How to Paint Resin Miniatures: A Complete Guide

How to Paint Resin Model Kits: A Complete Beginner's Guide

Resin kits are some of the most rewarding things you can paint. The detail is sharper than plastic, the casts hold fine texture beautifully, and a finished piece looks genuinely impressive on a shelf. But resin has a reputation for being tricky, and honestly, most of that reputation comes from skipping the prep work. Follow the steps below and the material will behave itself.

This guide walks through everything from pulling the kit out of the bag to applying the final varnish. It assumes you've never painted resin before and doesn't assume you own a spray booth or an airbrush.

Step 1 — Prepare the Resin

Wash off the mould release agent

Every resin kit comes coated in a mould release agent — a slippery chemical the manufacturer sprays into the mould so the cast pops out cleanly. It is invisible and it will stop primer from sticking. Skipping this wash is the single most common reason paint peels off resin weeks later.

The fix is simple: drop the parts in a bowl of warm water with a few drops of dish soap (plain unscented washing-up liquid works perfectly), scrub every surface with an old toothbrush for two or three minutes, then rinse thoroughly in clean water and leave to dry completely — at least a few hours, ideally overnight. Do not skip the drying step; moisture under primer causes its own problems.

Remove mould lines and clean up flash

Resin casts often have thin fins of material (flash) where the two halves of the mould met, and a faint ridge (the mould line) running across surfaces. Run your finger over the surface and you'll feel them.

• Use a sharp hobby knife or a dedicated mould-line scraper to shave off flash. Work lightly — resin cuts easily and you don't want to gouge the surface detail.
• For mould lines on flat or curved surfaces, a piece of fine sandpaper (400 grit) wrapped around a piece of sprue or a flat tile lets you sand with even pressure.
• On very fine detail, a round nail-art file or a needle file reaches into recesses a blade can't.

After any sanding, wash the parts again with soap and water to remove resin dust before moving on.

Pinning (optional but recommended)

Resin is heavier than plastic and the bond between two resin surfaces can snap under its own weight over time. If you're assembling a multi-part kit — especially anything with a heavy torso on thin legs, or a weapon arm — drill a small pilot hole into each joining surface, glue in a short length of steel wire (a straightened paper clip or purpose-made pinning wire), and let that wire do the structural work alongside the glue. Super glue (cyanoacrylate) is the standard adhesive for resin-to-resin joints.

Step 2 — Prime

Primer does two jobs: it gives paint a mechanical surface to grip, and it reveals every surface defect you missed in prep. Both are important.

For resin, a rattle-can automotive primer or a dedicated miniature hobby primer both work well. Apply in light, even coats from about 30 cm away — you want a thin, even layer, not a heavy coat that fills in the detail you're paying for. Two light passes are better than one heavy one.

Grey primer is the most versatile choice for unpainted grey-resin kits because it gives you a neutral mid-tone to judge colours against. Black primer makes shadows deeper and speeds up darker paint schemes. White primer makes colours more vivid and is helpful for very bright or yellow-heavy palettes.

Once the primer is fully cured (usually 30–60 minutes for spray primer in a warm room), inspect the piece under a strong light. Any rough patches, air bubbles, or mould lines you missed will show up now. Sand, fill, or scrape as needed, then re-prime those areas before moving on.

Step 3 — Basecoat

The basecoat is your foundation colour — the main mid-tone shade for each element of the model. A stone statue might be a medium warm grey; armour might be a flat silver or a dark steel; wood grain might be a middle brown.

Thin your paint with a little water or medium until it flows off the brush without pooling. Two or three thin coats will give you a smooth, even layer that doesn't obscure detail. At this stage you're just covering the primer; you're not trying to be precise.

Step 4 — Wash

This is the step that makes resin models look good with the least effort. A wash is a very thin, heavily diluted paint (or a purpose-made shade product) that flows into recesses and naturally darkens the low points while leaving raised surfaces relatively lighter.

Apply the wash generously over the whole area, then leave it to dry completely without touching it. The capillary action does the work for you. A dark brown wash over stone looks like settled dirt and age; a dark grey or black wash over metal reads as grime and shadow.

If the wash pools too heavily on flat surfaces, you can dilute it further, or gently lift excess with a clean slightly-damp brush before it dries.

Step 5 — Drybrush

Drybrushing is the technique that brings out the texture in resin better than almost anything else, and it's forgiving enough for complete beginners. Load a stiff flat brush with paint, wipe almost all of it off on a piece of kitchen paper until the brush leaves only a faint smear, then drag it lightly across the surface. The tiny amount of paint remaining catches only on the raised edges and texture, leaving a highlight that reads as reflected light.

Use a colour one or two shades lighter than your basecoat. For stone, a light grey or off-white works well. For metal, a bright silver over a darker steel basecoat creates an instant worn-edge effect.

Step 6 — Layer and Highlight

Layering means applying progressively lighter (or sometimes more saturated) colours to raised surfaces, blending the transitions as you go. It adds depth beyond what drybrushing alone achieves, and it's where a model starts to look polished.

Use a small brush with a good point and work carefully on edges, tips, and the uppermost surfaces — the parts that would catch the most light. You don't need to blend perfectly; small overlapping passes of thinned paint build up naturally.

The final highlight is often near-pure white, cream, or bright metal, applied only to the sharpest edges. It's a subtle touch but it reads as craftsmanship from across the room.

Step 7 — Varnish

Varnish protects everything you've done. Without it, dry-brushed highlights in particular will rub off with handling. Apply a coat of matt varnish (matte sealer) once all paint is completely dry. It removes the slight sheen paint can leave and gives the piece a natural, flat finish that suits most model subjects.

If you want certain surfaces to look wet or metallic — water, polished armour, gemstones — apply gloss varnish to those specific areas after the matt coat has dried. The contrast between matt and gloss finishes adds a lot of visual interest.

Common Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

Mistake	What happens	Fix
Skipping the soap wash	Paint and primer peel weeks later	Always wash before priming, every time
Applying paint too thick	Detail fills in, paint cracks	Thin with water; two passes not one
Drybrushing too heavily	Chalky, overworked look	Wipe the brush more; less is more
Painting in a cold or humid room	Primer frosts; paint dries slowly and blotchy	Prime between 15–25 °C in low humidity
Skipping the varnish step	Highlights rub off with handling	Always seal the finished piece

Choosing the Right Kit to Start With

If you're brand new to resin, a single-piece or low-part-count subject is much less overwhelming than a multi-component scene. Busts and single figures let you focus entirely on painting technique without worrying about assembly and pinning at the same time. You can browse the full range on the site and filter by scale on the scales guide — smaller scales like 1:72 paint faster, while 1:35 and 1:32 give you more surface area to practice blending and layering.

For tools and supplies — primer, brushes, sandpaper, pinning wire — check the accessories collection.

The honest truth about resin painting is that the prep takes longer than the painting, and that's not a bad thing. Once your surface is clean, primed, and ready, the colours go on easily and the detail does most of the work for you. Take your time on the steps that matter, enjoy the ones that are meditative (washing is almost therapeutic), and don't worry about perfection on the first kit — the techniques build quickly.