How Long Should You Paint Your Minis For? 

I ran into a character limit putting the paint recipes in the description, so instead I'll put them here in this pinned comment. 10hr Trial Skin: Kimera Caucasian Skin, Kimera Cartacci Red, Black mix 6:2:1 for basecoat, mix progressively more and more Kimera Sunray and White to get highlights, glaze Kimera Cartacci Red into the cheeks, Kimera Violet into the eyelids Hair: Basecoat AK Interactive Reddish Black, Layer AK Interactive Deep Brown, Layer AK Interactive Light Rust, Layer AK Interactive Pastel Peach Fur Cloak: SC75 Cantabric Blue, AK Interactive Vampire Flesh, AK Interactive Pastel Blue wet blend as a basecoat. Wash in Army Painter Strong tone. Highlight with various mixtures of all the paints used to create the initial blend. Blue Cloak: SC75 Cantabric Blue + Black mix basecoat, Layer of SC75 Cantabric Blue, Layer of SC75 Cantabric Blue + SC75 Carribean Blue mix Cream Tunic: AK Interactive Orange Brown + AK Interactive Vampire flesh + AK Interactive Hull Red 1:5:1 mix basecoat, mix more and more white for future layers Wood Shield: Citadel Yellow Ink, Citadel Chestnut Ink, Citadel Gulliman Glaze, all wetblend/glazed on over zenithal undercoat Silver: AK Interactive Gun Metal basecoat, Payne's Grey Oil wash, AK Interactive Silver highlight, Tamiya Clear Blue glaze in the shadows, Molotow Chrome edge highlight Copper: AK Interactive Copper, Payne's Grey Oil wash, AK Interactive Copper + SC75 Citrine mix for highlight, pure SC75 Citrine for further highlights Grey/Blue Fabric: Black highlighted with more and more SC75 Bering Blue 1hr Trial Skin: Citadel Tallarn Flesh basecoat, Army Painter Strong Tone wash, mix more and more Vallejo Ice Yellow + White into the Tallarn flesh to get highlights Hair: Ammo Migs Bright Orange basecoat, Army Painter Strong Tone wash, Vallejo Light Orange highlight, Citadel Lugganoth Orange highlight Fur Cloak: Black, Vallejo Flat Blue, Ammo Migs Green Blue, Citadel Wraithbone wet blended basecoat, Army Painter Strong Tone wash, highlight with various mixtures of all the paints used to create the initial blend. Blue Cloak: Vallejo Flat Blue basecoat, Army Painter Strong Tone wash, Vallejo Flat Blue layer, Ammo Migs Green Blue layer, mixed in Vallejo Ice Yellow for more highlights Cream Tunic:Citadel Wraith Bone basecoat, Army Painter Strong Tone wash, Citadel Wraith Bone highlight, Citadel Wraith Bone + White mix highlight, White Highlight Wood Shield: Same as 10hr Silver: AK Interactive Natural Steel basecoat, Citadel Nuln Oil Gloss wash Copper: AK Interactive Copper basecoat, Citadel Nuln Oil Gloss wash Grey/Blue Fabric: Citadel Eshin Grey basecoat, Citadel Nuln Oil wash 10 Minute Trial - all of these are Army Painter Speed paints Skin: Crusader Skin Hair: Fire Giant Orange Fur Cloak: Cloudburst Blue Blue Cloak: Highlord Blue Cream Tunic: Pallid Bone Brown Stuff: Hardened Leather Black Stuff: Grim Black Grey/Blue Fabric: Mix of Grim Black and Gravelord Grey Silver: AK Interactive Natural Steel, Citadel Nuln Oil Gloss wash Copper: AK Interactive Copper basecoat, Citadel Nuln Oil Gloss wash

Only important thing is not to forget to paint more minis.

The "dropping your mini into your pallette" method is by far one of my favorites. Its true, not everyone gets it, but thats because it really is such an advanced technique.

14:30 that slow roll through the models was epic.

To me, this test seems to show that mini painting may follow the law of diminishing returns. The 10 hour obviously looks amazing and is the best out of all 3 but the 1 hour still looks really freaking good and at first glance, you may not know that was only a 1 hour job.

I would honestly watch this format of video on a weekly basis with a different mini each time. 10 hour version looks sick.

oh yeah, this is the stuff right here! :-) that one hour is looking niceeeeee

A good thing to keep in mind for those feeling overwhelmed by the large number of minis to paint in a typical boardgame - if you look at the 10 hour, 1 hour, and 20 minute models from three feet away, they look nearly indistinguishable.

Minmax method would be interesting just to really demonstrate "Right tool for the right job" for various paints and techniques.

Honestly, I love this format. I wouldn't hate seeing more of the 10,1,10 format periodically. I learn a shocking amount from them.

Dang Scott, the new digs sing in this video! Love the cut-to visual jokes, the new camera angles, and especially the information in the video. Great work brother.

God, I love that outro. Hits all the right cords for me. I love the hour long one but can definitely see the difference between that and the Ten hour model. I'm curious to see what you would've prioritized and accomplished with another hour to work on that mini. Great stuff.

I listened to the TUP episode of you talking about this video, after seeing it I 100% agree with your statement of ‘The 10 hour one should be first as when I’m only painting for 10 minutes I’m still exploring the model’. Very good video!

Some lovely shots in this video Scott. I especially love the pan through the miniatures focusing in on them one at a time. Thanks for making quality videos man. Also, you know I love that 3-way screen split.

The production on your videos are just getting better and better. Love it!

The 10h mini is awesome but I really like the 1h one, especially on the face I think the rougher paint job fits the character really well

Considering a return to mini painting after a long hiatus, this video's title really grabbed me, and your content is excellent! Your thorough walk-through of 3 time-based approaches, their associated techniques, and so many of the +'s and -'s related to each of these choices (and possible combinations) put me back in touch with my own preferences. With the help of your video I am able to recall that my "filler" characters (done simply, in small groups for the purpose of avoiding unpainted minis on my D&D table), my "key NPC's" and my "Stars" (PC's) definitely got different time investments. Great stuff!

God's Bones! Glad to see this format come back. Since the TUP episode, I have been waiting for this experiment. It would be great to see more of these ^^

Nice to have ya back! Looking forward to new videos from the new place: it looks AWESOME

The edits are crispy AF! Great video Scott

The zoom that you did in the 14:30 is just poetry. Nice video!

Love your vids, glad to see you are back it!

I don’t know why, but I love love LOVE the gradient fade on the shield of the ten hour model. It’s so perfect I can’t look away. Well done!

I've been watching you vids for a couple of months now and you do amazing work. This video is just right.

Love these vids from the new studio. Production quality is amazing!

love the footage Scott interacting with the VO Scott, very fun video!

When using speed paints or contrast paints in a short amount of time a zenithal highlight is your absolute best friend. Thank you for another awesome video

Great detail. I DO love the paint mix, which is helpful (even if its just a guideline with ratios). I have been using a notebook since I started, and I love it. GREAT VIDEO!

Hey Scott, just wanted to let you know you're one of my fav. youtuber mini painters. Been following your videos for about a year, about as long as I've started the hobby, and my skills have gotten really good for only a year, and a large part of that is because of your tips, so thanks.

I've been missing the skits haha 😂 that was pretty good. It is interesting that the 1hr and 10hr are quite similar. For me id say somewhere between the two would be my usual goal. Looks great as always, scott :)

I definitely love these kinds of videos! They are enjoyable and informative.

Great video that shows what to expect in which time. Wonderful shots from the finished minis. And I love that you showed us, why you do not like contrast paints in this case.

Hell yeah! This is the exact video ive been craving since the last video. Thank you sir.

14:29 this camera perspective and filming style is freaking amazing. I watched it like four times already and I really like how it is executed and highlights the models, especially the 10 hour one!

This was awesome!! So need to take the time to try this out!!

This was a fascinating Video and delightful to watch!

Good to have you back :)

really like how you added the color mixtures to the video.

Great video thanks for all the content

Great job Scott

I really enjoy these videos!

Love these kinds of vidoes!

Love this style of video, Would watch it every time with different models

Thank you for sharing! Loved the 1hr version. I'd love to try to get to 1 hour per model on my next one

I wish I could paint as good in 1 hour. And well, the 10 hour model speak for itself.. DAAAAmn! Love this kind of videos! Think I'm gonna attempt a similar challenge soon. Keep the content coming scott, love your channel!

this is my favorite type of video, so please do hundreds of these. I'd love to see a 20 hr, a 10 hr, 1hr vid

Great video !

Awesome video as always! All three minis looks amazing! I usually spend about 22 minutes on a mini and I would love to get the end result as yours :D

I'm here for your RU-vid plans and goals; lightning strikes the same place 1000 times!

Hahahaha omg laughed out loud at the quip about “make sure to drop your mini in some white paint” 🤣🤣🤣

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

The face is the biggest thing that leaps out as obviously improved with time. It’s perfectly table ready in an hour, but it’s lifelike in the 10 hour

Always nice living the dream keep it up!

I really enjoy the one hour model as it really gives off the Grim Dark vibe. Much love from Iowa 🤘🏻

As long as you're having fun. I actually find it stressful to try and pump out a bunch of identical looking minis with a step by step method. I like just taking my time, enjoying the process, building up color and highlights, making mistakes. I don't get a ton done, but I enjoy myself.

Rather than a straight white undercoat, I find that transparent paints like Contrast and Speed (as well as washes and shades), really benefit from a zenithol undercoat. That way, you are really only painting the upper side of surfaces if in a time crunch, leaving the black on the underside. Works like your black undercoat from last year. I like to prime the model black, then hit it with a gray from 45 degrees (roughly), then an off white from directly overhead.

Hell yeah dude - your last version of this video has been my RPG mini painting Bible, when I need to slam out a dozen D&D mobs at short notice.

I love these videos BUT there is one thing that I still struggle with: The Social Media Effect. Your camera's are great and we're getting lots of close ups of these models that no one realistically would see unless they were taking photos or the mini were on display. The models all look amazing (great production quality on the video, BTW) but I struggle knowing when to stop in my own paint jobs because I'm a perfectionist. I can see the difference between the different models and I want to be proud of my paint job - not regretting cutting corners. SO how could you min-max a paint job to a point where you couldn't really tell the difference at 3 feet away? That's the sweet spot I want to find. As good as I can make a paint job, highest of tabletop quality, because anything more wouldn't even be noticeable when playing.

BRO! Scotty used my "Drop the nearly finished model into the palette" play!

Another banger, Scott! PAINT MORE MINIS

The one hour one's the best imho. Also loving the channel :)

Very cool! Great looking minis. I think the point about taking your time and just enjoying the process is an important one to remember especially for people who also enjoy the gaming side of the hobby. I'm often cranking out minis to get ready for some upcoming game day and honestly it sometimes leaves me feeling blocked on a paint job. I don't want to go paint because I know I just have to plow ahead and get it done. Meanwhile the most fun I've had was painting minis that served no purpose at all except to go on my shelf. I painted a mini for a DND character of mine that's in an online game (so the mini would never be used). Spent hours and hours on it and it is one of my favorite minis.

Great vid! The10+. minute one looks good for an army setting - with 10-20 of his mates ranked up it would look great! I would be hesitant to take a 10 hour paint job to a tournament as it could get destroyed really easy. I aim for nice looking playing pieces and lots of them, so the 10minute would work fine. No complaints, just the obvious you end goal for how ur using the mini might help u decide on which method!

Well done video.

Wow, i have noticed a huge differance in production value now that you're producing vidoes from your new office/studio! Love it man, this explains quite a bit in a small amount of time, it give me something to think about for sure. Thanks for sharing your thoughts bro, always enjoy your content.. keep on keepin on 🤘🏼

My 3 hour minis look like his 10 minute one 😂😂 no but seriously, love videos like this!

I would love to see a video on the min/Max paint style. I struggle with trying to figure out which parts of the model I want to spend more time and less time one. I try to go with the boots, belts and buckles approach which helps but it would be awesome to have a deeper dive video into this.

The thing that gets me whenever I watch anyone paint minis at this level, is you manage to make the models look about 3 times the size that they are in reality because of the level of detail and the precision. I've painted these models (and thought I did a decent job), and watching you pick out precisely each detail I still forgot for a moment just how small those details are! It always looks so easy to just dot an eyeball with the point of a brush, and then when you actually do it yourself, you realise just how small those details are.

Great video

the brush wash sound for the censor is incredible xD

I have really been enjoying painting my initial base coats with SpeedPaint and then highlighting it where needed. It can also be used as a very simple NMM

for a similar comparison in the 10 minute trial from this one to the last, I find contrasts over a zenithal prime can achieve more of the effect that you're trying to achieve (results will, ofc, vary for colour of the base and zenithal sprays).

Speedpaint works better with zenithal primed models. You do need to start lighter than you would with normal watered-down opaque paints though. This is why a grey under primer and/or initial white drybrush helps here. It would be cool to see your tests with more use of an oil wash. I bet you could get better results on the 10min model.

First I love watching all your paint vids they're awesome and very educational at the same time as being very funny, I think you are spot on different styles and different types of paint being used look great in different aspects... on the ten hour model the hair and the weathered face look incredible but I don't why I like the pommel and cross guard on the ten minute version the steel look seems to add a different depth but just my opinion.

I feel like this is a masters class and I’m just supposed to take speed notes and study later… 6:32 … oh there’s course notes. Super!

Sick camera work.

Awesome!

Love this

I love using contrast / speed paint for a base coat, but then I go back and highlight and shade just like I normally would. I just think they give a nice base to work from.

Love videos where painting.

Nice, the skin tones on the the 10hr are on point

I find at least for my process, I take longer on say the first squad member of a new squad or box set, to feel out the paint scheme and I have noticed my efficiency pickup with subsequent minis without ant detriment to qualuity. I think you and Jon covered this in a podcast some time ago. Id opt to go for the one hour paint job for most figures and opt for the 10hour for character models or more "important" minis

I really like the saturation of some of the gw contrast range. I've been using Imperial Fist yellow to glaze/colour filter yellow armour and hoh yeah.

I have come to the conclusion that clearly my painting is crap. lol Keep it up man, glad to see you making more vids after what happened. Continue to inspire us!

I honestly like the 1hr one best. Maybe because it looks closer to what I do (but yours is better! ha). I watched the first one you did and I agree that starting with the 10hr is the way to go. Looking forward to the video of you mixing the techniques.

Speedpaint does a pretty good job if you have some sort of variable base coat - zenithal highlights or greyscale drybrush.

Great Video! I usually paint a mini for around one and a half to two hours per and am happy with my results. Although they look more like your 10 min figures :-)

Loving these videos, will hopfully help me painting my first aos "army"

"Hoping lightning would strike twice" he says like we haven't all been waiting for exactly this video since the last one was made.

"are we taste testing the new contrast paints today or what?" Fkin lol!

I find best way to approach painting is the zen idea. Mini will be painted when it’s painted. Sometimes it’s quick. Sometimes it’s hours. Is definitely for me about enjoyment, not knocking stuff out in an hour.

Only barely into the video but already the best part is the Born if Osiris shirt! 🤘

I love this game. We used to play it with norse\viking folk in the background. I had the box almost fully painted, had these were speedpainting sessions 3 hours per band. I had my wife sitting there with a hairdryer )

I’d love to see more of this type of video, especially for horde type minis where we need like 80 of one figure.

AMAZING, MISSION COMPLEAT, THAT RIGHT THERE IS WHY YOUR THE BEST BOSS! Love your content, keep it up. If you decide to do this again maybe try with something simple, like Necron warriors? (totally not bias in any way) :)

3:37 killed me 🤣

Last time I said that the 1h model was my favorite. This time, the benefit of 10h really shows. I only can say that I like the beard and hair more on a 1h model, but that's just because the color is brighter. I think the 10h version hair looks better if you're shooring for realism, but I feel that this model is already pretty stylized, so a brighter hair looks nicer to my eye. Great job! p.s. You should consider next time naming a video a bit differently. For almost a day I thought it was a re-release, especially because the model is also a viking bearded guy. Only later it dawned on me that this is actually a Part Two. p.p.s. the taste-test gag scene was great! Really funny and well-made!

Pro tip for speed paints: leverage the zenithal priming. This is doing most of the shading job done and then you just need to slap some paint on a mini and in 10 min. it's totally possible to finish this particular sculpt.

Be interested in seeing some oil washes over the finished 10min model similar to Jons speed painting style

If the thumbnail is anything to go by, my 5 minute minis are gonna be golden demon worthy