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Finally getting around to doing the fricking Primarch model, Robute, now that I see some lists I'd put him in.

All the gold filligree scroll work is cramping my hand up something awful. What do you guys do to help with that?

I'll trade one of my tricks

I use a magnifying visor because my depth perception isn't the best. And I'm old. The magnification helps me see when I'm getting close to the model so I can use light brush strokes instead of ham handing a fine detail,

I don't suffer from hand cramps yet so can't say for sure but I assume it is your paintbrush hand. Maybe fabricate a wider grip for the brush so you can hold it with a looser grip while keeping that fine control.
Imagine a polystyrene cylinder wrapped in electrical tape with a channel cut along its length so the brush can slot in.

Vim,

Having painted Roboute I feel your pain, though not in my hands You are holding too tight and need to loosen up, make sure your wrists are resting on something and try to bridge the gap from your brush hand to the model like pictured it will help stability.

PS just noticed that Roboute is in the background lol!

Have you looked up some hand stretching exercises, you probably need to build an but if flexibility and strength in your hands

Yup. Grip exercise will strengthen the physiology of your hand. You can do finger opening exercises with rubber bands, finger closing with grippers. Scrunch up sheets of paper one handed, and do plate pinch holds if you have something of appropriate size and width.

Also, note that the body is all joined up, so if your posture is bad, tenseness can creep around from your back to your arms & hands. Similarly if your eyes are straining so ensure you have really good lighting around your work space to help relieve this. Take breaks for both your eyes & body every 20 minutes or so too. Make sure your workspace is warm enough that your hands aren't cold.

I suffer both from peripheral neuropathy due to diabetes (feels like pins & needles) & tendons that keep slipping out of position so am in pain most of the time, so know how you must feel.

Not too old yet, but might be relevant.
Don't know if you drink or not, I quick 3 years ago.
My doc said that Alcohol washes out magnesium and with magnesium deficiency you will experience spasms and cramps.

With your doc, you can do a blood-test to see how your mineral lvls are, and possible good organic magnesium supplement be beneficial.

 bubber wrote:
Also, note that the body is all joined up, so if your posture is bad, tenseness can creep around from your back to your arms & hands. Similarly if your eyes are straining so ensure you have really good lighting around your work space to help relieve this. Take breaks for both your eyes & body every 20 minutes or so too. Make sure your workspace is warm enough that your hands aren't cold.

I suffer both from peripheral neuropathy due to diabetes (feels like pins & needles) & tendons that keep slipping out of position so am in pain most of the time, so know how you must feel.

This.
Don't start at the wrist, start at the shoulders, at the very least. Examine how you're sitting, and whether that is causing you to hold tension.
If for example you are sitting leaning forward with your weight on your toes, clear space under your desk, sit flat, and bring the work to you with a pull out tray or board.
If you can't sit over your desk without leaning to hold your work over it, you're straining your back and shoulders before we even get to your wrist. Make your equipment and desk work for you; you only get one body until the Admech gets their act together.

If you can rule out all of the above, let's move down the arm. Miniature holders can allow you to bring your mini closer to you, and get into the gaps easier without fighting around your grip on the model. Artist wrist braces and gloves, like Wacom and illustrators use, would take strain off your hand.
For every 20 minutes painting, take a break, make sure you're not holding your hand up too high, drink some water, break your tension.

btw i use these too:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B085G4ML6F/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B085G4ML6F&pd_rd_w=GiwF0&pf_rd_p=1055d8b2-c10c-4d7d-b50d-96300553e15d&pd_rd_wg=ASNRH&pf_rd_r=Y400X42W8YM7EHCQDD65&pd_rd_r=4e3d73b8-4666-4778-a310-614d4d6ecc8c&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzMk03NVJXS084VjNJJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzA4ODYwMUk3V0dPMDJQWUlTUSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjQzMjg1SkQ3MU9OQVNQS05WJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Take regular breaks, stretch and start again, that's what I do.

All depends where your cramps are. Your brush hand shouldn't be cramping up; if you are then your grip is likely too tight. To help with this you can get paint brushes with thicker handles, or you can get triangle-style grips which you normally get for pens and pencils:



That should help your finger posture if you are having trouble with pain in your brush hand.


The more common type of hobby-related cramps and discomfort is with your off-hand; ie the hand you use to hold the model. Gripping something between your fingers (like is conveniently illustrated in maxwin's photo) is something that can cause pain and eventually damage over long periods of time. You need a good, solid, full-hand grip in order to be comfortable; so a painting handle is a must. Ergonomically the best grip you can have is 'neutral': if clenching your fist is 1 and your fingers fully outstretched is 10, then your fingers should be at 5 (half way between those two states) when gripping. Find a painting handle that fits your hand with that particular grip. Things like wine corks are commonly used as handles, but are much too small and don't work as proper ergonomic grips. I find GW's painting handle to be right size for me, but you don't have to buy an actual handle, just make sure if you use a more makeshift solution that it's chunky enough that it fills your palm amd your grip is right when holding it.



Other than that, rest and stretching will do a world of good. Again, not sure what specific cramps your are struggling with, but common hobby pains can be helped by looking at stretches for RSI or carpal tunnel syndrome, which are conditions you can develop if you leave these things unchecked.

Hope that is of some help!! [:

I know Black Magic Craft just did a video on it(hand cramps) last week or so. I haven't watched it yet, but maybe a pointer to be taken away from it.