Common Beginner Mistakes — And How to Fix Every Single One

We've covered ten blogs worth of technique. You've got the theory, the tools, and the method. But theory and practice have a way of diverging the moment you sit down with a brush in hand, and the first few models you paint will teach you more than any guide ever could.

This final post in the series is dedicated to the things that go wrong — not to make you feel anxious about mistakes, but because knowing how to recover from them is one of the most valuable skills in the hobby. Andy and Laura at Mediocre Hobbies have said it many times on their streams: painting is a problem solving hobby. The mistakes aren't failures. They're the tutorial.

The Eight Most Common Mistakes

1. Paint That's Way Too Thick

Looks like: obscured detail, lumpy surface, brush strokes visible and raised, painted over texture that should be crisp. The most common beginner mistake by a long way.

The fix: thin your paints. A tiny amount of water or medium on your brush before loading paint makes a huge difference. Aim for skimmed milk consistency. Two thin coats always beat one thick one. If a model is already badly affected, a light drybrush of the base colour can partially restore texture — or strip the model and start again (see below).

2. Wash Tide Marks and Pooling

Looks like: visible rings where a wash dried, dark pools on flat surfaces, patchy shading that looks more like a stain than a shadow.

The fix while wet: feather the edges with a clean slightly damp brush. After drying: apply another thin wash coat over the whole area to blend it in, or rebase the area and re wash. To prevent it: wick excess wash from raised areas immediately after applying and work on one section at a time.

3. Chalky, Rough Drybrushing

Looks like: white or grey dusty residue sitting on top of the model, a powdery look that obscures detail rather than highlighting it.

The fix: wipe much more paint off before applying to the model — you should barely see any colour coming off the brush on paper before touching the miniature. A very thin wash over the chalky area can knock it back. The Artis Opus dampening pad technique prevents this almost entirely.

4. Contrast Paint Tide Marks on Flat Surfaces

Looks like: visible ring shaped dried edges across armour panels or large flat areas, uneven colour intensity across the same area.

The fix: prevention is easier than cure — work in sections and maintain a wet edge. After the fact, a second coat of the same Contrast paint thinned with Contrast Medium over the whole area can even things out.

5. Skipping Primer (and Regretting It)

Looks like: paint flaking off days or weeks after completion, areas of bare plastic showing through, poor adhesion that gets worse with handling.

The fix: there's no full fix once the paint is flaking — you need to strip the model. For stripping plastic models, Dettol is the community standard: soak for a few hours, scrub with an old toothbrush, and you're back to bare plastic. Then prime. Always prime.

6. Painting the Best Model First

Looks like: your centrepiece character model painted with beginner level skills, while your later infantry look noticeably better.

The fix going forward: save the heroes for later. If it's already happened, repaint the character model once your skills have developed. The time invested in a repaint is almost always worth it.

7. Destroying Good Brushes

Looks like: splayed, bent, or fraying bristle tips, brushes that won't hold a point, paint dried in the ferrule (the metal collar near the handle).

The fix: rinse your brush frequently while painting — never let paint dry on it. Don't store brushes tip down. Use brush soap (The Masters Brush Cleaner, or the Artis Opus soap) to clean and condition after every session. A well maintained brush can last years.

8. Comparing Your Work to Competition Painters

Looks like: abandoning a project because it doesn't look good enough, demotivation from seeing incredible display quality work online, unrealistic expectations for your first ten models.

The fix: this is a mindset fix, not a painting one. The painters you see winning Golden Demon awards have painted thousands of models. Compare your work to your previous work. The only meaningful metric is whether you're better than you were six months ago — and if you're painting, you always will be.

When to Strip and Start Again

Sometimes a model is too far gone to rescue through fixing. Stripping plastic and resin models is easy, cheap, and kind of satisfying.

• Plastic models — soak in Dettol (brown antiseptic) for 4–8 hours, then scrub with an old toothbrush. The paint comes away cleanly.

• Resin models — Simple Green or Fairy Power Spray. Dettol can damage some resin — test a small area first.

• Metal models — Dettol or brake fluid work well. Fully submerge and leave overnight.

After stripping, wash the model in warm soapy water, dry completely, and prime before repainting. The model will be good as new.

That's a Wrap on the Series!

You've made it through all ten posts. From your first brush stroke to troubleshooting the tricky bits — you now have everything you need to paint your army and get it on the table. The West Allotment Wildlings community is here every step of the way. Come along to a painting session, ask questions at club night, or drop us a message anytime.

Now go and paint something.