Painting and putting together minis

[GlassJaw]

I have yet to find a brand that has much of a shelf life after opening; they all dry out without constant use.

I bought a complete set of Vallejo Game Colors and have been using them for close to 2 years and I've yet to have any of the dry out.

I use your typical (and much cheaper) craft store paints with brand names like FolkArt, Apple Barrell and Ceramcoat.

The only thing I use those for now is for bases or terrain. I tried to use them when I started and I felt like I was fighting the paint all the time. They are terrible for mixing and don't their pigmentation breaks down when doing washes. I also found them to go on very thick and uneven.

After the person, the paints make all the difference. Even a very good painter will be hamstrung by inferior paints.

 

[Desdichado]

Huh. I've had great results (well, given my painting skill anyway) with the craft paints. I mix them constantly on a plastic pallette I bought and love the way my mixes turn out. I've found they do washes as well as the Citadel and Ral Partha paints I used to use. I don't do as many washes anymore, though -- I tend to just build on layers of thin paint instead. I like the look better.

 

[Red Viper]

Biggest single tip for painting: clean and prime the mini first! Paint will stick *so* much better.

What exactly do you use to clean your Minis?

 

[focallength]

Any type of super glue but Zap a Gap is really good and its fairly cheap for the amount you get. Make sure you clean and primer your figs otherwise the paint will just flake off or youll get lead rot. Any acrylic paint works best and lots of painters use paint from the local craft store, if you look around you can find good deals. (usually about a dollar for a good size bottle) Make sure you clear coat the fig too or the paint will eventually just rub off (testors matte clear coat works great) And dont skimp on brushes ,go to a craft store and get decent brushes $2-$5 each, about 3 of different sizes will work fine. You should get a small fine metal file and a good x-acto knife too.

 

[focallength]

What exactly do you use to clean your Minis?

FYI cleaning refers to taking off flashing and other bits of left over lead / pewter etc...and cleaning the seams. If you look closely most figs have noticeable seams (some are really bad) just scrape or file them down. Also you really dont need to pin anything unless the pieces just wont go together (vary rare) or the pieces are very large.

Good luck and enjoy and remember like anything else it takes lots of practice to get good. Dont be afraid to ask people whos models you like for painting tips. Most peole willl be more than happy to share tips as this is how they most likely learned.

 

[pogre]

Check out the step-by-step instructions in the articles section at Coolminiornot.

Here is my model & figure thread that includes a couple of step-by-step pieces.

Here are some articles I wrote over at d20 Magazine Rack last year.

Welcome to the hobby - have fun and enjoy your progress!

 

[deltadave]

I use JB weld for large pieces, but you have to do a little prep first. drilling holes and filling them with the glue gives a stronger bond. To hold the pieces together while the JB sets I use just a dab of superglue. The problem with superglue is that it is very brittle, doesn't fill gaps well and doesn't sand very well either. For plastic, use Tenax-7R or any solvent glue that bonds the pieces together by melting them at the join. Use sparingly to avoid deforming the piece.

For cleaning minis use warm water, dish soap and a toothbrush, just be sure to rinse thouroughly then handle the figure with cotton gloves until you prime it.

For primer - Krylon works well, but the grain is finer from the specialty primers. Priming is the first step in actually painting and also the most critical. Make sure that you buff all the pointy grains and blobs that may be on your figure using a clean toothbrush. Don't apply primer too thickly or you will obscure detail, just a light dusting that completely covers the figure will do.

Paint is an interesting topic, there are lots of opinions and what you use depends on the results you want...

Acrylic paints are water based, easy to clean but don't have the most vibrant colors and tend to fade. Enamels resist fading, have a tougher finish but need a solvent to clean or thin them. Oil paints are expensive, take a long time to dry, but have the most vivid colors. There are lots of other media but the ones above are the three most common for miniatures painting with acrylic being the most popular.

 

[focallength]

Now dont confuse the guy. Your not putting together huge models so you dont need J.B. weld or Epoxy. As far as giving your minis a bath and handling them with cotton gloves I hope he was kidding, just clean the flashing off and any other extra metal to "clean" your figures. (heck Ive even used my finger nail when the fig wasnt too bad) Just stick with one or two light coats of primer, use acrylic paint (99.99% of which painters use) and youll be fine.

 

[Desdichado]

Now dont confuse the guy. Your not putting together huge models so you dont need J.B. weld or Epoxy. As far as giving your minis a bath and handling them with cotton gloves I hope he was kidding, just clean the flashing off and any other extra metal to "clean" your figures. (heck Ive even used my finger nail when the fig wasnt too bad) Just stick with one or two light coats of primer, use acrylic paint (99.99% of which painters use) and youll be fine.

You never know. A mini doesn't really need to be too big to benefit from pinning. Anything that's Large (D&D terms) or larger relative to a normal figure can probably benefit from pinning, and if it's got anything like dragon wings or what-have-you that are large and heavy yet attach at a small point, pinning is pretty essential. It's not like it's difficult; a little mini drill bit, some wire, and you're good to go.

 

[Zander]

Now dont confuse the guy. Your not putting together huge models so you dont need J.B. weld or Epoxy.

I used 5-minute epoxy for all metal minis whatever their size. For plastics, I use plastic cement, liquid poly (which is like plastic cement but is almost as runny as water) or both.