Beginner Miniature Painting Techniques that Work

If you're a beginner in the tabletop miniature wargaming hobby and want to learn how to paint models quickly for the tabletop, you should watch this video. Or, if you know what you're doing already, then share it with a friend!
I'm now a partner on Twitch! Painting minis and terrain every Friday morning and Monday night, and sometime taking paint breaks (video games). Follow me: / tabletopminions
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Chat, ask questions, and communicate with Atom

[@gregoryroth5527]

My wife was not sold on painting our living room "Skeleton Color".

[@nicmcconchie2199]

Thanks for making me laugh man!

[@gregoryroth5527]

Nic Mcconchie you are most welcome, thanks for the note! Love this channel.

[@petersaczko6192]

The trick is in the marketing. Eg. "No sweetie, this isn't Skeleton Horde... this is French Mushroom."

[@brianhowe1982]

Her loss 😂

[@cordial001]

You sort of talked yourself into it, but I reckon that the third really useful entry in this "series" would be a "Preparing Your Minis" video, covering removing the model from the sprue, cleaning up moldlines, gluing, filling in gaps and that sort of thing. There's not really very many videos out there that cover all that kind of thing in one place or, if they do, they're as an afterthought to other things. In any case, this kind of video is great stuff, thank you.

[@DMKleinArts]

Ive been doing this smidge over a year and I'm just now remembering to regularly remove moldlines

[@Gumby777]

@@ITDP Drills holes in one of the feet about 5mm and drill a hole into the base, use paper clips as a pinning material to pin the model to your base. No more falling off dudes, this can used for arms, large weapons, dodgy vehicles and all types of things.

[@Splatterpunk_OldNewYork]

I second that. Very important steps.

[@markb6978]

Can’t stress enough one of the most important tips: write down all the colors your used, the order in which you used them and the techniques you used. Ex, 1) prime with Skull White, 2) Ultramarine Blue (drybrush with soft make up brush), 3) 50/50 Thunderhawk Blue/Scar white (edge highlight) Even stuff that seems super obvious, just write it down. Maybe today you do metal by drybrushing a gun metal over black, but perhaps a year from now your standard way of doing metal will be washing down a silver with a brown ink and you’ll be terribly frustrated trying to figure out how you got the original result. Only takes a few seconds and you’ll thank yourself if you ever come back to the army later on.

[@thefili8849]

Ooooor you could just play orks and paint every unit several different ways...

[@techoape]

@@thefili8849 Dis Boy haz da right idea 'ere

[@Gumby777]

I do the same to make my painting process smoother and it gives me goals to work towards. My dot points usually look like this - White on armor - Blue on weapons and shoulders - Black on weapons and bits - Gold for skulls and bits - Brown for pouches and straps - Dry brush silver on black - Black wash white, silver - Brown wash gold, brown and gold - Dry brush blue - Dry brush white

[@TheRainman614]

I keep an index card and splotch a bit of paint on them just in case the paints are renamed. Its nice to just have a reminder of what you did so you can add to it.

[@codyosborne9307]

I've been painting models for 10+ years, but I still like watching these videos for the refresher and understanding other people's techniques~

[@whippedflame8484]

I’ve only just discovered this glorious hobby for Warhammer 40K, and I’m going to be painting my first minis soon. Thank you for this video

[@lifeofi7280]

What minis did you get 😁

[@loneliestlighthouse]

@@lifeofi7280 yes let us know 🤔 I'm back in the hobby after 20 years and am currently bankrupting myself via Necromunda 😯

[@Muchomorism]

Same here. Necron for the win!

[@JaggiJiggy]

@@Muchomorism just got mine today first ever tabletop game and first time painting! Will never forget to thin my paints....

[@Muchomorism]

@@lifeofi7280 A small legion od necrons :) but I've would love to paint few marines as well. You know, just to remind me, that Emperor protects.

[@nickrogers3111]

beginners should use black to prime, help hide nooks and crannies that don't get hit while painting

[@samuelsanfratello4617]

There’s just something about getting advice from a guy wearing a fez...you gotta admire the conviction! Thanks Uncle Atom!

[@DylanSwayneHughes]

You can also buy primers that you can paint on with a brush, which work great for times when you're not in a situation where you can be using a spray paint.

[@ghostmarine96]

Thanks. I was a bit concerned as I’ve noticed everyone always talks about spray cans for priming, while I’m about to prime my first minis with a brush.

[@denzelpanther240]

I learned that the hard way when I bought Primer last year when I started. Then I had to hand prime 200 minis ^^

[@bigbrowntau]

Ah, wash....or as a friend of mine calls it: "liquid skill". Thanks Atom for a great beginner video. You've absolutely nailed it!

[@TravisHi_YT]

Step 1 should be "Don't expect perfection". I get the feeling a lot of people don't paint their models because they're scared they won't look like what they see online or in magazines. The truth is when you're playing table top, you won't see the tiny intricate details of line infantry. As others have mentioned, the more you paint and practice, the more comfortable you'll get.

[@jakea3950]

Not perfection but as stated must expect excellence. Most people don't live this philosophy and it's the difference in learning how to thin your paint and covering the whole model as apposed to not and having it look like you just slapped paint on.

[@hazbiniznow89]

Skeleton colour is my favorite colour !

[@jherazob]

Goes great with the skeleton pants!

[@hazbiniznow89]

@Connor Pithie I'll be honest Ive never painted a model in my life LOL but if i ever do I'll be ready ;)

[@chinglee]

Noob painter here. Practice with basics, and don't pay attention to the more advanced stuff until you are ready. Man gotta get back to the painting again!! THANK YOU!!!

[@aidanschmeling2937]

"If you're a skeleton that you're painting, what colors the skeleton's skeleton? I guess? It's Skeleton color." LOL, these are the remarks I watch your videos for!!

[@wiebeposthuma4686]

Great advice, still use these methods after a lot of years ;-) just to hammer out quantity. And I missed an important Uncle Adam step I belief: Write down your steps (which paints etc) for future projects! Have a great weekend all!

[@brennefleisch]

Agreed. I kept hearing him say that and failed to listen. Six months later I'm working on models again struggling to remember what paint I used for unique parts 🤦

[@sirdrakey]

the Fez is back!! How did you know my skeleton only had one boot?!

[@jordanwilde9226]

I've taken to doing a zenithal style prime with my space marines using metallics. Dark Brown goes on instead of black, then I zenithal spray Army Painter Gunmetal Primer. It produces a nice, darkened metal effect and ensures the metal is no longer reflective in the recesses and shadows where it shouldn't reflect.

[@christopherwiggins1705]

I have been watching your videos for about five years now. You Vince and Sam have been the guides on this hobby journey, thanks for being there every Friday. Nice blue fez.

[@BullScrapPracEff]

"not good when you have glowing armpits, I'm pretty sure about that." Lol. Priceless. 100%

[@Sorrowdusk]

Slaanesh disagrees

[@BullScrapPracEff]

@@Sorrowdusk I would think that's more the realm of Grandfather Burgle.

[@Namastay1]

This fellers voice makes my subwoofer go nuts

[@jakea3950]

Can confirm this is the best place to start and uncle A has explained it beautifully. Moving on abit I'll recommend some more things. Once you have gotten down how to thin your paints well, don't be afraid to use a lighter primer. You'll always have better colour tone with a lighter primer, they will pop. Once your paints are think you'll be able to fully cover the model no problems, just be consistent. Next is if you like the colour and don't need shade everywhere, practice just adding wash to recesses. Vallejo wash is pretty much used for this but the named ones here are great too. Just add the wash in deep recesses but down load the brush like you would to cover the whole model, less is more in this case. This video is really the way to make a beaut template for you models. Fill in the details and even down the track you can highlight or try another technique but for now it'll still look great 👌

[@Jonatron101]

Since dabbling with contrasts I exclusively use white primer now. I much rather how opaque paints settle on white too and if they're too bright... I was intending to use a wash anyway.

[@TekkorGJC]

Ive used Uncle Atom's tips for a while. He didnt mention but on the Primer Spray cans...I have about 12 cans of different colors. Some are Citadel cans (black, grey seer, white), some are Army painter (Bone, Gun Metal) and then I also have from his previous recommendation...some of the Krylon Camo primers that I bought at the local Ace Hardware which is much cheaper than the other ones I mentioned. In particular there is a tan and a kinda olive green. If your doing Ork's or.....like Im doing right now....Dark Angel Space Marines...I prime with the Krylon camo green...it primes very nice and clean. Saves me a ton of time. I use on my Dark Angels...then shade with Nuln Oil....then dry brush with Greenskin Army Painter....bam perfect Dark Angels. They are like 80% done.....I just then do metal parts, chest skull/eagle...gun...etc.

[@jakea3950]

I'd still always base paint it the green, it'll look much better and adding a coat is not hard. Better yet get an airbrush

[@ChristopherDessens]

The fez is definitely not a beginner technique

[@Slenkamure]

indeed if you want to wear a fez start small maybe a red one not something flashy like that

[@thenightraven60]

Is a bucket hat/boonie hat better for beginners then, or should we go for a recruit style crap hat?

[@maxmccullough8548]

@@thenightraven60 first you go to coney island and pay the man at the school to teach you to hammer a nail up your nose, and lay on the bed of pain, then you can wear a fez wherever the hell you want.

[@Paulus449]

I always look forward to your videos, very well made and informative and, most importantly, total lack of horrendous background music that plagues many hobby videos!

[@TheDaltonius]

Lol ok I think midwinter minis has pretty good background music if your interested

[@jakea3950]

The music is not there for your choosing, it's there to create drama and it does a great job. Just remember what you think is "cool" could be total shit to someone else lol. The music is just that, background noise, not your Spotify playlist.

[@noahholsworth4572]

I've been painting minis for a few years now but it's always nice to get back in touch with the basics.

[@rivenix5934]

Gotta get my brother to watch this instead of just painting all his necrons for him lol. Give him that initial push or encouragement! Thanks for the upload!

[@clearsight456]

Could start with him just spraying and nulning them up? Maybe instead of edge highlighting get him dry brushing so much more beginner friendly.

[@TerrierHalo]

“Get stuff good” is a good motto. Thanks, really helpful video.

[@newtonsanfordwood]

Thank you uncle Adam I haven't painted for over ten years just getting back into 40k and was feeling overwhelmed especially since my old models look really good and I don't think I can replicate that level of detail that I once did

[@flipsyde84]

Thank you, this and the previous video were exactly what I needed to see. I've just started the hobby and was feeling like it all might be a bit beyond me.

[@BB-pn2qv]

This series is awesome... should be a whole segment of this channel almost!

[@hoohaa559]

Love this channel. Everytime I have a query there's always a vid addressing it. Top man!!

[@WeresPrime]

Watching this again and I wish I could give more likes on how good it explains basic stuff. Thanks!

[@KMKimo]

People who struggle to get armies done, you'd be surprised how good u can get things to look with black primer and multiple dry brush layers. Foolproof techniques and you can do 4-5 models at a time

[@jeffreykershner440]

Only black primer and dry brush? I've got some army's (wrath of kings) that need painting. Please elaborate!

[@soronthar]

@@jeffreykershner440 For example, for Ultramarines you prime black, heavy drybrush macrage blue, gently drybrush altdorf guard blue on the edges, paint the metal part in the bolter, red in the eyes and you are ready to battle (which is not the same as Battle Ready as defined by GW) as you get the bolter casing and the pouches for free. The overal idea is that you prime black/dark gray, dry brush base, dry brush mid, dru brush highlight, tiddy up and pickup the small details.It is "messy" so for miniatures with a lot of details may not work that well.

[@KMKimo]

@@soronthar explained it perfectly. Let's take poxwalkers. Very detailed. Black prime. Grey drybrush. Followed by a white drybrush. The details will really start to pop. Then choose any colour wash and the model will already look fantastic. The difference with drybrush and any other technique is that the details are actually working FOR you, not creating additional work. But it does depend on the model/look you're going for.

[@ianbroyles4500]

I did the same for my indomitous necrons. Prime with dark brown and dry brush red on top. Gives a pretty neat effect

[@Smithy082]

@@KMKimo I don't understand, what about the colouring for all the little details like boots, chains, wounds etc?

[@cindykee3719]

This helps get my head around the process a lot! Thanks!

[@4hedgesfamily]

I've been painting minis for a long time, and I was sitting here taking notes during this. GREAT VIDEO!

[@VincetheBarber1790]

My wife and I are brand new to Age of Sigmar, Well, wargaming as a whole. This is a huge help. Thanks!!!

[@roban28]

UK watchers - Halfords (car & bike shop) basic grey, white & black surface primers are great for minis. Generally around £10 for a normal size can (they do smaller cans for around £8). A good plastic primer and easier to get a hold of. Working with Army Painter spray can colour primers atm and they are amazing. Alien purple... oh I love this colour. Great for warm or cold colours. Great as a base for skin too. Dragon Red is great blood angels. Demonic Yellow for Imperial Fists. Yeah... I've been spraying a lot lately.

[@roban28]

@Connor Pithie I wouldn't spend the extra just for the AP paint. Hands up - I can walk to a Halfords store so I'm saving on delivery costs too. The Halfords grey goes on great and gives great coverage. If you watch the Blackstone Fortress painting guide on Midwinter Minis, Guy uses it to prime with.

[@michellecarlson6729]

I'm just starting out and I found your video very informative without "too much" information. I'm looking forward to starting and watching more of your videos. Thanks.

[@rustedbeetle]

Beginning Steps for Painting 1:20 Step 1: Priming 5:36 Step 2: Base Color 7:33 Step 3: Wash 9:19 Step 4: Drybrush 10:46 Step 5: Variations on a theme

[@davidnorth6670]

Haven't had a chance to but any paint, but I have finished assembling my Deathwatch kill team. First models ever and if it were for folks like you, Uncle Atom, I'd never have had the balls to magnetize a bunch of arms and convert a harlequin mohawk onto one of em.

[@warmasterraven1447]

You have seriously been the biggest help thank you!

[@B3457m4n41DZ]

I love you you made this mini painting thing seem completely achievable. My wife is going to hate you. Thanks ;)

[@EdgarVerona]

You are a great teacher, I appreciate your tutorials!

[@danelmore2783]

Another great video Adam thanks!

[@infinite13390]

Great comments on the basics. Although I've been painting for years it's easy to get caught up in the details and sometimes it's easiest to stick closer to this way of painting as it ensures you don't get bogged down or overwhelmed.

[@panfriedmarmot]

My first set of paint and minis are coming later today and I am trying to suck up as much noob knowledge as possible and this video was great! Watched the "Stuff you don't need to know yet" vid too and learned a lot.

[@naughtiusmaximus1231]

Excellent tutorial! Love your approach to modeling, thanks a million!

[@johnmcconnell9979]

Nicely constructed tutorial! Well done, as usual!

[@mephisto40]

If you're from the UK, you can use car body primer from Halfords, it does exactly the same job as the GW primer and its half the price

[@lurch3268]

Thanks for this Uncle Atom! While Ive been attempting to get better Im having trouble grasping techniques, I really needed this!

[@Gunnlaugr11]

It is mad that no-one has made a video like this yet. I got into mini painting again for the first time in a while back in March and got back to a decent level quite quickly, but I think had I been a total noob I'd have been completely intimidated by most of the video content out there right now.

[@tammyschilling5362]

This was really helpful to me. I've been watching all sorts of painting videos and while they're great, it's been actually TOO MANY techniques and information. This has given me a way to narrow my focus and skills to build first. Thanks.

[@MentoliptusBanko]

This is definitely useful for beginners. I'll share it.

[@KevinCofDE]

A good spray primer is tamiya fine spray primer. I spray Hotwheels cars and this primer highlights all the small details. I also used it on my first mini and loved the results.

[@Broken777Arrow]

I find the krylon spray cans have one of the best mist spray and coverage of any I've tried.

[@killer_bro_empireitsme3613]

Krylon primer is the best I ever used. It has really good coverage without clogging the fine details

[@Robbostrong]

The fez is back, fantastic!

[@mouseketeery]

Re:- rattle cans. Check art stores for the graffiti-art/mural spray paints - squillions of colours, stick like crazy (designed to withstand the elements) and cheaper than GW, Army Painter or similar. Same sort of prices as hardware stores but much better quality paint and a far wider colour choice. They don't usually come with nozzles attached - you have to get them separately, they come in all different spray patterns, but they're only about 50p each or £3 for a mixed pack. Just rinse them thoroughly after use as if it was your brush.

[@kaz9357]

This has been incredibly helpful for me. After 20 years, I finally have the time and money to build my.miniature collection. I have watched tons of videos, and felt... inferior for not working edge highlights. This gave me that piece of mind to ignore it, and enjoy that my minis, albeit basic, still look good.

[@michaelstreeto3889]

Dude great vid I'm new to painting so thank you. Best vid I've seen so far.

[@iamdinosaur4245]

Thank you for this. I’m a newbie and these things aren’t discussed enough in the videos I watched.

[@brennefleisch]

Flat red primer is my favorite for my Farsight Enclave. Your videos got me out of my initial bad habit of being overly careful and taking hours to paint a guardsman. Much more relaxing just getting the base colors on and touching up afterwards.

[@13Robzilla]

Although management had no idea what I was talking about; I was truly impressed with how many co-workers laughed or agreed when I said can we get the Pachow for that (they kept referencing a link without actually giving it.) It was at that moment I knew just how far the message of Uncle Atom had spread.

[@avalonperez3806]

Really great video! Thanks!

[@cory7328]

Stellar presentation

[@TerminallyNerdy]

This is absolutely helpful thank you. I was looking for this exact style to get up and running. Every other newbie painting guide goes into highlights and all this complex stuff involving wet palettes and just makes me nervous.

[@giovanni23048]

Ready for the 4 AM uncle Atom's video with my 3rd bladeguard done

[@nicmcconchie2199]

Great video. Excellent advice. 👍

[@lohkirlohkir7679]

Thanks for the great content once again!! :)

[@chaulsin]

Very clear and easy to follow instructions, thanks! As a beginner I sometimes find myself getting stuck in the fiddly areas and overthinking.

[@isaacgraff8288]

thank you, this has helped so much.

[@cyagen9782]

Nice video and do not forget that painted models roll higher (or lower depending on the game)....

[@cfbush2000]

Great video!

[@jackmcallister1256]

I would say with regards to priming a model to the colour you want, you'll still want a layer of the colour closest to that primer on it. In case of mistakes on later parts of painting the model you won't end up with areas that are slightly off colour than the rest of the model. So say you're painting a guardsman and prime him an olive drag colour because of most of his armour, take an olive drab paint over the armour of the model. That way if you splash a little brown or skin colour on those parts you can clean it up and have a colour nearly identical to what you use.

[@blackmetalviking9015]

This was very helpful thank you

[@ErrantPainting]

Another great video :) Thanks

[@TeamQuiggan]

This is how I paint everything, good advice!

[@PowerLvL9000]

I wish I could have seen this video before trying to paint my first model in 1998. It would have saved a lot of frustration and built a lot of confidence.

[@williamrowell4772]

Not gonna lie you talking with your hands speaks to me and holds my attention a lot better

[@RandiBeeman]

Love the fez!

[@DCUATL]

Point away when you start. You don't want globs on your model. Splatter is bad. - Uncle Atom Oh really? - Every Nurgle player

[@declanmckearney879]

I bought some secondhand models from someone who used a coloured primer for their base coat and it was a night and day difference between the quality of that and my two layer painted base coat. Definitely worth the time IMO.

[@JoeHardacre]

Boy I'm here early! I see the fez, I'm happy

[@Marconius6]

This was a pretty good rundown of the really basic, beginner stuff. I'm waiting for the "advanced beginner" videos the most though!

[@benmorin1284]

I'm new here and this guy is awesome.

[@Roll4Initiative]

I'll also add with spray primer, try to do it in a low humidity area or day. Too much moisture in the air can make it take forever to dry and also can cause some kinds of sprays to develop texture that can be a real pain

[@Roll4Initiative]

That's great to know! We have high humidity most of the year as well. How do you warm the can?

[@brennefleisch]

@@UnknownJorge I had to do the same in western WA. Learned that the hard way screwing up a Tau commander. Took over a week to strip off most, but not all of that primer.

[@thektorMK1]

It’s the worst when that happens.

[@KiwiSpartan01]

I prime with black and stand about half a meter away. I agree with the whole shadow area. It also helps with the areas I miss.

[@Kelann08]

Loving the Boardgame Geek shirt.

[@RavenMorpheus]

Hey Atom, last week you told us not to watch advanced technique videos. I've stopped watching Sam Lenz. But, I'm worried for his income. I'm not a pro-painter, by any stretch of the imagination, and recently I've inexplicably struggled with certain things (can't do Deathwing Terminators without filling in details, or do the bone colour quickly and get that "pro look", or drybrushing Calgar Blue over Macragge Blue goes badly (helps if you don't use Citadel Air paint to do it)). It's always good to have videos showing the basics, even if it's just for a "how do I do this again" refresher.

[@pedrobastos8132]

Quick tip regarding priming with spray cans: before spraying the miniature, just spray with the can upside down (NOT AT THE MINIATURE) for a few seconds until only air comes out, that way you are cleaning the nozzle of any dry paint that might be stuck inside.

[@dominikvukelic2412]

Purple robe? Fez? Uncle Atom is evil wizard confirmed

[@modusoperandi7827]

All praise be to the fez, and the fez-bearer!

[@vidi5086]

Easy 3 steps to make your models at least not grey ) Thank you for this video!

[@TheTwistedClarity]

I appreciate this. Its so overwhelming with all this talk of contrast paints, zenithal, slap chop, grimdark, yada yada yada... I have my bases done and models assembled. Primer cans bought. Painting handles made in my woodshop. Just scared to buy paint and start. This helped me calm down

[@Ghislain82]

I recently figured out that taking a pair of pliers and "bend" an old paintbrush to 15 to 30 degrees makes a very useful tool for painting difficult to reach areas like under a horse, behind a large shield or under a chair. Doesn't even need to be that precise, cause it's a hard to see area. Wish I had figured this out much earlier.

[@RaVirrTheTrader]

I'm amazed that your Interocitor fez shows up on film!

[@nonya9120]

Geezer here... Great vid. Game on.....

[@Shakkarz]

I just enjoy listening Boston Massachusetts my grandfather had a fizz cap he was in this large quiet group of men that's the one I was back when I was little

[@chuckle021975]

Also remember after priming to turn your spray can upside down and spray until you just see air. This stops your can nozzle clogging up when using in the future.

[@EssexBoyz]

Really good advice here, nice tips. Bow to the power of the Fez. 😃🤣

[@perkinsdearborn4693]

Thanks for the beginner content videos. I know there are a lot of KZbin videos on painting miniatures. My struggle is still with quality. A part of the problem is that the mid-steps looking messy. For me, my paint jobs go from clean primed miniature to messy base coat. Then, I get stuck on fixing little bits which never really resolves the messy look. I hope that a Wash will hide the worst parts of the base coat. I am working getting to 'good enough' and getting to 'done' so I can play games with painted miniatures. I find gaps and mold lines are a problem, too. Thx for continuing to provide useful tips. Have you tried using Perfect Plastic Putty to fill miniature gaps?

[@cassanthemumRo]

Hey cool! Someone close to my age! lol. Thanks for the great vid.