What Minis Are You Painting?

I think he was talking about a game called Wasteland 3. s1.zetaboards.com/Post_Apoc_Wargames/topic/4759552/1/

Mr. White wrote: Pete, what was that ruleset you used for post-apoc tabletop gaming?

About 15, depending on who I'm playing with and the scope.

Wastelands 3: Total Meltdown
Great all around skirmish with campaign rules (the best campaign rules ever written by anyone, ever, in history), vehicle rules, etc. 10-12 models per side.

Babylon's Burning
More of a unit/squad based game, almost rank-and-file in scope. The game's not all that shit hot but the rulebook is incredible and has a fully developed narrative.

Mutants and Death Ray Guns
I LOVE Ganesha games stuff, and this is no exception. If you know the Songs stuff, this is the same.

This Is Not A Test
Mediocre PostApoc rule set that has too much going on IMO.

Fallout Warfare
Very old design that hasn't really stood the test of time well. Very old school but if you like Fallout ( and I am a nut for it ) it's fun once in a while. Lots of fiddly rules though.

WreckAge
Incredibly well written (I wrote half the book, only got editing credits because one of the owners is a total cunt, but to be fair, I only marginally improved the rules) and simple-ish rules. Very scenario based. It also has an integrated RPG. If you're familiar with Robotech RPG, it's kind of like that - if you like RPG's it has a well developed story and interesting mythology, but if you don't, it has campaign rules and a killer, light skirmish game built in. The whole front of the book (the part I wrote) is the skirmish rules.

After the Horsemen
Another light, simple rule set that is pretty fun but is lacking in many ways. A lot of people dig it but I find it uninteresting and blasé.

I could go on and on about this but at the end of the day, WreckAge and Total Meltdown are my go-to games. I've got about two full tables' worth of scratch built or kit bashed terrain and its easily my favorite genre. If I had a persistent group of regulars who would play tabletop games weekly I would give up Boardgames all together and just play these two and Strange Aeons, which is the single best miniature game I've ever played.

Lots of pics of my stuff on Superfly Circus Facebook albums.



There's that ship (Which Brewmiester now owns) and a rad space station (one of six) I built.

Here's a junkyard I made a few years back


And a command center

And some PostApoc models, including a bad ass mobile garden for WreckAge



My biggest problem is that we have been remodeling for 2 years. I ran out of money so my entire downstairs is in shambles and ALL of my miniature stuff is in boxes in the garage.

I used to have an office but then the Lord blessed us with a new kid so my office became her room. Then we redid the big covered deck where I used to work on this stuff into a Pilates studio for the wife. Then she got hurt, so now we've lost that income plus her regular income and we're still trying to scrimp and save to finish the basement. It will become the master bedroom, and the current master will become my youngest's bedroom/playroom. My eldest wants her room, so we're moving it over and my office will be her room. It's going to be funny to see a bunch of gothic art, walls of post apoc miniature terrain, and Boardgames in a pink room with Disney Princess curtains.

Here's a couple of Veer-Myn I did this morning-

Michael Barnes wrote: -I did this morning-

Dude, you are quick...

Seriously Mike, don't sell yourself short, those minis are perfectly serviceable considering the time you spend on them. They sure look better than unpainted ones!

I know everyone has their own opinion on paints and brushes, but I'm looking at trying my hand at painting miniatures and I own zero brushes, paints, files, etc. Can anyone recommend a good basic set to get started?

The Brood mother, a veer-myn soldier, and some rats. No one ever accused me of being a good painter. Interestingly enough, this time I literally rotated my image 180 degrees in my computer, so that it looked upside down. And this forum still showed it upside down. So I turned it right-side up. Still upside down. Whatever.

For some reason the big mini reminds me a dark souls boss.

metalface13 wrote: I know everyone has their own opinion on paints and brushes, but I'm looking at trying my hand at painting miniatures and I own zero brushes, paints, files, etc. Can anyone recommend a good basic set to get started?

Casey, i just use a general set of hobby brushes (be sure to get some small ones!). the type you can get from hobby lobby or michael's or something. I use grey rustoleum automobile primer from home depot for like $4-5. I use GW paints and the magic is in their washes (or shades as i think they're called now). Testor's dulcote from hobby lobby as a sealant.

I'm a simple man when it comes to painting minis.

Here's the Slaughterpriest from the White Dwarf. A couple of finishing things, but mostly done. Feel like I leveled up on this one a bit. Really like that swole up arm.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/54116966@N03/u29A7K

https://www.flickr.com/gp/54116966@N03/X226Nx

https://www.flickr.com/gp/54116966@N03/G332s5

UH, I can never get Flickr to post images here...

Casey, if you are literally just starting out with painting, I can recommend the Reaper Learn to Paint Kit #1. It's around $35 and it comes in a nifty little hardshell case with a selection of starter paints, two brushes, and most importantly three junk minis to learn some very basic techniques with- basecoating, washing, drybrushing. If you follow the little book it comes with, you'll get pretty decent first-time results and avoid frustration. More significantly, it is a HELL of a lot easier from a beginner's perspective to follow than any of the tutorials/guides online where you have some Golden Demon motherfucker showing you how to paint a SM in like 10 minutes and using 35 different Citadel colors to do so.

I also think, if you can find it, that the Warhammer Battle for Vedros starter set AND the Vedros paint kit are a good place to start. The miniatures I think are detailed at just the right level for a beginner. The little paint set is _great_. It has a ten step guide on the box to paint Ultramarines and Goff Orks, and here again if you follow it step by step you will get a good result that will embolden you to try more.

Alternately, Citadel also has a thing called the "Build and Paint" set. It's a nice little assortment of starter paints, a brush, some side cutters and glue.

Now, brass tacks.

Primer- as noted, you can really just use any spray paint OR brush primer. The Vedros paint set comes with Imperial Black Primer, which is a brush on, and I think I like it best of all that I've tried. It goes on smooth and has great tooth. Spray priming can be a little iffy sometimes. But yeah, Painter's Touch will do it. The Army Painter color primers are great for basecoating big groups of figures (like a SM Tactical Legion). P3 spray primer is really good but expensive (2x the cost of Painter's Touch). White brush on primer SUCKS, I've not had a good experience with it. Some folks prime with gesso, which I find weird.

Brushes- get a good hobby set. DO NOT cheap out with the $5 set at the craft store. You will regret it. Don't handicap your early attempts with shitty gear. I learned this really quick back when I was painting minis in the 1990s. I tried to use cheap-ass brushes and got cheap-ass results. The right brush is really important, especially once your skill level goes up and you are able to do more advanced drybrushing and detailing. I really like Citadel brushes, but...$$$. Army Painter has some good, lower cost brush sets. I think there is one called "Most Wanted" that has a base brush, a detail brush and a GREAT angled dry brush. I want to say I got it for like $11 at Miniature Market. They also make some SUPER fine detail brushes, Insane Detail and PSYCHO. PSYCHO is like the smallest brush I have ever seen. It holds a teeeeeeny drop of paint when charged. It's really good for eyes and extremely small spaces. Note too that the Vedros paint set and Build and Paint comes with what Citadel calls a "starter" brush. I love these things, and I use them all the time. I have painted almost entire models with them. So I think if you wind up with one of those and then also something like the Army Painter Most Wanted set, you would have a good set to go with. And get Brush Restorer at Michaels/JoAnns/Dick Blick/Utrecht/wherever. It's GREAT for restoring your brushes, which you are going to rag out at first.

Paints- This is what it comes down to, really. And you will hear usually two different arguments. Well, three if you include the "I only use Folk Art/Apple Barrel Colors" people. Everybody else tends to be Citadel or Vallejo.

Both have advantages, but I have to say that I am a Citadel man. When I was painting minis back in 2004-2006, I was Vallejo all the way. Mainly because at the time I had my store and I had the full range right there sitting on my counter. But I think Citadel paints are really superlative these days. If you follow their color chart/painting system of either drybrushing or layering, you can get good-looking results. Once you venture off of that, it's a little more iffy in terms of matching unless you are really good at developing a system of complementary colors and shades. What I really like about Citadel, other than the great pigments, is that they have their range divided up into classes so you have:

Base- tend to be thicker, stronger colors that give really smooth, even coverage
Layer- thinner, more translucent colors that are intended to be laid over bases
Dry- super thick, chunky paints that are strictly for drybrushing
Shades/Glazes- really thin "inks" for tone and shading effects
Technical- special paints for basing, special blood/slime/jewel/texture effects, and so forth. Lahmian Medium is in this line, and I highly recommend it instead of water to thin your paints down a touch on the pallet (protip- you do want to do this most of the time).

Of course, nothing is stopping you from basing with a layer color if you want. So it is a flexible system. And those dry paints drybrush like nothing else out there.

Now, the thing is, there are a lot of colors that Citadel just doesn't have. So you might wander over to Vallejo or Army Painter or P3 or Reaper, whatever. It's all pretty good. I will say that out of all the 110+ paints I have right now, I think all of them are decent. There are only a few colors that I think are kind of crap and they are all Reaper. Their base yellow, for example, is garbage and it's part of their premium "HD" line. Army Painter has some different colors that you might be after, and Vallejo actually has Game Color and Model Color. Model Color is the more realistic stuff based on army uniforms and so forth. P3 paints I have the least experience with, but the few colors/washes I have from them are pretty good.

Another factor is that Citadel is pot instead of dropper. Some like one or the other. I prefer the pots, although the droppers shake better, keep better, and if you are trying to mix to a ratio they are easier to handle.

Citadel is, of course, expensive. About $3.50 is the minimum you will ever pay for a pot whereas you can get Vallejo or Army Painter for under $3 a piece. A big bottle of Nuln Oil is like $8. You can get around some of the cost by using a paint chart like the one on Dakka Dakka to figure out what the comparable colors are in other lines and deciding which ones you want the "name brand" for. For example, I would never use any other mustard-y yellow than Citadel's Averland Sunset. It just looks better and richer than others, and it covers really well. but something like Army Painter's Alien Purple looks just as good as Xereus Purple. You can also go for the Army Painter shades instead, which cost less and I think they are actually somewhat better than the Citadel ones. They match up, so Agrax Earthshade is Strong Tone, Seraphim Sepia is Soft Tone, Carroburg Crimson is Red Tone, etc. I believe you can get a set of Army Painter shades for $16 or so on MM.

Basing- This is more important than you might think starting out. Basing a figure "completes" it, even if you just do something simple like paint the edge Steel Legion Drab and do Agrellan Earth on top. I find that doing a little base work can make even a shitty figure look at least decent. Army Painter has you covered for this stuff. They make some great basing products that are very easy to use. They do these glue-on tufts in various styles that look really nice- so you can do the Agrellan Earth to have a cracky, desert-like surface and then have a couple of different heights of scrub grass to give it dimension. They also have tubs of teeny rocks and other detritus you can just glue on. I don't get too fancy with bases yet. There are other products and options such as textured bases that you can go for if you so choose.

Painting is fun, but it can be a little frustrating. You'll find that you get on a roll some sessions and you are just totally cranking it out and it looks awesome. Other times, you're just not hitting it and what you are producing looks like crap. The takeaway is that it is a skill, and you develop this skill as you go along. You will learn how the brush finds the edge of details, which angle to hold the brush at to hit a certain kind of ridge, and how much water you need to get a smooth flow. And then you will suddenly forget all of that or get in a rush and you slop it out. The bottom line is just enjoy it, and figure out what stuff works the best for you.

And have a lot of money, because this shit is not cheap. Once you have equipment, you're good and if you have a large set of figures (or many large sets of figures), you've got entertainment for months to come. But you will always find that you want some other color. I'm about to start painting Silver Tower stuff, so I just ordered $50 worth of paints I didn't have because I want to aim for the studio look on those Tzeentch dudes. And so it goes.

Casey, it does require a little to get started but sell off some games. I know you and you'll be more fullfilled painting minis than looking longingly at games squatting on your shelf. Painting at least allows you to creatively interact with the hobby.