Painting Wargaming Figures

The best first book for someone who wants to paint miniatures but does not know where to begin. Javier Gomez Valero, known in the wargaming community as El Mercenario, is an award-winning figure painter whose work has earned the trust of some of the most respected sculptors in the hobby. He takes that professional knowledge and makes it accessible without dumbing it down.

Why Start Here

Most miniature painting guides either focus on a single game system or jump straight to advanced techniques that leave beginners lost. Valero does neither. He starts with the true fundamentals: choosing and preparing your materials, cleaning and assembling miniatures, and priming them properly. Then he walks through every core technique a beginner needs, including base coating, dry brushing, ink washing, shading, and highlighting, all explained with step-by-step photographs and clear color charts.

What sets this book apart is its breadth. Valero does not limit himself to one era or one style. The case studies cover Medieval heraldry, Napoleonic uniforms, World War II camouflage, realistic flesh tones for different skin types, and even painting horses. Each study teaches the techniques in context, so you see how they apply to real projects rather than abstract exercises.

The book also covers ground that many guides skip entirely: basing your miniatures and photographing your finished work. These are the steps that turn a painted figure into a complete piece, and Valero treats them with the same care as the painting itself.

What to Expect

At 192 pages, this is a thorough book that covers the full journey from raw miniature to finished, based figure. The techniques scale across all the major wargaming sizes, from large 40mm display pieces down to tiny 6mm army-scale figures. Whether you are painting a single hero for a D&D campaign or batch-painting a Warhammer regiment, the methods here apply.

The writing is practical and assumes no prior knowledge. If you have never held a detail brush or thinned a pot of acrylic paint, this book will get you there. By the time you finish, you will have a solid foundation in every technique you need to produce miniatures you are proud to put on the table.