Welcome back to our Introduction to Miniature Painting class log. It's been a moment since we've been able to actually write this stuff down, but the class has been rolling along strong! A few days of good weather gave us enough time to get over a hundred models prepped and ready for use in the class and by the club!
Lesson 2 - Base Coating and Flow Control: Assembly Line
After getting the first set of archers done, we sat down for the second set. We'll have a unit of 20 when they are all finished, and just in time: our player characters in Dungeons & Dragons are already attempting to conquer an untamed land and bring civilization to a savage wilderness. We all know how that goes - you're probably going to need a ton of soldiers, and I'll wager at least 20 of them will be archers.
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| Reverend Greg has already turned in a list of units he wants to hire... |
We concentrated on the same pattern we used on the first set, but these models were slightly different. However, the class was instructed in the "Assembly Line" technique and put to work completing a larger number of archers in the same amount of class time. The class immediately caught on and in no time we had all of these guys ready for the QuickShade treatment.
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| We'll all be dodging arrows eventually...as soon as she's finished with her nails. |
The Assembly Line is a fairly easy concept. Each stage is repeated on a set of models, one after another, before going on to the next stage. For example, you have five models on your paint table. You start with stage 1, and the skin is painted on one model and then that model is set aside. You then go to the next model and paint only the skin, setting that one aside and moving to the next when finished. Continue on the same paint stage for all the models, then return to the first and begin stage 2...which in this case was the breeches.
Using this method can speed up your work, but it's only recommended you use this technique with models that are very similar in appearance to make maximum use of your color palette. You will also find you will waste less paint preparing your brush and flow, as you will use the same color for longer periods of time.
You should try not to work on too many models at the same time. I usually have a limit of five at a time, but then I spend a lot of time on cleanup and details for each one. However, normal infantry like this can get by with a quick table-ready paint job, especially if you are going to be using QuickShade on them.
Class is moving along great! Next week, we'll move on to more advanced techniques - though we'll still be using simple models to practice on. The practice will definitely pay off, with what lies ahead for our intrepid painters once this class is finished! We've got a huge job ahead of us getting all our models show-worthy, but it won't take long at this rate!