Octopus Overlords

I’ll never have the patience, tools, or time required to paint minis, but just wanted to pop in and let y’all know how awesome your efforts are.

I’m always wildly impressed at all your final results.

Other than Amazon, where does everyone buy their paints? Probably looking at everything someone needs to get started such as primer, a basic set of paints, washes. My daughter has an extensive set of brushes, some which are perfect for fine detail work. Not quite ready for an airbrush...

Thanks!

I get mine at my FLGS, but I have the luxury of having one of the best gaming stores in the country about 10 minutes from work. They stock the full lines of Citadel, Army Painter, Scale75, Vallejo...you name it, they stock it.

Yeah I’d love to go that route but the local FLGS is a small game store/comic book hybrid that doesn’t have any paints. Nice people though and I could ask them if they were interested in ordering supplies. But I can cut out the middleman and order it on my own.

Squadron.com is worth a look, as well as Reaper.

My first choice would be Miniature Market. It's a solid shop.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sun Jan 26, 2020 11:02 pm My first choice would be Miniature Market. It's a solid shop.

My first choice is Amazon, just because I can usually get it cheaper and faster than anywhere else.
That being said, Miniature Market is my solid 2nd choice followed by Cool Stuff Inc.
After that, It would be either eBay or a generic Google search, but that's only for odd things that the others don't stock or they mark up 500%. It's pretty rare that I can't get something from one of my top 3 though.

Punisher wrote: ↑Sun Jan 26, 2020 11:42 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sun Jan 26, 2020 11:02 pm My first choice would be Miniature Market. It's a solid shop.

My first choice is Amazon, just because I can usually get it cheaper and faster than anywhere else.
That being said, Miniature Market is my solid 2nd choice followed by Cool Stuff Inc.

That would be my full order, too.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Now just have to research some stuff to start with and hopefully off we go.

Regarding what kind of paints (if you care, Vallejo, Reaper, Army Painter for regular paints. Scale75 makes the best metallics, although they're more expensive. Games Workshop makes good paints, but their containers are a pain in the ass, so I only use them when there is no other option (IE - for contrast paints.)

For starters I was looking into some Army Painter paint and seeing how that goes. I have accumulated quite a few miniatures so I need to choose some simple ones, clean them up, plan out how I want them to look and off to the races we go.

Well, make sure you get yourself some primer when you order, too. Not all primers will work on all miniatures. If you want rattlecan, go with Army Painter primers. If you want brush-on (or if you have an airbrush, either way), go with Badger Stynlrez.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon Jan 27, 2020 1:51 am Well, make sure you get yourself some primer when you order, too. Not all primers will work on all miniatures. If you want rattlecan, go with Army Painter primers. If you want brush-on (or if you have an airbrush, either way), go with Badger Stynlrez.

I have a good ventilated area where I can use a spray can so that’s the route I’ll take for priming.

Then again, that ventilated area is kind of cold do I might invest in some brush on primer so thanks for recommending both types!

I primarily use Army Painter (and some older assorted Citadel and Vallejo). My only complain is that they have to be shaken *really* well so you may want to get some mixer balls for each bottle (Army Painter actually makes their own that are pretty cheap). Once you have them mixed though they're great.

I've read about the importance of balls in your paint which makes sense since I'm sure there might be some "settling" over time. I was up pretty late last night looking over stuff and I'm pretty tired this morning. But it was fun thinking about what I'd need for starting down the rabbit hole of painting minis.

Make sure you get balls designed for acrylic paint. Both Army Painter and Green Stuff World make good ones. Just using regular ball bearings/BBs is a bad idea, as they'll sometimes react with the paint, corrode, or rust. Any of those results will ruin the paint.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon Jan 27, 2020 10:56 am Just using regular ball bearings/BBs is a bad idea, as they'll sometimes react with the paint, corrode, or rust.

I used BBs for years before I discovered the downsides. Then I switched to large glass beads ('pony beads'.) They don't react, and they work decently, but I've switched to the GSW steel balls and the extra weight makes a big difference when it comes to mixing up thicker paints with settled pigments.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon Jan 27, 2020 11:37 am I used BBs for years before I discovered the downsides. Then I switched to large glass beads ('pony beads'.) They don't react, and they work decently, but I've switched to the GSW steel balls and the extra weight makes a big difference when it comes to mixing up thicker paints with settled pigments.

Yeah, I tried the glass bead route first. Now just stainless steel beads for me.

I've been using this to mix my paint without any balls in it.

https://www.amazon.com/Robart-Manufactu ... B001BHGHDK

Here is what you need. It is a little more costly but mixes much better and no need to worry about strapping things down. Just press the bottom to the mixer and let it vibrate for about 30 seconds. Then you have perfectly mixed paints and no pesky air bubbles.

I have heard good things about vortex mixers. They're designed for laboratory use, but apparently work really, really well with paints. I've never been able to afford one myself.

Been watching videos and I think I'm going to try brush-on priming my Cthulhu Death May Die stuff. I was afraid of the Badger stuff freezing en route (as previously noted) but had access to a bottle of Vallejo Surface Primer White. I liked the gesso on my marvel mini, but I want to use the contrast paints and I'm pretty sure having white not grey is going to make a bigger difference. Regardless, brush on priming is a whole new world for me; your thoughts and prayers are appreciated. Worst case is a Simple Green bath, right?

I've got the same surface primer. I've had... mixed results, usually due to it bubbling badly while painting. I try to avoid brush priming for that reason, but I'm not breaking out (and cleaning) the airbrush if there are only one or two miniatures that need primed.

The guy I watched suggested using a wider brush and a technique similar to dry brushing to minimize the bubbling. I'm definitely going to try and be aware of it as I know that's going to cause huge problems for the contrast paint in particular. I'm hoping whatever time I'm losing to brush priming (in comparison to rattle can or air brush + clean up) will be made up with the contrast paints. Always learning something new with this hobby so for that alone, it's worth it.

I saw that same video a couple of weeks ago, and just haven't had a chance to give it a whirl. FWIW, until you're doing at least eight or ten pieces, brush would be faster than airbrush.

I’ve had great results using Army Painter brush on primer. It’s almost a grey-green when it dries, but the paint looks good in it. And no issues with streaking/bubbling.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Jan 29, 2020 2:11 am I have heard good things about vortex mixers. They're designed for laboratory use, but apparently work really, really well with paints. I've never been able to afford one myself.

I have been getting frustrated with some of my older Reaper paints separating, so I picked up a vortex mixer after watching a few reviews. It's really fun, and does a great job mixing. Even my wife thinks it's cool and possibly usable in her alchemical home business so I'm going to write it off as a tax deduction!

I am pretty much floored with the Contrast paints and my Cthulhu from Death May Die. This is like 30 minutes of painting, tops. I need to go back in for some detailing and dry-brushing but I could honestly chuck it on the table just like this.

Which colors did you use?

Vallejo Surface Primer White
Wings, and nails are contrast Skeleton Horde
Body is contrast Militarum Green
Tentacles is contrast Shyish Purple

Insanely fast.

Painting monsters from the Path of the Serpent Mansions of Madness expansion. The feathered serpent was a lot of fun to paint.

It's fabulous! Nice job.

My son and I really enjoy Aristeia! and I've been dutifully painting the figures for it. Two of the characters have abilities that put robotic minions in play but the game only comes with cardboard tokens to represent them, so I got to crafting!

For Gaia's Gorgoneions...



I found floral wire was almost the exact thickness needed, was flexible enough to easily bend into the shapes I wanted but still rigid to hold shape.



For Fiddler's Vulkan Jackbots...



I wasn't really sure what to do. I don't really collect miniatures or stuff I could "kit bash" with so I raided my kids Lego collection!



I originally had something much more detailed but it was really big. The Jackbots are supposed to be that wheel Fiddler is riding around on, just on their side with a gun that pops out. This version is the best I could do while staying roughly to scale.

Finally, War Chest has been a big hit, especially with my daughter. The game has great components but something called to me so I tried to make a fancy wooden board for it...



I used my wife's Cricut machine to cut out those silver emblems that mark the objective hexes on the board and am very happy with how they turned out. The frame around the edge wasn't part of the plan but the outer edges of the board cracked and split in some places as I was cutting it down and I needed a way to cover it all up.

I love all the adaptation and imagination involved in just making the stuff wholesale (or stealing from other things).

Daveman wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2020 3:18 pm My son and I really enjoy Aristeia! and I've been dutifully painting the figures for it. Two of the characters have abilities that put robotic minions in play but the game only comes with cardboard tokens to represent them, so I got to crafting!

Amazing work!

I don’t normally paint eyes, but I almost feel I need to on this model.

I've been eying up my Marvel Crisis Protocol figures for a few weeks now. Looks great. Feathered Serpent looks awesome too. I'm out of touch with the MoM games at this point. When I first saw it, I thought it was a D&D figure.

I also have nothing but respect for crafters. No idea how you figure that stuff out Daveman, but hats off to you.

I want to try some OSL on him after he’s good and dry. Seems like the perfect model for it.

I've unofficially seen some people reporting excellent results with zenithal highlight priming + contrast paints - saying it really makes a noticeable difference. OSL still escapes me - I'm always amazed at what people can do with glowing swords or lanterns. I watched someone on youtube layer a basecoat with whites and grays and then do edge highlighting before contrast paints. Seemed to work but I think for me the time spent doing all that would defeat the greatest advantage the contrast paints have provided.