[Miniatures] Painting tips and progress reports (with pics!)

[hentzau]

Tonight’s work…

[Isgrimnur]

[Punisher]

Hmm... they are dressed the same.. are they 3 friends?

[Isgrimnur]

Sculpts and paint so good I can tell who is who.

[hentzau]

Sculpts and paint so good I can tell who is who.

Paint is purely tabletop...this is all in the sculpts. They're from Knuckleduster Games, some of the best Western mini sculpts out there. I know the owner/sculptor, he's a really great guy. He's got a ton of minis that you can pretty easily identify the movie/character they are based on. These three figures are called The Caballeros, and their names are Headley Arrow, Ford Chrysler, and Nik Nickerbocker.

[hentzau]

Work in progress…I’m really torn about doing a wash on it. I like how it looks now, and a wash could either really enhance the look or just muddy it all up. I am definitely going to be doing more work on the rocks (really haven’t touched them yet) and the roof will be getting a wash to grime it up some.

[Smoove_B]

After years of putting it off, I finally finished the heroes from Nemesis (plus the Medic). The sculpts are not conducive to painting (imho) - and these are the newer, updated models. I think they're just too small (25mm?) and not sculpted by someone that is a painter, at least as far as I can tell. I tried following examples, but really the goal was to stick with the colors associated with the class to help see them easier on the board.



Spent some time today making a legit spreadsheet to track all my painting projects - what's primed, what needs to be primed, what needs to be assembled, etc...

Slowly making progress but it feels good to get stuff done, regardless.

[baelthazar]

Yours look good but I agree with you that they are not made for painting. I suspect it is because they were made for Sundrop, which they sell at a higher price. This is why I did at home "Sundrop" of just putting on a single color coat of wash then airbrushing with white. They came out well that way.

[Smoove_B]

Ah, yes. I forgot about that - that they were Sundrop tinting them. That definitely makes more sense.

I'm having similar struggles with the CMON sculpts for Massive Darkness (the original) - the mobs. They're super detailed but not in a way that is fun to paint - especially the mobs (repeated character models). I can make the single-shot models work fine, but if you're going to make me paint the same model 37 times, make it reasonable.

[TheMix]

Yours look good but I agree with you that they are not made for painting. I suspect it is because they were made for Sundrop, which they sell at a higher price. This is why I did at home "Sundrop" of just putting on a single color coat of wash then airbrushing with white. They came out well that way.

Pretty sure they didn't offer Sundrop for the heroes. As someone that has not invested in learning to paint, I did buy the Sundrop versions. And the heroes were not included.

[baelthazar]

Yours look good but I agree with you that they are not made for painting. I suspect it is because they were made for Sundrop, which they sell at a higher price. This is why I did at home "Sundrop" of just putting on a single color coat of wash then airbrushing with white. They came out well that way.

Pretty sure they didn't offer Sundrop for the heroes. As someone that has not invested in learning to paint, I did buy the Sundrop versions. And the heroes were not included.

They did Sundrop on the characters for Retaliation and Aftermath, maybe not in the initial run.

[TheMix]

Yours look good but I agree with you that they are not made for painting. I suspect it is because they were made for Sundrop, which they sell at a higher price. This is why I did at home "Sundrop" of just putting on a single color coat of wash then airbrushing with white. They came out well that way.

Pretty sure they didn't offer Sundrop for the heroes. As someone that has not invested in learning to paint, I did buy the Sundrop versions. And the heroes were not included.

They did Sundrop on the characters for Retaliation and Aftermath, maybe not in the initial run.

Ah. I just have Nemesis and Nemesis: Lockdown. I decided not to over-indulge.

[Smoove_B]

Little something came in the mail yesterday....

[hentzau]

Little something came in the mail yesterday....

[hentzau]

I keep meaning to send out an invite to OO folks if anyone wants to try a hybrid minis/online Pulp Alley game via Zoom. I did it for years during Covid and it works surprisingly well. I’ll try and find a Saturday evening that I have free if anyone wants to try it. First come first serve of course.

[Smoove_B]

Now all I'll be able to think about while I'm trying to build and paint the minis is Jeff Goldblum excitedly cheering me on.

[hepcat]

As long as you don’t carry that image into the bedroom, you should be okay.

[Smoove_B]

Well, now that you've said that I won't be able to unsee it either, so thanks.

[Blackhawk]

They have a starter pack? I had no idea. I've got a handful of their miniatures, the book, the cards (and the extra cards), the tokens, and... some sort of template, I think? I could be wrong on that. It's one I keep meaning to play, given that it supports solo play, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Some part of my brain keeps interfering with me actually starting any solo skirmish/minis games. I've got them, I've got the stuff, I just can't get myself to set up the table. My 3d printer will, I hope, change that by making the terrain less of an undertaking.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, the starter set includes:

Core Rules Book, Quick Start Guide, Fortune Deck, Rewards, Scenario Markers, League Cards, Character Figures, Dice

and some other stuff.

I added the solo deck and Perilous Island. He added some bonus cards; I'm still reviewing everything.

I totally get not wanting to solo play. For me it took the right combination of theme and rule set and I still need to be in the mood for it. But I kinda like how I can set it up and just play a round or two and then leave it.

[Blackhawk]

I totally get not wanting to solo play. For me it took the right combination of theme and rule set and I still need to be in the mood for it. But I kinda like how I can set it up and just play a round or two and then leave it.

Not at all! I bought it specifically because of the solo option. I have just had a very tough time in the last few years getting big games off of the shelf and onto the table. Much of it was, I think, due to all the time I didn't have the space to set up a table for more than an afternoon, both because the house was arranged differently (you couldn't walk past a table), and because Michelle was still here (personally, I'm fine with crawling over the bed to get past the table...) Part of it was because of how my days were structured (I was tied to the living room every day for six to seven hours while the birds are out), but their time is only three to four hours now, with one day per week when I'm 'off', plus I have more free time during other parts of the day now.

I just haven't been able to get past the avoidant response now that I don't have avoid it. Some part of my brain, during the time when it was problematic, locked down the idea that it was too much hassle, and now it won't let go.

My brain sucks.

[Smoove_B]

Ah, mine has mainly been tied to my frustrations with painting. But now that I've largely fixed that, I feel energized with miniatures (again) and am actually more interested now in assembling/painting miniatures than just about anything else. Wish I figured it out sooner, but I guess we all do things in our own time.

[EzeKieL]

Some Marvel Zombies paintjobs I did in the last week. Some are obviously better than others
I'm still quite slow I think since I average at least 2 hours per mini. I have no idea how people do it faster, especially since I just do basic stuff.
The black primer isn't helping though since many of these minis have bright colours and thus need more layers. I should've primed grey or white .

Dr.DOOM

Spoiler:

Captain Marvel

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Juggernaut

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Loki

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Psylocke

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Namor

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Kitty Pride

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Sabretooth

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Captain America

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Hawkeye

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Black Bolt

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War Machine

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[Blackhawk]

Ah, mine has mainly been tied to my frustrations with painting. But now that I've largely fixed that

Anything you can share on what you changed?

[Blackhawk]

Some Marvel Zombies paintjobs I did in the last week. Some are obviously better than others
I'm still quite slow I think since I average at least 2 hours per mini. I have no idea how people do it faster, especially since I just do basic stuff.
The black primer isn't helping though since many of these minis have bright colours and thus need more layers. I should've primed grey or white .

Nice job on those minis!

FWIW, if I'm not speed painting, I put in more time than that. If I'm doing a special character/villain model, even normal sized, I might put in 10+ hours on it. If I'm really pushing, I can knock out minis in probably half an hour each, but it's not a lot of fun.

If you're not wanting to take them back out and re-prime with a lighter color, one solution to the black primer would be to drybrush them with white. Search YouTube for 'slapchop.' It only takes a couple of minutes each.

Some tips for speed painting (and only for speed painting - this isn't for developing quality or technique, just for getting them colorful faster):

• Do six to ten at a time. In fact, I have a whole box of wooden paint stir sticks (for house paint), and just tack them all down in a line with Museum Putty (not the same as poster tack - this is much stronger and comes off cleaner.)
• Pick miniatures that are identical, like six SHIELD troopers, or ten Hydra grunts (I have no idea what's in the game.)
• If #2 doesn't apply, pick miniatures that use the same colors, like several X-Men (black and yellow - hello!), Sabertooth ( yellow), Hawkeye, Black Bolt (black), etc.
• With #s 2 and 3, you can pick one color, and use it on every one of them - every uniform yellow, for instance, then go to the next shared color - all the black. Move on down the line until all of the shared colors are done, then hit the parts that aren't the same.
• Finish up with a few details on each one to make them stand out (belt buckles, etc.)
• The fastest techniques - in general - are to either use zenithal priming (prime black, then prime white both from directly above and at an angle to represent where the light is coming from - check YouTube) or slapchop (prime black/gray, drybrush white.) Then, over that, you throw on the colors with some form of contrast paint. These days I'd suggest Army Painter Speed Paint, preferably while wearing a speed suit for the extra oomph.

It's dull (you paint one part of ten miniatures, then paint one part of ten miniatures, assembly line style), doesn't give as much room for imagination (as it encourages uniformity), won't teach you much technique, and doesn't result in 'wow' level miniatures, but that's not the purpose - the purpose of those techniques is to get the miniatures painted and on the table as quick as humanly possible, and if you're doing something relatively unexciting - like scores of Zombicide zombies - that level of painting is absolutely sufficient, allowing you to put the extra effort into more impressive models if you choose to.

[Blackhawk]

Here, this isn't a good photo (it was a photo of something else, and this was in the background), but I don't have anything set up to speed paint right now. Anyway, here's how I set up a stick of miniatures when I want to paint them fast.

[Smoove_B]

Anything you can share on what you changed?

I wish it was an interesting story, but in truth it 100% came down to the primer. Specifically, using anything other than official Citadel primer with Contrast Paints.

Anything other than Citadel products resulted in weird streaking, pooling, sticking, etc... and the Contrast paints largely failed to work. After using just about any type of rattle-can (or brush on) primer with acrylics, I was genuinely surprised to finally figure out that Contrast paints seemingly don't like generic primers. I don't see people widely indicating the same experiences so I don't know if there's another X factor involved (weather? humidity?) during the process, but since I started angrily paying for official Wraithbone spray primer, painting is now enjoyable and productive.

[Blackhawk]

All I know for sure is that I've used them fairly extensively over Army Painter rattlecan primer, Badger Stynylrez airbrush primer, and standard paint drybrushed over either of the above, and I've never had an issue.

I've also begun to shift away from GW contrast paints to Army Painter speed paints. I'm not fond of Games Workshop, and buying fewer of their products makes me happy.

[Smoove_B]

I've tried just about every combination you can imagine (paint brands and application), never an airbrush though. If hentzau didn't report the same issues, I'd think I was totally doing something wrong. And maybe I (we?) are, but I cannot deny the results. I don't like that I need to use their stuff to get the experience and results others seemingly have with less-expensive products, but at this point in my life I need to find enjoyment where I can and if that means paying stupid money for GW rattle-can primers, then so be it.

[Smoove_B]

Speaking of combos, I am dip-stripping some minis that I did last fall using Vallejo surface primer. It's grey and I had painted a bunch of German soldiers with it (V-Sabotage) to help with the acrylics I'd be slapping over them. Anyway, now that I'm going to try to pivot to Contrasts, I figured I'd do a test run by removing the paint with Simple Green and then re-priming with Citadel Wraithbone. After 48 hours, the paint was still really stuck on the mini, so I gave them another 48 hours in LA's totally awesome cleaner. No change.

Anyone have any experience using denatured alcohol to remove paint? I can't say I've seen anything like this. To be clear, both of the above remove paint, but even after extended soaking and scrubbing, they're still only about 50% free of paint. If you're looking for a primer that doesn't budge, Vallejo Panzer Grey is the way to go, apparently.

[Blackhawk]

If you didn't lay down the primer extra thick, you can probably just primer over what's left. Sometimes minis get a dozen or more coats of paint over a single area. Having half of one plus primer plus contrast shouldn't be an issue.

[Zarathud]

Now that tax season is over, I'll upload some of my recent miniatures.

Chibi D.Va from Impact Miniatures

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The candy pink is Vallejo model color 70958 (pink) with a Reaper MSP09263 mint green for the cockpit. The guns are Vallejo model color 70.863 (gunmetal gray).

Reaper Shroomies and Pathfinder Goblin


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The Shroomie grey is Ashen Stone which leaves things greyish if there's not a lot of detail.

[Punisher]

Speaking of combos, I am dip-stripping some minis that I did last fall using Vallejo surface primer. It's grey and I had painted a bunch of German soldiers with it (V-Sabotage) to help with the acrylics I'd be slapping over them. Anyway, now that I'm going to try to pivot to Contrasts, I figured I'd do a test run by removing the paint with Simple Green and then re-priming with Citadel Wraithbone. After 48 hours, the paint was still really stuck on the mini, so I gave them another 48 hours in LA's totally awesome cleaner. No change.

Anyone have any experience using denatured alcohol to remove paint? I can't say I've seen anything like this. To be clear, both of the above remove paint, but even after extended soaking and scrubbing, they're still only about 50% free of paint. If you're looking for a primer that doesn't budge, Vallejo Panzer Grey is the way to go, apparently.

Have you thought about just switching to Army Painter speed paints? They are usually cheaper then GW and you can also use the Army Painter rattle cans. Or even Krylon and maybe Rustoleum.
I have the complete set of Speedpaints 2.0 and love them so far. I am using the army painter rattle cans with them and haven't tried other brands yet.

[Blackhawk]

Now that tax season is over, I'll upload some of my recent miniatures.

Chibi D.Va from Impact Miniatures


Reaper Shroomies and Pathfinder Goblin

Image!

The board software doesn't like your image host.

[Zarathud]

Had to move from Google photos to Google drive, they don't make it easy anymore. I'll take photos of my Chibi Rincewind, Themberchaud and Honey Badger Druid tomorrow.

For now, there's a comparison of Army Painter SpeedPaints on a Nolzur's Centaur compared to a Reaper on a Nolzur's Giant Spider (working layers from a Reaper blue to a light Cinderella blue to a touch of white)

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Both of these were easy, but the Centaur went so quickly with AP Speedpaint Sand Golem (my favorite brown), then Crusader Skin, a touch of Pallid Bone with Skeleton Bone touch-ups on the edge highlights. The tail might have been Scale75 Inktensite Wood, since it's a favorite dark brown.

[Punisher]

I like them both but i think the spider needs a wash of some sort. Looks too clean.
Both paintjobs are great and nice and clean...the different kind.

[Zarathud]

The spider has an Army Painter light tone on the mandibles. I was trying to make him cave ghostlike -- his back (not shown) has some nice white streaks for contrast.

Painting Chibis from Impact Miniatures is a challenge to get away from washes and SpeedPaints, or at least not to rely on them so heavily. I pick something up from them at every convention (GenCon and Adepticon), and they have a great selection of fun models. I'm hoping to get more from their Discworld series this year after painting the Librarian. They also have the Princess Bride and Aliens.

[Punisher]

Do you have a direct link to princess bridevand aliens?
I couldn't find them on their site.

[Zarathud]

Impact Miniatures sells them in the Chibi line. The son does the painting and they have a nice booth with displays showing the collections.

Aliens - https://impact-miniatures.myshopify.com ... -alien-set

Princess Bride - https://impact-miniatures.myshopify.com ... 0782&_ss=r

Firefly - https://impact-miniatures.myshopify.com ... 14fd&_ss=r

[Punisher]

Thanks.
I'm generally not a Chibo style fan but a few of those look worth branching out.