10/26/2022

If you have been watching YouTube videos about painting miniatures in the last 6 months, you probably have come across a ‘new’ method of painting miniatures referred to as the ‘Slapchop’ method. The method comes down to 1) priming your miniatures black, 2) giving the miniature a dry brushing of light grey paint, 3) giving the miniature a lighter dry brushing of white paint, 4) and finally painting the miniature with speed paints (contrast paints). This method is supposed to help speed up the painting process if you are looking to get table-quality miniatures completed. Since I have an ever-growing pile of shame, I thought I would give it a try.

I started with some air elementals (Brite Minis). Instead of the black primer, I used a grey primer and skipped the grey dry brush, and just used white. They went quickly but it was not exactly the ‘Slapchop’ method. So I moved on to more miniatures.

I grabbed some of the snake men (Fat Dragon Games) that I like as well as bugbears (Lost Adventures). Primed black, dry brushed both colors and applied the base speed paints. Not too bad looking for this stage in the process. I also grabbed an Angry Ball of Eyes (Fat Dragon Games) and painted it up with speed paints (I also had to do the eyes and teeth since that would give me a clear picture of the final result). I was starting to see the appeal of Slapchop. I wanted to see what it would look like if I used acrylic inks instead of speed paints.

Here is where I was really getting excited. The scorpion (Bones 5 Kickstarter) and anger Care Bear (Massive Darkness 2) both turned out really nice in my opinion. I had both of them done in less than an hour. All of the colors on the scorpion and bear are Dr. Ph Martin Bombay inks except the silver, which is just a standard miniatures paint. They just need a little touch-up and clear coat and they are done!

After experimenting for an afternoon, I can honestly say that I am a fan of Slapchop.

Keep on gaming!