Editor's note: ECCC 2024's Miniature Paint and Take takes place in Summit Room 331/332

Miniature painting is a time tested hobby for gamers of all sorts. Anyone wandering into any sort of nerd space has probably seen a display of small, detailed, and incredibly painted miniatures. Now I’ve frequented my fair share of comics and game shops and have even talked to a miniature painting expert at ECCC this year, but until now, I have never really had a chance to sit down and paint a miniature on my own.

And it… was both fun and kind of difficult. But still totally worth it! Here, I’ll document how I put together and painted my very first miniature—the Padawan Ahsohka from Star Wars Shatterpoint and the little lessons I learned along the way.

First things first, read the instructions.

It's always important to read instructions (as much as I think I can avoid them), and that rule is no different in painting miniatures. In this case, that meant reading up on how to paint miniatures online and checking out in what order I should be attacking the project, from cutting to gluing (and in which order to glue), knowing what I would be doing before I started really saved me from feeling lost in the lengthier-than-I-expected process of painting my first miniature.

Cut the miniature parts from frame or "sprue"

Now it's time for action, and at this point, the action is cutting. Miniature Ahsoka came in tiny pieces on a frame and had to be cut free from her plastic prison (also known as a "sprue") before being put together.

I used basket weaving clippers, but any sharp scissors should do in a pinch. To cut the parts free, you want to look closely at the sprue for the logical break (the very thinest place where each part connects to the frame). Now, you want to be careful with the cutting and cut as close to the figure as possible without damaging it (which is where special "sprue nippers" come in handy, I suppose).

Hot tip: when you’re cutting each piece from the sprue, make sure to hold on to the PIECES and not just the frame, lest you almost lose Ahsoka’s head under your couch like I did.

File away

At this point, it's time to make sure that you haven't lost any of your miniature pieces and take a good look at them-- especially at the points where they once met the sprue. If you weren't perfect in your cutting (as I assume most people aren't), there will be a tiny bit of extra material. No one wants an extra bit of plastic poking out of an arm. This is also where "mold lines" come in, which is where you can see lines from where the two sides of a mold meet. You'll want to get rid of these extra bits to make your miniature look as clean as possible.

The best way to get rid of this extra material is to cut it off with a hobby knife or to file it (or sand it) off. You should always use a respirator though, if you're filing plastic.

Glue

Now it's time to assemble your miniature. Make sure, again, that you have all of your pieces in order and check the instructions to see in which order they should be assembled. For gluing, I used superglue (as it was what I had on hand), and it worked quite well in this situation, but professionals usually recommend plastic cement.

While you may feel inspired to use globs of glue, it's quite important to use a small amount. If you're using too little and the parts don’t stick together, you can always detatch and add glue, but no one wants to deal with a sticky mess when glue starts gushing out of seams.

If you weren't great with making sure all the plastic bits were properly cut off, you might have some open seams, which people sometimes fill with putty. But hey! This is my first try and I didn't have putty in the house, so I will simply live with the seams.

Prime time

Water based paint doesn't stick to plastic, so you're going to have to prime your miniature for painting. To do so, you need a primer. There are primers that come in spray cans (a bit easier, in my opinion) and primers you can get in paint pot. Make sure you get every nook and cranny, or you might find your paint flaking off in the middle of the painting process (yikes!).

Now comes the fun/stressful bit-- painting

Ahead of this project, I purchased some speedpaints online, not quite knowing what they were. They’re probably not the best paints to start off with, but luckily, I had some white acrylic paint at home and was able to mix the speedpaints with acrylic paint to make acrylics of a limited palette. Not ideal (and sometimes a bit muddy), but doable.

Next, is the fiddly part. For those who are used to painting on the relatively flat surfaces of paper, board, or canvas, paitning a 3D miniature is a totally new game. Plus miniatures are… quite small (who knew) with really small details (this Ahsoka miniature is so beautifully detailed, all the way to the little buckles on her belt). Did I do a perfect job? Well, no. But she looks vaguely like Ahsoka at least, so I consider it an overall win.

The brush that came with my speedpaint kit was fairly large, so I broke out a size 5 and size 2 brush for the details. General advice (which is often pretty good) says to block out your main colors first, then add thin layers for shadowing and building tone, and then focus on little details.

Last, but not least, varnish!

The best way to preserve your brand new artwork is to protect your finished miniature with varnish. You can choose gloss or matte, depending on your preference. Varnishes come in spray cans and in paintable form, but whatever you choose (spray paint might be a bit easier in my opinion), two coats should serve you and your miniature well

And then you're done!

Overall, perhaps I would have done a little better if I had the right paints and a little more patience, but I think it wasn’t too bad of a go for my first time, and it was a really fun process all together.

If you want to paint your own miniature... here's what you’ll need (in order of use):

• A miniature of your choice
• Clippers/nippers/scissors
• Hobby knife/file/sandpaper (and a respirator if you're doing filing or sanding)
• Glue
• Primer
• Paints (I'd recommend acrylics)
• Paintbrushes
• Varnish

And that's what you need to start off! Most of the stuff you can hopefully scavenge from around your house (because who wants to buy a bunch of new stuff when they're just starting out?).

And, as always, when starting a new hobby, the most important thing is just to jump in. Getting too into your head about details and the perfect paint and the perfect model is just going to hold you back from the hands-on experience you need to actually build up your skill set. So get your hands on a miniature and get painting!