How I Paint Things - 15mm Troops

[@HeadHunterSix]

I tried this method with my 15mm Grenadiers and it works great! I love how easy and fast it goes by using the traditional highlight colors as the base coat instead, and letting the wash do the rest of the work. Some tutorials really do things the hard way - basecoating with the shadow, layering with the base color and then highlighting. Insane and across an entire company of soldiers that would take forever... and honestly for an imperceptible benefit considering the scale and distance on the table.

[@johnkelley9877]

They look really good. They have a realistic look without heavy high lighting. Thanks for this and I will certainly reference this tutorial in the future.

[@pennsylvania9665]

Just wanted to let you know this video was really helpful to me. I was definitely overthinking 15mm. I just ordered a few boxes of Time of Legends: Joan of Arc, and watching this video put me at ease for painting them. Thanks for putting this together. Well done!

[@runlarryrun77]

Thanks for this. I've decided to get back into scale modelling. I was ok at it as a kid, built a few aeroplanes about 10 years back & they were good, so I've retained the skills into adulthood. Looking to take things to the next level now though & one area I always fell down on was painting such tiny figures. Am currently working on a diorama in 1/72, the paratroopers arrived today & I immediately remembered how much I struggled with figures that size. After this tutorial I think they'll look a lot better! Thanks again!

[@kevinkuster5225]

I really found you 1/72 scale figure painting so incredibly inspiring, I just finished my first two sets of Germans in American infantry. Would you consider doing another amazing video of 1/72 WW2 or WW1 figures again?

[@leemiller1089]

Tremendous! Just getting into the hobby and definitely intimidated by the painting involved. Your video has really helped my confidence. Well done mate and 15mm it is👍👍👍

[@cy2087]

My experience, which stems from the 1970's, has me pining for the cooperative scales of 25mm (the standard of those days for metals) and 1/48th scale. Those were so close that you could mix and match freely between almost all vehicles and troops. Worked great for SciFi minis and kit bashing. I began the switch to 15mm in the late 90's and saved amazing amounts of money on mini's, storage and transport, and even paints and materials. I wanted your viewers to know that this is a great basic guide. many of us do go for a lot more detail, and it looks awesome, but the best thing about the scale is that it's up to the painter. You can go as far as you'd like with details and weathering but you don't have to. Thanks.

[@nickjones6401]

Thank you so much for this video! I've been a naval and aerial gamer for years but I've put off playing WW2 land combat because I was daunted by the idea of painting figures. Based on this video I took the plunge, ordered some 15mm PSC WW2 Brits and this afternoon got an entire section of 10 men done in two hours and they look great. Can't wait to get some more done and start playing Chain of Command - cheers Sonic Sledgehammer Studios for a fantastic tutorial :)

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Really glad to hear it! Good call on Chain of Command, too. :D

[@samuelclarvoe7177]

Great video! I have a big pile of modern brits in 15mm who are going to look so much better now!

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Best of luck!

[@musoseven8218]

Superb painting, superb tutorial.

[@scotscovenanter]

I love the sprue on a screw technique. Might have to use that...

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

It's really handy for these 15mm guys, I find. Especially in systems where you'll have multiple miniatures on a stand, you can plop five guys on a bit of sprue and paint a 'unit' in one fell swoop, and they'll match perfectly with one another as you're working.

[@scotscovenanter]

Nice. Yeah planning to paint up the minis with the Cenetary Edition of The Great War when it releases.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Tempting! You wouldn't happen to have a link handy so I could get an eyeful of some miniatures? :D

[@hyperkubus]

just call it a scrue or a sprew...

[@jasonvega9942]

wow great set. thanks for the share

[@irishtom30]

Just finished an entire commonwealth rifle company + support teams (like 200 guys) of PSCs 15mm. Awesome figures, but I made the mistake of making the webbing a colour too close to the uniforms. At 28mm you would be able to see the difference, but at that small scale it blends too much (especially with the wash). At this scale I'd advise going for greater contrast and/or brighter colours, and trusting the wash to bring it all together. We'll see how I do with the German grenadiers I ordered next!

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

It doesn't seem like it'd make such a big difference, but once you get those squads at arm's length and on a table... little differences become huge! I've become a real fan of going for crazy dark recesses and bright highlights. It looks AWFUL in a photo, which makes it hard to demonstrate working on KZbin unfortunately! 😅

[@nheather]

Couple more things to add. One of the main reasons for heroic scale is robustness, especially when you get down to smaller scales like 15mm cast in white metal - anatomically correct arms, legs, weapons will break easily when removing from moulds or if they survive that, on the game table. Another thing to watch out for is scale creep, especially with smaller scales. The scale (in mm) is based on the height of a typical human figure, though there is a lot of debate as to whether headgear is included or not. But because of the ‘open to interpretation’, the desire to make figures more robust, and the desire to be more detailed, some manufacturers 15mm figures are more like 18mm. So you have to be very careful mixing figures from different manufacturers as the size difference can be very apparent.

[@cunneyes]

I am wrestling with what direction to go in whether it's 28mm or 15mm, so this was great

[@thekameleon9785]

There is also 1/72. 20mm. A good compromise between the 2

[@cunneyes]

@@thekameleon9785 I went hard into 28mm and I have actually bought a fair bit of 1:72 as well. Glad I skipped 15mm for 1:72

[@zid_just_zid]

Super useful for the small scale Orks im making, convey the idea rather than perfect execution.

[@jayg1438]

these look great, taking notes

[@MrTurtlez812]

I know that this is an old video but I can’t express how much shock I was in when you added the black shading on the whole model. I’m still very new to the hobby but I’ve never seen any of my irl friends do that method. I plan on making that work for all of my minis now lmao.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

It's a little bit Marmite - some folks really like it, others don't like the shading effect it gives without more control. Personally, for knocking out bulk infantry, it gets my vote!

[@michaelg.1786]

I'm working on 15mm Essex ancients so this is helpful!

[@robertmorton38]

Very nicely done. I really enjoyed your tutorial and got a lot out of it. I have noticed with my painting of 15mm infantry that I tended to be restrained with my shadow + primary colour + highlights and still the finished colours just didn’t ‘pop’. You’re impressionistic style really nails the lighting and drama. and I really have to give it a try. All the best, Robert

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Great to hear! I found 15mm and smaller kind of difficult to strike that balance when I was starting with them, myself. I think the modern Soviet painting guide I did for Team Yankee 15mm would be interesting to see how much I've changed form over time - watching how folks were painting 6mm troops really helped to get that idea of the impression from across the table!

[@RealityCheckTime]

If you knew how much time it took me to paint 10 models at this scale.... I put on waaaayy too many details. Thanks for the video!

[@HeadHunterSix]

The price comparison I like to make for people who are new to historical gaming: For the price of a 5-man combat squad in 40k, you can get a _platoon_ of Bolt Action models, or even a _company_ of Flames of War infantry! And if you go off-brand for something like Perry, Wargames Factory or Plastic Soldier Company, you can often spend even less. I'm partial to 28mm and the Bolt Action ruleset because there's less abstraction (in terms of painting and rules) but I picked up some 15mm tanks to use in What A Tanker! and of course now I'm dipping my toe into Flames of War. So tutorials like this are very helpful, thank you!

[@dan022675]

Love your painting tutorials. In the past some of them had a list of what colors you used on what so that we could reference them without rewatching the video each time (not that it is bad but you know). I had them all saved in a word doc that has since then disappeared LOL. Any chance of you posting any of them again?

[@MajorRager504]

I feel like a dummy for not jumping on 15mm instead. Painting is more of a means to an end for me as I just wanna enjoy the game. This looks much faster and cheaper. Thanks for the video!

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

There's some really great rules sets out there for 15mm stuff as well. Even smaller and you can hit the 10mm ranges, and play full companies or battalions on a 6x4' table. ;D

[@MajorRager504]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio that sounds insane haha. I'll look into it!

[@anonsumm4857]

Can you drop links where I can purchase the figurines and models? Thank you. Great work, I m just starting this type of hobby, so any Information will bee appropriate.

[@grahamlloyd7157]

Hi, I am about to start playing Sam Mustafas Rommel rules and I have chosen to use 10mm DAK. Figures from Pendraken. I think your video is brilliant. Colour contrast is important for smaller minis. I would love to see you post a similar painting guide foe Afrika Korps or advise on the paints to use...my minis are in the process of being cast so I have a wee bit of time to prepare. Cheers!

[@christophersmith5691]

The jackets looked better without highlighting, and you could argue that the Army Painter shading just darkened everything too much. I've used acrylic inks - black and sepia - for shading and if you use a light touch (very dilute) you can add more later. Shading works best for me for picking out skin and facial details when they are so small - the watery shade does the job for you. Just be careful if you want to use an aerosol varnish afterwards, once I used a can of white paint by mistake

[@AlwaysCensored-xp1be]

Model train guy getting into TT120, which is about 15mm. 3D printing my own figures so I need to paint them

[@johnwayneeverett6263]

CALPE , FOUNDRY , PERRY , MY FAV.... FRONT RANK ....AND WARLORD 28MM ...I AM AMAZED AT PERRYS SOMETIMES AND ALWAYS GOOD WITH FRONT RANK .... I WANT TO DO A NEW ARMY ACW OR ANCT. 15MM I AM THINKING BECAUSE MONEY N COUNT

[@Mr_Secondaries]

In regards to whats better for 28mm heroic, its definitely personal preference... It also depends on company. Some things from warlord fit their heroic 28mm nicely...others (their churchhill) does not... the sherman makes them look about 5'10-6' tall... a little big. However not far off as the infantry stand about as tall as I do next to a real sherman. Its also tough cause unless youve seen a real version of a tank/vehicle, photos can skew them to be bigger or smaller... Warlord churchhill tank models are an example of "what happened?". They make infantry look like 8' tall... :( So even their own 1/56 scale can be slightly off. (Thats the "official scale" they use...but really its more like 1/56-1/72 depending on vehicle... its weird) If you go with 1/48 scale, it fits the heroic a little better, but makes human infantry look as if everyone is 5' tall. Whatever you do...pick 1 size and use it, otherwise you'll have weird mismatches. (Large sherman and tiny sherman)

[@felipesg152]

Greetings from Madrid, congratulations on your work. Please, could you detail the references of each color used and washed? Thanks!

[@MrStickman13579]

Where did you get these figures? I play memoir 44 and I've been looking for more variety in my figures, and these are perfect.

[@kevinkuster5225]

Love this video and your tutorials. Best I have ever found. How are you diluting or cutting your Citadel base Zandri Dust colors for spray painting? I tried cutting it with water and didn't work well. Hope you get this and will help answer this for me! Keep up the wonderful work and videos!

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I use the Zandri Dust primer spray for it; if you're watering down Zandri Dust from the pot, best to put it over a light grey or even a white primer first for it to have something to stick to.

[@petrpetr5607]

Super paráda !!! krásná práce

[@christopherbell9838]

i know that this is quite ld but would good to see how all these look on a table top

[@flamesofwarterrain4524]

that universal carrier had heroic scale troops in it XD

[@matthewpahnke2613]

What size brush(es) did you use? Might've missed it. Getting my first set of minis (Peter Pig) and paints (Vallejo) today. But need a primer and brushes still.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Pretty much all of this is done with a Citadel Medium Layer Brush. I think most manufacturers outside of that list it as a Size 1, and from there up or down a size depending on what you need will be plenty!

[@giovannizotti8549]

Please, can you show theese tecnics with some german middle-late war infantry? Thanks.

[@bourne817]

This guys the man

[@bosola7168]

This is an awesome video and really helped me choose my colours for pimping a board game with miniatures. Do you have one about Germany infantry in the same theatre?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Yup! It might look like this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmraZJujpLObg8U

[@bosola7168]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Ahhh, but what about 1/72 scale - like these US figures are? Or am I pushing my luck? Thank you! :)

[@johnoneill9939]

Great video. Can you tell me the name of the wash you used and the manufacturer?

[@aldanesh2680]

Thanks for the nice tutorial. What primer did you use?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

This was Zandri Dust, if I'm remembering correctly.

[@Digitalfiendscom]

Fantastic tutorial! I'm just getting into 15mm FoW (and using extras for 15mm BA) and this video is going to be a great help. One thing I struggle with is painting the faces...most people seem to go for a darker-than-normal flesh tone base, then a drastically lighter layer, and even more drastic highlights. To me it makes the figures look like zombies. :) I can't remember where I saw it (might have been the FoW site) but someone painted incredibly realistic faces on their infantry...looked like what you'd do for 28mm, very smooth and convincing considering the lack of details. Any suggestions on what to do if I want slightly less stark faces? Perhaps just base + flesh shade + a more diluted layer/highlight? Might not be worth it...looking the box my two companies of infantry and it makes me want to cry thinking about it. :)

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

With the smaller faces it can be a little difficult to get that smooth transition and still have them look 'right' on the table - there's a style choice to be made! Personally, I like to go with something like Vallejo's Basic Skin Tone, which is quite light, basecoat the whole face, then give it a separate Reikland Fleshshade wash. Highlight the brow, nose and cheekbones with some Basic Skin Tone again and it will look fairly smooth, as well as light enough that it'll fit with the scale difference.

[@Digitalfiendscom]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Cool, I'll give that a try. Thanks.

[@theenigmaticgamer]

Thanks for a very interesting video. I always find painting 15's hard work. I think it's because I forget they are seen from a distance and try to get in too much detail...especially Napoleonics and Seven Years War minis. Your advice is much appreciated. Only just found your channel and have subbed. Cheers

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I'm dead keen to get my hands on some Napoleonics to have a shot at something you don't see a lot of in painting videos! It'll probably end up being Warlord or Victrix's 28mm figures, but 15mm's definitely on the table! The hardest part for me moving to 15mm was definitely striking the balance on what was visible and what was just being a fusspot; I think really bold historical uniforms ought to be a lot of fun for that!

[@AlwaysCensored-xp1be]

WW1 trench railway in TT 15mm scale?

[@crazytanks2001]

Whatttt they are 15 mm and look better than my 1/35 and think i use the worng paints and brushes

[@Rickky1971]

What kind of wash did you use? Like what is it and color?

[@jayg1438]

I have the same question

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Agrax Earthshade. It's a deep black-brown kind of colour.

[@FredWilbury]

Bit of a dumb so apologies how does 15mm equate to 1/76 ? Hope you don’t mind me asking . Fred

[@atticadventurers8044]

Sorry if I missed it in the commentary, but what line of miniatures are those 15mm infantry? They look great! Looking to expand into WW2 skirmish gaming on the cheap and I'm definitely going to go the 15mm route.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

These guys are the Plastic Soldier Company's American Infantry boxed set. They're a little more 'realistic' scale - so thinner arms and legs with smaller heads - than some of the other companies out there, but they're good miniatures.

[@atticadventurers8044]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio thank you so much!

[@cj_xd2232]

Thank this helped alot

[@TheAttic22]

May I know what is the paint that was used for shading?

[@Patrick-lu2fy]

What would you undercoat ww2 British Army with? Which spray? Thanks.

[@johnwayneeverett6263]

YES SMART VID A MUST WATCH GUYS N GALS...

[@bissman2496]

Great video, looking forward to following it when I start my 15mm US troops, quick question though, what undercoat/ base colour are they painted in? Cheers

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

These guys are primed in Zandri Dust. Definitely a go-to for most WWII era figures!

[@ParaMoto910]

What all paints were used in this video?

[@julianwarren7770]

Any suggestions on 6mm models? Presumably similar, but more basic?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

As absolute chance would have it, I'm actually just trying to get some 6mm stuff out of the 3d printer at the moment. I can't imagine it'd be much different to this, but maybe try to stick even brighter so there's proper contrast?

[@medicalimagingcenterperpet7694]

can you do 1:72 german infantry?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I've done 1:56 German infantry previously, which you can find here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3_EoY2lj6lmldU In all honesty I wouldn't do anything different with the change in scale, except to use a slightly smaller brush! ;D

[@PedroRodriguez-hy5ty]

Nice

[@gilm677]

What's a wash?

[@mikesmith2905]

Odd that you didn't mention 20mm (1:72-1:76) as it is quite a lot cheaper than 15mm or 28mm scale and works fine with rules for either. There are many manufacturers catering to this scale and there are also a vast range of highly detailed kits available (as well as the simple wargame kits, Armourfast being the cheapest). I make up sets to give away to less well off folks so I prefer the low cost of 20mm. The one genre that is missing is sci-fi, I use ancient civilians, Tudor figures, WW2 ground crews and the like, if soldiers are needed I use modified US paratroops. Back in the 1971 a chap built a huge diorama of The Battle of Tewkesbury with over 2000 figures. Back then all that was available was the Airfix Sheriff of Nottingham and Robin Hood sets with about 48 figures each so he modified the figures so it is damned difficult to spot any duplicates (he must have a box full of Friar Tucks and Maid Marrions). The diorama is on show at Tewkesbury museum and probably on the internet, there was an article on it in Airfix magazine at the time.

[@AluVixapede]

OH OH OH SCALE :D

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I hear that Jolly Ol' Saint Nick likes to model his railways in HO scale.

[@artourious6346]

Been historical wargaming for 40 years, and have never heard 25mm or 28mm called heroic scale :)

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Might be the circles we move in! 'Heroic' is a pretty common turn of phrase in some of the games I play, even in some historical rules systems and communities - then again, Warlord Games does have a fair few Games Workshop alumni stalking those halls, so that may have something to do with it. ;D

[@Mr_Secondaries]

Heroic scale is the term thrown around a lot by Gamesworkshop and Warlord games specifically. Everything they got is 28mm "heroic".

[@artourious6346]

@@Mr_Secondaries , Thanks, as historical gamers call it "Games workshop, the Dark side". And warlord games the new boys on the block splashing their cash around, they'l learn when the money runs out.

[@Atli-Eiriksson]

28mm is not 1/56 scale see 28x56= 1568mm or 1,57m… well that’s not the average height of a modern man that’s 1,80m so we need to find what 28xy = 1800 solve for y and get 64,29 that we’ll round up to 64 so 1/64 is the mathematically proven scale for 28mm figures

[@madg620]

ide prefer plastic over metal metal is just not a fit for painting priming or even washing horrible for modeling metal is just ancient and relic stuff