Learning to Paint Miniatures the Reaper Way

I purchased a Reaper Miniatures brand Learn to Paint: Core Skills kit from amazon back in May of this year and I consider it my first real foray into miniature painting. And when I say I knew next to nothing about painting miniatures prior to this kit, that's not an exaggeration. All I knew about painting came from scratchbuilding model space ships out of shampoo bottles and random pieces of plastic (which ultimately started me down the rabbit hole that led me to wanting to learn how to paint minis, though I’ll probably talk more about that in a later entry). What I thought I knew about model painting was that it involved spraying on a primer and/or base coat, slathering the model in a sludge wash made from black acrylic craft paint and water before wiping it down with a paper towel, and maybe dry brushing on some silver or metallic paints to make it look like paint was chipped off.

Suffice to say, I was absolutely clueless and this kit really helped open my eyes and set me down the path to maybe, hopefully, one day becoming a passable miniature painter (and even if I don’t, it’s still a fun, almost zen kind of activity that helps me slow my roll, take my time, be patient and possibly even help improve my dexterity and give me a steadier hand).

I’ll talk briefly about the kit itself, but everything you need to know is listed on its amazon page (as well as on the front of the kit’s case, photographed below). The booklet it comes with is only 20 pages long and for a total neophyte going in blind (a handful of youtube videos on the merits of thinning your paints notwithstanding), it contains a wealth of helpful information and I’m definitely going to keep it around as a reference while I’m still practicing the basics.

And speaking of the basics, as the sticker on the case so helpfully lays out, boils down to applying a basecoat, adding a wash, and then dry-brushing on additional layers and highlights. The three miniatures included consist of a skeleton archer, an orc marauder, and a guy in armor named Mangu Timur.

When I first sat down with this kit, my plan was to take my sweet time, follow the booklet’s instructions, and use only the brushes and paints included. I wasn’t too tempted to stray from the kit’s materials, given these were the only paints and brushes I owned at the time that were made specifically with miniature painting in mind (and not just random, all-purpose crafting stuff that I accumulated over the course of last year). But rest assured, this kit comes with everything a beginner needs. Except for a palette and a miniature painting handle. I used a $1 acrylic paint palette from the dollar store for the former and an empty vitamin bottle with some blue sticky tack (aka poster putty) on the lid for the latter and it worked just fine. Though through the course of working through this kit, I’ll probably invest in a proper wet palette to keep my paints from drying out. And I’ll probably get a magnifying glass too to help me avoid some of the slip-ups that I didn’t notice until I took a picture of my completed miniature with a 48 megapixel camera (my eyesight isn’t the greatest, you see).

So, following the booklet like I said I would, I started with the skeleton archer. Imagine my shock when I learned that applying a black wash (a drop of black paint diluted with a few drops of water) was actually the midpoint and not the last step like so many youtube videos about weathering spaceship models made out of junk had me believe. I should note here that the booklet’s instructions on painting the bone boi were by far the most detailed and the pages on the two subsequent minis were mostly just the color guides for each of the layers (the base, wash, the one or two dry-brush layers, and the final details), what paints to mix, and the recommended order in which to paint the different areas of the minis.

The Orc Marauder was next. I remember having a little bit of trouble painting those spikes and this was my first attempt at trying to paint the eyes of a miniature. I have a feeling it’s going to take me a while before I have that down pat. Still, I felt my familiarity with the basic mini-painting steps grow and was feeling a lot more confident here than I was when I painted the skeleton several days (weeks?) prior. Yeah, there were some gaps between minis. I didn’t do these all at once, ya know.

And before anyone says anything, no, I didn’t over brush some green paint onto the metal plate below his jaw despite how it looks in the photo. I did, however, have a bit too much paint still on my brush when I was going over the chainmail on his back (and probably on certain areas of his fur skirt, if we’re being honest). But hey, I knew from the start my efforts weren’t going to look as good as the pictures in the booklet.

The third and final miniature in the kit was the armor dude, Mangu Timur (who I’ve affectionately rechristened as Mango Man). I was pleasantly surprised with how well I handled all the fine details that Mango Man had on him (the daggers, the sheathe, the thin fur linings under his shoulder plates, the metal details on his shield), which I doubt I would have had the patience to even attempt only a few months ago. Just do me a solid and pretend like you didn’t notice the bit of blue sticky tack stubbornly clinging to the back of his base.

I couldn't quite nail the buttons on the back of his skirt either, but meh. I know when I'm beaten.

Conclusion:

If you’re a beginner like me and looking for a fun, easily accessible introduction to miniature painting, I highly recommend buying this kit. It’s only $30 or so, you get a nice case that doubles as an organizer with plenty of room to add additional paints (Vallejo bottles fit in nicely), and the paints and brushes (not to mention the quality miniatures that don’t require any priming prior to painting) are top notch and will probably last me for quite some time. Though it did get me started on expanding my selection into Citadel Paints and Vallejo brand paints and washes here and there, the range of colors found in this kit is pretty solid and can be applied to a wide variety of other projects as long as you have a specific color scheme in mind (though the kit doesn't come with a red or any shades of red, which is unfortunate).

I fully intend to pick up the Reaper Miniatures’ subsequent Layer Up kit sometime in the near future, but for the time being, I have a wooden cigar box full of unpainted miniatures and I want to continue to experiment, practice, watch more youtube videos on miniature painting tricks/concepts, and generally work on the core skills that this starter’s kit introduced me to before I feel ready to move on to the more advanced techniques.