time range to paint minis.

[A&Aaddict]

how long does it take to paint a miniature. it takes me about twenty minutes.

[Xzuatl]

It depends... but 20 minutes sounds about right for me for a base and highlight job without stowage type addons. Of course I paint my tank groups in one batch because I tend to mix custom colors and I need it all to be uniform. :)

[Knighthart]

Once could say it takes about 20-45 minutes. This is of course if you add the minutes consecutively. Since I clean and prime the mini then let it dry overnight. Then I paint a base coat and let it dry overnight. This is now two days later but the actual work only took 10 + minutes. Then, depending on the level of detail (camo, stripes, weathering, inks, track details, decals) I could spend another 20-30 minutes. Then a few minutes the next day to varnish or lacquer. I take my time and enjoy the process. I find if you rush the paint work, it can look globby or lines and fine detail can be a bit sloppy. I usually see these details once I have taken the high res macro digital pictures. This works for all the minis I paint—tanks, fantasy or sci-fi.

[Stojakovic]

including drying time. 3 hrs.

[A&Aaddict]

mine takes 20 minutes at most including drying. i have fast drying paint and I dont put to many coats on. Why do you guys take so long

[Stojakovic]

mine takes 20 minutes at most including drying. i have fast drying paint and I dont put to many coats on. Why do you guys take so long

I like to let my paint dry for a long time. Plus it take me more time to set up a air brush. And I only put two coats of paint. and 2 coats of lacquer.

[4242david4242]

I cheat. Rather than let stuff dry for long amounts of time, I just set up an assembly line. First I prime all of the minis I plan on painting (usually about 6 at a time). I let that dry for about 20 min, then I apply the first basecoat to each mini. By the time I am finished applying the first basecoat to the last mini in my assembly line, the mini I started with is completely dry. This takes about 30 min (or more, depending on how intricate the detail on the minis are). I then add a second basecoat to each mini in turn. This takes about 10 min. Next I apply camo colors and paint the little details (like the shovels and axes). This could take anywhere from 10 min to 40 min (depending on which minis I'm painting). Applying decals to all of the minis in the assembly line takes about 10 min. Applying a blackwash takes about 5 min. And viola! Because of the economy of scale, this way you can do six minis completed in around 2 hours.

[Avoll]

depends how much detial work you do
but I also paint a few at a time
so that the 1st one is dry by the time I paint the others
and tanks I paint the base then the turret why the base is dryN

[Bastion]

mine takes 20 minutes at most including drying. i have fast drying paint and I dont put to many coats on. Why do you guys take so long

basecoat
base wash
base drybrush
camo
camo wash
base medium drybrush
base light drybrush
camo highlight wash
detail painting
wash if required
detail highlight
markings

how can you do this in 20 minutes?

[A&Aaddict]

well ive done pretty simple stuff. ii have some really fast drying paint though. mine arent the best but they do look decent

[Stojakovic]

well ive done pretty simple stuff. ii have some really fast drying paint though. mine arent the best but they do look decent

Can u post pictures?

[A&Aaddict]

if i had a good enoough camera

[EricM 2404]

if i had a good enoough camera

Do you have a scanner?

[Stojakovic]

or a web cam?

[A&Aaddict]

no not high tec :( ill get a friend to do it though

[Bastion]

well ive done pretty simple stuff. ii have some really fast drying paint though. mine arent the best but they do look decent

And that is really all that is important. I tend to get carried away and resort to modelling skills that I developed...and stopped using, 20 years ago. Initially my intent--when the model had a good base colour, ie shermans--was to do a simple wash and then drybrush to bring out the highlights. That's about 2 minutes work not including drying time, and in the case of shermans it is actually quite effective.

Lately though I got caught up in some neat camo schemes for the Stuarts. I painted 11 of them in 3 camo schemes and plain desert. I used the technique I mentioned and even using a production line technique they probably took 2 hours each, not including drying. If I keep that up, my wife is going to string me up.