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The Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy

Welcome to the Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy, the place to learn how to paint your favourite miniatures with regular, in-depth and highly detailed tutorials, painting challenges, courses and best of all, a thriving community of amazing Academy Members!

LATEST TUTORIALS

This Week's Tutorials

Skeletor

Our first new video this week is a focus on one of the greatest villains ever created in fiction – the mighty Skeletor, for Masters of the Universe Battlegrounds by Archon Studios!
 
In this video we show how to paint Skeletor from start to finish in the iconic colours of the original toy from the 80s, with particular attention paid to how to highlight the blue body, and achieve the subtle green on the skull.
 
In this video we show you:
  • Where to get started to paint the iconic blue and purple.
  • How to highlight the smooth muscles on his body.
  • How to subtly alter the tone of purple on the various pieces of his gear.
  • A great way of painting the evil skull with the tint of green and yellow.
  • How to paint the finishing touches such as the gem and his claws.
If you too want to revel in being the baddie and rule Eternia, then this is the video for you. You can see the full video now!

5 Hobby Hacks

Our second video this week delves into some handy hints and tips that Duncan has learned over the years, useful for any hobbyist no matter what models they collect.
 
In this quickfire video we walk through 5 hobby hacks that you absolutely need to know, including:
  • How to make a wet palette for next to nothing out of household materials.
  • How to apply glue with absolute precision, especially useful when gluing together sub-assemblies.
  • A way of building a support for small sub-assemblies, to hold whilst painting.
  • How to create a sponge brush for precise chipping effects.
  • How to add a paper banner to your miniatures.
These tips are always useful so no matter what you collect, be sure to check them out. You can see the full video now!

The DRPA Podcast

Beyond the Brush is the official DRPA podcast, hosted by Joe and featuring Dunc, Rog, and Jack. Each week we dive into all things hobby, from painting and collecting miniatures to industry news, behind-the-scenes chat, and the occasional special guest. If you love the hobby as much as we do, you’ll feel right at home.

New episodes go live every Wednesday, and DRPA Members get early accessa full week before general release — along with the chance to have their questions answered on the show. Just drop them into the DRPA Members’ Discord!

Episodes are available on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Player FM, and Deezer plus many more.

The Spotify link can be moody, just search - Beyond the Brush DRPA.

What is the Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy?

The Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy, or DRPA for short, is a Membership site where you can come and learn to paint your favourite miniatures. Whether you are a beginner or even an experienced miniature painter, the Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy will teach you all the techniques you need to know and give you the confidence to paint any miniature you desire.

Want to know which miniatures we’ve made tutorials for? Then just click the link below!

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enjoy these sample tutorials

This is just a small taster of the video tutorials we have on the site. We will be adding new, exclusive content every week that can only be found right here for our members. We will be covering all manner of miniatures, techniques and advice, everything to help you improve your painting skills. Check out the full list of videos and a gallery of the tutorials on the site by clicking the link below.

Tutorial of the Month!

Iron Warriors Defiler

We had made pacts with dark powers to film a new tutorial focused on the new Chaos Defiler, for Warhammer 40,000 by Games Workshop!
 
In this video we walk through a great method of painting this mighty daemon engine with a particular focus on what order in which to tackle dense detail at its core, in the colours of the Iron Warriors Legion.
 
In this video we show you:
  • Where to start with the complex layers of detail at it’s core; the flesh, the machinery, and the armour, walking through how to jump back and forth between them so as to make painting them a breeze.
  • How to paint gross daemonic flesh complete with veins and bruises.
  • A great way of painting the Iron Warriors colour scheme on armoured vehicles.
  • How to generate a weathered appearance on the armour plating, perfect for the grim traitors of the Iron Warriors.
  • How to add all the finishing touches such as glowing red lights, rust and verdigris, and more.
Whilst we paint the model in the livery of the Iron Warriors, the methods and techniques used can be applied to any scheme you might want to paint by simply switching the colours. This model is lots of fun to paint, so we how you enjoy it! You can see the full video now.

Check out the gallery below for a sample of our 500+ Tutorials

WHY BECOME A MEMBER

Paint Sister of battle

FULL PAINTING TUTORIALS

Whether you want to paint a single figure, a vehicle, a monster or even a piece of scenery and not to mention new techniques, you will find an in-depth tutorial here just for you.

NEW CONTENT EVERY WEEK

Every week we will be adding brand new content for Members only. Whether it's video painting tutorials, blog posts and online painting guides, you can be sure you'll always have something to both help and inspire you.

WE HAVE A DUNCAN

With over 15 years experience, running painting seminars all around the world and hundreds of video tutorials under his belt, there is no one better to both teach and give you the confidence to achieve the results you've always dreamed of.

£4.99 PER MONTH

That's about the same price as a really nice cup of coffee. Not too bad for expertly produced painting tutorials and tons of inspiration. And everything is included. No tiers here!

MONTHLY PAINTING CHALLENGES

Every month we host a fun painting challenge on our Forum where Academy Members can show off their amazing work and get both inspired and motivated by an amazing community of hobbyists. The winners get an exclusive DRPA Pin badge and an hour online hang out with Duncan where they can ask any questions they want or just simply hang out and paint.

COURSES

The latest addition to the Academy is Courses! Here we host full, in-depth courses that will, over time, cover various, large subjects starting with a full course for beginners - The Fundamentals of Miniature Painting.

The DRPA Podcast

Hear our official podcast a week before anyone else and we will answer DRPA member's questions weekly. A great way to relax whilst painting your favourite miniatures.

Here's what our Members have to say

SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Small Studio Shoutout_01

There are many fantastic, small, independent miniature and games studios out there and we believe in helping each other out wherever we can. If you feel like checking out something a bit different, then please feel free to give these guys a look-see. You may just be surprised at what you can discover…

Thanks

Dunc & Rog