Pics of a few of my mini's (2/20/03)

[collin]

Thanks

Toe, Darius:

Thanks for the tips and info. I have checked out the websites you mentioned.
1 quick question: do you normally prime in black or in white? I tend to use black more, but I do use white for certain figures, for instance skeletons, most wizards, and animals like horses and big cats.

 

[Darius101]

What you prime you mini with is dependent on what type of tones you want and how fast you want to paint a figure.

I usually use Black for a deeper earthier tone/quick paint jobs and Grey (not white) when I want a more true color.
I have also used a rust/brown color primer that works really well.

It is all experimentation mostly. Do what you like best and your figs will work for you and your group.
Darius

 

[KnowTheToe]

I agree, primer preference is all opinion. I personally hate black, but will agree if you want a quick down and dirty earth tone fig that can look pretty good, black will work well. The two aspects of black I do not like are that it hides much of the detail of the fig (no shadows to help your eye), which IMO makes it harder to paint and it is hard to cover.

White primer allows you to shade up in color or down without many layers of paint. The details of the mini are clear to the eye, and I have almost always used it, so I am biased.

As mentioned above, different prime colors work with different projects. Painting a Nazgul, black is the way to go, want a fighter to look gritty like he just crawled out of a two day long melee, black will work very well. Want a Paladin with clean clothing and armor to lead your troups, white or gray primer. Bright wizard robes or cloaks with lots of highlights, white is better. Also try to shade with brown ink instead of black, it looks more natural.

 

[collin]

Toe:

Thanks again for the tips. I have been investigating some of the websites devoted to miniature figure painting. Clearly there are personal preferences out there - as many as there are painters! I just picked up some gray primer spray today, so I plan to give that a try sometime soon. I agree with you as far as paladins do better with white primer and gritty fighters or certain monsters do better with black. I still do chainmail the old fashioned way by drybrushing with some metal paint over a black-primed figure. However, I am working on the Boromir figure from Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings set and though he has a tiny bit of chainmail on his arm, I decided it would be better to start with a white primer on the whole figure (maybe 'cause he's mounted on a horse).
One thing I've tried doing recently is priming in black first, then using some white primer to go over the black. This had an especially nice effect with a hooded wight figure I am going to be working on soon: the recesses were still in black but the outer portions of its face and body had white/gray appearance.

Appreciate any other tips you have and look forward to viewing more of your work, old and new.

C

 

[Gizzard]

I use a Krylon light grey spray primer. After that, I often give the fig a quick black wash. That picks out detail and fills in the crevasses at the same time and its fast to do. If I missed any mold lines or misunderstood some of the detail, that often shows up at this stage. I've been doing lots of monsters lately, hence the tendency towards dark undercoat.

 

[Storminator]

<SNIP>

I still do chainmail the old fashioned way by drybrushing with some metal paint over a black-primed figure. However, I am working on the Boromir figure from Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings set and though he has a tiny bit of chainmail on his arm, I decided it would be better to start with a white primer on the whole figure (maybe 'cause he's mounted on a horse).

An easy chainmail, no matter what color you prime, is to paint the mail with silver, then ink it black, then drybrush it silver again. Looks very nice, and it's quite easy.

Do any of you frequent the Reaper boards?

PS

 

[Gizzard]

Do any of you frequent the Reaper boards?

I never noticed any 'boards on the Reaper site. (And I just checked again!) Whats the URL?

-edit-

Speaking of Reaper, has anyone heard anything about their plans for the Dark Heaven 25mm line now that they have started the 30mm Warlord line? It seems that the pace of Dark Heaven releases has slowed, and I wonder if they are planning to try and support two different lines as an ongoing business. Personally, it seems like if you try this manuever, you are cutting your customer base in half. I worry that the long term goal is to phase Dark Heaven out.

-edit-edit-

Hey, wait! I just was flipping through the Reaper catalog and noticed that both Dark Heaven and Warlord are called "25mm Heroic". Is it my imagination that the Warlord stuff is bigger?

 

[collin]

An easy chainmail, no matter what color you prime, is to paint the mail with silver, then ink it black, then drybrush it silver again. Looks very nice, and it's quite easy.

Do any of you frequent the Reaper boards?

PS

I prefer to use less washes rather than more, simply because the control you have with ink washes is less than with painting or drybrushing. Even with using Future floor wax or dishwashing liquid, it's still too fluid and can go where you don't want it to go.

I do check on the Reaper website, and am looking forward to their next releases, particularly the Hag, which I could have used recently in my campaign. I don't know about there message boards.

Check out http://www.reapermini.com/
and look for "The Greens".

As to the question about Dark Haven and Warlord, it does appear that Reaper is moving more towards the 30mm line, but I don't think they have any plans to stop creating Dark Haven miniatures.

One thing that is really catching on, though, is the prepainted figures, ala Wiz Kids' Heros and Mage Knights lines. Sources tell me that various companies are looking at starting their own brand of prepainted figures (probably rubberized plastic like the Mage Knights), including Wizards of the Coast. I'm also told that Games Workshop is not crazy about the idea, but are still considering it. Although I would probably buy some (can never have too many orcs or goblins), I enjoy the pasttime and creativity of painting so it would not go over big with me.

-Collin

 

[Gizzard]

I do check on the Reaper website, and am looking forward to their next releases...

Oooh! I hadnt seen that Demagorgon green before. That looks sweet. I was so-so on the Orcus that was just released, but I was tempted to get it just to frighten my players. (DM:"Can't play next session until I finish painting Orcus." Players: "Wha!?")

 

[Storminator]

I never noticed any 'boards on the Reaper site. (And I just checked again!) Whats the URL?

-edit-
<SNIP>

If you go to the main site, there is a big red button that says "GO" tha takes you this URL

http://www.reapermini.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi

PS