Minis: Goblins

The first miniatures I ever painted were a group of four goblins I bought to practice the basics.

It was a good decision, as it turned out. You can read up on all the theory and techniques you want, but actually picking up a brush and painting something is a whole other beast. Anyway, I’m more of a kobold person but those weren’t in stock. Here’s the first goblin:

I sprayed him with too much primer, clogging up the details on the backside. When I was done painting I put on varnish to keep the paint from flaking off. This ended up making things worse as the varnish reacted with the plastic of the Reaper Bones mini, making it all tacky. The paint would slough off with the slightest touch. Sadly, I wouldn’t learn my lesson until I was done with all the Bones minis I’d bought.

Then I painted the rest. I cut through the middle of the integrated bases they came with and glued them to real bases. Then I covered them with basing material to create a seamless transition between the integrated base and the black plastic ones. Worked out pretty well! I also attempted to make the torches light up the heads of the goblins, but that was probably jumping off the deep end.

I think starting with something so small also made things a bit trickier. There are some very, very tiny details on those goblins that weren’t easy to get right as a beginner. Looking closely, some parts seem to be missing paint altogether.

But hey, at least I thinned my paints.