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