Reaper MSP Liners, Clears & Inks characteristics

[Canuck]

Hello all,

 

 

As Reaper doesn't include any descriptions (that I could find) on the properties of their Liners, Clears, Inks & Pastels, does anyone have a good knowledge of their characteristics?

 

Like what are they primarily used for, are they more fluid, more dense, brighter, translucent?

 

I think they are used for more vibrant and flowy washing effects?

 

I'm thinking of buying $35 worth of Reapers' Ink & liner triads and maybe a clear and a pastel and some other different/special paints in order to get a free gift Sophie.

 

Recommendations on these and other of Reapers' special paint products or neat colors would be appreciated.

 

 

I can't decide whether to get Buron Street Sophie or Cowgirl Sophie.... *mind blows up*

 

I'm primarily painting Bones minis with a modest selection of MSP core colors (2-3 of each of the 12ish main colors)

 

 

help

[Heisler]

Liners are more fluid than the regular MSPs, they are designed specifically to "line" miniatures, i.e. everywhere there is a separation on the mini like between the shirt cuff and the hand, a belt and shirt or pants you would paint a thin line. People use them for a lot of other things, like making dark washes or as a dark base coat.

 

Clears are approaching pure pigment so they do not cover well. They can be used to make a color, like blue, more vibrant by painting over it with the clear blue. If you use them as a wash or a glaze you can affect subtle color shifts as well.

 

Inks are just that, people use them for a lot of different things but primarily as washes and glazes, they also make colors more vibrant. I tend to use them as a controlled wash to add depth to my shadows.

 

Pastels are just that, pastel colors, they are regular MSP colors. Although pastels can be used to "fade" a darker color.

[Grimreaper71]

Liners are more fluid than the regular MSPs, they are designed specifically to "line" miniatures, i.e. everywhere there is a separation on the mini like between the shirt cuff and the hand, a belt and shirt or pants you would paint a thin line. People use them for a lot of other things, like making dark washes or as a dark base coat.

 

Clears are approaching pure pigment so they do not cover well. They can be used to make a color, like blue, more vibrant by painting over it with the clear blue. If you use them as a wash or a glaze you can affect subtle color shifts as well.

 

Inks are just that, people use them for a lot of different things but primarily as washes and glazes, they also make colors more vibrant. I tend to use them as a controlled wash to add depth to my shadows.

 

Pastels are just that, pastel colors, they are regular MSP colors. Although pastels can be used to "fade" a darker color.

What are they using to prime bones? Is it brown liner or brown ink?

[Last Knight]

Brown Liner.

 

Ink doesn't work very well as a basecoat.

[Canuck]

Thanks for the info!

 

I think I will go ahead and purchase the Liner Triad, Inks Triad, and a couple Clears to flesh out my painting techniques, or current lackof.

 

Also think I will get the Gunmetal Blue (dark shade) and Sparkling Blue (light shade highlight) metalics for metal weapon effects. Anyone use this? Any better combinations?

 

I think I will go with the Burbon Street Sophie for the free gift today - gonna have to read up on painting on stockings....

Edited December 12, 2013 by Canuck

[Laoke]

 

What are they using to prime bones? Is it brown liner or brown ink?

 

 

Also worth noting that all of the liners work pretty well for this - Brown, Blue, and Grey.

[ced1106]

IIRC, The blue and brown liners are in two of the LTPKs.

 

As a tabletop painter, I also use a black brush Prismacolor pen to blackline. I should try brown. Both are available at craft stores.

[Last Knight]

IIRC, The blue and brown liners are in two of the LTPKs..

Yes. Edited December 13, 2013 by Last Knight

[sigmaone]

IIRC, The blue and brown liners are in two of the LTPKs.

 

As a tabletop painter, I also use a black brush Prismacolor pen to blackline. I should try brown. Both are available at craft stores.

 

Is it common to use pens to line? I've only recently started trying to line minis, as per instructed in LTPK4, and I made a real hatchet job of it. I just couldn't really paint straight lines consistently; and I tried using thinned liner (as I think is instructed) which lead to the liner just going on very light and spreading. I wonder if I'll have better luck with brush pens.

 

 

 

IIRC, The blue and brown liners are in two of the LTPKs..

Yes.

 

Blue and Brown Liner are definitely in LTPK4, and not in 1 or 3. Are they also in 5? (As far as I can tell, if they're in 2 that's seems irrelevant, since it's all but impossible to find.)

[Last Knight]

Blue and Brown Liner are definitely in LTPK4, and not in 1 or 3. Are they also in 5? (As far as I can tell, if they're in 2 that's seems irrelevant, since it's all but impossible to find.)

Nope. There are several duplicate colours among the Learn To Paint Kits, but the liners aren't among them.

[fanguad]

Is it common to use pens to line? I've only recently started trying to line minis, as per instructed in LTPK4, and I made a real hatchet job of it. I just couldn't really paint straight lines consistently; and I tried using thinned liner (as I think is instructed) which lead to the liner just going on very light and spreading. I wonder if I'll have better luck with brush pens.

I used an 005 Micron pen to line a miniature, but I found it problematic for several reasons. #1, and most importantly, the ink reactivated when I tried to paint, so the pen had to be used last. #2, even that small of a point made lines that were thicker than I wanted. #3, it was harder to follow the contours of the miniature than with a brush that had some spring to it - I ended up with errant lines here and there. A different type of pen and ink might not have these problems.

[sigmaone]

@LastKnight and @fanguad, Thanks for the feedback!

[ShadowRaven]

I use some fine craft pens to line and do some detail work

 

http://www.michaels.com/Faber-Castell-Pitt-Artist-Pens/products-artsupplies-brands-fabercastell-pittartistpens,default,sc.html to be specific. They don't reactivate, and they go down over paint quite well. Still, for a lot of stuff, I really like reapers liners, and use them anywhere that brown or blue work best.

[Triangle]

Can I just second that I wish the products had clearer descriptions? I bought a small selection of paints at the booth at Pax East to get started with. I wanted basic colors, so I got white...and black ink, which I mistakenly thought was just a fancy name for black paint. All the various 'types' of paint products were jumbled together. I wish the speciality paints were better seperated, both at booths and on the website (Maybe with a different label or color lid? And a different filter or divider on the site.)

[ced1106]

Is it common to use pens to line?

 

Well... 005 Micron Pens are commonly used for eyes (particularly on TheMiniaturesPage). They're obviously more convenient than getting out paints, so I tried using them on small objects on a tabletop figure, such as jewels and belts. Easy!

 

However, 005 Micron Pens easily clog, so I'm fiddling with Prismacolor ink brush tips for blacklining. As fanguad suggests, pens aren't not automagically easy to use, and it's not hard to get a dot of ink in the wrong place. I haven't used a brush tip on a small miniature, but it's helpful on Kaladrax!

 

Also, if you have Zombicide or other boardgame pieces, you can use an acrylic paint pen to quickly paint the edges of bases. I think you can use them to paint the edges of cardboard tokens to look fancy pants.

 

Pens are cheap at craft stores and I mostly use them out of convenience. Start with a 005 micron pen of black and see how far you get! I think they're worth at least experimenting with!