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How to Paint Armor on Miniatures

To a modeler, there's nothing more boring than a stock, unpainted miniature. Painting armor helps bring a miniature to life, giving it character with nearly limitless customization options. Give your miniature all kinds of custom patterns and designs, and paint the armor in any combination of colors you desire to mix up. Whether painting miniatures for display or to play games with, take the time and think through your designs before beginning to paint. With patience and effort, your miniatures' armor will turn out looking fantastic.

Things You'll Need

Spray primer
Large brushes
Small brushes
Model paint
Sealant or varnish

Instructions

- 1
  Check to ensure you have the colors you'd like to use for your miniature's armor, and visit a craft store to buy any other colors you'll need. Plan out the general design and color scheme of the armor and have it in mind while picking paints.
- 2
  Spray the surface of each of the miniatures with spray primer to prepare them to accept paint more readily. Choose a primer suitable for the material your miniature is made from, and allow 24 hours for the primer to fully dry.
- 3
  Paint a base coat on the armor. Use a color suited to the type of armor your miniature is wearing: browns and tans for leather, silvers and grays for old fashioned metal armor and any other color you like for metal armor that's meant to look painted. Dark greens and browns are good as a base for camouflage armor.
- 4
  Start painting on patterns, such as camouflage or an insignia on the surface of the armor. If your miniature is meant to be part of a specific regiment or army, consider painting that army's symbol onto the armor.
- 5
  Mix a color similar to the original color of the armor, darkened by adding dark brown, blue or black. Thin this color with water and apply a light wash to the miniature's armor to accentuate the shadows. Paint this layer across the figure, rather than down, so the paint will go into areas that need shadow rather than simply darkening the whole surface.
- 6
  Wait for the other layers of paint to dry fully before applying any additional paint.
- 7
  Take a dry brush and add any last details. Apply lighter colors to areas you would like to highlight and finish off any buttons or straps. Silver or white paints work well for most reflective surfaces.
- 8
  Coat the model with varnish or spray it with a spray sealant when you've completed painting the miniature, to help protect the paint.

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