ManvsMini

Nice job, me likes. I read your post title, and immediately thought Fight Club. Opened the thread, and pleased to see that we were on the same wavelength.

Wow you all are accomplishing more than I am. I don't even have my skeletons fully basecoated yet, though I do have the bone effect drybrush portion done on them all. Hopefully I pick up the pace. Love seeing what you all are accomplishing!

What brush-on primer are you using? I use Vallejo Surface Primer, never needed to thin it. I've only used Vallejo brush-ons though, so I don't have experience with other brands (I do have a bottle of Reaper black, never used it though).

My 2 cents: don't use a nice/expensive brush to apply primer. Like spray primers, brush-on primers have things in them to give them that "tooth" (I really hate that term, "grip" is better IMO) for paint to adhere to. That stuff can damage the bristles over time, so I would not use an expensive brush to apply it. A decent $2-3 nylon/taklon brush from a craft store is perfect for brush-on priming (or use one of your expensive brushes that is old and too worn down to do regular brush work). Acrylic water-based sealers don't have the same issues as primer, so you should be good to use whatever brush you want. Like Doug said, rinse/clean your brush well afterwards. Next best advice I can give for brushes on priming and sealing: just make sure the brush you use gives you enough control so you can get the primer/sealer on evenly. Cheapest may sound great, but if that cheap brush causes you to glob stuff on so you lose all that detail, was it worth it? Superglue pretty much the standard. That E6000, you probably see crafters using it because on a cost:volume ratio, it's cheaper than superglue (I am guessing you watch DM Scotty on youtube? He uses it all the time). It is also a bit flexible when it dries, so it isn't bad to use for putting the mini to it's base, but I wouldn't use it to attach an arm or head to your mini. It's pretty thick, you might use too much if you tried to do that. I'd typically do what Doug said, but that depends on if you are comfortable working with greenstuff/sculpting putty. Ced's suggestion is also good. My suggestion depends on the size/lengths of the claws: buy some strip styrene and cut/trim pieces down to the size you want, then attach them. Again, that depends on how big the claws are, probably works better for claws like Wolverine's than for long fingernails. -MvM

Welcome to the forums! They are ready to use straight out of the dropper if you so desire. If you decide you want to tone down the intensity of the wash (i.e. you think it's too dark for what you are painting), you can also thin them. The choice is yours!

1) Never heard of the term until now, so no. Is that like saying it's international donut day, or teacher appreciation day but putting a # in front of it? Cuz I'll celebrate anything involving donuts. 2) Don't drink wine. It's grape juice that burns. And the smell of the ethanol reminds me of a chemical lab. 3) Since American cheese was excluded (which is cheese injustice, btw) I'll say Gouda. It's quite good-uh.

I usually have to pay double for that kind of action... *5 points to whoever gets the movie that reference is from (it's not a direct quote, but more of an homage).

First hiccup of the binge: caught the dang cat drinking from my rinse-water cup. I use non-toxic paints, and numerous people drink from their cups all the time, but those amounts in an average 170 lbs. human vs 13 lbs. cat... makes me nervous. Called the vet, they said he should be ok, but not to let it happen again... as if a cat is actually going to listen to a human on what to or not to do... Now I have to watch him just make sure he's ok... and cut a hole into the lid to the jar I use for painting so he can't get his head inside it again. He's on my pooh-list for today... I mean, he made me have to pause Wonder Woman when Gal was strutting in slow-mo across no-man's land!

I've got my skeletons dusted off. Paints are out. Music playlist prepared. Already-seen movie selections made so I won't get distracted (except Wonder Woman, because, well distraction by Gal Gadot is unavoidable). Hit it.

None. I hate getting unnecessarily messy, so I sit right up close to the paint desk; in the event I drop my brush, it lands on the table instead of me. I also have things/precautions designed so that if something gets knocked over it is contained. My holding-hand is most likely to get paint on it, and that's an easy wash.

I've got it!!!! From February's Getting to Know You Thread. The question had been about preferences over tabs or integrated bases on minis.

Sorry, that was an "in addition to asking the questions you listed" i.e. other things to consider when using materials. Apologies for the confusion!

This is truth. I would add some more questions to that: (1) will/could it rot on my base, or (2) if it gets wet while I paint, will it bleed a color I don't want? Generally, if it's dried thoroughly, it shouldn't rot, especially if you varnish your minis. If you are ever worried about either of those two happening you can try this: dip it into a very thin sealer first, let it dry, then go about your basing/painting. For example, I use dried oregano from the spice rack for leaves. I know it's already dried, but I usually put the amount I want to use into an old pill bottle, then add a few drops of the famous Pledge/Future floor polish to it all, cap it, give it a few swirls, pour off the excess liquid, then pour the leaves out on some wax paper to dry (wax paper so the leaves doesn't stick when it dries). Before it dries, I also break apart any oregano leaves that have clumped together so I get single leaves. Once it all dries, it's sealed, and should be good to go. *This method is also good if you wanted to change the color hue of the leaves. If I want them to be a bit reddish/yellowish/orangish, instead of the floor polish, I use an acrylic ink to match the color I want. To use oregano leaves for real tree leaves, you don't have to do what I just described (i.e. seal the dried oregano leaves), many people glue them right on and they work just fine. I just do. I'm cautious like that.

I went back and edited my post to put links in to some. Hopefully they are moderator approved, I didn't see any commercial or sales pitches on them (some "support us/donations" though). I did, however, leave the link out for the last generator about character background until I get some moderator info on whether posting a link that contains swear words in it is forum-safe. EDIT: the mod hath spoken, best not to direct link to that character background generator. Use the google search to find it. Or PM and I'll send you the link if you have problems finding it.

@TaleSpinner introduced me to this in a post sometime this year (that I can't find for the life of me) where on a mini with a slotta-tab that you want to remove, you cut-off the tab but leave enough to act as pins. I wish I could find that post, he had some nice pics to illustrate it. In addition to what everyone else has mentioned, I sometimes use a bit of laminate floor tile for my bases when I want to give the look of a smooth polished surface (like a palace floor). I bought several tiles years ago, so I don't remember exactly what they are called, but if you go look in the flooring and tile section of Lowes/Home Depot you should find some. Came in squares of about 1 ft x 1 ft, and were roughly the thickness of a standard base. You could break them apart pretty easily (they were slightly flexible and snapped apart with my hands or pliers), no real special tools needed. Could even carve designs or sand it if you didn't want smooth texture (wear a dust mask or respirator).