by Ice Dragon

Created on: June 10, 2008

Okay, you took the plunge and bought that pricey rulebook for a table-top wargame, and then you plunked more cash down on some units or figures. Now what? Well, 99.9 percent of players paint them up to look good. How, and what colors, depends on what game you're playing. In an historical game like Flames of War, usually the units are painted up like the real-life units that were in WWII. There are also Civil War games, games based on the Revolutionary War, Zulu Wars, and more. There are tons of books out there that have army colors, some even including unit colors, badges, and so on.

My personal experience is with Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 units. These figures are usually considerably larger than those of Flames of War and other historical games, so they are easier to paint. My process is quick and relatively easy, but you might develop your own variations.

First, since it's the easiest way to handle things, I leave the plastic pieces of the figures on the sprue (the big hunk of plastic that everything is attached to). If they are metal, I just group all the pieces together. I put it all on a good, wide layer of newspaper to catch the paint from the next step. Next, I use a complimentary color to prime them (black if you want to paint the figures a dark color, white for light colors). I use a spray primer, as it is faster and gives a more even coating, if done right, than by brush. Priming is helpful, as the majority of paint won't adhere to the raw metal or plastic, and the primer gives the paint something to stick to. Let everything dry for a bit, flip everything over, and prime the other side. That's why I leave the pieces attached to the sprue: to make it faster and easier than flipping each little piece. Once I cut the pieces off the sprue, I can touch them up a bit, but that's still a step or two down the line.

After you prime all the pieces and they've had dried off, then you can paint your figures however you want. For this step, I still have the pieces on the sprue. It is still easier to paint all parts of the arm, leg, tank hull, or whatever by keeping it on the sprue and flipping or turning as needed, as there are normally only one or two spots where the piece connects to the sprue. Again, if realism in an historical wargame is what you're after, you'd be wise to get a book that has pictures or photos of the army you're building. However, if you're building an army for Warhammer or Warhammer 40,000, then your imagination is your only limit (ok, cost is too).

Once the paint is dried, carefully use a razor knife or clippers to cut the painted pieces off the sprue, trimming as necessary to keep the piece smooth. This is the point where you would do any touchup work on the parts that had been connected to the sprue using maybe a brush-on primer (if the spot is big enough) and the paint colors you have chosen.

Then comes the assembly process, which is beyond the scope of this article. Some people assemble the figure first, and then paint it. I don't usually do that, as there are parts of the figures that can't really be painted easily after you assemble them.

Especially for a newcomer to this kind of game, go to your local gaming store and ask the staff and any gamers hanging around for recommendations for not only good quality paint and primer, but brushes as well. They (we) experiment with all kinds of stuff to find our favorites.

Now then. Welcome to the rather addictive world of table-top wargaming. See you on the battlefield, General!

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