FT minis are nice--spray paint, flip, spray other side, and you're
done. Somehow, that doesn't quite work with 15mmSG minis (although I'm
thinking of trying it with the DS2 infantry). So. I've painted faces, hair,
uniforms, boots, and I'm about to get to the details (binocular straps, web
gear, unit markings etc) and I'm thinking a pen
might be a little easier than a brush. Advice on pens/ink? I don't
want to spend money but I also don't want to do a beautiful ("the eye
of the beholder") paint job and see it smear when I spray dull-cote on
> Somehow, that doesn't quite work with 15mmSG minis (although I'm
Look at the use of Micron Pigma Pens at this site:
http://www.wegotgame.net/jen/tricks.html
The rest of the site is excellent as well!
In message <001301c0cb9c$9826f300$40ee1a3f@pavilion>, "Laserlight" writes:
> FT minis are nice--spray paint, flip, spray other side, and you're
The Micron pens are relatively cheap and great in moderation. In my
experience, they tend to pick up paint easily and clog, and don't seem to last
that long. I use them only for very fine detail or for more control (such as
writing numbers, or, in your case, unit insignia).
I don't really think they'd be good at things like web gear or binocular
straps. They're better at lines and dots than actual fill, which definitely
tends to cause annoying clogs. Maybe it'd work on straps (similar to a line),
although I wonder if you'd have problems of the pen slipping off to the side.
I would think drybrushing would probably be a better way to go (although I
can't see the miniature to say for sure). For the last several months I've
been refining my own painting style (eye of the beholder for SURE), and I
honestly find it much easier and quicker just to do away with such finery.
Two quick examples:
Modern US at http://www.cowell.org/~andy/min/15mm/images/usmod15.jpg
Undercoat black, dry-brush "Forrest Green" and lightly dry-brush
"Seminole Green" over that. Viola. All my fiddly webbing is painted and stands
out well, and I was finished very quickly. The binoculars on the Lt. don't
stand out all that much, with the emphasis on the green around them. If I find
that I mind much, I might lightly
dry-brush them with a bit of grey and they'd be fine.
British at http://www.cowell.org/~andy/min/col/images/SX-brits2.jpg
Undercoat black, paint or dry-brush (as appropriate) tan, lightly
dry-brush off-white.
These "black undercoat and two color" techniques have greatly increased my
painting time while keeping, IMO, an interesting complexity to the figures. I
finished around three groups of eight this weekend, including the bases which
still take forever.
There's probably some rule like "80% of the visual effect is accomplished in
20% of your painting." This explains why even figures with only their base
coats look quite acceptable on the table. The average viewer is, what, two to
six feet away from the figures anyway? Especially with 15mm, don't sweat the
fiddly bits. Unless you're
painting for a competition-- or you just want to. Just don't believe
Andy - Great pics, but they don't match the text ...
> These "black undercoat and two color" techniques have greatly
Okay - how do you do the bases?
In message <5.0.0.25.0.20010423130810.01b9acd0@naxera.com>, Ted Arlauskas
write
s:
> Andy - Great pics, but they don't match the text ...
Hmm? I don't understand-- what text? Where's the problem?
> Okay - how do you do the bases?
In each case, the mini is glued to a 1/2" metal washer with 5 min
epoxy. The washer allow me to store on magnets or to use magnetic
movement trays. On non-GZG figures, a second pass of epoxy is used to
give the entire base a smooth contour around the minis molded base. The GZG
figs have a base almost the exact same size as the washer, so you can't really
do that. I didn't feel like trimming their bases so I could, so I left them
alone. In the future, I may try something to fill in the gap between the
integral base and the washer.
I mixed white glue with water and a touch of dishwashing soap (Dawn), covered
the top of the base with that, and stuck into Woodlands Scenics RR ballast and
let dry (typically a long period, like overnight.) Once dry, I pulled it out
and removed stray pieces of ballast. I mixed 1:1 palomino yellow (yellowish
tan) paint with water, and coated the entire base and let dry. I washed it
with 1:4
raw sienna/water (I don't usually wash, but I was trying for a
specific hue that I had no paint to match). Once *that* dried, I
drybrushed a lighter tan, then highlighted with a whitish-tan.
For the grass, I used the same 1:1:.01 glue/water/Dawn solution and
covered portions of the base I wanted covered with grass. I then dipped the
base into Woodlands Scenics static grass. Pulling it out, I blew across the
base from every direction to make the grass stand up better, and then let it
dry. I've found the thinner the glue on the base, the better this process
works.
When everything was dried, I sprayed with a Gloss lacquer, and later
TedA said:
> Andy - Great pics, but they don't match the text ...
Ted, he meant that *for the straps, web gear etc* he did a base coat of black,
then two coats on top. I too was really hoping he'd meant
> Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 15:23:13 -0500
[snip]
> I mixed white glue with water and a touch of dishwashing soap (Dawn),
Andy,
I flock my bases as you do minus the Dawn soap. what does the soap do? I don't
wanna miss a better flocking technique.
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Hash: SHA1
> On Tue, 24 Apr 2001, David Reeves wrote:
> > Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 15:23:13 -0500
I'd guess it reduces surface tension of the glue-mixture, thus making it
flow better? Also might attach easier to slightly greasy surfaces?
Cheers,
In message
<Pine.LNX.3.96.1010424210853.29256E-100000@cc5127-a.deven1.ov.nl.hom
> e.com>, Derk Groeneveld writes:
It's an old model RR trick to reduce surface tension. It's very important IMO,
as it reduces the tendancy of the water to bead up, and allows it to lay
smoothly and consistently across your surface area. Plus, it's simple. I
grabbed a small bottle of Dawn my wife had when there was about a half inch
left in it and haven't appreciably used any at all, as I only ever barely dip
my "mixing" brush into it to add to the water and glue. I read the other day
of someone using it to allow glue and water to penetrate into a deep cover of
ballast in a RR
type application-- this my have been why it was developed and used, I
don't know. The ballast layer on the mini base is so thin, I've never
had any problems covering it with straight paint/water, but it's
something to keep in mind, especially for terrain.
I don't know about greasy surfaces.;) I would think it would do better
> I flock my bases as you do minus the Dawn soap. what does the soap do?
I
> don't wanna miss a better flocking technique.
The soap reduces the surface tension of the glue/water mix, allowing
it to flow better.