[Reaper Miniatures] Bones Kickstarter

Short Historian wrote:

I'm very interested in this project since the minis look great and the deal just gets better and better. However, I'm hesitant because I've never painted minis before. To all the people with experience, is it something beginners can pick up? I'm no artist (as my players have told me time and again).

I see that paint sets are offered as an option. If i picked up the basic set paints along with my minis could I make a go of it? Some of the figures look very complicated, but I guess I could start with the rats.

Thoughts? Experiences?

There are a lot of really good tutorials out there for new painters. I'm terrible at art stuff and I can knock out a mini that looks better than the wotc prepaints.

Any chance you might provide some links to a few of these really good tutorials? :)

Robert Hawkshaw wrote:

Short Historian wrote:

I'm very interested in this project since the minis look great and the deal just gets better and better. However, I'm hesitant because I've never painted minis before. To all the people with experience, is it something beginners can pick up? I'm no artist (as my players have told me time and again).

I see that paint sets are offered as an option. If i picked up the basic set paints along with my minis could I make a go of it? Some of the figures look very complicated, but I guess I could start with the rats.

Thoughts? Experiences?

There are a lot of really good tutorials out there for new painters. I'm terrible at art stuff and I can knock out a mini that looks better than the wotc prepaints.

Any chance you might provide some links to a few of these really good tutorials? :)

I've just started getting into painting miniatures and two DVD sets I like are 'Masterworks Miniature Painting with Jen Haley and Anne Foerster' who I believe are Reaper Staff painters and 'Hot Lead' by Laszlo Jakusovszky. Both are avalible at FRP Games.

Robert Hawkshaw wrote:

Short Historian wrote:

I'm very interested in this project since the minis look great and the deal just gets better and better. However, I'm hesitant because I've never painted minis before. To all the people with experience, is it something beginners can pick up? I'm no artist (as my players have told me time and again).

I see that paint sets are offered as an option. If i picked up the basic set paints along with my minis could I make a go of it? Some of the figures look very complicated, but I guess I could start with the rats.

Thoughts? Experiences?

There are a lot of really good tutorials out there for new painters. I'm terrible at art stuff and I can knock out a mini that looks better than the wotc prepaints.

Any chance you might provide some links to a few of these really good tutorials? :)

http://www.reapermini.com/thecraft The reaper forums have a tutorial section as well.

http://handcannononline.com/blog/category/hobby-content/painting/basic-tech niques/

http://www.frothersunite.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3992
The frothers have a list of tutorials/

Bryan are you guys surprised at the pledge leveles right now. Since the original funding level was 30k. Can you share the attitude going on at reaper with how the kickstarter is being felt?

We're very excited, as every new level means we get to make more, cooler stuff. I'm personally thrilled because a lot of these larger models wouldn't be possible without crowd support, because each one is a mold by itself, and it's hard to justify that for one part number, versus a mold for 6-12 part numbers.

Of course, we are prepared for this to go much higher, and the anticipation is killing me nearly as much as yall! I love watching the "squee"ing when a new pretty is made available.

Also: If you haven't pledged, because you don't know how, watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rOj5zflhjY&feature=player_embedded

linkified for you

I have some questions that probably are best in their own thread but ...

I haven't painted minis in probably 20 years. I am 100% prepainted plastic minis these days, but these bones have me really intrigued!

How easy are they to paint? Do you need to prime or otherwise prepare them or can you just jump in and start painting? Any paints you would recommend for these? I would assume Reaper has paints that are well suited for painting these?

i just might need to take the plunge and toss some gold into this kickstarter!

My handsome doppelganger: I highly recommend the Reaper Learn to Paint Kits- available here at Paizo and direct through Reaper. You get two brushes, a bunch of paints (you used to get sample packs, but the Set 1 package I got direct from Reaper had complete bottles of paint in them), primer, two minis and a helpful pamphlet of instructions. I'm very happy with the first set, so I bought myself the second one. If you've got $25 to spend, they're a very good place to start because all you need is an Exacto knife to clean off the flash and bigger mold lines before you can get cracking.

I liked the learn to paint kits too, got mine on sale from my flgs.

New stretch goal up, 6 more heroes added on to the vampire pledge level.

When (not if) we reach this goal, for the vampire level ($100) we will get 117 miniatures. That is about $0.85 per miniature. Pretty nice deal and it will get better still.

I'm very interested in this project since the minis look great and the deal just gets better and better. However, I'm hesitant because I've never painted minis before. To all the people with experience, is it something beginners can pick up? I'm no artist (as my players have told me time and again).

You have to start somewhere, and the beginning is usually a good place. :) I think very few of us woke up one morning knowing how to paint. :)

In addition to the tutorials linked, I would suggest looking at forums that specialize in miniatures, like DakkaDakka or the Privateer Press forums. Also, let Google work for you. Bear in mind a lot of tutorials are done by pros for pros so look for the simple stuff (I like Reaper's The Craft series but a lot of it is not newb accessible).

If you can find a cheap copy of this book (How to Paint Citadel Miniatures) it is newb friendly and full of good advice. It's by Games Workshop and focuses on how to paint armies for their wargames, but a great deal of the advice is valuable for painting anything.

I also recommend Dr. Faust's Painting Clinic, although it is very hard to navigate. But there's some good advice in there.

FINALLY and IMPORTANTLY, if you have never taken any art classes, Google "color theory." This can be helpful in learning how to mix paint to get different colors (especially useful if you're starting off with the starter set) and how to pick colors which compliment or contrast from one another. Knowing your way around a color wheel is more valuable than one might realize at first.

I see that paint sets are offered as an option. If i picked up the basic set paints along with my minis could I make a go of it? Some of the figures look very complicated, but I guess I could start with the rats.

The basic paint set they offer is a good set, and their Master Series Paints are very well blended for miniature painting--you don't need to mix in stuff except water as needed (you always want to work with thin paint). Plus the set's a fantastic deal for the price.

The Bones themselves are also great to start with because you don't have to apply primer.

Additionally you'll need brushes. I recommend investing in a good high quality kolinsky sable brush straight off the bat--take care of it and it will make painting easier for you because it keeps its tip and it will last much longer than cheaper brushes. All you need to start with is a round #2 one of those. I'd also get a cheaper brush for dry brushing.

I have no idea if Bones minis require assembly. I don't think they do, but if they do you'll need some superglue or plastic glue. If they have mold lines, you might want a couple needle files to smooth those off.

Wow! Thanks DeathQuaker, that was exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. I think I will take the plunge. It will be slow going, but I'd like to learn.

Another question for anyone who owns any Bones figures: How hefty are they? Do they stand up ok? I have a few of the Reaper Legendary Encounter prepainted minis and my skeletons and zombies have a habit of lying down on the job.

I'm very interested in this project since the minis look great and the deal just gets better and better. However, I'm hesitant because I've never painted minis before. To all the people with experience, is it something beginners can pick up? I'm no artist (as my players have told me time and again).

I absolutely suck at art. I can't paint, or draw. Given a mini, a good brush and a set of Reaper or (new style) GW paints, I can turn out stuff that's above battlefield quality and is OK for a PC character mini. It took me a couple of years of turning out battlefield quality stuff to get to that level. My tutor was old issues of White Dwarf magazine, but there is so much more stuff out there these days, including videos on DVD or download!

In short, go for it! :) [ Edit: As you seem to have decided to do while I was typing :) ]

Fantastic advice and info everyone!!!

So, if I jump in, can I pledge and tie it to a PayPal account or does it have to be a credit card?

Credit card through amazon payments only unfortunately. I think there is a way to make a PayPal credit card though.

Another question for anyone who owns any Bones figures: How hefty are they? Do they stand up ok? I have a few of the Reaper Legendary Encounter prepainted minis and my skeletons and zombies have a habit of lying down on the job.

I don't have any yet, but I would assume that they are just as stable as the prepainted ones are (meaning you probably need to put some of them on bases to make them stable).

*Sigh* I plan on pledging but I really, really want that $2000 design your own miniature pledge. I barely have $200, let alone $2000. If I wasn't going to GenCon and the end date was more like a month away I would start looking for ways to earn money fast.

Maybe I could start my own crowd funding project. $1 and I will create a character for you. $5 and I will create a character and write a two page back story. $10 will earn you character, backstory, and a character sketch. $25 gets you a miniatures paint job from me. $30 will have character stats, back story, sketch, and painted miniature. $50 gets you Large sized figure paint job. $75 gets you a Huge sized figure paint job. $100 and I will run a campaign for you and four friends for a year (limit 2). For $200 I would run a game and I would add in painted miniatures for the entire party (limit 1). For $500 I would run a game, paint the PCs and 5 BBEGs. $1000 would get you an appropriately sized sailing ship that your miniatures could fight on. $2000 and I would do a campaign up to 20th level, no time limit, up to five PCs, character sketches, painted minis for the PCs, 6 BBEG painted minis, and (because the campaign would be an airship campaign,) two airship models sized for the miniatures.

Of course, this is assuming that I actually find the time to do all this stuff.

Oh well... $100 pledge from me.

The next stretch goal has been revealed, Another massive dragon, Deathsleet for $10 for vampire pledgers.

The next stretch goal has been revealed, Another massive dragon, Deathsleet for $10 for vampire pledgers.

Anybody know off the top of their head the size category deathsleet would best represent?

- Torger

Robert Hawkshaw wrote:

The next stretch goal has been revealed, Another massive dragon, Deathsleet for $10 for vampire pledgers.

Anybody know off the top of their head the size category deathsleet would best represent?

- Torger

I can give you a scale photo:

http://www.shakandara.com/img/dragonscale.jpg

Basically OMG-that-dragon-is-gonna-kill-me size? :)

Here's hoping we don't see anymore dragons as options for a while. 4 seems enough for the moment, I'd like to see some more groups like the ettin/ogre/gnoll set.

Yeah, I'm a bit dragoned out, but they sure bring the pledges in.

Chronoscope...interesting. Lovin' the Mr. Bones and Undead colossal skeleton.

Chronoscope should drag in some of the sci fi fans. And it's free minis for me even if I don't use them much. Some of them may work for gunslingers or wandriflers. And the cybernetic ape is something I've had my eye on but couldn't afford because it is a big chunk of lead.

Really really appy about that undead giant.

Found a picture of that skeletal giant in play:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uYu6wy6y_qk/S2MfwbKMFZI/AAAAAAAAApk/eEnWeOS6U5E/s 1600/DSCF4220.JPG

And here's one from reaper - the little white triangles on the right hand side are set at 1/2 inch and 1 inch:

http://www.reapermini.com/graphics/gallery/4/02911_w_1.jpg

Found a picture of that skeletal giant in play:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uYu6wy6y_qk/S2MfwbKMFZI/AAAAAAAAApk/eEnWeOS6U5E/s 1600/DSCF4220.JPG

And here's one from reaper - the little white triangles on the right hand side are set at 1/2 inch and 1 inch:

http://www.reapermini.com/graphics/gallery/4/02911_w_1.jpg

At my FLGS* they had that mini for sale, but it was in the bargain bin and one arm wasn't attached. Being in the Bargain bin, it was cheap. It was also a giant skeleton, so the detached arm didn't really bother me. The only problem was that when I went to buy it, someone had already gotten it.

* - Old Gaming store, I moved.

Ok, I nerdgasmed a bit on the new reveal. Sadly it will be about 3-5 days before we reach that level.

Gen con should push this thing into the stratosphere. Heh, or getting the penny arcade guys to post about it. They have mentioned reaper minis once in the past.

Interesting, looks like they created a sightly different model for the Bones Undead Giant. (ie. hes holding a war hammer instead of a sword)

Found a picture of that skeletal giant in play:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uYu6wy6y_qk/S2MfwbKMFZI/AAAAAAAAApk/eEnWeOS6U5E/s 1600/DSCF4220.JPG

Someone's been rebasing their Dreamblade figures, I see.

Robert Hawkshaw wrote:

Found a picture of that skeletal giant in play:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uYu6wy6y_qk/S2MfwbKMFZI/AAAAAAAAApk/eEnWeOS6U5E/s 1600/DSCF4220.JPG

Someone's been rebasing their Dreamblade figures, I see.

I got some of those long-clawed wraiths.

Isn't rebasing discontinued cheap minis what dreamblade figs were invented for? :)

Reaper, why must you keep making this more and more awesome?!?
I don't see any way I will ever have time to paint the 130 minis I'm likely to end up with, but at the same time... they're just too cool.

I'm really going to have to get faster at painting. That's the only possible solution to this conundrum :)

They've done it again. New stretch goal posted.

10 dollars for three big Cthulhu figs (shoggoth, eldritch horror and faceless horror) and 6 free chronoscope marines for vampire pledgers (extra sets of marines should be about 6 bucks).

Just wanted to chime in real quick - Robert Hawkshaw, Salazar and DQ - thanks a ton for all the useful information you all provided for aspiring minis painters!

Someone page James Jacobs to that Kickstarter; the new stretch goal is beautifully Lovecraftian. There are some people in the Kickstarter's comments section who are whining that Chronoscope minis are now being added to the KS, even though each of the Chronoscope stretch goals has also included an AMAZING fantasy add-on. This is my first KS, and I don't know how anyone's going to be able to top it; the Vampire level is just such a ridiculously good deal at this point.

If you are a vampire level backer and know someone that is interested in the chronoscope minis but not the rest, you can always offer to piggy-back them on you. Additional copies of all the chronoscope models can be added to a vampire level backer.

Someone page James Jacobs to that Kickstarter; the new stretch goal is beautifully Lovecraftian. There are some people in the Kickstarter's comments section who are whining that Chronoscope minis are now being added to the KS, even though each of the Chronoscope stretch goals has also included an AMAZING fantasy add-on. This is my first KS, and I don't know how anyone's going to be able to top it; the Vampire level is just such a ridiculously good deal at this point.

They are following a very similar method to Cool Mini or Not's kickstarters for Sedition Wars and Zombicide and the current Relic Knights, which is a decent kickstart if you are looking for some larger sci-fi models and like bikini babes.

Robert Hawkshaw wrote:

Found a picture of that skeletal giant in play:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uYu6wy6y_qk/S2MfwbKMFZI/AAAAAAAAApk/eEnWeOS6U5E/s 1600/DSCF4220.JPG

Someone's been rebasing their Dreamblade figures, I see.

I got some of those long-clawed wraiths.

Well what the hell else is there to do with Dreamblade minis. I mean the game was utter crap but some of the minis looked really good - just those oversized bases had to go!

Damn you Reaper... I've succumbed and bumped my pledge up to $100.
I'm definitely going to have to get some cases and things as well, because I won't have anywhere to store all these guys.

Clockwork Dragon
WANT

Yeah that's kind of nuts. A steam punk dragon.

Wonder how much of a boost gen con will give it.

That clockwork dragon looks wicked.

They just revealed the $655K stretch goal rewards

ALL OF THE PATHFINDER GOBLINS AND THE BEST DRAGON EVER!!!

At this point even if you hate miniatures I think you should buy into this!!

YET another dragon?

My wallet is gonna hate me, with a fiery passion...

ZOMG PF GOBLINS?!?!?! As part of the NEW PF BONES LINE?!?!?

I'm gonna need a moment to compose myself.....

....very excited about this. Between Bones and the PF Battles minis, it's gonna be a good time at my game table.

YET another dragon?

My wallet is gonna hate me, with a fiery passion...

No kidding!! I'm gonna have to revisit that dragon slayers campaign idea I had a while back.

Pathfinder Bones is here! This will be our first Bones Licensed line, and everybody's very excited about it!

Shut up and take my money!

Solomon Grundy wants extra goblins too!

Damn that's exciting news! I guess they got the licensing figured out :)

Yeah, I was excited about this Kickstarter before, but now... BOOM. I'm confident that we're going to reach this stretch goal, and I'm going nuts thinking about getting my hands on that dragon. I've seen it in metal, and it really is a fantastic sculpt.