Rows of unpainted gray metal soldier figures standing in a foam tray

Pick the kind of figure to start on

Open one to see where to start

Plastic FiguresInjection-molded soldiers and crew, most often in 1/35 scale, sold four or five to a box for about the price of lunch. Each figure is six to ten parts on a frame. They are the cheapest way to start, and a box gives you spares to ruin while you learn faces.

Start here

Buy one box of four or five soldiers in relaxed standing poses and build just one of them this week. The others are spares for practicing faces.

Resin FiguresSingle figures and busts cast in resin, from 54mm up to head-and-shoulders busts the size of an egg. The detail is sharper and the larger face is easier to paint, but one piece costs as much as two boxes of plastic soldiers and needs more cleanup. Resin kits are sold by the studios that sculpt them and by specialist figure shops, not on Amazon, so this add-on covers only the glue, saw and dust masks that resin needs. Anime garage kits belong here too.

Start here

Order a bust with a bare head and simple clothing from a figure studio or specialist shop. When it arrives, wash every part in warm soapy water with an old toothbrush before doing anything else: paint will not grip resin until the casting residue is gone.

Display BasesA finished figure mounted on a wooden block with a patch of ground under its feet. Add this once you have a figure worth showing. It is also the first step toward vignettes, where two or three figures tell a small story.

Start here

Spread ground texture over the top of a wooden base and press a finished figure's feet into it while it is still wet. Paint the ground once it has dried.

Open a card to see its first step. Each one adds its own gear to the paint desk, and you can switch it back out from the kit.

How big is the figure? Reading scales

1/35

A standing adult is about 2 inches tall. The most common plastic scale, and it matches the tanks and trucks sold in the same scale. Faces are tiny, so aim for a believable impression, not individual eyelashes.

54mm (close to 1/32)

The traditional collector size, a little over 2 inches. Slightly easier faces than 1/35.

75mm and 90mm

3 to 3.5 inches tall. Large enough to paint irises and cloth patterns. Most serious single figures are sold in these sizes.

1/16 or 120mm

Nearly 5 inches. Easy to see, but large flat areas of cloth show every brush mark.

Busts (1/12 to 1/9)

Head and shoulders only. All of the effort goes into the face, which makes a bust the fastest way to improve at skin.

Sizes in millimeters measure a standing figure from the soles to the eyes or to the top of the head, depending on the maker. Two figures sold as the same size can differ by a few millimeters.

Your first figure, step by step

Tick these off as you go

An unpainted tan plastic soldier kneeling and aiming a rifle, with a model tank blurred behind — A plastic soldier before primer

What you can finish in your first month

A single standing soldier

One figure from a multi-figure box, painted in three or four uniform colors with a simple face. The standard first piece.

A practice head on a stick

A spare head from the same box, painted only as far as skin, eyes and hair. Five of these teach more than one full figure.

A second figure with shading

The same uniform again, this time with a darker tone in the folds and a lighter one on the raised edges.

A two-figure vignette

Both soldiers set into ground texture on one wooden base, posed so they look at each other.

A kneeling or seated figure

A different pose from the same box, where the shadows fall across the lap and under the arms instead of straight down.

Four skills to work on first

Thinning paint

Paint straight from the bottle is too thick and fills in detail. Mix in water until a brush stroke on your thumbnail shows the skin through it, and build color in two or three coats.

Brush control

Load only the bottom half of the bristles, touch off the excess on a paper towel, and steady both wrists against the edge of the desk. Nearly all of a figure is painted with the side of the tip.

Light from above

Decide that the light comes from overhead. Everything facing up gets a lighter tone and everything facing down or tucked into a fold gets a darker one. This single rule is what makes a figure look three-dimensional in a photo.

Faces in order

Skin base, shadows, highlights, eyes, lips, then hair. Keeping the same order every time turns a face from guesswork into a routine.

The brush: what to buy and how to keep its point

The point matters more than the size. A size 1 round with a sharp tip paints finer lines than a worn size 000, and it holds enough paint that it does not dry out halfway to the figure.
Check a brush by wetting it and flicking it once. The bristles should snap into a single point with no stray hairs and no split tip.
Natural sable holds its point longest and costs more. Good synthetic brushes are fine for a first year. Start with three rounds: sizes 2, 1 and 0.
Before each session, wet the brush and wipe it so the bristles are damp, not dripping. Dry bristles pull paint up toward the metal ferrule, where it dries and splays the tip.
Rinse every few minutes while painting, never let paint reach the ferrule, and never leave a brush standing tip-down in the water cup.
After each session, wash with brush soap or mild hand soap, reshape the tip with your fingers, and store it flat or tip up.

Two fine round paintbrushes with sharp pointed tips and silver ferrules — Two round brushes, each holding a single point

What trips beginners up

What to expect

Expect the first face to look startled or cross-eyed. Eyes take several figures to get right, which is why spare heads are worth practicing on.
Expect chalky, streaky color at first. That is paint applied too thick or too dry, and it improves once thinning becomes a habit.
Expect to spend more time painting than building: about one evening of assembly to four of painting.
A figure viewed from 4 inches away under a lamp looks worse than it is. Judge it at arm's length, where it will be displayed.

Habits to drop

Do not skip the mold lines. Paint makes a seam down a trouser leg more visible, not less.
Do not handle the figure with bare fingers after priming. Skin oil lifts paint from the raised edges.
Do not paint pure white eyes or pure black shadows. Off-white and dark brown look far more natural at this size.

Close-up of a painted dwarf figure with an orange beard and a red coat on a textured round base — A painted figure on a textured base

Safety at the bench

Spray primer and spray varnish outdoors or by an open window with the can pointed away from you, and let the parts air out before bringing them back to the desk.
Resin dust should not be breathed in. Sand resin wet, wear a dust mask while you do it, and wipe the desk with a damp cloth afterward.
Cut away from your fingers and cap the knife whenever you put it down.
Super glue bonds skin in seconds. Keep it off your fingertips and never pull bonded skin apart: soak it in warm soapy water.
Do not point a brush with your lips. Use your fingers or a damp paper towel.

Painted model soldiers in blue coats marching with a flag past a stone building on a scenic base

Where to learn more

Study finished work, then ask how it was done

Figure forums

Step-by-step threads where a painter photographs every stage of one face are the closest thing to sitting beside them.

Galleries

Before painting a uniform or a skin tone, look up finished figures of the same subject and note where the painter put the darkest and lightest tones.

Model clubs and shows

Most model shows have a figure category, and painters will usually tell you exactly which mixes they used if you ask.

Real photos

For historical subjects, period photographs show how cloth creases and fades better than any box art.

Forums, galleries and clubs

How the kit is put together

The essentials are paint, brushes, primer and cleanup tools. They work on every figure in any material, and the paint lasts for dozens of figures.
The figure is chosen separately. Plastic Figures adds a box of soldiers with the cement and cutters that plastic needs. Resin Figures adds the glue, saw and dust masks for a resin kit you buy elsewhere, because plastic cement does not bond resin.
Spend on brushes before anything else. A good point makes more difference than a larger paint set.
Display Bases is for when a figure is finished and deserves a stand. Skip it for the first one or two.
The magnifier is optional. Many painters work at 1/35 with only a bright desk lamp.

Small jars of hobby acrylic paint with ribbed lids lined up on a wooden table — Small jars of model acrylic

Set up the paint desk

The paint, brushes, primer and cleanup tools start on the desk. The gear for your figure joins once you pick Plastic Figures or Resin Figures, above or from the add-ons in the kit, and the base and the magnifier stay off until you want them. Compare the options, then set your tiers and check out from the kit. Clicking a card selects it there.

Acrylic model paint set

essential · Paint

Water-based acrylics made for models have finer pigment than craft paint, so thin coats cover without hiding detail. A starter set gives you the skin, cloth and leather colors every figure needs.

budget

Nicpro 18 Colors Model Paint Set, 20ml Ready to Use Modeling Acrylic Paints

4.6(571)

$22.99

Figure Modeling

Pick the kind of figure to start on

How big is the figure? Reading scales

Your first figure, step by step

Four skills to work on first

The brush: what to buy and how to keep its point

What trips beginners up

Safety at the bench

Where to learn more

How the kit is put together

Set up the paint desk

Acrylic model paint set

Fine detail paint brush set

Spray primer for models

Hobby knife

Sanding sticks and sponges for models

Wet palette

Miniature painting handle

Model putty

Matte varnish for models

1/35 scale plastic figure kit

Thin liquid plastic cement

Sprue cutters (plastic model nippers)

Super glue gel

Hobby razor saw

Disposable dust masks (N95)

Wooden display base

Ground texture paste

Head-mounted magnifier