Do it Yourself Sundrop: Guide for (easily) Painting Miniatures

[@nathanscott3339]

Primer is to give the paint something to grip onto. It is more likely to flake off if not primed. Further, resin or some plastic models can often still have a bit of mold release (think like a cooking spray) on them and should be washed with dish soap before even priming them.

[@devintheee]

Thank you for putting this video together! I'm a semi-experienced amateur painter, but this video gave me inspiration to tackle this particular technique instead of painting them all through either contrast or pain-stakingly with detail. The results speak for themselves, and it looks fantastic! Anything better than gray plastic. I'd estimate that between priming (not including dry-time), first dry-brush, then second, and varnish, I probably put 4 hours into my Etherfields Core Box contents and they look FANTASTIC.

[@arturplonka8027]

I like how you show the process from absolute beginer perspective but if anyone reads this comment and is wondering about washes you can make your own by mixing cheap oil paints with terpentine or ligher fluid (1to5 ratio works out for me) just get a glass container and mix in a bit of solvant in and check on piece of white paper for opacity. To get sundrop effect prime your mini in white (optional step) and then paint it khaki or dark bone and then apply dark brown or black wash over, soak the exces with ex paper towels. If the shadows are not deap enough or colours on highlights are not muted enough just aply a second coat

[@petrpicha1928]

The best sundrop tutorial. Far nicer and cleaner result than the others using washes.

[@miniaturespalace1061]

Thank you!

[@acornkid7325]

I really like how well made and well spoken this video is. Well done! A beginner like myself can follow this without much trouble. I’m looking forward to seeing more of these! Keep it up!~

[@carllewis6745]

I haven't tried this yet, but straightforward tutorial to follow and short and sweet! Thanks!

[@raortiz73]

No matter where I go, I can always pick out a Bodega. Good video.

[@miniaturespalace1061]

Lol, good eye!

[@patrickperl8741]

Absolutely need to use a primer. If you don't, your paint may not stick to the miniature in the long run and may flake off even using a matte sealer. Furthermore, it should be stated that before you paint any miniature it should be washed with dish soap to remove some of the chemicals used in manufacturing which may prevent paint from sticking.

[@jcapo5]

Excellent tutorial. I did this for iss vanguard. Took under 30 min for everything in the core box

[@magnus0017]

Very cool video, was curious how how Sundrop works but seeing how simply it can be done by hand is enough. Couple small things; you don't need primer, but it's very good at getting paint to adhere better. When you're doing thinner layers and more complex techniques, missing it can ruin the whole job. That thick black layer of paint at the start can handle that, though a can of plack spray primer from the hardware store can do just as well and gives you that primer adherence. Should also make more paints work. I haven't tried it with craft paints, but basically all mini paint can be diluted down to a wash with some water and maybe some extra medium or flow improver. I'm sure it's possible with any paint, but how well it would work and if you need more additives like flow improver for what you're using, as well as how much color might be left thinned down so much, I don't know. But it certainly can be done. But, seriously, really good explanation and, for a true beginner, this is a fantastic little explanation of how to do this stuff.

[@madddog6790]

You can make washes dirt cheap--a couple of drops of paint, some water, and a drop of dish washing detergent. I've tried fancier recipes that include matte medium, colored inks, etc, but the very basic version of just watered down paint and a drop of Dawn work better for me. It's the basic Black Magic Craft recipe, which i prefer over his updated one.

[@miniaturespalace1061]

Thanks for your advice! I've tried to mix my own wash before and didn't like the end result so I now I just buy miniatures wash. I'll give your recipe a shot!

[@madddog6790]

@@miniaturespalace1061 here's the vid...it's his *first* recipe, not the improved one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f2a4aIh8e9qLY7M Play around a bit with the ratios if you make more/less than he does here.

[@kvitulv]

I prefer inks and washes to sundrop my miniatures. I find dry brushing makes them look old and dusty. Like first white, than dark inks like black or even Nuln oil. Than a second wash with more earthones perhaps. Looks great.

[@bigpiper2103]

That's what I do too.

[@rabidpickle]

Thank you for the video. I'll never be a good painter but this seems easily achievable and a really cool result. Two questions: do you start the dry brushing at the same point on the mini for each layer? (Head and go down/back) or do you start in different areas to apply more evenly? Do you re-apply paint to the brush during a layer of dry brushing?

[@miniaturespalace1061]

Hello, 1. In my experience, it doesn't usually matter where I start to dry brush for each figure. Most of the time I go by eye to see if the paint being applied to each area is enough, then I move onto the next area. 2. Yes, in my experience, its better to put less paint on your brush for dry brushing so that the paint won't clump. This usually means re-applying paint at least a few times during dry brushing.

[@stephenlake7398]

Nice, thanks for this it was a good start on what I want to do with some board game miniatures. May I also recommend that you try a make up brush for this, you can get one that would just about cover the whole model in one pass.

[@zhouzheng15]

Great start!

[@SC501]

Say the model I want to paint is the primary color i want to keep it at, do i still have to prime it? What step would I start at?

[@anon890]

Yes, still prime it, the base layer isnt just for color, its also to get the layers above to stick properly.

[@HarleyFirestorm]

You should really prime it white and then use nuln oil wash and then earthshade wash with a white dry brush to bring out details, the mini will be much darker than the official sundrops doing it your way, which are really just minis dipped in washes.

[@RynoKenny]

Thanks for this tip, why nuln (black) wash and the earth (brown) wash? What is the purpose of using both? Thanks again!

[@HarleyFirestorm]

@@RynoKenny Because the mini is sprayed white you need to tone that down for the highlight and details to pop out, the nuln oil is the one you want to push right into the models but the earth shade will completely dull down the mini enough to allow the highlighting to make the details pop out. you can try using one shade, but it just doesn't look very good, it looks like a first coat of speed paint.

[@PeterGilesKnows]

That primer brush!

[@TableTopWolf1984]

Its interesting seeing an actual sundrop painted mini by the studio, I'm just getting into trying more of the sundop technique and I'm finding drybrushing is better than using washes/inks

[@madddog6790]

A combination of both might really look good...gonna try that in a day or two. Also, if anything screamed Strong Tone dip, I think it's sundrop :). I have some of that laying around, though I've gotten lazy and don't use it that much, but I think in this application it'll work out great.

[@dcrbdh]

White primer and a dark wash is far superior to this technique.

[@jurandp23]

I actually would like Op to show the diff in the video. I think 'wash' makes it more glossy, what i don't like.

[@prototypep4]

@@jurandp23 That depends on the wash you use. Can always (and should) seal it with a matte varnish though.

[@RynoKenny]

Matte varnish gets rid of all glossiness