Figure painting (hobby)

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Figure painting, or miniature painting, is the hobby of painting miniature figures and/or model figures, either as a standalone activity or as a part of another activity that uses models, such as role-playing games, wargames, or military modeling.

In addition to the painting of models, the creation of scenic basing for the model to be affixed to is also an important part of the hobby^[1] (although not all figure painters are concerned about the basing of their models^[2]). These can range from very simple applications of textured pastes, grit, and static grass for gaming bases, to larger scenic bases for display models, and even full dioramas depicting a scene of a single model or a group of models together in tableau to create a story in one moment. It can also include aspects of sculpting, for the purpose of creating additional details for models and bases, as a means of customizing the model to make them more unique, or to create entirely scratch built models for painting. Many figure painters also paint scale busts as part of the hobby, often in bigger scales than figures with a higher level of detail, and display bases and backdrops for them.

As figure painting has grown in size and popularity as a hobby independent of miniature gaming the techniques and methods involved have been developed to advanced standards. Many online forums and online galleries have been created as places for figure painters to share their display and competition pieces for others to view and vote on, such as CoolMiniOrNot and Putty&Paint,^[3] as well as figure painting conventions or figure painting events at larger tabletop gaming conventions.