Your P&M tip for the day?

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**goblinzz**

Brennonjw wrote:
My tip: If, like me, you have a metric ton of unpainted stuff, put most of it away in your case or anywhere out of sight, and only work on a few models or a single squad at a time. It helps prevent that despair from building up to large

This is a great suggestion, and very much what I do now. Focus on one or two small projects as part of a grand plan. Saves your sanity.

**Paradigm**

Again, it may have come up before, but when you're painting, find something to attach the model to so you don't need to hold it by the base. Anything from a wooden coffee stirrer (for plastic/smaller parts) to pinning the model to a cork (handy for larger metal models), it'll make reaching parts of the model so much easier and prevent the risk of touching wet paint as you're not actually holding the mini.

**mockingbirduk**

Paradigm wrote:
Again, it may have come up before, but when you're painting, find something to attach the model to so you don't need to hold it by the base. Anything from a wooden coffee stirrer (for plastic/smaller parts) to pinning the model to a cork (handy for larger metal models), it'll make reaching parts of the model so much easier and prevent the risk of touching wet paint as you're not actually holding the mini.

I recently obtained a tiny hot glue gun for a craft project - it's an excellent tool to have anyway (particularly for terrain building) but the combination of a hot glue gun and some of THESE corks (for home brewing) has proved invaluabel - hot glue a cork to the base, perfect size and grippability, comes away easily afterwards.

I bought mine from a local shop for about £1.50 for 5 - the amazon link's just to show what I mean.

**Mymearan**

I buy DIY wine corks from a local hobby shop, they come in different sizes and are perfectly flat on both ends. I blu-tac the base of the model to it and keep it that way until it's painted and varnished.

**Buttery Commissar**

I just have over a kilo of wine corks, back from when they were actually made of cork. I collected them as a kid.

No, I dont know why. I didn't know why then, either. Once people heard I did it, they just gave them to me. I never really had the heart to tell them to stop.
Anyway yeah, sourcing cork isn't an issue in this house.

You can also get cheap cork blocks from DIY stores and saw them into sections.

**Talon of Anathrax**

Use Agrax Earthshade, the god of all paints!

**KINGPIN54**

Hehe, read this forum!!! It helps a lot. That's my tip for the day.

**Vermis**

Paradigm wrote:
Again, it may have come up before, but when you're painting, find something to attach the model to so you don't need to hold it by the base. Anything from a wooden coffee stirrer (for plastic/smaller parts) to pinning the model to a cork (handy for larger metal models), it'll make reaching parts of the model so much easier and prevent the risk of touching wet paint as you're not actually holding the mini.

Tongue depressors or giant lolly/popsicle sticks can be an invaluable part of mini painting supplies, especially for smaller scales.

**Frankenberry**

Arm's distance rule: if it looks good at an arm's distance from your face, it's good enough!

I use this for my Guard army and my ever expanding Roman legion - because if I was worried about every rivet, bead, or leather strap, I'd never get anything done.

Also, ink washes are amazing (just discovered these!), they bring out so much detail it's silly.

**Red__Thirst**

Use blue-tack to help cover where a model's component parts will glue together when laying down a base coat of paint (With either spraypaint, or with an airbrush) so you can hit all the details you want without having to struggle to paint them by fully assembling, then painting.

One pack of blue tack/poster tack will cost less than $5.00 in most places and will last ages and ages.

That's my contribution, hope some find it helpful. Take it easy.

-Red__Thirst-

**Buttery Commissar**

C'mon kids, let's try and make this the advent calendar of useful tips.

My tip today is for P&M itself.

Try and pay attention to the country of the person you're giving advice to.

Saying someone needs to buy a stripper is one thing. Telling a Brit or Aussie to get some Simple Green from Wal-mart is a woeful ignorance of there being other countries except your own.
For example, Testors is a swine to get in the UK, and Biostrip can't readily be found outside of Europe.

**Matthew**

Hmm, what about always clean your brushes? I usually do it between every highlight, just to keep it clean.

**Buttery Commissar**

I tend to clean mine mid colour and between colours with brush soap because it stops me licking the brush, and my depth perception is lousy (effectively blind in one eye). I get paint in the ferrule just trying to load the brush.
Pretty sure that is overkill for anyone else.

**Cleatus**

I swish mine in my water cup between colors, then blot it on a paper towel to ensure I have most of the paint out, but don't really wash them until I'm done painting for the day. Exceptions to this are if I'm painting wildly different colors (black/yellow, red/blue, etc.), or if I switch between metallics and non-metallics. I try to minimize the amount of glitter my Orks wear on the battlefield.

I mentioned this before, but having a second water cup just for metallic paint really helps with that problem.

**Mymearan**

I only clean with soap between sessions, but I change water after using metallics.

**Paradigm**

Mymearan wrote:
I only clean with soap between sessions, but I change water after using metallics.

Having spent several months doing ony NMM before switching back to proper metallics for my HH project, I'd forgotten just how prone I am to putting metal in my non-metal water pot and vice versa... It's going to take some serious mental discipline to get back into doing this properly!

**Matthew**

Pro tip: Have two separate water pots!

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Can we get 50 more tips, so we can have a 2016 calendar?

**Paradigm**

Matthew wrote:
Pro tip: Have two separate water pots!

I do... it ain't helping! One mistake (I blame watching TV while I paint, but that's a whole other thing) and I've got glittermarines!

**Dr H**

That's another reason for me to stick with enamel paints; I use one pot to clean all my brushes, I top it up when it gets low (occasionally scoop out the gunk in the bottom), and even use that white spirit to thin my paints. Never noticed any contamination issues from colour to colour or with metallics.

That doesn't help any of you though, sorry.

Here's a tip for you though:
Store your open superglue in an air-tight container, and put a small dot of superglue somewhere in the container (where it won't stick the lid on or the bottle to the inside of the container) and seal your closed bottle/tube of glue in.

The dot of glue will react with any moisture (the catalyst for CA glue) inside the container (most effective if the container is as small as possible), preventing the reaction in the opening of your bottle/tube of glue and keeping it free for next time.

**Buttery Commissar**

Having mentioned it elsewhere, this bears thought.

Top tip;
DO NOT BRUSH LICK!
And use clean water!!
This top tip is actually long over due and for that i apologise. It's also one i will elaborate on.
Some of you know that i a have been very ill over the last few years and there was alway a brush licking connection. One i worked hard on figuring out. I went through physical pain figuring it out too.
Microbacterium avian serum paratuberclerosis (look it up)
Theres lots of work out there on this difficult little bugger but unfortunately for a full year all doctors i saw ignored or would not acknowledge it. So i spent alot of time with the help of university friends and my mum who is a very experienced medical professional and much thier concern stopped all my then, current, drugs.
Since my knowledge of the bacteria and working on myself i have been a year in constant rise of health.
While i don't recommend you do the same i do recommend that you change your paint dilution methods.
Clean water, clean brush, much love to you all.
PLEASE SHARE and help keep others safe!!!!!
Tommie x

https://m.facebook.com/GolemPaintingStudio#!/story.php?story_fbid=1069823643036909&id=152294311456518

**OneManNoodles**

Dr H wrote:
That's another reason for me to stick with enamel paints; I use one pot to clean all my brushes, I top it up when it gets low (occasionally scoop out the gunk in the bottom), and even use that white spirit to thin my paints. Never noticed any contamination issues from colour to colour or with metallics.

That doesn't help any of you though, sorry.

Here's a tip for you though:
Store your open superglue in an air-tight container, and put a small dot of superglue somewhere in the container (where it won't stick the lid on or the bottle to the inside of the container) and seal your closed bottle/tube of glue in.

The dot of glue will react with any moisture (the catalyst for CA glue) inside the container (most effective if the container is as small as possible), preventing the reaction in the opening of your bottle/tube of glue and keeping it free for next time.

Or use a box with some sort of dehumidifier agent, usually they are usually made from calcium chloride or sodium silicate, like those little silica bags you get in the box of some things when you buy them like new shoes, few of those.

saves you some glue, and since it says on the packing (of the little silica baggies) to throw away it's recycling.

**Dr H**

That is also true, OMN.

The silica gel (as they call it) can also be dried out and re-used (put it somewhere warm and leave for a while; warmer and longer the better).

If you are going very warm (like oven hot), don't leave it in the paper.

And don't eat it... it says that on the packaging also.
Why anyone would think that a good idea, I don't know.

Calcium chloride doesn't work like this so well, it tends to hold on to moisture better, but is better at drying because of this.

**Matthew**

Try something new. I recommend Paradigms painting challenge, try a new technique every onth. Monh one edge highlights, 2 shading, 3 blending and so on.

**Guildenstern**

Close the lid before shaking the shade... or paint... yes, yes, this happened to me today. Sigh.

**OgreChubbs**

Stop thinning GW paint, your heavy handed dont blame the paint.

**kb_lock**

OgreChubbs wrote:
Stop thinning GW paint, your heavy handed dont blame the paint.

**goblinzz**

Clean your painting table regularly. I probably do it every couple of weeks, depending on how much work I've got on the go. Amazing how much little bits of grit and crap end up on there... And then you get a bit in your brush... And then it gets on the model... And you then you have to get it out without ruining your beautiful wet blend...

**KINGPIN54**

When painting a table or terrain, take your gw or whatever brand what colour you wanna use and get your local paint shop to mix a larger batch for you. The match won't be 100 percent, but your pocket will feel the difference.

**kb_lock**

KINGPIN54 wrote:
When painting a table or terrain, take your gw or whatever brand what colour you wanna use and get your local paint shop to mix a larger batch for you. The match won't be 100 percent, but your pocket will feel the difference.

That is an amazing idea, I was wondering how i was going to paint this table without spending bucket loads on paint

**Mymearan**

Nvm