How to Paint 6mm Normans & Saxons

[@carlm5991]

Important! When you are washing your 6mm models in the sink, make sure you CLOSE THE DRAIN before you start! I've done that before when cleaning my 15mm miniatures and lost one down the drain lol! Excellent video, thank you Little Wars TV and Chris Grau for all your hard work!

[@FeldgrauProductions]

Yes! Rewatching that part of the video game myself heart palpitations, even though I'm the one doing it! Should have closed the drain; I think I was distracted by filming.

[@fuzztsimmers3415]

I never wash in anything but small container just incase lol

[@kimera_2]

As someone who got into 10mm, and wargaming in general, in part thanks to Feldgrau Production videos, I got really stoked when I saw who was in the thumbnail.

[@FeldgrauProductions]

I'm so happy to be able to get people interested in the hobby! Glad you're here!

[@joesturn7740]

Thanks for the tutorial, Chris! And thanks for the introduction to this channel, Little Wars!

[@BillsWargameWorld]

Everyone is truly blessed if they can see 6mm to paint them well done and awesome video!

[@charlessapp1835]

I have been working on Great Northern War armies for a while now. I too prefer the inside-out approach. A fine tip is definitely necessary for painting. I do reuse my paintbrush, but I always clean it after every use with 90% isopropyl alcohol and a paper towel. Fortunately, my horse loving sister was able to help to get great horse colors. I mainly do chestnut, bay, brown, & grey with a few blacks. The horses really look nice. For my basing, I use .030 styrene painted green and covered with Woodland Scenics green blend turf. Then I print out the name of the regiment with the national flag and glue it to the underside. I created paint holders for the painting process using some garbage from work, and some old Vallejo caps. (A pvc pipe would work as well). So all I have to do is place a dab of hot glue on the top the Vallejo cap and place the set of minis on the cap. Then it is easy to remove the glue when the painting is done. I then created a holder for the paint holders. Having a dozen stands led to easy bumping on the floor, and very inconvenient for moving them around. (I like to paint when watching tv). So I used an old 1x4, and then drilled holes every 2" so I could glue wooden dowels in the board. Finally, I glued some felt on the underside. Now I can move all my minis with ease and I don't have to worry about someone bumping them to the floor.

[@RonBlankenbeckler]

Chris is one of my favorite youtubers, awesome to see him on here!

[@LittleWarsTV]

He does excellent painting tutorials, so we feel lucky to have him as a guest star here! Already talking to Chris about another one!

[@oskarringdahl7241]

We need more 6mm painting guides. Baccus has some fantastic new Great northern war sculpts!

[@LittleWarsTV]

We are planning another painting tutorial with Chris already!

[@zenlizard1850]

Excellent, and I will emphasize the point: don't be afraid to mix your paints, if you don't have the exact shade you want!

[@steveholmes11]

Excellent tutorial. We all develop our own style with experience, but Christopher provides an excellent introduction here. If I were presenting "6mm 102", I would add the following. The success factor for 6mm is the mass effect at 2 feet distance or more, everything below derives from this. 1. It will take you a few sessions to "key in" your painting technique to 6mm, begin with your militia, lien infantry and larger items like wagons or elephants. 2. Resist the temptation to pick out every detail: That's great in 28mm, but is the way to madness in 6mm. For reference that 2 foot viewing distance is 600mm (100 times the height of a man_ - consider what detail is visible at 150 to 200 yards. 3. Some features are more visible than others: Heads, headgear, weapons, front rank shields and horses. 4. Horses are much bigger than people, and worth the effort to get right. Pay attention to a realistic mix of colours, tail, mane, nose blaze and socks. You don't have many cavalry in Norman Conquest force, and you won't regret the extra effort. 5. Controversial, and applies mostly to mass infantry bases. Try to focus on one or two dominant colours in a unit. My first attempt at 48 men per base ancient Britons was ruined by using far too many colours. The effect varied from kaleidoscope to dazzle camouflage, and disguised all details of the figures including shields and weapons. Almost all armies of ancient and medieval will be using natural dies with a fairly limited colour palette. 6. Often mentioned with smaller scales. When modelling small means "far away", where colours appear paler and more neutral. You won't go wrong using slightly paler versions of the intended colour. I do recommend ignoring advice to make everything greyer; it's realistic, but I find it sucks the joy out of painting and displaying the little guys.

[@FeldgrauProductions]

Chris from the video here. Steve, this is a fantastic list of 6mm "102" tips and I'll certainly use and recommend some of these next time there's a 6mm video.

[@SobotRex]

Please continue to make more painting videos!

[@LittleWarsTV]

We will be sure to ask Chris to return!

[@ElderlyJoeDuffy]

I have some 6mm French Napoleonics on the way from Bacchus, and this made it seem very approachable. Thanks Christopher! And thanks guys for getting him on!

[@CJ_esc.artist]

Simply love watching these tutorials. Please, keep ‘em coming!

[@johnkerr7054]

Excellent! Thanks

[@richardcrawley9614]

I’d recommend mixing some cheap brown craft acrylic into the premixed grout. That way if you don’t manage to completely cover it when painting of it it gets chipped you don’t have white grout showing through.

[@FeldgrauProductions]

I have tried that in the last and found it altered the consistency of the grout so it didn't have as much texture. Miles recently recommended a tan premixed grout, which you just apply and wash, skipping the painting step. Once I use up my white grout I'll be switching to tan.

[@davidcollins2648]

Worth mentioning he mounts the figures using blue tac (also gray poster tac) to affix the figures to a regular plastic bottle cap. For speed do all the same colors on same type units so you're not constantly switching tasks and colors. An optivisor or similar magnification glasses are handy for those of us with older eyes.

[@michaeldecarlo6945]

For a quick & easy basing paint job, I pre-spray paint bases with Rustoleum Textured paint in either tan, dark brown or green. When dry, the surface is “pebbly”. Immediately after spraying and while the paint is still wet, I lightly sprinkle the static grass or flocking of choice right on the wet paint, knocking off ant excess. The bases look great and the finished figures are glued right to them. The base of the figure(s) can be painted &/or flocked to hide and blend it in. I generally work in 15mm and haven’t tried 6mm yet. Great video!

[@Blitz9H]

Thank you for introducing me to his channel. This is great!

[@dennishogan5696]

ive been struggling with my microworlds 6mm fantasy elves and this really gave me the tips and steps to paint at this epic scale

[@simonwilliams3546]

Thanks for putting this up really great seeing a painting tutorial on this subject. Currently just over half way through painting up my Vikings 👌👍

[@GreyhawkGrognard]

This comes at a perfect time, as I'm in the midst of painting several 6mm Ogre-GEV armies, and have been hesitating about doing the infantry.

[@gmlogan4889]

It’s funny, because I’ve been a 6-10mm gamer/painter my whole life. I hear often “how can you painting anything so small!?” Anything bigger just feels like it takes me forever to complete. I can turn out bases of 6mm ACW figures in 1/4 of the time as the Epic ACW I tried as a “change of pace” (they’re currently collecting dust on a shelf). I’ve tried black primer, but it just doesn’t work for me. Instead, I got with gray and then apply a wash over it with a quick dry brush before painting.

[@pearsonbrantley8012]

Thanks for the guide! It is super helpful, and a great starting point. I would love to see more of these for 6mm…. Specially Napoleonic.

[@robkoper841]

Before you prime, check your local humidity/dewpoint! Especially if you are using cheaper primers for a basecoat. At high humidity, the spray will blob up if you are priming outdoors!

[@s2korpionic]

Good way to prep for Epic!

[@PhilipMackie1]

Another time saving tip is to use put a small amount of the basing material - tile grout, fine Pollyfilla, Tetrion or whatvever - into a small airtight container and mix in your base colour paint. You can then apply this with consistent colour across your army without the need to over-paint once the mix is dried.

[@batesmt25]

Thanks👍🏼

[@lorddraconum]

Nice tutorial.

[@andmol]

Great tutorial! I have painted a bunch of 6mm ACW for Altar of Freedom and some 6mm TYW bases, but this video gave me some new ideas - mainly to stress less about getting colour into every little spot between the feet etc. Since you ask for suggestions on future videos: how about some Wars of the Roses minis in 6 or 10 mm scale? Or both scales as a head-to-head comparison of techniques?

[@FeldgrauProductions]

Thank you for the suggestions. I'm planning on doing videos that match up with what LWTV is doing, so if some Wars of the Roses comes along, you might see that.

[@torros1839]

Very nice. 6mm are so easy to paint although a Winsor and Newton thinned down nut brown wash tends to help add a bit more definition to the figures I think

[@FeldgrauProductions]

I did an off camera experiment with a few different washes on other test strips, as this is my usual 10 and 15mm painting technique. I found, however, that the recesses on 6mm are so small and shallow, at least for these figures, that the whole mini just ended up desaturated and the different colors all blended together. Then I'd have to go back and rehighlight everything, which I think defeats the purpose of panting 6mm quickly. You can certainly do this, and it will end up looking better, it will just take more time and the purpose of the video was to get the army on the table quickly.

[@travisdralle1227]

great video, I would definitely wash them in a mesh strainer. It's a major bummer to lose pieces down the drain!

[@LittleWarsTV]

Happened to me once!

[@SpringfieldFatts]

I recently tried the Ready Basing stuff from LukeAPS and it was a real time saver. Didn't have to paint the base at all, good coverage, and it even did a nice job of hiding the strips holding the models together. You will have to sift it first for anything smaller than 15mm.

[@FeldgrauProductions]

I think for 6 and 10mm, the GGS ready basing material can be too large, Sifting certainly works, but it's another step. I'm actually experimenting with making my own Ready Basing mix using easily purchasable materials, so I may post a video about it on my own channel if I can get it right.

[@stuartbaxter-potter8363]

Pre-mixed grout might be just the sort of thing I'm looking for to base my Titanicus models! They've had bare bases for so long!

[@FeldgrauProductions]

It's a great material. You can also mix it with some fine, small, and medium grain sand, plus watered down PVA glue for more variety in the texture.

[@davidcollins2648]

I use grout as well but mix in some brown paint so I can skip a step painting.

[@AJsWargaming]

Very informative video. I enjoyed it! Thanks.

[@bigsarge2085]

👍👍

[@davidbenton8775]

Good basics tho' I really must agree with the previous commenter on the effect a final overall wash adds. For my 6mm ACW troops a thin black wash for the Union and a thin brown for the Rebels really does two main jobs. Firstly it draws out the details of the sculpt and second it imparts the battle ready look of soldiers who have marched long distances through mud and/or dust to get to the battlefield and not just changed into freshly laundered clothes before the commencement of hostilities. It really adds a lot with almost no extra effort.

[@FeldgrauProductions]

I did an off camera experiment with a few different washes on other test strips, as this is my usual 10 and 15mm painting technique. I found, however, that the recesses on 6mm are so small and shallow, at least for these figures, that the whole mini just ended up desaturated and the different colors all blended together. Then I'd have to go back and rehighlight everything, which I think defeats the purpose of panting 6mm quickly. You can certainly do this, and it will end up looking better, it will just take more time and the purpose of the video was to get the army on the table quickly.

[@davidbenton8775]

​@@FeldgrauProductionsThat makes sense, after I'd completed the flat colour on my minis I just wasn't satisfied with the look. So the washes, which were very thin and some subtle highlights got me the look I wanted. Not display standard, but from gaming distance they look like weary, battle stained units. Especially for Greg's AoF, I don't think of it as painting figures, but painting units... (34 infantrymen).

[@stevenverdoliva6217]

Well done

[@danmorgan3685]

I did paint some 6mm in the past and they are actually easier to paint. Remember, you're basically only painting the highlights. A dot for each hand, a couple dots for the face. That sort of thing. A big thing to keep in mind is you want thicker bases. Most of us pickup our models by the miniature itself and that's not going to work with 6mm. Make sure the base is thick enough that you can pickup.

[@dwightgrosso5481]

Use a colander for rinsing your figures. I hate losing figs to the drain!

[@PataSwe]

Very clear and informative 😊 and the paintjob is beautiful! I would be interested in techniques for painting 6 mm napoleonic figures. I am not sure what amount of detail of the colourful uniforms that is worth painting at that scale 😅

[@FeldgrauProductions]

This absolutely works for Napoleonics. In fact, the bright colors of the Napoleonic uniforms really helps them stand out at 6mm, without you needing to get caught up in panting facings, cuffs, and a lot of other little details.

[@PataSwe]

@@FeldgrauProductions thank you! 😊

[@williamstrohman7039]

Where do the bases come from? Or, what do you use for the bases?

[@1oriss]

I've never painted anything bigger than 15mm and I would think 75 percent are 10 and 6mm. I love them. I cannot be pestered with the tiresome detail and time consumed with anything larger. Mine are wargame figures not works of art

[@MorAodhan]

Larger mini's don't have to be _works of art._ You can more often than not paint a larger mini quickly and with minimum effort but still have an effective looking mini for your games with a few simple techniques. I often find that the extra detail enhances your gaming experience, nothing better than seeing a hero or warband standing out mid-battle.

[@JoeLaRocca]

I want to do this!

[@paradox7358]

Do you bother applying a wash to your models?

[@FeldgrauProductions]

I did an off camera experiment with a few different washes on other test strips, as this is my usual 10 and 15mm painting technique. I found, however, that the recesses on 6mm are so small and shallow, at least for these figures, that the whole mini just ended up desaturated and the different colors all blended together. Then I'd have to go back and rehighlight everything, which I think defeats the purpose of panting 6mm quickly. You can certainly do this, and it will end up looking better, it will just take more time and the purpose of the video was to get the army on the table quickly.

[@davidwasilewski]

@@FeldgrauProductionstry out Windsor Newton inks for washing 6mm figures.

[@torros1839]

Not sure about the washing bit I've never washed a metal figure. Never had any problems

[@dougearnest7590]

"my favorite part of the hobby is painting" - This guy might be a dangerous psychopath - don't listen to him! "a quick wash in warm water with ... soap" - Finally, someone who agrees with me! This man is a god! Listen to him!

[@FeldgrauProductions]

Everyone has different things about the hobby they like more or less. For me it's panting and gaming, for others its research and history. I certainly don't begrudge people who don't like the painting side of the hobby, just personal preference.

[@dougearnest7590]

@@FeldgrauProductions I understand, and thanks for taking time to respond to what I hope was taken as a witty comment, not a criticism of people's preferences. Being new to all this, it was a huge challenge for me to paint the 500 or so 28mm figures I "somehow" ended up with. That's why it's currently not on my list of favorite things to do, and I label it a "necessary evil" -- but I am watching videos like yours in the hope of getting better. (Also, you're the expert I'll be using to support my case when people tell me I don't need to wash the figures before painting.)

[@neillennon5694]

I've been puzzling over the basing for smaller scale minis. Interesting that you have not tried to put too many on one base (8 total) allowing for the effect of numbers from having a number of bases massed together. Is there any connection to the number of minis on a base to the number it represents, or is it purely aesthetic?

[@FeldgrauProductions]

I was following the basing LWTV used for their 1066 tiny battles series, but for most games the base size and number of models on the base is mostly aesthetic. LWTV used 25mm bases to keep them small and play on a 2x2' board, but you could use 50mm bases with many more figures and play on a 4x4' board. Same game, just looks much bigger.

[@jpavlvs]

Way to small.

[@dougearnest7590]

If I ever do 6mm, it's going to be with two different colors of spray paint - one color per side.

[@FeldgrauProductions]

I used to be in the "6mm is too small" camp, and it still isn't my favorite scale, which is 10mm. But once you stop trying to paint 6mm like you paint 28mm, it is a very easy scale to work with. It's not about details, it's about lots of models.

[@john-lenin]

2mm!