RPG Miniatures: How to Choose and Paint Figures for Your Campaign
Getting a miniature on the table that actually represents your character is one of the best feelings in tabletop RPG. Whether you're a player wanting something personal to push around the grid, or a GM building out a roster of memorable NPCs and bosses, the figure you choose and how you paint it matters more than most people expect. Here's how I approach it, from picking the right model through to the finished paint job.
Choosing the Right Figure
Start with silhouette and class archetype. A wizard needs flowing robes and a staff. A barbarian needs muscle, fur, and attitude. Sounds obvious, but it's easy to fall in love with a sculpt that doesn't actually read as your character at arm's length across a gaming table. Think about how the model will look at distance, not just up close in your hand.
Scale matters too. Most RPG campaigns run on 28mm or 32mm bases, which fits standard grids and dungeon tiles. If you want a display piece or a centrepiece boss, something larger like an 80mm figure is a different beast entirely, more detail, more presence, and genuinely impressive when it hits the table. A piece like the Grand Wizard Eldric works brilliantly as a BBEG or a major quest-giver NPC, the kind of figure that makes players sit up a bit straighter. For a party barbarian character, Barbarian Girl Ragna has the right energy and reads clearly across a table.
If you need a whole encounter's worth of terrain-scale pieces, a set like the Inside the Magic Forest Set at 32mm gives you immediate atmosphere without needing to build out pieces one at a time.
Priming and Basecoating
Resin takes primer differently to plastic. Use a dedicated primer, either brush-on or rattle can, and give it a light zenithal if you want a head start on your shading. Zenithal just means hitting the model with black from below, then white from directly above. It bakes in your light source before you've touched a brush.
For basecoats, keep it thin. Two or three diluted coats over a solid primer beats one thick coat every time. I use a wet palette for almost everything at this stage to keep the paint workable. Vallejo Game Color and Citadel base paints both sit well over resin primer.
Shading and Layering
Nuln Oil is still the fastest way to add depth to armour and dark fabrics. Agrax Earthshade does the same for leather, wood, and skin if you're not going for a particularly clean look. Apply washes into the recesses rather than flooding the whole surface, you'll save yourself a lot of cleanup work.
Layering up from the basecoat is where the model starts to feel painted rather than just coloured in. Add your midtone, then a highlight on the uppermost edges. For cloth, I'll often glaze a lighter version of the base colour over raised areas before hitting the very edge with a fine line highlight. It takes longer but the result is much smoother.
Eyes, Faces, and Focal Points
Eyes are where most people get nervous, and honestly, for gaming pieces, a solid dark dot with a tiny white reflection is enough. Paint the eyeball white, add a dark brown or black iris, and if your brush control is there, a single white dot in the upper corner. Done. Faces generally get the most attention from viewers so it's worth spending a bit more time on skin tones, but don't let it become a blocker that keeps the model unfinished.
Basing
The base ties everything together and tells a story about where your character lives. PVA and sand for a quick textured ground. Tufts and static grass for grassland or forest settings. For a dungeon crawler vibe, grey textured paste or small stone pieces work well. Paint the rim black before you call the model done. It's a small thing that makes everything look intentional.
A character like Azazel the Demon rewards a more dramatic basing approach, cracked earth, OSL from below suggesting hellfire, that sort of thing. Let the sculpt tell you what the base wants to be.
The main thing is to get paint on the model. A painted miniature at 80% of your ability is always better than a perfect one that's still grey on your desk six months later.