Beginner - paints, bases, miniature sizes, ...

[Jaxtron]

Ok, so I am a beginner. Well, I have been painting miniatures off and on for 25+ years but never seriously, just the odd miniature to play with in our D&D adventures.

 

Anyway, I have tried to improve my painting style and I have some questions I am hoping someone here can help out on.

 

1. Miniature sizes - I have seen mention of 15mm, 25mm, 28mm, 30mm, 40mm. I have a lot of figures and most seem to be a pretty consistent size and I think they are probably on the 25mm scale but how do I really tell? I have a Reaper miniature (Lirris, Demon) sitting here in front of me and don't see the actual size displayed on the package anywhere. Also, in relation to size, what size do most people paint? The miniatures in these threads are amazing and there is no way I can get that detailed (maybe I am just getting old). Are they larger figures that allow easier detailing?

 

2. Paint Brand - I have read several threads on preferences on paint brands. I paint all mine from basic acrylic paints that I have used when doing a little painting on canvas. I mix the colors I need and go from there. Do the bottled paints give better results? I hate the thought of going and buying all new bottles of paints if it won't improve my painting over all.

 

3. Bases - I have read several of the threads about removing characters from bases and remounting them. Since this is just for fun and are just to be used for our D&D adventures, I would rather just mount them on a square base, decorate the base and go from there. I picked up a package of magnetic bases and can start gluing the characters with smaller bases on them but is there a better alternative? Do certain bases work out better than the ones I picked up?

 

Love this site and you guys seem so helpful. Just a warning, I will probably be back with more questions.

 

Thanks for any suggestions you might offer.

 

 

Jaxtron

[Rastl]

OK - I'll give a valiant attempt to answer a few of your questions.

 

On scale. This topic explains 'scale' in Reaper Ed's own words. That should help clarify/muddy up the scale issues.

 

Paint brand. Whatever works for you. Read over the threads in the painting topics and see how much work you want to put into painting your minis. I'm very partial to the Master Series because of the triads. It makes it quite easy for me to do the shading and highlighting because the colors are already mixed. Some people swear by/at mixing their own shades.

 

The thing that you'll see in the more detailed threads is how fine the pigment is ground. That's one of the big differences in paints meant for miniatures. The grind is finer so you don't get, well, grainy results. But there are great painters who use craft paint and others that use artist acrylics. Go with what works for you.

 

Bases. A square base with sand on it is a perfectly acceptable base. One reason a lot of us remove the bases from our minis is that we want to have the flexibility to do a base without the blob of metal that is the integral stand-up base. But I have a fair number where I've just glued the thing to a base and then worked the basing materials up to cover.

 

One note - the Dark Heaven Legends (DHL) are the ones with integral bases. They're meant to go straight from package to gaming table in one move. Warlord and Chronoscope all have the slotta bases and may have multiple parts. Those take a little more work to get them table-ready.

 

Again, it all depends on how much work you want to put into them. I don't do display quality by any means but I do like putting my tabletop minis on the base of my choice. And I did just really learn how to remove the DHL base without mangling the mini so I'm pretty happy to be doing that to a lot of minis these days.

 

Look around. Read the threads. And have fun!

[Angorak]

Most mini's for Tabletop Gaming or Roleplaying average between 28-32mm.

 

As far as Paint brands go most use the bottled variety...be it Games Workshop, Reaper Master Series or Reaper Pro Paints. But you'll find that most the high end painters use a selection from numerous manufacturers. I use GW, Vallejo Model Color, Reaper Pro Paint and Reaper Master Series.

 

Glueing the mini to a square base is fine..no need to remove the cast base as long as you add material to hide the fact that you just glued it to another base. I acutally dremel off the cast base but that is merely a personal preference.

[Midnight Lurker]

Greetings Jaxtron. Welcome to the boards.

 

Some of your questions have been long debated by many people. What is the correct definition of a miniature's scale for example. Some folks measure from the eye of the figure down to the feet, others say that you should measure from the top of it's head down. You will likely get many different answers to that one depending on who you ask. For the most part the biggest majority for figs I have seen here on the Reaper boards fall into the 28 to 30 mm scale range. Obviously Halflings are smaller, and some monsters are larger, but it's proportional.

 

The preferred brand of paint is another hotly debated subject. I personally have a mix of several brands. I have mostly Reaper Master Series, (dropper bottles) but I also have some Vallejo's (also droppers), Games Workshop (pots) P3's (pots) and even some tube paints from Liquitex. I used to paint with hobby paints like Apple Barrel and Folk Art. Probably most people out there started with either them or Testor's. When my hubby introduced me to Vallejo I fought the change for a long time. They were just so different than what I was used to that I stubbornly clung to the familiar. Looking back I wish I had given them a serious try before rejecting them. I basicly held back my own growth as a painter for a couple years.

 

The best advice is to start dabbling with a few of the higher end paints and brushes NOW. Experiment. Not everyone's style will lend itself to XYZ particular brand of paint and or brush. whatever your favorite colors are, get a few of them in a couple different paint lines and play with them. You will likely deveop a preference for one over the other. You don't have to invest in hundreds of different bottles or colors right away. (but in time your collection will swell--- At last count I think I'm up to something like 275 colors!) You could get some basics and mix your own colors. Just get away from the craft paints as soon as you can. They will bog you down from growth. And if you haven't done it already, please get some Kolinsky Sable brushes. Again, several brands and debates about which particular one is best, but most seem to agree that Kolinsky Sable is the general way to go. They are pricey, but totally worth it.

 

The quality of your tools can make or break a project. You can't paint the Mona Lisa with exterior latex house paint and a handful of Q tips.

 

Good Luck!

 

Jen

[Jaxtron]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

I will stop by a local shop and see if I can find some paint to play around with. I would love to get even close to the level of the other artists here and if the better paint makes that much of a difference, I will have to give it a try. I just got a of set of new brushes but nothing special so I will check out some higher quality sable brushes also. Yea, I know the tools make a difference but just thought "what difference does the brand/type of paint make anyway..." Oh well, live and learn.

 

I used to think my stuff was half way decent and compared to some others I have seen locally, it isn't too bad but compared to the stuff here, I have a long way to go.

 

Thanks again.

[Rastl]

Brushes bring out the zealot in many people. No, really!

 

I did notice an immediate improvement in my painting when I started using better brushes. Dick Blick is probably going to be your best option for good brushes at a decent price.

 

Windsor & Newton Series 7, DaVinci, and Raphael all have their fans. Personally I have W&NS7 but once they start to go downhill I'm probably going to go with either DaVinci or Raphael for my next set. I use my #1 the most, with my #00 for eyes and other fine detail. I have some other sizes but the incredible point on my #1 means I can do almost anything with it. Heck, I watched Derek Schubert paint an entire face with a #1, all in under 10 minutes. Incredible but true.

 

You might want to see if there are any Black Lightning (demo people) and/or stores around you where there is an opportunity to try the paints people use and make your own decisions. And painting with a group is fun.

[vutpakdi]

Oh, I think that you could paint the Mona Lisa with exterior Latex paint and Q-Tips. But, it would be much harder than with good paints and good brushes.

 

Same thing with minis. There are painters who can do well with craft paints, but it's much harder than with paints designed for the hobby.

 

I'm currently very fond of Da Vinci Maestro brushes (Series 11) and Escoda Tajmyr brushes. I used to like the Series 7 (regular) brushes, but they seem to split more when loaded.

 

Ron

 

PS:Rastl, Derek Schubert is a bit of an outlier, even among the best. I seem to remember a joke from a GenCon Masters Speed Painting competition where the others would only let Derek paint if he wore an eye patch and had one hand tied behind his back.

[PurityThruFire]

I'm fond of the Escoda Tajmyr brushes as well (they are thinner brushes which I prefer) and I've tried just about every brush on the market. I also find the Raphael brushes to be absolutely top notch, keep in mind though that their sizes tend to be larger than other brushes. For instance their #1 is larger than an Escoda or a W&N, just a good thing to keep in mind if ordering brushes online.

The one thing to remember with the higher end brushes is to take extremely good care of them, if you do they will be happy happy for a very long time.

I find with the Escoda that using some good hair conditioner on them once a month keeps them functioning extremely well...this is in addition to cleaning my brushes with Master's brush soap (remember to leave a little soap on the brush, point it and let it dry) at the close of the painting day. Then again, the same love should be given to any brush regardless of the manufacturer.

[Joe Kutz]

1. Miniature sizes - I have seen mention of 15mm, 25mm, 28mm, 30mm, 40mm. I have a lot of figures and most seem to be a pretty consistent size and I think they are probably on the 25mm scale but how do I really tell? I have a Reaper miniature (Lirris, Demon) sitting here in front of me and don't see the actual size displayed on the package anywhere. Also, in relation to size, what size do most people paint? The miniatures in these threads are amazing and there is no way I can get that detailed (maybe I am just getting old). Are they larger figures that allow easier detailing?

 

As mentioned already, the majority of table top minis are going to be in the 25-32 mm scale. Most Reaper minis are in that range (28 Heroic I think is their official scale) - however they also have several in the 54 mm scale and a few others that are less precise.

 

If you are looking to paint miniatures for use in a game - the game will dictate what scale miniatures you will use. For example GW's Inquisitor uses 54 mm miniatures as opposed to the more common 25-32 mm range. CAV is in the N-Scale - less than half the size of the normal table top minis.

 

If you want to paint for display purposes, you have a whole range of miniature sizes - even not so miniature sizes. Companies like Andrea, Pegasso and others offer miniatures that range from table top sizes all the way up to around 200 mm. Some are even larger like life sized busts and 1/6 scale figures. These will often have more detail, however it doesn't mean they will be easier to paint. As the figure gets larger, it becomes more important to get the little things - eyelashes and freckles...stuff that no sane person would put on a 28 mm miniature (some people do...but that doesn't mean they are sane ). You can find almost all genre in all the scales - however there is a significant increase in chainmail bikinis in the larger scales (or perhaps that are just the more popular ones).

 

2. Paint Brand - I have read several threads on preferences on paint brands. I paint all mine from basic acrylic paints that I have used when doing a little painting on canvas. I mix the colors I need and go from there. Do the bottled paints give better results? I hate the thought of going and buying all new bottles of paints if it won't improve my painting over all.

 

The bottled paints will make it a bit easier, however I do not believe that you will get better results when compared to good quality, properly prepared artist's acrylics. A lot of the cheaper acrylics have coarse pigmentation - and that can show up on the finished mini. A lot of people do not thin their paints properly - or over thin - or do not understand what the various additives that are available are for. Normally you will want to add some flow improver to artist's acrylics in order to get them to behave well on minis. You also may want to add some glaze medium after thinning them down...since you may have thinned them too much for the binder present.

 

The nice thing about the miniature paints is that they are normally already formulated to the point where most people will only need to add a bit of water, and they are ready to go. This isn't always the case though. Renaissance Ink's paints are about as thick as tube paints - so they need a fair amount of prep work. Depending on the style of painting that you develop - you may find yourself tweaking the paints even more in order to get them to do what you want. Sometimes a bit of gel to thicken them up. Maybe some drying retarder to keep them fluid for wet blending. Perhaps you will decide to go with some evil oil based paints for their unique performance characteristics (especially if you decide to go with the larger scales).

 

I would recommend buying a few bottles from a few of the more popular brands to see what you like. Not everyone will find mini paints to be to their liking and there are several painters who use only tube paints to great effect (they tend to be very popular with historical painters).

 

3. Bases - I have read several of the threads about removing characters from bases and remounting them. Since this is just for fun and are just to be used for our D&D adventures, I would rather just mount them on a square base, decorate the base and go from there. I picked up a package of magnetic bases and can start gluing the characters with smaller bases on them but is there a better alternative? Do certain bases work out better than the ones I picked up?

 

Not sure - which ones did you pick up? Hopefully not the GF9 magnetic bases - I really do not like those.

 

Normally I will use a normal plastic base (or resin base which I cast) to mount my minis on. They almost all have a cavity on the bottom which is plenty large in order to receive a small rare earth magnet. Fill the cavity with some epoxy and press the magnet in place. It will not come out, and the base will be ready to decorate as desired.

 

Bases like the GF9 magnetic bases have a few different problems that can come up. The magnets themselves are fairly brittle. If you happen to drop one on a hard surface - they are prone to snapping in half (even more so if they are the slotted style). Most magnets do not receive glue well. They seem to be more prone to shedding of their basing material as well as minis. The rare earth magnet is much stronger if needed. Although the GF9 ferrous magnets are strong enough for most human miniatures if you are basing something larger like a thornback troll - they often weigh too much. The result can be catastrophic if you use metal bottom carrying cases for your minis and that troll gets loose during transit. Nothing like opening a box and seeing an entire level crammed into a corner with all the related damage.

 

Most of the time you will not need to remove the miniature in order to mount it onto a base - however you may decide later that you want to try your hand at some of the more intricate bases. As a result, you might consider trying a few out that are a little simpler now, just to get a hang of things. It really isn't much more difficult than just gluing it on a square base.

 

I just got a of set of new brushes but nothing special so I will check out some higher quality sable brushes also.

 

Yeah - a bit of a religious question for some. Right now, I would say use the brushes you have till they wear out. You can get good cheap brushes - you can get bad expensive brushes. The more expensive brushes though usually have better quality control though, so fewer bad ones make it out the door.

 

The most important thing though with any brush is to take good care of it, as PBN says. Even a really nice DaVinci brush will be crap if it isn't cleaned well and paint is allowed to dry in the ferrule.

[Madog Barfog]

Rastl is right on with her (his?) brush recomendations.

 

Reaper Master Series are excellent paints, as are Vallejo Game Colors. You can bring your painting up a level just with those paints and brushes.

 

For bases, I really like the Privateer Press 30 mm round bases. They are about 30 cents each and really give you some space to work with. You can glue the figure directly on them. A few mini bases may be too large; grind off any overhang with a rotary tool. Then use Woodland Scenics Water Effects, greenstuff, or your favorite putty to blend the base in and make a mini-diorama. Accent with cork, rocks, miniature plants, etc.

 

Take a look at this page: http://www.hacklopedia.com/Miniatures/tuto..._tutorial.shtml

 

I took several minis with integral bases and built different mini-dioramas that I'm quite happy with. I still need to put the final pics up, but they are done now and turned out really well.