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I just built a light box from cardboard, tissue paper and a bunch of lamps. The lighting looks good, but do you just use one lamp on each short side, or do I use a flash?

One lamp on each side, with some diffuse filter in front of it. You can also use a front facing light as well, properly diffused to avoid hard shadows

No flash, just multiple lamps. Flash will bounce off the mini and back at the camera. You want to illuminate it. Ideally use two lamps on either side, and one at maybe a 45 degree angle facing the mini. (note: I'm not an expert here. I often just use the one lamp on the front ).

nobody uses a lamp on the top? note I made my light box with all sides opaque except the bottom, of course, and an open front. Maybe that's why.

One more question, my pictures aren't bright... I have two bright lamp on each side, but the models still look too dark.

 Matthew wrote:
One more question, my pictures aren't bright... I have two bright lamp on each side, but the models still look too dark.

What wattage bulbs are you using? 40w? 60w? Maybe you need brighter bulbs?

 Matthew wrote:
One more question, my pictures aren't bright... I have two bright lamp on each side, but the models still look too dark.

Increase your exposure time until they're bright enough.

 Peregrine wrote:

 Matthew wrote:
One more question, my pictures aren't bright... I have two bright lamp on each side, but the models still look too dark.

Increase your exposure time until they're bright enough.

Bingo.

Matthew, I don't know what kind of camera you're using, but hopefully it's one that allows you to change your shutter speed (and also aperture).

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:

 Peregrine wrote:

 Matthew wrote:
One more question, my pictures aren't bright... I have two bright lamp on each side, but the models still look too dark.

Increase your exposure time until they're bright enough.

Bingo.

Matthew, I don't know what kind of camera you're using, but hopefully it's one that allows you to change your shutter speed (and also aperture).

`

I'm gonna make you cringe through your screen now... I use an iPhone 5s...

 Matthew wrote:

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:

 Peregrine wrote:

 Matthew wrote:
One more question, my pictures aren't bright... I have two bright lamp on each side, but the models still look too dark.

Increase your exposure time until they're bright enough

I'm gonna make you cringe through your screen now... I use an iPhone 5s...

Me too, maybe that's where I've been going wrong...

 Matthew wrote:
I'm gonna make you cringe through your screen now... I use an iPhone 5s...

Don't worry, there's an app for that.

The lightbox The Wife got me for my birthday earlier this month came with a tiny little tripod an an adapter to use said tripod with phones. As the whole kit (box,lights, backdrops, tripod) was around $50, I’ll assume you can get the parts separate for less if you poke around.

But the cameras on phones these days, even slightly old ones, are better then some full-on digital cameras I’ve owned in the past.

Ive found my Samsung S5 takes really nice pictures if the light is decent

The article ScootyPuffJunior linked is a good one, I've seen it before. I don't have an iPhone, but I do use a Droid, so I'm in the same boat (using a smartphone camera that is).

 Ubl1k wrote:
Ive found my Samsung S5 takes really nice pictures if the light is decent

Agreed! From what I have read, and in my personal experience, I find it helps to use a bright white background when taking pictures of minis. Your camera phone might try to auto-adjust the brightness and contrast settings depending on the overall brightness of the image (mine does at least). I just use a sheet of printer paper as the background, or maybe a posterboard. If you want to get really fancy, you could use a white card or grey card to set the white balance on your camera. I typically just use a white background, and sometimes increase the exposure to brighten up the picture.

Some more good links I have bookmarked:
http://taleofpainters.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/tutorial-beginners-guide-to-miniature.html
http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2482991?start=0&tstart=0
http://www.imagemaven.com/white-balance-card-comparison/
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/whitebalance.htm

One more from the Dakka tutorials section!
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/667627.page