How to Paint Camouflage on Miniatures: A Step-by-Step Guide

Quick answer

Paint camouflage on miniatures by working from a light basecoat to darker blotches, keeping every shape smaller than the surface it sits on and slightly irregular. Thin your paints to a smooth, opaque layer, paint the largest shapes first, then add the smallest accents last. The pattern should read clearly from arm's length, not just under a magnifier.

Camouflage is one of the most forgiving techniques in miniature painting, because the pattern is supposed to look random. That also makes it easy to get wrong: shapes that are too large, too neat, or too high-contrast stop reading as camo and start reading as a costume. The fix is a fixed order of operations you can repeat across a whole squad.

This guide walks through a practical sequence for painting camo patterns on military miniatures, from choosing a palette to sealing the finished figure. It works on resin, metal, and plastic, and it scales from a single character to a full unit.

Choose a palette that survives scale

Pick three to four colours: one light base, one mid-tone, and one dark. Real camouflage relies on contrast between light and dark, but on a 28mm figure the contrast needs to be compressed. If your lightest and darkest colours are more than about four steps apart on a value scale, the pattern will look like a graphic print rather than fabric.

Test your palette on a spare base or a scrap of cured resin before committing it to a finished model. Paint three small blotches side by side and view them at arm's length. If the shapes disappear into a single tone, increase the contrast; if they pop like stickers, bring the colours closer together.

• Write down your colour mix ratios so a second squad matches the first.
• Avoid pure black and pure white in the pattern; both read as unnatural at this scale.

Prepare the surface and lay a clean basecoat

Camouflage hides nothing. Any mould line, bubble, or rough patch will sit under your pattern and stay visible. Clean the model, prime it, and apply a smooth basecoat in your lightest camouflage colour. Two thin layers beat one thick layer every time.

Let the basecoat cure fully before adding pattern colours. If you paint wet-on-wet, the blotches will smear and you will lose the crisp edges that make camo read correctly.

• A light grey or tan primer gives you a neutral starting point for most military schemes.
• If the basecoat looks chalky, it is too thick; thin it and add another pass.

Paint the largest shapes first

Start with your mid-tone and paint the biggest blotches. These should be irregular, roughly rounded, and never larger than the surface they sit on. On a torso, that means shapes about the size of a fingernail clipping; on a leg, smaller still. Keep the edges soft by loading the brush lightly and dragging rather than stamping.

Leave gaps of the basecoat showing between blotches. Those gaps are what create the layered look. If you cover the whole surface with the mid-tone, you have nowhere left to go with the darker colour.

• Rotate the model as you work so you do not accidentally repeat the same shape.
• Do not outline the blotches; camo has no outlines.

Add the dark accents last

Once the mid-tone shapes are dry, add the darkest colour in smaller, sparser blotches. These should be roughly half the size of the mid-tone shapes and should not touch each other often. Placing them at the edges of the mid-tone blotches creates a natural layered effect.

If your pattern still looks flat, resist the urge to add more colours. Instead, add a few tiny dots of the lightest colour inside the dark shapes. That single trick adds depth without muddying the palette.

• Keep the dark shapes away from the centre of large flat areas; edges read better.
• Stop while the pattern still looks slightly unfinished; overworking is the most common failure.

Check scale and readability

Hold the model at arm's length and squint. If the pattern reads as a single muddy tone, your shapes are too small or your contrast is too low. If individual blotches are immediately obvious, your shapes are too large. Adjust before you seal the model.

Remember that camouflage on a miniature is an abstraction. You are not reproducing a specific camouflage pattern; you are creating the impression of one at a viewing distance of about 60cm. That is the distance that matters.

• Photograph the model and view the photo at thumbnail size; problems become obvious.
• A pattern that looks messy up close can look perfect on the tabletop.

Camo painting steps at a glance

1. Step 1: Clean and prime: Remove mould lines and bubbles, then prime in a light neutral tone. Mistake to avoid: priming over dust or release agent, which causes the basecoat to flake. Checkpoint: the primer coat should be even and dry to the touch before you continue.
2. Step 2: Basecoat in the lightest colour: Apply two thin layers of your lightest camouflage colour. Mistake to avoid: one thick layer that fills detail and dries chalky. Checkpoint: the surface should look smooth, not textured.
3. Step 3: Paint mid-tone blotches: Add irregular mid-tone shapes, leaving gaps of basecoat between them. Mistake to avoid: making the shapes too large or too uniform. Checkpoint: no single blotch should dominate a flat surface.
4. Step 4: Add dark accents: Place smaller dark shapes at the edges of the mid-tone blotches. Mistake to avoid: covering the basecoat completely so the pattern loses its layers. Checkpoint: the three tones should still be individually readable.
5. Step 5: Check at arm's length: View the model from about 60cm and squint. Mistake to avoid: judging the pattern only under magnification. Checkpoint: the pattern should read as camo, not as separate spots.
6. Step 6: Seal and finish: Apply a matte varnish once the paint is fully cured. Mistake to avoid: varnishing too soon and dragging the pattern. Checkpoint: the finish should be flat, not glossy, so the camo stays convincing.

Products that help with camo projects

• Svargan Shock Soldats 10 Woman Squad: This resin kit contains 10x Great Coat Legs, 10x Winter Torsos, 10x Svargan Helmets, and 10x Svargan Laser Rifles, plus a Kill Team Special Weapons sprue. Great coats and winter torsos give you large, flat surfaces that show off a camouflage pattern clearly, and the spare heads and weapons let you practise the same scheme across ten figures.
• Bolt Rifle x5: Five Bolt Rifles suitable for 28mm heroic scale troops, designed to fit the Victoria Miniatures Universal Gun Arms. Weapons are often left in a plain dark tone, but painting a simplified camo pattern on a rifle breaks up the silhouette and ties the figure together visually.
• Ferns and Grass Basing Accessories: Ferns and grass basing accessories sculpted by Victoria Lamb. A camouflage scheme only reads correctly against a base that supports it. Foliage on the base gives the eye a reference for the colours on the figure.

Camouflage rewards patience more than precision. Work from light to dark, keep your shapes smaller than you think they should be, and check the result at tabletop distance before you seal it. Once you have a sequence you trust, you can repeat it across an entire squad without rethinking the process each time.