How to Paint Your Battletech Miniatures: A Step-by-Step Guide

hello everyone mcfrog here with things hopping for BattleTech lately I am more frequently getting asked about how and why I paint Max the way I do I think this is the perfect opportunity to go through the process for anyone who wants to get into painting the big Stompy mechs I'm going to be very clear as to why I do something so if you're looking for a deliberate explanation for each step this video could be for you step one prep right out of the box your standard cgl Mech is about 90 ready to paint occasionally on specific mechs mold lines can be found that need to be scraped off with a hobby knife or flat Edge tool these lines form as a result of the two injection molding plates coming together not quite flush while it's not crucial to get them all they can be annoying later in the painting process as paints and washes can end up exaggerating the seam you can paint the Max on their bases or pry them off with a flat Edge tool it depends entirely upon how you want to do your basing since I 3D print my bases I've pulled mine off and glued little bits of plastic sprue to the feet for easy holding while painting as you practice you're going to find a method that works best for you a running theme in this video will be that there is no single method for painting a Mac at this point my Macs are ready for priming priming is important because the plastic and the max are printed in is not going to be able to hang on to your standard model acrylic paint primer is different from a standard model acrylic because it is designed to grip the plastic it is the foundation on which you can build up paint for the rest of the model the color of primer largely depends upon personal preference or for specific more advanced painting techniques like xenethyl it helps to have a black and white handy if the base coat you've chosen for your mechs is a light color you may want to go for white for darker colors black or gray works better for actual priming if you're just starting out you can either use a brush on primer or a rattle can either work fine just make sure you don't overdo it with the spray paint the goal is to cover the model but not obliterate the detail keep your distance from the model when spraying and dust It Don't Drown it if you're going to brush on your primer I would recommend using a few drops of water or an airbrush full improver if you have it to thin the paint a little bit one of the most common mistakes new painters make is trying to do everything in one coat that usually results in thick Globs of paint that obscure detail you're far better off thinning your paints and working up to the level of color you want in two to three layers this preserves the detail of the model and reduces the likelihood of seeing brush Strokes in the dried paint there is no 100 iron clad rule for thinning a paint as sometimes it's necessary to thin more than others but you will learn through trial and error what works for you Step 2 base coating once your Macs are primed it's time for the base coat as far as materials go a basic set of hobby brushes will work just fine for most of your painting process a painting tray is fine but if you are someone who's frequently painting in very short bursts you might want to invest in a wet palette it will keep your paint from drying out while you're out walking the dog shaving the cat watering the children whatever as far as colors go if you're planning on using a wash later pick a base coat color slightly brighter than what you think you'll want for your final look this is because most washes will darken the base coat noticeably you can always come back and do touch-ups but this is why it's a good idea to do a test model before starting the process for an entire regimen again thin your paint it's much better to do two or three coats with the base coat than one thick coat that will obscure your detail later don't panic if you see the primer through on the first run especially if you're trying to do a lighter color over a darker primer patience is key a quick note on Army painter speed paints Citadel contrast paints and others these are great and work really well on mechs just make sure you use a white or an off-white base coat before adding your speed paint and by the way give it plenty of time to dry afterward up to 24 hours for those Army painter speed paints step 3 wash once your base coat is dry you can take things in a few directions if you're going to go for a single color you can move on to a wash if you're going to do a camo that step would come before the wash for now let's assume our Mac here is going to be just the standard color the next step is to do a wash the purpose of adding a wash like this Army painter version is to fill in the little gaps and crevices and create a shading effect on the model when dried it'll help your Mac look more realistic so much of the model painting is using dark and Light Elements to create the illusion of depth where there might only be less than a millimeter of actual difference choosing a wash color can require some trial and error depending upon the look you're going for a standard black wash using citadel's null oil for example or an army painter equivalent will work for most needs give the Mac an all-over wash or if you want to be very deliberate you can try brushing it into little crevices but for a beginner and all over is fine step 4 dry brushing sometimes new painters are wary of trying techniques like dry brushing but of all the more quote unquote Advanced Techniques dry brushing is quite accessible and can help your Mac stand out on the battlefield once the wash is dry you're going to want to pick up a paint that accents the base coat if you used a dark wash it might be as easy as using a base coat paint again if it's not that dark you're going to want to choose a color that accents of the base what that means sometimes is using a lighter color of the base coat there are guides out there to suggest color but in general the idea is to make the raised edges of the mech lighter in contrast with the darker nooks and crannies you can use dry brush paint though regular paint is just fine for this you do not want to do any thinning once you have your paint picked out the next step is to use a brush that has some bulk to it yet has soft bristles there are specialized dry brushes created by companies like Army painter though if you are on a budget you can use whatever you have available or even order a pack of cheap makeup brushes the idea is to have a brush that can collect and hold the paint if you need a functional cheap option I'll include a link to a cheap set of brushes that worked for me in the comments section below once you have your brush in the paint you'll want to have a surface on which you can work the paint into the bristles of the brush some people say paper towels aren't great and they use something like porcelain tile or glass or even a paint tray instead but really it's up to you and your preferences most of the time I end up using just a paper towel you want to work the paint into the brush then Glide it across the paper towel until it seems close to completely devoid of paint how much you leave on the brush can have a big impact on the result when you're ready you're going to want to gently Glide the brush across the edges of the neck where you want to gradually build up color the key here is showing patience and not trying to rush it it's up to you how heavy you want to go with it with practice you can sort out what works for you when you're finished there should be a difference between the outward edges and the nooks and crannies due to the combination of wash and dry brushing step 5 detail work now that you have your Mac base coated washed and dry brushed the next step is to add some detail work how much detail you want to add is entirely up to you and the look you are going for for your max basic steps I would recommend for a beginner is to highlight the weapons with a color that sets them apart from the base color many people use metallic paints for this though I know there are some out there who issue the metallics entirely and prefer a solid color like Battleship Gray I would suggest avoiding pure black or pure white as they tend to make the model look less realistic due to their intensity if you want to use black drop a little bit of gray into the mix so it's just slightly off for your black for white adding a little bit of light gray or a tan can help cut back on the intensity of that white this is also a good time to do Edge highlighting on panels so you want to stand out and didn't get enough love from the dry brushing this is achieved using a thin brush and it paints just a little lighter than the shade of the panel you're painting the edges that would be facing the light light source of the mech usually the Sun from above would get the highlighting other details worth trying out include chipping wear and tear on the edges unit markings and of course the cockpit glass as a quote unquote eyes of the model the cockpit is a natural focal point so I'd suggest choosing colors a contrast with the rest of the Mac in order to amplify it my usual go-to colors include oranges greens blues and depending upon the camo scheme there are some general tips I've collected that are good to keep in mind when painting your battlemax if it looks good to you it looks good don't chase the opinions of others and don't beat yourself up if your final result doesn't look like another artist's work we're all trying to get better at what we do next don't be afraid to get creative with your basing it can be really rough sometimes at the BattleTech scale to get things to look like they fit but a good base can go a long way in setting your max apart from others in a great way next don't feel constrained by camo schemes if you want to paint your draconis combine Max pink with purple polka dots go for it this isn't 40K where you're going to take Flack for painting your blood angels anything but red next up if you do want to recreate the camel scheme for your favorite house Clan or Merc unit there are some really great resources out there both on YouTube and The Wider internet one of my frequent resources is camo specs which is a website repository for many of the unique paint schemes for Canon units I'll include the link for it down in the comments below now finally be creative try out new things if you want to test out paint jobs and you don't want to quote unquote ruin a Mac in the process consider trying out a scheme on a cheapo plastic DND model or even a plastic toy soldier when my younger son started out painting I set him out I'm painting some cheap toy dragons I bought from Amazon they were like five cents a piece if you have any questions concerning specific techniques keep in mind that are many painting tricks that work on Warhammer 40K and age of Sigmar models that are transferable directly to battlemax take a look around YouTube don't be afraid to experiment I can also help field questions if you comment below though I wouldn't describe myself as a painting expert if you want to see the process for how I do camo on Max check out the video linked above other than that go out there and paint some Macs take care and go make the world a slightly better place today and tomorrow [Music]

Channel: Mechanical Frog

Views: 18,386

Keywords: Battletech, Tabletop, Gaming, Lore, AMS, Anti-Missile, System, LAMS, Batletech, Battle Tech, MechFrog, Mechanical Frog, Equipment, Mecha, Game, Gamer, Games, Wolf, Victor, Ilclan, Gear, Kell, Hounds, Clans, Inner Sphere, Batle Tech, Minis, Upgrade, MWO, Mechwarrior, LRM, SRM, PPC, Jade Falcon, Raven, Ghost Bear, Davion, Lyran, Draconis, Combine, Liao, Kurita, Gaming Channel, Wargaming, Wargame, Metal, Comstar, Comguard, Catalyst, Game Labs, Catalyst Game Lab, Mech, Explorer Corps, Gauss, Periphery, Painting, Tutorial, How-to

Id: UWvIa61WNWw

Length: 10min 31sec (631 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 18 2023