Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 7: Finishing and Painting a 3D Print
So, now that you've got your mini printed, how do you finish it? The first step is to clean up the model, as 3D printing can leave little artifacts that you probably don't want on your finished piece. The first step is to remove any supports from the print. Next, I remove any strings or other bits of loose plastic. As I wrote about before, I love to use my soldering iron for this step, as it zaps thinner strings pretty much instantly and allows me to really control the application of heat to the model so that it doesn't warp or deform. After those two steps are completed, it's time to start thinking about how the model's going to need to look over all.
My first decision point is, do I want to apply a polyurethane coat under my paint? The answer to that question depends on how smooth I want this model to be. If it's something like a slime or an ooze, I need it to be very smooth, but that's not necessarily right for a normal adventurer. Polyurethane works great for smoothing out layer lines and, if you paint it on gingerly, won't obscure fine details. That said, I have avoided using it on my minis, because .05 mm layers don't generally need that much smoothing. I used it very successfully on some of my .1 mm terrain prints though and could certainly see using it on some minis (or even some parts of some minis).
My next decision point is what kind of primer to use. I've had pretty good luck with painting 3D printed plastics directly, but I've had noticeably better results by priming first. Priming can also help to hide layer lines and is often all you need on a .05 mm print. I like to prime with a neutral tone, frequently either grey or aluminum metallic, although I use brown, white, or black where appropriate. For things like old wooden doors or chests, a black primer works great, as it gets down into those cracks and lets me paint with lighter browns over the raised surface.
I almost always prime my character minis with a light grey. It's a nice easy color to paint over, so works well there. If I have a character who needs to be largely another color though, I will just prime it in that color. For example, I primed my Earth Demons with brown, then used a wash to bring out the darker spaces and lighter browns over the light spots. On the other hand, I really like to use semi-transparent paints (I specifically use Ghost Tints and brush them on), so for characters like the Black Imp or the Harrower Infester, I'll sometimes get a bit more creative. I primed both of those with an aluminum colored metallic primer, then painted over that with the colored paint.
On the Black Imps, we (my wife and I) painted the insides of their mouths purple and their tongues red, but left the body alone. Then, we painted over the whole thing with Oil Discharge, which is a semi-transparent black that created a lot of depth over the metallic primer (it's thicker than a wash but thinner than a normal paint).
The Harrower Infester got a flat purple over its whole robe, then I experimented with several layers of ghost tints on its legs to try and make a chitinous effect. I first did an orange layer, then I used Oil Discharge over the almost whole thing, painting very heavily on the robe and lighter over the legs (I avoided the metallic armor and weapons). I wasn't happy with the color on the legs yet, so I did a brown layer on top of that. I really liked the color that I came up with, but the tints like to flow so that technique accentuated the layer lines more than I'd've liked. It's not as apparent in real life as it is in the close-up photos, though. On models #2 and #3, I ended up doing a normal paint orange as my first layer on the legs, which helped to fill in those layer lines a bit and made a smoother finish. In hindsight, coating the legs with polyurethane would've probably worked wonderfully, but I had run out and so didn't have that option while working on those models.
Regardless of your priming decisions, your next step is to paint the model. There are many excellent tutorials on mini painting and, by this point, your 3D printed mini should behave more or less like any other mini that you may have purchased (with the caveat that your layer lines might cause thinner paints to flow in undesirable ways). The same thing applies for applying protective coats - do it just like any other mini.
On characters, I'll use a dull coat, a satin or a gloss finish, depending on what I'm going for. On terrain (or pieces that I expect to be treated roughly, like the buildings for Scythe), I'll sometimes use the polyurethane as the protective coat (applying Dull Cote on top of it to take off the shine if needed). The polyurethane coat "feels" stronger, in that two such coated pieces "clink" and bounce off of each other with no sense of tacky grip or friction, but I haven't yet run into problems with chipping or wearing on any of my painted minis.
And that's it!
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 1: Modeling Software
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 2: Printing Software
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 3: Downloading Models
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 4: Cutting Basics
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 5: Cutting and Supporting a Mini
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 6: Slicing a Mini
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 7: Finishing and Painting a 3D Print
My first decision point is, do I want to apply a polyurethane coat under my paint? The answer to that question depends on how smooth I want this model to be. If it's something like a slime or an ooze, I need it to be very smooth, but that's not necessarily right for a normal adventurer. Polyurethane works great for smoothing out layer lines and, if you paint it on gingerly, won't obscure fine details. That said, I have avoided using it on my minis, because .05 mm layers don't generally need that much smoothing. I used it very successfully on some of my .1 mm terrain prints though and could certainly see using it on some minis (or even some parts of some minis).
My next decision point is what kind of primer to use. I've had pretty good luck with painting 3D printed plastics directly, but I've had noticeably better results by priming first. Priming can also help to hide layer lines and is often all you need on a .05 mm print. I like to prime with a neutral tone, frequently either grey or aluminum metallic, although I use brown, white, or black where appropriate. For things like old wooden doors or chests, a black primer works great, as it gets down into those cracks and lets me paint with lighter browns over the raised surface.
I almost always prime my character minis with a light grey. It's a nice easy color to paint over, so works well there. If I have a character who needs to be largely another color though, I will just prime it in that color. For example, I primed my Earth Demons with brown, then used a wash to bring out the darker spaces and lighter browns over the light spots. On the other hand, I really like to use semi-transparent paints (I specifically use Ghost Tints and brush them on), so for characters like the Black Imp or the Harrower Infester, I'll sometimes get a bit more creative. I primed both of those with an aluminum colored metallic primer, then painted over that with the colored paint.
On the Black Imps, we (my wife and I) painted the insides of their mouths purple and their tongues red, but left the body alone. Then, we painted over the whole thing with Oil Discharge, which is a semi-transparent black that created a lot of depth over the metallic primer (it's thicker than a wash but thinner than a normal paint).
The Harrower Infester got a flat purple over its whole robe, then I experimented with several layers of ghost tints on its legs to try and make a chitinous effect. I first did an orange layer, then I used Oil Discharge over the almost whole thing, painting very heavily on the robe and lighter over the legs (I avoided the metallic armor and weapons). I wasn't happy with the color on the legs yet, so I did a brown layer on top of that. I really liked the color that I came up with, but the tints like to flow so that technique accentuated the layer lines more than I'd've liked. It's not as apparent in real life as it is in the close-up photos, though. On models #2 and #3, I ended up doing a normal paint orange as my first layer on the legs, which helped to fill in those layer lines a bit and made a smoother finish. In hindsight, coating the legs with polyurethane would've probably worked wonderfully, but I had run out and so didn't have that option while working on those models.
Regardless of your priming decisions, your next step is to paint the model. There are many excellent tutorials on mini painting and, by this point, your 3D printed mini should behave more or less like any other mini that you may have purchased (with the caveat that your layer lines might cause thinner paints to flow in undesirable ways). The same thing applies for applying protective coats - do it just like any other mini.
On characters, I'll use a dull coat, a satin or a gloss finish, depending on what I'm going for. On terrain (or pieces that I expect to be treated roughly, like the buildings for Scythe), I'll sometimes use the polyurethane as the protective coat (applying Dull Cote on top of it to take off the shine if needed). The polyurethane coat "feels" stronger, in that two such coated pieces "clink" and bounce off of each other with no sense of tacky grip or friction, but I haven't yet run into problems with chipping or wearing on any of my painted minis.
And that's it!
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 1: Modeling Software
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 2: Printing Software
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 3: Downloading Models
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 4: Cutting Basics
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 5: Cutting and Supporting a Mini
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 6: Slicing a Mini
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 7: Finishing and Painting a 3D Print
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