How to finally paint all of those D&D and wargaming miniatures

I have a problem.

I admit it: I’m addicted to miniatures.

For my D&D games. For my Star Wars battles. For my wargaming. For board games. I love miniatures, and I can’t stop.

I’m constantly buying new minis. I love board games with miniatures. I love wargames. I have entirely too many D&D/Pathfinder/fantasy minis, too.

Many are the pre-painted sort, but I realize my biggest problem is the unpainted models. Way too many. Boxes of them. Boxes upon boxes.

I’ve backed Kickstarters, picked up neat-looking ones at the game shop, amassed quite a collection through Dungeon Crate and keep buying wargame starter boxes I have no time to play.

And now it’s time for that to stop.

Not the buying minis. I’m still going to do that.

No, it’s time for these babies to get some paint.

I have a system, and I’m going to share.

1. Get all of your miniatures out.

Find the boxes of unpainted minis. Dump them all out on the table. (Make sure you have plenty of room.)

2. Group them.

This is the organization phase. You’re going to put them into groups. Group them by game, by creature type, by size, etc. You can really do this however you want, but I highly recommend smallish groups of 10 to 15 models maximum.

How did I organize mine?

I grouped them by game and genre and then divided them more. I put all my Hordes, Infinity and Star Wars: Legion minis in their own groups, and further divided them by faction. Then I took my fantasy minis, putting the large models in their own box. The medium/standard-size minis were grouped into steampunk minis, monsters, PCs/NPCs and terrain. I further divided them into themed groups such as dragons, undead/horror, heroes, etc.

Every group was about 15 minis or less.

And you’ll find out why in the next step…

3. Pick the group you want to paint.

You’ve cut your minis down into manageable groups, and now you get to pick one group and start painting.

Bam.

You’re there.

I started with undead since Halloween is a few months away. That’s gives me a fun theme and a manageable amount of models to choose from. And when I get done with that group, I’ll feel accomplished and move onto the next one.

Your massive pile of minis will feel a bit more manageable. Nice work you.