5 New Miniature Painting Tools (In 5 Minutes) 

Do you have a product or trick to share? Let me know!

Cardamom helping you paint is exactly what I get several times a day while working from home and having one of my cats on my keyboard checking my work and supervising.

Squeeze bottle is the MVP of this list. Wow. Something so simple that makes life so much easier.

I like using bubble wrap instead of plastic/cling wrap. Less points of contact, more comfortable, doesn't get clingy and tangled, and provides some nice "pops" when frustrated.

Great video. I'm a recent sub. I started scratch building and kit bashing around 1979/80 (I'm fifty three). Before those terms existed I think? I'd never considered air brushing until I found your channel. I'll be getting my first air brush this month. Your video's inspired an ol' dog to try some new tricks. Thank you.

OMG, that cling wrap idea is next level!!!

Oh my god the silly putty makes me feel so nostalgic!

The cat makes this video so much better 😸

Spray bottles. The $1 ones from the travel hygiene section of walmart! I use that over the squeeze bottles to clean out the airbrush. It gets so much more out with far less water. Meaning less trips to the sink.

Lyla you bring up great points about using varnishes etc. to help save progress / protect inks etc. I'd love to hear what you have to say about different spray vs. airbrush brands. I'm especially thinking about the trade-off between durability (I paint for gaming mostly) and any possible yellowing over time. As always, great content! Love the new ending graphic!

Good idea the hourglass !! 😁 👌

Thanks a lot for those ideas! I already use a squeeze bottle and the trimmed brush but using cling wrap to cover parts of the miniature you don't want to airbrush is brilliant! My "secret weapon" are wooden tooth picks. If you sharpen them, you can use them to paint tiny dots like pupils of the eyes. And if you chew on them (preferably not at the colored end 😉), you can use the still wet and soft wood to remove very small and persistent painting mistakes.

I recently discovered safety bottles for cleaning the airbrush. It's a squeeze bottle, but with a downward bent tip. I find that when you tip a regular squeeze bottle a little bit of water can spill out, possibly on your work. Great vid!

I use one-time-use nitril gloves on my left hand to hold the model. They can be used over and over again and keep your model safe. Great for brushwork or airbrushing

That plastic wrap trick... brilliant!

Hi Lyla! I'm fairly new (old?) to the hobby. Did it for a while over a decade ago, but never really put the time in to be any good at it. Just got back into it a few months ago and decided to actually try to develop some skills this time around. Man, I missed it! Your videos have been quite helpful! I'm not sure if you've mentioned these anywhere else, but I would suggest two things. One, a blush brush. Works great for dry brushing bigger pieces. Two, a test surface of some kind. Lets you try out color combos, new techniques, etc so you can get an idea of what it looks like before putting any paint on your model. I've been using the empty sprues from building my models, and it has saved me more than a few headaches.

I find that Magic Erasers (melamine sponges) also work very well to remove accidental paint applications. The sponge also works well to clean off tip dry on an airbrush. Just wet it with a bit of airbrush cleaner, water, or solvent first.

I just started air brushing, so I figured I'd give some of these tips a shot and was extremely surprised by just how well silly putty works for masking. I'm shocked, and you just got another subscriber.

I have a pair of dedicated embroidery scissors for cutting custom banners out of watercolor paper and trimming wayward brush hairs.

My tip is probably already known by most people. When learning a new thing about the hobby, watch as many videos about it as you can over something like a week's worth of time. I did this before buying an airbrush and this amalgamation technique got me all the info I needed. No one video had everything I needed to know about airbrush use & care.

Ok, that sand timer hack is an awesome idea, especially for ADHD folks like myself. I just bought one!

Airbrush holder: a wire coat hanger and a large paper clip to clamp on the table edge. At most $1 Airbrush cup cleaner: a glass jar with a paper towel tied on top, $0 If you turned a plastic box container into a spray booth, don't throw away the container lid. you can keep freshly-painted parts in it when you're done for the day. My little contribution as a beginner with a tight budget. Love your channel 🙏

1.clear plastic pipettes get precise paint measurements and works as a disposable mixing stick. 2.magnifying light stand - reduces eye strain when you do detail work. 3.GSI Creos PS771 Mr. Airbrush Custom Grade 018 airbrush. extreme detail airbrush with 0.18 nozzle that performs just as well as the iwata custom micron at half the price of a custom micron. 4.create a google sheet log all your work and comment on what you did/results. helps you get a good idea what went wrong or how your session turned out great. I do this for my backlog/paint supplies.

You talk about sealing the model. What do you use for that and how do you prevent glossiness?

This is a good video full of great tips, but your cat wanting to be right with is so joyful, love it. Thanks for the smile. 🙂👍

Great tips. Also you have the best helper.

Also being someone who doesn't like waiting in-between layers of paint and such. I picked up a pretty cheap hobby/ craft heat gun. I work pretty thin so about 20 second back and forth movements help dry my area faster then waiting!

I have/use a corn cob holder with one tine broken off. I use it to skewer through dropper bottles when they clog and super glue bottles. Or any other general purpose stabbing that needs to be done.

I would have never thought of the seran wrap! I am going to try that since I always have to retouch what I am painting due to handling! Thank you!

I have all your videos saved. Thank you for your tutelage! I am a new painter and admire your work and regard your passion for painting.

I'm getting ready to paint my first mini and I got a lot helpful advice from this!

Awesome video. Hopefully it helps many people. Keep up the good work.

Paper clips are OG. Use them for pinning my models to bases and while painting. Same goes for wine corks. I use those as paint holders. Cheap and delicious!

Love the squeeze bottle idea. Going to try it. Thank you for sharing.

If you are painting with natural hair brushes, a little bit of “leave in” hair conditioner in your bristles between sessions can help maintain healthy bristles and brush tip. Also a good brush soap to clean your brushes.

The Silly Putty masking technique is a legit game changer for me. I just painted my first statue this weekend (I don't do mini figs but 3D print larger statues) and was wondering how to mask areas. I figured I just needed practice to limit overspray (which I do) but this will help. For real, thanks @Lyla!!!

There are a lot of great tips here, things I've not seen other tubers think of. Great vid.

Your videos really help a lot! Thank you for great content !

Super helpful!! Thanks!

Great tips! Thank you!😊

Great tips, Thank you!

Just got back in to miniature modelling, nice to see tips and techniques available, keep it up, chad.

I started using q-tips for mistake removal, but and old brush seems like a good idea (reusable!)

new to airbrushing, so very useful video for the ideas and hints, cheers

Hello from Latvia. I would like to put + 500 likes only for trimmed brush ;) brilliant idea. Thx

These were brilliant ideas, thank you very much! 👍❤️

Thanks - really useful and great ideas! Very much appreciated!

Nice Video with good tips! Im starting with painting miniatures and every bit of info helps a lot! . Thank you

Cool! Now I have a good use for a few old synthethic brushes that are one foot in the grave.

Thank you for the tips really helpful ideas.keep up the great work

Really nice ideas, especially the silly putty one! Much cheaper than masking paste, and reusable! My own tip is using bottle corks and cocktail sticks as holders for sub-assemblies or small parts like heads. Cheap/free, reusable, and biodegradable when done.

Thank You...very helpful

Great tips thanks

Honestly, I started watching the video expecting it to be another 90% regurgitated list that I've seen everywhere and already knew about (Even though I consider myself a noob for painting purposes) but I was very surprised that this wasn't the case. I knew about the water bottle thing and the "save as" trick (Although I haven't heard it described as that term before) Everything else was new to me and helpful (I especially want to try the silly putty/poster tack masking trick!) You now have a new sub!

Thank you Lyla for the wonderful video and important information!

Just got my first airbrush. Will check out more of your videos before using, maybe within a week, I'll do some airbrushing.

Great video! There were a couple of these that I hadn't thought of like the squeeze bottle and sand timers. I've been using Silly Putty for a few years now and I've been using the same Silly Putty eggs for about 5 or 6 years now, and they're still workable and get the job done. I guess if I had another suggestion, I would probably suggest alligator clip skewers, but this would be more applicable for minis with multiple subassembly parts, I think. But they are still great for airbrushing as you can hold the skewer part and spray the part without holding it by your fingers.

You should try tattoo water/wash bottles. They have a long spout that creates a bit water pressure the harder you squeeze and helps breaks up any dried or drying paints.

1:22 Hi Red Cat! 😻🐈

Thanks for the tips

Bonus for the paintbrush and miniature inspection tool (the cat). I have two, sometimes I wonder how useful they are for the inspection task. I know at least one of them needs to rub against the brush handle. I assume that it gives the brush magical powers.

1:29 If there's even the -slightest- chance that the brush or model is actually made of treats, we have to take that as an absolute certainty. Also we just got a second cat a few days ago, having two little monsters running around is a lot but also super rewarding!

Looking forward to trying the silly putty over poster tack.

You reminded me that I bought silly putty before I bought poster tack! (Silly putty was cheaper, too!) Now I'll dig it out and try it!

Thank you for this video

Is it just me or does Lyla resemble Arwen from LOTR?.....I swear Lyla has Elf blood in her regardless :-) New sub, loving the vids Lyla!

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

That's a cute cat😻

laboratory wash bottles, bigger, and with an angled spout can squeeze and blast out the inside of an airbrush. 1oz condiment cups; the cups are good for mixing and thinning the paint before the airbrush, the tops are good for mixing a small batch of metal paint to paint and keep the pad from being contaminated by the mica in the metal paint. Cheap brushes; the ones used in kids watercolor sets and sold in 50 packs are cheap, disposable, and can function as a stirrer in all sorts of paints.

Been using the same 2 eggs of Silly Putty for ~5 yrs at this point. It's skookum.

Great video! You forgot one thing; everyone needs a cat (or dog),well nice people anyway 😊

Cool tips ! 😎

Best recent tip was using fine sponge pressed into tip to "backwash" & clean airbrush cup, along with sport water bottle & leftover quart takeout container. Makes cleanup soo much easier!!!

Hello I just found your channel about a Month ago I do larger 3D printing and your painting tips work out great. I have been using liquid masking tape and some times it can bee a pain in butt but now I will try the silly putty to see how it works out. keep up the videos you are great.

Very interesting video! Will try the trimmed brush for sure :D

-Tattoo style squeeze bottles, one for water and one for cleaner, for faster clean outs -For painting armies, blue tac them to a small square of foam board or even a larger jar that you can rotate and hit each one with airbrush, brushwork.

Cool stuff

Your Cat person likes the camera! 🐱

New subscriber, love your work. I find liquid mask amazing!

Saranwrap is a new one to me. If you want other masks, I have used physiotherapy putty (it is 1/2 way between blue-tack and silly putty). Marmite and Vegemite also make interesting masks (washes off and better than eating it). Rubber cement also makes an interesting mask (roll it off with a finger).

Me, I use plastic gloves of the disposable/non-latex variety on my off hand if I need to handle a miniature off of a holder of some kind, or for when I'm airbrushing or priming with a rattle can. The Silly Putty is a capital idea since for some odd reason I have a heck of a time finding blu tack! I've been threatening to score some squirt bottles for my table and this was a capital reminder for me to do just that. Other than the gloves, I've nothing ground breaking to offer, though.

This is a perfect video, actual good tips and the sponsor is totally in line with the interests of the audience... not another VPN :) The little red bar was a great touch too! Also cats, perfect.

I use slight variations of several of these tools. My water source is a tattoo wash bottle. The inverted nozzle is ideal for both airbrush and wet palette. For large models I use cotton gloves from the pharmacy for my left hand. I can wear it for far longer than I can wear nitrile or latex gloves, and it's better for my workflow than covering the model itself.

It's super easy to make your own silliputty! Transparent schoolglue baking soda and borax. Be careful with the latter. If you add too much it wil be too stiff. My go to recipe is 125 glue, 7 grams soda and 1 tea spoon of hard lense cleaning fluid

Silly putty is genius!

Never even occurred to me to trim a brush to use as an eraser. Great tip! Also saran wrap sounds much better than my method which is to try and stretch a nitrile glove over my gigantic hand. I already use a squeeze bottle, basically as directed, but the other stuff is new to me. Great, smart video! One thing I use the squeeze bottle for is keeping my three year-old entertained when I'm trying to paint, lest he climb onto my lap and the painting session ends. I turn on the compressor, let him fill the airbrush from the bottle, and spray water in a safe direction. While I'm not sure of the effect on the carpet, my painting arm never gets jogged and he has a great time, too. Could you train a cat to use an airbrush? Might be worth trying.

Oooo, I like the silly putty! The others weren't new to me, but I've been airbrushing a long time. Great tips though! 😜

Ententraining cut and voice-over, as well as some very useful tips - well done! Also your brow-and-eye line is wonderfully expressive. If my drawing skills were in better shape I'd take notes. It's just my tin pile of shame is perpetually in even worse shape.

Oh hey! I was one of the people that suggested Silly Putty in your video a few months ago! Glad to see it's working well for you so far!

Thank you for sharing. I use drip bottle too and I use one with a hook shape tip which I find better control. And I can suggest brush rest too as we frequently change brushes, don't we? I made a 3d printed one myself but I suppose anything you can securely place your brushes will do.

1) I also use a squeeze bottle for thinning washes, and putting a couple drops of water in my paint pots 2) Silly putty and poster tack are also useful for pre-assembly fitting. 3)Ok.. plastic wrap is something new. 4) Interesting on the sand timer. 5) love my trimmed brushes. I also use them for wetblending(three brush method wet blend).

A recent acquisition for me was a small battery powered engraving tool - can be useful for quickly sanding down rough bits but I also found it invaluable when magnetizing bigger kits. I'm gonna invest in a better one like something from dremel though and find compatible bits for making various sized recesses quickly.

What do you like to use to seal? Especially since you mentioned doing it multiple times, do you spray a vallejo varnish through or something similar?

Empty paint pots. You can get packs of them from art stores at ~3 for $1. When you're done painting and your paint is still good, scrape it up with a pallet knife then dump it into the empty paint pots, add some extender/gel medium, and then use it for base coating or the midtone of a zenithal highlight. Prime the model black, drybrush on the leftover paint, then do your white on top. You don't throw away paint and then you don't use new paint for early steps.

Hi I was watching your video where you use a squeeze bottles to clean your airbrush I use a syringe with a rubber end on it works real good

I just discovered your channel, thank for all these tips Lyla, I ll follow you now ;)

To clean your airbrush we first empty the paint and then submerge the entire airbrush in a bucket with clean water. Press down the trigger & pull back as if you were painting. The flow of water cleans everything.

Instead of ceran wrap, I prefer cheap latex gloves. Already a staple of the kitchen for anyone who loves meats and really hot chilis, I also cover my grime generating fingers with them when painting. You pay 3-5 bucks for a pack of 100 pairs, and since my brush hand never touches the model, you get about 200 sessions out of one box of gloves. Glove also to me feels more versatile: You don't need to worry about what the wrap is covering and moving it about, you can flip the model around in your hand and it's always going to be protected from your fingergrease. You also can batch-paint carefree and have protection for all the models.

Bough the big silly putty egg from Crayola too. Nitrite gloves ,micron filter cup (add on airbrush cup to filter any dry/small pigments dust who could ruin the paintjob) and air valve adjuster directly attach after the air cable to the airbrush for better air control.. Be careful plastic sheet food could stick and remove paintjob on gloss surfaces paint if stay in contact to long (48 h).. Love the ginger cat !😎 Lyla are you going to work with a cabbin spray booth soon ??😊

Since you're using an airbrush, a spray box. I know you're using a good mask, and it's good, but it's frankly not quite good enough. The paint dust will float around in your quarters. I'm sure there are ready-to-buy out there, but you can build one yourself. Construct double-walls from 3mm cardboard and PVA glue. Make lots of T -pillars (T-shape looking from above, not from the side), at least an inch high, from small pieces of exactly same length card board pieces (cut from a fixed width strip), and glue their ends to the inside of the outer wall. Then the laborious part: Make a lot of holes, generous holes, ½ inch at least, in the inner walls of sides and bottom, and both walls of the back wall. If you can improvise some die and punch, that's probably the best way, because we are looking at an awful lot of holes here. Alternatively, you might find some suitable already holed material out there? Anyway, glue the inside walls to the other end of the pillars, build a suction box at the back, install a fan or two, funnel the air to a flexible tube (plastic covering a steel spring is available). Cover the holed, inside walls with thick filter mat made for machine and electronics ventilation. Just tack it with PVA or make fixtures, your choice. Cover that again with porous filter paper. Stick the end of the tube out of a window, turn on the fan, and you're good to paint. Edit: Actually, since you make small things, the easiest way is probably to just buy a small, ready spray box. You don't get sucking sides and floors, but small dimensions don't need it. It's not exactly cheap, but neither are all the components for DIY. Check out the brand Kacsoo, for instance.