How to Paint Gloomhaven Miniatures: A Beginner's Guide

Quick answer

Start with one miniature, not all of them. Clean the model, prime it thin, block in base colors, add a wash, then highlight the raised edges. Finish with a matte varnish so your paint survives handling. A simple base-wash-highlight routine looks good on the table and takes about an hour per figure once you get going.

Painting Gloomhaven miniatures is one of the easiest ways to make your campaign feel like your own. The figures are small, but they reward a straightforward approach: prime, base coat, wash, highlight, seal. You do not need an airbrush or a shelf of specialty paints to get results you are happy with.

This miniature painting guide walks through the process in order, with the checkpoint that matters at each stage. If you are new to the hobby, the biggest wins come from patience and thin paint, not expensive tools. Work on one figure at a time and let each layer dry before you judge it.

What you actually need before you start

You can paint Gloomhaven miniatures with a surprisingly short supply list: a primer, a handful of acrylic paints, one or two brushes, a palette, water, and a matte varnish. A size 1 or 2 round brush covers most of the figure, and a smaller size 0 helps with faces and details. Paper towels and a cup of clean water matter more than you would think.

Skip the temptation to buy twenty paints for your first figure. A black, white, a skin tone, a metal, and three or four colors that match your character's art will carry you through the whole warband. You can always add more later once you know which colors you actually reach for.

• Work in a well-lit area; a cheap desk lamp beats a dim room every time.
• Keep a dedicated water cup so you never accidentally drink paint water.

Prepare and prime the miniature

Wash the miniature in warm soapy water and let it dry completely. Mold release agent and skin oils stop primer from sticking, which is why paint sometimes beads up or flakes off later. Once dry, mount the figure on a cork or a pill bottle with a dab of putty so you have something to hold instead of the model itself.

Prime in short bursts from about 20 to 30 centimeters away, moving the can across the figure rather than holding it in one spot. Two thin coats beat one heavy coat. If you spray too close or too long, you fill in the fine details and lose the face before you have painted a single color.

• Checkpoint: the primer should look like a smooth, even coat, not a wet, glossy layer.
• If you see fuzzy or gritty texture, you sprayed from too far away in humid conditions.

Block in your base colors

Base coating is where the figure starts to look like a character. Thin your paint with a little water so it flows like milk, then apply two thin coats rather than one thick one. Start with the largest areas, like cloaks and armor, then move to skin, then to small details like belts and weapons. Working large to small keeps you from smudging finished areas.

Do not worry about being perfectly neat at this stage. You will clean up edges as you go, and the wash step hides a lot of small slips. The goal is solid, even color coverage, not precision.

• Common mistake: painting straight from the pot, which clogs detail and leaves brush strokes.
• Let each coat dry before adding the next; wet paint lifts the layer underneath.

Add a wash to create depth

A wash is thinned, dark paint that flows into the recesses of the model and creates instant shadow. Load your brush, then touch it to the deepest folds and let the wash pull itself into the crevices. You can also apply it across a whole area and soak up the excess from flat surfaces with a dry brush. Either way, the figure suddenly reads as three-dimensional.

If the wash pools on a flat surface and dries as a stain, you used too much. Wicking it away with a clean, slightly damp brush while it is still wet fixes the problem. This is the single step that makes beginner miniature painting look far more advanced than it is.

• Checkpoint: shadows should sit in the recesses, not on the raised surfaces.
• A brown or black wash works on almost any color for a first attempt.

Highlight the raised edges

Highlighting means painting a lighter version of your base color on the edges and raised areas that light would catch. Use the side of your brush and drag it lightly along ridges, armor plates, and the tops of folds. You do not need to be perfect; a few well-placed strokes on the face, shoulders, and weapon make the figure pop on the table.

If you are not confident with edge highlighting yet, dry brushing is a forgiving alternative. Wipe most of the paint off your brush onto a paper towel, then lightly drag it across the model. The paint catches the raised texture and leaves the recesses dark.

• Common mistake: too much paint on the brush, which smears instead of catching edges.
• Keep highlights subtle; you can always add a second, brighter pass.

Seal the paint job

A matte varnish protects your work from the oils on your hands and the wear of repeated play. Apply it in thin coats, either from a spray can or a brush-on varnish, and let it cure fully before you handle the figure. Gloss varnish is tougher, but it looks shiny; matte looks better and is fine for board game pieces that get normal use.

If you used a spray varnish and the figure looks cloudy, you sprayed in high humidity or from too far away. A thin coat of brush-on matte medium can sometimes rescue it, but prevention is easier. Test your varnish on a spare figure or a piece of sprue first.

• Checkpoint: the finish should be even and dry to the touch, not tacky.
• Store painted figures in a tray or foam so they do not rub against each other.

Your step-by-step painting checklist

1. Clean and mount the miniature: Wash the figure in warm soapy water, dry it fully, and attach it to a cork or pill bottle with putty so you can hold it without touching the paint. Checkpoint: no oily residue or dust left on the surface before priming.
2. Prime in thin coats: Spray from 20 to 30 centimeters in short bursts, moving across the figure. Two thin passes are better than one heavy coat. Checkpoint: fine details like faces and straps should still be visible.
3. Base coat large areas first: Thin your paint to a milk-like consistency and apply two thin coats, starting with cloaks and armor, then skin, then small details. Checkpoint: solid, even color with no visible brush strokes or bare primer.
4. Apply a wash to the recesses: Flow thinned dark paint into the folds and crevices, then wick away any pooling on flat surfaces with a clean, damp brush. Checkpoint: shadows sit in the low areas, not as stains on raised surfaces.
5. Highlight the raised edges: Drag a lighter version of your base color along ridges and edges with the side of the brush, or dry brush lightly if you prefer. Checkpoint: highlights catch the light without looking chalky or streaky.
6. Seal with matte varnish: Apply thin coats of matte varnish, spray or brush-on, and let the figure cure completely before handling it in a game. Checkpoint: an even, dry finish that protects the paint through repeated play.

Gloomhaven products that support the hobby

• Gloomhaven: Folded Space Game Insert: Official full-color foam core insert compatible with Gloomhaven Second Edition by Folded Space, designed for efficient storage and improved game play while keeping the box as light as possible. A dedicated insert keeps painted miniatures and tokens organized, cutting setup and clear-away time so you spend more of your session playing and less time digging through the box.
• Gloomhaven 2nd Edition: Solo Scenarios: A 24-page scenario book of 18 all-new solo scenarios and a deck of 18 item cards, one item per class rewarded for completing their mission. Solo scenarios give you a reason to paint a single class at a time and learn its strengths and weaknesses, which pairs well with a focused painting project.
• Gloomhaven Forgotten Circles (3rd Printing): The first expansion for Gloomhaven 1st Edition, featuring twenty new scenarios and one new character class, the Aesther Diviner. If you add the Aesther Diviner to your collection, that is one more miniature worth painting, and the expansion gives you a clear next painting goal after your starting classes.

Painting Gloomhaven miniatures is a skill you build one figure at a time, and the process above is enough to get a table-ready result on your first attempt. Start with a single character, keep your paint thin, and let each step dry before moving on. The more you paint, the faster and more confident you will get.