sponsoring this VIDEO!!!!! Buy the game HERE: www.guildhallstudios.com/sol-... and keep an eye on the upcoming kickstarter HERE: www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

[@muglecruzle]

Ah, pansexual pirate dating game, just what I was looking for!

[@frost2392]

One of the best vids you've done, Dana! GREAT for both experienced painters who may need to loosen up a little and new painters who might feel intimidated at the challenge. Fantastic job.

[@coatsnhoats]

I gotta say Dana, I love how innovative your painting styles are. In a community so full of eavy metal style painting and 100 hour paint jobs, you really have come out with some wonderful techniques that look grea,t, are approachable, and look at color in enlightening ways. Love it!

[@DanaHowl]

Hey thank you!!! I feel like having a KZbin channel drives me to innovate, I don’t want my videos to get boring!

[@rickardelimaa]

Bought a D&D boardgame and have now 30 miniatures to paint. Honestly, just the zenithal priming + highlights & blacklining made a huge difference. Did all that in three hours (active time).

[@MagisterMagnificum]

"Primed counts as painted" is surprisingly true after a zenithal, and even truer after a soft drybrushing. Just pretend they are old miniatures and therefor only available in black and white. ;)

[@seileen1234]

Honestly, zenithal + a single color wash is enough to make a game feel premium. Even something simple as that can work really well

[@glengorman30]

yes in short even with the worst paint job ever they look better with paint then without.

[@georgem6651]

3:10 "scrape away from you" @midwinterminis is typing furiously

[@Bloodfencer1990]

"You ordered that game half a year ago on Kickstarter", in what utopian world do you live where you get your games after half a year? It's half a year past the original delivery date and I am still waiting on news for some of the games.

[@mattpaxton3528]

As a backer of the last Catalyst Games Shadowrun campaign, I feel you! :)

[@Lordvoivod]

30 seconds in and came looking for this comment

[@MrPooleish]

I feel like I learned more about Contrast paints from this one video than I have watching all the official videos for how to use them.

[@kevino13]

I think a follow-up video showing how to take these table-ready figures to the next level would be pretty great. I often find myself not playing games, cause I spend too much time agonizing to paint every model uniquely and looking perfect. So, this video is inspiring to let go, and be alright with a... good, but not glamorous paint job. XD

[@johnalbers6153]

Definitely do a sequel to this one if you pick the project back up, also let us know if you like the game!

[@captainredmaw]

I've never heard of this game but my main video game is Sea of Thieves so this looks right up my alley!

[@firebert07]

Really love the watercolor vibe that you've been getting with thinning and mixing contrast paints. Very refreshing amid all the grimdark and exaggerated realism

[@Zappygunshot]

I've once backed a kickstarter to get a big pile of cool D&D minis. I've never painted them thus far, both because I wanted to make their bases a little more interesting, and because I had really no idea how to get started. This video helps so dang much to point me in the right direction, even just by telling me what kinds of paint to use (I looked once and oh boy there's a lot of colours and types huh).

[@pranefuji]

I've been painting for over a year, and I've encountered so much jargon. Thanks for explaining so many of them. Was really informative!

[@samsteen700]

Yes I loved this! The stand-out for me was the skin tone of kahina (sp?), the woman sitting on a chair. I've been looking for a way to paint non-white skin tones and that looks incredible. Would love to see you update this set, and do more boardgames! Massive Darkness maybe?

[@SpensPainting]

Brilliant video Dana! Lovely results

[@DanaHowl]

Thanks Spencer!!! I spent a long time on this one lol

[@SpensPainting]

@@DanaHowl it really shows! It’s a great guide, well thought out tips and obviously edited perfectly 🙌

[@YanniCooper]

One thing to add, if you play your new game before you paint it, that's one more reason to wash the minis! Oil from your fingers can also cause paint to have a hard time sticking!

[@DanaHowl]

Good call yup

[@malloc7108]

"Over half a year ago" Did you mean, "Over a year and a half ago"?

[@DanaHowl]

LMAO OOPS

[@baphometsvomitcomet2350]

It feels SO GOOD to have another full-length painting video from you :D

[@DanaHowl]

Thanks! I wanted to do something like this for awhile now :)

[@severalwhitespaces]

Always pumped for a new video from Dana! I just started painting in June and have hundreds of models painted and have had hundreds of hours of fun painting them. That's largely due to the inspiration that videos like this have provided. Dana, you rule at painting and you rule at teaching. Thanks again.

[@sequoyahwright]

YES! Mature artists know that creativity thrives under restriction. There is science supporting this, though I understand it is somewhat counter-intuitive. Also, now I want flapjacks. Dangit!

[@Cernunnnos]

I think I need to start limiting myself. Currently just going hog wild on time. Just painted up the star blood stalkers and spent about 4-5 hours on each model. Plus like another 2 hours of batch work with the airbrush and oil washes. Half way through the crimson court with about the same time sunk into each model. I can't scale that up to a warcry warband or full army. Need to do something to force myself to cut that time down.

[@paulthompson7361]

What a great video. I’d love to see you paint more board games, especially Marvel United/X-Men and Zombicide 2nd edition

[@TheBatNaz]

I'm never going to get the ketchup and Maple Syrup analogy out of my head now!

[@ZenGeekDad]

Interesting that you don't rinse the soap+water from the minis after their toothbrush bath. In effect, that trades an unknown amount of mold-release agent for some smallish but calculatable amount of soap. I expect either mold release agent and soap might impact pain adhesion. So, maybe after the wash, either swish or just let the minis sit in a bit of fresh warm water, then drain and air dry? I realize one drop of Dawn in maybe a pint of water may be quite dilute. And perhaps your experience says it is dilute enough. But if you had any issues with chipping, or successive layers of colors merging, then a rinse might help. Just a thought. (FWIW, I'm a junior hobbyist painter, but a senior R&D chemical engineer who's worked a lot with surfactants.)

[@RodBatten]

Holy crap, this method, with your improvisational colour mixing to make the best use of paint already on the palette is amazing. A great way to get a large number of figures done with decent looking paint.

[@buzzardb]

What a coincidence I just found the bag I put my like 10 unpainted Mantic Dreadball teams from a kickstarter years back

[@johnalbers6153]

So glad your back! Black templar put my shame golf score up to +22...so sad!

[@NonSleeper_Occasional_Thinker]

Loved the video, great tutorial, your awesome as ever! Have you considered smaller Skirmish "armies" like War-hammer Underworlds, where you have only a few models to paint, and can really have fun with just a "small" army? Hay GW this lovely content creator needs some nice awesome new minis to paint, lol, seriously they could send you a starter box, (current one has 2 "armies" total of 9 figures, Warhammer Underworlds Harrowdeep), I feel you would do an awesome job on all of these "armies".....yes we noticed the "Pale Sand" on the dry-brushing step and other locations....!

[@bolicob]

I'd definiately be interested in seeing more boardgame minis painted. Maybe something from CMON?

[@salvation7362]

I bought the Dark Souls board game pretty much for the minis and you can play solo. So only I'll have to look at my crappy painted models. 😉

[@DwarSel]

Pansexual pirate dating game? Not the biggest fan of boardgames but now I'm curious

[@LeeAllanSpades]

* slams fist on table * PAINT! THE! BIG! FISH!

[@dfcorbett]

Yay! I've had this game since it released and I've painted... A single ship. Looking forward to getting into it!

[@ElvesofZion]

My all in pledge for horizon zero dawn taunts me, need to take your advice on this

[@Richiemouse]

Not my style but I love the fact you're doing something different to 99% of the painting videos out there and the minis still look great.

[@joshbecka6110]

Omg…this video is Canadian. Maple syrup as paint…

[@kevinmoore9196]

this was really awesome and i think im going to have to check out the game

[@jjtube8724]

The moldlines can be the WORST. I don’t know what material they used for Zombicide (at least invader) but it gives me HELL. And it’s not even worth the effort on most models.

[@DanaHowl]

Ya it depends on the figures, the plastic for these ones was not so bad

[@Sonniface]

"You ordered this stuff on Kickstarter over half a year ago.." I wish! Nowadays bigger KS games take around two years to fulfill. The wait, the pain!

[@DanaHowl]

Ya I meant to say one and a half years lol I don’t know how I didn’t catch that

[@captainredmaw]

Waiting for Guy to show up and tell you to cut/scrape towards your hands instead of away 😂

[@PavelThorsonos]

I mean, he's right though :P Way, way better control, and less risk to the model and yourself, if you're an adult and know what you're doing.

[@gex1290]

I'd love to see you paint Nemesis the board game if you have it. It's a fantastic game with great minis.

[@matthewjames7504]

I'm actually watching this video as advice for painting my Nemesis set!

[@KevinoftheCosmos]

I never thought I'd be saying that I'm extremely excited to implement time constraints on my Warhammer boxes. But I have to. My perfectionism and OCD has had me working on the Warcry Starter Box for 100+ hours, with little to no visible progress beyond models being built and mould lines being (mostly) removed. Your advice has unquestionably saved me a ton of time in the future. Great work as always, Dana.

[@SGFlicksify]

Very interesting & impressive video. Would suggest Tzolk’in board game cog wheels as a project, as it it would be interesting to see how different your contrast paint effect would be from the many other examples I’ve seen.

[@Zom13y]

You had me at pansexual pirates.

[@baneprobably]

Perfect timing. Currently painting Mansions of Madness for a friend

[@merarihernandez6747]

Sequel of this video please :D

[@portwills]

Yo Dana that was pretty cool. Since I try to keep my collection to a bare minimum I don't need to speed paint too much. Your minis look awesome! Nice style! Always appreciate videos like these where we get to see minis get painted.

[@roochman]

i really love how you did the kraken's shell! i'm going to have to try that sometime. can't wait to see what you have in store next, dana :)

[@crazyvolucris]

i love this "...you ordered a kickstarter game 1/2 Year ago..." 😂🤣 that might prove that you never backed a kickstarter 😂 😂 😂 well... i wish it would only be 1/2 Year... most of the time 1-2 Years 😂 love it 😎 and thank you for the vid.

[@danielhackett893]

Great video. I'd love to see Rising Sun or Ankh, I think that would be interesting as you could give each faction their own colour scheme.

[@StefanRLion]

Love the minis, many times ive had a bath and also shared with new minis while removing the flash lol.great work .

[@centerededgedesignusa7957]

Thank you! Enjoyed the techniques you showed, and the application of the contrasty paints!

[@vincentmuyo]

"Just use contrast paint" ... Have you been spying on me? (Joking aside, contrast paints is part of what made me start painting miniatures more frequently. And even though using them sometimes frustrates me, it's still faster than regular painting)

[@Musicpins]

Wow nice video Dana! I just got my first board game with miniatures, I did some warhammer minis when I was a kid, but I can't for the love of god remember how or what I did. And I am pretty sure I didn't follow this approach, the idea of priming to then use a translucent paint to conserve the details is brilliant! And time saving, when you have many to do.

[@sunlizard13]

Heck yeah, seeing the next level would be great.

[@kevinsmith9899]

Great video. Very inspirational. Speaking as a true beginner (I haven't painted anything since I was 6 years old), I have a couple thoughts: First, you forgot to mention/describe that sticky mini holder thingy. That seems like a pretty important tool. Second, I would be interested in a much lower time investment, so would be curious about a game where you only use 2-4 colors per figure, and are able to knock them really quickly. My target would be Marvel United, for what that's worth. Speaking of Marvel United, I wonder if contrast paints would be a good fit for that style.

[@CatLegoDiver]

Great video Dana! I have this game and started to paint it before I found your video but I wasn't too far along. So I've switched to your methods using AP Speed Paints since I don't own Contrast Paints. So far, so good. I'm a newbie painter so I'm very slow but thanks to this video and others, they're coming along nicely. I love the warm-to-cool approach and am seeing good results so far. I've had really bad results using Zenithal highlighting on my first few attempts because the models came out dark and gloomy. The Speed Paints had no effect on the black shadowed areas. They ended up looking so bad in fact that I dumped them in isopropyl alcohol and washed them off, to be repainted later on. So for my Sea of Legends minis I'm going to do a batch in an all-white primer and add shading later using AP Washes and see how that works.

[@EnderoftheGame]

In your hobby basics you recommended using paints and then thinning with glaze medium, in this you suggest contrast paints. I'd love to hear more about the decision to recommend one over the other. Sidenote, I just started painting my first miniatures, using the Hobby Basics 101 tutorials, I'm using 1:1 Vallejho Paint to Glaze medium. However I'm unsure how many layers I should be using. It feels like I need a couple to get the miniature saturated in the color, but then it also seems like I lose all the previous shading from the priming. Any tips or thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Love the videos!

[@Annies_mini_marvels]

I'm not sure I need to get into board games as an additional part of this hobby, but pansexual pirate dating game is pretty tempting...

[@TheZak6969]

I'm so stealing parts of that Kraken color scheme to paint a bunch of Tyranids. That splash of super vibrant blue really makes the whole model come together and will be eye catching from across a table.

[@sirpoupadou]

K love your way of presenting and pace. It's chilled, to the point, very lovely! 👍👍 Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@evileyeball]

Instructions Unclear, Miniatures covered in Ketchup and Maple Syrup hahaha jk that would be funny though. This is a very good video :)

[@Simon-xb6ov]

Two quick noob questions, @Dana Howl: 1. For the dry on primer, I only see the white version in the description. Is it fine to also get the black version and then do the xenathol (sp) prime with the brush on approach? 2. Do I need a wet palette for the contrast paints?

[@Quitstaringattmyname]

I just got the DBD boardgame, first time I ever got a boardgame with a ton of gray plastic pieces and went from "wtf, wheres the color" to "oh shit I'M supposed to add the color, na what if i fuck it up i waited mad long for this kickstarter" I ended up watching this vid twice already & bookmarked it for reference, fr thank you for makin this whole process feel way more approachable from materials and technique to mentality/approach. boutta go get some contrast paints and maple syrup some pieces lmao

[@tstarlin]

You skills are commendable. Thank you so much for your incredibly informative videos. Would LOVE to see you do Frosthavens classes and Cephalofair's monster minis once they are released sometime later this year.

[@M0U53B41T]

Households with pets: cover your drying figs, after washing, after priming, whatever - a simple tupperware/rubbermaid container turned upside down works. Pet hair floats >< and is attracted to minis!

[@calyppou]

Hi Dana, thank you for this video! I am starting out with Blood Bowl and I would love to paint my minis too, but it looked such a daunting experience... your guide really helped out. Do you think you could do a video on brush-on primer? I live in an apartment too and spray cans are not an option and I have more than a few concerns about their impact on the environment. It's just a drop in the ocean, I know, but still... Thanks!

[@IDCrish]

Hi Dana, I love your tutorial videos. I use cheap acrylic paints and FDM 3d printed minis, its what i can afford and get in this corner of the world. I tried blending some glassing medium with the paint and some cheap inks to make some glazes and shadows, but it ended dirtying up the mini and takes ages to dry. Maybe as a challenge, I would like what you can make with those restrictions, or if you know someone with alchemic skills you could put em up for the challenge. Thank you!

[@AceSpec]

The board game itself isn’t for me, but that’s beyond the point. I appreciate this video and the work you put into how to approach painting a board game. I’m looking to do my first paint job on my Heroquest board game, and it is quite daunting. I’ve purchased my paints, Army painter speed paint mega set, and Citadel starter set, some matte black and matte white primer, along with a couple of good brushes. I think I’m ready to attempt it. Thanks again

[@BobBallVO]

I don’t normally watch ad breaks (I know, shame on me), but the voiceover guy in the commercial did a really good job. And no, it wasn’t me. (But commending my own commercial does look like something I would do.)

[@DRsatanus]

grat video 9/10 because it didnt have enough pale sand, but still, really good ( though in your defense you can NEVER have enough pale sand)

[@jehowa5691]

You live in Canada and dont like to go outside?!? *** Crazy *** But still, like your channel and watch most of your contend 😊👍. Thanks fot that, keep it up!

[@kaikropp3254]

How did you know what my mondays look like... but this is perfect.. I am waiting for my Conan Kickstarter to arrive in the somewhat near future...

[@lovemysi07]

You're the first person I've seen refer to the GW colors (and their terrible names) as the actual color. So so so so so helpful! I struggle with colorblindness and if it's got a name in the color it's less difficult to identify. Bugman's Glow? What is that anyway? I'd love to find a list that designates each GW paint as its real color name like you did. Thank you!

[@manofaction1807]

Just like any elephant... One Bite at a time. (I'm looking at YOU, Shadows of Brimstone!)

[@h8uall66]

It always makes my anxiety act up when you twist the top of a GW paint pot to use it as a dropper. Great video as always.

[@bojanjovanovic7250]

when I tried painting yellow (a bit darker tone from Citadel) it came all runny and didn't cover properly :( maybe it was dark primer dunno, never done this before, thought it's just simple dip the brush and paint

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

Getting Return to Dark Tower in this weekend, so. Yup. This is great 😄 (I have been painting for a good number of years, so, not full on beginner, but still a great video!!)

[@Groovestonenz]

Would love to see a sequel to this, and talking about other games to paint, have you seen Flamecraft, Wonderlands War, or the Witcher: Old World board games? Great minis!

[@r4dwolf]

This was extremely helpful! I have the Witcher: Old World coming this summer and was feeling really intimidated to paint the ~70 miniatures in it.

[@knytestorme]

Would you recommend using white or wraithbone for the top zenithal when using contrasts? Just wondering if the wraithbone would allow the contrast to work better, or if that's just GW marketing at work :D

[@DiscourseMinis]

Absolutely love this!! Board Games are totally the secret pipeline into the miniatures hobby. So many big kickstarter games out these days with sooooo many models. And models always look better painted. It can be totally daunting putting paint on a miniature without any experience, so this is a super valuable video for board game players, and miniature game players who are... er, not great at the whole painting side of the hobby (like me! :D). Killed it again, Dana, nice one!

[@DanaHowl]

Thanks Discourse!!! I literally just saw this comment as I was watching YOUR video on how board games are the best secret pipeline into the miniatures hobby (if only GW would price Underworlds accordingly lol)

[@DiscourseMinis]

@@DanaHowl Haha! Great minds :D

[@uriance88]

They're also a pipeline for getting back into painting if you have been out of the hobby for a while (D&D Wrath of Ashardalon was a quick, economical way to get a lot of varied minis to paint and 'put the reps in')

[@OzwellX3]

I don't have contrast paints but is it possible to create a similar effect with normal paints from vallejo somehow? Maybe as a beginner I should have watched this video before deciding to purchase normal acrylic paints haha :D

[@tibo16ia]

Glad to see you feel better. Nice use of contrast paints. Integrating painting in gaming plan is a very good idea that I will shamelessly steal from you. One question : what's you opinion on scale75 potion paints series?

[@richardrussell7082]

I recently got the Human Interface Nakamura Tower game and some of the figure bases are warped and unlevel, any tips for fixing this?

[@jingokhan]

Your quick method is leagues beyond my hours long process... And better looking.

[@tacarathomas8445]

Thank you so much for this video. This is coming from a person who is extremely intimidated by the process. I really appreciate and how much detail you go into with your video and how it's extremely easy to understand

[@PhotogSaeko]

Would definitely like to see how you would push these further. If you’re looking at another board game to try, maybe Horizon Zero Dawn. It’s been out for a little bit, but the expansions are starting to come out and some of them could be a lot of fun to paint.

[@the.nikkoman]

I wish I saw your video first before i bought all these acrylic paints -_- kinda want to just use contrast paints now. Thank you for this video! Your approach is so practical, and yet the finished products still look so good!

[@kwirl]

ok, im just starting out here and not done yet but i'm really kind of sad that ketchup got some hate on it. you can't put maple syrup on mac n cheese

[@martyriach9880]

Thank you for this video, I am thinking about getting into painting figures and the only reason I haven’t already is I tend to overthink things and give into perfectionism. You have quiet nicely given me confidence to be able to do some really nice paints in a not too complicated way with some great tips to reduce the likelihood of giving up.

[@dtelquess]

Stage 2 video(tick), another boardgame(tick)any video you want to put out(tick)

[@redviego6714]

videos of speed painting more board game figures seems like a fun video idea. There's hundreds of warhammer painting videos, but less than 10 for this board game.

[@brendanarmstrong7802]

I loved the ad break transitions! Stuff like that makes the video way more fun than just the standard talking head + painting footage style. I also really enjoyed some of the mallsoft bgm you had going.

[@soerenheriksen]

Don’t use paper towels to wipe off paint for drybrushing unless you want a very chalky finish. Use cardboard or a texture palette instead

[@krzysztofzacharski1474]

Literally to the 1% who's reading this, God bless you, and may your dreams come true, stay safe and have a wonderful day. 😊👍

[@TylerProvick]

Me, an intellectual: This beginner's guide is targeted at beginners: I know most of this already.

[@DanaHowl]

LMAO YUP

[@TylerProvick]

@@DanaHowl I watched it all anyway. You never know what silly "beginner" thing you never heard of.

[@darbizzlebacon]

I live in Alberta, I don’t like Hockey and I don’t drink alcohol. I totally understand never wanting to leave the house.

[@toggers6952]

Half of a year ago..... Oh i remember pre pandemic Kickstarter delivery times,

[@originalarmedprophet7760]

Great video! I’ve had the Cursed City box sitting on my coffee table for months, mocking me - no longer!