Tips and Tricks: Painting Bolt Action Miniatures! — Wayland Games Blog

Got yourself some of Warlord Games' Bolt Action 28mm army miniatures and not sure how to get them tabletop ready?

Well, you've come to the right place!

The great thing about Bolt Action is the wide variety of army choices there are for wargamers to choose from - it is set during World War II after all.

Want to play Soviets? Excellent.

More of a US Army fan? No problem.

Fancy being the British? Great, here, have your starter army!

What this can lead to, and why I decided to add Bolt Action to this series, is some uncertainty as to how to paint your army. Your paint scheme may depend heavily on the faction of your miniatures (including army units, tanks, and even terrain in some cases) and, with so many to choose from, finding someone else out there with the same army can be difficult.

The tips and tricks series of blogs is here to help the miniatures and wargames players out there find some inspiration and ideas on how to get started - and Bolt Action, from Warlord Games, is the latest on my list to get the tips and tricks treatment. I've been busy poking and prodding the internet looking up all sorts of ways hobby and wargaming folk have been painting up their miniatures and, finally, here I am bringing you an array of images, inspiration, and painting tutorials, so you can get your Bolt Action miniatures painted and get some games going on the tabletop as soon as possible.

If you're unfamiliar with Bolt Action or working with miniatures in general, Warlord Games have created a quick resource for painting your models. Although it's not the most informative of places to begin, it is handy to list as a starting point for those who are unsure as to where they need to start. Also, it brings me to what Warlord has done a great job with - finding your inspiration! Warlord Games have created a great resource on Uniforms & History on their blog which, when you're looking for inspiration, is a very helpful place indeed.

How to Paint Bolt Action Miniatures.

Beyond Warlord Games, if you are looking for colour palette ideas, Artizan Designs has a variety of camo pattern and colour guides to choose from - covering a large variety of the Axis and Allies from World War II. These guides, alongside this helpful PDF Hints and Tips - Painting 28mm Armies which not only breaks down which tools and brushes to use but has a handy 'Painting Sequence' chapter, from page 12, which goes into quite a bit of detail, will mean you'll have your infantry units (and more) in the right colours for games in no time.

If you have chosen to battle it out as the German's in Bolt Action, then Panzer Models has also got a great resource for identifying all the Vallejo Model colours for WWII Uniforms and equipment that will be right up your alley!

One of the best places I've found for more in-depth tutorials, and one you may be familiar with already, is Pete the Wargamer on YouTube. Pete the Wargamer's Bolt Action playlist is full of fantastic and well thought out painting tutorials.

Some of my particular favourites in his 'How to' tutorials are: Paint Late War Germans (Grenadiers)', Paint WWII Late War German Tanks - Marder III, and Paint Waffen SS - Plane Tree Autumn Camo - but don't worry he doesn't just stick to Germany! You'll be able to find a large variety of Bolt Action army factions represented as well as some suited for Konflikt 47.

After more inspiration? Well, you're in luck. Check out Cool mini or not ( it's had quite a few Bolt Action uploads over the years), Tabletop Terrain for Wargames (some awesome images to pour over), and Late Night Painting - all will have you reaching for your paintbrush with some fresh ideas.

Finally*, if you're not on it yet and you're after inspiration, it's time to join Facebook and Reddit to see just how busy the Bolt Action community is. You'll be able to find all sorts of inspiration and ideas from the wide range of posts your community is sharing (including some very fancy looking terrain pieces, might I add).

Whatever your army faction in Bolt Action, I hope you've found something helpful to get you painting those miniatures - whether they be infantry, armoured cars, tanks or what-not - so you can get playing and building a community of your own.

Happy painting and, if you've found this resource helpful, don't forget to share!

*Yes, I know it seemed like I had finished BUT have you thought about basing your Bolt Action miniatures? Not everyone may feel the same way but I love showing off my based units when playing games with my friends. Two that I have come across in the past are James Wappel's guide On the Razor's Edge and this Wetlands Basing blog from Mighty Ape. Now I'm done**.

** Again, sorry about this, but James Wappel's Bolt Action section is worth taking a look at if you haven't already!