It's like painting in prison

Just as every Englishman has his castle and every Hobbit has it's hole (no snickering), so every painter has their painting area / happy place. Whether this be balancing a tray on your lap or a studio with full airbrushing facilities and a heated drying room, there are certain useful / important things to consider.

Without further frivolity, lets have a look at where I create my masterpieces blindly fling colours like a monkey flings poop...

Well now the post title makes sense...

One of the downsides of living in a basement flat is fewer windows and sources of natural light. As such, I managed to find the lamp above at Ikea and it serves me well. I have ceiling bulbs shining down, the top lamp diffuses of the ceiling and the lower lamp points directly at the work. Whereas natural light is preferable, the first and most important rule is light, light and more light! Painting by candlelight (romantic) or the light of your phone (less so) will only hurt your eyes and your painting will suffer for it.

Odd one out?

My first Malifaux paint job, and one of my earlier attempts at painting. I bought the crew as a) I loved the models and b) it was my tester set to practise highlighting and drybrushing as well as wet blending on Lilith's cape (not shown but just imagine it's awesome). Oh, and pay no attention the the 'roided-up elephant.

A box of crap. It's a good thing.

Think of this as a make-up box for painters. Not that you should use any of the above on your face but more as a box of good stuff to root through and think 'Ooh, I didn't know I had this!' For your own Box Of Crap, the following are minimum standards;

• Selection of glues - some you will never use / open
• Knives of differing types - all sharp and safely stored (not just chucked in a box...?)
• Pin vice and pinning materials (if making metal models)
• Needle files - preferably not covered in rust
• Green stuff or suitable modelling material
• Not required - shredder, motherboard box, tangle of wires

This is what I see when I close my eyes

I like to surround myself with paints and hobby goodness when I work, whereas some people may prefer a more organised approach. Along with more knives and glues (I sound like a 15 year old chav), can you spot the following must-haves?

• Paints (duh)
• Flock for grassy bases and bicarbonate of soda + PVA for snowy bases
• Varnish
• Corks with bits of metal sticking out of them (see below...)

Huh?

Its a personal preference but I usually paint my miniatures in pieces and assemble after. It makes it a bit trickier to ensure all the colours match and flow, but it does mean that every millimetre gets attention and love. Therefore, I drill a little hole where the piece will be glued on and mount on metal pins jammed into corks (corks available at Wilkinsons or any wine-making supplier cheaply). It makes holding and moving the piece much easier and keeps fingerprints at bay.

Fighting irons of the painter

Anyone who starts painting without a decent selection of brushes is a braver man than I. By decent selection, I really mean decent; both in quality and quantity. For example, the two brushes above with plastic caps on are Windsor & Newton Series 7 brushes, one for general use and one for detail. These are my go-to brushes and the Internet is awash with reasons why they should be yours too. After those, it doesn't matter too much on the brand of your other brushes; a good selection of varying size and quality will do you fine. My cheapest brush was 99p and still does fine!

And to think some people hide porn in drawers!

 You can judge a man's love for the hobby by the amount of plastic unused bits he has squirrelled away...

 So what's next?

Well, the goodies on the left finally arrived the other day and I can't wait to get stuck in!

Whereas Lilith and her creepy kids were an exercise in painting and not a serious start of a crew, this represents the start of a viable gaming crew. We have;

• Lady Justice crew set - Lady Justice, The Judge and 3 Death Marshals
• Scales Of Justice - Lady J's totem and one of the best-looking models in my opinion
• Funky resin bases

I hope you all stick with me as I take you through the processes of prepping, assembling, painting and playing with my new recruits. Stay posted to future entries to hear all about it! And I'd love to hear/see what your own personal hobby nirvana's are like!


-Jack