From Crazy Idea to Finished Army: Painting 1,300 Minis

 

 

What started as a wild holiday project turned into one of my most rewarding hobby challenges yet—over 1,000 miniatures painted in less than a month. 

 

Last summer, back in 2024, I somehow convinced myself it was a good idea to start painting over 1,300 miniatures in 1:100 scale. Yep, you read that right—one thousand tiny soldiers.

The original plan was to tackle the Hannibal Epic Battles set, but since it wasn’t in stock, I wandered into my local hobby shop and came out with the Push of Pike Epic Battles starter box. Not a bad trade-off—it covers the Thirty Years’ War, and Croats even fought in it, so I felt like I had some skin in the game.

Now, painting 100 minis is already enough to test anyone’s patience. Painting 1,300+? That’s just asking for madness. But I had a secret weapon: SpeedPaints colours. Without them, I’d probably still be staring at grey plastic today.

Day one: painted a single sprue (miniatures from one sprue).
Day two: doubled it.
Day three and onwards: four or five sprues a day. Suddenly, the impossible started looking… well, possible.

At this point, you might be wondering—did I sleep at all? Did I eat? Did I skip the beach with my family? Relax—I still enjoyed the holiday with them. I just cut out some “non-essentials”: no TV, no afternoon naps, and slightly less sleep at night. (Okay, maybe my family thought I was a little crazy… but hey, better that than grumpy!)

Once I figured out the routine, the whole process felt almost mechanical. Wash, prime, dry brush, SpeedPaint, wash again, base, done. Rinse and repeat.
Here’s the workflow that kept me sane:

1.      Snip minis off the sprue, clean them up, stick them on temporary bases

2.      Wash in warm, soapy water → dry → prime black (Vallejo)

3.      Dry brush with white

4.      Slap on SpeedPaints

5.      Light dry brush with a brighter Citadel shade

6.      Army Painter washes

7.      Quick detail touch-ups, then glue onto bases

8.      Add fine sea sand with white glue

9.      Paint bases in earthy browns, yellows, greens

10.  Attach and weather the flags

Steps 8–10 actually waited until I was back home from holiday—sand and glue don’t exactly mix well with beach trips.

In the end, I did it: in less than a month, over 1,300 painted minis—infantry, cavalry, artillery, and even a bit of terrain.
What began as a ridiculously ambitious idea turned into something not only doable but fun. (Okay, “fun” in the way only fellow hobbyists will understand!)

Here are some photos to prove I wasn’t completely out of my mind…

 

 

 

TomZG 2025-05

Ritterlich im Kriege, wachsam für den Frieden

Deutsches Afrika Korps on the Table… 

Last weekend I painted 18 DAK infantry for Bolt Action (BA).
Below are the painting steps and the list of paints I used… in case anyone likes it 😊

1.    I primed the figures with Earth Green (Early) (Vallejo).
2.    Did a dry brush over the figures with an old, worn-out brush using Pale Yellow Green (Ammo).
3.    Painted the uniforms with several colors – Yellow Green (Vallejo), Deathworld Forest (Citadel), and a mix of those with a little Sand Yellow (Vallejo).
4.    Faces and hands painted with Barbarian Flesh (Army Painter).
5.    Webbing painted with Iraqui Sand (Vallejo).
6.    Boots, shovel pouches, ammo pouches, and weapon straps painted with Red Leather (Vallejo).
7.    Ammo pouches highlighted again with Khaki (Vallejo).
8.    Canteens painted with Flat Earth (Vallejo).
9.    Areas between boots and trousers painted with German Camo Beige (Vallejo).
10.    Applied a slightly heavy dry brush of Desert Yellow (Vallejo) over everything.
11.    Wooden parts painted with Light Brown (Ammo).
12.    Helmets and gas mask canisters painted with Sand Yellow (Vallejo).
13.    Tops of grenades, canteen caps, and future metal parts of weapons painted with Black Grey (Vallejo).
14.    Belt buckles painted with some kind of Metallic (Vallejo).
15.    Scarves painted in several shades – Blue Green (Vallejo), Troll Slayer Orange (Citadel), and Mephiston Red (Citadel) as the base.

16.    Applied a wash made from a mix of several bottles:
•    3 parts Military Shade (Army Painter)
•    2 parts Sepia Tone (Army Painter)
•    2 parts Strong Tone (Army Painter)
•    2 parts Speedpaint Medium (Army Painter)
•    2 parts water


Let everything dry for about 2 hours.
17.    For metallic parts I used some Vallejo silver paint stored in a Citadel bottle.
18.    Gave the webbing a light pass with Pale Yellow Green.
19.    Added small dots/spots on helmets with Iraqui Sand (Vallejo).
20.    Applied Tanned Flesh (Army Painter) to faces and hands.
21.    Then covered faces and hands with Darkoath Flesh Contrast (Citadel).
22.    Finally, touched up faces and hands again with Barbarian Flesh (Army Painter).

The figures are finished, though there are still some small fixes left…
Basing – Decorating and Painting the Bases…
1.    Applied white wood glue to the bases and sprinkled on fine sea sand borrowed from the Adriatic 😊.
2.    Once dry, painted the sand first with Earth Green (Vallejo).
3.    Strong dry brush on the sand with Pale Yellow Green (Vallejo).
4.    Then a lighter dry brush with Sand Yellow (Vallejo).
5.    Final layer is a mix of Sand Yellow and White (both Vallejo).

Drying takes about half an hour at most, then I glaze the bases with contrast…

Contrast mix:
•    Agrax Earthshade (Citadel)
•    Gore-Grunta Fur Contrast (Citadel)
•    Nazdreg Yellow Contrast (Citadel)
•    Rust (Vallejo)
•    A little water

Dried overnight, then photos for the blog…

Haiku:
Stari kist leti,
Prolivene boje plaču,
Prljave ruke 

TomZG 2025_04