Show Off Your First Mini!

[CashWiley]

What was the very first mini you ever painted? From 1991:

 

 

Straight from the pot with Floquil Polly S. Drybrushing and black washes. Even some highlighting on the muscles! Brush on gloss sealer. I probably used a Grumbacher 5/0 red sable.

 

The funny thing is we gamed with minis back in the late 70s but I never got the nerve to paint one until then.

 

Let's see where everyone began!

[MonkeySloth]

I, sadly, do not have what I painted back in the early 90's, anymore. I can say though that they were all painted with Testers enamels and I do not miss Turpentine at all. But, like Cash, I stopped painting after a certain age (probably around 15 or so) about 20 years ago.

 

Started back up almost 3 years ago (wow, been that long? you'd think I'd actually be good by now) and this was pretty much the first mini I painted who's like 60% dry brushing (think I had like 10 colors in the hair but you can only see about 4 due to each being covered up). Have another one that was started before him,I don't know where it is, but this was the first finished.

 

[Talae]

My first was actually more than one at a time, but the first I called done was this dwarf from Warhammer Quest:

 

 

I have only painted a few since then (less than 10).

[pocketcthulhu]

I started playing D&D back in the late 80's as a kid and we were more interested in pulling garden stakes out and wacking each other with them pretending they were swords than miniatures, in the 90's I could never convince my parents to give me money for minis. I believe I played One game between 93 and 2000 when i actually started playing off and on again and finally to 2012 when stopped buying pre painted minis and started painting my own.

Oddly enough I feel my skills have improved to the point where I've been considering attempting a 4th attempt at this mini to clean it up a bit.

 

Second attempt to paint it, the first attempt didn't warrant pictures imo.

Third / current paint job.

 

EDIT 6/28 The book popped off this week when i was setting up mini's on the table so I used it as an excuse to repaint the mini.

Lot of dry brushing on the log and *skin* and I pinned down the arms and tail so it would be less prone to having pieces come off, and ended up leaving the book out as I didn't want to have to pin the hand, Over all I'm Very happy with the progress. start - finish improvement.

Edited June 29, 2013 by pocketcthulhu

[cutebutpsycho]

Interesting timing on this thread! The first minis I painted were actually a box set of 6 wood elf archers (the OLD ones) from GW. After proudly completing that box, I ended up at a gaming store that carried Reaper figures. This is the first Reaper figure I bought and painted. The other day, I decided to paint her again (even though my tastes have changed drastically and I no longer paint figures that bear any resemblance to this one with any regularity) so I ordered a new copy. Tonight I painted her, took pictures, and posted them on my Facebook. Then I thought it might be funny to post it on the forums and, well, someone had already started the perfect thread! (Please note there were some casting issues in the bottom half of the dress. Also, I tried to stick with the same color scheme I used back in the day, though I changed it up a little bit)

[prophetic_joe]

My first. Done on April 15th this year using the dip method. This was straight after the dip had dried and before any matte had been put on it.

 

Edited May 30, 2013 by prophetic_joe

[Maglok]

I used to play orcs and goblins waayyy back in teenage time. I only started painting about 2-3 years ago again, more like 3 I think. Only have minis available from this new run.

 

So that would make it this eyebeast!

 

[aku-chan]

I don't have anything from my earlier forays into the hobby, I've gotten in to (and dropped out of) mini painting about 4 times over the last 20 odd years.

 

But from my latest go at it, I've got this:-

 

All the way from Christmas 2009, a Games Workshop Corpse Cart.

 

They're so bad even my camera didn't want to focus on them!

[trystangst]

I'm not sure I have anything from when I started in the mid 90s, but here's the first thing I did upon starting up again in 2011 (after 11 years off):

And one of the last things I did before I took that 11 year break:

Edited May 30, 2013 by trystangst

[Sergeant_Crunch]

I don't have a picture of the very first one I ever painted, but this one is close if not the second from 2002. With exception of Boltgun Metal and whatever they called their flesh tone at the time this was painted with Apple Barrel craft paint and the GW starter brushes.

 

[buglips*the*goblin]

I no longer have my first mini, though I do have a replacement for my first mini, but he's been painted differently than my first mini.

 

However, I do have one of my infamous early pin-paint jobs remaining who survived The Great Stripping, and here she is in all her googly-eyed splendour:

 

 

 

 

Technically the first mini I ever painted was one of the skeletons with scythe from Heroquest, but I don't count him because he wasn't mine. So the first miniature I ever bought and painted all on my own, purchased for around $2 from the ral partha rack when I discovered the comic store downtown and my mind was blown by the selection of little metal people available was this guy:

 

 

Now that's an IWM cast from 2004, but that was the dude. Also a Dennis Mize, which was on the blister as I recall, and so the first sculptor's name I knew and a longtime favourite. Though after painting the chronoscope Ivanetta it's a dead heat between the late Mr. Mize and Gene Van Horne for my favourite putty pusher.

 

Unless Gene ever gets around to sculpting my avatar (which he drew), like he teased me with, in which case Gene will be my favourite forever and I'll slay all heathens who refuse to worship his name.

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2013 by buglips*the*goblin

[naponatom]

Here it is!

There is no technique involved in painting this miniature. I just shove the brush in ink pot and paint the corresponding location. Why, I didn´t even painted the silver metal parts!

Nor I applied the varnish (you can see the pieces where the paint chipped). I would redo it, but I think art (?) Should not be redone, repainted or retouched after leaving it. Stands as a reminder of a time in life that has passed.

 

 

 

Year: 1995

Technique: Ink directly from the pot

Manufacturer: probably Global Games Company

Model Name: Machine Mark I Assault Fiend ID 1710

[CashWiley]

 

I would redo it, but I think art (?) Should not be redone, repainted or retouched after leaving it. Stands as a reminder of a time in life that has passed.

 

I absolutely agree with this. I like being able to look back and see how far I've come.

 

What I find funny is there is almost no improvement from my Minotaur to Tox (my last 90s mini), and I used the same materials and techniques the entire time. Then when I painted the gnoll in 2011 after reading about mini painting for a year online, it was by far better than anything I had painted, despite being rusty. And my second mini in 2012 won a forum contest! It's truly the best time to be painting, with all the resources available to painters to learn, improve and interact.

[MonkeySloth]

That's the important part there Cash. When I was painting in the 90s I had just stumbled upon dry brushing by accident as there were really no people to tell me how to paint (I also think I was starting to experiment with shading and highlighting but I can't remember 100%). The figure I posted was painted while having someone offer suggestions (the same guy who did the conversion) and all the online resources available. I didn't come to reaper until about 4-5 months after that guy was finished, and that was to enter a contest, and didn't post anything in show off or WIP until about 9-10 months after he was finished.

[CashWiley]

Trystangst starting on a KD mini

 

My 'second first', the gnoll I did in 2011:

 

 

I also found a couple WIPs of that one, and it has comparison shots to a gnoll from the same set (Ral Partha, iirc) painted back in the day (and technically a shame shelfer older than some painters here...):

 

 

What the heck was it with me and green boots? Trivia fact: the first of those gnolls (I'll see if I can find him and get a pic) was painted at a gaming shop in Los Angeles the day the verdict in the Rodney King case came down. It was eerie, as all the cops were being acquitted, everyone just quietly packed up their gear and left, everyone knew it was going to be bad and was silent. I moved to San Francisco three days later.

 

MonkeySloth, I was lucky enough to have one of the guys who had painted minis in the 70s and 80s (and also a talented canvas painter) give me a few pointers when I first started, but that was entirely limited to how to drybrush and wash. And then it was just trying to paint better than him, but he was also limited in technique, just drybrush and wash, it was all we knew.