Alright. Reg here.
First Airfix kit at eight years old, first lead figure at twelve, first tournament army at seventeen. Been painting miniatures since 1978 — everything from 6mm ancients to 54mm display pieces. If it's got a base and a paintjob, I've either painted it, broken it, stripped it back, or painted it again.
Snap it. I'll tell you what it is, who made it, and how to make it look better than it does right now.
Snap It. Name It. Paint It Better.
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📚 Reg's Painting Library
46 years of techniques, mistakes, and things that actually work. No fluff.
Core Painting Techniques
Basecoating
Thin paint to milk consistency. Two thin coats beat one thick coat every time. Thick paint fills in detail and you'll never get it back. Use a medium brush and work methodically. Prime first — grey for dark colours, white for bright colours, black for a grim/gritty look.
Washing / Shading
Washes flow into recesses and create instant shadow. Citadel Agrax Earthshade, Nuln Oil, and Reikland Fleshshade are workhorses. Army Painter Dark Tone and Strong Tone are excellent value. Apply over a sealed basecoat, let gravity do the work. Don't glob it on.
Drybrushing
Load a stiff brush, wipe almost all paint off on a tissue, then lightly drag across raised surfaces. Picks out edges and texture instantly. Perfect for fur, hair, chainmail, stone, wood. Works best on textured surfaces. Don't skip this step — it transforms a flat model.
Edge Highlighting
The signature of a display piece. Pick up a lighter mix of your colour and run a fine brush along raised edges. Start with a broader highlight, then a sharper bright line at corners. Needs a steady hand and patience. The single skill that separates good from great.
Glazing
Very thin, transparent paint washes over an area to tint without covering. Use a glazing medium or heavily thin with water + flow improver. Builds up colour gradually, adds OSL (object source lighting) effects, rescues colours that went wrong. A glaze of red over orange deepens it beautifully.
Basing
The base finishes the model. A brilliant paintjob on a plain black base looks unfinished. Texture paste, PVA + sand, static grass, tufts — all cheap and transformative. Match the base to the world your model inhabits. Snow? Urban rubble? Jungle floor? The base tells the story.
Paint Ranges — What Reg Actually Uses
Citadel (Games Workshop)
The industry standard. Expensive but consistent. The Contrast/Shade/Layer/Base system works. Agrax Earthshade is the most useful paint ever made. Contrast paints are genuinely brilliant for batch painting. Buy where they're available — the pots dry out if you don't seal them properly.
Vallejo
Superior dropper bottles — no dried paint lids. Model Colour for general use. Game Colour slightly more vibrant for fantasy. Model Air pre-thinned for airbrush. The best value-per-ml in the hobby. Metallics are outstanding. Reg's personal recommendation for anyone starting out.
Army Painter
Speedpaints are the Contrast competitor — quick and effective. Warpaints are solid workhorse paints. The dip (quick shade) is legendary for batch painting armies fast. Good for beginners who want results without faff. Fanatic range updated the formula significantly.
Scale75 / Infinity
High-end, slightly grittier finish ideal for display pieces. Excellent for realistic skin tones and non-metallic metals (NMM). More demanding to use but the results at competition level are hard to beat. Not for beginners — get the basics down first.
AK Interactive / MIG
Scale modelling crossover paints. Excellent weathering products — rust effects, oil paints, pigments. If you're painting vehicles or terrain, these are essential. AK real metal paints are outstanding.
Scales, Manufacturers & Ranges
28mm / 32mm — The Mainstream
Warhammer 40K, Age of Sigmar, Dungeons & Dragons, most tabletop RPG figures. Games Workshop dominates but Privateer Press, Mantic, Warlord, Reaper, and hundreds of boutique makers all produce here. Most tutorials assume this scale.
15mm & 10mm — Historical Wargaming
Flames of War (15mm WWII), Pendraken (10mm), Baccus (6mm). The scale of serious historical wargamers. Technically demanding — less detail but you're painting hundreds. Drybrushing and washes do most of the heavy lifting.
54mm & 75mm — Display Pieces
Andrea Miniatures, Pegaso, Romeo Models. Not for gaming — for competition and display. Requires advanced techniques: NMM, OSL, fine blending. These are the pieces you see at Golden Demon and Salute. The full-size canvas of the hobby.
Key UK Manufacturers
Games Workshop (Nottingham) — industry giant. Warlord Games (Nottingham) — historical and Beyond the Gates of Antares. North Star Military Figures — Osprey games, Frostgrave. Perry Miniatures — exceptional historical sculpts by the Perry twins. Victrix — hard plastic historicals. Footsore Miniatures — Dark Ages specialists.
The Resin Revolution
3D printing and resin casting have changed everything. Kickstarter boutique ranges from Corvus Belli, Raging Heroes, Creature Caster. Independent sculptors selling STLs directly. Wash resin in IPA before painting — always. Prime heavily — resin doesn't take paint as well as metal.
❓ Common Questions
What Reg gets asked at every show. With straight answers.
Ask Reg
46 years of miniatures. Ask him anything.
Reg doesn't sugarcoat it. If your basecoat's too thick, he'll tell you. If your highlights are brilliant, he'll tell you that too.
Quick questions:
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🔧 Reg's Gear List
What's actually on Reg's painting table. No sponsorship, no fluff.
The Essentials
Kolinsky Sable Brushes
Raphael 8404 or Winsor & Newton Series 7. Buy a size 0, 1, and 2. They hold a point, hold paint, and last years if you look after them. More important than any paint you buy.
Find on AmazonCitadel Contrast / Army Painter Speedpaints
The fastest route from primed to table-ready. One coat over white primer gives basecoat + shade simultaneously. Brilliant for batch painting.
Find on AmazonArmy Painter Quickshade Wash Set
Strong Tone, Soft Tone, Dark Tone. The trinity of washes. Buy these before anything else. They do more work than any other product in the range.
Find on AmazonVallejo Model Colour Starter Set
72 bottles in dropper format. Saves you hunting for individual colours. Vallejo metallics especially are superb. The best value paint purchase you can make.
Find on AmazonWet Palette
Keeps paint workable for hours. Masterson Sta-Wet, or make your own with a Tupperware lid, kitchen sponge, and baking paper. Game-changing for blending.
Find on AmazonSpray Primer
Army Painter Matt Black or Grey primer. Citadel equivalent. Light even coats from 30cm. Never prime in the cold or damp. Foundation of every paintjob.
Find on AmazonDaylight Lamp
Painting in yellow overhead light = your colours will look completely different in daylight. Daylight bulb or LED painting lamp is essential. Your eyes will thank you too.
Find on AmazonAmazon UK affiliate links. Small commission keeps this village running. Reg only recommends what he actually uses.
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Miniature painting is one of the best hobbies for ADHD and autism. The hyper-focus, the detail work, the meditative rhythm of base-wash-drybrush — it was practically designed for us. You're in very good company here.
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