Interview with miniature model painter, Zuke continued.

What are some of the tools that you use?

A couple of small paintbrushes, a brush, your mums nail file and that’s pretty much about it.

Having seen some of your characters, how do you get such details as realistic eyes and tiny little buckles?

Well you have to really good eyes, not necessarily a steady hand funny enough most people think you need an extremely steady hand. You don’t really because most of the time painting outside the lines looks better than inside. Usually a magnifying glass helps but I don’t have one of those. But I am planning to buy one because my eyes are starting to play up every time I paint now.

So the brushes must be tiny?

Not really. They are not really that small. I am not quite sure how the sizing works in comparison to other brushes. You just go down to the local modeling store and I think the brush size is one tenth, the smallest I use. There’s about two or three smaller than the one I use. You can go smaller if you want depending on how good your hands are I suppose but I don’t believe you need to go that small.

How long you think it would take to paint a typical character?

I have been able to paint one in about 3 hours, others take me anywhere up to 4 or 5 weeks to paint 2 hours a day. Some of them can take a long time; it really depends on the individual miniature. But a typical one probably about six to seven hours spent over a couple of days.

If you have to sometimes put up to 40 layers of paint on, how long do you have to wait between layers?

By the time you finish from one end of the model to the other typically its dry, so you can keep going. It’s not like you have to paint wait hours and go back to it. By the time you finished painting typically the larger sections it’s pretty much dry and ready to go for the next coat by the time you are finished.

Where do you buy supplies? A local store or do you order them?

There is a local store that has got the Games Workshop miniatures in it. But there’s another brand called Reaper Miniatures, which are a little bit cheaper, but the only place I have found them is in the heart of Brisbane. There’s a games and hobby store in the centre of Brisbane in the Queen Street Mall, they’ve got the best range that I am aware of.

So do you also get mail order or internet orders as well?

Yes you can do all of the above. There is another brand called Rackham Miniatures, which are in France. I haven’t actually imported any but I plan to because there are some really nice models.

So you would find some things that aren’t available here?

Yes some of them are only available from overseas.

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