Should You Paint FEWER Details on Your Miniatures? 

So in my recent foray into learning to paint loads of minis all over again, I ran into this very thing. I was burning out quickly, unsatisfied with brush sizes, paint qualities, contrast vs. regular paints and generally trying to take everything to the nth degree. So I'm sitting there with my coffee and looking at unpainted dudes with a few painted guys standing there and not under direct light and it hit me. You can't see that shit anyway, and even when you can it's often not unified, there's just too much noise. Yeah, if you pick the little dude up and look at him in isolation it's clear I took my time and there's loads of detail, but the squad looks jank. So I stripped them all, picked 1 metallic, 2 colors for the army colors and one color for the little bits and bobs like eyes and lenses and screens and plasma and all the hooha. Black, white, 4 colors and a brown wash. 7 pots total, everything done with those colors, AND holding mixing to a minimum. No highlights, just get some paint on there, I can go nuts on the details but they'll be monochromatic anyway, hit it, move on. It's almost got a cell shading kind of vibe to it, some of the details might look a bit off, only having one metallic, so all the metallic bits are gold, and individually it feels very off. But man, you set that shit down and look at a squad done up and they are unified and they pop, they're identifiable at a glance and just everything about it, I couldn't be happier. Once I connected that these are game pieces and color scheming has a game function, at a glance identification, and NOT some super realistic war diorama, it all just fell into place. Do they look "realistic"? No. Do I care? Also no.

This is why I loved Beaky-helms for fewer details to paint, I could finish one faster by avoiding those eyes. In the 40,000, there are no optometrists.

Uncle Atom being the voice of reason and calm in a lanscape full of "be a fancy overachiever" - great message, very much appreciated!

This is actually one thing I like about having left bigger army games behind for skirmish games: I can actually afford to spend the time I want to on any given model. And my time goes a lot further when a single model accounts for 20% of my force 😁

I’ve largely adopted the portrait mentality, the places I put more details on the areas I want you to focus on.

Model details can definitely lead to a certain degree of decision paralysis for me. I can spend too much time staring at a model trying to plot out what paints I should use rather than actually painting it.

When I'm painting, I always struggle to remember that most of the time, when the minis are out, they'll be at minimum 3 feet away from people's faces. Likely further. Who's going to notice the belt buckles?

I recently finished a big game (for me). 60 minis felt like a ton. There were three groups of 15 minis that made up the three different minions of the game. Seeing basically three armies of the same sculpt was so daunting it took me way longer to paint than I expected. Most of that time was spent by me putting off painting. By the time I got to the Bosses of the game, I wanted it done so I spead up the process. I was throwing three speed paint colors on, skipping most details, and calling it done. Game looks great!

I don’t mind spending hours on painting, what I really hate is removing mold lines, it’s the most boring part of the hobby imo.

Uncle Atom: where are they getting all this leather from Me thinking about it: Space cows! On the subject though, I was trying my darnest to hit those "Parade ready" or Juan Hidalgo's 'Eavy Contrast and realized I didn't want to use a dozen or more paints for those tiny details no one is ever going to see during games. Now for display models OK maybe I can go crazy but it's not worth my time (now I see) to spend hours upon hours for one basic troop while his squad mates are still just primed.

This resonates with me and current approach, “slap chop/ preshading” and speed paints is all I use now for the bulk of any army project. I’ll still try to go further on big minis or chapters. For me painted to any standard is way better than grey.

If you are bad at painting or you don't have the time, just paint metallic colors. It's so much easier and faster to do and it will look like you are actually good. Pick a base color, base the model, shade it completely, drybrush with a lighter metal, and finish with another drybrush of an even lighter metal. Do some details with contrast paints if you want, a little stuff on the base and you are done. Without drying time it's like 20 minutes per model maybe

I just really started painting minis this year (Infinity). I started with 4 colors per model and as become more comfortable I started to pick out more details to paint. I really believe that just getting some minis done really helps with motivation to get more done. Also just got to remind yourself that they are YOUR minis and only you need to be happy with the finished product. Thanks for the videos.

As ive been slowly working on an admech army, ive been learning which details to "sweat" and which ones to happily ignore. There is a nice middle ground for me in there somewhere that allows me to paint the army to my liking without having to add reflextions in pupils for everything. Your message here is a great one for each person to think about and maybe learn what details matter for them and which ones dont. Thanks again for great conent!

Honestly, it seems silly, but I just really needed to hear this. I’ve been spending 4-6 hours per model since I started, as you can imagine, it really sucked the joy out of painting for a casual painter such as myself. I haven’t really been motivated to get back into painting lately, but now I may just slap chop my next squad and see how it turns out. Thanks!

Totally agreed, "Don't sweat the small stuff" is my motto with painting after nearly throwing the towel in with the whole thing. Agonising over minor details isn't how I want to spend my time and energy, and within the context of playing with models on the tabletop, those little details aren't going to get appreciated or noticed anyway.

I painted the Eldar Corsair minis from the box set and boy oh boy the level of the detail on this minis was incredible. So hard to paint then and took me ages to complete them, but got through it eventually. I hope not too many newbies bought that box. I learned a lot painting them, though.

I found myself painting everything to a basic paint job by using a triad set for each of the following: Skin, armor, clothing. weapons. Everything looks uniform and tabletop ready. Then, if you want to, take your time and focus on the details by squad. The slight differences in the detailed vs non detailed models will give you the drive to eventually put those last bits of thine on them all.

You should paint detail to your level of comfort and satisfaction, but I think you should also push yourself now and again just for the satisfaction of it. Personally, I often find those tiny details fun to complete as little easter eggs for people to see if they look at the mini a bit closer. It's way better to have details and not worry about them than it is to have poorly detailed minis where you have fewer choices.

If your painting for just game table quality nobody cares . If minis were painted to golden demon quality nobody would play any games with them as the fear of them falling on the floor, getting chipped, etc etc.

This is why I chose the custodies, they are somewhat easy to get to "good enough", and have enough details if I want to try some more challenging stuff.

I love when you look at real military kit for inspiration and no matter how much detail there is there it's all just one colour 🤣

To answer "do we want to spend that kind of time" my personal answer is yes! I love spending that time making tweaks, cutting off and sculpting on extra details. I love finding models that make me go "oooooh I have an idea for that!" and really bringing an idea to life! For reference I also play TTRPGs not just wargames and enjoy displaying my nerd hobbies. In the end, I do the level of detail that I want. For some models that's literally taking small chips of amethyst and sticking them on the model for that real life glow. Others that's airbrushing and calling it a day. Every models, and the way I engage with that model, is different and that's part of what makes the hobby fun for me! Then again, I'm literally autistic and just a bit different from the majority

I avoid minis with a lot of unneeded detail or with GW I simply do not add all the punches, pistols and knives etc as it just adds to the painting time and rarely get seen!

i love how one is hanging out 4 days with some crazy good painters and the response is: maybe... just contrast over a drybrush xD Lovin it honestly, the story makes it just so much cooler :D

To be a fly on the wall at VincyCon....epic. Soooo, that shirt gonna be for sale? Just checked Snarling Badger with no luck.

I usually do a white brush prime (im terrified of spray cans and get a bad coat) and a black undercoat so, i usually don't paint hard to reach details , cus I really don't want to paint 8+ minis with this hard to reach details ...so they can be in the shadow

Entirely awesome to see that pool of RU-vid talent come together for a weekend of casual painting/gaming fun like this.

Definitely! I often ignore details that I don't think need painting. Sometimes models are over - embellished

Pro-Acryl paints from Monument Hobbies are excellent btw.

Great vid. I’ve watched your channel for many years now. Merry Xmas and happy new year.

I like to paint pouches and holsters the same color as the armor and whenever I post pics online people are always like "you should paint the leather on the holsters and pouches."

I recently started collecting Warhammer Minis I perfer easy to paint armies such as Orks in 40k & Orruk Warclans in Age of Sigmar sometimes they do come with alot of details other times they don't even with the help from videos its difficult tbh simply because half of the time I don't understand what they're talking about or its difficult to follow sometimes because I'm new to painting in general I generally stick with my own style of painting even if its not tip of the line great paint jobs you see in those videos it still makes my army unique to me and my own even if that's cliché I still learn things here and there kinda wish they sold the paints I need where I'm at so I won't have to worry so much when they say I need X color for this thats where most of the trouble comes from.

I am reminded of techniques for painting rank and file Napoleonics. Might be worth looking into the dim red dawn of time; if you needed to paint 1000 figures for a battle to a historical approximate accuracy, perhaps the grognards have some wisdom to pass down.

Uncle Adam One thing I really dont get is... gw wants to decrease "digestion time" right? The time between purchase, building, painting, fielding, and the next purchase. They want that time period to be small, for obvious reasons. Hence the invention of contrast paint. ... so why do there models get more and more bits and bobs every year? Frankly i don't like to paint model from the last 4 or so years because, there's just to much stuff. It doesn't look right.

"Where's the Imperium getting all this leather from." Either grox hide...or human skin. Not joking. I first started paying attention to details I can ignore on my Votann when I realised I can just ignore the side of the gun that hugs their body, as well as the details the gun hides. I'm also using a really simple colour scheme.

I always tell myself that my next model or army or warband will be painted faster than the lase....but I always get stuck in my OCD to paint all the details. But then, I am very happy when my models are finished.

I like to give more detail attention to my special units and just keep it simple for my rank and file.

At times, it is fair to remember that these are playing figurines. The more you play, the better it is when the paint job is simple and helps identify your own troops. Keep the good paint job for your leaders and centerpieces.

Took me a long time to get the motivation to paint my Warlock Bombardier due to all the detail on his backpack. However, once I decided I'd just use 3 colours (silver main, bronze selected elements and a warpstone green as a spot colour), I painted him in no time and he still looks great.

first units i assemble and paint gets all the pouches purity seals knives and whatnot backbanners? sure. Second unit+ gets bare bones arms legs head check arms are holding something? great thats enough. skipping the extra junk speeds up getting the second unit on the table by then you are sick of the sculpts anyway and its a slog instead of fun

Next Vincy-con if Sam getting pampered isn't a skit on someone's channel I'm unsubscribing everyone!

So I know TTM going for this... but unpainted models have an extremely good meta camouflage in the right set up. I played this one guy and I swear his units blended into the store's terrain to the point where I would forget models on the board! In his defense he wasn't doing it intentionally...lol

I may be an outlier but I paint for the enjoyment of painting. I don't paint to win awards (although that would be nice) and I don't try to grind out as many figures as possible just to get them done. I give each figure the attention it deserves and I enjoy the process. If that figure also ends up on my game table that is a bonus.

This is really key when painting those big KS board games with 100s of minis, have to find a way to paint the without worrying about the details so you can get them to the table. Depending on the game will either do a quick Speed Paint on the main parts and maybe acrylics after on specific details, or will do a full acrylic paint and painting each part, still don't really do multi layer highlight, glazing ect, as long as they look good on the game board they are ready to play. Difference is the time Speed Paint with a drybrush undercoat takes about 20 minutes a mini, and full acrylic with details takes 1-2 hours a mini.

I am a contradiction. For my Ultramarines, I spend fifteen hours plus per model, and that's not including the preparation of the model, glazing every armour panel, being as precise and detailed as it is possible to be, and enjoying the end product immensely, but for things like Necrons or Tyranids, or any other horde type army, I just want to create a simple effect that makes the overall army look decent on the table, and I don't care about details too much. Know what you personally want to achieve for any given project, and just get on with it. I do not complain at all about how long my Ultramarines take, because I enjoy the process and the results so much, but it also makes me enjoy even more going through ten Necron warriors in the time it would take me to base coat one Intercessor. I would highly recommend having a project or two where you can make fast progress alongside your incredibly slow moving one. It creates balance and you'll also have plenty of toys to play with while you construct your masterpiece.

How come no one paints solid goblin green bases anymore? Am I so out of touch? No, it's the kids who are wrong.

If I cant see it I dont fret over it, I'm a painter not player of the games , great video as always.

Just painted 10 man squad / killteam of Infiltrators....so many antennae...so many scopes... Arghhhhhhhh!!!

You should've all teamed up to do Sam's hair 🤣😜

The 40k fluff syas the Imperium's greatest resource is people, so the pouches are people skins?

I paint Iron Hands for 30k, and generally limit myself to roughly 15 (probably a bit less) paints. I can paint all but the most unusual details with those, basing and weathering included. Whenever something new comes up, I just pick whatever paint fits the closest. I find that not having too many different paints helps with not getting too hung up on every little detail.

I wonder if you'd get more banf for your buck by for example giving the round thing on the back a coat of some brown contrast to make it appear bronze instead of adding the silver highlights. But I absolutely agree, don't sweat the small stuff.

Interesting journey and I can relate to this. You start basic then you want to get more and more details because that is what the “pro’s” are doing. But that for me he slowed it down so much so losing interest. Going to try the fellowship now by less detail by instruction, but more detail what I am happy and level of ability. Hopefully will keep the level of motivation and not discouragement of lack of ability. I hope that makes sense, but this video really was a good reminder that I am on the right track for me. Hope all is well with family and friends

In my forties now, and having been a painter/gamer for nearly thirty years. My skill level got high enough to the point I'm happy with my miniatures....since then it's been simple; how do I cheat to get there faster? I do approximately 200 minis a year completely painted/based, etc. I don't even speed paint, but I paint to a standard I enjoy, and I'm happy with. Any trick, tip, tool, that gets me there faster...is golden. Grass tufts? Done. Dips? Done. Washes? Done. Vallejo texture pastes for basing? Done. Colour primers? All day, every day.

I recently came back to the hobby after a 15 year break. Started by just enjoying painting videos during lunch break, or before bed (very relaxing stuff;)) but soon the itch started and I wanted to see how all the new stuff would be to play with (paints have improved amazingly from 15 years ago) but whereas younger me just went about it willy nilly, and mostly from just a gaming driven motivation, older me, IS actually wiser 😅 amongst other planning that was done, I made a pretty decent painting plan (if I do say so myself) where I incorporated my expected skillcurve (need to learn new paints,washes,technicals (love dirty down rust😍)) and went at it from the ground up. Found nice tutorials to set me on my way, and decided to aim for 3 goals. 1- tabletop ready 2- detailed 3-sweet AF. step 1 takes little time and gives a good result, step 2 is for when I get my brush control to the level I want (and then I'll go for all the eyes,gems,lenses) and on 3 I will Come back to pimp my army out with some osl, and some freehand markings. New (modern) sculpts are great, contrast paints are fun, wet palet a much bigger game-changer than I thought,and having a plan is the way to stay motivated (for me). just going through the Horus heresy starter box I'm (re)learning so much stuff but the best thing is: I'm having a lot of fun. And yes, all the pouches and holsters on my tactical squad are still just drybrused metal and it doesn't matter😎

I much prefer painting my old Rogue Trader era 40k figures instead of the over-detailed modern ones. Just because GW can put that much detail in a model doesn’t mean that they should. These days I just do 15mm where the detail isn’t overwhelming and of course I can buy 2 complete squads or a tank for the price of a single 40k figure…

In batch painting where I have 30+ models I need to paint, I simply base then then do a quick dry brush over important details followed by a brown or black wash. Don't get me wrong I love painting but it's not that important when you're playing a wargame with a lot of miniatures

I’m getting ready to start building an Imperial Guard 40K army, I’m already looking at over 100 individual soldiers to paint. I’m realizing that you are right I don’t need to go crazy with the detail.

I kinda wish Golden Demon and stuff wasn't all about the crispiest details and shiniest edge highlights considering there's so much amazing more impressionist and even expressionist stuff going on at the moment. While technically super impressive, artistically I often find most Golden Demon winning models incredibly boring. Art isn't all about technique and it'd be nice if that'd be more acknowledged in the big leagues of miniature painting contests.

Throughout the process, I will stop, put the mini on my desk and stand about 2-3 feet away. If it looks good from that distance, then it is good enough for general gaming. I will spend a little more time and detail on heroic/unique units, however.

After watching some previous of your videos and after learning that on some crisis suits I've had for over 15 years that I had missed painting some parts and never noticed until I took a close look when painting up some more crisis suits of the same type. So these areas were black instead of white and it was just under the head. After that I've been trying more and more "good enough" and just doing the big details to begin with and leaving details until later and skipping some that just doesn't make a difference in the end, like belt buckles being metal.

It's always made me smile that military superpowers like far future humankind's famous ultramarine chapter lack the technology to ... make an ammo pouch blue. 😊

I get this sort of "perfectionist" thing with my miniatures. By no means am I a great painter, I mean that I just cant let myself cut corners with it. Whether it's a torso completely obscured by a gun, or a tiny button than no one would notice, I just have to paint the details lol, otherwise I feel frustrated. That does mean that it takes me a long time to paint everything, and with my armies being Skaven and Tyranids, that means a looot of hours spent painting to the highest standard I can; I genuinely have not finished painting any model in a single day, not even a Clanrat. Then again, I dont really play the game anymore and my main involvement with the hobby is painting/building, so I guess without the added pressure of needing a finished army to bring to games then the extra time isnt that big of a deal :)

I don’t do armies, but my rule of thumb is everything has two base colors, and no more than 3 detail colors. I’m not competing, or selling my models. So they just need to have some paint on them.

I must say, after watching your video I was skeptical. I tried it out and it really didn't make a big deal!!! Thanks for the content!

Ha! You're not allowed to mind read... I'm doing a kill team ( guardsmen) , had a look at regular military, saw most of it is the same color and decided against a whole lot of different colors on the pouches and whatnot. :D

The ‘eavy metal paint teams paints the way they do to sell models. You don’t have that pressure. Don’t worry about things that aren’t fun to paint. Painting for you should be fun.

Leaving off accessories and bits like pouches, backpacks, etc that are not needed for WYSIWYG are a great way to save time.

Uncle Atom ! can you you do youre necron tutorial on the One Page Rules : Robot Legions? The cape is really throwing me off! xD

Depends on what you're going for I guess. If you're painting a model for the tabletop, do you really need to go to the hassle and stress and nail biting horror of trying to paint the damn things eyes? Unless anyone picks it up and peers at it, no one is going to notice. Paint the model until you are happy with it, then put it down. Don't panic over whether or not someone is going to quibble because you didn't paint that tiny effing button on his belt pouch.

i just got into warhammer again after 20 years, and yes im starting to play.. BUT, im old now, so im taking my time on my models.. its a hobby, and it takes time.. and then also there arent many game events here in Denmark :(

It is funny to me watching people painstakingly painting in every highlight, I highlight only the areas that you would focus on when you look at the model muscles face etc. I couldn't highlight every edge on a model it would drive me crazy.

I've come to the opinion that you need to focus on key areas to detail rather than go for everything all over. The face, the upper body, maybe a weapon, the things that the eyes is naturally drawn to and that people can see standing above a tabletop. Those are what you should concentrate your efforts on, not detailing pouches on the lower back of a figurine that no one's gonna see unless they physically pick the model up and turn it upside down. Slap a coat of brown on those and call them done.

Like you said. Don't forget to look at the big picture. Some times details don't really add anything to the overall look.

My kids don’t say Dope they say Extra. Cant keep up with kids. But they say my models look good and that I’m a cool nerd so that’s ok.

Call it “atom chop” and start a new trend that everyone will think its a new concept.

Great vid! Im new and just getting into this...or more like rediscovering....its addicting.

I needed to hear this. and I'm jealous of Vincy-con. I'd love to hang out and paint with a bunch of friends.

Whenever I see a Tabletop Minions video titled with a question, I prepare to have the magnanimity wash over me...

Not going to lie. Some days I have put off painting a particular miniature after, looking at all the detail. I love the detail and sometimes I don't like it.

I would cut a finger off to be painting and hanging out for some fellowship with a team the likes of you all. Would be "Dope"

for my T'au monstrosity, I put alot of time into a pathfinder team. the purpose was to see color combinations and the details within the model. now that I've determined the colors and order of application, I can begin the rest of the 90 troop mini's. to Break up the monotonous feel of assembly line painting, I will mix in some other genre mini's. after completing 10 or 20 of the 40k, I will paint a Lance (4 or 5) battlemechs or 4 to 5 medieval mini's. by rotating thru my mountain of shame, I tend to keep from getting burned out.

My minis are game pieces, not works of art. The faster, the better as far as paint techniques go. Thank you for this video!

I am painting an Ork Battlewagon (including FW Supa Kannon) and it's yellow for Bad Moons and fully magnetized. I'm painting the rivets metal and the hammered on ramshackle metal panels either black or metal, flame and checkered patterns and it's getting to be too much.

Another reason you do not want Golden Demon quality miniatures on your gaming table : retractable measuring tapes

I love One Page Rules, but am daunted by the detail in their models as a beginner painter. I would prefer some simpler models that were easier to paint as an option.

I think I managed to get a pretty good mentality down from Marco Frisoni. As long as you do bold important colours with contrast or something. Oil washes can be your only form of shading and sketchy details and the important features of a model are left when you're further than 1 ft away from it

Recently I've been making the most important part of the model painted well then speed paints for the rest! Life is too short to sweat the details!

My standard for the final results on my minis is inversely proportional to my players level of attenction for details. Sad but true

Space marines make their own pouches when they do sleepovers, similar to Vince-con.

Thanks for sharing your insights and experience with the community

Dude. Thank you. This is EXACTLY the advice I needed to hear.

That is candy coat painting 101, that is how candy apple red is applied to cars!

I agree, I never have completed an army until a couple of weeks ago when I just sat down to use only speed paints to do a force of dwarfs and I flew through the project leaving me with table ready force in no time!

I spent so much time practicing painting on cheap models with few and often indistinct details that ignoring them has become second nature to me. The painting method shown in this video is definitely my favorite way to paint most models these days but it does have its limits... The still unpainted Dark Vengeance Librarian sitting on my desk always makes me queasy every time I look at it haha

The six foot rule man. These are mostly gaming pieces after all.

"Where is the imperium getting all of this leather?" Uh.. its people.

Grey Knights are the worst with a absurd amount of details

I love this channel and Ninjon