Over the past year, our family has started to dive into the world of painting miniatures. It has been such a fun art project for the kids and makes for the perfect summer activity! You don’t have to have all the fancy paints or even the best art skills to get started. You can jump right into this fun and creative activity with a few simple supplies. 

Before you begin painting, you’ll need some miniatures! Our kids love painting the Marvel United miniatures. It’s one of our favorite family games and the characters are perfect for beginners. The game is also really reasonably priced, so even if you don’t play the game (you should!) You can just get the game purely for the miniatures. We use miniatures from the base Marvel United game, Marvel United X-Men (ours if from the Kickstarter,) and a few other expansions. The size of the figures makes them perfect for beginning painters!

Other great games with fun miniatures for beginners to paint are My Little Scythe, Star Wars the Clone Wars, Quirky Circuits, Stuffed Fables, Tapestry (these come pre-painted but there are a lot of beautiful examples of repaintings in the Tapestry Facebook group as well as ideas for the small income buildings,) and Mice and Mystics just to name a few!

If you have a younger child that would like to paint but isn’t quite ready for the small details of miniatures, I highly recommend this paint set! We got a couple sets for our younger kids and they’ve painted and repainted the figures multiple times.

Before you begin, you’ll want to wash your miniature really well with dish soap and dry completely.

Then it’s time to get started!

Helpful Supplies for Beginner Miniature Painters

You will need: 

Paint 

This one is pretty obvious. We’ve enjoyed using this set of craft paints. It comes with all the colors we’ve ever needed as beginners. When using craft paints, you’ll want to dilute the paint 1:1 with water and paint your mini with 2-3 thin coats. This will keep it from going on too thick and flaking off. 

If you want the real deal there are miniature specific paints like this paint set which comes with fun metallic colors and washes as well. Your local game store may also have a good set of paints and tips for getting started — ours helped us! 

Quickshade Washes

Now these aren’t necessary, but they are incredibly helpful for giving your miniature that perfect final look. Army Paint Quickshade Washes give a really nice shading effect to your miniature easily. It’s the best way to create depth and tone to your figures giving it that really polished final look. 

Paint Pallet

I use these round pallets to mix both the craft paint and the washes. They clean up easily and are small enough to remind the kids that they only need to use a small bit of paint for this project.

Brushes

A good set of brushes makes all the difference. For the most part, the kids use this set of brushes, but you may also want to get a special set of tiny detail brushes for those really small areas like eyes. 

Miniature Holder

A miniature holder is a must. We love to use old children’s Tylenol bottles — just add a bit of blue tac to the top to hold your figure and you’re ready to go! The cap also spins around so you can easily paint any side of your miniature. In addition, we also have a citadel miniature holder. These work really nicely as well and are very comfortable in your hand. 

Light source

Having a strong light source is essential. A desk lamp or ring light work great for this. 

Top Coat Protective Spray

Once you’re done, you’ll want to protect your artwork before playing. Using a spray enamel or matte varnish for your final top coat will keep it looking great! 

Painting Guides

Many of the miniatures that come in games will have painting guides so you can follow along and paint the miniature specific colors if you are wanting to recreate a specific look, or that can help you know the best order to paint the mini itself. Typically you work from the inside out — think skin before clothes, shirt before belt etc. 

For Marvel United our kids really enjoy the guides created by Minxi and available on Board Game Geek. They are great for beginners! 

But you can also just use a picture of the figure you’re drawing or go your own way and create your own design! 

Remember…

You don’t have to be the most skilled painter to paint miniatures! It’s okay if they aren’t perfect. Just have fun and enjoy the special feeling that comes from playing a game with characters you brought to life! 

If you liked this post you may also enjoy

Educational Games for Summer Break
Tips for Hosting Game Night
Great Games for 8 Year Olds