Mini Primer

A few brushes, a handful of paints, no art background needed

Your first miniatures, made easy.

Miniature painting for absolute beginners, with no art background needed. Anyone can learn this with a few brushes, a handful of acrylic paints, and some primer. The core sequence is simpler than it looks: prime the model, lay down your base colors, flow a wash into the recesses, then drybrush and highlight the raised detail. Your first minis only need to look good on the table, not win a contest, and that is a great place to start.

Getting StartedPaints & BrushesPriming & PrepCore TechniquesBasing & FinishingTips & Troubleshooting

Latest guides

26 guides
Paints & Brushes

How to Care for Your Miniature Painting Brushes

Learn how to care for miniature brushes so they last for years. Covers cleaning, brush soap, tip reshaping, and the mistakes that ruin bristles fast.

August 20, 2026
Getting Started

Is Miniature Painting Hard? What Beginners Should Expect

Is miniature painting hard? Honest answer: easy to start, years to master. Here's what beginners should realistically expect in the first weeks and months.

August 18, 2026
Tips & Troubleshooting

How to Fix Mistakes and Repaint a Miniature

Learn how to fix miniature painting mistakes with simple touch-ups or a full strip. Covers safe strippers, gloves, ventilation, and plastic testing.

August 15, 2026
Basing & Finishing

How to Paint and Finish the Base Rim

Learn how to paint base rims cleanly on miniatures. Covers color choices, edge technique, keeping paint off the top, sealing, and army consistency.

August 13, 2026
Core Techniques

Layering Paint on Miniatures for Smooth Highlights

Learn how to layer miniatures for smooth, natural-looking highlights. Step-by-step guide covering thin paint, feathering, and where to place light.

August 11, 2026
Priming & Prep

How to Remove Mold Lines from Miniatures

Learn how to remove mold lines from miniatures with a hobby knife, mold line remover tool, and files. Covers plastic, metal, and resin safely.

August 8, 2026
Paints & Brushes

How to Use a Wet Palette for Miniature Painting

Learn how to use a wet palette for miniatures, keep paint workable longer, and make your own DIY version with everyday supplies.

August 6, 2026
Getting Started

Setting Up a Miniature Painting Workspace

Learn how to build a miniature painting workspace setup with the right desk, daylight lighting, ventilation, and storage to paint comfortably from day one.

August 4, 2026
Tips & Troubleshooting

How to Paint Miniatures Faster (Without Them Looking Bad)

Learn how to paint miniatures fast with batch painting, contrast paints, slapchop, and more speed techniques that still look great on the tabletop.

August 1, 2026
Basing & Finishing

How to Add Flock, Grass Tufts, and Static Grass

Learn how to use static grass, grass tufts, and flock to finish miniature bases with a natural, realistic look. Step-by-step PVA glue method inside.

July 30, 2026
Core Techniques

Drybrushing Miniatures: A Beginner's Guide

Learn how to drybrush miniatures with this beginner's guide: brush prep, paint loading, pressure tips, and how to avoid overdrybrushing.

July 28, 2026
Priming & Prep

Brush-On vs Spray vs Airbrush Primer

Brush on vs spray primer miniatures compared side by side: cost, control, weather limits, and when each method actually makes sense.

July 25, 2026
Paints & Brushes

How to Thin Your Paints (the Most Important Beginner Skill)

Learn how to thin miniature paint correctly using water or medium. Covers ratios, consistency targets, and the two-thin-coats rule for beginners.

July 23, 2026
Getting Started

Choosing Your First Miniature to Paint

Learn how to pick the best miniatures for beginners to paint: right size, material, detail level, and where to find affordable practice minis.

July 21, 2026
Tips & Troubleshooting

How to Get Rid of Brush Marks on Miniatures

Visible brush marks on miniatures almost always trace back to paint that's too thick or too dry. Here's how to fix them and prevent them.

July 18, 2026
Basing & Finishing

Simple Basing Ideas and Textures for Beginners

Explore easy miniature basing ideas and textures that make any figure look finished, from desert sand to urban rubble, with no special tools needed.

July 16, 2026
Core Techniques

How to Use Washes to Shade Your Miniatures

Learn how to use washes on miniatures to add instant depth and shadow. Covers all-over vs pinwash, tide marks, and ready-made vs homemade washes.

July 14, 2026
Priming & Prep

Black, White, Grey, or Zenithal: Choosing a Primer Color

Not sure what color primer for miniatures to use? This guide covers black, white, grey, and zenithal priming so you can pick the right base.

July 11, 2026
Paints & Brushes

What Brushes Do You Need for Miniature Painting?

Find out the best brushes for miniature painting, what sizes actually matter, and how to choose between synthetic and natural sable on a beginner budget.

July 9, 2026
Getting Started

What You Need to Start Painting Miniatures

A clear, no-fluff list of miniature painting supplies for beginners — paints, brushes, primer, and a few extras that actually matter.

July 7, 2026
Tips & Troubleshooting

Why Are My Miniatures Painting So Thick and Clumpy?

Thick, clumpy miniature paint almost always means unthinned paint. Learn thinning ratios, wet palette tips, and how to fix dried or old paint.

July 4, 2026
Basing & Finishing

How to Base a Miniature: A Beginner's Guide

Learn how to base miniatures step by step: glue, sand, texture paste, and sealing explained simply for beginners.

July 2, 2026
Core Techniques

Base Coating Miniatures: How to Lay Down Your Colors

Learn how to base coat miniatures with confidence. Covers thinning paint, two thin coats, brush vs airbrush, and common beginner mistakes to avoid.

June 30, 2026
Priming & Prep

How to Prime a Miniature (and Why Priming Matters)

Learn how to prime miniatures the right way, why skipping primer ruins paint jobs, and which method suits your setup and budget.

June 27, 2026
Paints & Brushes

Miniature Paints Explained: Acrylics, Washes, and Contrast

Learn the main types of miniature paint, including acrylics, washes, and contrast paints, so you can choose the right product for every step.

June 25, 2026
Getting Started

How to Start Painting Miniatures: A Beginner's Guide

Learn how to paint miniatures for beginners: the tools you need, priming basics, and first steps to a finished mini.

June 23, 2026

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Getting StartedBegin here. Miniature painting is simply applying acrylic paint to a small model so it reads well on the table, and almost anyone can pick it up. We cover the small starter kit you actually need (a couple of brushes, a handful of paints, a pot of primer, a water pot, and a scrap of palette), how to choose an easy first mini rather than your favorite hero, and how to set up a comfortable, well-lit spot to work. Most of all we set the right mindset: a tidy tabletop standard beats a flawless mini you never finish.Paints & BrushesThe two things you touch on every model. We look at acrylic miniature paints and the newer contrast or speed paints that shade in one coat, and the few brush sizes a beginner really needs, usually a detail brush and a larger one for coverage. You will learn to care for brushes so they last, never letting paint dry up in the bristles and always pulling them back to a point, and why a wet palette keeps paint workable. The single biggest lesson here is thinning your paint, since thin coats are what make a mini look smooth instead of clumpy.Priming & PrepWhat to do before any color goes on. Prep means cleaning the faint mold lines off the model, washing off the factory release agent so paint will stick, gluing any parts together, and mounting the mini on a handle or cork so you are not touching the figure as you paint. Then comes priming: a thin undercoat that gives your paint something to grip and stops it beading off the plastic or metal. We compare brush-on, spray, and airbrush primer, and help you pick a black, grey, white, or zenithal undercoat to match how bright or moody you want the finish.Core TechniquesThe handful of moves that make a mini look great surprisingly fast. We walk through the beginner sequence in plain terms: base coating, where you block in the main flat colors; a shading wash, a thin dark paint that flows into the recesses and instantly adds depth; drybrushing, where an almost-dry brush catches the raised detail and texture; and then simple layering and edge highlighting to brighten the parts that face the light. Done in that order, even a first attempt looks finished and three-dimensional.Basing & FinishingThe last steps that pull the whole figure together. We cover finishing the base with texture paint, static grass or flock, a tuft or two, and a tidy rim color, which alone makes a mini look properly displayed. Then we seal the paint with a protective varnish so it survives handling and gaming, comparing matte and gloss and whether to brush or spray it on. We finish with simple, low-cost ways to display your growing collection so it actually gets seen.Tips & TroubleshootingFixes for the snags every beginner hits. Paint going on thick and clumpy usually means it needs thinning; visible brush marks often mean the paint was too dry or the coats too heavy. We sort out frosted or cloudy varnish, chalky overdone drybrushing, and how to paint a whole squad quickly with contrast paints when you just want them on the table. We also cover easy color and contrast basics, so your models read clearly under normal light instead of turning into a muddy blur.