Miniature paint recipe template: what to record so you can repeat a scheme

Every painter has been there: a client asks for five more models to match the army you painted last year, and all you have is a vague memory and a photo taken under kitchen lights. A paint recipe fixes that. It is a written list of every paint, in order, with how it was applied, so you or anyone else can paint the scheme again and get the same result.

This page gives you a free template you can print, and explains what to put in each column.

What should a miniature paint recipe include?

A useful miniature paint recipe records, for each area of the model, every paint in the order it went on, with the exact paint name and brand, the technique, the thinning or mix ratio, and where it was applied. Add the primer, the varnish, the basing and a photo in daylight. Without those last four, two models painted from the same list can still look different.

What to record, and why

1. Primer. Brand, colour and method, for example "Black spray, then white zenithal from above with the airbrush". The undercoat changes how every thin paint on top looks.
2. Areas, in painting order. Armour, cloth, metal, skin, leather, base. Painting order matters because washes and glazes spill onto neighbouring areas.
3. The exact paint name and brand. "Blue" is not a recipe. Write the brand, range and code, as they appear on the pot. Ranges get renamed, so the brand and range help you find a replacement later.
4. Technique. Basecoat, wash, layer, edge highlight, glaze, drybrush. The same paint used as a glaze or a layer gives a very different result.
5. Ratio. How much you thinned it, or what you mixed: "2:1 with water", "50/50 with Lahmian Medium", "1 part Contrast to 1 part medium". This is the detail painters forget most often.
6. Where it went. "Recesses only", "top edges", "all over". A wash applied all over looks nothing like a recess shade.
7. Varnish. Matte, satin or gloss, and the brand. Varnish shifts colours and sheen, so a model varnished differently will not match even with the same paints.
8. A photo in daylight. One photo of the finished test model, taken by a window or under a daylight bulb, against a plain grey or white background. Words describe the steps; the photo shows the target.

If you use an airbrush, add the pressure and nozzle size. If you paint for clients, also note who approved the scheme and when. The guide to getting a test model approved covers why that matters.

A filled-in example

Here is the start of a recipe for blue power armour with gold trim, in the template's format.

Area	Paint and brand	Technique	Ratio	Where and notes
Armour	Deep navy (Vallejo Game Color)	Basecoat	2 thin coats	Thinned with a drop of water
Armour	Black wash (Army Painter)	Wash	Neat	Recesses only
Armour	Mid blue (Vallejo Game Color)	Layer	2:1 with water	Upper surfaces
Armour	Pale blue grey (Vallejo Game Color)	Edge highlight	Neat	Top edges only
Trim	Old gold (Scale75)	Basecoat	Neat
Trim	Brown wash (Army Painter)	Wash	Neat	All over the gold

The printable template

Print this page and only the blank template below comes out, on one A4 sheet. Keep a sheet with each project, or tape it inside the box the models live in.

Print the template

Should you keep paint recipes on paper, in a spreadsheet or in an app?

Paper is quick and works at the desk, but it gets lost, and you can't search it when a client comes back two years later. A spreadsheet is searchable but awkward on a phone at the painting table. Recipe apps fix both for your own models.

If you paint for clients, Ordiminis keeps each recipe under the client it belongs to, with the test-model photos and the date the client approved it, and prints a desk card like the template above. It is free for 2 clients.