All posts filed under: Articles

Magnetising the Big Mek

Magnetizing the Big Mek in Mega Armor

Quick tutorial post on how I added magnets to the Ork Big Mek in Mega Armor. While I don’t generally add magnets to my minis, this guy seems like a good candidate to work on. This Big Mek is from the Meganobz box where you can build one of the Nobz into a Big Mek. The arm weapons don’t have options, so it is the backpack mount that I magnetized. This way I can either arm him with the Kustom Tellyporta Gun (which sounds fun) or provide a defense with the Kustom Force Field (probably more helpful). Drilling the Holes Once the main body and legs were built up, I left the top armor plate off. This is meant to be the weapon’s platform but works perfectly for adding the magnets. I set the piece in place and used a small drill bit to drill through it and the top of the body. To prevent the magnet from moving, I didn’t use a larger bit as the top plate so it would hold the magnet in …

How to Build Scenic Display Pieces

Creating Scenic Terrain for Bases and Dioramas with Andy

Greetings, this is my humble tutorial on how to build terrain, specifically a rocky outcrop with vegetation and trees. This is my way of making terrain pieces/diorama backdrops for miniatures; however, there are many fine ways to make great looking terrain/dioramas and bases, and I hope you do your research and experimenting to come up with amazing things! I would never be so bold as to say my method is the only way nor the best way. It is merely a way that works for me, and I have borrowed many techniques from other tutorials who need their just due. I want to welcome Andy to the Broken Paintbrush community with this awesome tutorial. I hope you enjoy the tutorial, and if you want to save it for later, fill in the form at the bottom and I will send you a copy. Namely Massive Voodoo Blogspot, 3-T Studios, Painting Buddha, countless others on Youtube and Coolminiornot. I apologize if I used some of your techniques and did not give you a reference; however, I …

Painting the Pox Walkers with Washes

Painting Pox Walkers with Washes Tutorial and Showcase

Yes, I jumped on the new 40k box set. I didn’t fully plan on doing so, but I broke down, and I am glad I did. These new models are incredibly detailed and full of character. The zombies were the first to get paint and here is the tutorial on painting pox walkers with washes. I decided to use washes on the Pox Walkers as I wanted to get all 20 of them finished quickly and experimented with the style. When done well, you can get a great looking unit with a few different glazes of color. Priming and Prep After assembling the miniatures, I took some of the duplicates and modified them as you will see below. On some, I removed horns and extra equipment. On others, I bent arms and hands to get a different look. Each model got a solid coverage of white primer using two light coats. For painting with washes, others have recommended using gray primer and give it a quick spray of white from the top. This can help …

To Our Hobby Fathers

In Honor of Hobby Fathers, Happy Fathers Day

On this Fathers Day, I want to thank all the hobby fathers who may have brought you into the hobby, much as mine did. Also a shoutout to all the fathers out there passing on the love of building and painting miniatures to the next generation. My very first experience with miniatures was receiving a Snap-Fit, translucent green race car for my fifth birthday. I have no clue what car it was, or where it may be now. But it started my path down the hobby. My Hobby Father I think I got a few other kits over the following years, but the one that I remember the most fondly is the F-14 Tomcat. It wasn’t the plane that was so memorable, but the time I spent with my dad as he taught me how to paint it. But the thing was, my dad wasn’t a hobbyist himself, at least in scale models. I’m not even sure where he learned the techniques to help me paint the Tomcat. What he did do, though, was encourage and …

How to Paint the Blood Bowl Troll

How to Paint the Blood Bowl Troll – A Broken Paintbrush Tutorial

I started painting the Blood Bowl Troll as a way to show different painting techniques but found it was going to work better as a general tutorial instead. Check out the tutorial below for tips on how to paint the Troll as well as some general tips on painting with washes and blending. Orc and Goblin teams can take the Troll for some extra muscle and even toss a (somewhat) willing volunteer across the field. As I build up each of my Blood Bowl teams, I want to add some of the special team players to add some fun to the games. I had fun painting him to a higher standard than the Orc players and testing a few techniques. Building and Prep This model was probably the craziest I have done regarding odd pieces for a single character model. This does create a pose that is detailed and dynamic but provides only a single pose. For those who like to leave pieces separate, the only one part that made sense was the shoulder pad. …

Some WIP Shots and Slowing Things Down (for now)

Between the reemergence of the sun, writing books, and chasing after two little boys, I have realized that I need to slow some things down. But part of that slow down is to make sure the articles I publish here are not rushed or forced. So with that said, let’s check out what is on Joe’s painting table first and get back to the boring blog stuff after. WIP Blood Bowl With two Blood Bowl teams completed (Orcs and Dwarves), I had turned to the balls and tokens so that I could get a fully painted game in. As with many things on my painting table, I got started and then distracted. At this point, both teams (and the human team) are mounted to bases and primed. The ball mark, the one meant to fit in each base, is press-fit into a spare base. All the others are glued down. I’ve made decent progress on the Dwarf team’s markers with all the base colors and wash completed. I will probably only do basic cleanup on …

Object Source Lighting Tutorials

List of Helpful Object Source Lighting Tutorials

Whether it is a lamp, glowing lava, or a spotlight, adding the glow effect onto the model can look impressive. Many award-winning miniatures have multiple lights that appear to actually be glowing. I’ve gathered some articles with object source lighting tutorials so learn how to do this effect. The term object source lighting (OSL) is what painters use to describe the illusion of a light striking the model. The painted on lighting effect can be dramatic, and sometimes overdone. But it is also tricky to achieve. I have tried to do this effect on some of my miniatures with varying levels of success. But rather than try to create a tutorial on something I don’t fully get myself, I found articles by painters who have mastered the technique. Light the Fire I couldn’t find who the author was for this guest post on Chest of Colors, but not only is this a beautifully well-done miniature, but the tips offered are great. “C’mon baby, light my fire ” – OSL Tips | Chest of Colors Seven ‘commandments’ …

Learning from a paint & Sip

Learning from a Paint and Sip

Recently I went to a paint and sip with my wife and found it amazing that twelve people, mostly with no painting skills, all managed to paint a great picture. It got me thinking about how we could apply some of the techniques to our own painting and tutorials. If you haven’t done one of these events, you show up to a room of empty canvases and a cool looking painting hanging at the front of the room. Each person takes a seat with a plate will the primary colors, white, and black paint, a couple of large brushes, and a cup of water. Over the next hour or two, the whole group is walked through each step and brush stroke to complete that same beautiful painting at the front of the room. This was the second of these type of events that I have done and I reflected on the remarkableness of it. I wanted to take away how the instructor was able to get so many people to accomplish works of art. I …

Tutorial on How to Paint Yellow with layers, wash, and one coat paints

How to Paint Yellow – Three Techniques on Three Different Models

Yellow is one of those ‘hard’ colors. So, much like painting black, I stepped up to the challenge and created a tutorial on how to paint yellow. But not just one way, but three different methods to paint yellow. Mostly this tutorial was spawned by painting my Dwarven Blood Bowl Team with yellow padding. Since I wanted to try a couple of other techniques for painting yellow, I built a Bretonnian Knight and a Death Watch Space Marine. Both of these other kits provides great opportunity to paint other colors. Well, at least if you don’t keep to the ‘standard’ Death Watch scheme. So if you need some help or inspiration on how to paint yellow, check out the three tutorials below. [convertkit form=5009797] Using Layers to Paint Yellow on a Knight I picked up a box of Brettonian Knights years ago to practice painting different colors and freehand.  And so far, I have painted only two of them! But Sir Sunshine here has provided the canvas for my first tutorial on how to paint …

How to Improve Your Hobby Skills Through Showcasing

How to Improve Your Hobby Skills Through Showcasing

Want a quick tip to improve your miniature painting skills? Post pictures of it for the world to see. No joke, this has been one of the best drivers for me how I improved my hobby skills: through showcasing. This is part three of my series on improving your hobby skills. You can download all three parts into a single eBook by filling in the the form below. [convertkit form=5003522] Improve Your Hobby Skills Through Showcasing You may think it’s odd that I would add a suggestion for showcasing your model as a way of developing your hobby skills. But it comes down to this: community feedback and incentive to improve. With very rare exceptions, we have a very warm and encouraging community of hobbyists, and if you post your progress and ask for help, more than likely some of us will find you and encourage you to keep it up. I know because that is how I pushed myself to improve and keep at it. This final post in my series focusing on improving …

Tips to improve your painting skills

How to Improve Your Hobby Painting Skills

In part two of Improve Your Hobby Skills series, I want to share some ways to improve your hobby painting skills. I’ve broken this huge topic down into eight areas that can improve the way you paint. As painting is a huge aspect of our hobby, this is going to be a rather long article, but don’t forget you can download the article as a PDF, including part 1: building skills. [convertkit form=5003522] Painting ability is where a lot of us focus when we think of what we need to improve. Understandable since there are so many aspects of painting to learn, so many incredible artists out there, and we spend so much time on it compared to the build. But just as with the build suggestions, I recommend you focus on one idea at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed. Also, let your painting style build upon itself, don’t pressure yourself to be the next Blanche, ‘Eavy Metal, or name-your-favorite-artist. Get comfortable with what you can do already, and progress from there. 1. …