I would like to point out at this point, that I am nowhere near painting on a professional level, however I am usually pleased with the quality of my own work (sometimes). As some of you already know, I paint miniatures for ‘BattleGamesByMail’. The next project to be painted was ‘Dying Boromir’, therefore I have taken step-by-step photographs of the processes and routines I used to paint this miniature!

I guess the best starting point is to review the tools you are using!

Trying to paint with a wallpapering brush is obviously no good, we are after all painting 25mm Miniatures! A good brush is essential when painting miniatures. There are many makes and brands to choose from and it is up to the individual which ones they prefer!

I use 2 brushes for fine detail work, one is a ‘000’ and the other is a ‘0000’. The zeros refer to the size of the tip of the brush - the more zeros the finer the tip.

A very fine tip is essential for detail work such as faces.

The first step in preparing the miniature should be to thoroughly clean it in soapy water. During the casting process, a release agent is used on the miniature and can be left as a residue. If you find that you have suffered from flaking paint or unable to get the paint to cover the whole miniature whilst base-coating, then you have most likely failed to clean the miniature!

Also during the casting process, it is inevitable that flash metal and flash lines will occur. By flash metal, we mean extra pieces of metal attached to the miniature that are not supposed to be there! These need to be removed with a pair of snippers and then filed smooth with a needle file. Flash lines occur where the 2 parts of the mould meet. Again, these need to be filed flat!

Once you have removed any flashing, proceed to basecoat the miniature. I personally only ever basecoat with Chaos Black. However, some people basecoat with many other colours.

Once the miniature has its basecoat, re-check it for any flash lines that you missed first time round. The black basecoat can make it easier to spot any flash lines. Remove these and re-apply your basecoat.

Okay, we're ready to paint!

I follow strict routines when painting! The first step is to do the face. This is the key part of the miniature, and therefore I do this part first and do not move on until I have this part right!

Using a fine detail brush, basecoat the facial area with Dark Flesh (this can be substituted for Bestial Brown). Another mistake often used by beginners, is to use the paint directly out of the paint pot! Place a small amount of paint into a mixing pallet and add a very small amount of water. Ensure they are mixed together well (note: use a separate brush for this process, unless you have bags of cash and don’t mind ruining brushes).

Dip the very tip of your brush into the paint. Placing too much paint on your brush will give bad results. Paint your base colour onto the facial areas, being very careful to leave the eye sockets black!

Note: The Dark Flesh base colour should also cover the lip area.

Next, mix up some Dwarf Flesh and proceed to add the first highlight. (Remember to only place the very tip of brush into the paint). Follow the line across the eyebrows and pull the paint upwards. Next, follow the line down the bridge of the nose and expand towards the raised part of the cheekbones. Lastly, run a small amount lightly over the lips!

Now for the hardest part of the Facial Process....the Eyes.

Dip the very tip of the brush into some Skull White. Position the miniature so that you are comfortable holding it (a very steady hand is essential here). Very lightly, drag the brush tip over the eye socket in a horizontal motion.

If you make a mistake, just correct it by using some Dark Flesh. This may seem daunting at first, but believe me....’it gets easier with practice’.

Now the trickiest part of all!

Choose a colour for the eyes, and again, dip the very tip of the brush into the paint (for this part you want next to no paint on the end of the brush). Position the miniature again, so that you are comfortable with it and start moving the brush towards the eye, aiming for the centre of the white. Very gently, keep moving forward until contact is made. At this point, remove the brush.

Again, this will become easier with practice (I still muck it up!).

Lastly, to finish off the face, ready a small amount of Elf Flesh and add the final highlight. Again, follow the eye brows, the bridge of the nose and a little on the raised area of each cheekbone.

With every miniature, once the face is finished, you need to decide what to do next.

I have spoken about routines, and it is usual for me to start with the inner most section by Dry-Brushing and then work my way out, in this case, the inner most section of Boromir is his under robes. However, with this miniature, I decided to do the outer robes first. The reason for this was that the outer robes were to be dry-brushed, however with the inner robes being a small area, I decided to paint these parts directly!

We have spoken about the right tools for the job with regards to fine detail brushes. The same applies for dry-brushing. When I first started the hobby, I used to buy a GW large dry-brush and then cut the tip off to make the tip flat. I now however, do not buy my brushes from GW and use a pre-bought flat tipped brush.

I find the softer the bristle, the better for dry-brushing!

Prepare your work area for dry-brushing. Ensure you have a piece of kitchen roll (or equivalent) handy.

Select some Codex Grey and place the tip of the brush into the paint. Now start wiping off the paint on the brush, onto the piece of kitchen roll. Keep doing this until it seems there is no paint left on the brush. Now gently, using backwards-and-forwards motions, scrape the tip of the brush over the desired area, in this case, Boromir’s robes.

Repeat the process for the 2nd highlight, but this time substitute Fortress Grey for Codex Grey.

Now for the inner robes. Paint the inner robes with a basecoat of Scab Red. You will find that this will automatically blend with the Chaos Black undercoat and will dry darker. Once this has dried, apply a further coat of Scab Red, this will be our first highlight!

Next, Red Gore and Skull White were used to highlight the inner robes.

Ensure you have something decent to mix colours in. I currently use a small artists mixing pallet, however previously to this, I just used to use a slotter base turned upside down!

Boromir’s cloak was the next part to paint. For this, I used a mix of Dark Angels Green, Codex Grey and Chaos Black. More Codex Grey was added to the mix for the first highlight and lastly, Codex Grey on its own was used for the final highlight.

As the basics are now covered, I will stop using step-by-step pictures and continue in blocks.

Boromir’s belt, beard & hair were basecoated with Dark Flesh. These were highlighted by adding Bleached Bone to the mix. The belt was highlighted by painting the mix directly onto the edges of the belt. The hair was highlighted by dry-brushing & the beard was highlighted by painting vertical stripes.

The chain mail, clasps on the jacket, the hilt of the scabbard and base tip of the scabbard were painted with Chainmail.

Shining Gold was painted onto the sleeves of the inner robe and the edges of the outer robe were highlighted with Codex Grey.

The hair and beard were given a Chestnut Ink wash. The gloves and straps were painted Scorched Brown then highlighted with Snakebite Leather.

The arrow shafts were painted with Bestial Brown and then thin lines of Scorched Brown were painted down the length of the shafts. The arrow flights were painted with Rotten Flesh using a ‘striped’ process.

Blood Red was used where the arrows met the torso.

The hilt of the sword was painted with Shining Gold and the blade was painted with Boltgun Metal. This was then highlighted with Mithril Silver.

Lastly, to finish the miniature off, the hem of the cloak was ‘dabbed’ with Scorched Brown.