Miniature Painting Killing My Eyes!

[Tewligan]

If you have nearly-perfect vision, do you need the goggles? I'm pretty damn far from having perfect vision, and I don't have any problem painting those tiny fiddly bits. Have you tried painting without them, or did you just pick them up for the full mini painting experience?

 

[kenobi65]

Welcome to the aging process.

Nearly everyone develops vision problems by the time they're 40 or so.

When I was a young person, I had 20/10 vision, and, thus, hadn't been to the ophthamologist in many years. Finally went early this year (at age 41), after being diagnosed with diabetes last year. Turns out I now have astigmatism in both eyes, affecting my distance vision (though, not severely enough quite yet that I really need glasses).

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Yes, Game Workshop games make RPG's look very cheap. Especially since the initial buy-in to get a semi-decent army is much higher than the cost of the core books.

Olaf the Stout

 

[bento]

I think the big barrier to buying Rackham stuff is the price, but if you check out Lone Star, they're selling a lot of it on clearance right now.

That's where I'm getting as many of the L5R minis as I can - $2 each!

BTW...you DO have a freestanding magnifying glass with clips don't you?

Unfortuantely I don't have the magnifying lamp! The Ott Lite produces a bright white light, simulating daylight, so you can tell the true colors of objects.

Do you mean now you are completely incapable on focusing on such objects, or that the problem persists for a while after painting, but then goes away?

Now that I've spent most of today away from the craft table it's much better. But whenever I bring something close (within 12 inches) it goes all blurry!

Have you tried painting without them, or did you just pick them up for the full mini painting experience?

I guess I'm going for the full experience. I've had the goggles sitting around for a couple of years, only dragging them out when someone gets a splinter. I guess I'm like most guys with tools - if you have it you want to use it!

When I was a young person, I had 20/10 vision, and, thus, hadn't been to the ophthamologist in many years. Finally went early this year (at age 41), after being diagnosed with diabetes last year. Turns out I now have astigmatism in both eyes, affecting my distance vision (though, not severely enough quite yet that I really need glasses).

I had 20/10 in the right eye, while the left was much worse. Somehow they've always evened out the distance so I hadn't had problems. Now I can tell the right is much worse. Guess I'll have to make an appointment with the opthomologist!

It's funny how you can be on the computer all day, every day, for years and except for dry and red eyes, not really have a problem. Then in a week's orgy of miniature painting that you start feeling the change!

Yes, Game Workshop games make RPG's look very cheap. Especially since the initial buy-in to get a semi-decent army is much higher than the cost of the core books.

The other thing about Warhammer is that it's ANOTHER game. Lets see, besides all the RPGs I have, and the Heroclix, and the PS2....

My son likes the look of the WH40K because they have robots and men in cool armor suits (Space Marines).

Has anyone here played any mini-figure war games? Since visiting Reaper I've looked at their Warlord and CAV games and was curious.... Also what's Warhammer & WH40K like?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I played Chainmail before it was cancelled- it was pretty good. BTW, you can probably still find those minis floating around at discounted prices. D&D Minis (DDM), the game that replaced it, is pretty similar- also nicely done, but with better tie-ins to the core RPG, and cheaper minis that are, of course, plastic and pre-painted.

Confrontation is very similar (mechanically) to Chainmail/DDM, albeit with some different powers, some actual firearms and other changes...and its movement is Metric rather than English. Its more expensive than Chainmail ever was, but the sculpts, however, are worth the extra cost.

I liked the rules of but didn't play any of the WizKids stuff (with the exception of their Rocketmen game- you know- the one that was based off of their Pirates game?), so I have bunches of their superheroes and modern day minis, as well as a few of their Mechwarrior pieces. I wish I had picked up their take on Crimson Skies, though...

 

[pogre]

I'm jealous you are so close to the Reaper factory/store!

I would lose the goggles. I bet if you ask around at the Saturday Reaper paintathons the vast majority of decent painters do not use them or magnifying glasses.

A really decent minis game you can get by the bushelload for cheap right now is Lord of the Rings by GW. It has similar mechanics to many of their other mini games and the game is very cheap these days. You can pick up brand new sets for less than 40% of retail fairly easily.

I love Confrontation and it is my minis game of choice these days. It's disheartening to see how many players have unpainted armies, but it is still a really cool game.

 

[bento]

Thanks Pogre for dropping a line! I checked out your minis a couple of weeks ago on Circvs Maximvs board and loved the dragon you painted! Looking at some of your work and the others posters gave me inspiration that I had the patience and ability to take the plunge and give painting a try.

So two votes for Confrontation - I'll have to look more into the game now.

 

[megamania]

I used to play Hero clix but got out of it when they began to "cancel" use of sets. Some of these I repainted for use in DnD or Champions/ Mutants & Masterminds.

DDM is great and sometimes I repaint these also. The new Dreamblade stuff is neat also but mixes in some.... unusual stuff.

Reaper figures are the best of the group. Cheap without looking cheap and in the past 5 years they have done much to create creatures usable in DnD also.

Confrontation figures are AWESOME! The price is tough however. Figure 10 dollars a figure. But name somewhere else you can get skeletal centaurs that are scary.

From there, there are many smaller groups out there that have great figures that can be made or adjusted for use. Games Workshop is a clear good one. What I like most of their stuff is the plastic troop packs. You can assemble and pose these. If you want personalities this is the set to go with. I built 20+ Skavens (wererats/Ratmen). Each have unique looks including a Lich!

Celtos has figures that are within reason for DnD. Magnificant Egos is coming out with nice stuff as of late.

If I have the means to take better pictures (close ups) I would love to post some of my work.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

BTW- Confrontation also has AWESOME celtic/barbarian types...

AND Lone Star has been having Confrontation on sale for a time, so keep your eyes open and you may just find something you'll love.

If you can't find Confrontation at Lone Star, try Generation X in Euless, on 157 just North of where it crosses 183 (an awesome store) or perhaps The Game Chest at Valley View mall in Dallas.

Game Chest, FYI, is also excellent at finding & stocking stuff that is out of print or production. Every once in a while, I'll wander in and find something I haven't seen in years!

 

[Eli-kun]

It could be worse. Check this out
http://www.madmuseum.org/site/c.drKLI1PIIqE/b.1506945/k.3AD7/Radical_Lace__Subversive_Knitting.htm