Hobby articles and step-by-step tutorials in 2020
Since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis during 2020, UMS Agram members have been writing hobby articles and step-by-step tutorials on their work. Also, the Miniature Painters Croatia FB group have joined in the action.
In all, we’ve published 77 articles on these webpages. UMS Agram would like to take this opportunity to thank all the contributors so far: Ana Polanšćak, Jure Cukar, Marko Paunović, Goran Krunić, Matija Koružnjak, Dalibor Čavić i Krunoslav Belinić, who have, along with Bruno Sandrić, all received UMS Agram Annual Award for 2020.
Some of these articles will be featured in our upcoming book: Miniaturism in the Age of Corona that is scheduled for release in February 2021.
Articles listed are in chronological order.
- In the Ghetto diorama SBS photo album Marko Paunović
- Making a scenic base Jure Cukar
- Stranded SBS tutorial Marko Paunović
- Converting Warcry Terrain Ana Polanšćak
- SBS Tutorial - 4 modern scenic bases pt.2 - Vegetation Marko Paunović
- Step by Step – Interior Vignette pt 1 – How to build a couch Matija Koružnjak
- Painting Warcry terrain Ana Polanšćak
- Step by Step – Interior Vignette pt 2 – How to build a parquette floor, carpet and books Matija Koružnjak
- French Cafe Diorama – part 1 Krunoslav Belinić
- Step by Step – Interior Vignette pt 3 – Converting a miniature and making beer cans and a flower pot Matija Koružnjak
- Step by Step – Italy 1986 Diorama pt 4 – How to make a patterned cobbled stone pavement Marko Paunović
- French Cafe Diorama - Part 2 Krunoslav Belinić
- Working with Shellac Marko Paunović
- How to make chaingun shell casings Goran Krunić
- How to make a postapoc base Marko Paunović
- Step by Step – Italy 1986 Diorama pt 6 – Making a terrace Marko Paunović
- How to make chaingun shell casings - Painting Goran Krunić
- Wild West Minehead Entrance Marko Paunović
- Painting and Weathering Tabletop World Terrain Marko Paunović
- Step by Step – Chibi Steampunk Submarine Diorama part 1 Marko Paunović
- Red Coats – part 1 Dalibor Čavić
- Yowza’s Top Tip Goran Krunić
- Dalibor’s Top Tip Dalibor Čavić
- Painting fire – muzzle flashes Goran Krunić
- Marko’s Top Tip Marko Paunović
- Andrija and Marko’s Top Tip Andrija Jurišić i Marko Paunović
- Painting Mollog Matija Koružnjak
- Scratchbuilding a vignette with a medieval inn Marko Paunović
- Frozen Stiff - Step by Step Tutorial Marko Paunović
- How To Build A Fantasy Peasant House Ana Polanšćak
- Building a 120 x 180 cm gaming board – part 1 Marko Paunović
- Building a 120 x 180 cm gaming board – part 2 Ana Polanšćak
- Making a plexiglass protection box Marko Paunović
- Cities Of Death Gaming Table Marko Paunović
- PIRATE'S COVE GAMING BOARD – pt.1 Marko Paunović
- Steampunk Zrinjevac themed terrain Marko Paunović
- Making PIETY HILL Marko Paunović
- House on the Haunted Hill Marko Paunović
- Building a modular river Marko Paunović
- SCATTER TERRAIN FOR A WILD WEST GAMING BOARD Marko Paunović
- Modular Gaming Board Marko Paunović
- Ana’s Top Tip Ana Polanšćak
- Making a custom cave display base Matija Koružnjak
- Building a Gaming Board – pt 1. Marko Paunović
- Building a Gaming Board – pt 2. Marko Paunović
- Astronaut on the Beach – Part 1 Jure Cukar
- Astronaut on the Beach – Part 2 Jure Cukar
- Old School Ork Goran Krunić
- Step by Step – Painting a Joker bust Marko Paunović
- Black Templars Sword Brother – part 1 Goran Krunić
- Black Templars Sword Brother – part 2 Goran Krunić
- Black Templars Sword Brother – part 3 Goran Krunić
- Black Templars Sword Brother – part 4 Goran Krunić
- Black Templars Sword Brother – part 5 Goran Krunić
- Mad Max diorama pt 1 – Preparation Marko Paunović
- Mad Max diorama pt 2 – Making the Base Marko Paunović
- Mad Max diorama pt 3 – Texture Marko Paunović
- Mad Max diorama pt 4 – Painting the base Marko Paunović
- Mad Max diorama pt 5 – Vegetation Marko Paunović
- Mad Max diorama pt 6 – Interceptor Marko Paunović
With this we at UMS Agram would like to wish you all a happy and less stressful 2021.
Latest articles
- Back to Basics Workshops in Galerija VN, a part of Libraries of Zagreb Krunoslav Belinić, 4th December 2025
- We attended: Monte San Savino 2025 Marko Paunović, 24th November 2025
-
Science behind Acrylic Paints
- Binders (eng. resin) – form a film – in our case probably pure acrylates, I suspect they are styrene acrylates.
- Fillers – in addition to adding volume to the paint, they also affect the viscosity, coverage and appearance of the dry film
- Pigments – the main division is into organic pigments and inorganic pigments. Inorganic ones are more covering but have less vivid shades, while organic ones are often quite poorly covering (yellow for example) but their shades are vivid and bright
Additives:
- Anti-foam
- Rheological modifiers – affect the behavior of wet paint on the substrate (e.g. spillage) and the behavior of the paint when a force is applied to it (brush, roller, spray, airbrush). Rheological modifiers also include thickeners that affect the viscosity of the paint.
- Dispersants – envelop pigment and filler particles and prevent their agglomeration during standing. Good dispersion of pigment and filler affects the coverage and uniform appearance of the dry film. There are a bunch more but I won't go into too much detail
- Solvent – in this case water.
Contrast paints and speed paints – high pigment content, but not so much that it causes high coverage. They are formulated to spread, not to stay where you put them. The result of spreading is that the paint collects in the recesses, where a thicker film of paint remains than on the protruding parts of the miniature. Where the film of paint is thicker (the recesses), the shade of the contrast paint is more pronounced, unlike on the protruding parts where the film is thinner, which is why the shade is then influenced by the color of the substrate.
Composition:
- Binders
- Pigments
- Additives – all listed above + surfactants that reduce the surface tension of the wet paint film, which is why it flows
- solvent
- I would say they do not contain fillers, or contain very, very little of them
Washes – similar in formulation and behavior to contrast agents, only they have a much lower proportion of pigments, certainly no fillers, a higher proportion of surfactants, lower viscosity, and probably less binders.
If we want to greatly dilute acrylic paint or contrast, it is better to use a product intended for this purpose from the manufacturer of that paint rather than water, because it contains all the necessary amount of binders and additives for that paint to retain its properties.
" ["content_hrv"]=> string(4306) "U ovom članku, naša Dunja nam otkriva znanost iza akrilnih boja.
Akrilne boje – visoki udio pigmenta i dobra pokrivnost. Ako su dobro formulirane ostaju tamo gdje ih naneseš, ne ostavljaju „brush marks“ i suše se dovoljno sporo da stigneš napravit što želiš na minijaturi a opet dovoljno brzo.
Sastav:
- Veziva (eng. resin) – formiraju film – u našem slučaju vjerojatno čisti akrilati, sumnjam da su stiren akrilati.
- Punila – osim što dodaju volumen boji utječu i na viskoznost, pokrivnost i izgled suhog filma
- Pigmenti – glavna podjela je na organske pigmente i anorganske pigmente. Anorganski su više pokrivni ali manje živih nijansi, dok su organski često dosta loše pokrivni (žuti npr) ali zato su im nijanse žive i jarke
Aditivi:
- Protiv pjene
- Reološki modifikatori – utječu na ponašanje mokre boje na podlozi (npr razlijevanje) i na ponašanje boje dok na nju djeluje sila (kist, valjak, sprej, airbrush). Pod reološke modifikatore spadaju i ugušćivači koji utječu na viskozitet boje.
- Dispergatori – obavijaju čestice pigmenata i punila i sprječavaju aglomeraciju istih stajanjem. Dobra dispergiranost pigmenta i punila utječe na pokrivnost i ujednačen izgled suhog filma.
- Ima ih još hrpa ali neću toliko u detalje
- Otapalo – u ovom slučaju voda.
Kontrastice i speed paints – visoki udio pigmenta, ali ne toliki da uzrokuje visoku pokrivnost. Formulirane su da se razlijevaju, a ne da ostaju tamo gdje ih staviš. Posljedica razlijevanja je skupljanje boje u udubine gdje onda ostane deblji film boje nego na isturenim dijelovima minijature. Tamo gdje je film boje deblji (udubine) nijansa kontrastice izraženija, za razliku od isturenih dijelova na kojima je film tanji zbog čega na nijansu onda utječe boja podloge.
Sastav:
- Veziva
- Pigmenti
- Aditivi – svi nabrojani gore +
- surfakanti koji smanjuju površinsku napetost mokrog filma boje zbog čega i dolazi do razlijevanja
- otapalo
- rekla bih da ne sadrže punila, ili ih sadrže vrlo vrlo malo
Washevi – po principu formuliranja i ponašanju slični kontrasticama, samo imaju puno manji udio pigmenata, sigurno ne sadrže punila, veći udio surfakanata, manji viskozitet i vjerojatno manje veziva.
Ako želimo jako razrijediti akrilnu boju ili kontrasticu bolje je koristiti za to predviđen proizvod od proizvođača te boje nego vodu, jer sadrži svu potrebnu količinu veziva i aditiva kako bi ta boja zadržala svoja svojstva.
" ["created"]=> string(19) "2025-11-20 13:03:37" ["modified"]=> string(19) "2025-11-20 13:03:37" } ["Member"]=> array(10) { ["id"]=> string(2) "64" ["group_id"]=> string(1) "1" ["first_name"]=> string(9) "Krunoslav" ["last_name"]=> string(8) "Belinić" ["first_name_mask"]=> string(9) "krunoslav" ["last_name_mask"]=> string(7) "belinic" ["username"]=> string(5) "Kruno" ["password"]=> string(40) "eb3fda45fbec0258e90d809803b10491c548b22f" ["born"]=> string(19) "2015-01-18 09:19:00" ["created"]=> string(19) "2015-01-18 09:20:39" } } Krunoslav Belinić, 20th November 2025 - We attended: ModelMania 2025 Marko Paunović, 5th November 2025
- Necropolis Board part 1 Antoni Pastuović, 5th November 2025
Latest battle-reports
- Kill Team - Blooded vs. Vespid Stingwings 28th February 2025, GW - Warhammer 40.000, and Antoni Pastuović (Imperial Guard)
- 22nd April 2022, GW - Warhammer 40.000, Borna Pleše (Space Marines) and Kristijan Kliska (Tau Empire)
- 17th November 2021, GW - Warhammer 40.000, and Nino Marasović (Space Marines)
















































































