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FREEHAND DETAIL

Preparation

Before starting in with detail, I like to put a coat of matte sealer on the underlying painted surface—mistakes are a little easier to remove and I’m less likely to damage the completed work.


I dilute my paint for nearly all detailing with a mixture of water and flow improver. This image shows three paint consistencies on my palette. Top to bottom: undiluted from the bottle, diluted to 'basecoat' or medium consistency, diluted to wash consistency. Note the difference in transparency. For details I thin the paint anywhere from the medium to the wash consistency. Your paint should flow off the brush without a lot of pressure, but should still have some opacity.

The amount of paint in the brush is also important. There should be a small reservoir, allowing you to make several strokes without reloading, but not so much paint that it runs on the mini. I typically dip my brush, then draw it against the edge of my palette or a damp paper towel to remove a little paint, leaving the brush lightly loaded. It’s also a way to shape your brush into a flat ‘spear’, the narrow side of which will fit into tighter spaces and create a finer line than a round brush tip.

Visualize your design. This will save trouble later! Sketch it out, both large enough to see and at ‘actual’ size. It may be helpful to cut a strip or shape of masking tape (stick it to fabric a couple of times to reduce the tack first) and put it on the mini. This is useful if the design is going to fall into deep folds or angles, obscuring part of it. I’ve penciled in patterns on the primer coat, and I’ve photographed the model for a Photoshop composite to see if I’ll like the result.

Establish guides if you don’t trust your eye. I use a variety of methods for centering, outlining, and so forth. Thinned paint—almost wash consistency—can be used to make small, light marks which will be painted over later. Use a guide to maintain an even depth on borders; a ‘ruler’ can be cut from a bit of paper or plastic, or masking tape or fluid applied and removed once the base color is added.