Techniques
Finish
Finish is where a build stops looking like parts and starts looking like a model: paint, decals, stickers and the last details.
Kits and minis
Prime before painting, even under a dark base coat. Primer gives paint something consistent to key to, on both plastic and resin.
Build colour in thin coats rather than one thick one. Thin coats keep panel lines and detail crisp and dry faster between layers.
Decals and transfers want a gloss surface underneath and a sealing coat over the top, or they are more likely to silver or lift at the edges.
Bench tip. Test a new paint or technique on a spare sprue part or an old figure first, not on the model you have spent the most time on.
Brick builds
Decide early whether a set uses printed parts or stickers. Printed parts survive handling and rebuilds far better than stickers.
Apply a sticker to a clean, dust-free surface in one slow pass from one edge. Repositioning it usually leaves a crease or an air bubble.
If you are adding a lighting kit, plan the wiring route while the model is still open. Running cable through a finished build usually means taking parts back off.
Bench tip. A sticker applied slightly warm, after a few minutes in a warm room, sits down flatter than one applied cold.
Technique guides
Decal silvering: what causes it and how to fix it
Silvering is the shiny, frosted look a waterslide decal gets when air is trapped under its clear film. It is far easier to prevent than to cure. Here is how.
Your first coat of primer
Why priming matters, rattle can versus brush-on, and how to lay down thin, even coats before you reach for colour.
Priming problems: frosted, grainy or tacky primer and how to avoid them
Spray primer that goes on chalky, gritty or sticky is almost always a weather or technique problem. This explains the causes, the conditions to aim for, and what to do with a model that has already gone wrong.
Wet palette: what it does and a DIY version
A wet palette keeps acrylic paint workable for hours instead of minutes. Here is how it works, how to make one from household items, and how to stop it going wrong.
Related guides
Painting basics
Seven stages every painting guide on this site builds on: priming, base coats, washes, layering, highlighting, basing and varnish. Method and materials follow Army Painter's own technique guides in the sources below; we have not run every step on one model ourselves. Works for plastic kits and miniatures alike.
Researched method, not a tested build
Sources
- The Army Painter: Using Colour Primers . Confirms: 15 to 27°C and 40 to 60% humidity; shake 1 minute; test spray; 15 to 20 cm; thin coats . Checked 31 Oct 2026.
- The Army Painter: How to Prime Miniatures in Humid or Cold Weather . Confirms: Causes of chalky, fuzzy and tacky primer; warm the can; below about 10°C or above 65% humidity switch to brush-on or airbrush; strip heavy fuzz . Checked 31 Oct 2026.
- Microscale: Micro Set and Micro Sol instructions . Confirms: Micro Set improves adhesion and prevents tiny air bubbles; Micro Sol softens decal; do not touch until dry; seal with Micro Coat . Checked 31 Oct 2026.
- The Mighty Brush: How to apply decals with Microset and Microsol . Confirms: Gloss first; soak about 10 seconds; damp cotton bud; prick bubbles and reapply Micro Sol . Checked 31 Oct 2026.
- Winterdyne tutorial: decal application (PDF) . Confirms: Matt surface traps air under decals causing silvering; gloss first; slit decals over recesses only when dry; seal with gloss . Checked 1 Nov 2026 (archived copy; the live page now 500s).