Welcome back! I am thrilled to continue this series and hope you’re enjoying following along on this dragon painting journey.
Previously on Dragon Painting
If you missed Part I, you can find the link below. I’d love to hear your comments and learn about any techniques you use for these steps! In this article, I’ll walk you through how I tackled the mold lines and priming process for the Legendary Dragon from Mythic Games.
Battling the Dreaded Mold Lines
I’ll confess something that might be controversial in the miniature painting community: on my smaller miniatures, I typically ignore mold lines. Gasp! I know, I know—miniature painting sacrilege! But honestly, they just don’t bother me unless they’re extremely noticeable. The manufacturing process naturally creates these lines, and my paint job usually covers them adequately on smaller figures.
However, this dragon presented a different challenge altogether. It had some significant, unmistakable mold lines, particularly where the wings connect to the body. These couldn’t be ignored if I wanted a professional-looking final piece.
Most miniature painters use “Green Stuff” for this kind of work. For those unfamiliar, Green Stuff is a two-part epoxy putty that comes as separate blue and yellow components. When mixed, it turns green (hence the name) and becomes perfect for filling gaps and sculpting. It typically cures within a few hours, becoming hard and sandable.
While I’ve used Green Stuff successfully in the past, I found the mixing and application process somewhat frustrating. So, after watching some tutorial videos where someone used JB Weld epoxy glue that dries clear, I decided to experiment with this alternative.
In retrospect, I should have stuck with Green Stuff. The JB Weld made my entire condo smell for days (not pleasant at all), and it wasn’t nearly as manageable as I had anticipated. After it dried, I needed to make several modifications to smooth things out. Nevertheless, I achieved my primary goal—most of the mold lines disappeared, giving the dragon a more seamless appearance.
The Priming Dilemma
This step marked another departure from my usual approach. Typically, I prime my miniatures black and then drybrush with white to create natural highlights. I once experimented with grey primer but quickly returned to black—it just works better for my painting style and provides excellent shadow depth.
However, with a model this massive, conventional wisdom suggests using a colored primer that matches your intended base coat. This approach supposedly saves significant time by eliminating the need to paint the entire model with your base color. Following this advice, and after extensive consultation with my fellow miniature enthusiasts, I selected Army Painter Goblin Green as my primer.
I have to admit, the green primer completely disrupted my creative flow. The vision I had carefully cultivated for this dragon suddenly evaporated. I think this happened because I’m so accustomed to starting with black, which allows me to build up colors exactly as I envision them. With the green already in place, I struggled to determine which areas should maintain that base green and which needed different treatment. The result was creative confusion.
I ended up painting the entire dragon anyway, essentially negating the supposed time-saving benefit of the colored primer. Additionally, I wasn’t particularly fond of the primer’s texture, which motivated me to cover it completely. Looking back, the only positive aspect of this experiment was that I only needed one coat of paint over the primer, whereas with black I typically need two. So I suppose it saved a little time in that regard, but at the cost of creative clarity.
What’s Next?
Join me in a few days for Part III of this dragon painting adventure! I’ll explain my process for mixing custom paints and applying the base coat, which really brought this magnificent creature to life.
What are your experiences with colored primers? Do you have any tricks for dealing with mold lines on large miniatures? I’d love to hear your thoughts and techniques in the comments below!
