"Painting 6/10mm figs.......How?" Topic

I want to paint,or have painted a lot of small figures.
I know that to get a good result there is no point trying to paint the figures in the same way as larger figs…I also think I heard that there is a trick about never using pure white or black…..So how do you guys do it?
Some pointers to painters websites and galleries would be welcome
Thanks
Barry

The Baccus website has some very good tips for painting 6mm.

Cheers……..I just found the Adler website which also has a tutorial.
I will look at Bachus…….but I am also interested to hear what ordinary gamers do with their figs

I've found this tutorial extremely helpful, and I paint my 6mm in a similar fashion.

link

Now see, for me, at 6mm, I'd just spray the whole lot red and be done with it. Frenchies in blue, white for Austrians, green for Russians, etc.

I am always amazed at the folks who will go all out with painting at such a small scale. Below 15mm, I just can't see putting the effort into all that detail work. Even at 15mm, there's a lot I won't cover.

Respects,

every figure you see here is 10mm

link

the red ones – russians – were all done in 6 weeks .

its sort of like the army painter approach (only you can't use their dip cause its too thick with the varnish included, I think) – your undercoat is the main colour (red in this case), then you add the obvious bits – boots, skin, gun.
then a light ink wash to highlight any detail on the figure itself.
finally, the stand-out bits – crossbelts, trim on tricorns, gold plates on the grenadiers.

thats it, nothing else is visible anyway,
and make the bases interesting, and be sure to add some flags if you can – they do all the wow factor for you, for some reason, even if just colour printed paper.

the prussians were done old-school way with black undercoat and dry brush white, and then individual detail picked out by colour. – you can only tell when you lift the figures off the table, I think. mind you, the Russians are mine, so I would say that

I know that to get a good result there is no point trying to paint the figures in the same way as larger figs

Yes there is, they look better at close inspection!

All my character models are painted like that.
Shading, highlights, ink washes, blending etc.

I do not do that on rank and file though, no time.

Many people that come up to my trade stand at shows assume there is no detail because they are 6mm, they do not even bother to look.
It is normally the larger scale people that make this asusmption I am saddened to say.

Have a look at the 6mm forum:

angelbarracks.forumup.com

Painting guides are on there too.

Michael.

I'm hugely impressed by people who paint 10mm and even 6mm figures like they were 28mm, highlights and all. But it's not for me. I paint small-scale figures pretty much the same way Keraunos describes. Block in a few basic colours, pick out a few details, and give it a thin magic wash (which not only adds shading, but helps cover up untidy lines where colours meet). It looks good. 6mm in particular is about mass effect, so you focus on the details that stand out and look good en masse. Gleaming speartips and brightly coloured shields on fantasy figures, for instance.

I paint mostly 10mm figures and smaller but to compare that to how I paint larger figures is difficult because I don't paint those much any more. Never did 25/28mm, can't see the point as I'd never have an army and even if I did I wouldn't have the space to store it or play with it.

It often amuses me to hear 'big' figure painters asking why we bother with details when they will paint the detail on the lace cuffs and you can hardly claim that can be seen at wargame table distances either.

It is just snobbery for the most part.

For clients I add what ever level of detail they request provided it is modelled on the figure or can be applied without looking silly. Adjusting colours to get good contrasts is probably more important the smaller you go and differentiating units in small scale can be a problem, one I doubt that will ever be solved to everyone's satisfaction.

I can't really believe that the skills needed to paint 6mm figures are that different to those used on 28mm ones. What I do think though is that 6mm figures need a different 'attitude' and probably a different set of judgment calls when it comes to what is and isn't included and the order of painting the various parts.

The beauty of the smaller scales is that a minimal paint job combined with good basing can give quite acceptable results for a relatively small investment of time and yet the scope is there to do a more detailed job should that be your preference. In larger scales this isn't always the case and a quick job often looks tatty and unfinished.

I always tell people that the difference between 25mm and 6mm is this: in 28mm you're painting individuals but in 6mm you're painting a unit. So yes, adding those details that would be visible makes a HUGE difference.

I once saw some VERY impressive looking 6mm pike blocks. Each block had 70+ figures and there were probably 30 or 40 blocks on the table. I asked how long they took to paint and the GM said look up close. He painted only the front side of the front rank, the back side of the rear rank, the dies of the flank files and the head and shoulders of all figs. All the rest of the block was left primed black. I couldn't believe it but on the table your eye was completely fooled. It looked awesome. No more "The part of the second pike block will be played by Fred, Tony and a few of their mates from down the pub."

I have a collection of a couple of thousand 10mm ACW figs, and found that the best way to paint them is to send them off to some overseas service for some other guy to paint. I like painting the larger figures, but I draw the line at the 10s; I'm trying to preserve what eyesight I have left.

Nic's example here is worth a look

link

I use a quite different method, but then the forum has a number of examples and is a good place for this question wrt 10mm

6mm and such can give a very good visual even with only a few colors and not done with exactness. The only problem I have with 6mm gamers is that a few of them still insist on putting out very small units like 20 or so per btn. I would think the small space and small costs would entice a gamer to really "mass" a lot of castings to give a better visual effect for the games. I think that many or most do just that! But other factors may be in play that I just don't get and that's the strength of the diversity of miniature wargaming!

I have some tips and tricks for 6mm in a few different periods at my blog, have a look.

syw6mm.com

a trick about never using pure white or black

Well, I use a slightly off-white (ivory, cream, that sort of thing) and for black I use a very dark gray and a couple of black washes.

Doing the detail isn't time consuming or difficult and the end result is quite nice.

I'm currently doing Baccus 6mm WSS. Halfway through the army, I re-read the tutorial and doubled the quality and quantity of output. I highly endorse that tutorial.
The point is, you can paint them pretty fast and if they don't equal your 28mm standard, they will be more than adequate. ….and for gaming purposes, probably get a LOT more use because you can paint a unit in the time it takes one or two 28's to get done. Mass has it's own type of quality etc..

The only problem I have with 6mm gamers is that a few of them still insist on putting out very small units like 20 or so per btn

I use 1000 men per batallion!

I've painted over 15,000 of these things for commissions and for myself, maybe more, and I have a few tricks that I've come up with. Maybe not tricks, but a basic philosophy on it. People have already echoed my basic strategy, but here is my own wrap up on it.

Basically, you don't want to go into the detail unless you really want to. All the comments on inking and shading and multiple shades of color are fine, and the pictures of figures painted like that are neat to look at, but those are basically pallor tricks in my opinion. With 10mm and 6mm you need to have a lot of figures, unless you really like small units. When I started with 10mm I thought I wanted small units, but then I changed my mind and I'm up to 120 figures a battalion, with a basing system that lets me add more. So your technique should let you pound the things out.

Here's aquick break down of my tricks for this scale:

1: Put all figs on popsicle sticks. If you can at all deal with the infantry on strips then use these. Don't use single-based infantry unless you absolutely love the look of a particular maker. It's not worth the trouble of gluing them down and picking out 360 degrees of detail.

2: Use a brush slightly bigger than you feel comfortable using on that level of detail.

3: Every color has to be a shade or two brighter than what you would use on a 15mm or a 25mm. Use strong, bright, intense colors. For example, for French dragoons you want to use a bright, almost neon green, even though they wore darker green jackets. For French infantry you would use an intense, bright blue. For pompoms use obnoxiously bright colors. The smaller a figure is the brighter you need to paint it. There's a scientific rational for this, involving the eyes, someone wrote about it on here once…

4: Use a black undercoat. Don't use white or some gimmick color inbetween. That'll give you a nice, natural shadow.

5: Ignore irrelevent details. I rarely paint white straps on French backpacks, for instance. Collars I often ignore on OG infantry as well, unless the figure seems to demand the contract.

6: Forget about faces. Just hit them with a heavy blot of pink paint. Same with the hands.

7: Paint from lower to higher, bigger color area to details. Remember that on figures that small everything is either a dot or a line. On French infantry, for instance, start with the blue, and slop on the paint without payng attantion to what you hit with it. Paint down the row of troops, and don't stop painting to focus on one figure. Just make sure you hit everyone. If you paint a face or a rifle blue, ignore it. After that, I go to the next biggest color- white. I dot and swipse along all the web and uniforms, making sure not to get paint all over the blue, but still not really caring either. The blue is deeper than the white, and so you shouldn't have to worry about hitting it either. Then I go to the red cuffs, maybe turnbacks, maybe the back of the colors. After that hit the faces and hands, a dot of thick paint for each. Then pick out the metal rifles, maybe add a gold band between the bayonet and barrel, pick out the back packs. Finally I add the only highlight that I do: A medium gray swipe down the boots without stopping as I go down the popsicle stick, front and back, and a dab on the back of the shakos and a line on top of the blanket rolls. If you want, then paint the base brown.

If you practice this technique you should be able to knock out 500-1000 figs a day with some practice.

It always seems to surprise people when I come out & say that the aim for painting 6mm (and 10mm to an extent) is for them to look good in a true horde on the table.

I am known for sculpting / painting silly details on small scale miniatures, but the reason I came to love the smaller figures in the first place is the massed effect you can achieve with them.

There are some great tips above.

Choose your block colours & paint them strongly.
Detail will be lost at gaming distance.
Most figures have an identifying piece of kit – white straps for british Naps, large bed rolls for WWII soviets etc. These key identifiers should be picked out, but a lot of the extra webbing and kit is up to you.

Also, remember this – for maybe all but the closed ranks of napolionics, the bases make up a very large percentage of the viewable area on smaller miniatures.

Get you basing right and the painting can almost be seen as a secondary matter.

Cheers,
Paul
hobbybrush.com

Just goes to show how much of a range of techniques and ideas people have for the smaller scales. I don't actually do many of the above but they obviously work fine for other people and they are happy with the results.

Could you truly say that for other scales ? I doubt it.

As to putting 20 men per Bn on each base – I suppose it depends how many Bn you intend to field on your table. If you want only a few then 60 or so is fine but you'll need a BIG table if you want to fight Austerlitz (which is a job I'm currently working on) at one base per Bn.

I love painting 6mm- to be honest I think its easier to get good results than at 28mm.

serotonins.blogspot.com

Some of my stuff is on my blog with some WIP shots if thats helpful.

Thanks to all you guys for the tips and pointers.
I will post my efforts here at some point…..either for your comments or your amusement

Barry

Tuffskull………..re basing,I absolutely agree.
I also feel that with this scale the table and terrain are much more of a feature and has to have even more effort put in than with other scales…….do you agree?
Barry

I've always been a "block" painter. Years ago I used to paint HO/OO Airfix and 1/72 Esci then gave up for a long time. I did try a few old Grenadier D&D figures and some Chaos Dwarves and spent some time with the Shade/Base/Drybrush highlight technique and was quite pleased with the results, but I only did it because, unlike Napoleonics, they were "individual" figures.
I've recently started painting 6mm Napoleonics and after looking at many tutorials on the 'net with their ink washes and highlights I quickly decided that those techniques weren't for me. They seemed too finickity for figures that would become part of a block smaller than a Hobnob and used to represent units on a table, as opposed to a miniature reconstruction of an historical personage. So I reverted to my "block" painting technique which is basically painting up the layers so that the next colour painted on covers the overpainting of the previous colour so that the finished product looks fairly clean and crisp rather than an individual work of art in 6mm. For example, faces and hands are painted and later the collar/ cuffs covers the flesh tone that got onto the collars and cuffs; backpacks cover the smears of red/ blue, white jacket paint, and so on. If there is detail on the figure representing an item of equipment or uniform I try to paint it – though I draw the line at pack and rolled greatcoat straps (raised detail seems to let the light create a lighter shade and recessed detail a darker one), cockades, fine lace, though I'm yet to paint hussars!.
I've had a few figures finished where, under the magnifier they look a bit rough, but even taking the magnifier off and looking at them again they look ok (could be my poor eyesight fooling me though!). When a number are painted and based, any small mistakes seem to disappear.

Here's a photo of a couple of 1/2 scale VnB bases nearing completion:

picture

And a couple of Line bases recently glued:

picture

I'm putting 10 infantry or 6 horse on a base. It looks pretty good but most details can't be seen. Concentrate on the hats. Plumes, pom poms, cords, color work etc., do stand out even on these little fellas. Face it, you see them from above.

Tuffskull………..re basing,I absolutely agree.
I also feel that with this scale the table and terrain are much more of a feature and has to have even more effort put in than with other scales…….do you agree?
Barry

I do agree, though I am guilty of not doing much work on it myself in many cases for my own gaming :os

When I was working for Dark Realm miniatures, I painted up a hell of a lot of figures to go on display at Salute and various other shows. But I was always well aware that the largest thing on the table, and thus the visual draw for passers by to be enticed by, was the scenery itself. To that end the board had a whapping great cliff added to it, purely as I knew I could make it eye catching enough to then draw people close enough to see all the pretty miniatures!

I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Cheers,
Paul.
hobbybrush.com

I agree.

Thats why I spend ages on my scenery, my still not quite finished PROJECT HOOGY, in which I painted each roof tile, each brick, made each cobblestone and then painted each one individually, is a prime example of me liking nice terrain.

Making 6mm cobble stones was errrm eye straining to say the least!

link

ahem, incase you are bored and want to see what I mean!

Is painting 6mm and 10mm figures potentially damaging to your eyes?

I don't see how it could be more damaging to one's eyes than painting all the tiny whatchamacallits and doo-dads on a typical 18th-19th century soldier's uniform in 28mm.

I don't see how it could be more damaging to one's eyes than painting all the tiny whatchamacallits and doo-dads on a typical 18th-19th century soldier's uniform in 28mm.

Exactly so, the smallest I paint on 6mm is say a cuff or a shako plate, which is larger than the pupil of a 28mm eye.

The question should be:

Is painting BIGGER than 6mm and 10mm figures potentially damaging to your eyes?

Yes there is, they look better at close inspection!

10 milz, yous doin it rong.

The first rule of 10mm is DON'T talk about Nik Harwood

The second rule of 10mm is DON'T talk about Nik Harwood

Git :)

Seriously though.

Pendraken have the Apostles on their ECW musketeers. You can only see them when magnified or dry brushed. That is the lesson – dry brush/wash/etc.

You can paint the detail, but the point is they are usually 3 feet away – why pick them up and examine that closely. Block colour is what you do. It works because it looks more like a real army at a distance- instead of 2-3 25mm on a base you get 12 figures – the mass of a line is what you are trying to convey.

I found that high detail doesn't work on 6mm. I bought some painted figures for Napoleonics. Up close they can be seen to be accurate. At a distance they look like Jackson Pollock's (in actuality, and as rhyming slang).

Austrians WSS
1- Spray grey.
2- Paint legs gaiter/stocking colour
3- Paint Cuffs
4- Paint tricorn, boots (really just the 'shoe bit' at the end of the stocking), ammo pouch and belts.
5- Go over belts with Tan (the black is to help define onthe grey uniform – only takes a few seconds extra, and as you have the black out)
6- Paint musket dark brown – do face and hands at same time (hands are easy, they are holding the musket!)
7- Heavy drybrush the flesh flesh.
8- Put lace on hat.
9- Wash with German Trouser Grey (Tamaya call it something like Flat Grey). This helps pick out the creases, obviously, but also darkens the spray grey

IMPORTANT BIT

Base as tight as you can – 3 on 20mm front

link

If you zoom you will see how poor my fine-painting is. I therefore paint for mass effect – Don't zoom!

Oh and

11- have a 1 hair brush for painting the text on belt buckles etc.