Over the years The Courier has published a number of articles about painting techniques, color combinations and helpful suggestions on improving your speed and accuracy with a paint brush. But as we tell customers at Jenkintown Hobby Center, where you apply your skill is fundamentally crucial to your overall success. The purpose of this article is to offer some suggestions on how to organize the area where you will spend many hours preparing and painting your figures for the wargaming table.

Your painting location should be permanent and be situated where it will not get in the way of normal day-to-day household activities. Most painters we know usually end up with their painting area in the corner of their basement. This probably the worst place to paint.

It is ultimately too dark, often too moist and usually very dusty. Both of us have opted to set up studios specifically for figure painting and scenery design. This is probably the best of all possible worlds since you have a room set aside for hobby activities, can control the temperature and humidity and have the advantage of fresh air and sunlight while you work on your latest project.

To keep peace in the family, it is highly recommended that these areas be cleaned on a regular basis and purchasing a small portable vacuum cleaner to pickup the odd fragments of metal or pieces of epoxy will keep your popularity rating on the high end of the spectrum.

Next, select your painting table. The table should be sturdy and at a comfortable height for prolonged activity. Draftsman tables are fine as are industrial strength folding tables or butcher block tables. Avoid card tables, TV tray tables or other flimsy ites. Beauty is not the key here, durability is.

The surface of the table should be smooth and dry. Do not worry about the finish - you will mess that up soon enough.

Dimensions

Large Illustration of Table (44K)

The table's dimensions should be at least four feet wide by three feet deep. Ironically enough, if you are like most painters you will inevitably paint in an area that is no more than eight inches deep and twelve inches wide. However, you will need the rest of the space to hold tools, painting supplies and all those primed figures you hope to paint sometime in the future.

Turning our attention to the tools you will need, we will start with brushes. The best brush for painting metal figures over the long haul is one with nylon bristles. Certainly nylon holds up better with acrylic paints and is easy to clean. Many painters will still argue for red sable but which ever you use, make sure they are of high quality. Avoid the cheaper brushes and you won't be disappointed.

Remembering that you always paint with the point of the brush, keeping that point firm and sharp is vital to producing a good product. Therefore, it is imperative that your brushes be cleaned after every application of a different color. Now we realize that this means more work and valuable time spent, but keeping your brushes in top condition will save you time and frustration over the long run.

Clean Brushes

To keep your brushes clean, your list of supplies should include a paint tub and paint soap. Paint tubs can be purchased in most hobby shops. Get one that is multi sectional. Paint tubs are about six inches in diameter and only should be used with water to clean brushes used with acrylic paint. Wash your brush in each section clockwise, so that each time you wash the brush you are using cleaner water. Change the water fairly frequently for best results.

After using the paint tub, rub some paint soap on the wet brush and gently massage the bristles. There are a variety of paint soaps on the market, but we recommend Old Master which is reasonably priced. When not using your brushes, always keep them upright on a brush carousel. This will avoid the possibility of the bristles being bent by leaning against the painting table or some other object.

You should also have at hand a variety of rags for wiping your brush clean or for those occasional spills that are inevitable in our hobby. Never use paper products for cleaning brushes. The paper soon frays and the fibers will attach themselves to anything wet, including your figures. Old tee-shirts cut into six or eight inch squares work well.

Knives

We have addressed the issue of X-acto knives, files and other cutting and shaping tools in previous articles. You need basically two types of knives, a flat edge and the standard pointed blade X-acto. These blades will dull after some use, especially the pointed variety. Keep some extras on hand. The place to store your additional blades is in a block of balsa wood. It is inexpensive, durable and safe. Simply stick the blades in the block when not in use.

Now let's look at paints. Your paints should always be grouped by color for easy identification. Also avoid having too many bottles of paint on the table. Store separately those extra bottles or odd colors that are rarely used. The idea is to avoid clutter in your work area. It is also a good idea to have on hand an assort-ment of pre-mixed washes which will speed up your painting process.

There are also some great wetting agents on the market that will help make painting more fun. For acrylic paints try Acrylic Flow Improver available at most art and hobby stores. Adding this liquid to acrylic paints will give you a smoother flow as you apply the paint. It works better than water and a little lasts a long time. For oil based paints we use the classic Japan Dryer which will help you get a flat finish by mixing it with oil based paints before you begin to paint.

Opti-Visor

Another item you might want to consider is an optic-visor. This marvelous appliance consists of a plastic loop that is adjust-able and fits around the head and a movable visor which contains two glass magnifiers. If you wear glasses, the optic-vision will easily fit over them. It comes in a variety of magnifying strengths from two to ten times normal vision. Try several strength types until you find the one that best fits your needs.

Finally, let's look at lighting. As mentioned earlier, you should have a painting location where you can utilize natural light. Not only will this help the quality of your finished product but a window with a view helps to break up the monotony of the task.

Because of normal working schedules, much of your painting will be done in the evenings and therefore your choice of artificial light becomes critical. Your painting lamp should be stable, preferably clamped to your painting table. There are a number of different models available on the market, but we would suggest a quality artist lamp with both a florescent bulb (white light) and an incandescent bulb (yellow light). These lamps are not cheap, but are built to last and worth the price.

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