[Video] Reaper Bones at Origins 2012

[cyberook]

Hi all,

 

At Origins this year, I interviewed Johnny, one of the Reaper Booth Babes, about Reaper's new Bones models. We tested their durability and Johnny answered some questions about the future of the line.

 

In the near future, I plan on painting up a Bones Ghost to see how well it takes paint.

[cyberook]

And here's the promised review of a Reaper Bones model and how well it takes paint! (I apologize for the audio quality and multiple posts):

In summary:

- Good price

- Good detail

- Very lightweight (stick 'em down if you spray paint them!)

- Mold lines best cleaned up with a sharp hobby knife (be careful!)

- Apply your paint full strength out of the bottle

- Reaper paints work best, particularly the HD paints (other brands are fine)

- Thinning your paints is not recommended unless you spray the model with primer or Testors Dull Cote first

[Lastman]

Does anyone know if brush-on primer sticks well?

 

How about spray primer?

 

I don't think I'll be able to break my habit of priming every figure before painting.

[dwarvenranger]

Thanks for the review.

[Pally]

I've heard mixed reviews on how well paint sticks to them. I would definitely use either bottled primer (on the translucent ones) or spray primer (on non-translucent ones).

 

Also I've heard it's quite difficult to sand off spots, because of their rubbery nature.

[cyberook]

Also I've heard it's quite difficult to sand off spots, because of their rubbery nature.

 

In my experience, that is correct. You're better off carefully scraping with a sharp hobby knife.

[chaosscorpion]

As Bones seems to take modification very well, with cutting being eased by the application of SLIGHT heat according to other posts I have read so far. How would it react to COLD? Maybe a breif stint in the freeze would stiffen it up enough for sanding. Might stick my Cave Troll in the freezer and check it out.

[Reaperbryan]

As Bones seems to take modification very well, with cutting being eased by the application of SLIGHT heat according to other posts I have read so far. How would it react to COLD? Maybe a breif stint in the freeze would stiffen it up enough for sanding. Might stick my Cave Troll in the freezer and check it out.

I'd suggest trying out the cave troll and a really thin one, if you have it. compare thick vs thin, as it were.

[Nathaniel]

After seeing it suggested on another forum, I used an emery board to remove mould lines on my bones. I ended up trimming the emery board to a point to get into nooks & crannies. It takes longer than a hobby knife, but it does work.

 

I usually wash the miniatures with a bit of soap & water and an old tooth brush. I have no idea if I really need to, but it's an old habit that's carried over to Bones.

 

After they dry and I stick them to a handle, I usually use a wash. I make my own with matte medium, water and ink. I use a larger brush and really slap it on, but then drain off of one miniature to do the next. I find the matte medium wash dries to a surface that is flexible like the figure itself and really, really takes paint well. And the ever so slight shading (as it's quite a weak wash) makes some of the detail easier to see.

 

After I'm done painting, I use either Krylon low odour matte sealer or Vallejo's brush on matte sealer. Again, both dry flexible just like the figure. I tried the kobold stomping test after it was painted and with the flexible paint and flexible sealer, no paint came off even after stepping on the miniature.

 

If I did prime, I'd use brush on white acrylic gesso. Not the traditional gesso, but the modern acrylic kind. It stays really, really flexible and really shrinks when it dries. If I spray primed, I'd use Rustoleum Plastic Primer, but that stuff isn't always easy to find. The Krylon matte sealer or the testors dullcoat options would probably be easier to find.

[Halberkill]

Normally don't you do washes after you have done a basecoat? I thought washes were an intermediate if not final step. Even on metal minis I get pooling if I were to do a wash without some other paint already on the mini.

 

Halber

[DixonGrfx]

Some folks do a wash on the mini before they paint to make the details easier to discern.

[Nathaniel]

Normally don't you do washes after you have done a basecoat? I thought washes were an intermediate if not final step. Even on metal minis I get pooling if I were to do a wash without some other paint already on the mini.

 

Halber

 

With bones, I have two reasons to open up with a very slight wash. The first is that the matte medium that is part of most premade washes (and my homemade ones using the method mentioned if you scroll down on http://www.reapermini.com/TheCraft/32) sticks really, really well to the bones and the further paint goes onto the washed surface better than onto the slick plastic. The second reason is:

 

Some folks do a wash on the mini before they paint to make the details easier to discern.

 

I find it much easier to see the detail after a slight wash is done. I paint under a decent amount of light and find the bones plastic to be brighter and more reflective than white primed metal. So the wash helps me see all the detail before I start painting.