How to Paint a 3D Printed Figure: A Beginner's Guide
From bare print to painted display piece — priming, base coats, layering and washes explained simply, so your first painted 3D printed figure actually looks the part.
You've printed a clean figure — now comes the part that turns a grey lump into something shelf-worthy. Painting a 3D printed figure looks intimidating, but the fundamentals are simple and forgiving. Here's the beginner path from bare print to display piece.
1. Clean and prep the print first
Paint shows every flaw underneath it, so prep matters. Remove all supports, snip the nubs flush, and sand visible seams up to 800 grit. Give resin prints a final wash to clear any greasy residue — paint will not stick to uncured resin film. A few minutes of prep saves a frustrating repaint later.
2. Prime — this is non-negotiable
Primer is the layer that lets everything else grip. Two or three thin coats of grey (or black, or white) primer, from a rattle can or airbrush, unify the surface and reveal any seam you missed. Thin coats, several passes — one thick coat will pool in the detail and ruin it. Honestly, a well-primed figure in plain grey already looks great; plenty of makers stop here.
3. Base coats: block in the big colours
Now paint the major areas in flat colour — skin, clothing, metal, base. Don't fuss about neatness yet; you're just establishing the map. Thin your acrylics with a little water (think milk, not paste) and build up coverage in two coats rather than fighting one gloopy one.
4. Wash: the beginner's cheat code
If you do one "advanced" thing, do this. A wash — a thin, dark, watery paint — flows into the recesses and pools in the crevices, instantly creating shadow and depth. Brush it over a base-coated area, let it settle into the cracks, and your figure suddenly reads as three-dimensional with almost no skill required. It's the single highest-impact technique for a beginner.
5. Dry-brush the highlights
The companion trick to washing. Load a little light paint on a brush, wipe almost all of it off on a paper towel, then drag the near-dry brush across raised edges. It catches only the high points — armour edges, knuckles, hair — and pops the detail. Wash darkens the lows; dry-brushing brightens the highs. Together they do most of the work.
6. Seal it
Finish with a matte or satin varnish to protect all that effort from handling and UV. Resin especially can keep curing and yellowing in sunlight, so a sealing coat is cheap insurance on a piece you spent hours on.
Prime thin, base coat flat, wash the recesses, dry-brush the edges, seal it. That five-step loop will carry your first dozen figures further than any expensive paint set. Now you just need something worth painting — find a detailed figure to print and paint on STL Figs →