Miniature figures, more commonly called minis, can add a lot to tabletop roleplaying and war games such as Warhammer or Dungeons & Dragons. Most minis come unpainted, though, and choosing colors, finding paints, and actually painting the minis can be intimidating for a beginner.
We've found four great apps to help manage your minis. Let's have a look!
1. Miniature Painter Pro
Simple and effective, Miniature Painter Pro is a free app that focuses on assembling paint palettes. The core feature lets you select colors from an image, which the app matches with paints. When you find a shade you like, you can save it in a palette for later reference.
You can select from several different paint manufacturers and filter out brands you don't like. You can also limit results to paints you already own. You can also filter paint categories, such as removing airbrush results if you prefer using a normal paintbrush.
If you purchase the paid version, you can test out paint mixes within the app and compare colors side by side. It also unlocks gamut masking, a method where you can limit the palette to a specific area on the color wheel.
This app speeds up the painting process by letting you quickly assemble the colors you need. It also helps you stay consistent between similar minis.
Download: Miniature Painter Pro for Android | iOS (Free, premium versions available)
2. Citadel Colour
Citadel Colour is a supplier of paints, brushes, and other miniature-figure supplies. Whether you're an expert or a newcomer, you'll find something useful.
The app includes Paint by Model video guides and color palettes for official Warhammer minis, so your custom paints can look like the official art. Paint by Model guides also end with optional advanced techniques to make your figure "Parade Ready!"
The Paint by Color feature teaches you how to create specific shades and effects. There's also an Inventory so you can keep track of paints you already own. You can scan in paints by barcode or search in the library. Lastly, add paints you need but don't have yet to an in-app Wishlist.
Overall a great app for getting started in the hobby.
Download: Citadel Colour for Android | iOS (Free)
3. Brushrage
Brushrage is the mini-painting app for hardcore hobbyists. It stores an incredible amount of data in addition to the basics like color matching, inventory, paint mixing, wishlist tracking, and paint lookups.
Project tracking lets you track your time spent painting a mini on a bar chart. On each project, you can attach notes and photos. You can also attach the palette you're using, as well as due dates, estimated work time, and more.
Brushrage doesn't include painting guides, but once you figure out a trick you can add your own How-To guides for future reference. You can attach notes and photos to these and almost anything else in the app, making it one of a valuable tool for any tabletop RPG player or wargamer.
It will take you a few minutes to set up, loading in all your paints and preferences and learning how all the parts of the app fit together. But, once you do, it becomes an unparalleled asset.
Download: Brushrage: Miniature Painting Done Right for Android (Free)
4. MiniPaints
MiniPaints, on its face, is a standard color-matching and palette-creating app. However, it has some extra perks that help you assemble attractive palettes for good-looking minis.
When searching for colors, you can select which brands and paint sets you want to look through. You can also search by color—for example, showing "bone" or "flesh" colors. This is a handy filtering tool that helps you find the perfect shade when "brown" is too general.
The best feature generates a palette of complementary colors for the perfect color scheme. Finding an attractive range of colors to use is a valuable tool in any artist's kit. Especially with Heroic minis, which tend to wear complex outfits with lots of layers and parts that need to be distinct without clashing.
If you want your minis to have vibrant, eye-pleasing palettes, but you're not an expert in color theory, this app is a life-saver.
Download: MiniPaints for Android | iOS (Free, premium versions available)
Best App for Mini Collectors
For beginners, Citadel Colour offers some great tutorials and resources. Once you have more experience, we recommend you add MiniPaints to your arsenal. This app will let you branch out beyond official art and assemble creative palettes, which is especially useful as your collection grows to include more unique figures.
These apps can save you time in planning and painting your minis, and some even expand your creative options. But you can get even more unique results if you print your own!