Tutorials
Published on October 25, 2016
comments 14

Comprehensive Tutorials for Finishing Touches on your Model

written by Joe B

Life doesn’t always go as planned, so instead of finishing my Mentor Legion Dreadnought, and writing up another epic tutorial I’ve been reveling in the blessings of Papa Nurgle.

But all is not lost!

Instead I have pulled together a collection of links to help you providing the finishing touches on your models. I reached out to the Dreadtober members for their favorites and scoured my bookmarks.

Finishing Touches for your model

So enjoy the list, learn some new tricks, and finish your models! – Oh, and if you have a tutorial you want added, just drop it in the comments below and I’ll check it out!

Weathering

Some love it, others hate it, but adding wear and tear to a model can add a level of realism. Adding weathering is also a great way to cover up mistakes in the painting, or even the physical model.

  1. Weapon Damage Special Effects | WIP
  2. Watch This: Weathering a Tank | Broken Paintbrush
  3. Weathered Iron Metal | Weeman
  4. Heavy Weathering on tank | Panzermeister36
  5. Salt chipping | Scale War Machines
  6. Panel Line Oil Paint Gunk Washes | Modelmaking Guru
  7. Weathered Penny | Musings of a Metal Mind
  8. Weathering with Oils | Falconator Painting
  9. Rusted Metal | Drazhar Urien Rakarth
  10. Weathering a Tank With Powders | Secret Weapon Miniatures
  11. Easy Chipping and Scratching | Corvus Miniatures

Heat Staining

This is a specific weathering technique for adding wear to metal that heats up – including gun barrels. I put Tibb’s article at top as he has a good review of the ‘realism’ of coloring the metals vs the trend in the hobby.

  1. Heat Staining the Right Way | Tibbs Forge
  2. Heat Staining Engines | Pirate Viking King
  3. Heat Stained Effect |Weeman

Lighting/Object Source Lighting

Adding object source lighting can add a cool glow effect to models and on some display pieces be put to use to set the ambiance. While it can be hard to make look good, the tutorials below can give you a big boost in trying it on your models.

  1. Blue Energy Glow Without an Airbrush | Weeman
  2. Tips for Object Source Lighting | Coloured Dust
  3. OSL Basics | Massive Voodoo
  4. OSL Testing | Vanus Temple
  5. Advanced Object Source Lighting | Hand Cannon

Decals

Using decals, or transfers, is an easy way to add squad markings and other complex symbols to your miniature. They are fairly easy to add, but to make them look good takes a few extra steps. Check out the tutorials below for some tips and tricks to make the most of the decals.

  1. Decal Basics | Brush and Miniature Torture
  2. Apply Decals with MicroSet & MicroSol | Modelmaking Guru
  3. Using Decals for Custom Markings | Broken Paintbrush
  4. Applying Transfers | Four Dads of the Apocalypse

Freehand

When decals won’t get it done, or to add that extra special  touch to your model, you will need to step into the realm of freehand work. This can be as simple as rough script on purity seals or painting the whole model in a complex mural. Either way, it takes a bit of planning and different techniques shared below.

  1. Freehand Writing on Vehicles | Valknut Painting 
  2. Planning Freehand | From the Warp
  3. Advanced Freehand | Massive Voodoo

Base

If you are one of those who leave the base for last or looking for some extra touches to it, I’ve got you covered here as well. Below are a collection of tutorials to add those final touches to the base as well.

  1. Label Your Base | Coloured Dust
  2. Spent Shell Casings | Coloured Dust
  3. DIY Flock | Scotty’s Workshop
  4. Water Effects | Chestnut Ink
  5. Icy Base | Chestnut Ink
  6. Muddy Bases | Wappellious
  7. Creating a Custom Base | Broken Paintbrush

Misc. Details

And I’ve got a few more that don’t fill into a new section yet but are still great resources for your reference. As I fill in more tutorial links, I may move some of these around and expand upon the sections.

  1. Slime Effects | Coloured Dust
  2. Blood and Gore | Tale of Painters
  3. Painting a Power Sword | Broken Paintbrush
  4. Painting Vials | Eternal Hunt
  5. Blood and Acid Effects | The Fantasy Hammer

Over to You

Let me know what other tutorials you have for finishing touches for your models – especially if there are whole sections that I missed above. I plan to keep building this up as a handy resource page, so make sure you bookmark it and check back now and then when you are looking for tutorials.