After looking longingly at everyone’s beautifully painted minis, I finally decided to take the plunge today. Understand I’ve never painted anything in my life. I am absolutely horrible with my hands, I’m not a DIY-er in any kind of way. I couldn’t be any less artistic if I tried. So this was going to be a massive leap for me.

I have been playing IA for a couple years now, mainly campaigns with my wife and two kids. My daughter who is now 11 is very into crafts, so she was going to help out. So we watch episode 1 of Sorastro and figure out what we need. Off to the FLGS to buy our citadel paints. Hmmm primer is $18? Brushes were expensive too, so we went to AC Moore to get those things. I have no delusions of grandeur on the final product.

After getting our brushes (which turned out to be difficult, 0,1,2 were not easily labeled to me anyway) and primer we were ready. We were lucky to have a 50 degree day so I went outside and sprayed the primer. Definitely over soaked some areas and under hit others (Dad, you need to spray his butt better next time!). I lined the stormtroopers up on cardboard and waited for them to dry just like Sorastro! (Last time that sentence is uttered)

We are watching the video over and over, my daughter has it down. She tells me “you need to thin the paint”, “ it’s ok just use a paper towel to fix it”,”did you wipe your brush?” “Oh, that actually looks pretty good!” And of course “Mom, look at my stormtrooper!”

We we’re both in a zone painting away all evening. Even my middle school son, who thinks everything sucks and nothing is cool said - “wow that’s sweet , can I paint one?” Grab a brush and watch this video on the iPad.....

After hours of painting, I finished 3 my son 1 and my daughter did 5! She said “this is like the best art project ever”.

As with many things on life, sometimes it’s best to enjoy the process , the journey- not worry about the final goal. When your kids start to grow up, and become more independent, it’s just cherishing these small moments together. Tonight that was a few hours where we were all sitting at an art table, laughing , learning, speaking in Soothing Sorastro voice, and painting plastic figures.

Awesome story. I hope you and your family continue the hobby. It's very rewarding to do, both the painting itself and playing with the end result. Best of all, you already had fun doing some of the most annoying figures. It's only more fun from here on 😉

A idea on going forward might be that each one paints the hero they are playing next. Make it their own by painting it. That way, there will always be a painted figure on the table on the next campaign missions as well. Just an idea, otherwise paint them in the order you're most comfortable with.

Painting minis is not witchcraft. You just have to start, learn, practice, and enjoy the process, and if you keep at it, you will naturally become better and better. Just don't be shy to make mistakes - it's fine to make mistakes as long as you learn from them. Have fun painting!