Reaper Paint Sets

[Finnman 11]

 

Serenity, I am somewhat a completionist, so yes collecting paint is as exciting as painting :)

 

-Finn

 

You're in trouble.

 

Check the Reaper Learn to Paint Kits and see if there's overlap with your current collection. Otherwise, look into the HD paint line. IMO, For beginner, the HD paint line is better, because its "one coat" coverage means you'll get your mini's painted less frustratingly. The MSP triads, however are VERY good for "handholding". Buy a triad and you'll find the right shade of color you weren't sure you were looking for.

 

Also, consider washes, such as Secret Weapon Miniatures and The Army Painter (Quickshade Ink set). I will wash a miniature after priming, to make applying the paints easier.

 

 

 

I am curious about the HD line, but much of what I've read has pointed to multiple coats producing a better result (or giving more control).  Call me ambitious, but even though I'm a newbie, I'm challenging myself to do more than the basic base/wash/highlight to slap armies together.  Do the HD paints affect the overall quality in a negative way?  Do they thin nicely and preserve the model's detail?

 

The Triads are definitely a welcome hand to hold, as I'm not yet confident enough to mix my own shadow/highlight effectively (at least not as good as the triads, since I"m guessing they use different pigment rather than just white/black, but perhaps I'll experiment with this once I complete a couple models).  I just started experimenting with mixing pigments to do an orcs lips, bringing fleshy hues into the inside of the lip mixed with the olive base that I'm using for the skin.

 

Those washes look pretty great.  How do they differ from MSP thinned out into a wash?  Also, what is your preferred recipe for creating a wash with MSP paint?  I've been eyeballing it to make sure the wash is thinned down enough, and I tend to work with something thinner and apply multiple coats.  I just picked up a medium from GW designed for pushing the pigment further into the recesses, and have tried variations of just medium, and medium plus water.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Finnman

[knarthex 62050]

Lighting

 

OTT LIGHTS

 

Bulbs for the lamps you have, and lites for traveling...

Best stuff ever!

[Heisler 10730]

The HD line performs just as well as the MSP line. It behaves a little differently from MSPs in that it has more pigmentation in it so provide better coverage right out of the bottle. Its not so thick that it will obscure fine detail and it thins well. I pretty much use it interchangeably with my MSPs.

 

Its hard to compare washes you really need to try them. I have no problems using the Reaper MSPs or HDs as washes, I do it all the time. Pre-mixed washes tend to save time more than anything else. The Vallejo line of washes must be applied thinly without pooling though or they will cloud up.

[CashWiley 36649]

Lights: I just use a cheap CFL from a box someone gave me of random bulbs. I like to paint under warm lights (color temp, not actual temp if possible!). I paint about 6" from the bulb, so mine may not be the best advice. I just like a ton of light on the mini when I'm painting.

 

[ladystorm 13259]

[MOD]

Thread Title is "Reaper Paint Sets"

 

Stay on topic.  There are plenty of other threads that already exist for the other conversations.

[/MOD]

[RouterMike 2210]

The HD paints are awesome. I just used a few for basecoating a bunch of skeletons as well as my last player figure. Red and yellow are always a pain, but these work better than your normal reds and yellows for coverage. No details lost, and they work perfectly with the other paints.

 

I do find it funny that it says on page https://www.reapermini.com/Paints/hd

"38 unique colors expand the range of the MSP Core Colors triad system"

However there are 56 color swatches on the page.

 

"+18 bonus colors to choose from!" 

[Wren 8296]

I responded with this in a recent thread that I think was a split from this, but since the title of this one is more about paint, I'm going to repeat here:
 

I have almost every Reaper-made colour, and I use the two pretty much interchangeably. The only difference being I'm more likely to reach for an HD over an MSP if there's a colour similar enough to what I want. (I will rarely paint with non-HD reds unless I am being extremely specific about my colour choices. And even HDs are subject to the realities of how pigments work, so the reds and yellows and a few others will need at least two coats and sometimes more. And HD Solid Black is my very fave true black.) You may need to add more water/medium to thin down an HD to wash or glaze consistency, or a little more to thin down to semi-transparent for layering, but they thin down just as well as the regular MSP.

For diluting any paint, I recommend using visual guides and tests to ensure it's at the right consistency, rather than trying to judge by number of drops of water/medium to paint. I go into a lot more detail about that in this thread:

http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/64148-question-after-brief-comparison-of-msp-reaper-paints-to-gw/?hl=test#entry1222054

 

I paint to a high display quality and for contests, and have no qualms about using HD and standard MSP equally.