How to Start Painting Miniatures with ZERO Experience

This is a tutorial for beginners on how to paint miniatures. If you are new to miniature painting or warhammer, this guide will help you start this hobby so you can paint some great models yourself!

Miniature painting is a hobby where you are in control. That's why I love it, you can fix anything you want and do whatever you want. Even though the sky is the limit when it comes to painting models, there are certain techniques and certain knowledge that will help you get started on your way. Learning these fundamentals in this complete guide to painting minis will be useful for sure!

This tutorial should be a great resource to not only help you get started on your miniature painting journey, but to also paint to a very solid standard. It doesn't matter if you are painting just for fun, for a game or competition - some techniques are usable for all of these cases.

I have selected several miniatures to show you variety of techniques - there is a very round miniature without too many details (Charizard). Then there is Emelda from Warhammer quest: Cursed City, which has perhaps too many details. The last miniature is spider man from Marvel Crisis Protocol, which is a bit round but also has some details. All of the mentioned techniques should cover the start of your painting journey. If you are looking for a way on how to start painting miniatures, this is indeed THE tutorial for you!

Wanna improve? Watch these videos:

I am painting miniatures for warhammer, age of sigmar, marvel crisis protocol, D&D and much more! Whether it is superhero miniatures, heroic characters or space marines, I will paint them! If you are looking for some sweet miniature painting tutorials or warhammer hobby content in general, this is the right channel for you!

Charizard miniature is 3D printer from Thingiverse - credit goes to Patrickart

Chapters:
00:00 Who is this for?
0:14 What should you paint?
0:48 Assembly
2:29 What to do with bases
3:35 How to prime your miniatures
4:59 Tools you need to paint minis
5:30 Which brushes can you use?
5:49 Paints for miniatures
6:06 What is a wet palette?
6:57 Basecoating miniatures
13:22 Shading miniatures
14:51 Lamps for miniature painting
15:15 Blacklining
16:13 Fixing mistakes
18:02 Highlighting and details
18:18 What is drybrushing?
18:51 What is edge highlighting?
19:34 How to glaze
22:04 Example of a mistake
22:54 Painting eyes
24:33 Philosophy of Miniature Painting
25:11 Why do you highlight the edges?
25:34 Details
27:28 Finishing the bases
27:59 Special tricks for gaming minis

[Zumikito]

This video took me over 3 weeks with over 100 hours of work to put together. If you appreciate the effort, consider subscribing! 👊

[xantra]

Absolute best first guide i've ever seen

[Arne_K]

I'm painting for 5 years now, but i'll never be able to explain the basics that well. Good job Zumikito! I'll recommend this video to my freinds for sure.

[xavierbrowner]

I’ve been looking for someone who actually gives a proper walkthrough on painting miniatures. This has helped so much. I’ve been stocking up on minis to paint, but just haven’t know how to start.

[gamereyemd]

I just want to say this is the best beginner's guide for painting. It's direct to the point, no unnecessary joking around, and very practical tips in all the phases of painting.

Thank you very much for this! I now have the courage to try and paint!

[JamsMiniMods]

Damn man, I can see why this video took you so long. Probably the best beginners guides I've seen!

[bdraven]

I'm about to start painting for the first time and I have found this video to be by far the best one I have found online you actually covered everything step by step in an understandable way and your other videos have been a big help also, thank you for what you do.

[CMDR_BananenKeks]

I love that you show the mixing of the paint and how thin you really go with oyur painting. This helps to understand the video more and the principles behind the technics. Other people I watched just said theyy go thin and I couldn't really tell what they meant

[ianpettman]

Just sent this to my Son, as he want's to start painting Miniatures.
I told him your videos helped me a lot and you are a great guy and produce great video's.

[pontusnordqvist]

This was a very very easy and good refresh on how to paint minis. Easy to follow and learn in theory. Underrated video!

[chrisragner]

Late to the party. Best tutorial I’ve seen. Complimentary colors is the most important lesson for me. I have never been good with colors and that is why I have procrastinated literally for decades. Yes, decades. Thank you for sharing.

[UguuYianKutKu]

Been watching your videos for a good long while now and just wanted to say I love your painting style and videos. Super approachable videos that make you want to paint afterwards rather than be intimidated.

[erwannruellan]

You killed the game with your videos 🙏 I finally understand highlights and others things after tons of videos

[stevenx]

I've just got started in painting minis myself and although I've watched a lot of tutorial videos, this is the one I keep coming back to. Simple and clear instructions about several great techniques.

[anbies]

Best comprehensive video on painting for beginners. All techniques without fancy names and explained in the simplest way. Congratulations!

[silverrain]

I seriously LOVE your painting style! The vibrant colors and shades match are very aesthetically appealing to me!

[tallifer]

Great video, thank you. I've been painting forever, but now my son is showing an interest, and this video does a really great job of the basics of brush painting that I wish I had known (and could see) when I started. You've managed to show the good old fashioned basics here that are so easy to lose with everything else these days (oils, inks, airbrush, even contrast paints etc...). So well done, and thank you again.

[droghtak]

I've been watching already hundreds of videos (literal) from many different YouTubers to start painting (vacations, watching on the ⛱️). Boy this guide is awesome.
I love your videos, your coverage and your "to the point" attitude is the best.
kudos!

[dindomoreno]

This is the best beginner's video for miniature painting I've seen. I am now using it to introduce people to the hobby and being a foreigner myself, I love that your English is heavily accented like mine. Kudos!

[Renewablefrog]

I finished painting my first mini thanks to the help of this guide. It came out in a way I'm very proud of, thank you so much for making these!