Hand Painting Models: Beginner’s Guide to Acrylics, Tools & Techniques

By Justin Carlo

on Sep 30, 2025

Hand painting models is one of the most rewarding and accessible ways to bring your kits and miniatures to life. Unlike airbrushing, which requires a larger investment in equipment and space, brush painting can be done almost anywhere with just a few affordable tools. It’s perfect for beginners starting out in the hobby, or experienced modellers who want to add fine details that an airbrush can’t easily reach.

In this guide, we’ll cover the essentials: choosing the right paints, setting up your workspace, understanding paint properties, thinning your paints, troubleshooting adhesion problems, and pro tips to get smooth, consistent finishes.

The Paint: Choosing the Right Type for Hand Painting

While it’s technically possible to brush paint with almost any type of paint, even decanted spray paint, acrylics are the most popular and beginner-friendly option. They are water-based, making them safer to use and easier to clean up compared to enamels or lacquers.

Some commonly used acrylic ranges include:

Tamiya Acrylics
Vallejo Model Color, Game Color, Fantasy Color, and Mecha Color

Each brand offers different consistencies and finishes, giving hobbyists flexibility depending on the effect they want to achieve.

The Setup: Essential Tools for Brush Painting

Since acrylics are water-based, you can use water to wash your brushes or dilute your paint. A simple hand-painting setup includes:

A jar or mug filled with water – for cleaning brushes.
Paper towels – for wiping away excess paint and drying brushes.
A palette – a clean surface to thin and mix your paints.

With this simple setup, you’ll be ready to tackle most hand painting projects.

P.O.P. – Properties of Paint (Viscosity, Finish, Coverage)

Paint straight from the pot or dropper bottle can vary in thickness. For example:

Tamiya Acrylics – generally thinner.
Vallejo Game Color – medium thickness.
Vallejo Model Color – typically thicker and creamier.

Other paint properties to consider:

Finish – Some pigments, such as white, naturally dry with a chalkier or rougher texture. Applying several thin coats helps achieve a smoother result.
Coverage – Colours like yellow and metallic silver often have lower opacity, making multiple layers or priming essential for solid coverage.

Pictured: white painted hastily, leading to an uneven, gritty finish

Coverage of paint is another aspect that may arise and manifest as paint that is difficult to block in a coat or achieves low opacity in each coat. Some common offenders of this are yellow paints and metallic silver paints.

Pictured: a poorly covering yellow painted over a black, in 1, 2 and 3 layers respectively. Note, this is painted over black and straight out of the bottle. Two things you should avoid when painting yellow

Achieving a Smooth, Consistent Colour

As the saying goes: “two thin coats.” Applying several thinned layers of paint almost always delivers a smoother, more professional result than one heavy coat.

How to thin your paints:

Place paint onto your palette.
Add a little water or a dedicated thinner, (e.g., Vallejo Paint Thinner, Tamiya X-20A).
Aim for a consistency between milk and cream—smooth enough to flow from the brush without running.

When applied properly, thinned paint creates even coats without brush marks or lumps. Don’t worry if some colours require more than two coats—layering is part of the process.

Pictured: unthinned paint on the left versus thinned on the right. Note the differences in consistency.

When applied to a surface, it should look like this.

Pictured: on the left shoulder, there are two thinned coat,s while on the righ,t there is ,one leading to an inconsistent lumpy texture versus the smooth opaque coat on the left.

Pictured: left shoulder from a better angle with 2 thin coats

By following this approach, it should be easy to get consistent, great-looking colours onto a surface of any size. The example we used here was a paint with good coverage; however, don’t worry if you need to do more than 2 coats to get a finish you are happy with. As you become more experienced, feel free to experiment mor,e as there are also some paints that don’t need to be thinned as much.

Painting with Non-Acrylics

While acrylics are the go-to choice for beginners, other paint types are also used in the hobby:

Enamels – require mineral spirits or turpentine for thinning and cleaning.
Lacquers – thinned with lacquer thinner; strong fumes make ventilation essential.
Oils – thinned with turpentine; excellent for blending and weathering effects.

The same hand-painting techniques apply, but always use the appropriate thinner and take safety precautions, especially with solvent-based paints.

A Note on Poor Adherence: Priming, Cleaning, and Sanding

When hand painting sometimes the paint may not adhere properly or pool on a surface like water on glass. This can be the result of 3 common causes:

Thinning paint too much

This can lead to paint pooling or spilling over where you intended to paint. Luckily, the fix for this is quite easy, being to thin the paint less and find a ratio that works for that specific mix. Additionally, you can use a finger piece of paper towel or a cloth to wipe off any excess.

Mould release

If over thinning isn't the issue, it is likely something that can be amended through preparation of the model prior to painting. This can differ from model to model, but one common cause of primer not sticking or paint peeling is mould release. This is grease put on moulds to allow the plastic or resin to easily come out of the moulds, but has the byproduct of making it harder for paint to stick to surfaces with it. This is relatively easy to fix by washing your pieces in warm, soapy water.

Priming

Another cause may be that the plastic doesn't take paint well, in which case it is a good idea to prime your model. This involves brushing or spraying on primer. Primer is a paint that is tougher, more adhesive and provides a good surface that paint will readily stick to. It can be applied with a brush or airbrush but we recommend using a spray can as a massive time saver.

Glossy or smooth surfaces

Sometimes a surface will simply be too smooth or glossy for anything to readily adhere to, in which case sanding the surface with a high grit sandpaper, e.g. 1000-2000, will create a surface to which paint will be able to readily adhere.

Bringing Your Models to Life with Hand Painting

Hand painting may be one of the simplest ways to colour a model, but it’s also one of the most versatile. With the right hobby supplies like paints, proper thinning, and good preparation, you can achieve smooth finishes, sharp details, and long-lasting results without expensive gear.

Whether you’re painting a Gundam, a scale aircraft, a train carriage, or a fantasy miniature, the same fundamentals apply: prepare your surface, thin your paints, build colour with multiple coats, and protect your work with a clear varnish.

Hand painting is a technique that many experienced hobbyists continue to use for precision and expression. The more you practice, the more confidence you’ll build, and soon your collection will carry your own unique touch.

So grab your brushes, set up your palette, and bring your models to life, one thin coat at a time.

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