Miniature Painting... again

It's been over 30 years since I last painted miniatures. In between I've painted model cars and some artwork on bikes, but not very often. I was inspired by a friends Warhammer hobby to try painting a few miniatures again, for a bit of relaxation. I have not started yet, but the world has changed.

When I last did this, I learnt one technique at a time from a magazine or by talking to other people at clubs. While tidying up my old paints, I found my little blue book. This contains my notes on mixing specific colours, what they worked for and what techniques to use. I had just started to get the hang of washes and dry brushing when I stopped.

Now, whatever I want to know and more techniques than I can even remember, let alone master, are available at the click of a button with an almost endless choice of video tutorials.

For my own benefit, I'm keeping this list of resources for reference:

Layer painting colour charts:

Layer painting is the most common technique used for miniatures. Simple to understand, but still needs practice. It uses multiple layers, usually starting at the darkest and working up to the highlights. Each layer covering less and less of the area with brighter and brighter tones.

To help pick the colours, there are a number of charts and guides available.

Citadel do an app, which I might use. Pick a base colour and it will suggest, from their range of paints, the base, mid-tone and highlight layer colours to use. With an example image. Very handy.

https://citadelcolour.com/citadel-colour-the-app/

They also do a handy chart, which I need to find a large enough wall to display it on.

I can't find an official link, but there was a copy to download from this site:

https://spikeybits.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Citadel-Painting-Chart-pdf.pdf

or a higher res image from this site:

https://amulettejewelry.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/citadel-paint-chart-datas.jpg

Colour Theory

I used to mix some of my own paints based on a very vague understanding of pigments and colour theory.

Although I buy miniature specific acrylic paints, I also buy tubes of artists acrylic colours because they tend to come with a better range of hews in the primary colours.

There are articles that explain this:

Exploring Color Theory: How to Create Stunning Art with Acrylic Paints — Body Kun

The following article includes this handy colour wheel:

How to Mix Colours When Painting in Acrylics - Blue Beach House Art

Colours next to each other on the colour wheel are secondary colours and the next away is a tertiary colour. That is, they have equal amounts of the colour between them and their neighbour mixed in. 

Temperature is used to describe the colours. Warmer colours are towards the red and yellow and cooler colours are towards the blue and green. So a slightly purple red, is called a cool red but a slightly orange red is called a warm red.

Opposite colours on the colour wheel are complimentary colours. When complimentary colours are mixed they produce black, browns and greys.

Acrylics vs Oils

I only use water based paints, except when I have no alternative. For whatever reason, prolonged exposure to oil based paints, or their thinners, always make it hard for me to breath. This applies to decorating the house or painting miniatures.

For that reason I use water based acrylic paint and did, even 30 years ago.

Most of my modern paints are by Vallejo, however my older pots are a mix of Citadel, Tamiya and Humbrol.

Aside

While I was tidying up my paints and sorting out the, over 30 year old, acrylic colours I had, I was surprised that quite a few of my paints were still in a usable state. Some had set solid, but a number had formed a gel. With a bit of water and mixing they returned to a usable pigment.

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Blender Add-ons and tips for 3D printing

These are tools and techniques I'm trying out to help create meshes suitable for 3D printing. That is manifold and non-intersecting.

3D Print Toolbox

This is a useful set of tools for analysing a 3D model. It can identify if the mesh is non-manifold and  if it has intersecting faces.

https://extensions.blender.org/add-ons/print3d-toolbox/

Press the "Solid" or "Intersections" buttons to generate the statistics on the selected object.

I do not use the "Clean Up" tools. They are not as effective, in my opinion, as other methods.

Creating a Manifold Mesh

The most reliable solution I have found to create a single manifold mesh for 3D printing, is to use the Remesh Modifier. Sadly, that dos not retain the quality of the original mesh. It's perfectly OK for 3D printing quality down to 50 or even 30 microns (0.03mm.)

I often read about using a Boolean with self intersection with a cube. For me, that does not produce a manifold mesh when the original is made of multiple parts.

I have also tried Autodesk MeshMixer. In my opinion, Blender's Remesh produces a better result.

Joining Meshes into One Object (simple and quick)

This is the fairly basic method of adding several meshes into one object.

In Object mode, select the first object then use [SHIFT][LMB] to select others.

When they are all selected, press [CTRL][J].

They will all merge into the first of the selected objects.

Remesh Modifier

I have found this a fairly reliable method to make a tidy manifold mesh out of a mess. The result is suitable for 3D printing, however, none of the options retained the originals quality.

Remesh Modifier - Blender 4.3 Manual

In my experience, only a Voxel remesh creates a manifold non-intersecting mesh. The other options, such as Sharp with an Octree depth of 10 or above, produced a better quality result, but did not help for 3D printing.

Sharp with Octree Depth = 10

The quality depends a lot on the original model.

My preferred solution to create a manifold and non-intersecting mesh, suitable for 3D printing is to use the Voxel setting, with a size of 0.03mm. That is the thinnest layer that my resin 3D printer will produce.

Remesh Voxel Size = 0.03mm

Original Version

However, it's important to keep the original model, should I need to make any edits. The remesh is always the last process just as a means of satisfying the slicer software.

This gave good enough results, and the time to process was acceptable.

For larger, or complex models, this produced a lot of vertices. 34 million in one case. As I only usually print at a resolution of 50µm (micrometres), 0.05mm, for those models, I remesh at 0.05mm.

I'll continue to experiment with this.

For scenery, where the detail is not so critical, a Voxel Remesh, with a size of 0.05mm or even 0.1mm was sufficient and quick.

Apply the modifier to be able to check the result.

The Voxel remesh is also useful to make models used for boolean difference cuts. I have found that large faces often do not cut or join very well with the boolean tools. Remeshing can help.

Separating Parts of a Mesh

In Edit mode, select the vertices to include in another object of their own and press [P].

If the vertices are all connected, using [L] to select all connected vertices is a quick way to remove whole areas.

An Alternative to Individual Boolean Unions

Self Intersecting Boolean Modifier

This method leaves a hollow shell using a Cube with a Boolean Intersect modifier.

The result is similar to using boolean unions on individual mesh objects. In my attempts to use boolean unions on lots of detailed meshes, I found that it was very time consuming and would often fail. By using the cube with an intersection, all of the individual parts are made one in a single boolean operation.

Using the cube method does not create a manifold mesh, which is disappointing.

The method to create a single mesh is:

Create or import a model made of intersecting parts.

Join all objects in to one object using [Ctrl][J].

Create a cube larger than the object. Make sure it encompasses the whole object.

Add a boolean modifier to the Cube.

Set to "intersect".

Add the multi-part object to it.

And wait.

When done, Apply that modifier.

And wait again.

The result should be a single mesh but, probably, with lots of self intersecting faces.

Auto-Merge Vertices

This is off by default, but when trying to create or keep a mesh manifold, my prior experience is that it is easier if this is on.

In Edit Mode, top right of the window.

It does sometimes make unwanted connections but they are less than the confusion of the mesh looking visually correct but still having a hole in it.

It does this as you go, it does not fix all existing doubled up vertices.

Merge all Duplicate Vertices in an Existing Mesh

This is useful for fixing exiting meshes.

In edit mode, select all the vertices [A].

Use the right click menu or [M] to merge vertices.

"By Distance" is probably the most appropriate to use.

I work in millimetres so the default distance of 0.0001 is probably appropriate.

It's useful to have the Scene Statistics enabled to see it do something.

Show the Vertices Count, Scene Statistics

This is useful when carrying out several remedial tasks.

Simply [RIGHT-CLICK] on the status bar at the bottom of the Blender Window.

Tick to enable "Scene Statistics"

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Last touches to the kitchen

Over the last month Shelley has been decorating the kitchen. I've had a few bits to do, including adding a breakfast bar and a unique handle for the dishwasher.

Shelley found the old post office telecom seats a while ago and we've been waiting for somewhere suitable to fit them.

The design is a resin 3D printed sleeve over the original steel handle.

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Topiaries

The topiaries came from Belgium via Norfolk and needed a big lorry with a crane to offload.

We called in a team to help plant them.

Even with the digger they were tricky to get into place.

They did not go in level, but a few years of pruning should sort that out.

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Setting Blender 4.3 to work in millimetres

I've started to use Blender again. It's been a couple of major versions and a couple of years since I last used Blender in anger. I'm a bit rusty to say the least.

That said, one of the first things I've needed to do still has the same, old school, non-intuitive setup that it has always had. That is setting the units to be suitable for 3D printing. That is millimetres.

Units

Setting the units is done in the Scene tab, usually on the right of the screen.

 
So that imported models, that are already at the correct size for 3D printing, to remain that size when exported again, it is necessary to not only set Blender to use Metric units and Millimetres for length but to also set the Unit Scale to 0.001.

I'll repeat. Unintuitively, it is necessary to set the Unit Scale to 0.001. That adjusts all the other setting, including importing.

[I have never understood why Blender's import routine does not simply leave the coordinates of imported models untouched unless I deliberately set an import scale. What Blender appears to do is assume that all imported models' units are in metres and so it multiplies everything by 1000 when the Length in Blender is set to millimetres. Very odd to me. Anyway, setting the Unit Scale to 0.001 gets round that problem.]

Object

I like to delete the default cube and add it back. Just to make sure it appears correctly as 2mm along each edge.

Create an object using [Shift][A]. Select Mesh and Cube.

I leave the default at 2mm but if I wanted another default size for created meshes, it can only be done before any other action is taken. The moment I click anywhere else, the option to change the size is no longer available. Once done, the next mesh created with [Shift][A] will create at my preferred size.

I use [N] to open up the Object Transform window to check.

Clipping

By setting the Unit Scale, the clipping is also automatically adjusted. To check, I zoom in on the newly created cube. It should be possible to zoom right up close and inside the cube, without the near corner being cut off.

To show the clipping settings. Pull out the side tab with the [N] key then select the [View] tab.

If the Unit Scale has been set to 0.001, then the original values have been divided by 1000, giving a near clip of 0.01mm and a far of 1000mm.

Focal Length

I usually leave this set at 50mm, however, I have noticed that some artists working on sculptures prefer an 80 to 90mm focal length.

Grid

The floor grid scale will also have been changed to of 0.001

That can be seen from the Viewport Overlays.

Camera and Light

When creating models for 3D printing, I do not use the cameras or the lights. I find they, more often than not, get in the way. So I delete them. If I was rendering models, I would move these to appropriate locations.

Saving as the Default

To keep these settings so that all new files already have these settings, arrange your default scene and:

File -> Defaults -> Save Startup File.

The factory default can be recovered from the same menu, if ever needed.

Changing an Existing File

I find that if I change an existing file to Millimetres it is very likely that I will need to change the size of any existing objects.

In Object Mode, select the object to scale, press [S] type 0.001 and hit [Return].

Then apply the scale, so it is baked in. Use [CTRL][A]+[S].

Having the Object Transform window open, [N], is useful to check the results.

Conclusion

If you don't mind the units showing as metres, you can avoid all that trouble and just leave Blender set to Metres. Models will import and export unchanged.

For 3D printing, I don't like that. I prefer to be able to quickly see the units I'm working in.

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34 hour print

I've had my Ultimaker 2 for nearly 10 years. A couple of days ago I did the longest running print that I have done. It lasted very nearly 34 hours. Followed shortly after by the second longest print I've done at 30 hours.

The first was a duct for our kitchen extractor fan.

The second is a cosmetic cover to fit in a cupboard to hide the extractor duct.

Both were successful prints.

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Heygears resin reminders

Updated: April 2025

I will be trying out resins for different uses and to, hopefully, find the most appropriate for each type of object that I create.

To help with this, I want to remind myself of the results. I am new to resin printing and these are my experiences and opinions.

PARP10

Described by Heygears as "rapid prototyping".

My Experience:

Surface: Smooth and crisp.

Detail: Very good. Sharp corners.

Toughness: I can drop the models on the floor and for the most part there is no sign of damage, however, thin detail parts are easy to break off.

Flex: Negligible. It'll break if bent.

Ease of use: Very easy. No additional thought needed just position and use auto-supports.

Minimum cure time: 5 minutes.

Heat processing: None

Processing: Miniatures typically need about 10 mins curing and no heat.

I would use this for: Miniatures, non-stressed components and decorative pieces.

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PAU10

Described by Heygears as "ABS-like".

My Experience:

Surface: Soft.

Detail: Moderate. Slight curves on corners.

Toughness: I can drop the parts on the floor with no sign of damage.

Flex: Some. Tricky to break. Bends a bit first.

Ease of use: I've had a few misshaped results. At the moment I'm putting this down to stretch caused by suction as the print pulls away from the release film. The larger the surface area or the more leverage on long thin objects, the more pronounced the issue. I've had to reposition parts to have less leverage and hollow them out more.
For most of my projects, until I know how to use it better, this resin is more trouble than it's worth.

Minimum cure time: 10 minutes but most parts need longer.

Heat processing: For improved performance, up to an hour at 46C.

Processing: For larger thicker models up to 30 mins cure time and optionally an hour of heat. I also find that parts often need to be turned upside down and the curing run again for about 15 mins.

I would use this for: Component cases and small functional parts.

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PAF10

Described by Heygears as "flexible production (PVC-like)".

My Experience:

Surface: Slightly soft.

Detail: Good, sharp corners but a tendency to scuff at the corners.

Toughness: I can drop the parts on the floor with no sign of damage, however, thin parts feel like they will easily break off with careless handling.

Flex: Lots. Perhaps too much for some uses. Very thin parts sometimes curl.

Ease of use: So far it's been easy. Support marks are more visible than harder resins.

Minimum cure time: 20 minutes.

Heat processing: None.

Processing: I have not done enough to know if any objects will need additional processing.

I would use this for: Undecided. Miniatures have come out well, but I'm not sure that I want that much flex in something I'm going to paint. Time will tell.

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Subjective

The above statements are a bit vague and very subjective. I will adjust them over time as I gain more experience, but they should be viewed only as a rough guide.

Drop Test

My very simple test is to drop the model from about a metre above ground onto a concrete or similar floor. Repeated a couple of times. For most of what I print, I want them to survive careless handling, but I don't need industrial strength.

Curing Times

I use the Heygears cure unit. I find that sending the model to the cure unit is an unnecessary step, especially as I rarely remember to turn on the cure unit in advance. I've sent a couple of test models, to gauge the times, then for most of my prints I manually set a cure time from the dial on the front of the machine.

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