Weathering

After finishing the painting of your figure, and before you apply a sealer, always don�t forget about weathering. Many new miniature modellers forget that weathering is part and parcel of the storytelling process.

If we study closely photos of soldiers in real life situations, we will see that their uniforms and equipment have some signs of wear and tear on them.

Muddied boots tells us that the subject came from a wet terrain while worn out uniform can tell us that the subject could be a combat veteran, a new uniform might be a rookie etc.This are the subtle details that can be easily missed but can actually add to the overall storyline.

Balance

When I started trying weathering my miniature figures, my initial thought was to apply weathering effects as much as possible and make my miniature figure look really worn out. As I gradually found out, one has to balance between being realistic and artistic. Over-weathering your miniature figure might erase all the hours of paintwork like blending and feathering.

Having a critical eye in choosing what to weather or not is important. So remember to start experimenting with weathering by looking at works of others once you completed your model.

Effects

There are many different ways to do weathering. Some miniature modellers use drybrushing, some scraping paint while some other use the stippling technique. No matter what it is, the more techniques you try out eventually you will setlle upon what you like most.

Certain miniature figure manufacturers also come up with their own versions of weathering sets like the Tamiya weathering sets and Mig Production Pigments.

Sealers

Sealers in general art and craft work are three types -matt, satin and gloss. When we talk about miniatures we only deal with matt and gloss sealers-Thank God! Understanding which one to use and how to apply it correctly will definitely aid me alot when I first started the hobby.

Matt Sealers

Some call it Dull Cote, matt sealers comes come in different types from differing manufacturers. Testors manufactures Dull Cote specially for enamel paint users. Vallejo produces Matt sealers for acrylics. Another type of Matt sealers comes in aerosol spray cans too.

For brush on Matt sealers, the key is to dilute the sealers before applying to the miniature. The trick about sealers is to apply very lightly and thin. Over application will ultimately make the miniature appear glossy-the opposite of what is intended.

If you are using a spray on sealer, make sure you spray at the right distance while moving the model around to avoid staying on one position and clogging up your miniature with too much sealer. That may cause the matt sealer to become glossy if applied too much or incorrectly.

Gloss Sealers

Similar in variety to matt sealers, gloss sealers are used in limited effects in miniature modelling. Normally when shiny objects like glass or wet effects are required, they come into use. Apart from that, stay away from gloss sealers as they also don't appear good in photos if used as an overall sealer- it kills realism.