New guy with questions

[Shadowslayer]

Howdy all. New guy to the hobby here. Couple weeks ago bought a starter kit of GW's LOTR Goblins on a whim, and have discovered a new passion for painting these little guys. Now I've discovered Reaper stuff and have picked up a few minis as well as a half dozen of the Pro paints.

 

My main question is about basing. I see the bases in the Reaper store and am curious how others use them. The Reaper minis I've seen all have pretty much the same little grass (?) base molded on. Do you just glue these to the aftermarket base and then add flock or whatever?

 

Bear in mind, I'm a gamer, so they need to be somewhat functional for tabletop play. (I gamed with a guy who did Reapers a lot but didn't base them. Everytime someone bumped the table or breathed wrong they toppled over) ANyway, my idea was to just glue my minis onto 1 or 1 1/2 inch washers, then paint and landscape the washers to blend em in with the basing that's there. Is there a better way, or am I on the right track?

 

Also, I'm sorta curious what's the main diff between the Pro paints and the Master Series ones. (The ones I bought were Master Series in the dropper bottle....way better than the pots GW uses) They have a different dry time or what? I notice they have a slightly shinier finish from the GW paint.

 

And my last question deals with a particular mini, being the DH Legends Protector of Souls #2364. It says in the gallery that its a "paint contest winner" but I can't find a pic anywhere on the web. Could anyone point me to a place to look? (I even Googled it, but no dice) Heh, I bought the figure because it looked cool and fun to paint, but now I can't figure out exactly what he's supposed to be. The head looks like a skull, but the rest is muscular. I'm thinking its a guy in some kind of mask but I'm not sure.

 

Oh, and a bonus question. I was thinking that my next buy would be one of the starter paint boxes with the tutorial book and a couple minis. Are the tutorials fairly detailed?

 

Anyway, thats it from me. Looking forward to "message boarding" with you all.

Trev

[Lastman]

I ran into this site after I read your post. I think coolminiornot.com has basing articles too.

http://dragonforge.com/Painting%20service/base_work101.htm

[Dragon Snack]

Howdy all. New guy to the hobby here. Couple weeks ago bought a starter kit of GW's LOTR Goblins on a whim, and have discovered a new passion for painting these little guys. Now I've discovered Reaper stuff and have picked up a few minis as well as a half dozen of the Pro paints.

Welcome to the addiction (and the boards).

 

My main question is about basing. I see the bases in the Reaper store and am curious how others use them. The Reaper minis I've seen all have pretty much the same little grass (?) base molded on. Do you just glue these to the aftermarket base and then add flock or whatever?

That's the basic idea. In practice you can take it to whatever level you want.

 

Bear in mind, I'm a gamer, so they need to be somewhat functional for tabletop play. (I gamed with a guy who did Reapers a lot but didn't base them. Everytime someone bumped the table or breathed wrong they toppled over) ANyway, my idea was to just glue my minis onto 1 or 1 1/2 inch washers, then paint and landscape the washers to blend em in with the basing that's there. Is there a better way, or am I on the right track?

If you just want funtional gaming pieces this should be fine.

 

Also, I'm sorta curious what's the main diff between the Pro paints and the Master Series ones. (The ones I bought were Master Series in the dropper bottle....way better than the pots GW uses) They have a different dry time or what? I notice they have a slightly shinier finish from the GW paint.

Pro Paints are the "old" line, I find nothing wrong with them and still use them. They are decent paints with good coverage and a wide range of colors. They come in pots much like the GW paints (but not as bad as their pots).

 

Master Series Paints (aka MSP) are a new line of paints being developed. They come in dropper bottles and include a flow improver/paint extender already mixed in with the paints (if you search the Painting Tips section you can find a more detailed description of them).

 

And my last question deals with a particular mini, being the DH Legends Protector of Souls #2364. It says in the gallery that its a "paint contest winner" but I can't find a pic anywhere on the web. Could anyone point me to a place to look? (I even Googled it, but no dice) Heh, I bought the figure because it looked cool and fun to paint, but now I can't figure out exactly what he's supposed to be. The head looks like a skull, but the rest is muscular. I'm thinking its a guy in some kind of mask but I'm not sure.

Every once in a blue moon Reaper runs a painting contest. The winner gets to have a sculpt of his choosing make it into the DHL line. In addition to Mr Protector, we have been blessed with figures such as Arrin, Conjurer (2873) and Lord Jester (2884). Of course, ROLLER GIRL! was also a contest winner, alas she has since been discontinued...

 

Oh, and a bonus question. I was thinking that my next buy would be one of the starter paint boxes with the tutorial book and a couple minis. Are the tutorials fairly detailed?

If you're new they should be fine. The only one I've actually read is from the first one and it was pretty basic stuff. Keep in mind they are only little pamphlets, so they will be a little light on the detail. They should be a good starting point - then you can come here and ask any questions you have for further clarification.

 

I personally think the best part of the LTP kits are the fact that it's cheaper than buying everything separately, so if you need the paints, minis, and brushes they are a good deal. Keep in mind the current ones come with Pro Paints, not the MSP you already have.

[sirikus]

hello, and welcome to the hobby!

 

basing can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. for some minis that are well balanced, just painting, and possibly flocking the attached broccoli base will work fine, but they will tend to be more stable if you glue them to something larger.

 

the bases that reaper sells separately are primarily for use with miniature games like warlord, which means they conform to certain sizes. There are 2 basic types of base they sell - the slotted base, which is designed for those minis that have a little tab at the feet rather than a broccoli base, or a "drop in" base which is made to hold the dark heaven figures. You can really use either, but if you attach a broccoli based mini to a slotted base it's a good idea to put a piece of tape across the slot before trying to landscape it or paint it so it doesn't show up when you are done

 

if you aren't using the minis for a game that has strict guidelines for the size and/or shape of the bases, you can use anything at all that they will fit on - washers as you suggested are a good idea as they have a bit of weight to them.

 

for a really basic base you can just glue the mini down, cover the base with glue and sprinkle some flock on it - for the longest time when i first started I couldn't find actual flock anywhere so I just used a mix of 2 different green "sand art" type sands and eventually added a little lichen i found in the floral section of a craft store and tore up into teeny little pieces. not the best basing, but not bad

 

If you can't get ahold of any colored sand you can always use regular sand and paint it, or pretty much anything else you can get your hands on - dried spices can make some neat foliage (and make your minis smell nice)

 

for some more ideas on basing check out this thread over in the "painting tips and advice" area, which a mod may or may not wind up moving this thread to at some point =)

 

http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2258

 

as for the differences between the master series and pro paints - that's a pretty long discussion - most of which can be found in the tips and advice area as well - but basically they are a bit thinner out of the bottle, have higher quality pigment, stick to the minis better and come in dropper bottles

 

as for the learn to paint kits, the only one I have is the 3rd one (nmm) and it has a very nice set of tutorials, it's a single legal-ish sized paper with one side devoted to color recipes and the other to the step by step instructions - it's well written, very clear and very well illustrated and manages to pack a lot of info into a small amount of space. While technically the information on it isn't anything that can't be found by searching around online, it's more clearly written than most online tutorials (anne is excellent at explaining painting techniques and making them "click") and makes for a good "one stop" reference for the techniques it covers

 

don't know much about that particular mini however - sorry

[neshenti]

Oh, and a bonus question. I was thinking that my next buy would be one of the starter paint boxes with the tutorial book and a couple minis. Are the tutorials fairly detailed?

Not sure about the second or third LTP kit, but the first one made no mention (that I can recall) of the advantages of thinning your paint, as opposed to painting straight out of the bottle.

 

I *highly* recommend you start thinning your paints now rather than having to re-learn your technique all over again.

 

Granted, with MSPs, you *could* get away with painting straight out of the bottle, and with better results than the older Pro Paints line (thanks to various additives contained within the former). But why lesson your output, even for tabletop quality?

 

Personally I've found it *much* easier and more enjoyable to paint using thinned layers than not. Sure, you'll have to work harder on your brush control technique at first, but you'll thank yourself for it later.

 

There's a fantastic article on the Reaper site that gives you some basic guidelines for experimenting with different thinning techniques/ratios, etc. You will have to pick up a few extra supplies, but the cost is fairly nominal.

 

http://www.reapermini.com/TheCraft/15

 

These are just guidelines, of course. You'll hear folks say again and again: "practice and experiment to see what works best for you." Follow that advice, using the Craft articles and archived posts here (use the search feature; go nuts) as a working foundation, and even your tabletop pieces will shine.

 

Oh, and have fun with it. :-)

 

-Tom (who just crossed the threshold of "Rabble Rousing") ;-)

[Sergeant_Crunch]

Welcome to addiction!

I *highly* recommend you start thinning your paints now rather than having to re-learn your technique all over again.

I'm not even going to recommend, just straight up tell you that it's better to thin your paints. Why? If you don't your paints will develop a texture on the mini instead of being nice and smooth. You'll have to put more layer of paint on and it'll take longer, but they'll look much better in the long run. That goes for any paint you use.

[Spike]

Hi and welcome to the boards!

 

I won't even attempt to give you any painting advice, as that's not really what I do, but have you tried Reaper's tabletop fantasy game called Warlord?

 

If you like to paint good-looking minis and then push them around your table, you will LOVE Warlord. It's not terribly expensive to get started, easy to learn, and is a fast-paced and fun game to play.

[Shadowslayer]

Well thanks for the responses!

 

re: thinning paints. Do you mean beyond simply adding a little water to make it go on smoother? Right now, I've been scooping a few brushfuls onto a pallette and then adding a drop or 2 of water to smooth it out a bit. (most of my paints right now are GW, aside from the 5 MSPs I just picked up for flesh tones) My results got a lot better once I started doing that. I'll peruse the articles soon.

 

BTW, Warlord looks cool. I might look it up...my FLGS carries a pretty good selecton of Reaper stuff, and I imagine he carries that too. Most of the regulars in the store play Warhammer...I'd imagine the actual Warlord game is cut from the same cloth as Warhammer?

 

Thanks again.

Trev

[neshenti]

re: thinning paints. Do you mean beyond simply adding a little water to make it go on smoother? Right now, I've been scooping a few brushfuls onto a pallette and then adding a drop or 2 of water to smooth it out a bit. (most of my paints right now are GW, aside from the 5 MSPs I just picked up for flesh tones) My results got a lot better once I started doing that. I'll peruse the articles soon.

You could just use water, sure. Unless I'm much mistaken, Anne Foerster, alchemist of Reaper's MSP line of paints frequently does so.

 

You could also incorporate some Flow Improver and/or Extender (i.e. drying retarder), like the article mentions. (I believe there's already a bit of Flow Improver in the MSP paints, which certainly helps)

 

Again, experiment and observe what gives you the best results.

 

Happy Painting. :-)

-Tom

[vutpakdi]

re: thinning paints. Do you mean beyond simply adding a little water to make it go on smoother? Right now, I've been scooping a few brushfuls onto a pallette and then adding a drop or 2 of water to smooth it out a bit. (most of my paints right now are GW, aside from the 5 MSPs I just picked up for flesh tones) My results got a lot better once I started doing that. I'll peruse the articles soon.

Thinning paints means adding some liquid to dilute the paint. Partly to make the paint go on smoother, partly to make the paint more transparent (for layering).

 

I think that Anne uses a "gunk" mix of 60-70% water, 20-30% slo-dri (fluid retarder), 10% flow improver. There was a recent discussion about additives, and some very good painters just use water.

 

BTW, Warlord looks cool. I might look it up...my FLGS carries a pretty good selecton of Reaper stuff, and I imagine he carries that too. Most of the regulars in the store play Warhammer...I'd imagine the actual Warlord game is cut from the same cloth as Warhammer?

 

I've never played Warhammer, but, from what I understand, the two games are similar in that they are fantasy miniature combat games with minis of different factions/races. I believe that one of the ways that they are different is that Warlord is more of a skirmish game (that scales well) where individual miniatures in a group can move and act independently (some go left, some go right, don't have to maneuver as a connected group, etc), while in Warhammer, units have to move as a block or group (everyone in a unit turns to the right, everyone turns to the left).

 

Warlord scales well from a very small, low point game to a very large game. Warhammer concentrates on the larger games with more minis (I think).

 

Warhammer also tends to have plastic minis, and the minis are usually priced by how powerful they are in the game. Warlord minis are metal and priced by how much metal is in them.

 

Ron

[Sergeant_Crunch]

And the Reaperpeeps are Nicer, Smarter, More Attractive...and doggonit, people like them!

[Vaitalla]

My most-recent Gunk mix is actually 10% Drying Retarder/Slow Dri, 30% Reaper Master Series Flow Improver, and the rest filtered water. I use just filtered water if I'm working with a color I won't need long; I only use the gunk mix if it's a color I need to work with for a while and thus need it to stay "open" longer.

 

--Anne

p.s. Master Series Paints:

 

1. Come in color triads with a midtone, highlight, and shadow color

2. Have a smoother consistancy

3. Have Flow Improver added for improved layering and freehand

4. Stick better to the mini

5. Airbrush really well

6. Will have 216 colors when the line is done

7. And are steadily becoming less glossy as Michael and I work to kill "The Shinies".

[Shadowslayer]

Wow. Thanks for the shout out Anne.

 

You just proved Captain Crunch's last post to be correct.

 

re the MSP's, as little as I know about paints, I did notice that the MSP's seemed to be a little easier to work with than my Citadel paints. Nothing I could put a finger on though...except for the dropper bottle.

 

Anyway, I'll try this mixture you're talking about. Guess I'm off to Micheal's superstore in the morning!

 

Trev

[Sergeant_Crunch]

....Captain Crunch's...

Please, I work for a living.

[Shadowslayer]

....Captain Crunch's...

Please, I work for a living.

 

Aye Sergeant!

 

(sorry about that)