Oil Paints on Miniatures?

[@shinosha5267]

Great to see oils more featured in miniature content creators ! If I would have an advice for those wanting to try is to not focus too much on drying time. The point of oil is mostly painting alla prima, as traditional oil artists. Make sure you make proper disposal of solvents too. For going further I'd also recommend the channels of OmegonEdge, Mended Brush Studios and of course the oil father, James Wappel. You'll notice different ways of painting with oils.

[@NotSureWhatsHappening73]

All hail the oil father, James Wappel.

[@philgee486]

Mended brush taught me to paint space marines with oils, insane to all blend those shapes with layering and glazes

[@DarkCastleMiniatures]

dont forget Marco Frisioni ! thanks for those recommendations !

[@52Miniatures]

Great suggestion!

[@philgee486]

@@52Miniatures Once all the shape and gradients are done on the shapes of the armour (literally in 15 mins a figure tops). Let them cure until you're happy then you can then detail them, weapon, belts, eagles, vents and under armour, finish the face if there is one in acrylics. Don't need to varnish so long as the acrylic sticks without, I use scalecolour art tubes because it's good for this right out of the tube and I can't use them for base coats lol The only delay in this workflow is when I want to pin wash with oils. Have to wait a full few days for the oil base to not be disturbed, or else varnish before the wash, then go to the detailing. It's such a fast workflow, easy to work environmental lights, tinted shadows or any other shading. I paint a lot of units so fitting in the curing time is easy, so I don't bother varnishing until I'm finished, otherwise I likely would Glad you took a few days off with your lad Alex, hope you had a blast!

[@dartmart9263]

When I started painting minis in the 1970s, all we had were the Testors enamels. That’s it!!!

[@oveiron_prime]

Bill Horan, Mike Blank, Marjin van Gils, are very very good at enamel painting

[@dartmart9263]

@@oveiron_prime Yep, in Texas we also use them to trim nose hairs.

[@davidwasilewski]

I remember painting ral partha metal D&D figures, using Humbrol enamels as a little boy in the late 70s!

[@ironbomb6753]

​@@davidwasilewski, I remember discovering Humbrol. It was a game changer. And then the old guys in the hobby shop showed me Floquil primer. Sigh, what great days those were. 😎👍

[@jc7997aj]

What's funny is we could have been painting with oils way back then just no one thought to do so.

[@gregwhite6005]

Lovely work. I’ve been painting my Shatterpoint minis with oils. The Clone Wars tv show had a visibly painterly quality to the animation that oils convey.

[@52Miniatures]

Sounds cool!

[@ApolinaryPOlekPiosenki]

"Love sick" and the entire "Time out of Mind" are something else. :) I love to experiment, but I'm yet about to discover if I'm patient enough for oils. Both your tutorial and the tale of oils and Daggerspell are exuisite. You seem like someone who might enjoy Frostgrave - I'm going to start painting with oil some minis for this game.

[@Wijkert]

14:24 small addition to what you said here: when a paint is opaque it doesn't necessarily mean that it will be dominate in a blend. Tinting strength plays a big factor too. Something like a pigment from the Pthalo family is both transparent and has a high tinting strength. So if you mix it with white, the transparent Phthalo blue will dominate the opaque white.

[@daniellof453]

This was a good tutorial on oil painting. I've tried painting with it with various results. I do like the method, and this will help me experiment a bit more. And for the Europeans in the audience, you can get the 37 ml oil of Windsor and Newton colours at Hornbach or Bauhaus stores for a much cheaper price. And those ranges they sell are smaller, so the barrier of entry is lower. And the horse is called Bob...

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks for the tip 👍

[@NewSquallor]

Grifud is a good horsey name. For certainly he be lord of horses. Either way another great video. Love the finished work.

[@52Miniatures]

Grifud carried his master bravely through the blackberry thicket and was rewarded with stale oats by the end of the day. Sounds good to me. Thank you for the support as always!

[@Wijkert]

2:55 I have been cleaning all my mini's with alcohol before airbrush priming and I pretty sure it helps the primer stick right away and not act like your paint did in "This is Tropical Grim Dark". It might be a unnecessary step sometimes, but it is so fast, that I don't worry about "time wasted".

[@F0XW1LD]

I really appreciate the pace and breadth of this video. Thank you!

[@shitstormbringer]

When I've started watching this video and taken a look to your test piece I must admit I wasn't sure where you were going with this. But, as the video goes and the narration is taking me to this meditative mood, I blink my eyes and realize those soft gradients and tones are beautiful and I sort of want to take my old oil tubes out again. Good job!

[@52Miniatures]

I’m glad to hear it, thank you 🙏

[@rhag1394]

Oil paints sre fantastic! They are so much more stress free when painting

[@52Miniatures]

I totally agree!

[@rntankie4922]

Just started using oils for pin washes. your content has been a wonderful aid to getting me going. Great work, kind regards Anwar

[@52Miniatures]

Great stuff 👍

[@redgrass]

It's so great to see you paint with oil paints! Thanks for this video and thanks for using our glass palette ☺

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks! It works well and the grey tint is perfect for a palate for me.

[@sinner6]

I just started trying oil paints on my minis and I find it quite a bit more fun and relaxing then acrylics. Its nice to see the brush usage laid out so simply.

[@markfrommontana]

Taran is my suggestion for the steed’s name. What a lovely piece! I’ve been using oils as washes for quite a while but now I’m going to try out some of the techniques you illustrated so aptly on a test mini-probably even a little horse. Thanks as always for an awesome video- the story and the tips!

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks Mark! I’m late to these comments… this month has not had enough hours. I think horses is actually a great place to start experimenting!

[@HO-bndk]

I think you should call the horse Kevin! 😁

[@matthewcook5017]

This is great - thanks for making it. The horse reminds me of learning about alla prima oil painting on canvas in art school - your colors are very interesting, and not the ones I'd imagine you would have used. It's honestly amazing to me that it took this long for oil techniques to make their way to miniature painting - the visual interest that using both warm *and* cool colors in the same small area, blending them together alla prima is stupidly high and engaging, and quite frankly I'm ashamed that I never thought to try this. I'm going to try this on a large green dragon miniature that's been on my to-do shelf forever - its big, complex surfaces had me totally intimidated since doing gradients and warm/cool contrast mixing is so relatively fiddley with acrylic. With oils, however, this becomes much, much more manageable. Keep it up!!

[@52Miniatures]

Hey Matt. I believe oil paints on miniatures (as well as enamels) where used a lot before the acrylic revolution. We can probably also blame "we can sell more paint to kids if solvents are not involved" principles :)

[@midlife_mtb]

I read these books years ago, currently Im lost I dont know which generation I should be in now or where to pick it back up, probably worth going back to the start!

[@tsvallender]

Great stuff. Planning on building a grimdark Cities of Sigmar army soon, oils could be a perfect tool for some of this.

[@philgee486]

Alex, this is a vid that couldn't be more for me It's packed with the trademark reasoned experience of your own hobby life - so that folks get to avoid the issues you went through and that's hobby gold. It puts folks well along that oils learning curve You also produced an inspiring magnificently beautiful horse and reminded me I don't paint near enough horses, I've focussed on scifi Your results look so different to mine, I block in opaque acrylics, I shape volumes and paint the light in oils, then I use different, relatively heavy body acrylics to highlight edges , features and glistenings, to make textures, to provide that sharpness and the features that oils don't. It makes for high quality feature models, be they display or heroes, and it makes unit/army painting way, way faster and completely coherent with them. You didn't do that, you produced what I'd call a painterly piece and it's beautiful for it. I love both The speed factor in oils is in using tiny amounts, dots and lines, of thinned oil paint for the blending, just using a little more adds that despised drying/curing wait. Though in unit painting the delay just naturally fits into the workflow. such a great hobby vid Alex, thank you

[@52Miniatures]

Thank you Phil, I’m late to these comments… but I agree. There’s a bit difference in look when painting with “maximum” logic rather that just using the paint at hand and letting them carry you away. And yes. I kind of want to paint more horses too

[@WillReynolds88]

I love oils and almost use them exclusively in a very similar workflow to yours. Crisp lines are easy with practice and experience. I usually wait for the model to cure entirely before doing any edge highlights. Since the oils dry very slowly, the paint doesn’t dry on your brush so fine lines are really easy. Eyes and tiny details are also much easier in my opinion. Creating smooth transitions is so easy and relaxing.

[@ShipWreck68]

Love it. It looks like a painting and has a much more Fantasy effect.

[@vernonwatts4259]

Using oils in this way is, in painterly terms wet into wet. Perfect for blending but if you want defined, very sharp detail you need to paint wet over dry. To get oils to dry a bit quicker you could use an alkyd drying medium, a good one is made by Lukas.

[@martynjones3978]

Always fascinating to watch your miniatures come to life with the oil paints!! When i started painting miniatures which was planes and tanks when i was younger you only had little miniature tins of oil paint!! This was around the late 80’s!! When did Acrylics come around ?? As i never recall seeing them!!

[@52Miniatures]

I think model specific acrylics started appearing mid 80-s.

[@HammerFang]

I'm so tempted with oils since yesterday as I found miniature painters videos on YT. The feeling itself is amazing when I look at those blends :D Excited like a kid. Then checking prices of Artist W&N paints and thinking about buying only white, black, blue, red and yellow for all-in mixing experience :D Great video :)

[@52Miniatures]

Sounds great!

[@zhdirjfnfb]

Excellent video, I've been painting with oils and enamel washes almost exclusively for a few years, minus an acrylic base, and can confirm all the info in this video is spot on and explained extremely well. Tip: Abteilung 502 miniature specific oils are excellent, especially for a more muted palette. On a separate note, I would love to see a similar video to this covering air brushing...

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks for sharing E

[@jaredheine4076]

Such a great series of books! Just reread it over the last couple of months.

[@rOEN911]

one of the Very Best figure painters i know use only oils he started like that back in the early 90s and he is still going strong !

[@davetaylor9966]

Thanks for covering this topic! I've never used oils, so was not aware of the considerable differences in the application process.

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks 🙏 I appreciate it Dave

[@tomusannonymous]

My experience with oils was good but sometimes not. Painting with oils requires less layers so it can be faster and less steps. The long drying time is an advantage and makes it a more relaxed pace. When painting with oils its all one layer of paint. Oil paints have two levels of "dry" they set after a short time when the solvent dries, then they completely dry after a day or two. Solvents greatly decrease the complete drying time, which is not always a good thing, white spirits set faster, odourless spirits set slower. To increase flow without shortening drying time you can use linseed oil instead, I don't recommend using cardboard as a palette, you don't need it to dry quicker, the linseed oil is the equivalent of acrylic medium so there no reason to reduce it only to use thinners to get the flow back. There is a learning to curve and sometimes if you mess up you can spend a lot of time going back and forth trying to get it right and this may mean you are adding too much paint which makes it look lumpy and when it get that way its harder to change the colour, meaning you may have to wipe it off and start over in that area after all that work. Getting sharp small details right can be difficult, mostly oils have a smooth blended look and sharp colour changes can get blended away by the colour underneath. Oils are great for NMM you can get smooth blends very easily. Also great for OSL. When choosing paints avoid the cheap sets they are unusable, the lowest quality useable is student grade but I would go artist grade especially for titanium white and cadmium red and yellow, cheap versions of these paints have significantly less pigment. A lot of darker colours like black and dark brown can be cheaper. Many pigments have staining qualities which can be used to great advantage for undershading. James Wappels videos are great for this info.

[@karlmoore1837]

I had tried painting a knight and guardsman from GW, using Oils a little while ago. I found: - Darker colours in oils cover like light colours do for acrylics, - you can skip the prepainting step by applying oils (without white spirit) and then using a make up sponge to whip away the oils on the raised edges of the figure. - you have to keep in mind thin vs thick -> oil paints won't adhere to oil paints of the same thick or thinness. You'll find that paint will come away if you don't keep this in mind. - you'll find it difficult to do sharp details with oils and probably find it more straight forward going to acrylics. - if you want to use acrylics but do oil mixing, then try adding flow improver to your acrylics, not prefect but is do able.

[@ItchaBoi]

Try using an ice yellow to brighten green, its great!

[@robertoumpierrez1565]

Ahhh I enjoy your process of painting with oils, I think I will give it a try. The idea of recommending literature is also great

[@empyreal_lord]

I read the first Daggerspell book as a kid (I tended to browse used paperbacks so I've read 1-2 books of many fantasy series without completing a lot of them) and I liked it! In my imagination the warriors all looked like Rohirrim--mail armor and unarmored horses riding around forests and hill forts. For the horse's name, how about Ríoga? Gaelic for "regal"

[@derekgarcia3069]

Great video Alex. It looks fantastic! Oils can give a very "painterly" finish. Ever since I started watching Marco Frisoni (NJM), ive been waiting to try painting a mini with primarily oils and eventually incorporate them into my normal paint workflow.

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks D, I appreciate it

[@bradt5414]

I want to thank you for mentioning Lovesick by Bob Dylan. I hadn't listened to that song in a long time and might never have remembered it. My mind only has so much space before things get filed in deep storage. Once they are there, who knows if it will ever surface again. Fine taste in music, friend. Thanks for the video. .ore people should try oils. It's so easy to blend. Really, the only "negative "for me is the drytime, and I'm fine with it because the slow dry time is also a gift sometimes.

[@Wijkert]

23:45 except if the paint is dry, then you don't need to varnish in between

[@MikeCampo]

Been painting polymer clay sculptures with oils for a few years and have loved the results. It's a lot more time intensive compared to acrylics but a lot of fun.

[@funTimesInTheSun]

Oil works great on larger things. I use it on large monsters and vehicles. But it’s hard to use on small minis other than oil washes.

[@OsamaCanella]

4:18 have you tried using Limonene-D as a solvent? I also suffered with headaches using odorless or other types of mineral spirits, but finally Limonene allowed me to work on for hours without any headaches. And this stuff is cheaper than mineral spirits from the paint brands.

[@52Miniatures]

I’ve not tried that specifically I think. The issue with all the alternatives I’ve tried is that they dissolve acrylic paint (my primer and base coat)

[@garyjenson1326]

Great video Alex as always. If you want to speed up drying time you can use a uv light but please don't over do it. I told another utuber this trick but he didn't read my follow up comment. He put his mini in a uv cure 3d printer thingy overnight. DONT DO THAT. Many paints under uv cure in 15 mins. You may need to reposition after to directly hit other parts. Some take longer like white and some like burnt umber or crimson aren't light fast and can change hue if over cooked.

[@52Miniatures]

I do use this sometimes. I have a “plant lamp” that is kinder than full on Uv light. Feels like taking care of little dragon eggs or something.

[@Link122]

Oh wow, great timing. Picked up a few oil paints (W&N) at a good price yesterday after years of painting.. First painting session with it tonight, and been dreading it somewhat. This could not have come at a greater time. Thank you!

[@52Miniatures]

Wonderful!

[@monkeyhammer]

Very nice result, I especially like the way the horse looks. I have been meaning to try this for a while, definitely going to give it a go now

[@Wijkert]

"Drybrushing" with oils is great to (technically overbrushing because the paint won't be dry). You won't get that chalky finish. I have had great result on hair or fur textures using this technique.

[@Ynffy]

Great tutorial. I must recommend artist grade oil colors. You can use the smallest amount of paints for big minis or scenery and they will cost you less money and are actually easier to use for a beginner. Like Old Holland and Michael Harding. Skip the cheap Chinese stuff in sets and buy like 10 artist grade oil colors (or go sale hunting online or at the craft store for them). Painting with these feels very zen. Add and remove, mix and push. As you know Becker's are common here in Sweden. I think they are pretty good - not the best but available from a lot of places and fairly chep for that quality. Have you tried the colors from Ottossons Färgmakeri? Amazing colors from opaques to transparent. And they sell the tubes in three sizes so you can get big ones with titanium white and blacks and smaller for colors that you use less of. Fin häst!

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks for the tip! I appreciate it

[@graefx]

I got my start with enamels by basically wandering blindly through the traditional hobby section of an art store. The owner was always confused by my vague explanations of what I was up to. I never really got the hang of it until a friend took me to games hobby store and I got GW paints. Still I come across some of those old glass pots of testors and have the urge to explore working with oils. What's old is new again.

[@ThorfinrOfficial]

@52 Miniatures I enjoyed reading the Nevernight trilogy after your last book recommendation. I'd love to see a you do a small diorama inspired by the book.

[@ironbomb6753]

I'm returning to DnD recently and I've wanting to get my gaming figures out. I want to try oils om them. What a great preview of using oil paint! ❤

[@G_Threepwood]

Thanks Alex, bery helpful. I've only ever used oil washes. I need to buy a few colours other than brown and black

[@stegotron]

Alex, the miniature looks amazing, the oils have created a very unique look to it and will be much different to the one I will paint in acrylics if I ever get round to it. And yes to random Patreon meetups in pubs!

[@52Miniatures]

Im really glad I painted it. A great sort of souvenir :) Thank you

[@MartinKremper-yi5wt]

Painting „classic flat tin figures“ for around 45 years with all kinds of paint I can tell you that oil paints stick much better on tin or metal figures than acrylics do. Underpainting with acrylics help a lot, esp. on bad covering colors like yellow. For thinning oilpaints you can use different kinds of balsamic turpentine, you can also receive some which fasten the drying process of the oilpaints. In the 80s I painted all my figures (and minis) with oils. I switched competely to acrylics approx 10 years ago, big plus is the little drying time and that they are odorless and non-toxic.

[@sevencoloredmage8726]

Nice watch! Oil painted minis profit a lot from some recess shading afterwards. Either the usual way with acrylics or as part of a second layer with oils. Then you can ramp up the vibrancy with transparent oils if the model became too muted. Dmitry Fesechko has a great but sadly short tutorial series on painting with oils.

[@zakalwe3]

Love it! More oil painting content please

[@AlexisGraf]

Yes please. I LOVED this video. It gave me some new ideas to try in my own continued oil explorations.

[@wietsesartsythings969]

Looking great again Alex! I have some old oils laying around somewhere. Realy need to check them out for minipainting sometime soon. It looks very rewarding.

[@52Miniatures]

I’m sure you’d enjoy it W :)

[@Sudo_Nimh]

Beautiful work Alex, thank you for sharing. I like Bryn for the horses name, as it's welsh for Hill, which the horse is standing on.

[@52Miniatures]

Thank you very much!

[@jessedawg4693]

Ya alex!!! Love it man i use panel liners so far for oils

[@hawezy7893]

I know what I'm doing for the next half hour. Edit: It was great, I think a cool name for the horse would be Aed. The Celtic God of fire.

[@VanHoering]

Based on your description, the fantasy series you mentioned seems to have a lot in common with Jack Vance's Lyonnesse. Interesting...

[@FelixZwirn]

You painting green, because you have trouble with green, reminded me of myself. I am red/green colorblind. So one of my first minis was a brown space marine with red highlight. Trying to paint a mini up to my standard, withour beeing able to see the difference between the colors. :)

[@matthewtaylor-h6q]

I dipped my toe into oil paints for the first time ever, it was just an oil wash but I love all the information presented in your video, as always exceptional job an incredible video

[@52Miniatures]

Glad it was helpful!

[@KevinoftheCosmos]

You've read my mind. I bought a surplus of oil colors and mediums, brushes and gesso and linseed oil as well (I plan on doing an oil painting as a gift). Yet I've been hesitant putting oil paints on my minis. This tutorial shows me that I'll surely be fine just getting in there. The manner of your delivery makes me feel calm and confident. The Deverry Series by Katharine Kerr is oddly perfect as well. I've been wanting to read some high fantasy written by a female author. They'll be perfect audiobooks for when I'm making fantasy terrain. Galatis (proto-Celtic for "ferocious, furious") for a male. And Epona, (Celtic horse goddess) for a female. Either would be a prime name for a horse. Fun fact: Epona is the name of Link's steed in The Legend of Zelda series.

[@mordecaitoth6703]

Excellent tutorial and a spectacular paint job! Great work! Thanks for sharing!

[@52Miniatures]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@r.graves4123]

fantastic and comprehensive. thank you!

[@WhatsleftofTom]

That horse is amazing

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks 🙏!

[@Carbide-1]

Always such a pleasant experience my friend! Nice outcome too!

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks C!

[@TheMiniMadCat]

I'm a fan of mixing yellow for that heavily saturated highlight with green.

[@FrozenThrog]

There are some oil paints that are based on alkyd oil instead of linseed oil. They cure faster than the linseed stuff, but you still have plenty of time to work. Surprisingly rare in Sweden, but at least Abteilung 502 is available. They are more focused on scale model weathering though.

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks. I also find the AK oil paints to be mixed into fully opaque paints. Great for weathering and such but sometimes I like some more transparent options

[@spacetoy4584]

I'm late as usual, I do enjoy oils, actually rather handy if we have a very hot summer. Acrylics in such conditions dry on my brush before reaching the model. I hope all is well in sweden.

[@52Miniatures]

"My summer with oils" The memoire. All is well, hope you're well too.

[@rifflesby]

This is fantastic. Would love to see more models done this way

[@marcelhoermann8213]

As a figurative oil painter, it was really interesting to see the medium used on miniatures.

[@isisnmagic1812]

Great video, very informative and easy to follow, makes me want to use my collection and how to use them, thanks Alex

[@52Miniatures]

Great to hear Isi!

[@Mikey__R]

I did enjoy playing with oil paints when I last used them, though that was well over two years ago now. The new house is much less well ventilated, until I'm able to put new, more cat proof windows in. In the meantime, I've been looking at trying the Golden Open paints, which promise much the same, but with lower VOCs.

[@52Miniatures]

Huh… I’ve not tried the “open”… I’ll have to give them a look over.

[@jeffreybarton1297]

Interesting! I don't work with miniatures, but instead with larger plastic kits, typically made by Airfix and Tamiya. I wonder if these same methods would apply with these?

[@52Miniatures]

Probably rather tricky to get smooth surfaces I’d guess. But very good for weathering and such

[@jeffreybarton1297]

@@52Miniatures Thanks 👍 Yes. I didn't consider the surface texture. Probably worth doing the large areas with airbrush Acrylic, then go in with the Oils and brush for the weathering and small features.

[@solairelordran3032]

Great video friend. I've been painting and experimenting with oils on minis for a couple years now with a lot of fun and success along the way. One thing I haven't gotten the handle on is varnishing after oils. I've experimented with different brands, lacquers and acrylic based, various finishes... and I found they ruined all the wonderful contrast and blends I achieved with the paint. Even upping the contrast with the initial oil applications didn't resolve the fact that, to my eye, varnish destroyed all my work. I still paint over the oils with acrylics after they've cured, but I'll never varnish an oil painted mini again. Do you have any thoughts or words of wisdom you could share?

[@52Miniatures]

I’ve never had any issues with varnish, so I’m not sure what kind of issues you’ve run into. The only thing that affects my look is all things based on shine. As oil paints takes so long to dry, it looks glossy for quite some time. Once it’s matte and dry, and then covered with a matte varnish the look is quite different from when painting. But this is exactly the same with acrylics, things just happen faster. I don’t see how a varnish would affect your blends? Unless you are using solvent based varnish that is actually dissolving the oil paint.

[@KrullMaestaren]

Very good and easy to follow guide. More oils please :)

[@sovietbear1917]

My oils always tend to get a bit muddy on my minis; I think I get impatient and try to blend a little too much. One of these days I'm going to lock myself away for the weekend and use oils only!

[@52Miniatures]

A weekend of oils sounds like a good idea! I think blending less is good but tricky.. and the coloured base coat sure helps in that regard.

[@kerel995]

Hehe lovely video. Lovely corner of youtube. Shame this cant make much money (i suppose). Wish you won a lottery and kept doing more of what you do freely. With all other mini oil painters out there, surprisingly this one made me want to use some of my Old Holland much more than channels that explore topic in more detail. Well done

[@52Miniatures]

Thank you K. Indeed, a lottery win would be most welcome 🙏

[@ElpredatorGYRO]

There are various white in the oil world that can give different results, (I will use the french names because, well, I am French). Blanc de Titane is not the same as Blanc de zinc. Another thing to consider, is the brand Cobra, that makes Oils that are soluble in water (Yeah, I know), without fumes, and that you can use with children. You still have the qualities of the oil (the yellow is not very covering though) but with not the cons. A box with the primary colours, black and white costs under 25 Euros for 20mL tubes, or under 30 for 40mL tubes. I found that I use almost pure White on the minis in the end, then blend. About your test, your painting style is generally not very contrasty to begin with, so spending a lot of time on your gradients leads to that blurry feel. This would have been a great occasion to use Titane White on your edges, especially on the metal helmet. I highly like your content.

[@andrewamann2821]

To translate for those of us who access information in English: the colors mentioned by the poster here are Titanium White, and Zinc White. Both are made with ground metal oxides, but they have very different use cases. Titanium White behaves much like it does in acrylics, having a high opacity and coverage (relatively...), it has a major impact on colors it's added to, and adding just a little too much will tend to make things go pastel, and opaque, very quickly. This is the paint you're looking for if you need bright, punchy spot or edge highlights, but will readily overpower your colors if you're not very careful. Zinc White, for those unfamiliar, is a "mixing white," not typically used for getting coverage, as it doesn't have very good opacity, but it allows you to bring your colors lighter, without blowing them out, entirely. I like it for pulling up volumetric highlights, and more subtle edge highlights, on my minis. It's also the ready replacement for the more traditional Lead (as in the metal, just so you don't look dumb in the supply shop...) or Flake (the more friendly name for lead white...) White in the Zorn limited pallet. The biggest piece of advice I have for anyone getting into oil colors is this: your hues are pretty chill with what you choose, and a couple of reds, yellows, blues, and greens will take you a very long way, but you can never have too large of a selection of blacks or whites, because different pigment selections here make a really massive difference in outcome, and, as in the case of black, different allotropes and processing methods of the same materials, like carbon, the predominant contributor for black pigments, can give vastly different behaviors.

[@52Miniatures]

Thank you for the recommendations. I also enjoy the fact that there are different types of black also

[@thatotherguy7596]

Very nice Alex. I enjoyed the video. I hope you continue to enjoy making them. 🏰

[@52Miniatures]

Thank you as always! 💜

[@Nekorook]

“Not a clan rat in sight.” Now I have to go back and see if there is a hidden one.

[@TheMiniMadCat]

Really helpful video for getting into oil painting minis!

[@52Miniatures]

Glad it was helpful!

[@markgnepper5636]

Great stuff friend 👏 👍 🤙. Thanks again for sharing your journey 8

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks as always! 💜

[@prc789]

Thank you for reminding me of Katherine Kerr, I'd completely forgot about her as I kast read them 30ish years ago.

[@verathorn1556]

I think this was an interesting experiment. It also makes me wonder what it would be like to paint a mini exclusively with other kinds of paint like gouache, enamel, or India inks.

[@HO-bndk]

Try it. This is what model miniaturists used for decades before acrylics came along (and scammed everyone into buying hundreds of over-priced plastic bottles).

[@nickolasmachoka5541]

Damn, I love the daggerspell series

[@ryanstrochinsky611]

typically linseed oil, but sometimes other oils!

[@CengizBozbey-d8i]

I have a question. When I ever paint with oils it’s too shiny. I even spray with mate medium I cannot over come this problem. What should I do?

[@52Miniatures]

I don't know why your minis stay shiny after spraying on a matte varnish? I'm sorry but I can't help you there.

[@larry84903]

Great paintjob Alex! Random question, I've seen a lot of people talk about enamel paints as well, are the different from oils and if they are, why use one over the other?

[@52Miniatures]

Enamel paints are more fluid, like acrylic paints. Enamels is just a different type of thing, they dry faster, to a very hard and durable surface. Some people make washes of the stuff, and that works well especially since it dries faster than oils. But I don’t think I’d go back to painting with the stuff

[@Dracobyte]

Wow! Nice results!

[@52Miniatures]

Thank you!

[@VicodinElmo]

A Patreon pint with Alex sounds like a good time. Now if only you came to the Brecon Beacons instead!

[@CottonBallLightning]

Woah, I dig the storage setup for the paints. Is that custom built?

[@52Miniatures]

The storage is from Frontier Wargaming 👍 Great stuff

[@darkowl9]

With oils, the cleanup with traditional oils is a lot more work with white spirit. There is an alternative, though! W&N and a few other brands too make _water-mixable_ oils. For W&N it's the Artisan line. Note they're still genuine oil paints. The pigment range is also not as varied. But cleanup can be done with water. Water can also thin it but it tends to be "grainy". One major downside to Artisan oils is the Artisan thinner liquid - what might be closest to white spirit for these paints - _will_ destroy acrylic paint. Instead you need to use the other Artisan oil mediums (Artisan safflower oil) to thin the paints down but it's a little trickier. You _can_ use white spirit to thin them, but if do, you must also do your cleanup with white spirit, defeating the purpose. Finally, you can also do truly insane things that regular oils can't, like mix Artisan oils with acrylic mediums like Contrast medium... and it works. Literal witchcraft. This style of water-soluble oils is an interesting alternative to consider, but you need to experiment a little as not all true oil techniques will work for mini painting.

[@52Miniatures]

Thanks for the tip 👍

[@HO-bndk]

The pigment range covers everything you need (you only actually really need 6 colours - provided they are the right pigments).

[@apeofjustice7109]

God this has really inspired me to paint a larger scale bust with oils to go for a style of NMM on armour akin to traditional artists portraits

[@52Miniatures]

Nice to hear!

[@Marcusstratus]

Love purple madder!

[@52Miniatures]

Indeed M! It’s just lovely for so many things.

[@AndersRamm]

Youre Watch, is it a vintage “trench watch”?

[@52Miniatures]

No, it’s my grandmothers watch. So vintage but not trench :)

[@joshbecka6110]

Hey, it looks like Daggerspell is free to me on audible. I will give it a listen

[@jonnil1997]

Another fine job

[@gregoiremallet5751]

Thanks a lot !! a very interesting video.

[@ernestgraves4401]

Cool!

[@iBIONICLE]

“Stress release scream in the woods” 😂

[@52Miniatures]

🤫

[@MurderDungeonSlotCars]

Hello Alex. Let’s paint fluffy happy little clouds. No need to learn wetblend acrylic if using oils… that’s what oils are meant for.