Of all the hobbies you can imagine, one is gaining strength at this moment. The modeling and painting of miniatures, if you want something very Zen, that takes time, then this is your thing. Imagine being able to recreate a battle from a world war, or maybe an anime character that you want to have in your decoration, modeling, and painting will allow you to do it and help you relax during the process.
If you want to do just one of the activities, for example, modeling or build scenarios, you can also look for companies that offer the painting service. Perhaps it sounds strange that there are companies, such as TheMiniaturePaintingService.co.uk, that are dedicated only or have miniature painting service. Still, indeed there are, the painting service is not very expensive and will relieve the headache that may seem to paint every detail of your miniature.
Home Decoration
Great use of miniatures is in decoration, religion, and it can be found in many homes as a form of honor. Likewise, five or six elephants placed in a row may seem silly. Still, it is the representation of a herd of elephants. Yet, in small, everything depends on the tastes or what you are looking for, an idea can give a gloomy atmosphere or other can make them feel at home, this can provide a more homely or comfortable for those who live in that house.
Mythical movie scenes
Imagine that you are entering a house and finding the mythical Lord of the Rings on the table. Another option is for marvel lovers, the final battle of the Avengers against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, if you are an Old-West lover, it can be the miniature representation of a village or a train robbery. There is something for everything, but as a hobby, you will have the time to model the space. Choose carefully where each miniature will be located, paint one by one, and after it is completed, watch with admiration the great work done, it is just a matter of letting your imagination fly and enjoy the moment.
Collections, auctions, and videos
If you go more for the part of artisans to be a hobby, then you have another field. You can enjoy modeling the miniatures and sell them to collectors or those who like to paint and recreate scenarios. Like any activity, it is a matter of doing a little marketing, finding something that distinguishes them from other miniature modelers, and market it. Even directly recreate incredible scenes, make the complete model, and sell it, collectors pay a lot of money for that. There are many auction sites, and if you want to get started on the subject, an excellent place to start is the well known eBay, you can see good examples of what has been mentioned.
Another new trend, especially on Youtube, is to make miniature food videos, which involves the whole process of small cooking, miniature serving, and miniature eating, from a few grains of rice to make a pancake in a mini pan. These videos have become very popular, and in many cases, viral, those responsible for these videos tend to have millions of views, so they are paid very well.
Let the professionals help you
If, for some reason, you do not want to paint or require maintenance to their miniatures, either by time or an accident, sometimes it is best to hire the services and let the professionals work. These companies will take care of everything and will give back life to their miniatures. The so-called “do it yourself” is not always a good idea, if they do not have time and thus avoid that they can be in worse condition. And even if you like and know how to mold, give your products the best possible finish so that the quality increases and you can sell them at a better price.
Recommendations
As with every hobby or activity, they need to know what they are looking for. Buying and selling is an option if they are talented enough to paint and want to make it their primary income.
If you want to relax, have something to occupy your mind, and are the type of person who can take the time to be detail-oriented, systematic and constant in an activity, then get busy recreating scenarios, modeling or painting the miniatures. They will love this, so go ahead and say goodbye to your therapist, who got what they were looking for.
Basic Equipment:
Primer
One of the most necessary things is the primer. If we do not coat the miniature, the paint will not be “stuck.” In addition, over time, we will drop the painting of the mini, throwing away all the work we have done.
There are 2 types of primer:
In spray or spray and liquid.
There are several colors, such as the Army Painter brand, which usually has a special primer, for example, for zombies. But the most fundamental are: white, gray, and black.
Our advice is, at least to start, paint in white or gray. Black is for more advanced painters since it costs a little more to see and distinguish all the details.
Spray Primer
It is the fastest way, but you have to be careful that it covers the whole miniature. If the miniature has more layers – make sure that the primer reaches the part between the body and the coat. If not, the paint will fall off, or it may happen that the color does not remain there.
To prime with spray, make sure to choose a ventilated place, since it is toxic. Also, it would be best to wear a mask during the process. You also have to wear gloves. Besides, if we do not wear gloves, then it will cost us a lot to take it out of our hands.
You can stick the miniature in a bottle. Thus, when priming, you put it as far as you can to avoid inhaling the spray gases.
Liquid Primer
This type of primer is the one used with an airbrush. It can be applied with a brush too.
The bad thing is that you have to be patient, since, when painting, bubbles come out. Then you have to, patiently, remove all of them. When they dry out, that piece of primer falls off.
For me, it is the best method, since you reach every corner and so there is nothing left unprimed, although either way is right.
Tricks
If you do not have gloves at that time, or you have forgotten to put them on, and you have more primer on your hands than on the miniatures:
Fill a bucket with hot water and squirt bleach. Dip your hands for a few minutes, while rubbing them. Then, it would be best if you washed your hands with soap and water, and they will be super clean.
Last but not least, it is the work zone, that is, the area where we are going to paint. It must be somewhere where you don’t mind getting dirty.
