Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Can i get a quick tip on doing edge lines on minis? I'd like to do them like the thin straight green ones on this destroyer's chassis but i never get as perfect as these. I try using a broad flat brush with very little ain on it and sliding it along the edge, doesn't seem to work very well.

Try using a smaller brush? While it might sound easier to have a larger brush to do more of the line at once, edging uses so little.paint that quite a small brush can do wonders. Also do you go back in afterward with the base colour to further thin down the width of remaining edge colour?

Use a round brush. A thin one, like 0 or smaller. Other than that, it's just practice and muscle memory as to how much paint and how much you thin it. For edges like that I would generally thin less than usual, but not totally dry.

The consistency of the paint and how loaded the brush is are both critical to good edge highlighting. Too thick a paint and it'll blob. Too thin and it'll run into places you don't want. Too much paint on the brush and, again, it'll blob or run. Not enough paint and the line will be patchy.

Most people learning the technique overload their brush with paint that is too thick - it should be thinned like layer paint and conservatively loaded in the belly. If you can scoop a blob of it on the tip of the brush, it's too thick. If the point of your brush splays when it touches the paint, then it's too thin. Finding that sweet spot can be frustrating but once you get it, progress tends to be limited only by brush control.

Fire_Forever wrote:
The consistency of the paint and how loaded the brush is are both critical to good edge highlighting. Too thick a paint and it'll blob. Too thin and it'll run into places you don't want. Too much paint on the brush and, again, it'll blob or run. Not enough paint and the line will be patchy.

Most people learning the technique overload their brush with paint that is too thick - it should be thinned like layer paint and conservatively loaded in the belly. If you can scoop a blob of it on the tip of the brush, it's too thick. If the point of your brush splays when it touches the paint, then it's too thin. Finding that sweet spot can be frustrating but once you get it, progress tends to be limited only by brush control.

This.
But also the ammount of preassure you apply to the brush when dragging along the edge.

In short: Smaler round brush, correct consistency, correct amount of paint, correct amount of preassure.
It's usually not something you perfect the firt time you try it. Like everything else: Prectice makes perfect.

I found that I have an ample supply of practice material.

Simply prime left over sprues and you have a handy supply of straight and curved edges to practice on!

Ok, i was using a flat brush an the theory it would be better for edging lines, now i see that was maybe my major error. Odd that a small round brush is better, but it seems to be so.

A flat brush will transfer too much paint to the edges because after the first bristle transfers it's paint to the edge,so does every other bristle of the brush as you drag it along the edge, resulting in an unwanted build up of paint, so you actually want fewer bristles so as so apply only the minimal amount of paint to the for those crisp edges.

Thanks, QAR.

Fire_Forever wrote:
The consistency of the paint and how loaded the brush is are both critical to good edge highlighting. Too thick a paint and it'll blob. Too thin and it'll run into places you don't want. Too much paint on the brush and, again, it'll blob or run. Not enough paint and the line will be patchy.

Most people learning the technique overload their brush with paint that is too thick - it should be thinned like layer paint and conservatively loaded in the belly. If you can scoop a blob of it on the tip of the brush, it's too thick. If the point of your brush splays when it touches the paint, then it's too thin. Finding that sweet spot can be frustrating but once you get it, progress tends to be limited only by brush control.

So when using a round brush, do you use the tip, or the edge?

Edge. Just draw it along.

Ok i looked up a video after someone told me to try edge highlighting.

Earlier I had looked up 'edging" on video as i thought it might be called 'edging" and got hit with a screenfull of rule 34, so i don't recommend looking up that term. I was not shocked, just annoyed to be honest with you. I decided to ask about it rather than try another term to find out it too had been rule 34'd.

(Yeesh, i honestly had no idea what that term was being used for today. Keeping up with all the terms and words that have now been used to describe sexual acts would be a career these days...)

So i looked up edge highlighting and got a lit of much more relevant videos.

Here's a good one.


If the video age has reducd your atention span below 5 minutes try this one..

 Flinty wrote:
Edge. Just draw it along.

Got it. Thanks.

 Flinty wrote:
Edge. Just draw it along.

This.
Trying to use the tip leads to lines that are all wobbly in thickness. Using the side of the brush, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way down from the tip works well. Sometimes due to the position of the miniature it's not possible to use anything but the tip of the brush so do your best in those cases, but wherever possible, edge.

"Edge highlighting miniature" or 'edge highlighting paint' are much safer terms to search.

Fire_Forever wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Edge. Just draw it along.

This.
Trying to use the tip leads to lines that are all wobbly in thickness. Using the side of the brush, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way down from the tip works well. Sometimes due to the position of the miniature it's not possible to use anything but the tip of the brush so do your best in those cases, but wherever possible, edge.

"Edge highlighting miniature" or 'edge highlighting paint' are much safer terms to search.

Yes. I know that. Now.

Pro tips:
1 use a size 1 round brush with a good tip and run the edge of the brush on the corner when possible.
2 thin your paints down for edge highlights. You'll have to go over them multiple times.
3 consider using a paint retarder or flow improver for this step. It makes it easy to wipe away mistakes when the paint is slower drying.
4 lines aren't one color. Use multiple layers of layer colors to achieve a color transition on your edge highlights.

Hope this helps!

 Matt Swain wrote:

Fire_Forever wrote:

 Flinty wrote:
Edge. Just draw it along.

This.
Trying to use the tip leads to lines that are all wobbly in thickness. Using the side of the brush, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way down from the tip works well. Sometimes due to the position of the miniature it's not possible to use anything but the tip of the brush so do your best in those cases, but wherever possible, edge.

"Edge highlighting miniature" or 'edge highlighting paint' are much safer terms to search.

Yes. I know that. Now.

Isn't learning fun?

you can cheat by using watercolour pencils.

How do you make watercolour pencil permanent though? Spray varnish? Otherwise I'd imagine the first slightly sweaty hand touching the model is going to come away with interesting colours.

Ive learned more from this video about painting / highlighting in 30 minutes than I have across my entire painting careers research and tutorials combined..

Mr latham is a masterclass painter id advise saving his vidoes while they are still available on youtube. They were supposed to be getting deleted..

Fire_Forever wrote:
How do you make watercolour pencil permanent though? Spray varnish? Otherwise I'd imagine the first slightly sweaty hand touching the model is going to come away with interesting colours.

yep - varnish is the only way. it does make it easier to correct errors - just rub with the finger. you can also use a slightly damp brush for blending.